Topic: Jim's New "Ham" Shack

[Bonnie]

Looking good, Jim. I know you are itching to finish it. I am itching just from looking at that insulation.

Bonnie

[Jim]

But I didn't itch at all so far.  The stuff is packed so tightly that the only chance for fibers to get loose is when I cut it.  Course I haven't done the overhead part yet.  Probably get to that on Thursday or Friday.  I picked up some 2x4s today and some 1x4s to do the frame around the air conditioner.

It's getting there.

[Penny]

 ;DHow cool is that for Jim....I'm sure he's gonna love it!!!!!!!!!

[Jim]

Been awhile since I have updated this topic.  We had been mowing grass every week and there was no time to work on this.  Dianna's brother Mike came down this weekend just to help me hang the sheetrock or drywall.  I would still be working on it next week without his help.  It's ready for the mud and tape now.



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I wired up all the sockets this afternoon and turned the power back on.  I was too tired to do anything else today.

I am tickled to get the drywall done.  Thanks Mike.

[Triss]

Looking great Jim.  Hanging that drywall sure is a big job and so glad that Mike was able to help you out with it.

[Jim]

Yeah, it would have been just about impossible for me to do it by myself.  Those full sheets would have been hard to handle just moving around much less holding in place to get the screws in.  We had to get Dianna to help us on the sides as well as the ones overhead.

I've got everything to start mudding.  I need to decide if I am just going to use tape on the inside corners or buy some of the corner pieces.  I only have 2 outside corners so don't need much there.  If I go with the tape I will need to get a 45 degree corner knife as it's tough to use a regular putty knife without tearing the tape.

[christy]

  thats awsome  i never herd of a ham shack before! lol i was thinkin like a smoke house for ham 
k so we wont hear you on like a raido station?  is it kinda like a c b the truck drivers use but bigger ?
my grandpap had one of those c b set up in his house he use to talk to friends n truck drivers on. i think he used that more than he ever did a phone.

[Jim]

Yep, Christy it's kind of like that except you have to have a license to operate amateur radio.  You have to pass a test administered by an agent of the FCC.  After getting a license, we can operate on lots more frequencies than CB which is 27 Mhz. 

Sure you can hear me talking if you have a shortwave radio. It's not like a program or anything though.  Just a bunch of old folks chatting about the weather, health, kids, etc.

[Bonnie]

That ham shack is about ready. We should be having ham by Thanksgiving.

[Patty S]

Bonnie!

So Jim, break this down for me a little.... is amatuer radio a couple steps "above" Citizen's Band radio?

I don't know about nowadays, but when we had our CBs, we didn't need a license. (Just had to have a handle & know which channel to have it turned to, if we wanted to know where the logging trucks were, on those narrow little logging roads we hunted on. Only people with CBs were brave enough to hunt in those places, cuz those logging trucks,  especially the loaded ones, could come around those snow covered switchbacks without leaving much room for an oncoming vehicle, if they didn't know one was there!)

Quiz time: So is it the Mhz that determines your range? How far does your signal travel? Can a person pick up your signal on a regular radio, or is it "short wave"? (Is there such a thing as "long wave"?)

When I was a teen ager, a friend of mine had his own little radio station & I think he had to have an FCC license, & could only broadcast at certain times of the day (evening), cuz of the competition with the airwaves, or something.  How many Mhz do "real" radio stations work with?

I don't even know if I might be talking 'apples & oranges' here, but I wouldn't be surprised!

BTW, nice job on the walls, so far! You got a heater in there yet?
(I'm really glad to see someone else drag a building project out like this... makes Keith look almost "normal"!)

[MassMama]

Looks great Jim I am sure your thrilled to get it done..   

Did you put insulation ect in there to stay warm in the winter ?

[Penny]

I agree, looks fantastic Jim, almost done now, bet you cant wait huh!!!

[Jim]

Yes, amateur radio is quite a few steps above citizen band radio.  Amateur radio operators must take some extensive test in order to obtain a license.  At one time those test included receiving morse code at definitive words-per-minute.  There were 5 classes of license and for example the General class required 13 wpm where the Extra class required 20.  They have since deleted that requirement and there is no code requirement at all.  We now only have 3 classes of license.  Here is a short description of each class.

