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SiB posted:Score!! Great job! Of course the dude accidentally mashed the button twice then resubmitted it without my middle name, but I got a confirmation from the original submission, so it all worked out. ...not that I'm very mature in my selection of callsigns.
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Mar 14, 2013 05:09
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| # ? May 12, 2024 23:54 |
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You can hardly be less mature than Mr. Theophilus B. Underwood III, W4NK.
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Mar 14, 2013 06:58
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Well that was... absurdly quick.
SoundMonkey fucked around with this message at 07:18 on Jun 25, 2017 |
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Mar 14, 2013 13:58
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:I am looking for a volunteer to be the trustee for AG0ON. I'm hoping to get this done by the end of March. If not, I will probably have to cancel it. I am looking into in starting a D-Star machine that I will be the trustee of. Just want to repeat this in case anyone missed it.
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Mar 14, 2013 17:14
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SoundMonkey posted:Well that was... absurdly quick. The highest of fives. You need to get a radio and a RigBlaster so we can share beeps.
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Mar 14, 2013 17:54
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:Now I just need to learn CW...  I'm going to jump in with another recent poster here and say that, of all things, antenna theory is where I'm weak. Oh, I understood the formulae well enough from a basic physics and mathematics point of view for the test, but I'm still at the point of asking stupid questions like this: Can I just run a loop of wire around the corners of my ceiling and hope to pick up a (bunch of noise and a) signal on 80m? Just how many capacitors and transformers will it take? Okay, the person outside trying to send morse with their car horn. It's not working.
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Mar 14, 2013 18:15
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^^^ Antennas as far as I'm concerned are a black art. Best way to learn what works and what doesn't with antennas is try out different ones. You can study all the theory in the world, and if you don't, you certainly won't succeed, but you gotta build them and test them.
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Mar 14, 2013 19:17
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Passed my Technician and General tonight! Now time to  the FCC.
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Mar 15, 2013 02:48
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Y'know what, hell with it, I'll edit the OP myself 
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Mar 15, 2013 07:25
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:Just want to repeat this in case anyone missed it. Did miss that. Anything major involved? Are we using the club sign anywhere currently?
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Mar 17, 2013 16:11
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It hasn't been actively used for anything other to run an Echolink node, which I dunno if it still running or not. PM me your call sign, mailing address, and I'll send ya out a form with my signature that you can sign and mail out.
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Mar 17, 2013 17:34
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So I'm looking at the Baofeng UV-5RC. 5-ish watts, dual band, accepts Kenwood accessories (and doesn't use crazy moon connectors). Other than being a cheap piece of poo poo probably, is there any specific reason I wouldn't get this?
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Mar 17, 2013 22:50
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My 5R is already losing the paint on the buttons after a single weekend of normal field use, the battery life is quite good though. Transmit audio is very low on the stock 5R but I think they've fixed that in later hardware revisions. Get the extended battery. The 5R is also pretty sensitive to intermodulation so it frequently picks up noise, and the squelch doesn't actually support changing the level so there's not much to do about it when it happens. But for the price it's pretty good.
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Mar 17, 2013 23:06
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Lots of people have the Chinese radios and are happy with them... my opinion, the readability of the manual from the Japanese manufacturers is worth the extra $50-75, or whatever the price diff is.
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Mar 18, 2013 00:25
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longview posted:My 5R is already losing the paint on the buttons after a single weekend of normal field use, the battery life is quite good though. Transmit audio is very low on the stock 5R but I think they've fixed that in later hardware revisions. Get the extended battery. Close enough for me, ordered. Also with the retarded amount of arduino-related stuff I have lying around I should be able to build a programming cable really really easily (not that they cost that much, but waiting on shipping from wherever, etc).
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Mar 18, 2013 01:36
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Tell me I'm wise for thinking about jumping on an FT-726r with all modules for $200. Such satellite class.
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Mar 19, 2013 02:12
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Jonny 290 posted:Tell me I'm wise for thinking about jumping on an FT-726r with all modules for $200. Very wise, let me know if you ever want to sell it.
