GRM HAM Radio Call Sign Database

The buzz lately about ham radio got me thinking it would be nice to know the calls and locations of the forum regulars. I'll start.

KØHOF
Saint Louis, MO

KJ6BQC
Sacramento, CA (soon to be Fort Bragg, CA)

NG6Y/5
Fayetteville, AR

WB3KQU

Frederick, MD

VA3 COT

North Bay, ON

But I am on a mobile and most of the time when I am on the air it is in Bancroft, ON

KK4MMK

Deland, FL

VE3BBI. Haven't been on the air in a couple of decades.

I was touring the WWII sub that's tied up at the pier in San Francisco a few weeks ago. There was a radio operator in the sub calling around and identifying him as a WWII submarine. That must freak a few people out.

What exactly do you DO on a HAM radio? Is it like a chatroom? I can see the obvious benefits during an emergency, but what about day-to-day? Just a fun place to talk?

N9NLH

Fort Worth, TX

pinchvalve wrote: What exactly do you DO on a HAM radio? Is it like a chatroom? I can see the obvious benefits during an emergency, but what about day-to-day? Just a fun place to talk?

A lot of it is just chatting, but it's also a technical playground if you want to see if you can get a network linkup in the middle of nowhere or play with direction-finding. I suspect it's different for most people.

As for me, I got into it because my grandfather was a long-time ham. He'd actually helped with radar development during WWII and was experimenting with things like amateur television - essentially, what you'd recognize as video chat. When he died, I took over his sign. At that time, there was this thing called the World Wide Web that was starting to take off and so I got involved in doing technical experiments with that instead.

Basically, the WWW took the place for me that radio did for him when he was younger, and I think it has a lot of similar aspects. Still, there's something cool about bouncing radio waves off the ionosphere and reaching NZ without depending on anything more than an antenna you built and tuned yourself.

Kinda like amateur racing or hotrodding - there's no money to be made, but it's fun.

pinchvalve wrote: What exactly do you DO on a HAM radio? Is it like a chatroom? I can see the obvious benefits during an emergency, but what about day-to-day? Just a fun place to talk?

All of the RSO (Rally Sport Ontario) rallies are run with HAM's for the radio net. We keep things safe for the drivers who fly through the woods!

20 odd years ago in the UK I was G4UIS, which my ever complementary father made into G4 Useless Idiotic Son

Adrian_Thompson wrote: 20 odd years ago in the UK I was G4UIS, which my ever complementary father made into G4 Useless Idiotic Son

KØHOF = KØ Hungry Old Fox
KØHOG = KØ Hareless Old Goat

Tom Suddard wrote: KK4MMK Deland, FL

I'm inordinately proud of that boy. That is all.

Margie

pinchvalve wrote: What exactly do you DO on a HAM radio? Is it like a chatroom? I can see the obvious benefits during an emergency, but what about day-to-day? Just a fun place to talk?

I have only ever used the 2 meter and 450MHZ bands which are just a small part of the frequencies available to Hams. But I have:

Talked to my neighbor down the street
Gotten directions when far from home (pre-GPS time)
Coordinated emergency services between different agencies when downtown flooded.
Talked to people on the west coast and in Europe by sending my signal thru an Amateur Radio satellite.
Communicated with people all over the US by bouncing my signal off the moon.(this was using a friends equipment)

I am not a HAM (yet) but I do like to listen to them chat with my trunk tracker. In fact I was just listening to a group out in Johnston county this evening after reading the other thread about ham radios here on GRM. Plus, I like all the technical stuff, even if I don't get it all yet.

73

Marjorie Suddard wrote:

Tom Suddard wrote: KK4MMK Deland, FL

I'm inordinately proud of that boy. That is all. Margie

Awwww

Order my christmas present yet? I'll need an NMO holesaw, too.

Tom Suddard wrote:

Marjorie Suddard wrote:

Tom Suddard wrote: KK4MMK Deland, FL

I'm inordinately proud of that boy. That is all. Margie

Awwww Order my christmas present yet? I'll need an NMO holesaw, too.

Remember, a central mounted antenna with grounding material all around it will radiate in all directions better than on front or back.

Yep.

Though because of my roof-top-tent, I'll have to mount it towards the rear of the roof. That's okay, right?

Mounting antennae is kinda like building exhaust headers. In theory, there is a best way to do it, but the most important thing is that it fits. So, yeah, put it where you can make it fit.

Cool, thanks.

Yep, Tom. Can't always put it in the best spot, just know it can effect the way it works. You're not running multiple antennae on the same rig, so issues should be minimal. You probably won't even notice it. Make sure it has a good ground. If you're cutting a hole for it, you should be fine though. We'll worry about that in the testing phase.