Quick Tickets (was now I are one!)

Jim K5JG

Steve,

I've got a couple that are even better.....

My son passed his Tech exam on a Saturday morning in February of 1996, and his callsign was issued the following Tuesday, just like the situation you described. However, what makes it a little different is that the intervening Monday was President's Day, a Federal holiday!

A couple of years ago the VEs at our local hamfest here in the Dallas area made a special arrangement with the VEC (don't remember if it was the ARRL or W5YI VEC) to process the test results immediately on that Saturday and send them electronically to the FCC whose computer automatically processed them as soon as they were received. The new hams had their callsigns within an hour or two of passing their tests. Admittedly, special arrangements were made to pull it off, but it's still amazing, especially to a long time ham like me who had to wait six long weeks for his Novice ticket to arrive in the US Mail.

73, Jim K5JG

STEVE BALCH sdbalch@... [FT-60] wrote:

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I conducted one exam on Saturday about 9 AM; I sent it to ARRL before Noon, not-registered, just tracking.   He had his call sign Tuesday morning.  Fastest I have heard of.
73  KF4DAX

Re: now I are one!

#15989

开云体育

The antenna he recommends is the Smiley 270. ?Good antenna. Do yourself a favor and use clear fingernail polish to glue on the end piece, otherwise it will probably fall off and render the antenna somewhat useless. ?Happened to me.

Jardy Dawson

WA7JRD Ham Radio

Sent by the Underground Railroad,?

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On Jun 13, 2014, at 6:22, "'Rick - yahoo' rgsparber.ya@... [FT-60]" <FT-60@...> wrote:

?

Gill,
?
We are using the TinyTrac now so am a little familiar with . Didn’t see any antennas on their site.
?
I’ll keep an eye out for collapsible antennas.
?
Thanks,
?
Rick
?
From: FT-60@... [mailto:FT-60@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2014 7:59 AM
To: FT-60@...
Subject: [FT-60] Re: now I are one!
?
?
Hey general Rick:
?
Congrats on the ticket. ?I got my mag mount at -- support a local Arizona company! ?I also love their aprs stuff.
?
Clint recommends a duck replacement that is collapsible, but I don't recall the model just now. ?Was discussed a few weeks back here. ?I want to try one of those out. ?If you will be swapping antennas often, you want to save your SMA and put a BNC adapter on the FT60 and use antennas with BNC connectors. ?Some adapters don't tighten all the way down to the plastic case and will put more stress on the SMA.
?
Gil, AF7EZ

Re: now I are one!

#15988

开云体育

The real learning comes after you get your ticket and can put things to practical use"

Jardy Dawson

WA7JRD Ham Radio

Sent by the Underground Railroad,?

Show quoted text

On Jun 13, 2014, at 6:17, "'Rick - yahoo' rgsparber.ya@... [FT-60]" <FT-60@...> wrote:

?

Gerald,
?
I agree as far as getting the license. But that doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing when I push the transmit key ;-))
?
The best advise I’ve read is to do a lot of listening before I talk.
?
Rick
?
From: FT-60@... [mailto:FT-60@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2014 7:32 AM
To: FT-60@...
Subject: RE: [FT-60] now I are one!
?
?
Doesn’t matter how close you are, as long as you pass!!!!!
?
Congratulations.
?
Gerald
WA5IRC
?
From: FT-60@... [mailto:FT-60@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2014 9:06 AM
To: FT-60@...
Subject: Re: [FT-60] now I are one!
?
?
Excellent!!!!!

On Jun 11, 2014, at 9:28 PM, "'Rick - yahoo' rgsparber.ya@... [FT-60]" <FT-60@...> wrote:
?
I just took my Technician test and got 100%. Then I took my General and just squeaked by and passed. They told me to expect my license in 10 days. On Saturday I should be picking up my FT-60.
?
‘Tis a good day!
?
Rick

Re: External antennas

#15978

开云体育

Thanks Kelly, right answer. ?Use of amateur radio while driving is a state by state issue. ?In addition, all of the laws are subject to interpretation by the local police and judges.

