It didn’t take long for the “more!” feeling and I quickly added 40m speaker wire to the balun and put it on a roof tripod. I did a fan dipole in an X pattern on the roof. This got me on 40m and 20m. I used the 468/f formula to measure out the speaker wire. By this point I also joined the local amateur radio club and one of the guys came over with an analyzer and I was pretty close to resonant right in the middle of the bands.
First Antenna
After doing quite a bit of research I purchased a used Icom 7410 radio. I was looking for a radio with USB connection for digital modes and the ability to do an IF tap for a panadapter since I already had a couple RTL-SDR dongles. I found a Icom 7410 on eHam classifieds that had the filters and the IF tap already installed and at a good price. At the time the 7300’s were still going for close to retail used so I figured I could use the $500+ savings for other gear. I received the radio about a week before my callsign appeared on the FCC database(it was a long week)….
Amateur Extra
I’ve always been interested in electronics. Most of my radio experience was with RC cars. I considered getting into ham radio when I was younger but the code requirement scared me away. An episode of NCIS got me interested in it again. With my EE background I was able to pass the Tech practice exam without reviewing the material. For the General and Extra I used the free iPhone “Ham Radio Exam” apps as study guides and the HamStudy.org website for practice tests. It was hit or miss whether I was going to pass the Extra and luckily I was able to pass all 3 tests in one sitting. I’m glad because…