Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake
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Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake
#2I wonder how many HN readers have amateur radio licenses?
I got one last month (AF7PL). Now I'm working on getting a radio. I don't want to just go out and buy something. I want to do this old-school, and so have at least some of the major components of my shack home built (and ideally home designed).
I may partially relent, though, and buy a handheld transceiver for 2m/70cm. My electronic construction skills are pretty primitive, and my oscilloscope (unlocked Rigol DS1054Z) only goes up to 100 MHz, so VHF and UHF radios are probably out of my DIY league. That's fine, as I'm actually more interested in HF anyway.
Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake
#3I wonder how many HN readers have amateur radio licenses? I got one last month (AF7PL). Now I'm working on getting a radio. I don't want to just go out and buy something. I want to do this old-school, and so have at least some of the major components of my shack home built (and ideally home designed). I may partially relent, though, and buy a handheld transceiver for 2m/70cm. My electronic construction skills are pre…
You might enjoy getting started with a kit like the SoftRock SDR: http://fivedash.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1...
Personally I think it makes sense to start with a pre-built radio to learn the radio technique and have something to compare with, but with an oscilloscope you can probably hack a kit into doing something useful. (I have the Softrock RX kit. Works well to receive WSPR.)
73, KD2DTW
Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake
#4I wonder how many HN readers have amateur radio licenses? I got one last month (AF7PL). Now I'm working on getting a radio. I don't want to just go out and buy something. I want to do this old-school, and so have at least some of the major components of my shack home built (and ideally home designed). I may partially relent, though, and buy a handheld transceiver for 2m/70cm. My electronic construction skills are pre…
Look at Elecraft (http://elecraft.com) and start out building one of their kits. I have a K2 and a K3.
Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake
#5I wonder how many HN readers have amateur radio licenses? I got one last month (AF7PL). Now I'm working on getting a radio. I don't want to just go out and buy something. I want to do this old-school, and so have at least some of the major components of my shack home built (and ideally home designed). I may partially relent, though, and buy a handheld transceiver for 2m/70cm. My electronic construction skills are pre…
You might enjoy getting started with a kit like the SoftRock SDR: http://fivedash.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1... Personally I think it makes sense to start with a pre-built radio to learn the radio technique and have something to compare with, but with an oscilloscope you can probably hack a kit into doing something useful. (I have the Softrock RX kit. Works well to receive WSPR.) 73, KD2DTW
I have one, but haven't put it together yet.
Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake
#6I wonder how many HN readers have amateur radio licenses? I got one last month (AF7PL). Now I'm working on getting a radio. I don't want to just go out and buy something. I want to do this old-school, and so have at least some of the major components of my shack home built (and ideally home designed). I may partially relent, though, and buy a handheld transceiver for 2m/70cm. My electronic construction skills are pre…
>I don't want to just go out and buy something.
Just get a Baofeng something or other so you can start playing around. You won't love it enough to let it be your only radio, and if you do, so what?
>... my oscilloscope (unlocked Rigol DS1054Z) only goes up to 100 MHz, so VHF and UHF radios are probably out of my DIY league.
I guarantee you that most hams do not have a scope that is anywhere close to your 1054Z. Have a look at some of the kits. You'll see that there are clever ways of building / tuning circuits that don't require you to have an oscilloscope whose BW is >= the max carrier frequency.
Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake
#7I wonder how many HN readers have amateur radio licenses? I got one last month (AF7PL). Now I'm working on getting a radio. I don't want to just go out and buy something. I want to do this old-school, and so have at least some of the major components of my shack home built (and ideally home designed). I may partially relent, though, and buy a handheld transceiver for 2m/70cm. My electronic construction skills are pre…
Congrats on your license.
w8lvn here, licensed since the age of 13. Ham radio led to an interest in electronics and engineering, engineering school led to an interest in computers, computers led to a career, obsession, pastime. I still do ham radio. In 2000, six of us from our local club went to Vanuatu to put it on the air for the WWDX contest. And we were the first to post online results during the event. Combining two obsessions.
And yes, put up whatever wire you can get away with (more effective to ask for permission than forgiveness), go HF.
Also, connect with a club in your area, they may have operating events. Field Day (last full weekend in June) is particularly welcoming to newcomers.
If you don't already have contacts in a club, shoot me an email (at website noted in my profile) and perhaps I can help.
There are so many different activities in Ham Radio--public service as noted in the article, moonbounce, DXing, contesting, AMSAT, mobile. I often load up my suburban with a 54 inch mast on the top and head for the Hiline--US2 along North Dakota and Montana and put rare counties on the air.
ex-yj0vn
Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake
#8I wonder how many HN readers have amateur radio licenses? I got one last month (AF7PL). Now I'm working on getting a radio. I don't want to just go out and buy something. I want to do this old-school, and so have at least some of the major components of my shack home built (and ideally home designed). I may partially relent, though, and buy a handheld transceiver for 2m/70cm. My electronic construction skills are pre…
Can you recommend some good references for introduction to amateur radio?
Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake
#9I wonder how many HN readers have amateur radio licenses? I got one last month (AF7PL). Now I'm working on getting a radio. I don't want to just go out and buy something. I want to do this old-school, and so have at least some of the major components of my shack home built (and ideally home designed). I may partially relent, though, and buy a handheld transceiver for 2m/70cm. My electronic construction skills are pre…
I got a foundation-class licence a couple of years ago - unfortunately I haven't really had the funds to buy a transceiver (foundation licensees aren't allowed to use home-built equipment) and I let my licence lapse last year.
I may reapply for a licence later this year though. Ultimately I'd like to get up to a Standard licence which allows experimentation with data transmission modes - some fun to be had with an appropriately equipped Arduino...
Re: Amateur Radio in Play in Aftermath of Nepal Earthquake
#10I wonder how many HN readers have amateur radio licenses? I got one last month (AF7PL). Now I'm working on getting a radio. I don't want to just go out and buy something. I want to do this old-school, and so have at least some of the major components of my shack home built (and ideally home designed). I may partially relent, though, and buy a handheld transceiver for 2m/70cm. My electronic construction skills are pre…
Hello, KE1AZ here. I second the idea to get a radio first, and get on the air with a simple antenna, than to plan for perfection. But if DIY is an interest, have a look at GNU Radio http://gnuradio.org/redmine/projects/gnuradio/wiki .