You should not find me on the popular websites like QR Zed. Instead, you find me here. It's cheaper, more or less under my control, and more fun.
Amateur radio registration info': Also available for no charge from FCC.gov or ARRL.org websites call sign search:
SMITH, ROBERT H, KZ4JC
PO Box: 862
MT PLEASANT, NC 28124
Previous call sign: KO4UVV
Previous license class: General
Licensee ID: L02497287
License Class: Amateur Extra
FRN: 0031574379
Radio Service: HA
Issue Date: 11/19/2021
Expire Date: 11/19/2031
Date of Last Change: 07/01/2024 (License Issued)
GMRS registration info':
Call Sign: WRTC913
Radio Service: ZA - General Mobile Radio (GMRS)
Grant: 06/03/2022
Expiration: 06/03/2032
Radio "bio page":
I've been a fan of broadcast radio for as long as I can remember. I've mostly listened to obscure college or low power FM stations. For a couple years I was a representative on a station's "community board". Current favorite: 91.7 WSGE at Gaston College, although it's usually hard to receive over the air for me. I got radioactively interested in Ham Radio when a friend (Thanks, KT0BEG! aka The Renaissance Polymath photography) gave me a BaoFeng UV-5R and told me I would need a license to use it legally. Also, registration fees were soon going to increase from free to $35!
I got a Technician "ticket" without much extra effort by refreshing basic electrical and electronics knowledge already on board in brain from previous learning. The no cost, off-line, Ham Trainer app on my Android phone was used to learn rules, and practice questions and exams.
GMRS registration was added for completeness, and $35.
General and Extra were added just under the wire before the Extra question bank changed on July 1, 2024. ARRL exam handbooks and the Ham Trainer App, which now needs updating, did the job for me.
Radio Interests: So many interests, so little time. I almost don't know where to start. I also have frugal or cheap tendencies, and am a DIY fan in theory if not always in practice. My collection of radios has expanded mostly thanks to the Grid Goodwill store. There I have purchased far too many used UHF-only and UHF/VHF walkie talkies and scanners. These include several Arcshell AR-5 of two types, and some Motorola and other FRS/GMRS handhelds. Re-programming as many as possible with Chirp on Linux is fun. New equipment acquisitions include a Quansheng UV-K5(8) from AliExpress. "Nearly" completed kits include a (tr)uSDX with battery holder, and End Fed Half Wave Antenna kit bought from ARRL while the makers, HFkits, were out on summer vacation. Currently Wait-listed for a QRP Labs assembled QMX+ HF transceiver, and just received an assembled HF Signals Zbitx.
Previous Reading, Recommended:
Radio Club Memberships and Mentions:
Other radio websites I sometimes look at. Why are so many "Amateur" radio websites using standard plug and play website methods, filled with JavaScript and advertisements? Why is there so much duplication of material from one to another? We have RSS feeds for following multiple websites.
Contact email: KZ4JC at radiobursts.org
Copyright 2024 KZ4JC All rights reserved