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Anyone going to the FARA flea in Framingham, MA on 4/3?
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Mar 14, 2011 21:32
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Well, I've basically been ignoring my radio equipment since moving to Portland because I had to tear down my dipole and was stuck using whip antennas only. The air was dead. Not a single person ever around except on local repeaters. BO-RING! Last night, a guy I know wanted to see if I could hear him on a 15m frequency through either SSB or CW from Phoenix. Not a thing. Finally completely frustrated, I pulled out a spool of wire and measured out a length for 15m, soldered one end to the center connector of a cable, ran another length out of my tuner's ground connector, strung the antenna wire outside across a clothesline and walked inside. Instantly picked up a guy in Little Rock, Arkansas as the first thing I heard. Amazing difference. I tuned through 15m and 20m and heard TONS of activity. I've been missing out! I need to find a way of getting a stealthy, outdoor apartment antenna up.
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Mar 15, 2011 03:31
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My weather station ships tomorrow. Squee.
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Mar 16, 2011 00:25
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KC8IUR/AG 3 from passing Extra, too.
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Mar 20, 2011 21:06
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My shiney new Icom IC-91A died after 5 days. I didn't even get to broadcast, I was just listening in to the local repeaters and harbour planes. 
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Mar 20, 2011 22:26
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I assume you checked out your power supply? Sounds like whatever it is, the warranty should cover it.
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Mar 20, 2011 22:31
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:I assume you checked out your power supply? Sounds like whatever it is, the warranty should cover it. Yeah. It powers up, but doesn't make it to the Icom spash screen or VFO display... just lights up, and buzzes. And gets hot.
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Mar 20, 2011 23:17
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I finally really committed to my mobile setup:    Unfortunately it got dark and started raining before I could install the other two, but no more dealing with lip mounts coming loose or cables running through panel gaskets and causing leaks for me. e: Skyssx posted:KC8IUR/AG Crap, forgot the Lorain exam was today. Ah well, another month to study. Nice on nearly landing Extra!
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Mar 21, 2011 01:59
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wolrah posted:I finally really committed to my mobile setup: Awesome. You're now equipped for the next person who doesn't want to ruin the value of their Cavalier by installing a NMO mount. I was pretty much taking the General exam cold. I have the book, but I would read one or two pages before boredom set in. I think i'll actually have to read it along with the extra book, though. There were a few questions on that exam where I had no knowledge of what any part of the question meant. What the gently caress is a Seimen?
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Mar 21, 2011 03:06
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I passed my test for General at a hamfest in Birmingham on the 5th, but haven't shown up on the FCC ULS database yet. How long should I wait before suspecting that something is wrong?
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Mar 21, 2011 04:31
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Curly Shuffle posted:I passed my test for General at a hamfest in Birmingham on the 5th, but haven't shown up on the FCC ULS database yet. How long should I wait before suspecting that something is wrong? Oh hey a B'ham local? Whereabouts are you?
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Mar 21, 2011 04:43
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Huntsvegas.
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Mar 21, 2011 05:21
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wolrah posted:...Antenna pics... I thought I was having déjà vu when I saw your post until I realized you post to reddit too. Looks like you've done a nice job, but I don't think I'd have the heart to put antenna's on a BMW. I would love to get a Crown Vic from a police auction Since most will already have the holes drilled and, if I'm lucky, will still have antennas on them.
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Mar 21, 2011 06:33
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xergm posted:I thought I was having déjà vu when I saw your post until I realized you post to reddit too. That's the way to do it if you don't want to drill your DD. I miss my Crown Vic for being able to just do what I felt like to it without a real care. That said, replacement trunk lids for my vehicle and I assume most other common vehicles are around $150-200, so worst case scenario if I ever sell the car and a serious potential buyer indicates not liking the caps I put on it, I'll buy another lid and replace it in an afternoon. I plan to put one hole in the roof as well, but it'll be right where the OEM sharkfin goes, so that one will be trivial to cover up.
