Ham radio. Girlfriends. Somehow I figured they wouldn’t go together. And Gordon West’s presentation didn’t help that perception much either! He says that you’re not a REAL ham radio operator unless your neighbors look at your antenna - roll their eyes and say, “What the HECK is THAT?”. Well – I had a brand new extra class license that was itching to be used. So I put a big ‘ole HF antenna on my car. Not exactly a babe magnet I figured…

Fast forward a year or two. I met a really nice lady via e-Harmony.com. First glimmer of hope was that we both used technology to find each other. But ham radio? She’s gonna think I’m a geek I thought. Well – she kind of did. But she said she found it interesting because it was different. We went out on dates and I gently showed her my radio and what I listened to and why. We did some sight seeing and on some trips I kept the radio on. Even made a contact on 2 meters across Lake Michigan that sort of caught her attention. She asked a few questions and it didn’t seem to bother her.

We became more serious and she asked me at one point what the tests were like and if I expected her to some day pass them. I said no, and sent a link to www.qrz.com ‘s practice exams so she could see what sort of material there was. Well, she sort of thought that was a hint and was curious, so she started taking some of the practice exams. And guess what? On the second time around she was doing quite well!

Now this person is a 4th grade teacher with basically no radio experience except for the stereo in the home and car. Well, being a teacher she wanted to get GOOD grades. So she studied. I sent her my audio CD’s from Gordon West and she bought his license exam prep book. She even told me at one point to stop bugging her because she had to study! I thought it was all in good fun until she said she had registered for the exam.

She passed her technician license exam. The first time. With 100%! Smoked me! I was so proud of her – not that she had to pass it – but that I knew she put the time and effort in to it and was not disappointed. So with pride I introduce to the ham radio community Ham Radio’s Perfect Woman – Jane – KD8JPW. Jane is currently active on EchoLink working both PC to PC and on the airwaves via PC to Repeater. We are working out the details on a HT for later in the year. Seeing an 8 in her license, you would find her in Area 8 of the listings in EchoLink in Explorer View. She is currently thinking about an upgrade to at least general class so she can work HF. For those wanting more information on what EchoLink is and how you can use your PC and an inexpensive regular PC mike to connect to ham radio repeaters and computers around the world with digital sound quality better than cell phones, go to http://www.echolink.org/ . For those purists that say that this is not “real” ham radio – welcome to the year 2000 and thanks for helping to make your hobby a stale old dying hobby! Sorry if that offends – but someone needs to say it.

Jon Kreski, AB9NN
Owner http://www.HamRadioResources.com

Ham radio’s SkyWarn recognition day is December 6, 2008. This is a day when the National Weather Service takes their valuable time and resources and says “thanks” to those of us that help out with SkyWarn operations. It’s pretty cool. I attended last year’s event and got a nice guided tour of the forecast office. I had the chance to talk with a forecaster and ask any questions I wanted. I wanted to know if Wisconsin did actually have a minor “tornado alley”. He confirmed that it did. I was able to take a few pictures and got to meet the net control operator that worked the station there. I also got to see the station and could have worked it if I had wanted. On the way there, I made a mobile contact with the station and got a confirming certificate later in the mail.

Now, if you haven’t worked a SkyWarn operation but wondered what was involved, etc., this might be a good way to get some information. If you have, then thanks for what you do! Here is a link to an ARRL article about the day… http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/10/30/10417/

For more information on SkyWarn, check out this link: http://www.skywarn.org/

For some really nice weather tools, use the ones on www.HamRadioResources.com which are the ones I use for our SkyWarn operations!

If you have never listened to SkyWarn operations in your area, then I suggest you find a “Wx” repeater (weather) in your area. Use http://www.artscipub.com/repeaters/

Well - enough for a Friday night after a long day of auditing at work. Have a great weekend and stay weather safe!

Jon Kreski, AB9NN
Owner
www.HamRadioResources.com

Ham radio equipment can be really fun to buy – or – it can be a huge waste of time and money. It all depends on the research you do before you buy it. Now, I don’t mean that you have to be some penny pinching equipment expert. That’s OK if you are. BUT – you really should do the following for each purchase:
• Find at least three good places to buy ham radio equipment. Use resources like the internet, phone book, conversations with other hams, listening to ham conversations on your shortwave radio, etc..
• Research the DEALERS before you research the equipment you are thinking of buying. Get a comfort level with what they bring to the ham radio table. Do they repair what they sell? Any guarantees? Do they sell the brands you might like? Do they offer advice? Are they easy to browse on the web? Do they offer a nice catalog? Toll free phone? Will they accept your form of payment (credit card, debit card, PayPal, etc.)? Do they finance? If so, are their rates substantially higher than through a bank for a home improvement loan? Do they have great prices? How about shipping costs? How about speed of processing? How long have they been in business? Do you know anyone that has worked with these people before? If you don’t – is there a reason for that? Are they close enough so that you could drive down and visit them and shop or ask questions if you need to?
• BROWSE! Order a catalog from each place. Browse their websites. Whatever you are looking for – look through a wide range of similar items from various manufacturers. Use this time to get an idea of what features you want, and what prices you can afford. Be realistic. I hear lots of guys that have had to sell their ham gear and I suspect that many bought top of the line gear only to have to sell it later. Take your time on this part. It’s important. Think about features that you might not have considered to be important that you might wish you had after you bought that new gear. Consider why each piece of equipment includes what it does – and does not include. There are probably good reasons for that.
• Talk to others about their experiences first. You can do this at ham radio clubs, on news groups on the internet (groups.google.com for example) and through posts in places like QRZ.com and eHam.com. Find product reviews and read lots of opinions about many different products – not just your favorite. Still stay open to the idea that your favorite product might not be the best for what you really want to do.
• Double check your budget. Remember to include taxes, insurance, postage, operating costs, installation costs, etc..
• Consider new vs used. E-bay, ham swaps, etc.. Now – this is purely a matter of budget and opinion. I’m not here to judge one way or the other. Just be sure to remember that you may not get a warranty and may not be able to return it as easily as you think.
• Place your order. But first, plan on how your item will arrive. Will you have to sign for it? Will you have to pick it up from UPS? Can it be delivered to your address? Get all the details worked out first.
• When item arrives – resist the urge to just start playing with it!!! Read the instructions first. I know – that is tough! But why fry a new radio, etc. when you just paid that much for it? I do a quick cruise through the manual first. I locate the sections I know I will need to read in detail. Then I read the warnings up front. And then I dive in.
• Keep talking to people about their experiences. I have a hand held radio (HT for handy-talky) and if I charge it wrong an internal fuse will blow and I have to send it in. Fortunately I read about this in a news group BEFORE I blew mine. The instructions did not explicitly warn me about that little quirk.
• Have an elmer when you install / program / customize the gear. That can be SO helpful. I have gotten lots of little bits of advice that I guess I knew, but probably didn’t consider at the time of the install. I can’t thank Keith, KS9WI enough for his help with my antenna installs. People are glad to help because we all have been there… And we all want everyone else to have a good experience. It’s a good way to make new friends and enjoy an afternoon!
• Use your new gear in a low power mode first, being careful to consider all the little things like proper grounds, good connections, SWR match, etc.. Again – don’t play at full power until you are SURE you know what you are doing.
• Explore the features of your equipment. Get to know all the menus of the radio, etc.. Know what they are intended to do and how YOU will use them and when.
• Customize your gear. Get it all set up and mounted, etc.. Don’t forget my favorite product – LockTite to keep set screws SET!
• ENJOY – you deserve it after all of the above!

Jon Kreski, AB9NN
Owner
www.HamRadioResources.com