waterlubber

I'm glad to be on board! Anyway, just the other day I was outside with my shortwave receiver and I heard some people tapping out CW on a frequency I didn't bother to check. Kinda neat. But since I only have my Tech ticket, I could never have gotten into the conversation even if I DID have the gear.

I actually DO have a transmitter, one of those 30 buck Baofeng UV5RA's, but the extended rubber duck (15" vs the 4" stock) I bought for it's only good for receiving, it won't hit any repeaters where I live even on the 5 watt setting (It's a 2M/70CM band radio). I don't have the money for a tower, either; I don't even have the money to build an antenna and the coax and accoutrements to hook it up with.

Y'know the funny thing is that after I got my ticket I started seeing towers and other ham radio folks with antennas all over the place. And every time I see a tower or antenna I always go "I wish I had one of those SOB's"

Anyway, what ticket do you have? I'm guessing Technician.