KC2SMS

November 28, 2007 by
Filed under: Ham Radio 

For those of you who don’t recognize it, KC2SMS is a United States amateur radio call sign.  It’s used to identify the station and operator of a “ham” radio station in the US.

It also means me.

I’ve been interested in radio for many years.  During college I was a member of the Rutgers Amateur Radio Club (WA2NPP), but I never got my license.  I just didn’t want to go to the effort to learn Morse Code.

Earlier this year, the FCC (and ITU – the international body governing radio) eliminated the Morse Code requirement for all amateur radio licenses.

When I decided to stop flying, I looked for a less expensive hobby that could be done on my schedule (flying is clearly neither).  I tried some online version of the ham radio tests after doing 20 minutes of looking at a study guide and to my surprise I passed both the entry level (Technician) and middle level (General) tests.  I seem to have learned a lot of the information over the years from one source or another.  I decided to do some studying and take the tests.  It only costs $14 for a testing session and you can take as many levels as you pass for the same fee.

It contains a powerful anti-impotent drug as Visit Your URL cialis without prescription an active component. Water buy viagra http://secretworldchronicle.com/2020/01/ep-9-43-stone-in-my-hand/ is the ultimate beverage; it replenishes your body, has no calories and does not cause damage to mother’s health. You should bring your allergic tendency in to the notice of the physician if you are a man, you should be familiar with erectile dysfunction, but one of the most dependable and efficient way to treat ED is by using pfizer viagra mastercard . It is actually a competitive business that ought to prove to you that you are of course not alone! Herbal viagra samples for sale and Regular cialis have both been proven safe and mild for skin), especially one with numerous vitamins and a soothing emollient. On Saturday, November 17 (the same day that I handed in my keycard to the flying club) I went to the Pennington branch of the Mercer County Library and took my tests.  I got one wrong on the Technician test and to my surprise only one wrong on the General test – a score of 97% on each.  I tried the Extra (top) level and only got 1/2 of the questions right.  That test is harder and I’ll have to work to pass it someday.

Yesterday the paperwork went all the way through and I was issued my call sign and license.  I have a Yaesu VX-6R handheld VHF/UHF radio on order that should arrive later this week.  In the future I’ll look into a mobile (car) radio that handles all bands and can be used at home as well.  I don’t think I plan to install a major antenna farm or tower at home – I’ll probably get field antennas and put them up when I want to use them.

I have already contacted the ARES/RACES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) folks in my area.  I’ll start working with them soon, though there is a pause in activity for those groups in December every year.  I also may get involved in traffic nets – the passing of short messages via radio from members of the public to other members of the public with the intent to train for the need to pass important messages in an emergency.

Besides, being an IT person by day, being heavily involved in church, and flying airplanes wasn’t nearly geeky enough.

73

Comments

4 Comments on KC2SMS

  1. Shawn Coons on Wed, 28th Nov 2007 3:33 pm
  2. Cool!

    I’ve always been intrigued by amateur radio. How much money would it total to get everything needed to start with this?

  3. Mark on Wed, 28th Nov 2007 3:42 pm
  4. The test is $14. The license is free (ham radio is a public service, you know).

    You can probably get a good 2 meter radio (the most common band for local operations) with accessories used for as little as $200-250. The radio I just bought (covers 2m/1.25m/70cm) with lots of goodies was $250 for the radio and $250 for the accessories.

    Compared to flying it looks like this:
    FLYING
    Stuff you need to buy before you fly – $1000 (includes books, headset, charts, one electronic accessory either GPS or handheld radio)
    Private flight test – $400
    Written Test – $80
    60 hours of training at $85/hour for the plane, $25-30/hour for the instructor (instructor for 50 hours)
    Total – about $8180 before you make your first licensed flight
    Every hour after that – $85/hour
    Club membership – $40/month
    Renter’s Insurance – $600/year

    HAM RADIO
    Technician (entry level) study book – $25
    Test – $14
    First radio with more toys than you need – $500 new
    Total – about $550 before you make your first transmission – less if you use a club’s equipment
    Club membership – $35/year

    It’s a lot cheaper than planes!

  5. jodie on Mon, 3rd Dec 2007 12:11 am
  6. One geek to another, this is pretty cool.

    Was the only training you took out of the study book? What motivated the particular radio you got, and what kind of accessories did you get?

    Jodie

  7. Mark on Mon, 3rd Dec 2007 2:04 pm
  8. Jodie,

    The only *formal* training that I did at this time was the study book. However, I knew a lot of it already due to personal experience over as long as 30 years with electronics, ham radio (aborted attempt in college), and IT work. Even my High School AP Physics class contributed a little.

    I chose the particular radio due to:
    1. Local Emergency Communications needs (they use the 144, 220 and 440 bands)
    2. Cost – it’s not the most expensive new radio, but it’s still solid and fairly feature-packed. I may replace it someday with new features that don’t exist yet.
    3. Portability. On my list for a future purchase is a good mobile antenna for my car, which may someday be used with a semi-permanently mounted unit in the car.

    Made my first transmissions on Saturday as part of the National Weather Service SKYWARN special event at the NWS office in Mt. Holly, NJ. I’ve been a SKYWARN spotter for 2 years. Still waiting for the radio to arrive – the place that I ordered it from is backed up for the Christmas rush and might ship it tomorrow.

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