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Click for more detail... Welcome. I am 15 years old and I am just starting to enter the wonderful world of amateur radio. I took the tech exam on 2/28/09 and passed. I passed my general exam on 4/4/09 and I am now a general class. I took the general exam at a hamfest in Tucson held by the Radio Society of Tucson. I also won an icom 2200h in a raffle there. That really helped me out, since I have no means of getting money to support the cost of ham radio. I have that radio in the car with a diamond dipole antenna for 2/440. It is a dipole on 2 meters and a stacked 5/8 wave on 440 Mhz. I am learning morse code so that I can operate CW on some lower frequency bands. N7DZ has given me an alinco 2 meter HT and I have been receiving and making attempts to get on the air. (update: I have given this radio to my dad for him to use with his jpole. I now use my IC-T7H as a handheld and 2/440 base radio with my J-pole made by KE7YTF) If you live in Tucson and are on 2 meters we have a good chance of talking. I can be found on the linked 146.940, 146.960, 448.350 machines and the linked RST club system operating on 16.800 and 448.325. I have moved from my apartment complex into a house around the 1st and prince rd area. I have the ability to put up antennas for HF now, and I have already started with a 10 meter antron A99. I also have a J-pole for 2 meters. I will most likely be putting up an inverted V for 20 meters. I operate for on a program called CQ-100, on voice, cw, psk31, rtty, and olivia. I have multipsk, so I can operate anything that I encounter as well as those digital modes. I have loved electrical and other gadgets ever since I was little when my dad(now KF7AOM) was an avid experimenter and devote tinkerer. He had many apparatuses and such that we had a room that served as an office and a storage area for his stuff. He had a tesla coil, model T ignition coil, high voltage transister driven ignition coil, and many drawers full of various electrical components. I began becoming interested a few years ago around 10 years of age, and I have loved everything about electricity and radio ever since. Maybe, 2 or 3 years ago, my dad erected an astroplane antenna for a cb radio. I had listened to that radio for a while, and then I saw that the truckers were not too interested in kids talking on "their" bands. When the computer room was rearranged, the mast was bolted to another side of the house, but the radiator was never reinstalled. It sat in the garage, until my parents got divorced and my dad sold it. My interest had been kindled and I began planning on how I was going to fit an 11 meter antenna on my small balcony. I pondered the idea of adding coils, making loops, adding a simple dipole, and even using a mobile antenna with added radials and try to wing it using a small pole with the mobile antenna mounted on top. I asked my dad for advice. He told me that it would be better if I tried to go for ham radio instead. I asked many of my teachers if they had a license. Almost all of them said no, but one. My science teacher Mr. Bennett (N7DZ) said that he had an extra class license and loaned me a 2 meter HT, some books on antenna design, a couple issues of QST, and the 2002 addition of the ARRL handbook. The fact that he had a license really made me feel better because I figured that if I had any problems, I could ask him for help and he could help me through my tough times. He has been an incredible help and I thank him very much for all that he has already done to usher me into amateur radio. Maybe, when I get older, I can be an elmer to another young ham-to-be!
I plan on studying for and getting my extra class ticket soon. I think that in a few months I will be ready to go take the exam. Updates: AJ7EF Jeff has given me an IC-735 with ps 15 PSU. I bought an MFJ-816 swr meter and an astron RS-20M linear power supply. I have an IC-T7H HT for 2 meters and 70 cm. I have an antron A99 vertical antenna for 10 meters up at about 20 feet on a mast given to me by Stan WE7DOG fed with a 30 foot run of LMR-400 given to me by Don KD7UIZ. I use a J-pole antenna made for me by Bob KE7YTF that is up at about 10 feet. In the mobile I have a radio shack TRC-521 citizen's band radio for communication and listening, and an IC-2200H that I won from the RST hamfest in March of 2009. I have that hooked up to a diamond dual band antenna. The antenna is an endfed dipole on 2 meters and it is a stacked 5/8 wave on 440 Mhz. I hope to get a dual band mobile radio and put the IC-2200H in the shack to use with voice and packet radio with the J-pole.
List of things that were given to me and the people that were very kind to donate them: 20 foot push up pole: Stan WE7DOG IC-735 and PS-15: Jeff AJ7EF Jpole: Bob KE7YTF IC-2200H: My father KF7AOM and RST raffle 30' run of Times microwave LMR-400: Don KD7UIZ Spare power cable: Bob KE7YTF A99 antenna: A friend of my father's Alinco DJ-190 2 meter radio: Mr. Bennett N7DZ 2 deep cycle gel cell batteries: Mr. Bennett N7DZ 11 Element 2 meter yagi: Jeff AJ7EF 102" whip: Jeff AJ7EF MFJ Morse code practice straight key: Stan WE7DOG ARRL Morse code practice tapes: Stan WE7DOG Antenna tuner: Stan WE7DOG Yaesu hat: Jeff AJ7EF and John WD7F Things that I have purchased: IC-T7H Radioshack TRC-521 CB radio Cobra 32 XLR CB radio 11 meter short fiberglass whip w/magnet mount MFJ-816 SWR/Power meter Larson trunk lip NMO mount Diamond dual band 2m/440 antenna Harbour Freight 12v gel cell float charger See you on the bands! Last modified: Fri Nov 20 14:22:03 2009 Does this page contain inappropriate content? If so, Report this page... |
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