Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 11:43:24 -0500
Reply-To: Sam Conant <samcvt@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Sam Conant <samcvt@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Antena option for VW Vans
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
You can go on line to ARRL for the license rules and regs re the various levels of licensure. And, I recommend QST Magazine for descriptions of equipment (new). Then, there are several on-line sites (ebay is one) where used ham radio equipment can be reviewed and purchased. Go to Google and enter "ham radio" or "amateur radio" and then
specify the type or brand name of the equipment you are looking for.
Sam Conant (N1PDL)
----- Original Message -----
From: Old Volks Home
To: Sam Conant
Sent: Monday, November 05, 2007 11:24 AM
Subject: Re: Re: Antena option for VW Vans
Shows how much I've been in and out of it. A couple of years back I was in HRO buying some scanner equipment and reference books (I have a Bearcat BC796D plus a few others I use in my vehicles when on the road or at home) and saw several manuals referencing studying for the Technician Class prep and General Class prep. When I asked about any reference books regarding Novice Class study and test prep, they claimed it was being done away with in favor of the "Tech Plus", which required 5wpm code test, but I guess that got changed again. The General Class no longer requires a code test? Now that's big news to me, I believe that was 15wpm (or was it 10?) for the code test.
After listening to 2M, 6M and 440Mhz traffic on my Bearcat these past couple of years, I'm not sure about getting the ticket these days. Almost as clogged as 11M (CB) was back a decade or so ago and I don't care for that. I've used CB since 1971, mainly for SSB operation because I find a more intelligent person on the other end of the frequency, something you don't usually find on AM, which are usually inhabited by "neanderthal set" and I was never into the "10-4 Good Buddy" "cone-pone" idioms. I rarely use AM except to monitor the trucks on channels 17, 19 or 21 when I'm on the road, but switch to SSB when I hit a metro-type area.
Guess I'll have to swing by HRO next time I'm in Burbank to get caught up.
--
Jim Thompson
84 GL 1.9 "Gloria"
84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt"
73 K Ghia Coupe "Denise"
72 411 Station Wagon "Pug"
oldvolkshome@gmail.com
http://www.oldvolkshome.com
***********************************
On 11/4/07, Sam Conant <samcvt@comcast.net> wrote:
There is no "Tech" license for beginners any more. There is the "Novice" or entry level, and the next one is the "General." There is no longer any Morse Code requirement for those, and the exams for each are fairly basic and consist of 30 questions, as I recall.
SamC
----- Original Message -----
From: Old Volks Home
To: Sam Conant
Sent: Sunday, November 04, 2007 10:52 PM
Subject: Re: Re: Antena option for VW Vans
Hi Sam -
Actually, the "Tech Plus" comment was a faux pax. I meant to say that after all my 5+ decades I just never got around to getting my Tech ticket, much less the Novice or General and I am so tone deaf to decern the dots and dashes that I could never read Samuel Morse's wonderful invention and method (I was tested 5 times in my youth and young adulthood and failed every time, thus losing interest). What makes it doubley frustrating is that I am fully immersed in many music genre's - Big Band, Swing, RocknRoll, Disco, New Wave, etc., that I have and listen to them all on a fully packed 8Gig MP3 Player all of the time. That and I use to DJ in clubs and at parties at the time, before doing the VW parts full time 25-30 years ago.
Now if I can just find the time to study up for the Tech ticket test and pass it....someday down the road I guess.
--
Jim Thompson
84 GL 1.9 "Gloria"
84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt"
73 K Ghia Coupe "Denise"
72 411 Station Wagon "Pug"
oldvolkshome@gmail.com
http://www.oldvolkshome.com
***********************************
On 11/2/07, Sam Conant <samcvt@comcast.net> wrote:
Tks for the correction, Jim, and for letting me off the grammatical and
purist "hook" with your comment about VW beetles and buses {;?)
My mentor was a radio ham and a USN Chief Radioman during my first four
years as a navy radioman before becoming a mud-diving fool for my second +
years' hitch. He was a sticker for the jargon and a bit of a purist - and
always insisted that my reports and recommendations for multiple antenna
usage be spelled with the "ae." Guess I've never gotten over that ...
The Morse Code (former Tech +) requirement no longer exists for amateur
radio licensees. So, if you obtained your "Tech" license, and want to do
just a little reading (if you don't already know your electronics and rf
radiation "stuff"), you can sit for and pass the "General" license and get
on the air. Just contact a local radio club (the ARRL and/or QST magazine
lists the clubs) and ask when their next class or next exam date is
scheduled and pass the 30 question exam.
