Thread: One step closer

Welp, I’ve got the 5BTV in my hot little hands. It’s difficult to not tear into it like a kid with a Christmas present �� on Christmas morning, but I’ll be good. I’ve got one of my HS classmates coming up sometime next week. He’s been a Ham longer than I. I’ve had water and phone lines marked so we won’t dig into one.

Funny story - I’d been interested in Amateur Radio since I was in my early teens. I’d read how they would help out during disasters etc, but had no clue how to go about becoming one. (Ah the days before smart phones and the internet). That was probably the late 70s. 20 plus years later I was going through some tough times with my eyes when a friend who was old enough to be my Dad called to invite me to a meeting. Thinking it would at least get me out of the house I accepted. Imagine my surprise when he turned out to be President of the Ham Radio club....and that 3 of my schoolmates were hams, and another fellow from Church was a ham, and that 2 of my schoolmates’ Mom & Dad were both hams. (The two schoolmates were brothers). Here all this time I knew a lot of them, but not one had thought to mention their hobby.

My story...
Ive been a truck driver all my life. I got tired of having a bad rx and tx and most the time had no clue as to why. Some times a radio did well, then take 8t to another truck and it sucked. Burning them out or they stop working and i bought a new one. After a while i had a big box full of these cb's.

We had a real electronics store in town, not just radioshack (cell phone shack now) so i went in and started asking questions about fixing them and to understand more about it all. The guy tols me to go down stairs and see Skip and Henry. I went down and found Skip. Told him i wanted to fix my radio. He offered to fix it for a fee but i said no, i want to learn and fix myself. He told me it takes years of school to understand electronics and he wasnt going to school me.

I kept going down stairs for a few weeks asking questions and finally Skip said "if you really want to learn, prove it by getting your Ham lic then come back and see me". A month later i walked in and showed him my lic. And started asking even more questions. Now about Ham radio and how it works and what i needed to enjoy what i just got myself into. He hooked me up with an ht and got me on the air. Then sat me down and started teaching me how to fix radios.

3 months later, i out ranked him in Ham lic. A year later my station was bigger than his, and two years later i started fixing CBs for all the trucker in town. It paid for my Ham equipment and has now paid for most of my razor stuff too.

CB repair is now next to no buisness as drivers want to run the modified 10 meter radios and i refuse to fix those. I will tell them i will un-modifiy it then fix it if they show me a lic from the fcc.

So wanting to learn to fix my CB got me hooked on Ham radio. Now days the CB is in the truck still but its for rx when something happens on the road in front of me. Other than that, its not used. Too much bs happening i dont want to listen too on 11m.

Originally Posted by Gasman

My story...
Ive been a truck driver all my life. I got tired of having a bad rx and tx and most the time had no clue as to why. Some times a radio did well, then take 8t to another truck and it sucked. Burning them out or they stop working and i bought a new one. After a while i had a big box full of these cb's.

We had a real electronics store in town, not just radioshack (cell phone shack now) so i went in and started asking questions about fixing them and to understand more about it all. The guy tols me to go down stairs and see Skip and Henry. I went down and found Skip. Told him i wanted to fix my radio. He offered to fix it for a fee but i said no, i want to learn and fix myself. He told me it takes years of school to understand electronics and he wasnt going to school me.

I kept going down stairs for a few weeks asking questions and finally Skip said "if you really want to learn, prove it by getting your Ham lic then come back and see me". A month later i walked in and showed him my lic. And started asking even more questions. Now about Ham radio and how it works and what i needed to enjoy what i just got myself into. He hooked me up with an ht and got me on the air. Then sat me down and started teaching me how to fix radios.

3 months later, i out ranked him in Ham lic. A year later my station was bigger than his, and two years later i started fixing CBs for all the trucker in town. It paid for my Ham equipment and has now paid for most of my razor stuff too.

CB repair is now next to no buisness as drivers want to run the modified 10 meter radios and i refuse to fix those. I will tell them i will un-modifiy it then fix it if they show me a lic from the fcc.

So wanting to learn to fix my CB got me hooked on Ham radio. Now days the CB is in the truck still but its for rx when something happens on the road in front of me. Other than that, its not used. Too much bs happening i dont want to listen too on 11m.

My first brush with radio communications was through my Dad. He was what was known as a “legal eagle”. He had his CB license before they were giving them away. (His call was KCX-5628 and he went by “Big Red” before big red chewing gum came along). He had an old Cobra Cam 88 with a Turner plus 2 mic for a base station. I was maybe 6 or 7 at the time. He worked late and I would talk him home on that base station. (I found it after he passed, would love to have it gone through and back in operational order just because) Shortly after the FCC started giving the licenses away he packed everything away and that was that. I couldn’t get him interested in becoming a Ham, he was through.

Antennas interest me for some reason....

I haven't built one for my radios yet but this is one I have done for my TV.

Works better than any store bought one I have tried.