Well, I did it!

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Brentbba

Brentbba

Former Golfer
10 Year 15 Year 20 Year
Joined
Mar 27, 2003
Threads
448
Messages
11,078
Location
OC, CA
:bounce:

Passed the Technician's Ham test w/o missing a question this afternoon. I was WAY over prepared for it. Done in about 5 minutes. I knew the answers before I was finished reading the questions.

Now the wait for the listing on the ULS! Will post up my call sign when I get it and add it to the Ham directory we have here on Mud.

...and the search for the equipment I want.
 
Well done Brent. :cheers:
 
Good work! When you get your kit all set up and want to mess around on the air shoot me a PM. If not, I would recommend tuning in to the repeater on Catalina, something like 147.XX if I'm not mistaken. That was my first contact and the guy told me that is known as a "friendly" repeater.

Anyway, congrats!
 
Brad you have your setup running yet? I'm back online when I'm in my rig. we should have a designated So CAl channel. would be easy to use the norcal channel 146.460. That way we always know where to check in when the unit it on. you should come out this friday and run miller jeep w/ us bro.
 
I'll be headed to HRO soon. They've got the Yaesu FT-8800 with the detachable face plate accessory thru 7.31 for $355. My ex scoutmaster and Extra class ham has recommended that one and I know several cruiser hams are happy as well and like the unit. Wish I could get two of them past the :princess: right now, but I just bought a new set of golf clubs, so a unit for the Miata may wait. Ideally I'd like two 8800's and the Yaesu FX (R?)-6 for a handheld.

Seems the biggest and I know most important decision is what type of antenna and placement on the rig. I'm tempted to mount like Alvarorb has using the Diamond mounts on the hatch. I'd put CB on one side and Ham on the other and loose the CB Wilson 5000 mag mount. Couple of hams at class weren't real impressed with mag mount performance in ham antennas. Anyone want to chime in on antennas and placement? Alvaro wasn't real positive that the INTI rack would provide sufficient ground plane for an antenna mounted to it.

Sam, I agree we should adopt the Norcal frequency. Other cruiser groups have done the same around the country from the reading I've done in the Electronics section here on mud, making it a defacto frequency for cruiser hams!

Brad, I'll give that repeater a try when I'm hooked up with equipment and have my call sign.

Anyone know of a local repeater with Echolink? After a little local 'practice' I'd like to find one so I can talk with my old scoutmaster back in Illinois.

Brad, where are you - close enough for simplex? I'm in Laguna Niguel. It's going to be a few weeks.

I would like to have my unit up and running before I head up to summer camp north of Kernville on 8.10. I should be listed on the ULS by then. W4VEC, who proctored the exam I took is generally pretty quick getting the info to the FCC from what I've heard. God knows they took enough time checking and rechecking to make sure all the i's were dotted and t's were crossed and everything was properly signed before they gave us our pass certification's back yesterday.
 
Congratulations!
 
Brentbba said:
Anyone want to chime in on antennas and placement?
Click to expand...

I've got mine on the back hatch. I believe I have a Comet sbb1 antenna and a diamond k4xx series mount...cant remember which one it was, but I wrote it up at some point.

I was able to raise my mom in Big Bear from west los angeles off one of the big bear repeaters, so I'd say the antenna/mount combo is working out ok.
 
Thanks Brad. See my PM back to you. I've done a lot of reading thru the electronics section and the Comet SBB1 and Diamond K400 trunk/hatch mount are very popular on this board!

That's where I'll start and see on the antenna. Wonder if on the same mount is usable for the SBB1 for trail use and a longer 5/8 wave for in town and highway usage?

Going to get the Yaesu FT-8800. Thru 7.31 Yaesu has a $25 coupon and throwing in the detachable face plate accessory for free. Whole thing is $355 at HRO.
 
Hey - didn't know that the general doesn't need CW now either! May hop on that one while the technician stuff is fresh. I was told last weekend that CW was still required for general! They did say that a lot of the technician stuff was repeated on the general exam.
 
Nice job Brent, I like tha Yaesu unit too, but the orange only faceplate is a deal breaker for me. My OCD means everything's gotta be green. I'm looking at the TM-D710A dual band - haven't even thought about antennas yet. . . .
 
Last edited:
boydmick said:
I'm looking at the TM-D710A dual band
Click to expand...

That's a nice rig. I really wanted it, but couldn't justify the extra $200.

I really like my diamond antenna (see my sig). It sits about 40" high on my mag mount.
 
geez, who do you know? it took me 3 and a half weeks to get mine.

I also have the SBB1 and KC400 mount. it's a sweet setup. Firstoy did a kilelr install with a write up for putting it in the back cubby and using a mount up under the rear view mirror. Rick had the same thing when we were in his rig at rubithon, my next mod for sure. Run the mic cable out of the center console.

Unless you plan on going out to the desert and trying to hit the Space Shuttle er sumthin, it'll be just fine.
I drive from VTA to Simi on the 118 and can hit all of SoCal on that thing. I bought the software and Cable for the 7800 and now it's got everything programmed in it from Morro bay to TJ.

plus a few in Tahoe and Mammoth and JT.

(IMHO, the 7800 is sweet, the 8800 is another whole propeller added to the cap for my simple mind)

And with the KC400, all you do is spin in a new antenna when you want to hit the Space shuttle. The shorty is great for the trails with low branches. you can get a 36-52" with a fold over for that.

I think there are special privledges for scouts in the HAM world too.
 
PabloVTA said:
geez, who do you know? it took me 3 and a half weeks to get mine.

I also have the SBB1 and KC400 mount. it's a sweet setup. Firstoy did a kilelr install with a write up for putting it in the back cubby and using a mount up under the rear view mirror. Rick had the same thing when we were in his rig at rubithon, my next mod for sure. Run the mic cable out of the center console.

Unless you plan on going out to the desert and trying to hit the Space Shuttle er sumthin, it'll be just fine.
I drive from VTA to Simi on the 118 and can hit all of SoCal on that thing. I bought the software and Cable for the 7800 and now it's got everything programmed in it from Morro bay to TJ.

plus a few in Tahoe and Mammoth and JT.

(IMHO, the 7800 is sweet, the 8800 is another whole propeller added to the cap for my simple mind)

And with the KC400, all you do is spin in a new antenna when you want to hit the Space shuttle. The shorty is great for the trails with low branches. you can get a 36-52" with a fold over for that.

I think there are special privledges for scouts in the HAM world too.
Click to expand...


I saw James write up. Unfortunately, my cubby is taken by a customer subwoofer so it will probably go under the DS seat like Alvaro's. May have to relook at how James mounted his faceplate. Alvaro has a very good write up on his.

Not aware of any special scout privledges and my scoutmaster from my days is a Ham.

Did look at one of the Larsen antenna's (the type with the open coil in the middle) and from reading think that it might get caught in branches. For all the offroading I've been doing lately, I may a well put a 10 foot antenna up! :confused:

The guys at HRO in Anaheim were very helpful and friendly. Told them I'd just passed the exam and was in for my first radio. They appreciated that I'd done some research - thanks MUD, and knew a little bit at least.
 
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