How hard is ( & how expensive) building an antenna? I have tubing to go as tall as I need..

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 12/14/13 at 17:07:32:


JOG antennas can be as cheap and easy or as expensive and complicated as you want to build.

My 6 meter antenna took all of 1/2 hour,2 aluminum shafts from a weed-eaters and maybe $3 of pvc pipe fittings. You can work around the world on 102' of wire strung between a couple of trees or build a 43' tall verticle of aluminum tubing.

That's the beauty of ham radio antennas....there's lots of experimentation room!

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 12/14/13 at 19:19:22:


As long as you stay with the major brands ....Yaesu, Kenwood, and Icom you'll be ok. That's talking about new or at least more modern radios, wether VHF/UHF or the HF bands. If you're interested in older tube type equipment,what us hams call "boat anchors" due to their size and weight, Drake(very collectible and expensive!) Heatkit(also very collectible)and a couple of other brands do  perform well also if properly tuned and aligned.

When getting started you take a test and get licensed as a "Technician" class operator. That gives you operating priveldges from 6 meters(50 megahertz) to well into the microwave frequencies,as well as voice on the 10 meter band between 28.300 and 28.500 megahertz.

The antennas for these bands are fairly small and easy to build from proven designs.

The next step up is the General class license. This gives you operating privledges on all of the radio spectrum available to hams with some limitations. The antennas for these frequencies can range well up into hundreds of feet but there are many designs that are much more compact. Some HF mobile antennas are no larger than the old familiar 102" CB whip antenna. Many HF antennas will cover a wide range of frequencies across the bands by using an antenna tuner.

TO get a feel for equipment prices and types you can go to websites of ham radio shops like www.aes.com and www.randl.com. Rand L is about an hour and a half drive from me. I've dona a fair amount of business with them and been well pleased.

You can also see used equipment for sale at www.swap.qth.com. Most of the sellers are hams and are pretty straight and honest, but like anything else on the net,you always check out the seller and take your chances.

I know this is a long post but maybe it helps answer some of your questions.

Larry

Thanks Zar, that helped me a bit as well.

old_rider wrote on 12/14/13 at 22:44:06:


That is true OR. Code was dropped for all classes of license a few years back. Having said that,it is also true that there is more interest in code now than ever before, so while code is not required,it is far from dead!

Lots to chew on, thanks

Jim VE3NWN here:
The answers to most of the questions from the previous posters can be found at the best amateur radio website:
http://www.arrl.org/  American Radio Relay League.
Equipment can be obtained inexpensively and antennas can be built.  I run an Icom IC-735 HF rig that I bought for $150.  Along with my keyer, mike, antenna tuner, power supply, and 6 band vertical antenna, less than $500 buckaroos.  Of course I have lots of other goodies (its sort of like owning a motorbike) including 2 metre capability but I have been an AR operator since 1983.
One of these days I will get into 6 metre activity (50mHz).
CW, morse code can be a lot of fun and challenge but so is voice operation (phone operating).
73's to all (--...   ...--)
Jim
Oh, I forgot, I bought 2 HD dynaglide mufflers and clamps on the weekend ($50) and will be fitting one of the mufflers on my Savage along with rejetting the carb.  If finances permit I will be putting Progressive shocks on the bike, progressive springs in the front, a fork brace, new rubber (Pirelli Route 66's) and the Vapor Digital Dash I know I'm getting for Christmas  
Oh, just got back from 1-1/2hrs snowshoeing up in the farm fields - life is so tough!!!

I'm still looking for ways to 'lie asleep at night'.