CB'ing and Ham radio in the 21st Century - Page 3

Kymmy · 08-03-2012, 17:05

I know that this is a CB thread but ham radio has popped up a couple of times so thought I'd add the following.

To get a ham licence you need to now find a local instructor (look at the RSGB website. They will teach you and sign-off the modules (about 10 hours worth) and then you take a simple multiple choice test at a test centre. That will get you a foundation licence which gives you a callsign and a limit part of the bands with limited power to play with.

More instruction and another test you can get a Intermediate Licence which gives you more places to play and higher power and finally the same goes for the Advanced licence which give you all the bands and quite a lot of power to play with (like 400w on HF)

The advanced licence also means you can go to other countries and get a reciprocal licence and transmit over there though the intermediate licence is allowed to do the same in a few countries.

It means you can play with radios like this one

Better picture of the above radio is at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...FT-DX9000D.jpg (can't IMG tag is as it's oversized)

---------- Post added at 16:56 ---------- Previous post was at 16:54 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by adzii_nufc

I have a Cobra 148 GTL-DX, it was my grandfathers. I have no idea how to use it but we have a full set of gear here. Got a huge antenna on the roof. Do people still buy this kind of stuff?

On ebay a Cobra 148 tends to sell (dependant on condition and which microphone is attached) from £40 to £90

---------- Post added at 17:05 ---------- Previous post was at 16:56 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kymmy

Are you planing to take advantage of this solar flare or even the sunspot high we're expecting this year and next?

Just realised that the high will be either 2013 or 2014 so will be very suprised if a lot of people don't dust off the old sidebanders

Uncle Peter · 08-03-2012, 17:25

Hmmm this has compelled me to fire up the all hearing ears and spin the wheel down to the old "UK 40". There's still the same old cussing, cursing, music playing and trash talk going on ableit less than there used to be. No worse than what you hear on the London repeaters (and others) on 2M though

Kymmy · 08-03-2012, 17:52

Morse code is part of the practicals but for the foundation all you need to do is recognise some letters for example that are sent very slowly as many times as you want.. The foundation course is very simple and designed as a first step on the ham radio ladder for youngsters as well as adults

---------- Post added at 17:52 ---------- Previous post was at 17:49 ----------

I initially did request to become an instructor for all three courses but between the fact that the RSGB couldn't get my name, callsign and even the CRB correct I eventually gave in

Jon T · 08-03-2012, 17:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

Slightly off topic

@kymmy, Uncle Peter, do you still need the morse code stuff? It always put me off thinking about an amateur licence.

It is used, but hasn't been required for a full Ham license for quite a while.

Kymmy · 08-03-2012, 17:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon T

It is used, but hasn't been required for a full Ham license for quite a while.

As stated though it is still part of the practicals but in a very limited sense

Jon T · 08-03-2012, 17:58

Anyway......

Had played with 49MHz walkie talkies for years then when I went to secondary school there was a lad who I became friends with who had a Harrier CBX, this prompted me to buy an old Midland 2001 of a guy that used to use it for his taxi. Forget precisely what happened to it, but when I stopped CBing around 1995 I had an Amstrad 901.

Went to college is 1996 to do a C&G in Electronics, passed my ham exam while I was there.

---------- Post added at 17:58 ---------- Previous post was at 17:56 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kymmy

As stated though it is still part of the practicals but in a very limited sense

In what sense Kymmy?

When I took the foundation morse test in the early 2000's it was a straight key, and a crib sheet, and all the time in the word to decipher/send the messages.

Also, I suppose it's worth stating that you can't go straight in for the advanced(former A and B) license anymore.. You have to do foundation, intermediate, advanced.

Kymmy · 08-03-2012, 18:02

Exactly the same.. 5wpm, crib sheet, groups of 5 letters and as much time/resends as you wish (within reason)

---------- Post added at 18:02 ---------- Previous post was at 18:01 ----------

I've actually got the instructor pack here with the sending cards

Escapee · 08-03-2012, 18:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kymmy

Weird though how we tend to use older radios instead of the modern all singing/all dancing radios..

For CB I use a Yaesu FT80C (commercial version of the FT747 and is actually a HF radio) which I just got an FM board for, it does AM/CW/SSB/FM 100W on all bands. It is though considered an early 90's relic by a lot of people.

In the late 70s I had a Cobra 146 then a Cobra 148. I passed my amateur radio exam in 1982 at 16 years of age. I didn't pass my Morse until the early 90s. My first HF set was an old Heathkit HW100, I then moved on to a brand new radio that I paid cash for at Leicester Rally.... It was the Yaesu FT747GX (was it a GX II)
Within a couple of years I had an FT990 and an IC706, 1KW linear, TH5 Beam, 60ft versatower and a HamIV rotator.

I have recently gained some interest again, and I have been spending some time constructing. I'm currently building modules for a compact HF radio test set using cheap USB soundcard, PIC based frequency counter, a DDS controlled be an ATMega micro and an RF power meter using the ATmega with RSSI IC.

I think my main interest these days is building test equipment rather than radios, although I have been getting my morse up to speed again.

I enjoyed CB before it became legal in the early 80s

Russ · 08-03-2012, 18:38

Re: the Cobra 148 - you can get a clean-up kit which costs about £20 and makes it look brand new, which is exactly what I did

Kymmy · 08-03-2012, 18:57

Added Ham radio to the title as you can;t really discuss CB without having ham radio as a progression

Peter_ · 08-03-2012, 18:58

We still have a shop on Rocky Lane in Liverpool who still supplies and fixes old AM kit plus the legal FM kit, he also repairs most of the city's taxi radio's it is called CB Shack of all things.

He has so much gear for sale that I think Kymmy would think she was in heaven.

Kymmy · 08-03-2012, 19:01

Not really, Already have 4 handhelds (ft50x2, VX1, VX5) 3 vhf mobiles (ascom 4mtr, FT7800 and FT8100) and a HF (FT80c) (yep I like Yaesu stuff) which is enough for me..

Also a few miles away is Rocket Radio which has a good selection of gear.

Uncle Peter · 08-03-2012, 19:09

Here's my wee radio shack which I keep adding to and had to shift to another room...also to make it easier to bring Ecoflex through the walls. There is a Kent key out of shot btw so I am not letting the side down!

The VHF array is controlled via Ham Radio Deluxe and a Hygain DCU1 control unit.

wee_shack.jpg

None of it transmits on CB although I think there's a service menu on the Mark V which allows you to open it up.

Jon T · 08-03-2012, 19:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Peter

Here's my wee radio shack which I keep adding to and had to shift to another room...also to make it easier to bring Ecoflex through the walls. There is a Kent key out of shot btw so I am not letting the side down!

The VHF array is controlled via Ham Radio Deluxe and a Hygain DCU1 control unit.

Attachment 23227

None of it transmits on CB although I think there's a service menu on the Mark V which allows you to open it up.

Nice display of the logbook from HRD you've got there!........and the TS480(excellent radio, got one myself)

devilincarnate · 08-03-2012, 19:26

My brother in law used to fix,repair and also modify them