Jack, ae8p

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On Jun 13, 2014, at 7:10 PM, kbbersch KBBersch@... [FT-60] <FT-60@...> wrote:

"Hands-Free" laws do not apply to amateur radio.

BUZZ! ?Wrong answer, but thank you for playing. ?There is no federal exemption to hands-free laws for amateur radio. ?Some states have exemptions but most don't. ?Arizona does not have any such exemption. ?Although there is no hands free law state law you can no longer use a radio while driving in Coconino County.

73 de AC7EW

Kelly

Re: External antennas

#15986

As we know each state makes its own laws. And there is often a wide variation between them
All inclusive statments are usually incorrect

From: Mark Lassman kb6kgx@... [FT-60] ;
To: FT-60@... ;
Subject: Re: [FT-60] Re: External antennas
Sent: Fri, Jun 13, 2014 10:35:20 PM

"Hands-Free" laws do not apply to amateur radio.

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On Jun 13, 2014, at 1:22 PM, "Brian Amos bamos1@... [FT-60]" <FT-60@...> wrote:

?

I tried the rubber duck in the car around phx when I got my first ft60. I would recommend an external antenna. Once I did that it really increased my communication ability. The problem was that no one listened to the repeaters I could hit. And from inside the car I couldnt hit shaw butte or the superstion repeaters. With a mag mount I was fine.

There is an HRO in phoenix 43rd and dunlap I think. Thats where I got my first radio and magmount, it was about 25 bucks. They sell the connectors and adapters you will need as well.

Brian
KF7OVD

Ps there are no az laws against hamming and driving. Texting and driving on the other hand will get you a ticket.

Re: External antennas

kbbersch

#15977

开云体育

"Hands-Free" laws do not apply to amateur radio.

BUZZ! ?Wrong answer, but thank you for playing. ?There is no federal exemption to hands-free laws for amateur radio. ?Some states have exemptions but most don't. ?Arizona does not have any such exemption. ?Although there is no hands free law state law you can no longer use a radio while driving in Coconino County.

73 de AC7EW

Kelly

Re: External antennas

#15976

开云体育

"Hands-Free" laws do not apply to amateur radio.

Show quoted text

On Jun 13, 2014, at 1:22 PM, "Brian Amos bamos1@... [FT-60]" <FT-60@...> wrote:

?

I tried the rubber duck in the car around phx when I got my first ft60. I would recommend an external antenna. Once I did that it really increased my communication ability. The problem was that no one listened to the repeaters I could hit. And from inside the car I couldnt hit shaw butte or the superstion repeaters. With a mag mount I was fine.

There is an HRO in phoenix 43rd and dunlap I think. Thats where I got my first radio and magmount, it was about 25 bucks. They sell the connectors and adapters you will need as well.

Brian
KF7OVD

Ps there are no az laws against hamming and driving. Texting and driving on the other hand will get you a ticket.

Re: External antennas

#15975

I tried the rubber duck in the car around phx when I got my first ft60. I would recommend an external antenna. Once I did that it really increased my communication ability. The problem was that no one listened to the repeaters I could hit. And from inside the car I couldnt hit shaw butte or the superstion repeaters. With a mag mount I was fine.

There is an HRO in phoenix 43rd and dunlap I think. Thats where I got my first radio and magmount, it was about 25 bucks. They sell the connectors and adapters you will need as well.

Brian
KF7OVD

Ps there are no az laws against hamming and driving. Texting and driving on the other hand will get you a ticket.

Re: general Question

#15979

Hi Rick:

The farm I visit is northwest of Marsden, and I meant no handheld repeater coverage. I didn't think anyone on the list would actually know the area. :)

TheFT-60 is the only radio I owned last summer, and it couldn't hit a repeater. I can't remember if I was using the quarter-wave mag-mount yet or not. I did have a tape measure Yagi, though, and it couldn't find anything either.

I will consider the 857 and contact you off-list if I can afford to be interested.

Thanks!
Neil  va5Wd

Sent via Morse Code, assisted by slide rule and abacus.

