AMATEUR RADIO IN ALBUQUERQUE
Amateur Radio in New Mexico is very user friendly;
There is a very active radio community here, and the
Elmers in Albuquerque were very receptive when I asked questions and needed
information on how to go about getting my license.
The High Desert Amateur Radio Club offers a weekend class with testing
on the second day, a few times a year. This gave me the kick in the
butt to go out and get my ticket.
Next step….putting up the tower and building antennas!
With a little research, I found a great beginning HT (handy talkie)
for $85 on Amazon with a little investment of $100 I was on the air
on 70 centimeters and 2 meters.
The bigger second investment was the base unit. I wanted something I
could sink my teeth into and actually be able to work at, so I purchased
a Kenwood TS-520 tube rig from E-bay.
For about $500 dollars I have a base unit and matching antenna tuner
that is fun to use, and it works as well as when it was purchased in
1974!
Here are some pictures of the equipment in my shack. ( Note: the equiptment
to the left is the official recording studio for the XYL Barbara Fox,
to record her radio imaging and commercials.You may have heard her on
the radio and on television in the Albuquerque market.)
UPDATE August 2013: We have added a second Kenwood TS-520 to the shack this one was also purchased on Ebay,
Everything worked on it except someone modified the 10 meter frequency to do 11 meters.
We WILL be fixing that soon,also note there is a Hustler vertical antenna added to the mix
