http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?t=257668

I find it interesting that something that started with a trivial action has caused me to think so intensely about my life and what I might do now because of the title of Reverend.  Maybe there is good to be done, maybe there was a reason for it that I don’t quite know yet. Whatever it is, It’s starting to affect me.  as I’ve said before, not in a religious way, but certainly spiritually

At the moment I’m looking at the MFJ website for some ideas.  They have a 15 and 40 meter CW transceivers for a pretty good price but I’m leaning towards the 15-meter band since the antenna size isn’t quite as big as the 40-meter requires.   However the trade-off is that there may not be very many people on the 15-meter band, or none at all.  So this is why 40-meters is not out of the question for me.  If I can find an antenna that is portable then I might go with that instead simply because it’s more popular than 15-meters.

So, I’m totally frustrated with 6-meters but I’ll keep trying and keep listening for those conditions that are supposed to make the band so much fun!

p.s.  I’m not affiliated with MFJ in any way shape or form.   I do not receive any compensation for linking to their website.

There are points awarded to operators who make contacts and point multipliers for those who make contacts using battery power or power under 5 watts.  Some people will certainly be participating in the contest aspect of Field Day.  However I’m just going to have fun and try to make as many contacts as I can on the 6 meter band.  Hopefully conditions will be good enough that I’ll talk to a few people and have some fun in the process.   I may not hear from places like California or Japan… but Wailuku is far enough away for me to be happy!

I’ll be using my Yaesu VX-7R handheld radio with a dipole antenna I made last week.  I’ll most likely hang out on the calling frequency of 52.525 mhz if you hear me on the air, come up and say hi!

WH6DLS

I’ve done several weddings as a photographer and many many more as a DJ/Emcee.  The pressure is enormously high to get it right.   Whether it’s getting good shots or just playing the right music at the right time.  And certainly the most pressure would be on during the ceremony but I think it would be great fun to perform weddings and help people with what is generally thought of as the most important day in their lives.  So maybe I’ll advertise that I do weddings.  Maybe not.  We’ll see what happens.  If you’re reading this and want to be married by me… send me a message and let me know!

Aloha,
Rev. Jason Tag

And…. I’m also studying for the general class license test which is coming up fast at the end of June. I thought the FCC was changing the question pool for all the tests so I thought I’d wait until they did that but I found out yesterday that the FCC is only going to be changing the questions for the Tech class license. The current pool of questions for the General and Extra class are still good. Now it’s crunch time to see if I can be ready for the General by June 26th. Hopefully I can study and make it happen. Once I pass the General, I’ll be able to transmit using voice on the HF bands on top of the morse code that I can already do. Of course this means that I’ll have to buy another radio in order to truly utilize the extents of the Amateur General license… when I get it!

After a week of playing around with my handheld Yaesu VX-7R and the Yaesu FT-7900, I have to say that I’m glad I took the plunge and got my license to operate on the amateur radio bands. I jumped in on one of the nightly nets we have here and got my feet wet that way. And made some new friends through various other repeaters around Oahu. All of this was done with the FT-7900 mounted in the car. I have, as of yet, not made any contacts with the handheld… although I really should to see if I can reach the various repeaters on it. It’s only 5 watts and doesn’t have a very good antenna attached. I’ve already built a yagi antenna for my handheld and the results are amazing. It’s easily 3-4 times better in terms of reception. I haven’t yet tried to transmit on it. That’s something I’ll do this weekend.

All in all things are going well, but I find that I get nervous about going on the air. It’s probably my own worry that I won’t do it right or I’ll forget to do something and cause a problem or something like that. But the contacts I’ve made have been great at helping me learn and inviting me into the club. So no worries here. I look forward to more and more use out of it as time goes on.

73’s

Typically throughout the work week, I’m in Honolulu. And on the weekends I’m usually in Haleiwa or Mokuleia on the north shore during the day and then Honolulu at night. That’s a lot of different repeaters to talk through. I’ll program more later… right now I have to get back to work!

WH6DLS

p.s. My sister just called and told me that a big package arrived today at the house so it could very well be my mobile ham rig!

I placed an order for a Yaesu VX-7R handheld 6m/2m/220Mhz/70cm radio on May 14th. The company(who will go unnamed) I ordered the radio from, told me in a call yesterday that the radio would be shipped that day(Monday May 24). Already it’s been 10 days on an order that I paid good money to have shipped in two days. So that’s why I say by Thursday, I should have radio in hand. If I don’t have it by then then I’ll just have to write a nasty review of the company and hopefully that will motivate them to do the “right thing”.

I also ordered a Yaesu FT-7900R from another company. There’s no way I’ll order again from the first company. I already have confirmation that it will get shipped today and probably be in my car by the weekend.

=)
WH6DLS

Call signs are assigned based on sequential order of when the information is processed. It looks good that my call sign will be either in the WH6DL? series or possibly in the early WH6DM? series. I’m so excited though… it’s close… very close. =)