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Mar 19, 2013 20:48
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Jonny 290 posted:Tell me I'm wise for thinking about jumping on an FT-726r with all modules for $200. Well since well-known microcontroller autist Jonny290 is already here... How difficult would it be to have an arduino just sit between the radio and the computer as a programming cable? From what I can tell, all it has to do is Serial->USB, which shouldn't be all that hard (it's the Kenwood type of connector, so I already have the appropriate parts lying around). Googling has been unhelpful.
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Mar 19, 2013 20:54
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SoundMonkey posted:Well since well-known microcontroller autist Jonny290 is already here... This should be completely doable and actually is the reason we don't touch pins 0 and 1 on the yosvape's arduino - that's the serial bus. Wire it up and go. I use this trick to interface with an Icom PCR-100 that I've converted from RS-232 levels to TTL levels.
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Mar 20, 2013 14:58
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Jonny 290 posted:This should be completely doable and actually is the reason we don't touch pins 0 and 1 on the yosvape's arduino - that's the serial bus. Wire it up and go. I use this trick to interface with an Icom PCR-100 that I've converted from RS-232 levels to TTL levels. I think the data connection is 3.3V levels, so I may have to do some conversion, although I hope not. Also I'm told the baud rate is determined by "guessing" on these. At least I won't have to find some obscure drivers this way, just let the arduino show up as a normal serial port, and use SoftwareSerial to talk to the radio.
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Mar 21, 2013 01:37
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SoundMonkey posted:I think the data connection is 3.3V levels, so I may have to do some conversion, although I hope not. Also I'm told the baud rate is determined by "guessing" on these. At least I won't have to find some obscure drivers this way, just let the arduino show up as a normal serial port, and use SoftwareSerial to talk to the radio. I don't know about yours, but pretty much all of my radio programming cables are just cheap USB>serial converters pinned-out to whatever weird headset jack the radio uses to double as a programming port. The RPi sounds like extra complication if you're just wanting to program.
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Mar 21, 2013 01:45
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eddiewalker posted:I don't know about yours, but pretty much all of my radio programming cables are just cheap USB>serial converters pinned-out to whatever weird headset jack the radio uses to double as a programming port. The RPi sounds like extra complication if you're just wanting to program. An arduino, but yeah, I meant using this INSTEAD of the programming cable, since it's already a USB>serial converter. The connectors are just (semi) standard audio jacks which I already have lots of.
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Mar 21, 2013 04:31
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If anyone uses those LiPo RC batteries for QRP/Portable/EMCOMMUNISM, this is a pretty good deal: http://www.hobbypartz.com/77p-sl4000-3s1p-40c-3333.html
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Mar 21, 2013 19:59
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Having been a HAM for a decade, I finally got a radio. That Baofeng thing, UV-5RE. Fairly capable little radio, I am amazed it is only $40.
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Mar 29, 2013 16:18
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Redleg posted:Having been a HAM for a decade, I finally got a radio. That Baofeng thing, UV-5RE. Fairly capable little radio, I am amazed it is only $40. Yeah I'm sure mine will be awesome once it, y'know, shows up.
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Mar 30, 2013 23:18
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I've had really good luck with 409shop if anyone else is looking to buy a chinese thing. I've placed maybe 4 separate orders for Baofeng radios, Nagoya antennas, and some spare batteries. Poorly organized site, but everything ahs shown up direct from China in about 2 weeks.
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Mar 30, 2013 23:21
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eddiewalker posted:I've had really good luck with 409shop if anyone else is looking to buy a chinese thing. I've placed maybe 4 separate orders for Baofeng radios, Nagoya antennas, and some spare batteries. Poorly organized site, but everything ahs shown up direct from China in about 2 weeks. Yeah it's only been like ten days, I'm just being an impatient babby because now it's easter so nothing happens for four days or something. Also at $40 each I might grab an extra one when I'm rich to donate to the local club for people who, like me, are bad at planning things and got their license before having a radio.
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Mar 30, 2013 23:54
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I've got a TH-F6A that I've had for about 9 years. Bought it in 2004, and I just replaced the battery. I've got a tri-band Maldol antenna to go along with the radio when I bought it. These days, it's looking a little, uh, droopy, when I hold it.  I think it took an accidental bend one day. It still seems to work; I don't lose reception or anything, when I wiggle it a bit or the antenna bounces. Is the only way to know for sure to hook it up to a meter and check the SWR? Is it even worth it for an HT antenna?