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On Jun 12, 2014, at 1:45 AM, FT-60@... wrote:

Neil Do you mean no handheld repeater coverage or none at all. I lived near Saskatoon and recently moved back to the Red Deer area and drove all kinds of side roads in the Lloyd area.... also I may have a yaesu FT-857D for sale if you are looking for something used but in good shape for HF. Kevin

Re: now I are one!

#15987

Congratulations!!!? Lots of fun and games, Great Hobby.? I recommend you start checking on Tuesday, although 10 days is more realistic if it was sent registered mail.

I conducted one exam on Saturday about 9 AM; I sent it to ARRL before Noon, not-registered, just tracking.?? He had his call sign Tuesday morning.? Fastest I have heard of.

73? KF4DAX

Show quoted text

From: "'Rick - yahoo' rgsparber.ya@... [FT-60]"
To: FT-60@...
Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2014 11:28 PM
Subject: [FT-60] now I are one!

I just took my Technician test and got 100%. Then I took my General and just squeaked by and passed. They told me to expect my license in 10 days. On Saturday I should be picking up my FT-60.

?

‘Tis a good day!

?

Rick

Re: general question

Bill Boyer

#15974

开云体育

Sounds like me. Was interested in high school, but the teacher that sponsored the club was a jerk. Worked on commercial 2-way later and didn't want to play radio at the house.?

Wife got her tech license for work and it looked like the FT-60 I bought and programmed for her was gonna go to waste, so I took the tech and general exam, and then about a year later took the extra.?

?? ? ? ?

This message was delivered by flying monkeys!

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On Jun 13, 2014, at 10:32, "ccrobins@... [FT-60]" <FT-60@...> wrote:

I've been a working electronics technician since the age of 18 (now 76). ?I never was interested in ham radio as a hobby because I always had the philosophy, "Leave the job at the job." ?Besides, I had other hobbies, fast cars, radio controlled model airplanes, backpacking, etc.

What got me into ham radio was First Person Video (FPV); a method of flying radio controlled model airplanes via a video camera mounted in the model where the pilot would be and a video transmitter to downlink the video to a ground station. ?I needed to get my tech license in order to legally operate the video transmitter in the ham bands. ?So I joined a local club, sat for the tech license, got interested in HF, set myself a goal of being an Extra within the calendar year. Passed the Tech test in Feb. 2011, Extra in Nov. 2011. ?Yippee!

So now I'm an Extra, a ARRL VE, in a club with a great bunch of guys & gals, do some rag chewing on HF and the local repeaters. ?Funny thing is, I never did do the FPV thing.....

73,

Charley -- af5ao

Re: general question

#15985

开云体育

Charley,

?

I have a similar story. My passion since I was 8 years old was analog circuit design. My dream job was to be an engineer at Bell Labs (part of AT&T back then). The day I got my dream job, I lost my hobby. It took me over 10 years to find another hobby: metal working. So now I have a machine shop in my garage. To the extent that electronics serves my metal working fun, I employ it.

?

My interest in getting my license came from requiring my students to have their license in order to send GPS data from a weather balloon. It got to be kind of embarrassing to say that I didn’t have my license.

?

So now that I have my General, who knows where it will take me.

?

73,

?

Rick

Rick.sparber.org

?

Show quoted text

From: FT-60@... [mailto:FT-60@...]
Sent: Friday, June 13, 2014 8:32 AM
To: FT-60@...
Subject: [FT-60] Re: general question

?

I've been a working electronics technician since the age of 18 (now 76). ?I never was interested in ham radio as a hobby because I always had the philosophy, "Leave the job at the job." ?Besides, I had other hobbies, fast cars, radio controlled model airplanes, backpacking, etc.

?

What got me into ham radio was First Person Video (FPV); a method of flying radio controlled model airplanes via a video camera mounted in the model where the pilot would be and a video transmitter to downlink the video to a ground station. ?I needed to get my tech license in order to legally operate the video transmitter in the ham bands. ?So I joined a local club, sat for the tech license, got interested in HF, set myself a goal of being an Extra within the calendar year. Passed the Tech test in Feb. 2011, Extra in Nov. 2011. ?Yippee!

?

