I'm someone who has had "get into ham radio" on my list for a while, but various stuff in life has distracted me from taking the test and getting any equipment just yet. So in the meantime...I want to hear what y'all actually DO. Tell me what your typical interactions with ham radio looks like! What fun stuff can I do, what does the reality of it look like, how can I enjoy radios? Because my plan has always been get the license then figure this part out but...seems like I should really have some kind of goal in mind besides just "mess around with electronics in a new way". Tell me about your average ham radio day.

Posted in: s/ham-radio

🐶 lori

May 15 · 4 weeks ago · 👍 Addison

2 Comments ↓

📡 Queen_City_Nerd [mod] · May 15 at 21:59:

Sure, I use APRS pretty often, I use DMR on and off too with my AnyTone 878 and a Pi-Star for the DMR. I have a TenTec Rebel QRP radio that I love. CW mostly after starting as an early No-Code ham 30ish years ago, SKCC and NAQCC member. I sometimes do some digital modes like JS8CALL and play with HF packet but that's too obscure, play with PSK31 and other soundcard modes if you do that. I've been a ground tracking station and AMSAT is pretty neat. Never did much contesting, but events are fun like the 13 Colonies on the 4th of July. And I've made some QRP transmitters like the TunaTin2 and got the 1000mi/Watt award. Best 73 to you de N2QFD

🐝 Addison [mod] · May 22 at 02:02:

Lately I've been enjoying trying to connect with a friend in another state with different digital protocols, though we've had mixed results. Building a multi-band HF antenna in my limited (and rented) backyard in order to accommodate this has been a fun challenge on weekends, and gets me outdoors. Attending meetings with the local radio club is a fun way to meet others and hear about their projects.

If I'm bored with work I'll fire up WSJT-X and log a few FT8 contacts. I find FT8 pretty uninspiring otherwise.

A month or so ago I spent a chunk of time building a little APRS beacon using a Pico and a DRA818V. I'm thinking about picking that back up and designing a PCB for it soon.

I've got a few LoRa modules I've been meaning to solder onto something.

When I got my Tech license back in December I mostly chatted with people on the local repeater. After a couple of months of hearing guys talk about their groceries I lost interest in that part, and didn't do much for a while.