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Hey, I really just looked in this thread to find a way of learning Morse Code, and that Koch method program has been useful so far. I'd like to maybe take up amateur radio someday (someday when I have more money  ), it seems pretty cool. Thanks again.
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Nov 18, 2008 17:50
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Well, I have it confirmed - 8:30am this Saturday morning, I'm taking the exams.. I feel pretty confident in passing both element 2 (Technician) and element 3 (General), though, I have NO clue about the extra material. If there is spare time I may take it anyway just for shits & giggles. Wish me luck!
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Nov 20, 2008 07:24
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Just checked, I went active in the FCC database yesterday. KD8JQS checking in. e: impatiently waiting for the various web sites to update their databases, QRZ, echolink, 73s, etc. all won't let me register until they pull updates e2: listening to WebSDR while at work, someone's having some fun with the spectrum...   e3: I'll be going back through the entire thread when I get home and may remove this question if I find an answer, but are there any other mobiles with APRS support built in worth looking at aside from the Kenwood? I'm more than willing to attach bunches of stuff together on my desk in my apartment (and probably will once I have funds for a base unit, I have a weather system I'd like to try to tie in), but my car's cramped enough as is with the CB (see here) and electronics I currently have, so an all-in-one unit with a remote head like the Kenwood is pretty much the perfect answer. wolrah fucked around with this message at 22:49 on Nov 20, 2008 |
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Nov 20, 2008 15:17
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wolrah posted:
Take a look at the VX-8R http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht/0008.html You have to get an attachment to do GPS, but it doesnt seem too big. Yaesu makes great radios.
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Nov 21, 2008 16:55
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Wow - This thread doesn't move very much, does it?! Just got back from my exams - and I am holding my CSCE for both technician and general tests. Passed both with only a couple missed! Now just to wait for the license to show up in ULS....
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Nov 23, 2008 00:50
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wow... this may be one of the most WTF incidents I've ever seen in ham radio: Amateur Radio Bomb in Aylesbury
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Nov 23, 2008 01:41
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Sniep posted:Wow - This thread doesn't move very much, does it?! Congrats! Let us know when your call gets posted 
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Nov 23, 2008 01:42
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NeerWas fucked around with this message at 21:50 on Aug 9, 2023 |
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Nov 24, 2008 19:17
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While I realize it was official last week when I showed up in ULS, I just got this today which makes it truly official... Possibly the only time in my life where receiving a letter from the FCC wouldn't make me think "oh gently caress" wolrah fucked around with this message at 16:04 on Nov 26, 2008 |
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Nov 25, 2008 02:17
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Congrats on getting your (physical) ticket! That said, I would blur out my personal information in that photo if I were you... but hey, it's a free country. Good timing on your part too, I'm updating the OP as we speak to reflect your new call, as well as Sniep's successful exams.
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Nov 25, 2008 09:46
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Got my call sign in ULS tonight! Sniep, from the radio UNDerground in california checking in...... KI6UND! Sniep fucked around with this message at 10:22 on Nov 25, 2008 |
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Nov 25, 2008 09:56
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Sniep posted: quote:Sniep, from the radio UNDerground in california checking in...... KI6UND! Got my call sign in ULS tonight! I'll add it now
McRib Sandwich fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Nov 28, 2008 |
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Nov 25, 2008 10:03
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McRib Sandwich posted:That said, I would blur out my personal information in that photo if I were you... but hey, it's a free country. e: I really should learn to not post while exhausted and think a bit more... A valid point though, and clearly why a few people have posted no or only partial callsigns. wolrah fucked around with this message at 16:06 on Nov 26, 2008 |
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Nov 26, 2008 07:14
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I got my technician license several months ago and now want to get a radio that would let me try different modes/bands does anybody know a good sub$500 versatile radio.
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Nov 28, 2008 20:02
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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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Nov 28, 2008 21:53
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This thread doesn't have enough P25 love in it. My latest acquisition still in its box, an Icom IC-F1721D (VHF P25 mobile)  Out of the box.  Since it is commercial gear, the necessary programming software.  My VHF P25 portable, a Motorola XTS5000. Sorry for the lovely quality, but my cellphone is all I currently can take pictures with. Any other ham goons have P25 equipment? For the other Texas ham goons, I grew up in the Abilene area, and travel between there and Huntsville semi-regularly. I'm also known to be in San Angelo from time to time. So if you live around/between any of those areas and hear some P25 on 146.52, it's probably me. If I may make an aside about ham radio, I honestly only got my tech license while I was going to school at ou.edu, and it was really just to participate in skywarn and storm chasing. After some really lovely experiences with the Norman ham club, I've almost completely stepped away from the hobby. I have the P25 commercial gear because I do work in the public safety community, and around Abilene things are almost completely P25 now. The amateur coverage is completely coincidental and an afterthought.
