*Update (December 29, 2009)
I’ve been on the air now for 8 days and I love it. My Dad kindly let me borrow his Yaesu FT-60 handheld transceiver which I’ve been using both in the car, and at home. I spent the first few days, on the radio, us the FT-60 with a whip antenna, but was soon upgraded to a mag-mount vehicle antenna.

I frequent a select few local repeaters: 146.985, 146.685 and 444.175. I spend most of my commute (to and from work) on the 985 repeater. I’ve made a few contacts there, some of whom I’m becoming better acquainted with.

On Sunday, Dec 27 I participated in the LDS Church SW Virginia amateur radio net on 146.685 MHz. The net itself was somewhat of a disaster, but net control pulled it off and the participants all seemed happy to report. I was in my car, with my brother “riding shotgun” on my handheld, and my Dad was holed up in the “ham shack” at his trailer. I had a good time, but I’m looking forward to a more formal net this coming weekend.

My brother brought over a Radio Shack HTX-252 mobile radio yesterday morning. With his help I had the radio up and running in the car, which worked really well until the fuse blew. I stopped by Walmart last night and bought a pack of replacement fuses. Once I got home I installed the new fuses and relocated the radio to the top of the dash.

The HTX-252 has a built-in speaker, but with the device under the center console audio intelligibility was almost non-existent. I used some double-sided tape and reversed the mounting bracket to the bottom of the radio to get it standing on the dashboard. In spite of the white tape peeking out from underneath the radio looks great and works really well.

The Beginning
I took the Technician Amateur License exam on Sunday, December 13, 2009. Since then I’ve checked the FCC ULS database, daily for the issuance of my call sign.

On December 21, 2009 the FCC issued the amateur radio call sign ‘KJ4RIX’; it’s official!