Calling all HAM Radio Operators

[edavies]

Hi. I have just recently joined this site and lo and behold, i see a section for ham operators. I was licenced back in Zimbabwe (Southern Africa) back in 1981 and had a full licence there (Callsign Z21BV). I moved to South Africa in 1989 and was licenced in the then controversial "indepedent homeland" of Boputhatswana and had the call H5AA. Once Bophuthatswana was re-incorporated into South Africa I was given a South African ZS6 call. Not too active on HF these days as I have a limited space problem for antennae. Occasionally you will find me on Echolink. Work of a Casino in the NW province of South Africa as their Technical Manager. Due to retire in three years time!! - Best wishes and 73 from Evan (ZS6EVD)

Hello Evan,

Welcome to NLG..... I know that I worked you back in the late 80's under H5AA for sure
might have the QSL card all that stuff is tucked away as I have gave up on HF
but boy were the bands hot in the late 80's for dx.I do have some HF rigs still
along with vhf/uhf gear sold my crank up tower last year and my amps,I did try echolink for awhile
but also burned out on that,nice to see another Ham here I was very surprised at how many people here are Hams.

Tim

Hi Tim - nice to catch up with you again. Yes I was very active in the late 80's and of course, H5AA was one of VERY few H5's in existence so of course I found I was rare DX!! All I used in those days is a dipole and an old Yaesu FT501 (quite a powerful rig). I now have a Hygain 14AVQ vertical and feed that with my TS130S. The vertical is faulty and I am too lazy to pull it aparat to look at it. Yes, there do seem to be many hams in the slot machine repair business - quite amazing really. I have just realised that (assuming you are in the States) it is very early in the morning there - it is presently almost 2pm Monday here. 73, de Evan

[stormrider]

Hi. I have just recently joined this site and lo and behold, i see a section for ham operators. I was licenced back in Zimbabwe (Southern Africa) back in 1981 and had a full licence there (Callsign Z21BV). I moved to South Africa in 1989 and was licenced in the then controversial "indepedent homeland" of Boputhatswana and had the call H5AA. Once Bophuthatswana was re-incorporated into South Africa I was given a South African ZS6 call. Not too active on HF these days as I have a limited space problem for antennae. Occasionally you will find me on Echolink. Work of a Casino in the NW province of South Africa as their Technical Manager. Due to retire in three years time!! - Best wishes and 73 from Evan (ZS6EVD)

Hello Evan,

Welcome to NLG..... I know that I worked you back in the late 80's under H5AA for sure
might have the QSL card all that stuff is tucked away as I have gave up on HF
but boy were the bands hot in the late 80's for dx.I do have some HF rigs still
along with vhf/uhf gear sold my crank up tower last year and my amps,I did try echolink for awhile
but also burned out on that,nice to see another Ham here I was very surprised at how many people here are Hams.

Tim

Hi Tim - nice to catch up with you again. Yes I was very active in the late 80's and of course, H5AA was one of VERY few H5's in existence so of course I found I was rare DX!! All I used in those days is a dipole and an old Yaesu FT501 (quite a powerful rig). I now have a Hygain 14AVQ vertical and feed that with my TS130S. The vertical is faulty and I am too lazy to pull it aparat to look at it. Yes, there do seem to be many hams in the slot machine repair business - quite amazing really. I have just realised that (assuming you are in the States) it is very early in the morning there - it is presently almost 2pm Monday here. 73, de Evan

Evan,

The reason I know I worked you is that H5AA was a rare call back then in fact
I remember when you needed to find or hunt rare dx was to find out where the splatter
was coming from on any given band back then you found that stuff on your own it wasn't posted on the net like today.
Wow you still have some older rigs,I started out with many tube type Kenwoods,and Yaesu 101 series
back in the early 70's when I was a kid there was nothing like that old FT101 warming up the room late at night
when I was suppose to be sleeping for school the next day.
I will look for that QSL as I am interested in the year and band we worked on.
BTW: I am located in Niagara Falls,New York

