I finally got my HAM radio license! Though it is only a technician license, I plan on getting my general license at some point. Just need to learn all the legal stuff.

Originally, I got an ugly call sign of KO4NQN, but now it is N4BHE to match BlackHawk Electronics.

My Station

Before I got my license, I got a couple Baofeng UV-5R’s. They work good enough for what I am trying to do. I also bought some cheap Nagoya NA-771 antennas to avoid using the “rubber ducky” antenna.

After I got my license, I went to a local ham that sold radios (W8CL Bob) and got a Yaesu FT-2500M which is a decent old VHF mobile radio. It is supposed to do 50W, but I have only seen it do about 33W. To power it, I got a Pyramid switching power supply. I tried using a couple different computer power supplies, but they both created a 60Hz hum on my transmission. Below is a picture of my setup.

To go with this, I made a J-pole antenna (with help from my dad and KB4HAH). The mast is made of PVC that I painted to avoid UV deterioration. I used regular antenna brackets, but since the PVC was too big, I had to make some brackets to connect it. Overall, the whole setup has a near-perfect SWR in the VHF band, especially after I shortened the cables when I added the lightning arrestor.

As HAM’s say, 73! (Goodbye)
N4BHE