667
@667@lemmy.radio
- Comment on What Can We Do to Get Youth into Ham Radio? 5 days ago:
I had been looking for remote testing since about 2018 because personal circumstances had me moving about quite a bit. Possibly there were some options back then, but I had not been able to find it; Covid certainly made that widely available. As soon as I had discovered it, I booked my appointment and studied/memorized.
Covid was a tough time for many, and a tragedy for others. I am thankful for folks, like you, who worked during that difficult global time, to ensure access to food went basically uninterrupted.
- Comment on What Can We Do to Get Youth into Ham Radio? 5 days ago:
It’s a great algorithm called spaced repetition. I use the method so much I discovered Anki (and its parent site Anki Web) to do a ton of university studies. There’s a small learning curve, but once you get it, you can make all sorts of flash cards with fine grain detail for spaced repetition.
As for the FAA, once you are past PPL, Sheppard Air is pretty much the golden standard, only there is no space repetition in their system.
- Comment on What Can We Do to Get Youth into Ham Radio? 6 days ago:
Are you eligible for a US license? HamStudy.org and study for the Technician’s license. Memorize the answers. Then when you are passing practice exams with a solid 80% or better, schedule your remote exam through the HamStudy website, take it, then get on the air.
I did my Tech from a beachside resort in the Philippines during the peak of the pandemic.
You can do it!
- Comment on Wait, why is the White House using Starlink to ‘improve Wi-Fi’? 1 week ago:
They’re letting the terrorism button cool off a bit, considering its basically not be let up since September 2001.
- Comment on Antenna Recommendations 3 weeks ago:
My pleasure! Depending on the local topography and your level of motivation, you may consider using a GMRS repeater, if it makes sense.
- Comment on Antenna Recommendations 3 weeks ago:
This is a great question. There is generally a null point which extends from the top of the antenna such that if you were to point the tip of the antenna at some distant receiver, the signal would be greatly attenuated. It’s not eliminated completely for the same reason if someone is yelling but not facing you; signals can bounce or bleed around and still be intelligible.
When I think about antennas, I like to imagine a donut: 🍩, the antenna extends through the center and the actual donut is the radiation pattern. This is good for mental modeling, but in application there are more things which influence radiation patterns. It’s still a good start.
When an antenna is placed on its side, the closer it is to the ground, the more of its energy is directed into the ground (or it may reflect back and nullify signal coming from the antenna), but for handheld radios (which are most likely VHF or UHF), having sufficient line of sight is what’s needed to have the system work properly, and where one needs to occasionally go through walls or other simple obstructions, a little more power can be helpful.
When skiing as you mentioned, have you been having any difficulty communicating with others in your current setup?
- Comment on [FoAR] Foundations of Amateur Radio - What's the story you'd like to tell yourself? #podcast 4 weeks ago:
I had a fairly “traditional” vision of sitting at the radio in the evening and spinning the dial to make contacts, maybe a net or two, and maybe a ragchew—what about, I haven’t the foggiest. Medical procedures, I think is what it’s supposed to be.
As I started evaluating the gear I wanted vs the gear I needed, including the gear I hauled up a couple of hilltops in the mountains, I quickly discovered it’s a huge pain to carry the IC-7300 in addition to the telescoping mast, coax, 20aH LiFePo4, and guy wires for the additional 90W.
I do enjoy making SSB contacts, but what I’ve found is that I really enjoy making the distance, and what I need is a suitable mode on a lightweight, low-power radio and a modest antenna setup. Honestly though I’ll probably still haul up the telescoping mast, as I really like my twinlead j-poles.
Digital modes are a delight, but doesn’t give me enough of the human touch, and SSB on 10W is tough to cut through pileups. So now I need to add CW.
I went from desktop rig with permanent antenna to expedient low-power ops in about a year.
- Comment on A long video of one person's opinion about "algorithmic complacency" 4 weeks ago:
I am.
He hasn’t.
You’re the first Internet stranger to notice! Here’s a celebration emoji: 🎉
- Comment on A long video of one person's opinion about "algorithmic complacency" 4 weeks ago:
I call ahead now.
Everything old is new again.
- Comment on Adding radio to the observatory display 4 weeks ago:
I would care! I find non-terrestrial radio emissions interesting and would instantly recognize a waterfall display and be eager to explain to my companions.
- Comment on Antenna Recommendations 4 weeks ago:
For a monoband, they’re quite versatile. I feel one of their best qualities is that they can be rolled up, and still get excellent performance. Another quality is that they are balanced; it almost seems like magic.
