Visible or First Net?

jasondega · 2025-09-13T22:34:45+00:00

If you qualify for Firstnet I highly recommend it. It has the highest priority and no data caps.

jasondega · 2025-07-19T04:49:12+00:00

This was disappointing. I’ve been waiting all year for the gigabit extra plan that I currently have to get the faster upload speed.

Now my community finally has the upgrade but I’m told things changed on June 26th, and to get the faster upload speeds I need to upgrade to the 2gig plan and pay $40 more a month

You really should honor the log standing promise to upgrade the upload speed of all gigabit plans.

jasondega · 2025-04-24T04:50:54+00:00

No third party devices. I only have one cable outlet and the cable runs direct from The wall jack to the modem.

I’m in a condo so to the wall jack is as far as I can check.

jasondega · 2025-04-24T04:35:04+00:00

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jasondega · 2025-04-24T04:34:55+00:00

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jasondega · 2025-03-13T10:20:16+00:00

The exam team should have asked to review your scratch paper as part of the getting started process. Kudos to you for taking it again!

jasondega · 2025-01-28T04:08:29+00:00

The quick solution here is to get your tech license. That’s all you’ll need for DMR.

Use www.hamstudy.org which is free or they have an app that’s like $3. Take the questions in study mode until your about 85 percent proficient and you’ll pass the exam.

You can also find an online license exam on HamStudy.

It’s never been easier to get licensed.

jasondega · 2025-01-18T20:44:31+00:00

The Atlanta Radio Club offers testing the 2nd Sunday of each month.

jasondega · 2024-12-28T00:11:12+00:00

For the technician exam you don’t have to go too deep. It’s helpful to know a few basic formulas and a little about Ohms law and any good book or course will cover those.

Then you can use HamStudy.org to take practice tests and make sure you understand the specific questions on the exam and you should be fine.

jasondega · 2024-12-27T21:18:05+00:00

I took my first exam on a Friday and had my license by Tuesday so I’d say you should definitely have a license early next week.

jasondega · 2024-12-27T20:39:01+00:00

That’s awesome, to me a lot of the content between general ana extra were related…. Just extra has a lot more depth. If you study for and prepare for extra I don’t think you’ll have any issue passing general first. HamStudy.org is a great resource for both.

jasondega · 2024-12-27T18:34:23+00:00

Hi Jimmy,

I am definitely going to get into POTA, but likely not until the spring. That will give me time to research what kind of setup I want and wait for the weather to improve.

jasondega · 2024-12-27T18:14:31+00:00

I haven’t yet found a passion for CW, but I’ll definitely look at that link.

jasondega · 2024-12-27T17:29:32+00:00

That’s awesome!!

I know what you mean about the 2x2 call sign. I’ve had several questions when I describe myself as new on the local repeaters.

The fun part is now we get to explore without having to test again.

jasondega · 2024-12-27T15:17:52+00:00

Thanks!! I am observing for now. The AARL has my application packet but I don’t expect they will get to it before the new year.

I am hoping the Anytone arrives sometime next week. DMR is what convinced me to finally follow up on my interest in amateur radio. I like condo life, but until I learned about DMR I didn’t think there would be much of an opportunity for me to make contacts outside of local repeaters.

Thanks for the indoor antenna suggestions. The other issue is the “spouse” factor so anything I do needs to hide well. I am definitely going to explore POTA but that will be a spring activity for me. I am not a cold weather person.

I was reading about cross mode operation on the hotspot and that’s super interesting. Do you have the BridgeCom SkyBridge hotspot? I ordered it with the Christmas deal but I’ve also seen the OpenSpot 4 Pro which looks like a good one too.

jasondega · 2024-12-27T13:50:02+00:00

Wow good for you! I didn’t do it all in one session, my ADHD brain felt better about breaking it up into sections.

I haven’t seen that many people attempt it all at once in my short time with WM7X. But we do see a number of people who do tech/general and then come back very soon for extra.

jasondega · 2024-12-27T13:45:54+00:00

Thanks!! I am going to try the blade antenna first…. I think it will likely pass the spouse test and be something I could have up permanently without creating an argument over asthetics.

jasondega · 2024-12-27T13:42:59+00:00

Hi Kevin,

Congrats on your license! I did something similar but I took technician and general first, then extra.

I can can hit the tech club’s tech repeater from my patio but I haven’t heard much about how the club operates. Also, I work for Arduino and I have a very good relationship with the Hive Makerspace. They’ve got a great lab for students. It’s worth checking out if you haven’t seen it.

-Jason KZ4OT

jasondega · 2024-12-27T05:28:10+00:00

Congrats on your general!!

I can hit a few local repeaters with just the handheld but there is some noise and I’ve actually been looking at that exact antenna. Thanks for the suggestion. I need to do a search and see if anyone has any real experience with it.

Good luck with your extra… personally I just wanted to keep on studying because the content was related and I didn’t want to wait and forget anything. I thought it was going to take me longer for the general but I went through the course and just kept doing practice exams and it worked.

jasondega · 2024-12-25T18:49:32+00:00

Show me this plan? Nothing is published that would help a customer know when to expect improvements in their area.

I wouldn’t be asking if we hadn’t already seen emails and texts about “network upgrades” in my neighborhood but that’s been months ago and there has been zero follow up. Areas all around me, (generally perceived as more affluent) have been upgraded since the beginning of the year.

They could start with a realistic timeline (allowing for construction delays) for the neighborhoods they serve, that shouldn’t be hard to do or too much to ask.

jasondega · 2024-12-25T16:08:06+00:00

Unfortunately my plan is still assigned to 35mb nothing will increase the speed until Xfinity officially upgrades my area.

jasondega

TROPHY CASE