Any other Amateur Radio Operaters on TRF?

Hi everybody, been wondering if there’s any other Hams out there?

Ive see tracking equipment, and curious how folks are blending the hobbies

I picked up a Tech ticket many moons ago. For use with a Beeline GPS unit and a 2 meter rig out at the Black Rock playa.

There are a few. I have minimum requirements but only to be legal for my tracking devices.

Yeah, I tested to General in one sitting in '07 for the purposes of tracking and doing some Hf. Unfortunately the tree that was my distal end
of my inverted L antenna died and I have to figure out something else. Best contact was to Tahiti with that inverted L antenna on a FT-817ND feeding a 100watt amplifier to an antenna tuner and out of that inverted L antenna on the 12 meter band. From Central Illinois that is a very low Tech and low-cost power setup. The propagation gods were in a good mood that evening.Kurt KC9LDH.

I did AMSAT and packet radio (tcp/ip networking) in and after college. Not currently active - though I have routinely threatened my boys with giving them HTs instead of phones.
N8OKM

Yeah,

I got it for the Big Red Bee 70cm beacon. Well my Dad did first, so I had to as well.
I have a few Kenwood radios, 271 D71 D710GA. I also have the Big Red Bee GPS APRS unit, which is awesome to use!!!

I got my general upgrade in 2013. I also am a member of our local ham clubs, which is an other hobby to keep up with.

Russ N8RSH

KG9ES advanced 20+ years I love CW

r66astro said:

KG9ES advanced 20+ years I love CW

Click to expand...

That goes right up there with ‘I love sanding’.

Charles_McG said:

That goes right up there with ‘I love sanding’.

Click to expand...

I love wine!

Charles_McG said:

That goes right up there with ‘I love sanding’.

Click to expand...

I hope that's a joke!:wink: I was going to test with CW but it was dropped as a requirement in '07. I went ahead and tested without the code to General. I haven't had a chance to practice Code on the air but have
a collection of keys including the second to the last Amplidan key Morse Express sold: https://www.mtechnologies.com/amplidan/ I hadn't tested yet for my license but bought it anyways.
Work and rockets got in the way. Kurt Savegnago KC9LDH https://aprs.fi/#!mt=roadmap&z=11&call=a/QCRS&timerange=3600&tail=3600

ksaves2 said:

I hope that's a joke!:wink: I was going to test with CW but it was dropped as a requirement in '07. I went ahead and tested without the code to General. I haven't had a chance to practice Code on the air but have
a collection of keys including the second to the last Amplidan key Morse Express sold: https://www.mtechnologies.com/amplidan/ I hadn't tested yet for my license but bought it anyways.
Work and rockets got in the way. Kurt Savegnago KC9LDH https://aprs.fi/#!mt=roadmap&z=11&call=a/QCRS&timerange=3600&tail=3600

Click to expand...

YORF member TBZEP's signature is 'I love sanding'. I love sanding almost as much as I love cleaning kegs.

I passed my 13wpm code test for my General back in about 1995. Maybe 1994. By the skin of my teeth. Zero solid copy - but I could answer all the questions. I had a friend in college who would have CW conversations with apparent static. I could hear nothing. But static sent him QSL cards. Another friend liked aurora bounce. That comes back as bursts of static. Pretty cool. I remember standing on top of the dorm, next to the club shack, contacting MIR as it went overhead on just a 2m HT. Back in the days of cast iron computers, before WWW, when telnet and ftp were the Internet. It wasn't really that long ago - just a lifetime.

73 OM,

Les Rayburn, N1LF here. I'm active on HF/VHF/UHF weak signal modes in EM63 (Central Alabama). I've been a ham since age 7--even longer than I've been a rocketeer. Telemetry and tracking are two ways that I combine the hobbies, and find them to be a natural fit.

Not active, but Ham radio all my life. First Dad, later me. But I keep my license .


N1LF, have you heard of W4ZWE, if so and if you go to hamfest in the area, we may have met. W4ZWE is Dad.