73...Tim

[Slots_007]

HAM operator here as well

still hold just a Tech license but I'm going for the General in a few months.
My gear:

Yaesu 857D (HF/VHF/UHF)
Yaesu VX-6R
Puxing PX-777
Motorola Saber II (VHF)
Motorola Maxtrac (800 MHz - Public Safety)
2 - MFJ 949E Tuners
Astron 35 AMP Power Supply

Fiberglass vertical for 10M and a VHF/UHF J-Pole for local machines and simplex work.

The Saber is bullet-poof...They were originally sold to the Military in the 1980's and Police/Fire/EMS started using them in my area around 1988-1989.

 

[Slots_007]

Any HAMS still on NLG? Now hold a General and I've been working 40/80 meters with G5RV in the back yard but also work 20, 10, etc.

73

Mike

Code:

KC2VLC

[KirkLasVegas]

Yes.......
WB6EGR
Too many to count, the latest one is a Motorola XPR6550 Mototrbo handheld
Will post picture of radios.....

Kirk

[KirkLasVegas]

More radios......
After all....I can't collect slot machines any more!!!!

[KirkLasVegas]

No..it's NOT a "Police car" !!!
ALL Motorola equipment
High power Spectra's and Syntors on
146Mhz
445Mhz
927mhz
29&52Mhz
Police here are impressed, it's nicer than what they have

[Slots_007]

NICE! Any HF equipment at your station?  

I have a Motorola Briefcase Repeater that was retired from the Secret Service, along with several Saber's and the key loader. Also a Motorola M216, about a dozen assorted Sabers, bunch of 800/900 MHz Maxtrac's, and a few EF Johnson secure HT's that run AES encryption.

Also had a PRC 320 man pack which is still used by Special Forces, heavy sucker to move around but gotta like the features for pick nick table DX.

DISCLAIMER: I do not operate secure on the Amateur band for obvious legal reasons  

[Slots_007]

No..it's NOT a "Police car" !!!
ALL Motorola equipment
High power Spectra's and Syntors on
146Mhz
445Mhz
927mhz
29&52Mhz
Police here are impressed, it's nicer than what they have

After seeing that pick I wasn't thinking local Law Enforcement, I was thinking a sweet Fed mobile comms post

[KirkLasVegas]

Yes...
Icom IC-706MK-IIG
Hustler 6BTV
LDG 200 tuner
Antron A99 for 10 meters

Repeaters.....
MSF-5000 on VHF
MSF-5000 on UHF
MSF-5000 on 900
XPR-8300 on UHF (mototrbo) (Las Vegas and Hawaii)
GR-1225 on UHF

Everything linked together with Allstar/Asterik 4 wire full duplex telephone software switching.

Remote base(s) Frequency Agile 2 and 440 Kenwood TM-G707A with custom controllers

In this household "IRLP" is a dirty word and Dave Cameron can kiss my ass

[KirkLasVegas]

Yes...
Icom IC-706MK-IIG
Hustler 6BTV
LDG 200 tuner
Antron A99 for 10 meters

Repeaters.....
MSF-5000 on VHF
MSF-5000 on UHF
MSF-5000 on 900
XPR-8300 on UHF (mototrbo) (Las Vegas and Hawaii)
GR-1225 on UHF

Everything linked together with Allstar/Asterik 4 wire full duplex telephone software switching.

Remote base(s) Frequency Agile 2 and 440 Kenwood TM-G707A with custom controllers

In this household "IRLP" is a dirty word and Dave Cameron can kiss my ass

No..it's NOT a "Police car" !!!
ALL Motorola equipment
High power Spectra's and Syntors on
146Mhz
445Mhz
927mhz
29&52Mhz
Police here are impressed, it's nicer than what they have

After seeing that pick I wasn't thinking local Law Enforcement, I was thinking a sweet Fed mobile comms post

naw just my daily driver, but have been mistaken for "Federal" and "Local" Law Enforcement more than a few times

[Slots_007]

Nice setup!  iCom, Ya can't go wrong 

I'm mainly a Yaesu guy but have owned a IC706 and kick myself in the ass for trading it!!

