Shortly after my last post I did something I hadn't done in a long time. I attended a meeting of a local ham radio club. I was immediately recognized as a newcomer and welcomed. My intention was to to check out some other clubs in the area, and I still want to do that, but I think this club I found will be the "home" club. Several hams in the club have vintage transmitters and receivers like I do, and having some local hams who share this interest will be a great resource if I end up undertaking restoration projects.
Additionally, I tried getting my Yaesu FT-209RH handheld back into commission. I found out that the batteries will no longer hold a charge (likely due to age), and when I had it in an adapter the audio section died within twenty minutes. Regrettably it has to be retired, but in one way this is a good thing.
It will be an excuse to make one more trip to Ham Radio Outlet in Phoenix. I have identified a new Yaesu model handheld that I would like to get, and not only is it more affordable than I thought, it's gotten a lot of rave reviews posted online by other hams who own it. Yaesu put it on the market in 2004, and it is still in production though it may be "obsoleted" later this year. That doesn't bother me, as that the thing is built like a tank and will survive being dropped several times if it's out with me on a hunting trip.
What's nice about that new model, the FT-60R, is that not only will it work on 2 meters, it will also work on the UHF band (420 to 450 MHz). It also can function as a handheld scanner, though it will not accommodate the newer digital technologies that the local police and fire have switched over to. That's not an issue as that I could still listen to aircraft and weather, and weather would be of interest if I'm out on a road trip.
I've also identified a Yaesu model that I could use in my truck, or as a base station if I decide to get a 12 volt power supply (I don't think the 12 volt power supply I built some years back will provide enough current for the expected load). I don't operate "mobile", mainly because I've been driving a stick since 1983. However, we are thinking of a new vehicle next year, and that might end up being an automatic transmission. In that event a higher powered mobile unit would be nice to have on a road trip. We would have to take it inside the motel with us if staying overnight, but that's no issue.
Now I'm going to digress for a moment as that there are some other things on my mind re ham radio and repeaters.
For most of my ham "career", I have almost exclusively operated on the HF (high frequency) bands, or shortwave if you will, as that I got into this to talk to other hams around the country and around the world. My operations on VHF haven't been extensive, mainly because those frequencies are line of sight, though the repeaters are a great help in expanding area coverage. Some hams might think of the repeaters as some sort of gentleman's CB, but when you think about it it's much more than that. Local nets may meet on the repeaters per a weekly schedule, and it's a way for clubs that have repeaters (almost all clubs have them) to pass along news. My favorite part of these nets were the "swap meet" portion of the "meeting" as that it's a great way to acquire parts and/or equipment, or to sell.
But there's something else about the VHF realm which can and is fascinating. There are lots of hams who have VHF/UHF rigs that cover all modes, and not just narrow band FM. As stated above, propagation is line of sight........but not always! Tropospheric ducting and sporadic skip come into play, affording you the opportunity to work stations that are a thousand miles away or so. Some hams use these frequencies for "moonbounce", which is something I'd like to try sometime as that bouncing signals off the moon in order to talk to a ham also doing that is a real challenge. There's also meteor scatter propagation, which is as much of a test of operating skill as is using Morse code to talk to someone in Russia (and the Russians are very good operators!) Heck, I think meteor scatter would be a great deal more difficult than working Russia.
Anyway, some time down the road, I want to give the six meter band a try, and all mode two meters. Two would be a good way to use a satellite as a repeater, though there are other bands where satellite operation is possible.
Again, I'm wondering why I allowed this hobby to lapse like I did.
Hopefully life will allow me to resume this soon.
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