Haven't had the pleasure of meeting your father yet, old man. But I'll keep my eyes open for that callsign at future hamfests. Planning on attending the Huntsville Hamfest in August--it's one of the best in the country. I'd like to encourage more rocketeers to get their license. It opens up a ton of options for tracking, telemetry, and video. Anyone who can pass the L2 written exam will have no problem passing the Technician license for amateur radio.

And it's a wonderful hobby. I routinely operate through low-earth orbit satellites and the ISS. Great fun tracking the birds, correcting for doppler shift, etc. It's another way to "visit" space for those of us who will never be astronauts.

The Huntsville hamfest is more of a convention these days. It's huge and hard to find anyone unless you co-ordinate with them. It's about 15 miles from home or so.

I remember slow scan TV in the early 1980s when the first Mars rover was sending back signals and getting them straight out of the air. Have done a little aeronautical mobile back in the days, using an HT.

Do enjoy the Hamfest at Huntsville.

Charles_McG said:

That goes right up there with ‘I love sanding’.

Click to expand...

Hey actually with a cold beer and some good music out in the garage... Sanding isn't a bad way to pass the time

K2JAX myself, finally got the call sign I wanted, tested into a novice license back in 93 or so then general, working on getting my advanced license this summer not that I'm back stateside. Mostly been on the ARES nets on the local club 2m repeater as well as echolink to keep of with hams out in New Mexico, been trying to get around an onerous HOA with antennas for HF, working on camouflaging a vertical so i can line it up with a tree trunk in the middle of the night and hope nobody notices

I was very glad to have my 2 meter vertical up before Irma came through last year, cellular networks were out for almost 5 days, and landlines were iffy, was very handy being in constant comms with family and ham friends in the area.

KE7FIZ

NZ5N, I've been a ham since age 12, still active on moonbounce and satellites.

billdz said:

NZ5N, I've been a ham since age 12, still active on moonbounce and satellites.

Click to expand...

Moonbounce. You use heavy iron or one of the low powered computer protocols? Kurt KC9LDH

K2BDD. I got my tech ticket for quadcopter FPV stuff, but I use all kinds of 70cm radios for rockets too. I'm making my first Yagi this weekend to hunt for my TeleMini.

ksaves2 said:

Moonbounce. You use heavy iron or one of the low powered computer protocols? Kurt KC9LDH

Click to expand...

1.5kw to four 20 element XP yagis on an az-el rotator. Have 122 countries confirmed. Maybe 5 via traditional CW, all the rest JT65 digital.

Like many others I also use 70cm for tracking. Got my novice in 1964 and general a year later. My first rig was a WWII surplus, "ARC-5", which was used in navy planes. I let my ticket expire for a while and was given a new call sign when I got back into the hobby. Last year I applied to get my original call sign back and the FCC granted it, so I now have the same call I had 54 years ago. While I don't get on the air much when I do it's cw only. Just love sending and receiving code. But then I also like sanding. LOL

Mike
WA0EYS

billdz cooool antenna

r66astro said:

billdz cooool antenna

Click to expand...

Thanks! You're from Arcadia? Have we met? I'm going to the launch tomorrow at Labelle, do you fly there?

KB9WJD

KT5MR Licensed since 2012. I enjoy six and 30 meters, almost exclusively digital modes (don’t even have a mic connected to the rig), and building wire antennas.

KB1LID...yup I did it on purpose.

I'm KM3V. First license in 1972, so almost as long as I've been into rocketry. Favorite mode is CW and I am mostly interested in chasing HF DX and contesting.

Hi, I'm KG4YGP-got my Novice in 1964 and after a hiatus of 45 years got my general in 2003. Currently, mostly HF rag chew and for rocketry track on 70 cm band and GPS via the 2 meter band. Like others, I'm attempting to improve my skills in rocket telemetry.

73,
Fred, L2
member ICBM
Camden, S.C.