i got my technician class license

[DMOD]

maybe i can find a cheap 10m ssb transmitter on at my local ham swapmeet. i'll let you all know if that happens.

SW, Send me a PM, I have a 10m SSB only transceiver that I never use anymore.

Don't forget AM (QRP kits) and (Heresy! ) Digital modes such as PSK-31.



Phil - AC0OB

[WB2CAU]

thanks for all the kind words.

maybe i can find a cheap 10m ssb transmitter on at my local ham swapmeet. i'll let you all know if that happens.

Congratulations on the new ticket.  I started with a Technician Class license in 1975. 

By the way, you can thank the ARRL for the restriction of Technician Class ops to SSB mode only on 10m.  They suggested to the FCC not to allow AM there to "prevent a flood of cheap converted CB rigs" according to David Sumner, K1ZZ, League executive vice president. 

Too bad about that rule since it would be a good learning experience to homebrew an AM rig for 10m and use it.

Eric

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Good ruling: "for the restriction of Technician Class ops to SSB mode only on 10m".  Lots of crap cheap AM CB's floating around back then. Thirty questions more and you have a General Class license.

[WB2CAU]

Lots of crap cheap AM CB's floating around back then.

There were a lot more well-designed CB rigs.  And a lot of hams did convert them to 10m successfully too.  And a lot are still in use today without issue.  Why did the ARRL want the restriction imposed on Technician Class ops?  AM is a much simpler phone mode than SSB and would be an ideal phone mode for an entry-level ham to experiment with.  The segment of 10 meters where Techs can operate phone (SSB) is not exactly a crowded band segment.  It could have promoted more AM use and more interest in ham radio in general. 

I'm more inclined to believe it was to encourage newly-licensed hams to buy new equipment from QST advertisers.  The League's position on AM (and probably still is, with current leadership) has been to let it die off a natural death.  They would not do anything to actively promote the mode, and this was a perfect example.

Eric

 

[Tom WA3KLR]

When the Citizens Band went to 40 channels I bought a 23 channel Midland SSB rig on close-out for conversion to 20 meters, circa 1979?.  I figured that if I put it on 10 meters, it wouldn't get much use.  But on 20 meters it would be useable every day.

Bit by bit, a lot of the guts went by the wayside.  It was quite a project as it turned out, but it was quite a learning experience:

Stripped out the crystal-mixing system
Put in high-stability temperature-compensated VFO, a terrific lesson in itself
Stripped out the receiver r.f. stage per contemporary noise figure design
Replaced the bipolar transistor mixer with a dual-gate MOSFET, in vogue at the time
replaced the i.f. amplifiers with my own bipolar stages
experimented with forward and reverse AGC on those bipolar i.f. amps
replaced the detector with my own active detector stage with selected bipolar transistor
integrated op amps into the if audio-derived AGC system and s-meter
added op-amp audio filtering
replaced the discrete speaker amp/modulator with high distortion with an LM380 for the speaker amp - very low distortion and much lower power.
Added op amp squelch
Draws 60 ma on receive.
Never did do all of the mods I wanted to complete, BUT I did work Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Africa with it.  
Great emergency rig, have a solar cell for it.

[KX5JT]

Sounds like that was a monster project Tom.  Might have been better to start from scratch!  In hindsight, what do you think?

John

[Pete, WA2CWA]

There were a lot more well-designed CB rigs.  And a lot of hams did convert them to 10m successfully too.  And a lot are still in use today without issue.

Yep, there are many older CB units that were easy to convert to the 29.0 to 29.2 MHz segment. But there was also a lot garbage CB's that targeted the international market that hit the market too.

Why did the ARRL want the restriction imposed on Technician Class ops?  AM is a much simpler phone mode than SSB and would be an ideal phone mode for an entry-level ham to experiment with.

Novices and Technicians were granted 10 meter phone privileges in March  1987. The nostalgia/boatanchor "resurgence" craze really was not in full swing yet. Back then, the AM mode on most of the big three manufacturers was only fair to average and generally required a lot diddling or modification to get it to sound decent.   And maybe, the simple answer is that for the first time, Novices and Technicians were able to operate HF phone using single sideband voice and data modes on HF. It probably was hoped that this would prompt more hams to move up to General, once they had a chance to sample HF phone and not just CW activity. Plus, the 29.0 to 29.2 MHz segment had already been touted for AM operation (i.e. where AM'ers operated).

The segment of 10 meters where Techs can operate phone (SSB) is not exactly a crowded band segment.  It could have promoted more AM use and more interest in ham radio in general.

Actually, during band openings and contests, the Novice and Technician segment is probably the most active part of the 10 meter band. Even during dead band conditions, you can hear local stations having QSO's in that segment.

