Jeff

Been busy the past few weeks putting a Ham Shack together. It has been many years since I have had a station inside. Got a Yaesu FT-450, put it on a 12V battery and old Motorola power supply and put my 80 ft B&W folded dipole up in the trees, operating as a sloper. One end is at about 45 ft and the other at 20 ft, running about East to West. I can now operate 160-6M. This will be a good complement to the JK mobile.
Since I earned my Extra Class ticket 9 years ago, I have not even tried 80-160M, mainly because the ATAS-100 on the JK will not tune past 40M.
I also connected the radio to my PC with Ham Radio Deluxe.
Things sure have changed, for the better, since I first became a novice back in 1988.

Anyone else using a 450 and/or HRD?

N4XGI

jnr0104

I was thinking about getting a ham license ,so i entered all the area repeater freq's into a scanner and have been lisiting for a week. Sounds like 99% of the area users must be retired and in their 70's. All they talk about is who is sick,who died,when their next doctor appt is,how is this radio sounding today,73's .I just can't see me on there ,I seriously doubt that there are any Jeepers or combat shooters around to talk to. they are on here now and have been for 30 minutes talking about dove weed,and how to get birds into their yards. GOD this is boring.Conversations on my business radio system are better than this.

Jeff

Well that is a little different than around here. There are hams of all ages and interests. We have 2 VHF repeaters in the area, One of them (mine) has been on the air 14 years, is 490 ft above sea level and has an Echolink connection, the other one is linked to a few remote sites for improved coverage. The owner of that repeater does most of his own work, and he is blind. I don't hear much on the repeaters because I work all day, but we have plenty of activity. Many of the local police have been getting their license, there is a VHF/UHF and HF station at the county police station. We participate in emergency training with the local LEOs and the Red Cross, We are having field day again this year.
We are experimenting with D-star, etc.
Amateur radio is what you make of it. I like talking on HF without using a lot of power or big antenna. Over the last 20 years I have talked to 150 countries and all 50 states with 100 watts or less, using a piece of wire for an antenna or mobile. For example, I had a short conversation with a guy in England that was driving a cab.

N4XGI

MileHighAko

I love HRD. Great program. I use it with a Yaesu 857D using a RigTalk USB connector. HRD is a great program. I mainly use it to run PSK31. I love to pack my Buddipole antenna, my radio, a battery, and my laptop in the Jeep and head for the mountains to find a secluded place to operate. The perfect mixture of amateur radio and off-roading.