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Well I don't have a license so I don't expect to do any transmitting. Well, not MUCH anyway.  How much power do you really need to communicate any appreciable distance? I'm not trying to cook myself with RF, here, and I will be pretty close to my equipment at all times since I don't have a lot of room. TBH I'm mostly just interested in recieving right now but it could be fun to hop on some of these frequencies with all the morse code I hear on the 'software radio', xmit a few words and see if anyone can hear me. If the FCC doesn't bust down my door, shoot me in the kneecaps and steal my radio. At any rate I'm in Japan right now and have no earthly idea what the laws about radio transmissions are anyway. I know 2.4 GHz phones aren't permitted offbase but absolutely nothing about the shortwave radio ranges.
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Jun 4, 2008 02:08
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Dolemite posted:Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to F5 the hell out of the FCC database page! Hu Fa Ted posted:100W HF will burn, Hu Fa Ted posted:and 5W VHF will boil your eyeballs. /runs off to make eyeball soup
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Jun 4, 2008 02:18
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nmfree posted:Or here: http://www.qrz.com/new_hams.html Actually, I got a nasty RF burn when I was a kid. My future step-dad was playing CW on 20M on a butternut vertical and I dared my brother to touch the antenna. He wussed and I said pssh! Bzzt. Solid key down on 100W. That sucked. Look into specific absorption rates (SAR) for 2M. 144 happens to be at the same SAR as the aqueous humor in yo' eye balls. I was exaggerating (slightly), but only to emphasize how dangerous 2M (VHF) is.
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Jun 4, 2008 03:06
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Epicenter posted:TBH I'm mostly just interested in recieving right now but it could be fun to hop on some of these frequencies with all the morse code I hear on the 'software radio', xmit a few words and see if anyone can hear me. I'm guessing you're in the military, so not only do you have to deal with US licensing requirements, and then with the Japanese radio authority, as well as whatever military hoops you have to jump through to operate an Amateur station while deployed. Good luck with that.
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Jun 4, 2008 03:07
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nmfree posted:Yeah, please don't do that. Seriously, not only is it impolite, it's also a criminal offense. Well, it's not such a big deal really. Hell, figure out where the local MARS station is and you can play MARS all day. I was a Radioman in the Navy and I wasn't into ham radio at the time so the MARS station on our boat pretty much rotted. However they had tons of gear even on a little Destroyer so a shore sta should have some nice stuff. Also, I didn't notice that bit. Yeah, don't do that. Your commander will be cheesed, and you'll give hams a lousy name. Seriously, the tests aren't that hard and none of the restrictions are that onerous unless you're just out to be a jerk. In which case just troll message boards. It's cheaper and you won't have to compete with the CB/11M fuckwads.
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Jun 4, 2008 03:40
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I hear ya. I'd just like to know if my equipment works before I spend lots and lots of free time studying and taking tests trying to get a license I don't even know if I'll be able to use for anything enjoyable. I know I can receive stuff from halfway around the world via shortwave, but I can probably only transmit in the very local area without getting some insane license, very expensive equipment and probably putting up a ginormous antenna anyway, right?
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Jun 4, 2008 04:05
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Epicenter posted:I hear ya. I'd just like to know if my equipment works before I spend lots and lots of free time studying and taking tests trying to get a license I don't even know if I'll be able to use for anything enjoyable. Look, nobody will begrudge you keying up a xcvr to see if it works. Likely nothing will come of it. However, and this is key, your decision to purchase a rig should not be based on some future license potential. A lot of guys buy rigs they never use for the same reason. Ham radio is a lovely spectator sport. It's only fun if you can play, otherwise just go to the shortwave thread. Personally, I'd give my left nut to bag a station in Japan on any frequency out here on the east coast.