I'm more inclined to believe it was to encourage newly-licensed hams to buy new equipment from QST advertisers.

Yes, it's another one of those ARRL black-robe back-room gangster plots to sell more equipment. New hams shouldn't buy new equipment. They should only buy the more seasoned ham's castoffs or junk.

The League's position on AM (and probably still is, with current leadership) has been to let it die off a natural death.  They would not do anything to actively promote the mode, and this was a perfect example.

Eric

Why would the ARRL promote any mode? Modes don't need promotion. If hams are using the mode actively, it will live on. If not, it will die a natural death. Just like thread postings    I don't see the ARRL actively promoting any mode.

Back in the early 2000's, Paul(VJB), Mark(MSB), and myself, with some persistence, got the ARRL award person(s) to modify the WAS award to include an AM certification to the award. Further, we have had an AM web page on the ARRL site for the last several years. Have you seen a SSB web page up there, or a QRP page up there, or an SSTV page up there? And, there still is a vintage AM station set up at W1AW. And, several ARRL staffers are also active on AM.

[WA3VJB]

Not to distract from Solomon's posting of his achievement at earning his Technician Class license,  but I'm skeptical about the effect, then or now, of having an "SSB only" restriction on 10 meter voice activity by this level of licensee.

I never saw a documented basis to think there would be significant numbers of CBers converting their rigs to use new HAM frequencies.  The ARRL people simply identified it as a theoretical threat, and submitted comments to the FCC accordingly.

As would happen, the "freeband" movement would gain most of the activity, situated between 11 meters and 10 meters. That activity is behavioral, not mode-specific, having to do with authorized activity.

Regulating that problem remains elusive.

Moreover, as I understand it, the really serious CBers spurned the mode of AM as being too mainstream.  Running high power slopbucket was their way to go.

So a mode-based regulation would not have pre-empted questionable activity if it was going to happen at all.

The nearest regulatory remedy might have been point-of-sale restrictions on equipment, but proposals to do that have failed. One example was Sears Roebuck's short-lived plan to sell 2-meter rigs made by Uniden and marketed under their name.  Shady O'Rack successfully sold 10-meter rigs around Cycle 23, without many reports they were bought and used by bootleggers.

Today, removing the "SSB only" restriction does not make a lot of practical sense, since AM activity is not in the area authorized for voice communications by Technican Class licensees.  

Instead, to participate in the activity of AM on ten meters is part of "incentive licensing" to encourage an upgrade, just as it was in the 1970s when the area around the AM hotbed of 3885Kc was reserved for Advanced and Extra Class licensees.

The people at the League should consider using references to popular, wholesome AM as yet another reason to upgrade a license.

A premium mode.

[WD8BIL]

As would happen, the "freeband" movement would gain most of the activity, situated between 11 meters and 10 meters. That activity is behavioral, not mode-specific, having to do with authorized activity.

Although both modes are used in the freeband, SSB is dominant, Paul. Particularly in PR and Mexico.

[Tom WA3KLR]

John,                            

I don’t think it would have been any less work to build a 20 meter SSB transceiver from scratch.  I didn’t know ahead of time that I would be disappointed with various aspects of the Midland transceiver.  In those days, I was not necessarily looking for a minimal effort, but was in the learning mode and didn’t mind going off on tangents for the exercise.  It was all a hobby project; I enjoyed it.

I have a second Nor-Cal frequency display unit on hand which I want to add behind the top cover some day.  Present frequency read-out is a micro-dial/turns counter and a graph (like having a miniature HRO).

And by the way,

Solomon,

CONGRATULATIONS !  Welcome aboard to autonomous communications.

[KX5JT]

John,                            

I don’t think it would have been any less work to build a 20 meter SSB transceiver from scratch.  I didn’t know ahead of time that I would be disappointed with various aspects of the Midland transceiver.  In those days, I was not necessarily looking for a minimal effort, but was in the learning mode and didn’t mind going off on tangents for the exercise.  It was all a hobby project; I enjoyed it.

I have a second Nor-Cal frequency display unit on hand which I want to add behind the top cover some day.  Present frequency read-out is a micro-dial/turns counter and a graph (like having a miniature HRO).

And by the way,

Solomon,

CONGRATULATIONS !  Welcome aboard to autonomous communications.

Tom, oh yes I understand you went into it for the challenge and education.  Sounds like you were rewarded with a fine peice of equipment that is still in operation so there is no doubt as to the worth of the project.  I was just wondering if you thought it was as much or more work as a project from scratch and it seems to have been, but that doesn't detract from the worthiness.

