When it comes to HAM radio, I'm still very much a beginner. All I have is an HT (a Yaesu VX-5R), and I primairly listen to a couple of repeaters on the 2 meter band. However I'm looking to get into the HF a bit more.

A friend of mine, Austin McKinnon (KD7QMX), is moving up to Idaho, and I thought it would be cool if he and I could comunicate via either 6 meters, or some HF frequency....Of course, to get into the HF I've got to take the morse code test....and then as long as I'm doing that, I might as well take the test for my General license as well.

So, what am I doing? Learning the code. It's not going as well as I would like. For some reason, I get my A's and my N's mixed up all the time. That frustrates me when I'm doing my copies, and then I start missing all kinds of letters.

Enought of that, though. As I said, I'm still very much a beginner with HAM radio...and electronics in general. So, I had some questions and decided to call up my brother and ask him a few questions. Here is what I asked and what I learned.

I know you have a mobile rig. What is it?

It's a Yaesu FT 817. It's an all HF, 2m, 6m, 70cm QRP radio. It cost around $650.

Okay. What does QRP mean?

QRP means that the radio's max output is 5 watts.

Ah, well that might not be exactly what I was looking for. 5 watts may not work for what I would like to do.

You should take a look at the Yaesu FT 895. That has all the same frequencies as the FT 817, but it transmits up to 100 watts. Check the QST magazine for who sells them, and you can check the net for more info on all the different features of both the radios.

I'd thought about giving 6m a try, and I have a Yaggi TV antenna on my house already anything I can do with that?

Ya. TV signals are 54-88 MHz, 174-216 MHz, and 470-805.75 Mhz. Notice that the 54-88 is really close to the 6 meter band (50-54 Mhz). If you put a rotator on the antenna, you could use either a antenna coupler or an autotuner to use the antenna with your rig. You'd probably also want an SWR meeter.

Okay. What are a few good couplers and tuners?

Z11 autotuner is good for anything below 25 watts. Then there is the MFJ Versatuner II for stuff above that.

Okay, what are the differences between a tuner and a coupler?

A coupler goes up pratically on the antenna itself. It sits between the antenna and the feedline and helps to adjust the [and this is where I get a bit fuzzy] ohms between the two.

An autotuner goes between the feedline and the transiver and helps to adjust the signal from the feedline so it matches the signal from the transiever.

Sounds like I need to read a book about all this stuff. Where did you learn about all this?

I read quite a few books. A really good one is called "Stealth Antennas".

[Well, that's all I have on this. We talked about other things, but this is all I have in my notes about the HAM stuff. Hopefully it's helpful for other people besides myself.]

I got a call last night asking me to come in and visit with a member of the stake presidency tonight at 8:30.