Is anyone into ham radio?

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Years ago I had a ham license. I still have my equipment. If there were some autistics to chat with, I'd think about getting a new license.

I have one, first got into it in 2004. There was a break in the middle and last summer I started getting back into it. I have a rig in my car at the moment.

I have a nice 2-meter repeater in a box. My favorite HF band is 40-meters. Is 40 very crowded these days?

I'm an amateur radio operator, been so since 1990. I started as a Novice, got my test a month before the no code Tech came out. I upgraded to Tech Plus so I have all bands from 6 meters and up plus the Novice segments on CW HF and 10 meter voice. I'm on 2 meters only now, my rig is a Radio Shack HTX-202 2 meter handheld that does triple duty as HT, mobile and base. When mobile, I just run barefoot at 5 or 6 watts RF, most people run 35 or 50.

I've been interested in radio since I was a kid, but I mainly listened until last year, when I finally got my Tech and General licenses. I have a dinky little Baofeng UV-5R handheld for VHF/UHF but those bands aren't widely used around here so mainly it just sits. I have a Kenwood TS130S for HF and am just now figuring out how to use it correctly. I didn't have the mic gain turned up enough so I didn't use it for a while because I couldn't figure out what was wrong. The main HF bands that are used around here seem to be 40 meters and 20 meters. During daytime they are VERY crowded, it's nearly impossible to find an empty freq to call CQ on. Is there anybody on the West Coast of USA who would like to start a net for autistics and their family members?

I've got a Yaesu FT7900 unit in my car connected to a comet SBB-5 2m-440 antenna. It works pretty well, my grandfather has the same unit and I know how to use Yaesu's so it's a good match for me.

Aside from ham radio, I also installed a Mobile One AM/FM antenna as well for my car stereo. Works way better than a stock antenna whether it's a monopole or a window antenna. Mobile One is an Australian company so I had to import all the parts to put that together (monopole, base, cable and mount). Works very well, has a 1dBi gain on FM and works great with the HD radio (IBOC) system.

May I ask if someone could talk about start up cost$ for those of us who know nothing about the Ham Universe?

Thanks!

$100 to $200 can get you started with a basic single-band rig. Add about $50 more for some decent RG-58 coax, build your own antenna, tune it, and you're ready to go!

You'll need a license first, of course.