Just thought I'd introduce myself. The name is PJ and I only recently got interested in emergency communications. I live in the Houston area but I've got a place in the middle of nowhere where cellphones only occasionally work. After a little research, I settled on ham as my choice. As a first step, I needed to get my license so I went ahead and got my extra. Overkill, I know, but I was testing at NASA so had to keep up with Jones's. ::)
Now to learn something about it! Unfortunately, I don't know anyone into amateur radio so I'm picking up what I can. I'm mostly interested in regional comms preferably without relying on repeaters, satellites, etc. Power won't be critical so I'm planning on staying with phone or, should I say, not learning Morse. ;)
Looks like this is going to be a great place to get answers to the questions I don't even know yet!
Hey John -
Glad to have you drop by the forum. Why, just the other day , someone was asking 'Who is John Gault?" . I guess we can send them to you? (GRIN)
Good news on the new license and yes, with the Extra, you can do whatever you learn to do. For the span across Texas, HF voice is a great choice. Friends on mine and I used HF radio in the 5 - 7 MHz range with simple , wire or mobile HF antennas to keep tabs with each other with high reliability. Now I live in Virginia and that same trip can be done with difference time/frequency combinations on HF. We'll be happy to discuss options and to help you with getting started. It's always good to have the ability to communicate which do not require commercial infrastructure - just in case.
de RadioRay ..._ ._
Welcome John !!!
Congrats on the Extra, just remember the more power you push the easier it is to track your location. And as Ray had said we are happy to discuss options or ideas.
Joe
Welcome aboard, John. My advice for what it is worth. Listen around the bands and see how people are doing things, and find a local club. Sometimes clubs are like pohbaaah meetings beginning at 7 O'clock sharp and ending at 9 dull, but you are likely to find someone of like mind in the bunch, and lots of help. As others have already said, don't hesitate to ask us.
KF5YIE DE NN0AA K
p.s. My regards to Texas!
Should I mention that my (late) sailboat was named "Dagny..." :o
Gil.
Welcome John and congrats on the Extra! I'm gonna start prepping for mine right after the holidays! It's good to see another Texan 'round here! I'm in DFW now; but grew up about 45 miles east of Houston out in the sticks.
Welcome to the forum and welcome to Extra class. It's so nice not having to worry about band privileges............ if it's an amateur band you're good to go. :)
Thanks for all the great responses!
Gil, that's quite a coincidence! I can see the meaning of my moniker is not lost on this crowd.
RadioRay, I went ahead and bought a Yaesu 8900 with the hopes that the 10 meter FM might provide the coverage I'm hoping for. I still need to spend some time with it to see what it'll do.
Joe, understood on the power and looking at his site, I'm beginning to open up a little to QRP/CW.
Archangel, I've identified some local clubs and agree that's where I might find some great advice and maybe even an Elmer.
Quote from: John Galt on October 22, 2013, 09:35:02 AM
I'm beginning to open up a little to QRP/CW.
You won't regret it if you do. Not that we'd ever give you any good natured ribbing about it. 8)