NeW Ham, No Clue

[wa4nlw]

Hello all, Matt WA4NLW here.
      Just wanted to say hello and introduce myself. I am the General class ticket holder some folks complain about. Lemme explain, My father Wayne (Ray) was WA4NLW from back before I could remember. We had our differences and as a lad I had my own ideas of fun but radio  wasn't one of them. I did follow his lead and joined the U.S. Coast Guard to become an aircraft electrician. Most of my life was filled with my goings on and his was filled with his goings on, they seldomly crossed.  A few of years ago he got sick and passed rather quickly of cancer. I was fortunate to spend some time with him and His life long friend Dave WA4AIW before he left us.  He did get the last laugh as he left me all of his radio gear. After four trips with a truck and trailer loaded with gear I finally had most of it in the brand new shed I had with no clue what to do with all of this weird and neat stuff.
      Dave begged me to look at the hobby and get my ticket so we could keep in touch. he promised to help me along and did soo much for me until he decided that he was ready to leave us and join his brother ray (my dad). we went to N Carolina # times that fall to spend time with Dave before he left us. So here I sit with a general class ticket, a good supply of gear and very little Electronics knowledge. Yes it is true I Don't know how a radio really works, But I really have found a hobby that is holding my attention!! Finally!! Now I just have to teach myself electronics and radio repair/ building. I Love to build and figure things out a lack of knowledge does make it hard. I have built a couple of pine board and other small kits and am now working on The pine board project of Dr. Heil's.
      There seems to be an massive shortage of (real and willing) Builders around me so I pick up what I can where I can, and appreciate all assistance i get. I am glad i found this collection of "ole time radio heads" to pay attention to. Please overlook my uninformed, repetitive and mostly basic questions, but rest assured I am hanging on every word.

      Currently I run an Icom 7300 barefoot with a heathkit 2050a tuner to a 80 meter windom, a Zero Five vertical, and a home brew 20 meter loop. Also working in the shack is a kenwood ts-690s and Swan 270(I love Swan radios). I have several old boat anchors to fix up (Thanks Dad) including my next project which is a knight r-100/t-150 set that was one of Dads. As of yet I have only listened to a few AM qso's but I do like the sound!! Hopefully I will make a contact soon from my N.E. Florida shack soon.

      Looking forward to interacting with y'all

Matt WA4NLW

[N1BCG]

Just wanted to say hello and introduce myself. I am the General class ticket holder some folks complain about.

Welcome Matt. First, there's nothing to legitimately complain about regarding a General Class license. Second, your desire to get into building and experimenting is admirable, but do both, operate and experiment. Doing so will immerse you in two key categories of the hobby and you'll be able to enjoy both as you make contacts and friends.

One of the best uses of amateur radio conversation is sharing questions and answers both on-air and in the forums (although the latter will yield rather candid responses). Tech forums are great for getting past hurdles when refurbishing boat anchors. There's a lot of interest in the topic, particularly if your rig transmits a carrier and sidebands simultaneously.

Since you mentioned AM, and since it's forum-relevant, you can find the most activity between 3870 and 3890 on 80M, and 7270 and 7300 on 40M.

[KK4YY]

Welcome aboard, Matt! If you like the sound of AM, you're in the right place.

Each of us have our own stories of how we came to be involved in ham radio. Mine also hearkens back to my father, though he wasn't a ham. He had an interest in electronics, and even did some radio building so, as a boy, I was exposed to his knowledge and a basement full of tubes, resistors, capacitors, etc.

Having a lot to learn about radio is not bad thing. It'll keep you interested for a long time and there's truly no limit to what can be learned. No one has cornered the market on knowledge yet — we're all still learning. In this forum, AMfone, and on-the-air, you will find a people that are more than willing to help you along. It's kind of what we do, you know?

Your Icom IC-7300 is a fine start to communicating on AM. That radio produces good sounding AM "right out of the box", as they say. With a good antenna and favorable conditions, you'll be heard just fine.