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Jun 4, 2008 04:17
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Hu Fa Ted posted:Look into specific absorption rates (SAR) for 2M. 144 happens to be at the same SAR as the aqueous humor in yo' eye balls. I was exaggerating (slightly), but only to emphasize how dangerous 2M (VHF) is. Erm, gonna have to disagree with you on that one.. at least according to the General-class study guide I have in front of me, it's ~1270MHz where the eyes will resonate. Other resonant frequency fun facts: the adult human body: 35MHz if grounded, 70MHz if insulated the adult human head: 400MHz the baby human head: 700MHz Bzzzzzt! Dolemite posted:
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Jun 4, 2008 04:18
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McRib Sandwich posted:Erm, gonna have to disagree with you on that one.. at least according to the General-class study guide I have in front of me, it's ~1270MHz where the eyes will resonate. Other resonant frequency fun facts: Some IEEE doc posted:MICROWAVES AND RADIOWAVES edit: Also check: http://www.arrl.org/news/rfsafety/eval/ Pimblor fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Jun 4, 2008 |
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Jun 4, 2008 04:34
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McRib Sandwich posted:Congratulations! Maybe if you're lucky some random ham from your area will relay a congratulatory message to you when they see your call pop up in the database... it actually happened to a friend I introduced to ham radio. He was confused. This happened to me. It was actually a pleasant surprise and I ended up joining the local club. Hams can be quite passionate about their hobby and will sometimes even send QSL cards to first time 2M contacts. I should also mention that some hams can be raging dickholes, it's not all cream and cherries but for the most part they are a pretty nice bunch.
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Jun 4, 2008 04:50
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Looking into this as a receiver: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140238330499&ssPageName=ADME:B:BOC:US:1123#ebayphotohosting Any thoughts on it? I'm trying to talk the owner down to around $120. Or should I be looking into something that can transmit as well as receive? Any recommendations? Also can you expect to get the same range out of one of these portable units I keep seeing recommended, or is a boat-anchor style desk-top unit a better investment? Thanks. 
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Jun 4, 2008 09:38
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Epicenter posted:Looking into this as a receiver: As a ham it looks "meh" to me. I like how the guy cherry picked the reviews from eham though. http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/1190
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Jun 4, 2008 11:40
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How about the ICOM IC-701?
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Jun 4, 2008 13:06
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NeerWas fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Aug 9, 2023 |
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Jun 4, 2008 17:33
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Sindow posted:So what happened to this project and how come it didn't turn out how you wanted?  I know how to fix it (cut it in half), I have the piece to put it back together when I get it upstairs, but I don't know how well it will work because I don't have an antenna analyzer to do any tuning. v  v Also, I have to build a mounting frame for it so it's not sitting on the floor.I forgot I posted about that, actually.
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Jun 4, 2008 17:43
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NeerWas fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Aug 9, 2023 |
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Jun 4, 2008 17:45
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Couple of notes, if you're in the North Texas area Hamcom is June 13-14. It'll be a blast. Also Field Day is June 28-29, if you've never participated in Field Day I can't tell you what to expect cause neither have I; but I hear it's fun I'm hoping to find a group locally and setup a satellite (ArrowII/AO-51) station.
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Jun 5, 2008 06:53
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Windows 95? You must be doing these guys a disservice. I just got my FT-60 in the mail and the first conversation I heard on the Nashville repeater was about Windows Vista.
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Jun 6, 2008 01:07
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backstage posted:Windows 95? You must be doing these guys a disservice. I just got my FT-60 in the mail and the first conversation I heard on the Nashville repeater was about Windows Vista. I swear, the last time I was on an interstate trip, it was nothing but Windows 95/98 tech support for 50 miles. It boggles the mind. If you don't believe me though, just take a look at the system requirements of the average piece of ham radio software out there 
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Jun 6, 2008 10:50
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McRib Sandwich posted:If you don't believe me though, just take a look at the system requirements of the average piece of ham radio software out there Not to mention the large amount of software that is still DOS based!
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Jun 6, 2008 20:21
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NeerWas fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Aug 9, 2023 |
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Jun 6, 2008 22:47
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Sindow posted:I think they do that so they can run their software on their horrible old junk laptops that they got for $10 at a hamfest. Hamsexy is really fun and I get along with them better than anybody else. The only problems with that site is that they're a little nationalistic/maybe a little racist at times, and they kind of condescend if you talk gear and it doesn't start with the words "My Motorola". But they are way fun and I will read a thousand posts there before I set foot on QRZ again. And yes, hams will spend 30 hours figuring out how to get 3.1 or 95 on a P200 laptop before they go spend $199 on a modern one, haha.
