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Amateur Radio Roll Call

Rod

Rod

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 4, 2001
Messages
11,048
Location
5D
First Name
Todd
So who do we have as the current hams in the group?

I'll start, KE6MGB. One of these days we'll get an HF cigar net going (anyone interested)?
 
George Scott said:
You bet!!! I was not aware you were a ham.

K6GKS here
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I wasn't aware you were a ham! :D

Looks like you're active on HF too! We'll have to get something setup, I usually hang out on 40, 20 and 10 meters. Looks like the WIN System and CalNet are both in your area; both excellent linked repeaters.

@BlindedByScience Is your station setup? We can start the Pacific Coast Cigar Net. :)
 
NY7D

Haven't been active in a very long time, though when active I did run Sweepstakes at a couple very big contest stations. That and several field day campouts with the radio club. Fun times....
 
Remember Heathkit ? I put together a lot of their kits.

Yes, it still works.

keyer-1.jpeg
Keyer-2.jpeg
 
I'm old, so yeah I remember Heathkit! My first "real" job was working for a very small family owned alarm company in the late 70's. The owner bought a used Heathkit PDP-11 computer from an estate sale, his plan was to automate his business. He let me build some additional kits for accessories to the computer. This is really showing some age, but that thing ran on 8" floppy disks!

Heathkit is still around! https://shop.heathkit.com/

They even have a virtual museum: https://heathkit-museum.com/
 
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BlindedByScience said:
I've got an AEA high zoot keyer and a set of Bencher paddles here somewhere. I was one of the weird guys that liked CW....got reasonably good at it back in the day, but wow am I out of practice...
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Same here. I have a brass paddle, and spent a lot of time on 40M CW when I got my Tech Plus (long ago). It's been a long time since I've done code, but would be fun to pick up again.
 
Once you've gotten used to a nice set of Bencher paddles and an iambic keyer.....just no going back. I may have to dig the AEA out and see if it still works. It was the 'hot shit' uP based keyer, back in the day. Many memories, heck it has several practice modes. It'd even have a QSO with you for practice. Pretty fun toy....
 
MaytagMan said:
N6WJB

Not super active but dabble at times. I'm a Tech so 2m/7cm is my spot, but am thinking about getting on 10m to give HF a shot.
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Go for it! We are on the back side of Solar Cycle 25 and 10 meters will be tailing off now. But there could still be some good days every now and then. When I first got my license around 2011 10 meters was wide open and I had a blast. I made contact in many other countries. It's not like that right now, but you might be able to have some success with your closer neighbors. We are about 60 miles apart. With good antennas and good conditions, we might even be able to connect on 2 meters. Watch out for some good Tropospheric Ducting days! ;)
 
If want to listen through a radio connected to the internet, check out some of these SDR stations. You can fully control the radio, and tune around to wherever you like. You can listen to ham radio and shortwave.

KE6MGB — Southern California Ham Radio

Repeaters, linked systems, ARES/RACES emergency frequencies, and a full disaster channel list for all SoCal regions. The most complete ham radio resource in Southern California.
ke6mgb.com
 
Random thoughts ....

I first got my license as KA4SLW in Pensacola Florida as a young Marine running phone patch at the Navy base under station call WA4ECY. That was 1980, I think. We had a lot of tube type equipment, including a Drake and a Collins 2KW amplifier. LOL those things were about the size of a Lincoln Welder in those days. Built-in antenna tuners.

We used to build little QRP transmitters on sardine cans - complete with keyer..... back in the day when Radio Shack stocked most of the components.
 
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