I’m just an old bastard!
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Me too
KD8SLY
Haven’t yet made my first CQ even though I’ve had the license for a while
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Not to necromancy a topic from the dead, but any updates? when I found this post originally it made me look up hams, and I am now in a new hobby! (still learning what I need for my licence)
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Since you necro-d the post I read it lol
What I’ve done… more times than I care to admit
Is grab the hotend of my 3D printer when changing nozzles
To the uninitiated it’s the metal block that acts as a thermal mass that the little heater element is inserted into, and the nozzle is screwed into the hotend
Well in order to change your nozzle, due to wear or different use case, you heat the hotend up to help release the threads and soften any plastic that’s worked it’s way where it shouldn’t
So then you use a wrench or socket and start turning the nozzle off, except the heat break by design has very little support and breakable along with you seeing the entire machine start flexing before starting to loosen
And that’s when the little voice in your head speaks up and goes “hold onto the hotend so you can stabilize it so nothing breaks”
Problem is that hotend does such a wonderful job of isolating its heat, your forget it’s even hot, and for the cherry on top, since you’re trying to apply counter torque you REALLY grab it nice and tight
All while it’s heated up to 250-300c
Spoiler I have no idea how hot that is in real numbers so let’s say somewhere between 300-3000°F
The fact that you grab it about as hard as you can, means it burns nice and deep, before you realize it’s hot
That’s all carry on
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Nothing unfortunately. COVID has put my work/home schedule into a mess and this has just sat on the desk.
If you’re looking at a license, I would look at HamExam.org and do some practice. You just need to learn a couple equations for the math parts and memorize the rules questions. No Morse test is required anymore.
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@Devilclarke I have seen some hams that disguised their antennas from HOAs and the like. Make it look like a birdhouse or something. Also, The antennas for 2m or 70cm are relatively short and can be run inside a building without tooo much trouble. It’s not ideal but it does work.
@vampire_blue obviously we have a lot of hams here so if you have any questions ask away 
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Thanks! yea morse code would have set me back quite a bit (I have some learning disabilities so it would have been some real trouble getting morse right)
I’m an Aussie so our rules are slightly different and the wording changes a little but the flashcards on HamExam are really helpful.
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While the Australian exam will be a little bit different, if you’re on Android, I would also recommend the HamRadioExam apps from the play store. Depending on what level of license you’re going for, there’s 3 versions available. Thankfully it seems that the 3 US tests/license levels match well with the 3 aussie tests (Technician->Foundation, General-> Standard, Amateur Extra->Advanced). I spent a few days practicing exams with the app here and there when I had a minute, and passed no problem. Be sure to post your call sign when you get your license! I mentioned it in another post, but I’m K9GGF.
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Is recommend trying to find a ham in your area,
Not for the test, that shit is easy to learn / memorize
But a seasoned ham will help you learn the ACTUAL rules of the band
The test doesn’t really teach ham etiquette
of course. i know my local club and will be joining in on their monthly meeting and practicals (when covid is not keeping me cooped up)
Funny how almost every ham I know hated the morse code exam. I really enjoy it, and I passed the general at 25 wpm specifically to get to the bands where it is (was?) practiced. There’s just no other way of doing dx at low power really, if that’s what you dig.
yea I’m still learning it, I think CW is super cool, but in a testing environment it would have given me a disadvantage
Yes, the exams were a bit stressful, I agree 