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Jun 6, 2008 23:10
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Yeah, the QRZ forums are ridiculous, and eham too. Every thread turns into a code/no-code poo poo-sling or something worse. I'll have to check out hamsexy if I can ever get it to load. And actually I've been thinking about getting some cheap Windows laptop so I can run all that stuff... how much of it is good? I already have the G4FON Morse tutor which is pretty excellent. I've also got my eye on SDR for down the road, and it seems like Linux/GNU Radio might be the way to go there.
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Jun 6, 2008 23:21
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Jonny 290 posted:And yes, hams will spend 30 hours figuring out how to get 3.1 or 95 on a P200 laptop before they go spend $199 on a modern one, haha. Anyway, I've been meaning to look at the world of ham radio software on Linux beyond gMFSK. I've seen the options down in the kernel's menuconfig a bazillion times, but I've never had the desire to see that's there to be used until now. I think I just found what I'm going to do with my Sunday
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Jun 7, 2008 00:26
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backstage posted:Yeah, the QRZ forums are ridiculous, and eham too. Every thread turns into a code/no-code poo poo-sling or something worse. I'll have to check out hamsexy if I can ever get it to load. Seconding the love for the G4FON tutor. Just don't make my mistake and try to learn using the Farnsworth method, you really do hit a glass ceiling not too far above 5-7wpm. I'm trying to clean the slate and start over with the Koch method, but it's slow going. I actually have to un-learn the way I'm used to identifying the characters 
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Jun 7, 2008 01:20
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Hmm. Good to get the warning. I've been practicing at 15 WPM with a dit speed of 20 WPM, seems like that should be ok.
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Jun 7, 2008 04:31
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I like NuMorse Pro, but that costs money... But it has been money well spent imo. Seconding the QRZ forums assessment. That old saw about the internet being a magnifier for dickheads gets amplified with a 10KW AM amp over there. I loving hate their forums. I just lost a auction for a old AM broadcast transmitter, but my current goal is to get an old RCA or Gates transmitter and start loving up 160M with beautiful studio AM quality. I have 15 acres, so I'm going to put up a rombic on 160M or maybe a curtain... Not sure which. Pimblor fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Jun 8, 2008 |
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Jun 8, 2008 03:37
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I know nothing about amateur radio but recently I sat in on a proposal on cube sats and found out about this particular satellite, its actually why I started looking into amateur radio: [url]http://www.delfic3.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=107]delfi-c3[/url] A bunch of students at this universtiy in the Netherlands actually build the satellite and launched it on one of India's PSLV rockets. They are having radio amateurs help capture and decode signals from the satellite and relay them back to the univeristy where they have uplink capability.
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Jun 8, 2008 03:58
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WingAttackPlanR posted:I know nothing about amateur radio but recently I sat in on a proposal on cube sats and found out about this particular satellite, its actually why I started looking into amateur radio: Looks cool, can you use FM on a linear transponder? (also great username/avatar) EDIT: Grammar Rocks! blugu64 fucked around with this message at 04:17 on Jun 9, 2008 |
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Jun 8, 2008 04:14
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So it's settled; I'm getting an ICOM IC-701 in known-working condition, with the IC-RM2 computerized remote control unit, and SM-2 desk microphone. All together it's costing just over $200.  Now I just need to pick out what sort of antenna to get; I am strongly leaning toward these slinky-based Helitrix dealies since the best thing I have to work with as far as antenna placement is a couple big windows.Like I said, I'm in Japan for a while and it looks like there is no good way to test for a HAM radio license while I'm here, so it'll be a while before I can transmit, methinks. Are there any unregulated bands that are OK to use? I know you don't need a license to use CB in Japan or the US, but the IC-701 won't do CB without modification, and even so I think the max power is pretty low. The IC-701 will do 100W and I think the max for CB is around 4W. Either way I'll have fun listening. I hope I can find some cool stuff like PSK or SSTV.