Also, congratulations on keeping your fathers call sign on the air. I'm sure that it holds great meaning for you. That kind of sentiment is not lost on this crowd.


Don

[SM6OID]

Hi!

Matt, welcome!
Enjoy your new life as a Ham.
Ask questions and we will do our best to answer!

73 from Sweden

/Morgan

[WBear2GCR]

Welcome!

Sounds like perhaps you have some clue?

Anyhow, everyone starts at the beginning with not too much knowledge.
Necessity turns out to be the "mother of invention", or in this case the
motivation to discover and learn.

One thing important to mention, is to PREVENT MICE from
making a home in the rigs! Big mess to deal with if they do. Not good! Nooooo.
I mention this because you said the stuff was in a shed?

Suggest mouse traps, and maybe put the rigs each in a clear plastic bag, with one or
two moth balls inside.

Maybe a list of the "booty" and/or a pic?

I'm in the Northeast, so it's unlikely we'll work on 75m AM, but you can, these days,
listen to the goings on here using one of many WebbSDR receivers. Could be fun!


                    _-_-

PS. one way to gain a wealth of "old buzzard" background to to acquire a pile of old
QST, 73, CQ and Ham Radio magazines. Usually at a hamfest or from a fairly local ham.
Just run through them, and enjoy what catches your eye!

[Opcom]

do both, operate and experiment.

There are more experiments around my shack than operating!
And lots of good advice on this board.
Welcome to fun!

[wa4nlw]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes and ideas, Funny you said that Bear as I just bought a collection of CQ mags from ebay ranging from 1958 to 1964. although i think i may need to go earlier to get the real good stuff! I'm looking at my shelf of boat anchors and i believe i can put together a respectable AM setup. I have a clean Hammerlund HQ-110c that should work as a good receiver and i also have 2 knight r-100 receivers. There is an National NC-44, Hallicrafters S-22-R, S-38 and my dads home-brew rig that I know nothing about(I will be posting pics of this in the correct location to see if you fine folks can help me figure it out).
   Transmitter wise I have a Knight t-150 that might be ok to start out with if i do some of the mods that I have found linked on here. Also laying around is a heathkit dx-60/HR-10 set with HG-10 VFO,HM-15 and HM-11 swr meter, HO-10 monitor scope, and HS-1661 speaker. There is a Johnson Viking Adventurer(cw only i believe) and a Johnson Viking Matchbox. some of the other rigs here are all sorts of swan rigs and a Henry Tempo one with PS and VF-one VFO. most of this stuff is condition unknown as of yet but working on it.

Thanks for the positive input! I Am quite excited about getting neck deep into all this

[KD1SH]

One thing important to mention, is to PREVENT MICE from
making a home in the rigs! Big mess to deal with if they do. Not good! Nooooo.
I mention this because you said the stuff was in a shed?

  Very good advice; cannot be overstated!  Mouse urine might as well be sulfuric acid for all the damage it will do inside old gear.

[wa4nlw]

One thing important to mention, is to PREVENT MICE from
making a home in the rigs! Big mess to deal with if they do. Not good! Nooooo.
I mention this because you said the stuff was in a shed?

  Very good advice; cannot be overstated!  Mouse urine might as well be sulfuric acid for all the damage it will do inside old gear.

I could see that, My storage is in a 16X12 insulated and cooled radio workshop built into one end of my storage shed. I can just imagine opening a case and finding rats nests and chewed up wiring and such.

[KD6VXI]

Mice suck.

I know.

I now have a 40 foot storage container / conex box that is wind, water and rodent tight.

--Shane
KD6VXI

[KA0HCP]

Welcome aboard Matt!

Your dad left you a great collection which should provide years of fun.  Congratulations on setting up a diverse antenna farm.  It is important to have multiple antennas of different types, especially both vertical and horizontal to select from.  You will have the flexibility to find the best propagation mode on any band.

73, Bill