Are you a Ham Radio Operator?

I've let mine lapse, but I was KB0QVS. I got started at Texas A&M with W5AC, the Amateur radio club.

 

VE7NZ here in Vancouver, BC. XYL is VA7DDS and we bought a 2005 Prius with B package. Will be installing Larson 2/70 on back fender and control head for Yaesu dual bander in the compartment under the stereo. See you on the air (145.310 - VE7MFS / IRLP Node 1070)! 73, Adrian.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(abq sfr @ Aug 24 2007, 12:21 PM) [snapback]501577[/snapback]</div>

Yes!

-.. . -. --... . -.-

No amateur gear in the car at this time, just tunes (CD's & Ipod) :mellow:

 

Just about to install my Kenwood-D700a in my 06 Prius. I have been using a Icom IC-91AD HT but getting tired of using an HT in the car. Any install tips would be appreciated especially hooking it up to the cars power.

Kieran VA3KS

 

WB7AZZ Circa 1972

 

Great idea!

I'm W8KHU from Incline Village, Nevada. No radio in the Prius (yet... probably get around to it someday), but I do keep a handheld around, and have a dual-band mounted in an RV.

My father was the original W8KHU, but died years ago. I got my ticket, and then did a vanity request for his call sign. Funny story, but I submitted my vanity request, and noted that I wanted to take over my father's soon to be expired license (along with a scan of his license and a death certificate). I was surprised to get a nice personal e-mail back from someone at the FCC saying they were sorry about my Dad, and telling me that the call sign had been approved and that it would be in place in the computer systems in a few days. One normally doesn't expect personal service from the government, but the amateur section of the FCC might be different!

Dan

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(abq sfr @ Aug 24 2007, 11:21 AM) [snapback]501577[/snapback]</div>

Started amateur radio in the early '50's using the Royal Canadian Navy amateur nets.
Continued using own c/s VE0MEL when I retired in 1985 when we put a rig on our sailboat for a six year jaunt to the West Coast of Mexico and into the Sea of Cortez. Mexicans required me to use c/s XE2HQD while in their waters. Enjoyed being involved in Pacific Net with NZ and Australian amateurs plus the local Sea of Cortez net. On returning to Canada in 1991 I was again required to change c/s to VE7GJE since the prefix VE0 was for marine use only. I'm now living in a village complex where antennaes of any sort except satellite are not permitted so have pulled in my horns and now occasionally do the 2 meter dance.
Might reinstall Echolink one of these days.
73 to all other amateurs.
Gary

 

Having made the decision long ago not to post personally-identifying information here, I prefer not to give my call sign. I got my novice license some time in the late 1970's, if I remember correctly, and my Extra eight months later after intensive study. Code was the easy part for me. Electronics was mystifying, and I mostly guessed my way through that section of the exams. I was mostly active on CW, especially the traffic nets. I was a net control operator on the ND, MN, and zero region nets, and a liaison from the state nets to the zero region, and from zero region to CAN. Eventually my interest waned, and in 1995, when I moved to Mexico to study Spanish, I sold all my ham radio equipment. I've kept my call sign current, just for the sake of nostalgia, but have not been on the air since that time.

 

N4YKX here... I have been thinking of installing a nice portable HF rig in the Pri along with a "little" 1kw ss amp due to the antenna acting as one big dummy load... One day.....

 

> Are you a Ham Radio Operator?

Yes.

 

I almost got into Ham, but really enjoyed 11 meters. I had a Ranger AR-3500 converted radio tuned to 40watts to drive the Palomar 1100 tube type amplifier in the rear tool box.. Man what a radio set-up, I could light up floresent lights 5' away and talk over the F/F resturaunts intercoms, tv's car/home radios ....

That was great!! :lol: :lol:


But then it was time to grow up, and nextel made talking easier.....

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hycamguy07 @ Nov 13 2007, 09:54 AM) [snapback]538955[/snapback]</div>

For me, the ability to communicate world-wide (before the internet) was the big draw. Not to mention the smug factor connected with the 25-wpm code test. (Though most hams never got anywhere near that -- but that added to the smugness when you did!)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Nov 13 2007, 04:38 PM) [snapback]539044[/snapback]</div>

Ahh the M/C, didnt they omit that now from the test? I usedto talk skip with that CB, I carried on a conversation with NZ for an hour. :lol: I had to open the box for added cooling. We also would go have CB shootouts, to compete to see who was louder.. (Red Neck) sports.... :lol: :lol:

 

I took kd5rhr's advice and connected the D700a directly to the aux battery in the back. The install was problem free. The antenna is mounted on top of the hatch on the left hand side; the RF deck is in the back; face plate on the dash and cables goes along the left side hidden by the moulding. The D700 requires a GPS for APRS, so the antenna/gps module is on a suction cup mount internally mounted to the tiny rear window with power coming from the center console 12VDC socket (since it powers down during the car shut down).

Anyway, D700 works great. No RF related problems and zero noise from the Prius electronics. Watch for me on the aprs map as ve3osq-9

73...Kieran VA3KS

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hycamguy07 @ Nov 14 2007, 09:25 AM) [snapback]539497[/snapback]</div>

I have been away from the world of radio for over a decade. But someone above mentioned a "slow-code Extra license" so apparently you can now go all the way up to Extra with nothing beyond 5 wpm. So sad! Time was, you couldn't even get on the HF bands without passing the 12-wpm General.

11 meters is HF, so given the right conditions you certainly could get world-wide propagation. But the discrete channels and few of them would make it harder, especially on SSB. On CW, with good receiver filtering, one or two hundred Hz is all the bandwidth you need, and on the CW bands, where nobody is operating broadband modes, the effect of crowding is much reduced. Then a good operator can hold a contact overseas with an HW8 and a couple of watts input and a dipole. I never did much DXing with my HW8 (a fun little rig!) but I never operated more than 100 watts input, and I think my TenTec HF rig only had 60 or 70 watts input. I had a multi-band vertical antenna and a multi-band dipole. Kilowatt amplifiers are the Hummers of radio.

I had modified my HW8 for semi-QSK and by replacing a bad transistor with the wrong type replacement, inadvertently, and no credit to me, wound up with the cleanest signal any HW8 ever had! Boy was I proud of that rig! People couldn't believe they were hearing an HW8, and I could put my signal on an oscilloscope and my waveform was so perfect, it was beautiful.

 

Just passed the 2000 km mark in my Pri. I have mounted a HF-antenna as per 2005 Toyota Prius Mobile Installation . Is there a write up on killing HF-noise somewhere? Anyway my FT-817 is going to be put in the compartment under the stereo.
cu all on HF or Echolink
73 de SM0IKR George

 

KA7LPW Here....

 

KE5TLW here. I am a very recent Prius owner. I am looking to install a 2m/440 radio on it and was just going to post a message to see if any others had and if there were anything to watch out for. Hope you can give some feedback.