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Nov 29, 2008 10:47
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This thread has prompted me to pick up the Ham Radio for Dummies book as well as the AARL Ham Radio License Manual and they're both great books. Within the next 2-3 weeks I plan on taking my Technician exam, and my wife will be there taking it with me too! I'm thinking about picking up my radios now since eBay is doing a 30% off deal right now and that would be a nice way to save some $$$ on 2 radios. For my wife I'm almost definitely going to be buying her a Yaesu FT-60R and she'll most likely keep it in her car for emergency use. Now for myself I was thinking of getting a VX-6R or VX-7R, but after reading some reviews of the 7R is sounds like it has lots of issues, and might be best to avoid, especially if I'm buying it from an eBay store. So what are your recommendations? I'd like to get into this a bit more than just emergency use, but at the same time I don't want to blow a huge load of money on it all right out of the gate. Also, how important is the 220 band to have? The 60R doesn't have 220 capability, but the 6R and 7R does, is that worth the price difference between the 60R and the 6R? Thanks for all the great information in this thread, it's been fascinating.
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Dec 1, 2008 01:44
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angrytaxman posted:Also, how important is the 220 band to have? My experience has been that the 220 band is generally dead. That can be a good thing, if you're wanting to get away from the old fogies on 2m, but don't want to have the reduced range of UHF. The problem with 220 is that it can be so dead that there may not be any local repeaters on it, so your portable simplex range is quite less than ideal. I have several friends with the 7R radios, and they haven't had any trouble out of them. Its ability to cover so wide of a frequency range makes it a decent radio for what it costs.
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Dec 1, 2008 07:36
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Thought I'd pass along this tidbit for anyone who's interested:quote:HAM-MAG is a french HAM magazine born in september 2008. Convinient, free, quick informations and weekly issues made this success. In two months, we have about 3,000 subscribers all over the world for the french version. TNLTRPB posted:I have several friends with the 7R radios, and they haven't had any trouble out of them. Its ability to cover so wide of a frequency range makes it a decent radio for what it costs.
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Dec 2, 2008 23:32
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Sorry if this has been covered already: A very simple question I think: I'm looking for a reasonably priced portable/handheld 2-meter radio. It should be pretty tough, as the application would be for Bug-out-bag, emergency on the move communications. I'm having a hard time finding what I want, so maybe you guys know where to find, or even have something for sale? Thanks, 73's KD8HSR
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Dec 4, 2008 00:39
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devilmonk posted:reasonably priced ... handheld 2-meter ... pretty tough Universal-Radio has the Yaesu VX-170 5w 2m HT on sale for $130 and it's a hell of a radio. Durable as hell and nice. You can read reviews of it at the normal place (eHam). Also, check out this thread on eHam which basically says what I am saying. Edit: Of course, for $55 more, you can have the versatility of a dual-bander with 2m and the 440/70cm band in a similar and also highly-rated radio, the Yaesu FT-60R for $185 over at AES. (Reviews) Holy crap that was a lot of links. Sniep fucked around with this message at 12:32 on Dec 4, 2008 |
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Dec 4, 2008 04:51
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I bought the FT-60R back on page 7. I like it quite well, not least because it has freq/vol/squelch on three separate knobs rather than the more common two. I did have to get used to the menus. Also it is "weather resistant" but not waterproofed, if you care.
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Dec 4, 2008 07:44
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Well, I finally got my first radio, the one I suggested just 2 posts up 5 days ago - the Yaesu FT-60R. I like most everything about it - it's a nice radio, feels incredibly durable and polished. Wish list: 1: LiIon battery. The NiMH battery pack is large and heavy. I don't mind the unit being heavy, but, it would be nice to have a lithium ion battery and a charging system in the radio. (The FT-60R will just charge while its plugged in -- it's up to you to pull the plug after its charged, and definitely do so before 24 hours or else the overcharging can damage the battery.) 2: Full band receive. I'd love it if this would tune AM/SSB down to khz, but alas, I knew that it did not have this capability before I got it. (The range of the 60R is 108-520 MHz and 700-999.99 MHz (Cellular blocked)) 3: This is kinda picky but I like the screen from the VX-3R better, and wish this unit had it. All in all though, this radio is exactly what I was expecting and performs well. I'm quite happy with it so far and it just reinforces what i've read online in reviews. I have it paired with a MFJ 1724B magnet mount antenna for my car, and a Smiley 270A telescoping antenna for better performance than the rubber duck stock antenna when applicable. Car charger, the radio, trunk antenna and a copy of the ARRL Repeater Directory and I think i'm ready to roll in a few days for my trip cross country to see my folks. Sniep fucked around with this message at 08:52 on Dec 9, 2008 |
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Dec 9, 2008 08:35
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Sniep posted:Car charger, the radio, trunk antenna and a copy of the ARRL Repeater Directory and I think i'm ready to roll in a few days for my trip cross country to see my folks. I don't recall there being any mention of the "standard"* simplex frequencies in this thread. If you're going to be traveling and don't have the time or inclination to program in a bunch of repeaters, don't forget to keep some simplex frequencies in your radio's memory bank (all CSQ unless otherwise specified). 2m: 144.39 (APRS frequency, it's good when traveling to see if anyone is close by, as you'll hear the packets of data being transmitted.)** 146.52 (generally regarded as simplex calling frequency) 146.55 (colloquially called "SKYWARN Simplex," as it's used a lot by storm chasers) 70cm: 432.1 (simplex calling frequency) I don't have much experience outside of the 2m band, so perhaps someone else can help with the other bands (6m, 1.25m, etc.). *Nothing is really "standard" in amateur radio, which can make things interesting at times. **There's a nifty thing I found about voice alerts that involves putting a TX PL of 100.0 Hz into the channel memory. I have yet to try it (haven't done any serious traveling lately), but it certainly can't hurt.