So now I'm an Extra, a ARRL VE, in a club with a great bunch of guys & gals, do some rag chewing on HF and the local repeaters. ?Funny thing is, I never did do the FPV thing.....

?

73,

?

Charley -- af5ao

Re: general question

#15973

I've been a working electronics technician since the age of 18 (now 76). ?I never was interested in ham radio as a hobby because I always had the philosophy, "Leave the job at the job." ?Besides, I had other hobbies, fast cars, radio controlled model airplanes, backpacking, etc.

What got me into ham radio was First Person Video (FPV); a method of flying radio controlled model airplanes via a video camera mounted in the model where the pilot would be and a video transmitter to downlink the video to a ground station. ?I needed to get my tech license in order to legally operate the video transmitter in the ham bands. ?So I joined a local club, sat for the tech license, got interested in HF, set myself a goal of being an Extra within the calendar year. Passed the Tech test in Feb. 2011, Extra in Nov. 2011. ?Yippee!

So now I'm an Extra, a ARRL VE, in a club with a great bunch of guys & gals, do some rag chewing on HF and the local repeaters. ?Funny thing is, I never did do the FPV thing.....

73,

Charley -- af5ao

Re: now I are one!

#15984

开云体育

Gill,

?

We are using the TinyTrac now so am a little familiar with bionics.com. Didn’t see any antennas on their site.

?

I’ll keep an eye out for collapsible antennas.

?

Thanks,

?

Rick

?

Show quoted text

From: FT-60@... [mailto:FT-60@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2014 7:59 AM
To: FT-60@...
Subject: [FT-60] Re: now I are one!

?

Hey general Rick:

?

Congrats on the ticket. ?I got my mag mount at -- support a local Arizona company! ?I also love their aprs stuff.

?

Clint recommends a duck replacement that is collapsible, but I don't recall the model just now. ?Was discussed a few weeks back here. ?I want to try one of those out. ?If you will be swapping antennas often, you want to save your SMA and put a BNC adapter on the FT60 and use antennas with BNC connectors. ?Some adapters don't tighten all the way down to the plastic case and will put more stress on the SMA.

?

Gil, AF7EZ

Re: now I are one!

#15983

开云体育

Gerald,

?

I agree as far as getting the license. But that doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing when I push the transmit key ;-))

?

The best advise I’ve read is to do a lot of listening before I talk.

?

Rick

?

Show quoted text

From: FT-60@... [mailto:FT-60@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2014 7:32 AM
To: FT-60@...
Subject: RE: [FT-60] now I are one!

?

Doesn’t matter how close you are, as long as you pass!!!!!

?

Congratulations.

?

Gerald

WA5IRC

?

From: FT-60@... [mailto:FT-60@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2014 9:06 AM
To: FT-60@...
Subject: Re: [FT-60] now I are one!

?

Excellent!!!!!

On Jun 11, 2014, at 9:28 PM, "'Rick - yahoo' rgsparber.ya@... [FT-60]" <FT-60@...> wrote:

?
I just took my Technician test and got 100%. Then I took my General and just squeaked by and passed. They told me to expect my license in 10 days. On Saturday I should be picking up my FT-60.
?
‘Tis a good day!
?
Rick

Re: now I are one!

#15982

开云体育

Don,

I will be checking this database daily.?

Thanks,

Rick

DM33WH

Show quoted text

On Jun 12, 2014, at 9:16 AM, "Don McKee don.mckee@... [FT-60]" <FT-60@...> wrote:

?

Congratulations! Don't forget, you can go on the air as soon as your call appears in the FCC database. If everybody in the chain is on the ball, that can be a lot quicker than 10 days. For example, last month I took my upgrade tests on a Saturday, and the database was updated by the following Tuesday. Here's the the FCC site to check:

Not a particularly user friendly site, but it is *the* source. Other sites will have the info a day or two later, for example:

/

Congrats again!

-Don, KE6DM

------
Sent from my HP Touchpad running Android Jellybean!

On June 11, 2014 8:28:44 PM PDT, "'Rick - yahoo' rgsparber.ya@... [FT-60]" <FT-60@...> wrote:
?

