Jack, KD9LCB recently joined the club. I’ve been working with him to get a VHF/UHF station up and running. After he made a few on-air contacts I asked him for some thoughts his experience so far with ham radio

What got you interested in ham radio?

I got interested in ham radio by watching my son operate his radio and seeing all the new people that he made contact with and all the different areas of the United States and the world that he connected with. I realize that with some nice equipment and the knowledge and skill for operating it the opportunities seemed boundless to make connections with people all over the world.

What did you use to study for the exam?

I used the book I called Now You’re Talking [from the ARRL]. I read the book cover to cover and then I started to use the practice exams online I studied for about 6 weeks, an hour or two hours a day and took practice exams and when I got to the point where I was getting 30 or more correct on a regular basis I took the test. This was somewhat difficult for me because I have no electronics background, being in corporate media sales for 25 years, but it was fun. I’m retired now and I had the time to do it.

What did you find interesting at the first meeting you attended?

I was very impressed by my first meeting at the Schaumburg radio club. It was very well organized and everyone seemed to contribute something in a positive manner. The members I chatted with were extremely nice. I found the presentation about the emergency Weather Service [Skywarn] very interesting. And the upcoming events showed that this is a club that not only talks but takes action by being involved in community service and other activities.

From the meeting, or from contacts you’ve had on air: Is there anything that you heard about that you’d like to learn more about in the hobby?

I have tons of stuff to learn. I want to make contacts in every state of the union and one day go international if the sunspots and the ionosphere cooperate.

Tell us about your first contact. What repeater did you use? Was the ham you contacted helpful, welcoming, etc? What radio did you use and how did it work?

My first contact was through the Bolingbrook repeater [K9BAR]. I talked to a ham in Naperville. This was right after I set my up my station in a spare bedroom. I tried not to embarrass myself as I told him I was new and he was kind enough to provide a signal check. I was hooked 10 minutes after my son set up my equipment I was on the air with a halfway decent connection!

I was using a 50 watt power source with a mobile Icom 207 transceiver and a mobile antenna located on the top shelf of my desk.

Do you think the material you covered for the exam helped you make your first contacts?

I think that the material covered in the exam did help me establish some first connections but some of the material was redundant. I don’t think I’ll ever use it but who knows. Knowledge is power regardless of what you’re doing.

What parts of the hobby do you plan to continue exploring?

As mentioned before I plan on broadening my horizons with long-distance communications and community service.

Tim, KD9LAI attended his first SARC meeting in May and received a Baofeng UV-82X handheld donated to the club by Jim, KB9RGU. I asked him a few questions about ham radio now that he’s had some on-air time.

What got you interested in ham radio?

In the early 90’s I developed an interest in “world band” just in time for the first Gulf War. This was entirely on the “receiver” end of things, but even then I toyed with the idea of getting my “ticket.” Life intervened, however. Fast forward to 2013, at which point I began volunteering with the Civil Air Patrol. This, as well as other experiences, has impressed upon me the need for emergency communication skills during times of crisis.

What did you use to study for the exam?

I primarily used 3 completely free resources: (a) A set of power-point videos by Ham Whisperer  in conjunction with notes from (b) FCC Technician Class Exam Study Guide – 2014-2018  … and (c) the Roy Watson Ham Radio Exam practice tests–available as both android and iOS apps. I found straight/rote memorization of answers to be insufficient to my needs. The Ham Whisperer videoss along with the wikibooks pages provided just enough explanation to get me through.

What did you find interesting at the first meeting you attended?

The amount of knowledge and expertise exhibited by current club members.

From the meeting, or from contacts you’ve had on air: Is there anything that you heard about that you’d like to learn more about in the hobby?

Yes, I am very interested in pursuing my general [class license]. My primary interests from here are in the realm of learning enough about antennas for portable/stealth operation; I’m also interested in QRP, digital modes, and how to do more with less.

Tell us about your first contact. What repeater did you use? Was the ham you contacted helpful, welcoming, etc? What radio did you use and how did it work?

My first contact was while I was in a McDonalds parking lot on Ogden, during a lunch break. I got on the DARC repeater, 145.430. It was a ‘lunch-time’ gathering in which Net Control called for any sign-ins. The radio I was using was the Baofeng UV-82X given to me by the club. Without thinking about the fact that I was still in my car on just a rubber duck antenna, I keyed up and gave my call sign. I was immediately acknowledged and welcomed into the Net. Net Control located me in the QRZ or other database, and I confirmed my identification. Question of the day was if we had sustained any damage from storms the previous night. Net Control said I could be heard, though it sounded like I was on the ‘edge’ of the repeater. In reality I was only about 2 miles from it, but sitting inside my car on just a HT with rubber duck…. yeah, I get it. So, in reality, I think it worked GREAT, given those conditions; and I was very much welcomed by the other ham.

Do you think the material you covered for the exam helped you make your first contacts?

Difficult to say. Preparation has been cumulative. I think what helped the most for making my contacts has been dialog (verbal and email) with other hams, and watching YouTube videos on selected topics.

What parts of the hobby do you plan to continue exploring?

As mentioned, I want to get my General so as to have HF privileges open to me. I’m then interested in slowly exploring and learning about various modes of communication under less than ideal conditions.

Field day came together very well with our station captains and food captains bearing a good portion of the up-front work getting equipment and supplies together. We were able to return to our usual location at the water tank on Plum Grove road, but we implemented a shorter setup time. I’m glad to say that we had plenty of members on hand to get three stations on the and hoist three antennas up to the tank to support our operations. All of our stations were on the air at the start of field day at 1pm which was some excellent work by everyone involved.

I was able help three different people make their first HF contacts. It was a lot of fun to be able to coach them through the process, and then explain that we’re using about as much power as the laptop sitting on the table next to the radio consumes.

A complete report on field day with pictures will be posted in the July RHG including our score total. If you have any pictures that you’d like included please post them to SARC-all or use the form at the bottom of the web site to submit them.