13-07-2018, 01:17 PM
(13-07-2018, 07:57 AM)VK4ADC Wrote: ...Hi Dave
I am almost 74 and was first licensed when I was 18 so I have been around the bands for a while! What I can honestly say is that I am still totally amazed and enthralled by ham radio and I intend to stay that way, if my health allows, until I finally blow my finals and the guys in grey suits come to take me away – and then I will be still banging on the lid and saying “hang on, I’ve still got a of lot of AR things to learn about and try!
Yes things have changed. Back “in the day” CW was king, SSB was just starting to take hold, 80m and 2m were chock full of signals, conditions were great, but we not back in that day now, and neither we should be – ham radio is supposed to be a progressive hobby.
As I sit here today I have quite a simple station: FTDx1200 for HF/6m, an old FT847 for VHF with a transverter for 23cm. A multiband HF vertical 6.6m high and a log-periodic yagi at 8m for VHF and UHF, but the important things are the “modern day” changes that make ham radio as interesting and exciting, and yes, challenging as it ever was.
We have more bands to use. Interfacing radios with computers (and that is not hard) has ushered in a whole new world with digital modes that have an efficiency that we could not have even dreamed about “back in the day.” I VHF vertical and a bit of long wire for HF can work wonders.
There are a lot of resources in the internet for propagation prediction, activity reporting, homebrew projects by the hundreds.
Yes, the atmospheric conditions are not good for 20-10m but 40-30 conditions can be excellent, although patchy. A lot of activity is digital, but there is still plenty of CW (I unashamedly use a key board for sending and a computer-decoder to help with receiving) and SSB activity.
I have now worked 14 US states using the FT8 digital mode, including my longest ever 80m contact to New Hampshire – what a WOW! That was!
You are right Dave, there is not a lot of “plain vanilla” operating on 2m SSB but there is a heck of a lot of meteor-scatter activity, and using aircraft-enhancement for longer-distance contacts is a real thrill. Sporadic E propagation in the summer can give VK-ZL wide contacts. There is the extensive FM repeater network with internet linking as Doug mentions. Then there are satellites to work through. So 2m is very much alive and well, just changed its focus!
You also need to let others know that you are interested in 2m SSB or CW contacts. Just blindly putting out a CQ on 144.1 seldoms works these days. Put some calls out on the local repeater asking if anyone is interested. I was also encourage you to use the VKlogger site where you can see who is on the band and arrange skeds. Registration is free at: http://www.vklogger.com
73
Wayne VK4WDM
(Maybe I am just a big kid, but am I enjoying ham radio after all these years? you betcha!)