Solomon, I echo the congratulations! 

[ssbothwell SWL]

wow this thread has been lively! thanks for all the compliments.

i think i am going to hold off on voice comm until i can get my general license and start doing full AM. dmod, thanks for the offer.

i plan to keep building QRP CW modules based on designs i have found in Experimental Methods in RF Design, the Handbook, and some key websites. i'll be making a post about this when i have more modules done. so far i only have 80m and 40m VFOs assembled and in cases.

[KC2ZFA]

so far i only have 80m and 40m VFOs assembled and in cases.

sol, did you build these from what I sent you ? if yes, did they work as advertised ?

peter

[ssbothwell SWL]

sol, did you build these from what I sent you ? if yes, did they work as advertised ?

peter

no i haven't tried that design yet. i have no experience with tubes and want to stick to solid state design for now. once i have a stronger grasp of whats going on in solid state i plan to try tube designs.

my VFOs are based on a hartley design i found in the arrl handbook.

[ssbothwell SWL]

how long does it usually take for a name to show up in the fcc database? i'm still not in it.

[W7TFO]

Some times up to two weeks. 

Mine (AD7YP) took that long.

I had a friend in the Broadcast Bureau check and it was there the next day.

73DG

[Sam KS2AM]

how long does it usually take for a name to show up in the fcc database? i'm still not in it.

Are you sure you are not in the database KJ6RSG   ?     

http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/license.jsp;JSESSIONID_ULSSEARCH=FGMCTQrXHft2ySvnjhG7V8Gb0wnqtnQpfSGZ51T11yD2RWTLpdGy!1526404178!-533095898?licKey=3322957

[ssbothwell SWL]

oh woah! i guess i was searching doing my search wrong. if i search for my name then nothing somes up but if search for KJ6RSG then my license shows up. weird

edit: oh if i just search for my last name then my license shows up. the fcc needs better search heuristics.

[Sam KS2AM]

oh woah! i guess i was searching doing my search wrong. if i search for my name then nothing somes up but if search for KJ6RSG then my license shows up. weird

edit: oh if i just search for my last name then my license shows up. the fcc needs better search heuristics.

Thats a nice call sign Solomon.  KJ6-Ready-Set-Go

Its time work on your "to do" list now.

1) Buy or borrow that 10 meter SSB rig soon.  10 meters has been open lately and with just a modest antenna you should be worldwide and you may even run across one us folks on the east coast.
2) Study for the General. You'll be able to operate HF on AM.  I made several AM contacts today on 29000 kc to Europe and South America.



Sam

[KB2WIG]

Yes, get on 10m SSB.  You'll need to get experience, and this will hep ya.  You can try CW too......  as far as the call, I feel sorry for you; my call has the Gonad letter in it too.


klc

[W2PFY]

When the Citizens Band went to 40 channels I bought a 23 channel Midland SSB rig on close-out for conversion to 20 meters, circa 1979?.  I figured that if I put it on 10 meters, it wouldn't get much use.  But on 20 meters it would be useable every day.

Other than Heathkit, no one made a 20 meter standalone  rig that I know of and it would have been a happy happy joy joy rig to own.

Congratulations to Sol on your new license! I wish I had a KJ call...This is Kilowatt Jerk 2   I love it!!

[Pete, WA2CWA]

When the Citizens Band went to 40 channels I bought a 23 channel Midland SSB rig on close-out for conversion to 20 meters, circa 1979?.  I figured that if I put it on 10 meters, it wouldn't get much use.  But on 20 meters it would be useable every day.

Other than Heathkit, no one made a 20 meter standalone  rig that I know of and it would have been a happy happy joy joy rig to own.

Congratulations to Sol on your new license! I wish I had a KJ call...This is Kilowatt Jerk 2   I love it!!

SWAN SW-120 was a 20 meter only rig.

[WA3VJB]

Thats a nice call sign Solomon.  KJ6-Ready-Set-Go

Yeah there are possibilities with this one --

Radio Signal Getter

Really Strapping Gain

Runny Soupy Gravy

and when you upgrade ...

Right Strong General

[KA2DZT]

I guess there are folks who can't recognize a little kidding.

Anyway, congrats on your new call.  On second thought, KJ6RSG is a nice call.

Fred

[ssbothwell KJ6RSG]

 

i appreciate the jokes and the name acronyms.

KS2AM, the ham swap meet is at the end of the month and the next VE exam i plan to go to is the weekend after that. maybe i can find some nice boat anchor material at the swap meet and just skip the ssb stuff all together (assuming i can past the general a month from now).

do any of you have a list of boat anchor brands and models that i should be on the lookout for? i cant spend more than about $100-150.