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Mar 21, 2011 16:04
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Did you bond the trunk lid to the rest of the body with RF grounding strap?
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Mar 21, 2011 18:27
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I meant it in the sense that I find BMWs to be beautiful cars and I could never put an antenna farm on them. But Ex-Cop Crown Vics, well an antenna farm means more people will move over on the highway for you. 
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Mar 21, 2011 19:30
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:Did you bond the trunk lid to the rest of the body with RF grounding strap? Not yet, but I never had notable problems with the lip mounts using the same surface as their ground plane. Adding some straps is in the plans for the near future anyways though. I'm installing a power distribution block to properly hook up both existing and future electronics rather than constantly swapping cigarette lighter plugs, and I will be doing the "big 3" plus new straps where appropriate at that time since it's simple and lets me have one less thing to worry about.
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Mar 21, 2011 22:17
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Ta-da! I'll head to AES Saturday. I got the AD weather station and I need a few more connectors and some cable. And maybe I get a radio while i'm there.
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Mar 24, 2011 01:35
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Hey guys, We're going to be launching a long-distance balloon at 0000z, 3/25 pumping out 1W at 7.102MHz. Should be interesting listening on the east coast, and in Europe. The balloon will be in the air for between 36 and 72 hours, transiting from Columbus, IN to somewhere in North Africa, riding the jetstream. We expect to be over the continental US from 0000z to 0500z. The HF radio will be transmitting RTTY, DominoEX16, and some truncated reports in CW and Hellschreiber. Primary telemetry will be via Satellite downlink. Callsign will be wb8elk2. If you run our decoding client, DL-FLDIGI, decoding become a snap, and it will automatically uplink telemetry to our tracking page. http://spacenear.us will display HF and Satellite Telemetry http://track.whitestarballoon.com/ will show only Satellite Telemetry More info on the transmitter, and the decoder client can be found here: http://wiki.whitestarballoon.com/doku.php?id=hardware:radio:hf:wb8elkwhitestarn17 More info about our Transatlantic Balloon project can be found here: http://whitestarballoon.com/ And for the whole mission, we'll be hanging out in #highaltitude on irc.freenode.net
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Mar 24, 2011 14:30
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At the Timonium hamfast tomorrow, I think I may keep an eye out for a 2m amplifier... something in the order of 200 watts or so. What would a good price vs rip off price be for something like that? Edit: Also, if anybody is going there tomorrow, PM me, and I'll give you my cell phone number so we can meet up. AbsentMindedWelder fucked around with this message at 14:27 on Mar 25, 2011 |
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Mar 25, 2011 14:20
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:At the Timonium hamfast tomorrow, I think I may keep an eye out for a 2m amplifier... something in the order of 200 watts or so. What would a good price vs rip off price be for something like that? Sorry I missed this last night, got busy Friday night and tried to go to bed a little early to get to Timonium at a decent hour. I got there around 9 AM and walked around for a little over 2 hours. SO much stuff, most of it random crap though. I only ended up buying a antenna switcher and some very short lengths of RG-8.
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Mar 26, 2011 23:38
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I rode down there with two other people and was there about 9-2 or so. I got a 160w 2m Mirage B2518-G used at a great price, Maco 30amp adjustable linear power supply used, SWR meter for vhf/uhf, a speaker mic for my HT, and some random connectors and electrical doo-dads. I ran into about 8 hams and even a CB enthusiast I know. I also ran into a person who has the same call sign as me, except his a 2x1 where I'm 1x2. All in all, I enjoyed myself and came out with some neat poo poo... time to go test out that amplifier and power supply.
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Mar 26, 2011 23:59
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I got a little chuckle out of this article on interference: http://www.randombio.com//interference.htmlAbsentMindedWelder posted:I also ran into a person who has the same call sign as me, except his a 2x1 where I'm 1x2.
