Study guide for license exam in February

Well I went and took the test. I passed the Technician. I then took the General and passed it also. I then took the Extra and did not pass. I expected not to but I figured why not take it? Several people in the group were to afraid to so I did it just as an example to encourage them to do it anyway. Several did step up and take it and found they did know more than they thought they did.

So I am hoping that later this week I will know my call sign. Meanwhile I have been preparing to put up a vertical antenna. I have been given a Hustler 5btv. I am in the first stages of burying radials for the antenna.

Also I have been given a Icom IC701. Any thoughts on this unit? I also have a opportunity to buy a Yaesu FT 450D. Any thoughts for this? My experience with radio so far has been CB units and using them for SSB. So I will have a learning curve to deal with.

CB and my other hobbies got me to this week. I am pretty happy to have passed the tests. Now as a CBer I will tell you a lot of the behaviors I have witnessed doesn't appeal to me and I know that many of them can be pretty stupid on air. I think I have enough life experience at 67 to know really CB operators could clean up their act and make life much nicer on 11 meters. Who was it that got the CB jargon started anyway? I find it almost offensive that people talk and expect me to talk that way. Enough though. It is what it is and no I can move to another level that I hope will be more fun. I love DXing. Now I can do more of it. Looking forward to the thrill of talking to Europe or Australia.

Now in defense of CB operators all of the people administrating the test all admitted that they like me started off in CB and moved forward. Many of them still have and use CBs. As I have heard it said, one more band for DXing.

Congrats!

Alan Blackmon said:

Well I went and took the test. I passed the Technician. I then took the General and passed it also.

Click to expand...

Outstanding!
Congratulations!
Well done!

Thanks TheRealPorkchop. There were 10 or so people in the test session. All but one passed. We were all pretty excited.

Thanks Riverman. I am so looking forward to getting my vertical up and start listening. One day I will get brave and call out. I think it will be actually more fun than talking on CB at 38 lower.

Alan Blackmon said:

Thanks Riverman. I am so looking forward to getting my vertical up and start listening. One day I will get brave and call out. I think it will be actually more fun than talking on CB at 38 lower.

Click to expand...

I remember the first time I tried to make a contact and the person actually came back to me. Hearing him say my call sign was very exciting.

Congratulations!

My two cents on the radios....The 701 will get you on the air and do a good job. It will not interface with a computer. You will want that feature eventually (rig control, digital modes, click/tune DX spots).

The 450D will connect to a computer with a DB9 serial serial port cable. Most computers these days do not have a serial port . You will need a USB to DB9 cable or install a serial port card to your computer. Also, if you plan to do digital modes like FT8, you will need a way to get audio in and out of the radio to the computer. You can home brew a cable to use the DATA jack on the radio and your computer's internal sound card.

An easier path would be to buy a radio that will use one USB cable to connect to the computer for both rig control and pass audio for digital modes. Thankfully most newer radios provide this feature.

Seek the guidance of an experienced ham that is active on HF and chases DX or is a contester. Visit his/her shack. Discuss their equipment and antennas. Their experience will save you a lot of time, frustration, and money.

Enjoy the hobby!

