Thursday, July 9, 2009

Ham radio bleg

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Ok.... I'll admit it. I have a ham radio license. So there... now you know.

I've been off air for almost ten years, but now I wish to rejoin the fold. Towards that end, I'm looking for a 2 meter mobile rig. 50 watts or upwards, and with DTMF. I'll also need a decent antenna (mag mount preferred) and a 2 meter SWR meter to tune it with.

The bleg is...... anybody know where I can get the gear used without resorting to fleabay?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Guess we all have our closet hobbies. My brother and I got our license the same day. Mine is N9MFF, his was N9MFG. Sadly let it expire several years ago.

"He's just this guy, you know?" said...

I've just discovered that my license is expired as well, but not so far back that I can't just renew it.
I'd also like to upgrade from my technicians license now that The Evil Code is is no longer necessary.

Crucis said...

Check for the next local hamfest. Older Yeasu/Kenwood/Icom/etc. rigs are available very cheap. Alternately, look for a hand-held and add an amp for your car/base. Most of my gear, except for a new hand-held is 10 years old or more. State of the art hasn't changed much since the last millennium.

W0TMW

Crucis said...

Shoulda mentioned. Go to QRZ.com and check the forums and want ads. Lots of stuff for sale there. QTH.COM is another place to check out

Old NFO said...

Check with Drjim at http://every-blade-of-grass.blogspot.com/ He's a Ham and may be able to put you on to some equipment.

Drang said...

I was going to say QRZ has sale ads, but since I was beaten to the punch on that, there's a hamfest in Erie tomorrow http://www.nw-pa-hamfest.com, and one in Phoenixville Sunday http://www.marc-radio.org/, and another in Pittsburg. http://nharc.org/.
Next week in Friedens. http://www.k3smt.org/hamfest/index.shtml.

Here's the PA page of Hamfests, courtesy the ARRL: http://www.arrl.org/hamfests.html#listing
Only been licensed a little over a year, but I understand that the FCC is actually pretty good about allowing those with expired tickets to renew late.

BTW, I highly recommend that, if/when you do renew, you add a handheld to your possibles bag. A simple 2m rig can be had new for less than $150, or used even less than that. (I assume here that repeaters are as thick on the ground in PA as they are in WA.)

"He's just this guy, you know?" said...

D.W.Drang,

Ahh.... the one on Sunday is not all that far away. I know exactly where that is.

That might be worth the drive (about 30 minutes). Thanks!