About two weeks ago, I visited Ham Radio Outlet (HRO) in Salem NH to pick up a copy of Gordon West’s Technician Class license prep book. I need the book for an upcoming class at the Port City Amateur Radio Club. I went into HRO with a list of radio gear I wanted to check out, as in, look at, not purchase. At least that’s what I told myself. The place was busy for a cold and cloudy Saturday morning I thought, and as I walked around I overheard customers discussing antenna theory and even tropo ducting. Talk about geek heaven. I felt right at home despite my complete newbie status. I had to stop myself from drooling over some of the top of the line HF rigs, rigs that cost more than several seats on the 50-yard line at next month’s SuperBowl. Despite my plan of getting one $20 book, I walked out of HRO 45 minutes later with my wallet lighter and my arms full of radio gear (more about the gear below.)

While I was talking with the sales person about antennas, an older gentleman came over and offered some good advice on the matter. He proudly identified himself as a decades long licensed ham and an ‘old fart’ – really, his words, not mine. Now, you have to understand, from my readings on ham radio ‘old fart’ isn’t always the nicest moniker to have. These are people that, in the extreme, refuse to adapt, evolve and decry the solid state nature of things. But he was very pleasant and knowledgeable and we talked a bit about the FCC dropping the Morse code (CW) requirement and what that meant to amateur radio. I was prepared to hear that amateur radio would suffer, that it would become as profanity laden as CB radio, that CW was the gatekeeper that kept undesirables out of the amateur bands. But his answer surprised me. He argued that while knowing Morse is very helpful, it shouldn’t be something necessary for licensing. He went on to say that the FCC doesn’t require separate testing of other modes of transmission such as packet radio or ATV to get licensed, so why Morse? I had to agree with him. Now, honestly, I’m learning Morse because it is very useful. It has fascinated me since I was a little kid and had a pair of those cheap plastic walkie-talkies with the Morse code alphabet printed on the case and a key that usually broke after tapping out your name. Any way, his response gave me hope that dropping the Morse requirement will benefit the hobby and not cripple it.

I paid for my new gear and headed for the car, into which I loaded the following:

• Yaesu FT-7800R – A mobile 2M/70cm transceiver

• Astron SS-25 – A switching power supply

• Comet GP-3 – A dual band base antenna

• 25′ of RG-8U coax cable with PL-259 connectors

After a lot of research and pouring through product & consumer reviews, the Yaesu FT-7800R seemed an ideal transceiver to begin my amateur radio endeavor. It allows transmission on the 2M and and 70 CM bands (144.000 – 148.000 MHz or 144.000 – 146.000 MHz and 430.000 – 450.000 MHz or 430.000 – 440.000 MHz) so this offers a lot of repeater activity. Reception covers 108.000 – 520.000 MHz and 700.000 – 999.990 MHz (with cellular blocked.)

I’m running the Yaesu as a base station in my home office. It’s design lends itself to mobile use (car, camper, truck, etc.) Since the intended power connection is into a car battery, I purchased the Astron power supply to run the radio using an AC power source. The Astron simply takes an input of 115V AC from the power outlet in your home and converts it to 20A at 13.8V DC. I have read that older switching powers supplies have been known to cause interference with radio equipment. However, the Astron has filters making it ideal for use with all communication equipment including HF. Well, that’s what the manual says. But to date, no interference problems as far as I can tell and the Astron works perfectly. But take note, I’m wading in the shallow end of the experience pool and my ability to discern power supply interference from other forms of interference is lacking. But hey, I’ve just started this journey.

I unpacked all the gear, read through the manuals and planned how I was going to install everything efficiently and safely (here are some pictures of the installation process.)

First, I disassembled my computer desk, an old AnthroCart, one of best desks I have ever owned, and attached the radio mounting bracket to the underside of the top desk shelf. Next I assembled the Comet antenna (be sure to seal it for wet weather) and attached one end of the coax to it. I ran the antenna out the window closest to the radio and mounted it about 6 feet off the ground, nailing the antenna support bracket into a door frame leading into the rear of the garage. (NOTE: This is a temporary antenna installation. Use galvanized nails and leave about 1/4 inch of the nail exposed to make removal easier.) The antenna itself is nearly 6 feet tall but weighs less than three pounds. The whole time I was installing the Comet it was about 15 degrees outside and an ice storm was raging. I mentioned this to a local ham and he replied,

“Ahhhhhh! Excellent – you have learned the first rule of antenna installation:

Those antennas which have been installed on (choose)…
- The windiest day in recent memory
- The coldest day in recent memory
- In the middle of a hurricane, tornado, blizzard, or ice storm

…will perform the best! Extra points for any combination of the above.”

In the Spring, I’ll get a longer run of higher grade coax and an antenna mast from RadioShack and, with the help of friends and a strong ladder, the Comet antenna will rise 40 to 50 feet from the ground. I plan on mounting it on the south end of the house, at the peak, which should greatly improve reception and transmission.

The other end of the coax coming from the antenna was connected to the radio. After connecting the radio to the Astron power supply, I powered both up. Within about a minute of punching in a local repeater frequency, I was hearing conversations from 25 miles away.

At this point, since I’m unlicensed, I have the transmit mode in the Yaesu turned OFF and spend my time listening to a few local repeaters. Figuring out how to program the Yaesu and just listening has taught me a lot – how call signs are exchanged, how conversations are passed around from one ham to the next, etc. This weekend I’ll be attending a class all day Saturday to prepare for my technician license exam. Hopefully, by mid-February, I’ll have my ‘ticket’ and be on the air.

As a teen, I wanted to get into amateur or ham radio. The technology fascinates me – being able to communicate over vast distances on only a few watts of power – and the community service aspects drew me in. But being a teen at the time, I was busy doing many other things (sports, computers, cars, etc.) to commit to it fully so I held back.

A few months ago, I came across my father’s old QSL card and my interest in amateur radio was sparked again. Last week I ordered two ARRL publications, the Ham Radio License Manual (Level 1 Technician) and the ARRL’s Tech Q & A. I plan on taking the Technician exam next month and I’m currently researching which type of rig to invest in. Stay tuned…