I just took my Technician test and got 100%. Then I took my General and just squeaked by and passed. They told me to expect my license in 10 days. On Saturday I should be picking up my FT-60.
?
‘Tis a good day!
?
Rick

Re: now I are one!

#15981

开云体育

Steve,

HamTestOnline was a great way to prepare.?

Rick

Show quoted text

On Jun 12, 2014, at 11:40 AM, "Steve railcon@... [FT-60]" <FT-60@...> wrote:

?

Congrats! ?I'm thinking of finally upgrading to general, I've been a tech for to long!

Steve
KB9SVW

On Jun 12, 2014, at 9:06 AM, "kg7dju kg7dju@... [FT-60]" <FT-60@...> wrote:

?

Excellent!!!!!

On Jun 11, 2014, at 9:28 PM, "'Rick - yahoo' rgsparber.ya@... [FT-60]" <FT-60@...> wrote:

?

I just took my Technician test and got 100%. Then I took my General and just squeaked by and passed. They told me to expect my license in 10 days. On Saturday I should be picking up my FT-60.
?
‘Tis a good day!
?
Rick

Re: general question

#15980

Really good testing data there.???? Thanks.? Now studying for the commercial tickets.

Radar is easy.? the ## formulas are not so much so..........grin

Dave J?? N0GMP

Show quoted text

From: "jspokes@... [FT-60]"
To: FT-60@...
Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2014 10:05 AM
Subject: [FT-60] Re: general question

?

Take a look at

Hang in there
John AC8JW

Re: now I are one!

#15972

开云体育

Dave,

?

The slip I got from the VE gave the database URL but not the details you have provided. Thanks!

?

Rick

?

Show quoted text

From: FT-60@... [mailto:FT-60@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2014 12:38 PM
To: FT-60@...
Subject: Re: [FT-60] now I are one!

?

Rick:
? You can check the FCC database at

? You don't need to fill in all the blanks.? I usually just put in our zip code.? In your case, you can search on your name.? Once your name pops up there with a call sign, you are good to transmit.
? Your VE coordinator mails the completed forms and exam answer sheet to the VEC(ARRL, W5YI group, etc).? They then transmit the info electronically to the FCC.? I am our club's VE coordinator and we are part of the ARRL VEC.? We give exams before our club meetings in Kamiah, Idaho on Tuesday evening.? I mail the paperwork on Wednesday to the ARRL.? The licenses usually show up on the FCC site the middle of the next week.

Dave - WB6DHW

On 6/11/2014 9:14 PM, Mohd Haizail bin Zainal Abidin haizail@... [FT-60] wrote:

?
Congratulation Rick,
?
On Thursday, 12 June 2014, 12:05, "'Rick - yahoo' rgsparber.ya@... [FT-60]" wrote:
?
?
I just took my Technician test and got 100%. Then I took my General and just squeaked by and passed. They told me to expect my license in 10 days. On Saturday I should be picking up my FT-60.
?
‘Tis a good day!
?
Rick
?
?

?

Re: now I are one!

#15964

开云体育

Rick:
? You can check the FCC database at

? You don't need to fill in all the blanks.? I usually just put in our zip code.? In your case, you can search on your name.? Once your name pops up there with a call sign, you are good to transmit.
? Your VE coordinator mails the completed forms and exam answer sheet to the VEC(ARRL, W5YI group, etc).? They then transmit the info electronically to the FCC.? I am our club's VE coordinator and we are part of the ARRL VEC.? We give exams before our club meetings in Kamiah, Idaho on Tuesday evening.? I mail the paperwork on Wednesday to the ARRL.? The licenses usually show up on the FCC site the middle of the next week.

Dave - WB6DHW

On 6/11/2014 9:14 PM, Mohd Haizail bin Zainal Abidin haizail@... [FT-60] wrote:

Show quoted text

?

Congratulation Rick,

On Thursday, 12 June 2014, 12:05, "'Rick - yahoo' rgsparber.ya@... [FT-60]" wrote:

?

I just took my Technician test and got 100%. Then I took my General and just squeaked by and passed. They told me to expect my license in 10 days. On Saturday I should be picking up my FT-60.

?

‘Tis a good day!

?

Rick