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Dec 12, 2008 07:32
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So I ended up buying two FT-60R's on eBay and got them this week. They're really cool, although I kind of wish that I got a VX-7R for myself so that I could have two tuners. My wife, a friend and myself are going to Thousand Oaks, CA tomorrow morning to take our Technician exam. I've been using the KB0MGA.net tests and flash cards to help supplement my studying and I've acheived a 98% overall on 8 practice tests, and have seen 793 questions and have 95.3% on those. I'm quite confident that I'll pass the test tomorrow. My wife is now drilling on the flash cards as well and has been passing the practice tests with about 85-90% accuracy as well. I'll be sure to update this post tomorrow to let you all know how we do. Thanks again for all of the support, and introducing us to this awesome hobby. Update: I passed the technician exam with 100%, my wife pass and only missed one question, and my friend missed two. angrytaxman fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Dec 14, 2008 |
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Dec 14, 2008 03:22
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TNLTRPB posted:
Can you explain this? I thought 446.000 was the 70cm simplex calling freq. The radio I have (FT-60R) will not even tx on that freq without a mod.
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Dec 22, 2008 08:41
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Sniep posted:Can you explain this? I thought 446.000 was the 70cm simplex calling freq. I got that information from here, but I can't make any claims about it. I only have VHF equipment and therefore haven't needed to learn the "standard" 70cm frequencies.
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Dec 24, 2008 07:24
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TNLTRPB posted:I got that information from here, but I can't make any claims about it. I only have VHF equipment and therefore haven't needed to learn the "standard" 70cm frequencies. Sniep is right that 446.000 MHz is the 70cm calling frequency (for FM voice). 432.100 MHz is in fact another calling frequency — for CW transmissions. A lot of the lower part of the US 70cm amateur allocation gets used for other modes like CW, SSB and even amateur fast-scan TV, which is why a number of FM-only HTs don't bother enabling transmit in the lower part of that allocation. Most HTs can easily be freebanded into that range though, should you need to access it for some reason. Also sup fellow hams, it's been awhile since I've popped into the thread. How's everyone's holiday season going?
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Dec 24, 2008 12:19
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Great! I worked W1AW yesterday on 20 meters. Took me about 10 minutes and 15-20 tries to bust the pileup. Not bad for barefoot and only a 1/4 wave vertical. 
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Dec 26, 2008 15:19
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I live in a suburban neighbourhood in a pretty low point (next to a river) with some mountains not too far away and a church tower right next to my house. Will I ever talk to anyone?
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Dec 27, 2008 02:01
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Andy! posted:I live in a suburban neighbourhood in a pretty low point (next to a river) with some mountains not too far away and a church tower right next to my house. Will I ever talk to anyone? Sure you will! The more I learn about ham radio is that half of the hobby (at least, in HF) can be making the best out of less-than-ideal situations with the right adaptation of antenna types and experimentation. I have not yet played with HF but even with my VHF/UHF handheld I've made some contacts and reached both repeaters and other HAMs on simplex that I didn't think that I could.
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Dec 27, 2008 02:38
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McRib Sandwich posted:Sniep is right that 446.000 MHz is the 70cm calling frequency (for FM voice). 432.100 MHz is in fact another calling frequency — for CW transmissions. A lot of the lower part of the US 70cm amateur allocation gets used for other modes like CW, SSB and even amateur fast-scan TV, which is why a number of FM-only HTs don't bother enabling transmit in the lower part of that allocation. Most HTs can easily be freebanded into that range though, should you need to access it for some reason. Ahh, that makes sense then. Like I mentioned, I don't even own a UHF radio, so I'm not familiar with the particulars of it. I don't recall any mention of an IRC channel or such in this thread, so I went ahead and created one on synIRC. irc.synirc.net #HamRadio I hope I'm not duplicating someone else's efforts, but it's not hard to drop the channel if that happens.