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Mar 31, 2011 23:44
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Vir posted:I got a little chuckle out of this article on interference: http://www.randombio.com//interference.html K3VD and KV3D. Same letters, same order, just the numeral is in a different location.
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Mar 31, 2011 23:52
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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 05:01 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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Apr 2, 2011 07:37
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Jose Pointero posted:To add insult to injury, I got a memo from my HOA today saying that all satellite dishes on all units have got to come down, people are all pissed about it but it won't change anything. I had an old dish on my roof that the PO had put on, and was planning to turn it into a clandestine V/UHF antenna. So much for that plan. Remember, the FCC > your HOA. If the dishes or even full OTA TV antennas are covered by these guidelines you have the backing of the FCC to tell the HOA to gently caress off. Print some copies of that out and pass them to everyone who's affected by the HOA's stupidity and the problem should go away. edit: To be clear no amateur antennas are covered by that, but as you note it's possible to stealthily add an amateur antenna to an existing antenna and in all likelihood anyone who would complain won't be able to tell the difference. wolrah fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Apr 2, 2011 |
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Apr 2, 2011 20:52
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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 05:01 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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Apr 3, 2011 01:25
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Jose Pointero posted:I think I'll try forwarding this to them to see what they say, but most likely they'll just throw this part back at me: When you said HOA it implied to me independent buildings. If you are in a shared building, then yea unless it's a townhome type setup you're limited to the balcony if available.
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Apr 3, 2011 05:33
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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 05:01 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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Apr 3, 2011 05:43
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Jose Pointero posted:The only loophole I can think of is that technically the dish wouldn't work if I put it on my patio or porch, but I doubt they give a poo poo. Get a 5 gallon bucket and cut a hole in the lid. Insert 5 ft. mast, fill with concrete, and replace lid. Then add as many sections as you need to get said dish above the roofline and see what they say.
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Apr 3, 2011 05:58
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How about a 30 foot high bucket (radome). The FCC preemption we're talking about here is really meant for TV satellite dishes though - to break the cable monopoly enforced by some HOA rules in the past. So it only helps you put up something which looks like a TV dish. It won't help with putting up verticals or towers. HOA rules and property covenants are, as part of contracts, harder to get away from than local laws and ordinances. There are preemptions which help you in case of local laws and ordinances against amateur antennas. The FCC can come and say to a city "hey, don't get involved in the amateur radio service - that's our federal jurisdiction", but the FCC doesn't have the same amount of say-so in a private contract between yourself and a HOA or other party. Sounds like your options might be a magnetic loop camouflaged as a satellite dish, if you're willing to take up that fight, or an indoor antenna. I've heard some HOAs embrace amateur radio though, and put up a shack at their club house.
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Apr 3, 2011 07:21
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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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Apr 3, 2011 08:37
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Jose Pointero posted:I think my best bet really is to put up that Diamond 2m/440 antenna that I mentioned in the earlier post on top of my chimney, which people probably wouldn't notice (especially if I take the dish down, pretending to be a good citizen). As for HF, I can put a wire antenna in my attic, which being on 2nd floor would probably work decently. Gonna be a while before I can afford another HF rig though. Have you thought about the VenTenna?
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Apr 3, 2011 11:24
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drat, that VenTenna looks nice. Sadly, I'm drawing a blank on the name of the PVC pipe antenna that's designed for apartment use; was it the Wonder Stick or something? Also, now that I'm living in an apartment, I'm going to try to get our balcony railing turned into a HF antenna, or at least build a magnetic loop for receiving. I've been so turned around lately, having started a new job and having to move(twice!) and all, that I haven't had time to look into it. Here's hoping things smooth out soon, I miss scanning the airwaves.
