FJ Cruisers of Northern California

HAM Class October 17, 2009

SO I want to get my HAM licens and RTF is offering a calss this month. Wanted to see if there was any other interest in this. SO far its just me going , The class should last all day with a test at the end to get the licens. I will get get costs for the class tonight but it will be pretty cheap and the price includes the book.

Just wondering if there is anyone that wanted to head up there and take the class??

Post up and let me know... More info to follow

UPDATE

Ok so I got my wires crossed and it turns out that the class is in Fremont on the 17th.
The class will be from 8-5, this includes time to take the test.. It looks like this wil;l be a cram session with the test after. They talk about have a 90% pass rate in the last class. There is alot infomation on site.

Here is the link to get signed up : http://www.baears.com/

Its pretty easy to get registered. The class wil cost $30.00. Go to the link and get signed up for the class on the oct 17th. There is much more info on the class at the site..

10/8/09
People signed up for the class

PBn'FJ
sonof40
DHeigher
Boss73

Attachments:

HAMclass.pdf, 122 KB

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Boss73 on October 18, 2009 at 12:09pm

Well that guys must have cheated.. He really went out there to write all the answers real small on the inside of his glasses.. LOL

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Permalink Reply by Sonof40 on October 18, 2009 at 12:19pm

Busted

Permalink Reply by opg4759 on October 18, 2009 at 12:22pm

The problem with D-star is it limits you to only one brand of Ham Radio.

Echolink is not fading away in fact it is growing, APRS is still around and is open source.

I've yet to run into anyone that runs D-Star in the Bay Area.

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Permalink Reply by manoweb on October 18, 2009 at 9:35pm

Well I have to say that the only brand that offers APRS is Kenwood (or, a computer attached to a radio, but that normally prevents the usage of such radio for phone operation...) with the TD-D7 (that I own), D-700 and D710. APRS by the way is not an open protocol, so they created OpenTRAC.

D-star is now only offered by Icom and I will only link the top products, the IC-92 and IC-2820, but there are cheaper models.

Interestingly, according to wikipedia Kenwood is getting there too, only in Japan for now.

It seems there is a D-star repeater on "Mount Diablo" that should be an optimal position (interesting read) for the Bay Area.

THIS SAID, I have spent years on APRS, I took part in the implementation of a computer program (Xastir), we built portable automatic units to keep track of people hiking on the mountains, and I have NEVER used a D-star radio. It is a fact that anyway almost everybody I know back in Italy have switched to D-star. The integration it offers is on a completely new level.

The other option I am considering right now is an all-mode capable HF radio, like the IC-7000. No APRS or D-star, one frequency only, but HF capable. It would be a blast to go with the FJ to some peak on a desert in NV and a directive antenna and do a {V|U}HF contest from there. Or, chat with Australia or Europe from the parking lot of the mall.

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Permalink Reply by opg4759 on October 19, 2009 at 8:00am

APRS is a lot more open then D-STAR, You can use any radio with any TNC and a GPS unit that has NEMA out it doesn't have to be built in to the radio. I'm not saying it's better but it's way more embedded and supported in the US ham community. When D-Star was first released I was looking forward to it, but there has yet to be mainstream support for it. I'm also not a big fan of ICOM 2m/440 mobile radios or ICOM HTs.

All Kenwood offers in Japan is rebranded ICOM radios they aren't making the equipment themselves.

As far as Mt Diablo, it is RF shadowed in lots of areas in the South Bay. I cut my ham teeth operating on W6CX which is on Mt Diablo.

I honestly only see D-STAR as a nitch product in the US and don't really see much growth in it. I'm pretty connected into one of the major linked repeater systems in the Bay Area and they aren't going to D-STAR due to the special equipment required, it's not to say they won't down the road but for the foreseeable future there is no D-STAR in their plans.

Until Yeasu and Kenwood start importing D-STAR into the US and more repeater systems incorporate, I wouldn't use D-STAR as a have to have when buying a radio, get what fits your needs.

In most cases most people here should start with a good HT I recommend the Yeasu VX-7 or VX-8r(my next HT) and then figure out what they want when they want to drop the cash for a mobile or base radio.

A friend of mine has the IC-7000 and he likes it, I'm looking at the FT-857 for the size, but unless your a general or above these radios are kinda pointless for new hams.

Ham radio is as much of a money suck as modding the FJ

I currently have and will always want more.

Yeasu FT-7800R (installed in the FJ)
Yeasu FT-50 HT
Yeasu FT-530 HT
Motorola HT-1250
Kenwood- TM742 -10m/2/m/70cm modules installed
ICOM IC-706
Kenwood TH-D7A (for APRS)

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Permalink Reply by TOE 4X4 on October 18, 2009 at 8:26am

Congrats guys

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Permalink Reply by Estysalinas on October 18, 2009 at 11:46am

Grats guys! I'll have to do this some other time, it is definitly on my todo list though.

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Permalink Reply by opg4759 on October 18, 2009 at 12:18pm

Congrats guys.

Now you need to get radios and listen.

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Permalink Reply by DWH on October 18, 2009 at 12:37pm

Is your offer to set up some time discuss equipment, uses, etc. still good?

I think that would help us decide better what we do and do not need or want in a radio.

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Permalink Reply by opg4759 on October 18, 2009 at 12:57pm

Yes, it is. We will need to figure out sometime for this as I want to pull in a couple of my friends that are even heavier into radio then I am.

I would also want to open it up to the none hams to give them a primer into Ham Radio.

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Permalink Reply by Boss73 on October 18, 2009 at 1:36pm

this will help me out.. There are simply to many choices, my head is spinning...

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Permalink Reply by DWH on October 20, 2009 at 8:33pm

In my mind the main purpose for me having a Ham radio is to have another avenue of communication when out on the trail. Not so much for vehicle to vehicle, but from vehicle to outside help in case of trouble.

With that in mind, I have been looking at radios for the past few days. Here is what I have come up with so far.
Yaesu FT-7900R
Icom IC-208H

They seem to be pretty similar, at least to my untrained eye.
I like the removable face idea for ease of installation and the dual bands to access as many repeaters as possible. The power is also similar at about 50W.

They are within about $40 of each other for price as well.
Does anyone who knows radios have any opinion about these choices?