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Taking a Radio Camping

(ewpratten.com)
139 points ewpratten | 9 comments | 27 Jul 24 02:26 UTC | HN request time: 0.505s | source | bottom
1. hvs ◴[27 Jul 24 15:18 UTC] No.41087128[source]▶
A big part of Ham radio today is what are known as POTA (Parks on the Air) activations where hams go to different parks to make contacts with other hams. These are often low-power transmissions (Known as QRP, or 10W or less). I think a big driver of this is the fact that our cities have become so noisy.

https://parksontheair.com/

Side note: if you read Hacker News, enjoy tinkering with electronics, and want to meet/talk to more people like you, I recommend becoming a Ham. The Technician and General exams from the FCC are relatively easy if you have any technical background and it's a great outlet for experimenting.

replies(2): >>41087700 #>>41090242 #
2. ewpratten ◴[27 Jul 24 16:41 UTC] No.41087700[source]▶
I actually intended to make these proper POTA activations, but I couldn't figure out the park identifier due to lack of cell service, and I also didn't bring anything for VHF to try doing so over APRS.

Next time I guess.

replies(2): >>41088193 #>>41088465 #
3. ted_dunning ◴[27 Jul 24 17:48 UTC] No.41088193[source]▶
Nice article, btw.

But I am very curious. Did you use a balun or antenna tuner?

replies(1): >>41088259 #
4. ewpratten ◴[27 Jul 24 18:00 UTC] No.41088259{3}[source]▶
Thanks! I used the integrated tuner in my KX2. Worked perfectly.
5. swalberg ◴[27 Jul 24 18:42 UTC] No.41088465[source]▶
If you find the park reference you can submit logs to pota.app after the fact. Any qso counts.
replies(1): >>41089265 #
6. ewpratten ◴[27 Jul 24 20:52 UTC] No.41089265{3}[source]▶
Thanks for pointing that out. I will do so
7. brewtide ◴[27 Jul 24 23:56 UTC] No.41090242[source]▶
This has been on my list for a while now, and I've played with radio in various forms (allowed...) for the past few years and have quite the collection of baofang, many sdrs, a dish collecting goes16 images 24/7.. etc.

I am however, for whatever reason, adverse to the social, or seemingly kinda social, aspect of the proctored exams.

Am I just making a mountain out of a molehill?

replies(2): >>41090452 #>>41101024 #
8. giraffe_lady ◴[28 Jul 24 00:49 UTC] No.41090452[source]▶
You just go and take the test. The guy administering it may want to talk about his granddaughter's wedding or his prostate or whatever but you can just take the test and go home. It's not illegal to be rude. You never have to see him again.
9. hvs ◴[29 Jul 24 15:05 UTC] No.41101024[source]▶
It's really not a big deal. They just watch as you take the test and then you go home. There's very little socializing (unless you want to, hams seem to love to talk to each other).

Also, you can take the tests online as well, you usually just have to have a camera setup so they can see you aren't cheating: https://hamradioprep.com/ham-radio-license-test-online/