Amateur Radio Station N8OIF

Hamvention 2008 Info/Update

Hamvention 2007 Info/Update

Field Day 2007

Amateur Radio - Sights and Sounds

Check out my second amateur radio page at http://www.n8oif.net/amateur2.html

One of my main interests is amateur radio. My callsign is N8OIF and I currently hold the Amateur Extra license (see license grant on the FCC's website). I recently upgraded from the Technician class (see below). If you are ever monitoring the ham bands and hear a callsign, and would like to know where that person is most likely located, then try the Universal Licensing System database (for U.S. "hams") on the Federal Communications Commission's website. That database is the definitive source for data on U.S. amateur radio operators.

I have been licensed as a "ham" for about 16 years. I passed my initial Technician Class written exam in March of 1991. Back in 1991, paperwork was forwarded to the FCC by mail and processed by hand. I had to wait about six or seven weeks for my license to arrive in the mail. In the meantime, I could not talk on a radio that I had already purchased: a Kenwood TH-77A dual band handie-talkie. In the past 15 years I have dabbled in many different aspects of amateur radio, but I have primarily stuck with the 2-meter and 70-cm bands and have mainly used FM. I have participated in a few Field Day events, have attended most of the Dayton Hamventions in that time, and have helped out local clubs with public service events. I have also experimented with different modes such as slow-scan TV (SSTV; visit the Central Ohio SSTV Net page) and satellite communications. My first exposure to satellite communications was in the late spring of 2005. Using a dual band handie-talkie (HT) running five watts output power and a two-band Yagi antenna made by Arrow Antennas, I was able to make a contact through an amateur radio satellite that measures 25-cm by 25-cm by 25-cm. This satellites perigee (or altitude at closest approach) is 696 kilometers or about 435 miles. Here's a video of a contact made at the 2006 Dayton Hamvention with a satellite known as VO-52. [UPDATE: The Federal Communications Commission has issued a Report and Order that eliminates the Morse Code testing requirement. This change will likely take effect on February 23, 2007. It looks like I can finally upgrade to Amateur Extra Class. I'm sorry to the diehard CWers out there, but I had great difficulty in learning the code. I guess that I have never understood why people needed to demonstrate Morse Code proficiency in order to upgrade. Why not packet radio? Why not SSTV? I still think CW has its place and people who enjoy using that mode should not be deprived of that mode (and they aren't). I still have some incentive to learn the code. Eventually, I want to build a microwave station. I know that for low-power or long-distance microwave contacts, CW will work when SSB won't (it will be buried in the noise).]

UPDATE: On February 24, 2007, I did successfully upgrade to Amateur Extra class. It will take a couple of weeks for my new FCC license certificate to arrive in the mail and for the new license grant to appear in the ULS database, but in the meantime, I can use my new privileges by identifying myself as "N8OIF/AE" on the new bands. Here's my Certificate of Successful Completion of Examination from the Saturday test session.

I am planning to expand my satellite station somewhat by getting active on more bands. This will probably require me to buy more radios and more antennas. I am also hopeful that I can get on the HF bands at some point.

I am a member of the following ham radio related organizations, or clubs:

Amateur radio projects:

Last updated Thursday, December 24, 2015. ©2004 - 2015 by Edward S. Raybould.  Extracting written content, images, audio clips, video clips, applets, and ActiveX controls, without written permission from the author is expressly prohibited.

E-Mail or comments: erayboul@n8oif.net

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