My ham radio thanksgiving was a very fun, relaxing time. I spent part of Thanksgiving day programming my FT-857d ham radio with some ham radio repeaters and some airport arrival and departure frequencies. My ham radio has a wideband receiver with scanning capabilities. This ham radio makes a wonderful travel companion for a long trip. My ham radio and I made the trip on the day after Thanksgiving from Appleton, WI to near Traverse City, MI. About a ten hour drive. But then my ham radio and I obey traffic laws. Yeah yeah – I know – I’m one of THEM… but then what do you expect from a compliance auditor? Having a variety of frequencies – from ham radio to police to rescue helicopters to aircraft to control towers to police – is really neat on a long drive.
I also programmed several EchoLink repeaters into the radio. One was in Brookfield, WI. Another was in Valparaiso, IN. They were to allow a close friend with a PC and a mike to keep in relatively constant communication with me along the drive. She lives in the Traverse City, MI area. She was able to connect to the ham radio repeaters via the internet and VOIP (voice over internet protocol). Not a bad stunt for a lady with no ham radio equipment to start. The use of the free EchoLink service (for ham radio operators only) and the open ham radio repeaters was greatly appreciated.
Being hungry and a bit tired, I stretched my legs and got a bite to eat in Racine, WI. When I returned to my car to resume my trip, I heard my friend on the repeater talking to the repeater owner. I was a able to check in to the group and give an update on the trip. I was also able to personally thank the repeater owner.
The rest of the drive into Michigan was just me and the radio. As I passed through Chicago, Indiana and much of Michigan I was interested to find that there were quite a few repeaters along the way that were on the same frequency as Wisconsin repeaters – just with a different tone. For non hams, we ham radio operators can have two repeaters on the same frequency since we can also broadcast a silent tone. If repeater #1 doesn’t hear the right tone and repeater #2 does, then only repeater #2 will activate.
I brought my friend my HT and magnet mount antenna to use for a month or so before she decides what to buy for herself. We tried mounting the mag mount on several large items. The fridge. The stove. And later on the wood burning stove. CHA CHING! The wood burner seemed to have an outstanding ground and the signal strength to a repeater 30 miles away was very evident! While doing a signal check a local ham advised us to make sure we removed the antenna before starting a fire. I advised that I was a no code ham!
After a wonderful weekend it was time to return. Of COURSE there was a fresh 6 – 10” of snow to go dashing through. Thankfully I had a brand new set of snow tires on. On the way back I stopped and programmed in a Valparaiso, IN EchoLink ham radio repeater. This was a pretty wide coverage repeater. We talked via ham radio and EchoLink to computer for an hour or more – making sure to pause for breaking stations of course!
We also were able to connect up through EchoLink to ham radio in Milwaukee, WI on the way back.
So what am I thankful for? Mostly for the warm friendship of the best ham I know. And for having the ability to enjoy ham radio and computers at the same time. And for the use of the EchoLink service provided free of charge by the ham radio repeater owners.
If you have not tried EchoLink, then I strongly encourage you to do so! Go to http://www.EchoLink.org and download the software for free!
Happy Holidays!
Jon Kreski, AB9NN
Owner
http://www.HamRadioResources.com
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