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Topic: TCs, Ham Radio and Kids
Posted By: Cannon George on 04/26/19 04:54pm

Passing along as ‘FYI.’
A ham radio operator, often use my TC as a “Ham Shack.” Active in my local ARES/ACS radio support group and often deploy to support local civic and charity events including Marathons and Bicycle Races.

For many events, I deploy and set up in remote areas outside of cell phone range. In this case, the ability to access repeaters, communicate with an Event Net Control Operator, makes all the difference in obtaining a speedy response, be it as simple as getting more water or even emergency medical support. In rare cases, the ability for a mobile “Ham Shack” to drive off-road to a particular “off-grid” way-point becomes even more pronounced. (The TC is perfect for this)

Most of what I use is simple dual-band (2M/440) communications but on occasion will string out an HF antenna – and listen/chat around the world!

By using APRS repeaters, (Automatic Position Reporting System) one can send short messages to cell phones and e-mail, even though you are way out of cell phone range.

Ham radio clubs all over the country need new, younger members – (to backfill dying and retiring members) I have discovered taking kids out camping, setting up the campsite, then setting up the radio station works wonders! Let them talk! They are hooked and right away I have kids (girls and boys) interested in getting their FCC license – as well as volunteering to support the next event. Especially if it involves camping; something else disappearing from the lexicon of young adults today….

Finally, (in case you are wondering), kids are quite happy to set up their own new-found tents outside the camper, leaving me with my own personal space. I'll cook and feed them. If weather is really bad we’ll adjust; but kids are amazingly resilient to adverse conditions….

'73,
KC6LPE

Posted By: mbloof on 04/26/19 05:10pm

Cannon George wrote:


Ham radio clubs all over the country need new, younger members – (to backfill dying and retiring members)
'73,
KC6LPE


Good luck with that!

73's

N7GHI

- Mark0.

Posted By: Acampingwewillgo on 04/26/19 05:45pm

Since I was in Jr High school, I've wanted to get into Ham radio but I've always come up with some excuse for not following through....I mentioned this someplace else recently, but I remember Heath Kit use to sell Receivers and Transceivers as kits back in the day. Fast forward 50 years later and I'm still picking up my ARRL/Gordon West answer/question book. Maybe one of these days I'll actually do it. Oh...I see the OP is in Ojai, Ventura here.

96 Vogue Prima Vista
The Kid's: Humphrie, the Mini Schnauzer and Georgie,wire haired dachshund.
Rainbow Bridge: Laddie,Scoutie,Katie,Cooper,Kodie,Rubie,Maggie, Cassie, Mollie, Elvis, Potter and Rosie Love You! (40+ years in all)

Posted By: twodownzero on 04/26/19 05:59pm

I'm an amateur extra as well. Haven't ever operated from my rvs though.

Posted By: TxGearhead on 04/26/19 06:38pm

Do you still have to learn Morse Code to get a license?

2018 Ram 3500 CC LB DRW 4X4 Cummins Aisin Laramie Pearl White
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2014 NauticStar 21 ShallowBay 150HP Yamaha
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Posted By: CA Traveler on 04/26/19 06:49pm

TxGearhead wrote:

Do you still have to learn Morse Code to get a license?
It's no longer required to get get a license.

I took a class for the Extra and it was a good experience to have the help and social interaction. 2 people in the class were also taking a code class per their interest.

2009 Holiday Rambler 42' Scepter with ISL 400 Cummins
750 Watts Solar Morningstar MPPT 60 Controller
2014 Grand Cherokee Overland

Bob


Posted By: kohldad on 04/26/19 06:56pm

My parents were active in Amateur Radio for years. During Hurricane Hugo, the local club was actually using a two repeaters that my father provided for the club. I can also remember him climbing up on the power plant smoke stack and local water towers to install/maintain the antennas. Him and I would take trips just by ourselves and then stringing out a 40m dipole between trees to talk to my mother so she would know we were still alive.

I've been a ham since pre-1980 but have never been active besides talking to my parents because this was pre-cell phone. Once cell phones came out and as they become cheaper without a license requirement, we have switched to those. However, as I near retirement and plan on traveling to more out of the way places beyond, I'm wanting to become active. I'm even trying to convince my wife to get her Technician license so we can use the further reaching bands over the FRMS radios commonly used.

If you worked CW a lot, you had a good chance of talking to my mother - K4TTG. Her bug work was like music and one that was usually remembered.

Good luck and safe travels.

KA4MDG

2015 Ram 3500 4x4 Crew Cab SRW 6.4 Hemi LB 3.73 (12.4 hand calc avg mpg after 92,000 miles with camper)
2004 Lance 815 (prev: 2004 FW 35'; 1994 TT 30'; Tents)


Posted By: mountainkowboy on 04/26/19 11:00pm

73's....WN7CHK...and my kids and grandkids are Hams also. [emoticon]

Chuck & Ruth with 4-legged Molly
2007 Tiffin Allegro 30DA
2011 Ford Ranger
1987 HD FLHTP


Posted By: joerg68 on 04/27/19 05:26am

73s from another one - keep up the great work!
DF8VW / N1DXP

2014 Ford F350 XLT 6.2 SCLB + 2017 Northstar Arrow


Posted By: sljohnson1938 on 04/27/19 05:34am

WHAT -no morse code for a license????

gee wiz - what is next?