Back to your car.....If you drove by my QTH with that setup I would be thinking "OH, S**T!!! IT'S THE SLOT MACHINE POLICE!!! RUN!!!" LOL

[KirkLasVegas]

Antennas kept VERY "Low Key" as to not attract attention (and look like the HAM Hoopties on hamsexy.com)
Painted black to blend in, from front to rear........
XM satellite patch antenna on 2.1Ghz
440 1/4 wave spike
927 5/8 wave gain
29/54 base loaded (minus whip in cargo area)
450 1/4 spike
146 1/4 wave spike
All antennas are "Antennex"

[Slots_007]

Antennas kept VERY "Low Key" as to not attract attention (and look like the HAM Hoopties on hamsexy.com)
Painted black to blend in, from front to rear........
XM satellite patch antenna on 2.1Ghz
440 1/4 wave spike
927 5/8 wave gain
29/54 base loaded (minus whip in cargo area)
450 1/4 spike
146 1/4 wave spike
All antennas are "Antennex"

Do you have any bumper antennas? I have a bumper setup on a lincoln town car (800MHz, 440MHz, & VHF High Band), The bumper antennas aren't cheap and normally are used by Fed's when having even snub-nose antennas on the roof is a no-no or in my case when driving around Atlantic City at night and trying to avoid being hit with automatic weapon fire by people thinking I'm the po-po.

On the Dodge caliber I have a short VHF High Band whip mounted on the side of the hatch and a fake sat antenna that's really for 800MHz, plus another small whip for the Aircraft band (aviation buff). I get a lot of hostile looks in AC with the Dogde.....I need to invest in some kevlar lining and 3 inch ballastic glass before taking it to AC again,,,

I really like your ride, great setup and it's discreet to keep those without the know from spotting it.

[KirkLasVegas]

Thanks
Vehicle has regular plates on it (no Vanity or god forbid HAM call plates!)
Frames around the plates are flat black.
ZERO "markings" such as stickers. Nothing that would make this vehicle "Differant"
from another one
Frame mounted towing "Receiver" with hitch/ball sticking out a good 24 inches to prevent
close calls from tail gating fools. it's job is to take out radiators and oil coolers if rear-ended.
Sometimes gets used to actually TOW a trailer

[Slots_007]

Thanks
Vehicle has regular plates on it (no Vanity or god forbid HAM call plates!)
Frames around the plates are flat black.
ZERO "markings" such as stickers. Nothing that would make this vehicle "Differant"
from another one
Frame mounted towing "Receiver" with hitch/ball sticking out a good 24 inches to prevent
close calls from tail gating fools. it's job is to take out radiators and oil coolers if rear-ended.
Sometimes gets used to actually TOW a trailer

Same here, No vanity plates or HAM plates or crappy Dayton stickers/duct tape DIY signage.
That's why with the lincoln I chose to keep it ultra discreet, The trunk has lot's of room for my AK & AR, 1000 rounds of ammo, and some other things....

When going to dayton I keep a low profile, Bringing plenty of protection with me. After all, with the bathroom malfunction, 500 LB HAMs that haven't showered for days, and a shortage of food at the roach trap motel's continental breakfast s**t could get ugly!! LOL

[Smeghead]

I hold an extra license. I have looked at NLG a couple of times and never signed up. I saw the Ham thread and decided to sign up. I haven't been active for several years but plan on putting up an OCF to get back on HF. My HT died and I'm looking at one of the cheap Baofeng HT's just to get back on the local repeaters. Started as a novice in 82

73's

Ted - KA8SEP