CQ CQ CQ Calling all HAMs!

I was wondering if anyone else here was a HAM. I have an Icom IC7300, and a Yaesu FTM400, running off an Astron RS-35M AP power supply. Icom goes into an off center fed dipole, cut for 80m but needs to be tuned as SWR is kind of high on 80 but tuner handles it on 40/20/17/10/6 so I didn't feel like trimming it yet. The Yaesu has a Diamond X50a. Also have a Yaesu FTM7250d in parents car, with a Diamond CR320a triband antenna, and a Yaesu FT3DR, plus 3 Baofeng UV5rs.

73 de AC3GI

Hi there, Mikey. Good to see you again here.

I don't have an amateur radio license, but I do own "Tokutei-Shoudenryoku Musen" which is a very small wattage radio system (transceiver) which you can use without any license. I also have the icom IC-R6 receiver which I use to listen to air band. I have two antennas for airband, one being Diamond Antenna like yours.

Edited by stingraze 2021-12-02 1:50 AM






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How can I forget to post a picture?!



73 de AC3GI

Edited by mikey pizano 2021-12-02 2:24 AM

haha. nice setup you got there.

de KL7WI

Use older Icom 746. Also own functional Heathkit SB104A that I don't really use but keep for sentimental reasons as I assembled it from scratch. Also built SB101 before that...old tube type rig. Somwhere in a box I have an old Yaseau FT101E that I bought used and used a while. Don't remember if it works or not.

Handhelds include Baofeng walkies that I have tuned to marine frequencies as well as FRS. Use 6 and 2 meter for local phone patch on the talkie when outside cellular phone range. Like you, have UV5R and have UV9R-ERA which outputs 18 watts. Testing over the water shows significant signal gain with the newer more powerful radio

Primary these days you'll find me on the CW bands with my Vibroplex G pounding away...not the fastest these days but still can copy 25-30 wpm.

Been licensed since mid '70s when I got tired of being limited to CB radio and only 23 channels...though my illegal linears were the cataylst that started my DX craze. Old Wawasee JB100 "reached out!" Used to talk worldwide on 100 watts on 11 meters...and signal bleedover actually used to open people garage doors back when openers were AM frequencies when I cranked up the amp...

My dads old Ft101EE is sitting under my desk, we tried firing it up recently, it powers on, but seems to be bleeding voltage off onto chassis so it probably needs to be recapped. It does have the 11m crystals in it as it was used a CB back in the day. I have been thinking I should try and learn code actually.

Got my license last year. Took the tests on August 15, 2020, got the callsign on August 27, first QSO on 2m repeater was on the 29th.

Edited by mikey pizano 2021-12-02 5:30 PM

Was loads of fun way back when...but these days I can video chat world wide on the internet instantly. That's a far cry from when I used to use SSTV and it took 10 minutes to send a static image.

CW is fun...kind of a challenge. Just something of a lost art. I get a kick listening in to the annual CQ WW contest and seeing if I can copy folks at 40 wpm and higher.

Actually know a few doomsday preppers that have tube radios knowing that they will survive the EMP when WW3 starts. As the local electronic nut...they tell me they will have room for me in their bunkers...idiots...

Actually there are a few DOS amatuer radio apps out there that can run on our HPCs...mainly for logging contacts and such. Ran a few on my Mobilepro 900C written for PPC that will read CW and print the characters live. Problem is most don't calibrate speed changes well. ...and unless you use an autokey with buffers...speed by hand is not always constant.

Anyways these days my radio is on an hour or 2 each week...not much. I'd rather be out fishing...

Right now as I sit at the desk, the FTM400 is on, but its pretty much silence most of the time.