- Comment on Antenna Recommendations 4 weeks ago:
It’s a great time to be on 10m. My first QSOs went ~1200mi and I was only using a 1/4-wave CB mag mount whip on my car; imo the real fun is on 20m; from New Mexico I was making QSOs with Indonesia on SSB.
Follow your interests, you’re going to have a great time.
- Comment on Antenna Recommendations 4 weeks ago:
This is such a fun time!
Lots of good advice here. Bear in mind that multi-band antennae often have tradeoffs in terms of SWR.
Depending on how industrious you’re feeling, I’ve found tremendous success with a homebuilt vertical monoband ladder line j-pole. KB9VBR has an excellent build video. Downside is that on 20m, you’ll want a mast at least as long as the length of the antenna, but if it’s impractical, you can keep the radiating element vertical and the matching section horizontal, and even then if that’s not possible, the entire antenna can be horizontal.
Welcome to amateur radio!
- Comment on Sooo, where did the blatant Nazism suddenly come from? 5 weeks ago:
I wish I could find it now, but there was a quote attributed to someone suffering under an oppressive regime which would blatantly lie, and yet it remained accepted: “The lie is the insult.”
- Comment on Isn't it possible to frame almost any opinion as a question? 5 weeks ago:
I love lamp?
- Comment on [deleted] 5 weeks ago:
There is a fairly misunderstood tax rule which lets US persons working abroad for more than 330 days per year to exclude a reasonably large chunk of income: www.irs.gov/…/foreign-earned-income-exclusion
- Comment on lemmy.radio upgrading to 0.19.9 1 month ago:
Huge thank you!
- Comment on [deleted] 1 month ago:
“I’m being evaluated for terminal cancer. I’m gonna have a great time.”
- Comment on Support Your Parks - POTA Event This Weekend 2 months ago:
I’m gonna run up my new wire and try and hunt on 10W!
- Comment on [FoAR] Foundations of Amateur Radio - Ham Challenge #podcast 2 months ago:
I went all-in on designing one myself, but used lots of examples to form mine.
Ultimately the things you need on your card are simple: callsigns, band, time, and signal report.
Doesn’t have to be fancy or elaborate. Even a minimalist card is unique in its own regard.
On the other hand, you can hire a graphic designer, give them some examples, and let them go at it.
- Comment on If someone rubs their pennies on you, is it considered a centual massage? 2 months ago:
No. I would be incents.
- Comment on Good ear protection for concerts. 3 months ago:
Earasers for me. They have a selective band pass to let vocal frequencies through. Airplanes, concerts, monster truck shows you name it, I’ve used mine and can practically have a normal conversation.
- Comment on Fashion is cyclical 3 months ago:
Everything old becomes new again.
- Comment on [deleted] 3 months ago:
If you look at $350 as a substantial amount of money, I’d say pass.
On the other hand, if $350 is roughly equivalent to a dinner for two for you, then yolo and see what you get.
You might get something worth it and something you can flip if this isn’t the radio you ultimately want to end up with.
- Comment on Which band are you on? 3 months ago:
I usually try to find myself on 20m. I like it’s DX-ability at night and appreciate it’s reach during the day. Otherwise 10m is nice because there’s lots of new hams ready to answer CQ calls, or calling CQ themselves.
The person who answered my very first QSO made it extra special by sending me a first-contact certificate; went way above and beyond and I am incredibly thankful for it.
- Comment on [deleted] 3 months ago:
If you’re seeing them go for twice as much elsewhere, then it sounds like it might be a good deal. Bear in mind the old adage “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
It’s possible it’s being sold by someone who had high ideas of amateur radio and wants to rid themselves of a basically brand new radio.
It could be part of an estate sale and the seller did not do sufficient research.
It could be inoperable and the seller is not being forthcoming.
It could be stolen and someone is trying to fence it.
At the end of the day, you have to decide if $350 is worth the risk.
- Comment on what's a good present for some friendly nurses who taught me little tricks to work better before I leave the hospital I'm working at? 3 months ago:
Some banks have them, some don’t. It depends on what’s in stock that day. Tried to ask for a stack of US$2 bills once and they told me I’d need to place an order for US$10,000 in order to get them in because they don’t keep them stocked.
- Comment on If a word can have as many meanings as we assign to it. Can was assign every meaning to one word? 3 months ago:
Sweeeet
- Comment on Suddenly there were 700... 4 months ago:
Admirable. 10mW honesty blows my mind.
- Comment on Suddenly there were 700... 4 months ago:
100W club here, and hoping to reduce my power use as I get into CW and still make international QSOs.