The next week, back at LARC, the question came up as to when
the FCC license would be issued. I had been checking the FCC database almost
daily since August 1. Shannon, one of the people that I tested with happened to
check the FCC database while we were sitting around a table talking, and found
that his license had been issued. He checked my name and sure enough KG5UMH had
been issued to me. I was now officially a ham radio operator. I could now
legally talk on a prescribed set of radio frequencies in the 2M (144 MHz) and
70cm (444 MHz) bands. I could access and talk on all those repeaters. I could
talk across the world, with the assistance of the Internet of course.
The first transmission on my hand-held radio happened the
following Monday night during the LARC, ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service)
Radio Net. Basically, this is a chance to improve your radio skills, check your
equipment and listen to others. In the event of a large “disaster” an amateur (ham)
radio operator may be asked to assist in setting up communications links
between multiple points, and this is what the Monday night Net tries to work
on.
Over the course of several “meetings” at LARC, I got the
feeling that Echolink and IRPL were not in the fore-front of most of the
member's minds. I heard more talk about 20 meter, 40 meters, 80 meters and the
like. These were bands that I could not use (except some sections if I used
Morse Code (CW)) for voice or “phone” communications. I also determined that a
large percentage of the people in the group either built, repaired or otherwise
dealt with used or previously owned radio equipment. Let’s face it, with the
exception of, the made in China Baofeng, TYT, QYT, BFJ and many others, which
are primarily in the 2m and 70cm bands, amateur radio gear is expensive. It is
a limited market. There are only 801,424 licensed amateur radio operators in
the US, that is only 0.248% of the population. It is not like wireless phones
where there are about 1.5 devices for every person in the US. Japan has a
higher number of licensed amateur radio operators then the US at 0.343% of
their population.
I asked Chris in an email what his thoughts were about
purchasing used equipment. His response was that he had forwarded the email to
a few other members, but personally he liked to purchase new, but there were
several other members who purchased everything used.
Several days later I received an email from Gary (aka Santa),
asking if I knew which end of a soldering iron to hold as he had a Yaesu
FT-757GXII that he thought had a bad power connection, internal in the radio at
the power plug. If I was willing to take on the challenge, then he would
provide the radio, power supply and his expertise if getting the radio back on
the air. A monetary arrangement would be arrived at later.
I picked up the radio at a club meeting one Tuesday night in
October 2017. The same night that I took my General exam. I told Gary to hang
on to the radio, and if I did not pass then he could take it home. His response
was – your going to pass, get in there and take the test.
Yep, I passed and took home the Yaesu FT-757 GXII. I had
done a bit of research. I knew that there were three models of the FT-757. They
all came out in the late 80s, early 90s. There was the standard FT-757, the
FT-757 GX (some called this the Mark 1) and then the FT-757 GXII. The biggest
difference between the GX and the GXII is the mode (LSB, USB, CW-W, CW-N,
AM,FM) selector changed from rotary to a soft switch with lights indicating the
mode. A few of the other controls were shifted, and the GXII has more switches
than knobs. The tuner control changed from a mechanical detented one to a
smooth electronic one. The GXII also came in two power levels, 100w (which I
have) and a 10w. The FT-757 was one of the first Yaesu radios with CAT
(Computer Aided Transceiver). But, I had a transceiver that would get me on the air in the 160m to 6m bands. I just had to fix it and put up an antenna.
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