Our Ham Radio Hobby/License

[spuds]

So total costs for HAM hobby....

23 inch Tram 1185 magnet mount antenna for car.....27.88
Cable adapter from radio to Tram..16.31
BaoFeng UV5R,two radios....63.58
Battery adapter to plug radio into car power...11.88
ExpertPower 7.76 inch antennas for UV5R,two,...11.93
Radio/computer programming cable...7.38

Test for technician license for two people...30 dollars
Test for General Class license for two people...30 dollars
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So we became HAMS for an initial outlay of 200 dollars.Now we will play with it and see where we want to go.

The current hand held 5 watt radios only do the technician class bands of 70cm and 2 meter.Its actually possible to hit repeaters and go world wide with them,plus hybrid radio/computer links that do that too.

The General glass does all the World wide bands but will need better home or mobile station and antenna but CAN be done for about 400 dollars with new equipment.

Costs have really dropped.

LOTS to learn before we take that step,including do we want to or even need to,will we like the hobby or not.Etc.

[spuds]

So we got our Call signs today and hit the 2 local repeaters,got out about 50 miles easy.Not much on the closest repeater but it was really clear.I think Im going to be able to hit entire mtn. from these 2,very cool.

I have lots of experience,I made Three,count em THREE whole calls so far,heeheeheeeee!

This is going to be tons of fun for both recreation and emergency communications for fires,lost people,that sort of thing.One thing,with what we have will probably be able to hit from home to rifle range,no cell phone there,this is going to be a real kick.

Also want to be able to hit friend at his places in Idaho and Montana,like when he was injured and had to get out radio would have been great for him,he is looking into getting into it too.No cell phones in boonies were he goes.

[Laura]

Jan 2, 2015 16:45:07 GMT -6 spuds said:

So we got our Call signs today and hit the 2 local repeaters,got out about 50 miles easy.Not much on the closest repeater but it was really clear.I think Im going to be able to hit entire mtn. from these 2,very cool.

I have lots of experience,I made Three,count em THREE whole calls so far,heeheeheeeee!

This is going to be tons of fun for both recreation and emergency communications for fires,lost people,that sort of thing.One thing,with what we have will probably be able to hit from home to rifle range,no cell phone there,this is going to be a real kick.

Also want to be able to hit friend at his places in Idaho and Montana,like when he was injured and had to get out radio would have been great for him,he is looking into getting into it too.No cell phones in boonies were he goes.

Spuds my Dad was big into the ham radios. He loved them. I dont know what happened to all his equipment after he passed away. He had the whip antenna on the car & the huge one set up outside at home.