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n0ndv
Tue 12th Aug 2008, 03:18
hello from west central florida everybody. name is bill
im just another grumpy old rf junkie. been playing with radio of some kind for 45 years. i been sorta away from radio and hamming for about 7 years and just getting back active. life had me busy for a few years and no time for radio. been in florida now for about 12 years or so originally from the midwest hence the n0ndv call.

im really a digital freak that was where i spent the 1st 5 or 6 years of my ham hobby. but it started going away few years back so now i dont use digital much. now days i hang on 75/160 meter ssb. not a dx chaser or contester im a ragchewer and can bend an ear when i get going. about all i do now days is hf. have vhf/uhf junk here but im not a repeater sort of guy i like simplex and since i been in florida there isnt much there on simplex so i just sorta once in awhile listen to the local repeaters. packet likewise is dead where i am so i dont even bother turning that on.

been pretty busy throwing up wire and antennas last month as we moved while i was away from the hobby. but finally sorta got everything together. im a wire antenna freak and constantly experimenting with the wire. i cant stop myself im addicted to wire wrapped around my feet. in my radio years ive used about every form of antenna there is and decided id never buy another 1 about 20 years ago. so i build em. use what i got.

equipment seldom changes here ive had same junk for years its just all been in storage awhile.
icom 746 for 20mtr thru 160mtr
ameritron al-811 hf amp
alinco dx-70 mobile hf and 6 mtr i work 12 meter lots and thats the rig i use there
kenwood tm-741a uhf/vhf fm
kenwood tm-231a used forever on vhf packet
an older kam ive had for 20 years for my data work
antennas nothing special there. im a believer in resonate antennas or close as i can get. hf wire is a fan dipole res wires on 160/75/40/20/15 on the 746 and 811ive always went back to the fan dipole or a novice dipole the old guys in the hobby call it. seems thats about eziest and best for me. and makin em res helps keep the neighbors watching tv instead of yelling at me.
an old homemade cb 5/8 vertical on the alinco gets me 10/12 mtr

thats pretty much it and i bet you all are glad im finally going to shut up huh. :lol: told ya i was a ragchewer now didnt i. sorta home frequencies are 3.838/14.266/24.965/28.400 and i roam everywhere on 160mtr. nice group of florida locals on 3838 if ya can stop in some evening. i hang out on 28.400 with an old beat up uniden 2510 and a crappy dipole mostly just to catch my buds from kansas when 10 is fired up. most of them up there dont use anything but 10mtr.

nice place ya all got here and btw i found you off eham.net. nice to meet everybody. and im finally going to shut up lol.

5B4AJB
Tue 12th Aug 2008, 12:35
Hello Bill
I guess you've (we've) found a place where waffle is tolerated!

If you're into digital things, you simply must try DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale).
I know I keep going on about this mode (group), but once you start, you'll understand.
In Europe, 3.733 LSB is the busiest area, although 14.236 gets busy too.

Build a PTT interface for next to nothing (as if you don't already have one) and you're away!
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m23/g0tsu/G0TSU9ptt.jpg

There are a few DRM-enabled programs out there, the latest addition is EasyPal, although WinDRM is better for <1GHz computers (and it does voice).
http://www.kc1cs.com/digi.htm
http://www.tima.com/~djones/drmset.htm

BTW, if you enjoy making antennas, try the 2m Double-Diamond!
http://www.qsl.net/g0tsu/dd.htm

ei7gnb
Wed 13th Aug 2008, 10:47
Welcome to the forum Bill! Make yourself at home :D

73 Jon, 2IØJVI

n0ndv
Fri 15th Aug 2008, 20:12
well demetrius ill think about it. but im a true tor mode sorta guy ya know. the reason i dont use the psk and newer modes is simply i dont want to do any more computer interfacing. the kam makes it ez ya know. i did try psk and i didnt really like it. if i use another puter interface then i need another com port. with 2 used already for kam and another for rig control. and unhooking 1 and hooking another didnt doi much for me. and didnt want to spend the money for a com to usb.
the interface was simple to build and the thing still lays there but just wasnt my thing.

and as dead as data is on hf/vhf in the us it really isnt worth it to me. i just bum around and take the digital when i find it and mess more and more with ssb nowdays. and the 2 freqs are voice over here demetrius. but here vhf/uhf is like dead all they do here is buy a handheld and plant themselves on repeaters demetrius. i have homemade yagis on there now. stacked 11 elements on 440 and stacked 11 elements on 2 mtr. soon im going to roll em horizontal and abandon fm for weak signal ssb. im a simplex guy and simplex is dead here. these new hams over here they think repeaters and echolink is ham radio lol. to me its not.

and thx for the welcome jon i just stumbled in here 1 day and here i am lol. i get bored with radio last few years its dieing over here. so i lean more into the computer area of our hobby more all the time. but we coming up on a cycle maybe here and things will pick up. but since i was licensed in 1991 its been all down hill as far as band condx are concerned. even the local ragchew bands like 160 and 75 meter are lonely over here at night lots of the time. i did work about 12 stations in tor modes on 10 meter yesterday but it took 2 hours of the computer cqing to get that..

i need to reteach myself morse then ill be where the action is. but when i passed the 20wpm test in 91 i forgot morse fast cause i never used it. i been workin at it a tad. been hangin on 28.117 here during the day letting the computer/kam try to dig me up tor stations.

tnx for the welcome and nice forum to hang on guys cya
de n0ndv