1999 Dodge 3500 CTD dually
Ham radio - WU4S

Posted By: twodownzero on 04/27/19 07:59am

sljohnson1938 wrote:

WHAT -no morse code for a license????

gee wiz - what is next?


CW is dead. There are so many other aspects to ham radio.

Posted By: jfkmk on 04/27/19 09:02am

Acampingwewillgo wrote:

Since I was in Jr High school, I've wanted to get into Ham radio but I've always come up with some excuse for not following through....I mentioned this someplace else recently, but I remember Heath Kit use to sell Receivers and Transceivers as kits back in the day. Fast forward 50 years later and I'm still picking up my ARRL/Gordon West answer/question book. Maybe one of these days I'll actually do it. Oh...I see the OP is in Ojai, Ventura here.

Heath Kit...man, you’re bringing back some memories! I built a lot of things from them. I did a search...they still make a couple of kits, though I understand they are owned by a different company now.

I also built a multi-meter from Radio Shack about 40 years ago. Still use it!

Posted By: Iraqvet05 on 04/27/19 09:24am

sljohnson1938 wrote:

WHAT -no morse code for a license????

gee wiz - what is next?

There hasn't been since 2006. I believe the number of licence applications went up over the years after the code requirement was dropped. I was one of those hold outs..

2017 Ford F-250 6.2 gas
2018 Jayco 28BHBE

US Army veteran

Posted By: Iraqvet05 on 04/27/19 09:29am

twodownzero wrote:

sljohnson1938 wrote:

WHAT -no morse code for a license????

gee wiz - what is next?


CW is dead. There are so many other aspects to ham radio.


I wouldn't say dead but it's certainly not as popular as it used to be. But like you said, the are so many aspects of the hobby, people as scattered all over the bands and technology. I did FT8 for a year, now I'm bored with it and trying DMR and Fusion then I'll attempt D-Star since the HF bands seem to been horrible half the time.

Posted By: Acampingwewillgo on 04/27/19 11:13am

jfkmk wrote:

Acampingwewillgo wrote:

Since I was in Jr High school, I've wanted to get into Ham radio but I've always come up with some excuse for not following through....I mentioned this someplace else recently, but I remember Heath Kit use to sell Receivers and Transceivers as kits back in the day. Fast forward 50 years later and I'm still picking up my ARRL/Gordon West answer/question book. Maybe one of these days I'll actually do it. Oh...I see the OP is in Ojai, Ventura here.

Heath Kit...man, you’re bringing back some memories! I built a lot of things from them. I did a search...they still make a couple of kits, though I understand they are owned by a different company now.

I also built a multi-meter from Radio Shack about 40 years ago. Still use it!


I did the same as you....thought about Heath Kit and had to look it up to see if they were still around. Rather disappointing to see what they offer now...I was like a kid in a candy store when they were big, so many kits to chose from! Good Old Days....

Posted By: jimh406 on 04/27/19 12:04pm

Hmm, if there is no license for Ham radios, that might be an option for me in the mountains around here where the wireless is spotty. Probably showing my ignorance of Ham, but is that the same as people use in vehicles where CBs aren’t used?

'10 Ford F-450, 6.4, 4.30, 4x4, 14,500 GVWR, '06 Host Rainer 950 DS, Torklift Talon tiedowns, Glow Steps, and Fastguns. Bilstein 4600s, Firestone Bags, Toyo M655 Gs, Curt front hitch, Energy Suspension bump stops.

NRA Life Member, CCA Life Member


Posted By: joerg68 on 04/27/19 12:13pm

http://www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio

That link should answer all questions.
You still need a license, but you no longer need to learn Morse code.

Posted By: Giltex on 04/27/19 01:30pm

Also a member of our county ARES. Since this is tornado season in East Texas we have all been a little uptight. Had the sirens Wednesday night for 30 minutes, and I was grabbing my "go pack". We lucked out on that one.

73s
W5QZB

Posted By: mountainkowboy on 04/27/19 05:00pm

Acampingwewillgo wrote:

jfkmk wrote:

Acampingwewillgo wrote:

Since I was in Jr High school, I've wanted to get into Ham radio but I've always come up with some excuse for not following through....I mentioned this someplace else recently, but I remember Heath Kit use to sell Receivers and Transceivers as kits back in the day. Fast forward 50 years later and I'm still picking up my ARRL/Gordon West answer/question book. Maybe one of these days I'll actually do it. Oh...I see the OP is in Ojai, Ventura here.

Heath Kit...man, you’re bringing back some memories! I built a lot of things from them. I did a search...they still make a couple of kits, though I understand they are owned by a different company now.

