k0ua
Epic Contributor
Mark, you need another hobby. Perhaps Amateur Radio would suit your globetrotting proclivities? Contact me if you need help getting started.. Best Regards (73) James
Do you enjoy your job?
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Mark, you need another hobby. Perhaps Amateur Radio would suit your globetrotting proclivities? Contact me if you need help getting started.. Best Regards (73) James
repete
Veteran Member
Mark, you need another hobby. Perhaps Amateur Radio would suit your globetrotting proclivities? Contact me if you need help getting started.. Best Regards (73) James
73's
KF7PPA
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
After leaving college working on my masters degree, trying to get into Veterinary school, my brother got me a job in at a construction company he worked for. In a few months time i was making more money than i ever did in my life. Since i was not accepted to vet school, i just decided to continue in construction. We were building apartment complexes in southern calif. A few years later i moved up into being assistant supervisor, then supervisor for a large custom home builder. We built entire communities. Was a fun job, paid great, but i still didnt much like working for other people. When a friend of mine decided to get his own contractors license, i went along and did the same. Back then, rules were weird. Not too hard to get licensed. I actually got a general contractors, electrical, plumbing license at same time. What the heck...was pretty easy to do. On a whim i quit my job, being single why not, and started my own company.
Times were tough, money scarce, but i loved every minute of it. Over the years the business grew and i had a few employees. That lasted until i git married and the wife and i decided to move to north idaho. I really didnt want to start over with my business, so i just decided to stick to the electrical trade (i really liked electrical work, and paid well) and got my journeymans card and went to work for a company in idaho. Loved the work, but hated the owner. Over the years i moved around from company to company settling into one specializing in service station wiring, now that was fun. Did this for years until they sold company. Went to work with union wiring schools and commercial work. Now this was boring.
The old pull of working for myself hit again and after 911, the union lost government contracts due to cutbacks and laid off 200 men, including me. Oh well, i started my own company again, Advertising in local paper, and started to get quite a few jobs. Working for yourself is enjoyable, but hard work. I semi retired this year and only do a few select jobs and generator service any longer. For the last 8-10 years i had my business i had moved into installing standby generators nearly exclusively. I found a nitch that kept me working 6 days a week, nearly year round. I still enjoy the generator side of the business, but at 63 i had enough. Now i am enjoying servicing generators 2 days a week and working on relaxing 5 days a week.
I like this better. So does my dog.
Times were tough, money scarce, but i loved every minute of it. Over the years the business grew and i had a few employees. That lasted until i git married and the wife and i decided to move to north idaho. I really didnt want to start over with my business, so i just decided to stick to the electrical trade (i really liked electrical work, and paid well) and got my journeymans card and went to work for a company in idaho. Loved the work, but hated the owner. Over the years i moved around from company to company settling into one specializing in service station wiring, now that was fun. Did this for years until they sold company. Went to work with union wiring schools and commercial work. Now this was boring.
The old pull of working for myself hit again and after 911, the union lost government contracts due to cutbacks and laid off 200 men, including me. Oh well, i started my own company again, Advertising in local paper, and started to get quite a few jobs. Working for yourself is enjoyable, but hard work. I semi retired this year and only do a few select jobs and generator service any longer. For the last 8-10 years i had my business i had moved into installing standby generators nearly exclusively. I found a nitch that kept me working 6 days a week, nearly year round. I still enjoy the generator side of the business, but at 63 i had enough. Now i am enjoying servicing generators 2 days a week and working on relaxing 5 days a week.
I like this better. So does my dog.
k0ua
Epic Contributor
73's
KF7PPA
QSL, 73 de K0UA
stevewarner1957
Gold Member
Mark, you need another hobby. Perhaps Amateur Radio would suit your globetrotting proclivities? Contact me if you need help getting started.. Best Regards (73) James
I agree, perfect hobby for a retiree (like me)
73
de WA9SWW
two_bit_score
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Fuddy1952
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My father in law was K4YPF. Every evening he was on air, he was in Air Force Mars (I think I'm correct). What I thought was so cool was he would relay messages. He would telephone a family saying something like "I spoke to your son Mark stationed in Afghanistan who is doing well, happy anniversary to parents, hope all is well with his daughter", etc.
I thought that was a great thing to do. We would go with him to ham fests. He was also a city fireman and truck driver. I've never seen so many people at a funeral when he passed at 90 (he was in Army WWII also). Firemen, servicemen, truckers, ham operators, lots of family and friends.
I thought that was a great thing to do. We would go with him to ham fests. He was also a city fireman and truck driver. I've never seen so many people at a funeral when he passed at 90 (he was in Army WWII also). Firemen, servicemen, truckers, ham operators, lots of family and friends.
stevewarner1957
Gold Member
There are many aspects to the Amateur Radio Service (Ham). It’s been around since the the early 1900’s, Hams back then built their own equipment. Now there are many digital modes for data, digital voice modes using the internet for worldwide communications. Many Hams are into emergency communications in natural or man made disasters. Preppers and off road enthusiasts are into Ham radios for staying in touch. Lots of info from ARRL.org or YouTube if your interested. Three levels of licensing to enter the service; Technician, General and Amateur Extra. No Morse code requirements anymore but many still use it everyday. I would encourage any interested should research and see if you would like to get licensed.
73
73
MossRoad
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k0ua
Epic Contributor
It has been said that Amateur radio is the king of hobbies, and the hobby of kings. Probably from the fair number of "royals" that have been Amateurs. Mostly in the middle east and Asia.
Amateur radio has many facets, and people pursue it for many different reasons and pursue sometimes only one or two of those aspects of Amateur Radio that interest's them. The hobby aspect of the Amateur Radio Service is only a part of it. Emergency communications, Public service, etc are all a part of it, but mainly for me it is the continuous search and gaining of knowledge. Take just the "simple" subject of understanding antenna's and transmission lines. That small subset can literally take a lifetime of study and experimentation to become even mildly competent in their understanding. We are still finding new concepts and ideas on this front. Of course the paradigm shift from hardware based radio systems to the new SDR (Software Defined Radio) is complicated and evolving rapidly. Things are being done with DSP (Digital Signal Processing) that would have been terribly expensive ore even impossible to duplicate in hardware just a few years ago.