SamC (N1PDL)
----- Original Message ----- From: "Old Volks Home" <oldvolkshome@GMAIL.COM>
To: < vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Friday, November 02, 2007 6:33 PM
Subject: Re: Antenna option for VW Vans
Everytime I see someone using the word for antennae relating to electronic
signals, I think of an insect with a ham radio strapped on its back ;-) So
in the humorous spirit of "Frydaye", here's my take on this....
Terminolgy is where its at these days volks.....On of the first things I
learned in both high school biology and electronics is the correct
terminology of antenna, antennas or antennae (the electronics teacher had an
obession about drilling these differences home to us hapless students who
didn't know the difference between a Yagi or a Ground Plane antenna).
Antennae is the plural for antenna(s) on certain members of the animal
kingdom, to wit: *Antennae* (singular *antenna*) are paired
appendages< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appendage>connected to the
front-most segments < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphogenesis > of
arthropods<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthropod>. In crustaceans
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crustacean>, they are
biramous<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biramous >and present on the first two
segments of the head, with the smaller pair known as *antennules*. All other
arthropod groups, except
chelicerates< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelicerata >and proturans
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protura > which have none, have a single,
uniramous <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniramous > pair of
antennae.Antennae's also are used to send signals to communicate. 20% of all
bugs have antennaes. Antennae are jointed, at least at the base, and
generally extend forward from the head. They are sensory
organs<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_system>, although the exact
nature of what they sense and how they sense it is not the same in all
groups, nor always clear. Functions may variously include sensing touch
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactition >, air motion, heat, vibration
(sound), and especially
olfaction< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfaction >(smell) or gustation
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustation> (taste). (From Wikipedia -
underlines are theirs, not mine)
Antennas are the plural form for antenna, that is those that are used for
transmitting and/or receiving selected electronic signals of the radio,
television, etc., to wit: An *antenna* is a
transducer< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transducer>designed to transmit
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmitter> or
receive<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Receive > radio waves
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_waves > which are a class of
electromagnetic waves <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_wave>.
In other words, antennas convert radio frequency electrical currents into
electromagnetic waves and vice versa. Antennas are used in systems such as
radio<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio >and television
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television> broadcasting, point-to-point radio
communication, wireless LAN<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_LAN>,
radar < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar>, and space
exploration< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exploration >. Antennas
usually work in air or outer space, but can also be operated under water or
even through soil and rock at certain frequencies for short distances.
(again, from Wikipedia - underlines are theirs, not mine)
Of course, on vehicles that looked more like insects (like the Beetle or
Bus), maybe antennae does apply.......;-)
That Bus does have one helluva an array tho...
--
Jim Thompson
(Who never got around to getting his Tech Plus)
(Maybe someday)
84 GL 1.9 "Gloria"
84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt"
73 K Ghia Coupe "Denise"
72 411 Station Wagon "Pug" oldvolkshome@gmail.com
http://www.oldvolkshome.com
*********************************** On 11/2/07, Michael Elliott
<camping.elliott@gmail.com > wrote:
If that guy's antennae can be used to receive normal analog TV signals, then
he will be able to get DTV signals, too.
But picking up DTV in the boonies will probably be harder. Unlike analog TV
where the receiver can tolerate a pretty weak signal but still give you a
picture (though with noise and multipath and sync problems), DTV is
all-or-nothing. Once the signal gets too weak or filled with too much
multipath, the TV will just give you a blank screen.
--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano KG6RCR
On 11/2/2007 11:33 AM Jack R. wrote:
Mike,
So the poor guy in the photo from the link I sent, won't be able to get
digital with his little antenna either.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77623993@N00/1829771066/
You did open the above photo link did you>>>
Jack
-----Original Message----- From: Michael Elliott
[mailto: camping.elliott@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, November 02, 2007 2:05 PM
To: Jack R. Cc: Vanagon Subject: Re: Antena option for VW Vans
Where we live we have good TV signals. But we never get good programs. I
asked the man at the electronics store if the new HDTVs made the programs
any better and he said he didn't think so.
Keep in mind that after Feb 17, 2009, all television broadcasters will shut
off their analog signals and broadcast only in digital. New antennae, new
tuners, will be needed. See
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/digitaltv.html
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