I also built a multi-meter from Radio Shack about 40 years ago. Still use it!


I did the same as you....thought about Heath Kit and had to look it up to see if they were still around. Rather disappointing to see what they offer now...I was like a kid in a candy store when they were big, so many kits to chose from! Good Old Days....


I built my first Ham radio with my dad, I think we had $20.00 in it in parts.....LOL. I was 12 I think the first time I got my Lic, my dad had a big array on the garage with a rota-tor under it. There was a little hole in the basement with ALL KINDS of equipment stacked with a lollipop D104 on the bench....Hahaha, old times

Posted By: kohldad on 04/28/19 05:08am

Quote:

Hmm, if there is no license for Ham radios, that might be an option for me in the mountains around here where the wireless is spotty. Probably showing my ignorance of Ham, but is that the same as people use in vehicles where CBs aren’t used?


License is still required but now it is all rules and theory. The higher the class which gives more privileges (bands) the deeper the rules/theory go. For a technician class which is the easiest class but gives you the most popular two bands for vehicle use, it really isn't that hard. To get an idea, check out a Technician Practice Exam.

Posted By: towpro on 04/28/19 07:18am

Removed, kohldad covered what I was going to say.

2022 Ford F150
Sold: 2016 Arctic Fox 990, 2018 Ram 3500, 2011 Open Range
Sold Forest River Forester 2401R Mercedes Benz. when campsites went from $90 to $190 per night.

Posted By: jimh406 on 04/28/19 08:07am

Thanks, that’s helpful information for someone like myself who would dabble in my vehicle. A guy who worked for me said I had an ideal place to put a very long loop antenna on my ranch, so who knows ...

Posted By: Cannon George on 04/28/19 01:16pm

Thanks for all the replies! The local group set up a temporary portable repeater (2M) earlier this week, and early today we put it to good use providing communications in support of a large Autism 5K/10K fun run event. I deployed with the TC and brought along two new young hams and let them work the radios for me. The 4:00 wake-up call meant the TC also became the breakfast wagon once we were on station. The TC also provides a reliable (and solar backed) source of 12VDC power for operating higher power (50W) mobile radios in situations where handhelds (5W) won't work.

Acampingwewillgo, Jimh425, etc. Gordon West is still around and busy as ever, full of energy, I ran into him at the ARRL HamFest in Quartzite earlier this year.

I have found memories of Heathkit (as well as mags Popular Electronics, Electronics Illustrated, etching my own PC boards and lots of solder burns but the truth is nowadays not many kids have even seen a soldering iron. Times are a changing....

For those of you interested in taking the FCC exam it really is pretty easy, a site like "Hamstudy.org" to build custom practice tests around what you don't know. Gordon West and ARRL offer excellent study materials.

Morse Code (CW) is no longer required for your license but many, many people still use (and are learning) it. Ham Radio has exploded in the past decade into several different directions - I like using APRS (Automatic Position Reporting Systems) to transmit coordinates and short messages to other cell phones despite me being out of cell phone range. I'm also learning how to use FLDIGI to transmit digital files. Other people swear by using DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) modes of transmission which may also include bridges to Dstar and Fusion systems. Finally, a number of cross-internet platforms out there where you can use computer or even cell phone to access a powerful radio station somewhere else in the world and re-broadcast your voice through a simple headset connection!

Lots to learn, and learning keeps me young!
The two young (age 12) kids that helped me this morning want to build something out of Arduino and Raspberry Pis cobbled together, can't wait to see what it is!


'73,
KC6LPE
Cannon George

Posted By: Geewizard on 04/29/19 07:45am

.

* This post was edited 05/01/19 07:21am by Geewizard *

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Posted By: mountainkowboy on 04/29/19 03:20pm

Geewizard wrote:

I'm in the process of setting up a portable amateur radio satellite system for my TC.

W7OTJ


Nice!

Our rig has a Yeasu FTM-350 and we can broadcast with or without the TC, from the cab or the camper as long as the TC is on the truck. I built a mount that attaches to the front bed rail that uses the same antenna mount that's on the ladder of the TC, and just disconnect the TC's cable from the truck and move the antenna. It works surprisingly well and have use it all over the PNW in our travels.

Posted By: Cannon George on 05/29/21 02:07pm

I just finished supporting the Bishop 100K Ultra event; in addition to HTs (which worked fine) I also used an FTM-400 for coms.

Unlike most years, we had snow/sleet/rain and I had a warm space to crawl into to upload data.

Posted By: towpro on 05/29/21 07:24pm

sljohnson1938 wrote:

WHAT -no morse code for a license????

gee wiz - what is next?


Chinese walkie talkies on Amazon for UHF/VHF starting at around $30 bucks? (and they work well)

Posted By: d3500ram on 05/29/21 08:13pm

Would have loved to have set up a portable station when I had my TC.
Sold the camper due to the fixer-upper house needing weekend attention...
...maybe when it is in a further state of repair I can get the home shack up and running more.

73s,
W2OKJ

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