Yes the frequency or band that we operate on has lots to do with the range capability.  Of course atmospheric conditions also influence the transmission of radio waves.  For example I have a 2 Meter or 147 MHz radio in my truck.  The range is about 20 miles but for the most part we use these radios through repeaters.  Sometimes when conditions are just right you can talk 100s of miles on these little 50 watt radios.  The 2M is an example of a VHF radio.

For long distance we love to use HF.  10 Meters or 28 MHz is the best for this but those frequencies are also some of the worst for atmospheric conditions.  Most long range transmissions take place on the 20 Meter or 14.000 MHz frequency range.

FM radio stations are usually 88-108 MHz and AM is 535 KHz to 1.7 MHz.

You would definitely have to have a shortwave radio to hear any amateur stations.  Yes there are long waves, and medium waves but their description wouldn't add much to the conversation.

Lots of great information about Amateur Radio on this site if you are interested.

[Patty S]

Sounds pretty interesting (& involved), Jim! Since I know nothing about amateur radio, answering my questions probably feels to you like trying to introduce algebra to a toddler! Thanx for the links. Lotsa info there & ARRL breaks it all down pretty well in the "Learn About" link. I also read a bunch of the articles... till I started feeling like I was getting more info than my teeny brain wanted to process!

for the most part we use these radios through repeaters.

OK, so I wouldn't hafta ask you any more questions, I did a search of the word "repeater" from the ARRL home page, but I think I was already on overload by the time I did that, so I'm not sure that I understand how it works. (Is that what was used to patch calls through to the states from Viet Nam, during that "conflict"? Those operators sure were angels in disguise, for many waiting wives!)

So, what kind of antenna system are you working with? (indoors/outdoors?) Do the outdoor antennas pose a problem with the big wind storms that go through your area so often? ...And, don't they act as lightning rods?

[Jim]

OK, so I wouldn't hafta ask you any more questions, I did a search of the word "repeater" from the ARRL home page, but I think I was already on overload by the time I did that, so I'm not sure that I understand how it works. (Is that what was used to patch calls through to the states from Viet Nam, during that "conflict"? Those operators sure were angels in disguise, for many waiting wives!)

Nope, that would be a phone-patch.  That was used quite a bit then but those are hard to find now.  Contact is made to the closest amateur to the destination of the call and that amateur operator would then call the recipient, place the phone is a cradle of sorts connecting the phone system to the radio.  It worked real well.

Repeaters are just that.  They are radios that listen on one frequency and transmit on another.  The difference in the frequencies or offset is dependent on the band you are operating on.  For 2 meters, the offset is .600.  For example the repeater in Sumter, SC is 147.015.  That is the frequency you would listen to as that is the transmit frequency of the repeater.  It is listening on 147.615.  That's a + offset.  When I transmit, my radio automatically changes to 147.615 to transmit and the repeater retransmits what I say on 147.015.  When I release the transmit button on the microphone, the radio automatically changes back to 147.015.

So, what kind of antenna system are you working with? (indoors/outdoors?) Do the outdoor antennas pose a problem with the big wind storms that go through your area so often? ...And, don't they act as lightning rods?

All outdoors.  I have a 40 foot tower that will have a beam mounted on a rotor.  The beam is a tri-bander and is good for 10, 15 and 20 meters.  I have a wire antenna that I use for 40 and 80 meters and an additional wire for 160 meters. 

My tower will have lightning arrestors just like the big ones and the wire antennas are always disconnected if there is a storm near.

[patches]

Hey Jim, it's looking pretty good in there, and I'll bet you're really anxious to get it all set-up and finished. 

[Patty S]

Thanx, Jim. I actually understood everything you said! Yay me!!! You're a very good ham teacher!
(Tried to get a big red apple for you, but I got hurt!)    

When you get your mudding done, I suppose you'll have Aunt Bonnie paint for you, huh? ...I hear she does good with a paint brush!

(Green ones are just as good, sometimes!)

[Tonya]

Looking great there Jim!! I know you will have a blast once it is done!

**I am hiding this topic from Doug.....He needs another hobby like I need another hole in my head! **