Alan: Which ever way you go on the rig just note the IC-701 is missing a few bands.
30/17/12 meters came availible after that rig went out of production in 1979. Also many of the newer (last 10-15 yrs) rigs also include 6m. Another option is many of the newer rigs are All mode AM/FM/SSB/CW...which gives other options like 10m & 6m with your General class are now availible. (as is the case of the FT-450D)
CK is right, now is the time to lay your radial field. The link I posted from DX Eng.(above post) shows a good way to simply lay the wiring down on the surface and go. Yes "knifing" the wires down works well also, however in those low traffic areas the surface mount will get more down faster.
You can also this time of year sprinkle some fast growing seed and fertilize, those low traffic areas to speed up the growth and hide those before mowing season really takes off.
Likewise don't worry if you can go straight away from your mount those wires can bend, whatever direction to get the length your going to use.
The wind barrier of the other trees should allow you to simply drive a pipe in the ground 3-4 ft. to mount the antenna. You can also just purchase a few bags of ready-mix and dig around the pipe to hold it further. Mix it right in the trench no need to get fancy.
Then drive down a good 8 ft. ground rod there also to attach the radial field to it. DX Eng. makes a small adaptor kit to attach the coax directly to the antenna base, so that you don't need to split the coax for attachment.
When you knife the wires running toward the house where your shack will be, you can also purchase coax to directly bury that also if need be.
Your Moxon, well done!
However yes, I would retune it so that it covers the 10m band a little better, you might even consider adding elements on the same boom to cover 6m, if you have a rig that has that band.
Alan also since you enjoy building antennas "Google "Hex" or "Spider" beams. Those can be built for many bands and can be kept small lets say 17/12/10/6m are the bands which would keep it small. These built in the right way are nearly invisible and can be rotated with a small TV rotor or the old "Armstrong" method .
You have many options at this point Alan! Many here to help.
Only bad questions, are the ones never asked!
All the Best
Gary

https://www.dxengineering.com/search/brand/dx-engineering/department/antennas/section/hf-vertical-antennas/part-type/hf-vertical-antenna-feedpoint-kits?SortBy=Default&SortOrder=Ascending&N=part-type:hf-vertical-antenna-feedpoint-kits

https://www.dxengineering.com/search/brand/dx-engineering/department/antennas/section/hf-vertical-antennas?SortBy=Default&SortOrder=Ascending&N=section:hf-vertical-antennas

www.hex-beam.com/description/
http://www.ve3sqb.com/hamaerials/hexbeam/

Alan Blackmon said:

I have to agree here. There are parts on the test concerning digital types of communication. Nothing about theory. Everything about baud rates and such. Now if I want to get into this I will learn it later. Asking me now just frustrates me and may cause me to not pass. So I am forced to memorize something that I fear will not be used by this potential operator. My interests lie in DX ing.

Click to expand...

If a few hours of study is not worth it then maybe it's not the right hobby for you? I HATE CW but I made myself learn it just so I could upgrade to General before they did away with the CW Test. I even did it straight copy so I did not miss any of it. I do not use CW & have not since passing that test because I never had any interest in operating CW since it gives me the worst headache I have ever had but I forced myself to learn it so I could get the General Class License. They already almost give the license away since they allow you to have the exact questions & answers to study & no trick questions ever. I just saw a 10 year old young lady in Orlando who just passed her Extra Class at the 2019 Hamcation so that says a lot. I never will take the Extra because the little bit of band space is not worth the effort to me so I will stay a General & be Happy Happy Happy where I am.

SIX-SHOOTER

I've caught myself in the Extra portion of the band's a few times. Seems like I'm missing out on a lot of DX contact's o. I'm going to pass this sucker soon. IMHO the extra bandwidth is worth it to me. After that, I'm going to tackle CW. I would at least like to be able to decipher Beacons. I guess all this studying can't hurt this old brain.

My bro-in-law and i took our tests last night. He passed tech and i passed tech and general. He has wanted a license since he was a kid, he is now 74. It was nice to share the moment. Now comes the fun part, planning the shacks and setting up. YAY

old goat 321 said:

My bro-in-law and i took our tests last night. He passed tech and i passed tech and general. He has wanted a license since he was a kid, he is now 74. It was nice to share the moment. Now comes the fun part, planning the shacks and setting up. YAY

Click to expand...

Outstanding!

The best reason to get your ticket is because your passion for the hobby keeps driving your aspirations higher, and just because you want to.
For me this was check mark for my bucket list.

I think it was the same for my brother-in-law. Hes wanted his ticket forever. We have talked about getting licensed for several years. I guess the timing was right. Cold up here in PA this winter. Throw a log on the fire, open up Ham Study and have at it. I bought the books, im glad i did. I used Ham Study and referred to the books when i became really confused . The books gave me a much better understanding. But its still all theory untill i start to get rf burns.