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Dec 28, 2008 23:48
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Well last night passed the Advanced exam (in VK land) so I now have the top level license. Just got to wait for the wia and acma to process it all (which will take longer than normal due to it been the xmas season.) But since October I started with the foundation license, then quickly to standard, now to advanced. And a new call sign on it's way. In other radio related stuff, 20 metres is opening up quite nicely, and I've been able to work a lot of European stations, from Australia.
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Dec 30, 2008 04:51
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NeerWas fucked around with this message at 21:50 on Aug 9, 2023 |
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Jan 1, 2009 23:37
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Sindow posted:Anyone have any suggestions for an in-door apartment antenna? I know I don't have many options but I just got a HF rig and it would be nice to be able to at least hear something! http://www.southgatearc.org/articles/g0ftd/indoorantenna.htm This looks kinda simple to construct and fun to play with, for cheap. However, having a decent antenna tuner would be preferable.
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Jan 1, 2009 23:47
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Good news-I finally got around to connecting wires to various orfices in my pawn shop DX70 and powered up-heard some activity on 20 meters! Bad news-they were all running power and still not better that a 5-5. I do need to update the antenna a bit but drat, if 20 sucks up here in KL7 land it's a good thing I have the interwebs.
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Jan 2, 2009 08:05
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Gnomad posted:Good news-I finally got around to connecting wires to various orfices in my pawn shop DX70 and powered up-heard some activity on 20 meters! That's pretty awesome for Alaska. Don't get disheartened. What time of day were you listening? Just keep improving your antenna. Since you are so far north, having a low angle of radiation will be critical in getting anything. My suggestion would be to get a vertical antenna up. For that, you need two things: 1: 17 feet of metal sticking up in the air - this can be aluminum tubing, speaker wire hanging from a tree, whatever you can manage, and 2: a ground for the antenna to 'work' against. If you have a tree or something you can hang wire from, try this. For a quick-and-dirty 20m vertical that will get you started, collect your materials first: 4 pieces of wire approximately 17 feet in length Coax cable to radio with one end having a connector to match your radio - since you are just receiving, don't worry about impedance TOO much. TV coax will work OK but I recommend something 50 ohms impedance. A local CB or "land mobile" shop should be able to sell you some RG-58, which is plenty good enough for 20 meters as long as it's shorter than 100 feet or so. 1: Cut and strip the last 2-3 inches off the coax and separate the braid on the end, then twist it back up to form a wire lead sticking out the side. Then strip an inch or two off the center conductor. 2: Take one length of wire and splice/solder it to the center conductor you just stripped. Tape it up with electrical tape to prevent corrosion. 3: Take the other three lengths of wire and splice/solder all three to the braid you separated off. Again, tape this up well all the way to the coax - copper braid sucks up water as well as it conducts electricity! 4: Throw a rope over a tree limb 20+ feet up and use the rope to pull the center conductor wire up to the tree. Keep it straight and vertical. Only pull it up high enough to pull the coax/wire splice up in the air a couple of inches. 5: Take the other three wires and just stretch them out on the ground about 120 degrees apart. 6: Plug the other end of the coax into your radio and see what you get. Best time for 20m is daytime, starting about 10, 11am here. Don't worry about signal levels - S-meter readings are largely dickwaving. The IMPORTANT spec is the signal to noise ratio. If you can hear 'em well, that's all that matters. I talk on 20 all the time to hams whose signals don't even make the S-meter move. My noise levels on 20 are low enough that it's not a problem.
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Jan 5, 2009 06:14
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glitch77 fucked around with this message at 05:03 on Dec 3, 2019 |
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Jan 5, 2009 06:34
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glitch77 posted:My dad (Terry KB5LLI) runs "SWIRA" which covers most of Oklahoma and links spotters to the NWS in severe weather. I've talked to your dad several times on the repeaters between Norman and Wichita Falls. I used to go to school at OU, and could almost always get him to answer as I was traveling down IH-44. That repeater network is pretty awesome. When they link everything together to the WX5OKC stuff, there's almost statewide communications with the National Weather Service in Norman.
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Jan 5, 2009 06:59
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glitch77 posted:My dad (Terry KB5LLI) runs "SWIRA" which covers most of Oklahoma and links spotters to the NWS in severe weather. Is that a Motorola ht220? I've got a box of at least twenty of those, all decommissioned police units with the TX crystals clipped. I need to get my ham ticket. MullardEL34 fucked around with this message at 07:28 on Jan 5, 2009 |
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Jan 5, 2009 07:01
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