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Mar 31, 2013 02:32
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It's fine.
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Mar 31, 2013 14:35
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eddiewalker posted:I've had really good luck with 409shop if anyone else is looking to buy a chinese thing. I've placed maybe 4 separate orders for Baofeng radios, Nagoya antennas, and some spare batteries. Poorly organized site, but everything ahs shown up direct from China in about 2 weeks. Yea same here, 3 wouxun radios and a baofeng, a bunch of accessories for them all, not a single problem. 2 weeks shipping for me and i'm in northern alberta. I order from their ebay store usually though. http://stores.ebay.com/PRORADIOSHOP
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Apr 1, 2013 00:50
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I figure ham radio operators will know the answer to this one: if I can't afford a good linear supply for my HF rig, can I take a regulated 13.8V lower power supply and connect it to a lead acid battery? I figure if current is shared correctly then as long as the average current of the HF rig (duty cycle) is less than what the supply can deliver then the battery will maintain a decent charge?
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Apr 1, 2013 08:37
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Yes, but you'll probably need a resistor and fuse - and maybe a diode too - between the power supply and battery, to protect the supply and battery. You'll end up with a sort of trickle charger. You have to size the diode and resistor (ohm value and wattage) to the size of the battery, so that connecting an empty battery doesn't overload the power supply or provides more charging current than the battery can handle. Depending on what supply you get, you might have issues with switching interference on some HF bands. One popular supply that might be out of your price range is the Alinco DM-330MVE/MVT which is switch mode, but has an adjustable switching frequency. Vir fucked around with this message at 14:00 on Apr 1, 2013 |
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Apr 1, 2013 13:52
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No maybe about the diode, it is required. But yes you can trickle charge a lead acid battery that way, effectively creating a DC UPS. It's not quite as good as a box designed for the purpose, but it will work.
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Apr 1, 2013 14:11
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Ok thanks, my plan was to make a regulated linear supply since I have some fairly powerful transformers to use as a base, then I can get some big linear regulators and a nice heatsink. I have already experienced the devastating effects of my laptop charger when not grounded on pretty much everything from 5-15 MHz so I definitely want to limit the amount of switching supplies where possible. As a follow-up question what's a good size battery to use for a 20A peak-load? I started with a 20Ah SMF battery since that lets me receive all day and I can just charge at night, I was thinking I'd go up to 50-70Ah for when I get the antenna up and want to start transmitting?
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Apr 1, 2013 18:59
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longview posted:As a follow-up question what's a good size battery to use for a 20A peak-load?
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Apr 1, 2013 19:08
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I've had my technician for a while, but I only now am getting a radio. I've heard good things about Wouxun, but the upper bound of my budget is $200, am I going to be able to find anything good at that price?
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Apr 1, 2013 19:26
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I am not a book posted:I've had my technician for a while, but I only now am getting a radio. I've heard good things about Wouxun, but the upper bound of my budget is $200, am I going to be able to find anything good at that price?
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Apr 1, 2013 19:43
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So once I'm a money-haver, is there any reason I can't just run my HT through a linear amplifier and a decent antenna for some more reach, until I scrape up enough money for an HF rig? I saw a pretty cheap 4-watts-in-45-watts-out amplifier and I can easily design the power supply myself.
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Apr 2, 2013 03:25
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Kind of apples and oranges. Maybe you're mixing terminology. Your HT is most certainly FM-only and doesn't work on HF frequencies. There's very little FM activity on HF. If you're just talking about getting more power on UHF/VHF, get a used base/mobile station and a power supply.
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Apr 2, 2013 03:33
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eddiewalker posted:Kind of apples and oranges. Maybe you're mixing terminology. Your HT is most certainly FM-only and doesn't work on HF frequencies. There's very little FM activity on HF. If you're just talking about getting more power on UHF/VHF, get a used base/mobile station and a power supply. Sorry, yeah, I was unclear, I meant more power on VHF/UHF, not somehow magically making it HF and/or AM.
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Apr 2, 2013 03:50
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