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Jun 8, 2008 10:58
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NeerWas fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Aug 9, 2023 |
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Jun 8, 2008 20:26
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blugu64 posted:Looks cool, I can you use FM on a linear transponder? Haha thanks, likewise. I have no idea on what they're doing. I'm not on the communications side of things. I don't think their satellite has any science instruments but a future one might and at that point having radio amateurs coordinate to provide complete orbit coverage and help pull down downlink data would be an amazing capability. You could make this type of science accessible to people other than well funded universities and government agencies. Imaging being a high school student and being able to relay instructions to a cheap satellite and then being able to pull down rudimentary radar weather data, magnetic field, or thermal/infrared images over your school!
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Jun 8, 2008 21:37
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Here, I will help propel this puppy along towards its first birthday just like the SW thread. I think the satellite and EME stuff is awesome and would love to play with it. It'll probably be a while before I get around to it though. So far I am building SWR meters and antennas for 146 MHz. Anybody built an SWR meter for VHF/UHF? I am using a bridge design but apparently you have to pay a lot of attention to component size and layout at these frequencies. The one I have right now isn't really accurate at all. Next I'm going to try building it with some PCB and surface mount components, but those things are loving TINY and I'm going to need a magnifier and some tweezers.
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Jun 9, 2008 04:11
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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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Jun 9, 2008 06:20
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Jose Pointero posted:The lure of 2 meter SSB was just too great How much activity is there on VHF simplex typically? non-FM I mean. I'm beginning to think that HF in this apartment might not be all that practical. 2m (and probably 6m, though 10m is really stretching it) is just perfect, and already setup to boot. Also you're in the Waco area right? If work permits, and gas falls to $1.25/gal you should come up to dallas for hamcom, I think a few of us might be there as are a few hamsexy folks. I'm really hoping to find some more permanent mounting brackets and a better 2m/440 antenna for the place. EDIT: Anyone use six meters? blugu64 fucked around with this message at 07:44 on Jun 9, 2008 |
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Jun 9, 2008 07:30
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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 02:59 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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Jun 9, 2008 08:25
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KC8WWS here. Not exactly very active; I primarily got my technician licence so the customs agents at the Canadian border would stop harassing me about the 2M radio in my dashboard. I actually had a U.S. customs agent threaten to seize my radio because he was "a ham in good standing" which in his mind gave him the authority to enforce FCC licensing rules. But now I'm all legal. Guess I have to downgrade a couple of machines to Win95 now in order to fit in; maybe lodge a few whining, somewhat senile complaints about software incompatibility and inability to print over my local (mostly inactive) repeater. Ehh... marine channel 16 is more interesting around here, overall.
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Jun 9, 2008 08:50
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I had a strange idea I would like to throw out there for when I am ready to experiment with VHF. How about if we (amateur radio goons in general) were to put together the radio equivalent of GBS-TV? My idea is that it would be operated from one original video stream (with user contributed content), and use as low a frequency as possible to maximize range. Internet-based repeating, as I see it, could theoretically allow extremely widespread ability to view the broadcast.  I wonder if there's a mode that requires less bandwidth than NTSC, (but a lot more than SSTV) to strike a good balance between range and quality.There's probably some holes in my logic you could drive a truck through; but I'm interested to hear what anyone thinks of my idea.
Epicenter fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Jun 9, 2008 |
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Jun 9, 2008 16:46
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The hole being that you aren't allowed to use amateur frequencies for broadcast?
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Jun 9, 2008 16:47
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I just bought 5000 more feet of 14 gauge aluminum electric fence wire for $5.99 at Lowe's. Ground radials much? This house closing (June 20th) cannot come soon enough. Cannot wait to get a permanent setup (including a ladder-line-fed full wave loop, that will be freakin awesome) to get back on the air! I think for the time being the satellite setup is going on one of those nice roof tripods. I scratched the used tower idea and am now talking again to the power company about buying a pole.
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Jun 9, 2008 16:52
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