Dan Cook
EF5
First opportunity to be home. there isn't any offerings of the test anywhere near where I am now.
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How many chasers are ham radio operators??
- Thread starter Tim Stoecklein
- Start date
First opportunity to be home. there isn't any offerings of the test anywhere near where I am now.Ryan Trullinger
Well Dan that score of 28 isn't too bad for the uninitiated, I had an advantage over most of the folks testing around here , I had been involved in communications for 30 years in some form or another.
Those of you that want to study I have 2 ARRL Now You're Talking guides here now these are the 5th edition (current version) guides I would be willing to part with one of them provided that whoever I send it to, will pass it on to another chaser that wants to study for their license, after the person I send it to passes the exam and gets their callsign, and this tradition will continue until the next edition comes out.
If anyone is willing agree to these terms email me or PM me to work out the details.
Tim Stoecklein
EF5
"Those of you that want to study I have 2 ARRL Now You're Talking guides here now these are the 5th edition (current version) guides I would be willing to part with one of them provided that whoever I send it to, will pass it on to another chaser that wants to study for their license, after the person I send it to passes the exam and gets their callsign, and this tradition will continue until the next edition comes out. "
This is what I really like about amateur radio as a hobby
Maybe some of this type of attitude will rub off on some people in the stormchasing community :wink:
Dan Cook
EF5
If mrobinson agrees, you might want to send it to her first since you guys are in close proximity.
and I'm gonna dig around in my library to find a copy hopefully too.David Sallee
Hello all,
My son (age 20) and I (age 40) are just getting into the storm chase field. We have just signed up for the local storm spotters class locally along with something called "CERTA" I believe? CERTA = Certified Emergancy Response Team ?? Once we pass it, we will be allowed to respond to any tragic situation and help the local Fire, Ambulance, Civil Defense... ect..
I have been a Vol. Firefighter / First Responder for the last 2 1/2 years, My son for the last year. We are also getting involved with the local Civil Defense Group (which all are Ham Operators) so we will be getting ham lic. also.
Last years Tornado outbreak in this area (SW Missouri) inspired us to continue with what we have been wanting to do the last 10 years but never really had the opertunity till now. I own my own business (Mobile DJ Service) so my weekdays are generally free now.
My question on Ham useage is, with a 2m setup, what kind of talking distance is there? What setup would be best for chasing?
I know "some" vetran chasers don't like "newbies/wanna be's" but Hopefully, most of you on this forum & in the field will give us a chance to prove our intensions are real and not a "wanna be"
Hope to meet some of you on the chase this spring
David Sallee & Buddy Sallee
Jay McCoy
EF5
The range on a 2m depends on the repeater system you use (height of the tower etc..). Topography (hills, trees etc...). Now if your not on a repeater then its line of sight (about 3 miles). In the Texas Panhandle we have no trees and its pretty flat so We have a good range on 2m. I can talk to the NWS from 60 miles on 1 tower. And when we link the network together for severe wx operations we can go anywhere in the panhandle and still make contact.
As for the "newbie" thing. we were all newbies at one time. Dont worry. just join in and have fun. welcome.Ryan Trullinger
Repeaters are wonderful machines arent they., From my Jeep in front of my house on 5 watts, I can easily hit 7 repeaters, one of those is linked permanently linked to two and sometimes more machines, as it is right now, I can talk into Grand Island NE from my location in Gothenburg, about 100 miles, some ot the other repeaters have a range of up to 60 miles by themselves.Leesa Terry
ham radio
Actually it has been about a year now. One of my buddies and I went to take the test the same day. They storm chase too. It was actually easy if you take time to study, the Technician test anyway.
Oh BTW I am KC8VRFKevin Scharfenberg
KC5NPX here.
I mostly use my handheld to talk to other chasers in my immediate area. I haven't bothered in a long time trying to use Skywarn nets. I don't have a rig, just a handheld, and I've found it hard to cleanly hit many repeaters unless I'm close to the tower. Also, too many Skywarn nets tend to blow off calls from people they don't know. I've always had much better luck contacting the NWS through my cell phone.
Laura Duchesne
EF5
I don't have my license just yet, but my chase buds keep pestering me to get my license LOL. I got the book to study and all, but I've been lazy to study :lol:jfeigles
Callsign: KB3GNR.
Yup, I've got my license, I can talk on a HAM radio now. Although my car payments are not allowing me to be able to afford a radio yet Oh cruel fate!Ryan Trullinger
Well J my rig cost $134 and change and was shipped with no freight charge., Go E-shopping and look around a bit don't forget to go the mfgr sites and check out the specs and in most cases you can download a manual for the rig you are interested in.Doug Lee
Storm spotting/chasing helped me get into ham radio. Went to community college with the idea of going to OU School of Meteorology. After that I went to a spotter class sponsored by a ham club. One of the club officers there recommended the "Now You're Talking" book. The class was held at a library, so I went to see if they had the book. They did have an older edition. Later I bought my own copy at Radio Shack, then passed my test at the Green Country Hamfest in Tulsa in 1997.
I generally carry a handheld with me and have it on most of the time. I also participate in public service events and try to be prepared for emergency comms. I have recently become the activities chairperson for a local ham club, and have started to put together a team of hams to help the local Red Cross chapter.
I also enjoy hidden transmitter hunting (foxhunting). Right after my first foxhunt win, I went up to the Tulsa NWS office to log reports for the April 19, 2003 Skywarn net. That's the day Dewey OK got hit. Sad, but also educational.
Hamfests are a good place to find used radios, and you can meet other hams face to face to get questions answered.Ben Pinette
EF1
Amos,
In regards to using 70, there's not much activity that I've come across. This past year however I did start using the 70cm calling freq of 446.000 when on the road with other friends in the group.
I found it very useful with a dual-band rig, as you can monitor the local Skywarn net (or simplex, NOAA, whatever..) on VHF, while conversing on UHF at the same time. My friends agreed and we will continue with it this year as well.
I know, not that we don't already have enough to do! Now you want to monitor and talk at the same time! Hey, it worked for us. And with that, I also propose that 446.000 be the national UHF chaser calling frequency!
-Ben
KC8NIYJon Miller
EF2
I'm a licensed ham since 1998 - although I'm just now trying to get into the hobby. Due to financial constraints of buying a house and car in the last several years kind of put ham radio on the back burner for awhile and I never got active. Finally got a dual band 2 m/440 rig and am trying to put up an antenna at my house- hopefully completed sometime this spring when the weather breaks and when I can learn how to use the radio (Alinco DR 610TQ).
I would like to get active in local SKYWARN here in western Ohio after getting some 'on air' experience + use it on ' chase' vacations.
Does anybody have recomendations for a good 2m/440 mobile antenna ?
Jon Miller - WT0RNASimilar threads
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