Ham Radio
Ham Radio is a great hobby.
I’ve been a Ham operator for about 35 years and I still get a lot of fun out of it. It is like everything else in this world though, It has become much easier to get the license now and this has brought in the crazies. I won’t go into detail on that subject but as a rule people just do not have the respect for others as they once did.
The Morris Code is a dieing form of communication, but if you learned to use it, like riding a bike you never forget it. You do get rusty and slower if you don’t use it for a while, but the di di da is always in the back of your mind.
QRP is a phrase that means low power in Ham lingo. It has always amazed me that less power than it takes to light the tail light on you car can propel your signals around the world. I have made several transmitters that have been so simple that almost any one with the basic skills of soldering could build. If you’re not into building you can buy a ready-made transceiver for about $100.00. The antenna is just wire. Get a telegraph key and you are on the air.
Tonight I was able to make a contact with a fellow Ham in Tennessee and another one in Ohio. I was using a radio that puts out only 2 watts of power. The antenna was made from plain electrical wire 66 ft. of length. I have radios that put out hundreds of watts, but it is much more fun to see where you can talk on as least amount of watts as possible.
I have a friend that talked to Iowa on 50 miliwatts. 100 miliwatts equals one tenth of one watt. Now that is doing it the hard way.
I found that my skill with a telegraph key has declined, so I’ll be on the air to try to improve a bit, also having a bit of fun with QRP.
I’ve been a Ham operator for about 35 years and I still get a lot of fun out of it. It is like everything else in this world though, It has become much easier to get the license now and this has brought in the crazies. I won’t go into detail on that subject but as a rule people just do not have the respect for others as they once did.
The Morris Code is a dieing form of communication, but if you learned to use it, like riding a bike you never forget it. You do get rusty and slower if you don’t use it for a while, but the di di da is always in the back of your mind.
QRP is a phrase that means low power in Ham lingo. It has always amazed me that less power than it takes to light the tail light on you car can propel your signals around the world. I have made several transmitters that have been so simple that almost any one with the basic skills of soldering could build. If you’re not into building you can buy a ready-made transceiver for about $100.00. The antenna is just wire. Get a telegraph key and you are on the air.
Tonight I was able to make a contact with a fellow Ham in Tennessee and another one in Ohio. I was using a radio that puts out only 2 watts of power. The antenna was made from plain electrical wire 66 ft. of length. I have radios that put out hundreds of watts, but it is much more fun to see where you can talk on as least amount of watts as possible.
I have a friend that talked to Iowa on 50 miliwatts. 100 miliwatts equals one tenth of one watt. Now that is doing it the hard way.
I found that my skill with a telegraph key has declined, so I’ll be on the air to try to improve a bit, also having a bit of fun with QRP.