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Apr 3, 2011 17:19
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I'm in a HOA situation here myself, at the moment I just have antennas in the attic/crawl-space area under the roof for HF/VHF/UHF. At some point this spring I will get a par-endz antenna and run that to a nearby tree which is technically in a "common area" just behind my fenced in yard. My hope is few will see it and even fewer will care. My attic antenna picks up around S-3 units of noise average which isn't bad considering the situation but I'm surely missing out on weak signals. I'd like to get my 2M/440 j-pole another 15 feet higher by putting it on the roof but that would likely get HOA on me quick. My satellite TV antenna is on the side of my house (I'm in a end unit) but so is everybody elses. I guess everybody's HOA is different. Why can't all HOA's understand we need 200 yard wire antennas and 60 ft towers to work those rare DX stations! 
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Apr 3, 2011 22:32
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Radio Nowhere posted:I'm in a HOA situation here myself, at the moment I just have antennas in the attic/crawl-space area under the roof for HF/VHF/UHF. At some point this spring I will get a par-endz antenna and run that to a nearby tree which is technically in a "common area" just behind my fenced in yard. My hope is few will see it and even fewer will care. My attic antenna picks up around S-3 units of noise average which isn't bad considering the situation but I'm surely missing out on weak signals. I'd like to get my 2M/440 j-pole another 15 feet higher by putting it on the roof but that would likely get HOA on me quick. My satellite TV antenna is on the side of my house (I'm in a end unit) but so is everybody elses. I guess everybody's HOA is different. Why can't all HOA's understand we need 200 yard wire antennas and 60 ft towers to work those rare DX stations! Would the HOA pitch a fit if you put up something while transmitting and pulled it down once you were done? It would be a pain in the rear end unless you came up with a quick way to mount/dismount the antenna, but at least you'd be able to get some decent signal reception while operating. Oh... What is their stance on flagpoles? You could always make a stealth flagpole vertical antenna.
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Apr 3, 2011 22:50
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BigHustle posted:Would the HOA pitch a fit if you put up something while transmitting and pulled it down once you were done? It would be a pain in the rear end unless you came up with a quick way to mount/dismount the antenna, but at least you'd be able to get some decent signal reception while operating. I guess it depends on what you're doing. I'm sure it would raise a few eyebrows if every contest I cranked up my 60 ft tower with an 80M beam above my townhouse. I suppose a VHF/UHF vertical on my roof for two days would do little harm, but like you said it would be a pain. A flagpole antenna in my small backyard could work, the radials would be good to 20M without a tuner. I'm somewhat lazy and won't go through the effort to erect a flagpole just to work HF. If I can shoot a wire to a nearby tree to get my antenna away from the noise that'll be good enough.
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Apr 3, 2011 23:11
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I plan to attend the local SKYWARN training held by the NWS and local police department this weekend. Aside from getting pictures of 450 lb guys showing up in tactical combat gear with 5 HTs strapped to their belts, I'll also get their weather reference CD.St. Louis Area SKYWARN posted:The Weather Reference “CD” is a compilation of weather brochures, manuals and other items that are either no longer available in print, or too expensive to print. A partial list of items on the CD includes: If anyone would be interested in a copy, I might be able to burn copies or throw up a torrent. Any other St. Louis, MO area HamGoons going?
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Apr 5, 2011 03:17
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HOAs are horrible, awful things. They are what happens when uptight old pricks get a whiff of power and realize they can make OTHER peoples lives as bland, miserable and joyless as their own. A buddy of mine is currently dealing with his HOA that wants to impose a new rule banning children from playing outside... in a community full of families with tons of kids. Not all-adult. HOAs are just hateful, terrible things that need to go die a painful, slow, long death. I don't need a board of bitter old jackoffs with sticks up their butts telling me how new my car has to be in order to be "allowed" into their community or what colors my curtains are supposed to be. Their vision of a perfect living environment is Hellish and asinine.
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Apr 5, 2011 04:06
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HOAs are proof that in a purely democratic society, some people would vote themselves into slavery. And like it.
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Apr 5, 2011 04:24
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