|
After a bit of fiddling and some more scientific adjustment of deviation TX/RX levels my brand new DV hotspot LA2YUA C is now online on the DCS reflector system! Tomorrow will be an exciting day when I test the range of the system, today I was only able to achieve reliable contact in LoS of the hotspot QTH which is pretty terrible. After changing the antenna to one with a better match, moving the receiver away from noise sources and fine-tuning the discriminator-filters in the receiver, I should be able to get significantly more range than the previous setup.
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2014 20:41
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 13, 2024 21:19 |
|
|
Is the UV-5R still a decent first HT? I'm looking and there's a UV-6 now but there don't seem to be any actual significant feature differences. Practicing for my Basic, but figured it wouldn't hurt to listen while I do.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2014 02:10
|
|
|
pantstime posted:Is the UV-5R still a decent first HT? I'm looking and there's a UV-6 now but there don't seem to be any actual significant feature differences. I got a UV6 after returning a UV5R. It's pretty hard to program without a cable being the main reason.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2014 02:57
|
|
|
uapyro posted:I got a UV6 after returning a UV5R. It's pretty hard to program without a cable being the main reason. You mean the UV-6 is easier to program without the cable? Huh, it's nice that they fixed that a bit, is the UI any less terrible too? (I messed around with my friend's 5R for a while.)
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2014 03:31
|
|
|
pantstime posted:You mean the UV-6 is easier to program without the cable? Huh, it's nice that they fixed that a bit, is the UI any less terrible too? (I messed around with my friend's 5R for a while.) Somewhat better. I wasn't able to get the 5R programmed manually, but I was able to do it with the 6 without much hassle.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2014 04:26
|
|
|
Next test close to me is on Feb 8th, finally going to go for it, wish me luck fellow graybeards.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2014 04:42
|
|
|
e.pie posted:Next test close to me is on Feb 8th, finally going to go for it, wish me luck fellow graybeards. Don't forget to take all the tests! Pass one, take the next, go up till you don't pass one. They grade on the spot. There's no extra charge.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2014 17:43
|
|
|
Jonny 290 posted:Don't forget to take all the tests! Pass one, take the next, go up till you don't pass one. They grade on the spot. There's no extra charge. Will do!
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2014 18:16
|
|
|
quote:Popular Communications: free download of November and December 2013 issues
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2014 06:06
|
|
|
On the topic of "maintenance purchases," I've been thinking about adding APRS to the second side of the TM-V71A in my car. Am I just going to get it set up, look at my route on a map once then get bored of it? That's exactly what's going to happen, isnt it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 04:22
|
|
|
eddiewalker posted:On the topic of "maintenance purchases," I've been thinking about adding APRS to the second side of the TM-V71A in my car. Am I just going to get it set up, look at my route on a map once then get bored of it? That's exactly what's going to happen, isnt it. I had a TM-D700 for years in my truck and yeah, that's exactly it. APRS was a lot neater when "Find My Friends" wasn't a download on your iDevice. I think it's great to experiment with though, it's amazing how versatile it is.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 05:01
|
|
|
eddiewalker posted:On the topic of "maintenance purchases," I've been thinking about adding APRS to the second side of the TM-V71A in my car. Am I just going to get it set up, look at my route on a map once then get bored of it? That's exactly what's going to happen, isnt it. Pretty much. APRS is a really cool technology with severely limited practical purpose.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 05:59
|
|
|
If yall are looking for a supercheap mag mount, last week I picked up a Tram 1185 ; cheap way to get on the air. Match is okay after a little tuning (got 1.3 on 2m and 1.4 on 70cm), and the magnet is _way_ stronger than the older Trams. Whip is a standard 3/8x24, too, so you can experiment with other (short, the magnet's not THAT good) whips. PL-259 connector is actually soldered, at least on the center pin, and has a strain relief.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 18:07
|
|
|
So how many radios can you have in your vehicle before you are considered a whacker? I have a TM-71A dual bander and a TYT-9000 220 radio in my truck (which thanks to a cascaded duplexer/triplexer setup use the same antenna,) but I am thinking of adding 900mhz and another antenna.  I would probably put the 900mhz in the center console.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 21:58
|
|
|
Dijkstra posted:So how many radios can you have in your vehicle before you are considered a whacker? I have a TM-71A dual bander and a TYT-9000 220 radio in my truck (which thanks to a cascaded duplexer/triplexer setup use the same antenna,) but I am thinking of adding 900mhz and another antenna. You're right at the line. Which side depends on interior mounting and antennas.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 23:45
|
|
|
pantstime posted:Is the UV-5R still a decent first HT? I'm looking and there's a UV-6 now but there don't seem to be any actual significant feature differences. I have a UV-5R and a UV-B5 (same as the B6 except it has a rotary encoder knob instead of the flashlight). They're more like two completely different radios that do the exact same thing than they are different versions of the same radio. The only advantages to the UV-5R are a better display with more characters for channel names, and there's a larger battery pack available for it. That's about it. The UV-B5 and B6 have a smaller display with fewer characters, but they're easier to program (You can name channels when programming manually. With the UV-5R you can only name channels with software), have a better receiver that is a lot better at rejecting interference, and have an actual S-meter on the display. (The UV-5R shows a little antenna with bars like a cell phone, but it's just on/off). EDIT: Oh also the markings are wearing off of the buttons on my UV-5R, but they're holding up fine on the B5. Also also, on the UV-5R, the memory mode/VFO mode affects both displayed frequencies, but on the B5/B6, each frequency can be set independently, so you can have one be a programmed memory channel and the other set to VFO mode. Dog Case fucked around with this message at 08:08 on Jan 17, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2014 03:09
|
|
|
Jonny 290 posted:If yall are looking for a supercheap mag mount, last week I picked up a Tram 1185 ; cheap way to get on the air. Match is okay after a little tuning (got 1.3 on 2m and 1.4 on 70cm), and the magnet is _way_ stronger than the older Trams. Whip is a standard 3/8x24, too, so you can experiment with other (short, the magnet's not THAT good) whips. PL-259 connector is actually soldered, at least on the center pin, and has a strain relief. I've got that antenna on my car, and for the most part I like it. I'm right around 30 miles from the repeater that's frequently used for the Birmingham, AL area, and I just start to lose signal at 65W on my icom2200H. The magnet on that is indeed super strong, I've painfully pinched myself several times trying to place it. Is there the issue of scratching that I've read about with mag mount antennas in general if I clean both the underside where the magnet is and the trunk when I wash my car? Normally that'd be about every 2 weeks, but it's closer to every month with the cold weather.
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2014 06:51
|
|
|
uapyro posted:Is there the issue of scratching that I've read about with mag mount antennas in general if I clean both the underside where the magnet is and the trunk when I wash my car? Normally that'd be about every 2 weeks, but it's closer to every month with the cold weather. The paint on newer cars will hold up a little better in the short run but after enough time on there it will eventually look scratched. If you have a white/light beige/light grey car it will be a lot harder to see though. The one time I had a mag mount it was on a white car and the scratching was moderately hard to see unless you were staring right at it. One thing I've heard but not tried is to get some detailing clay before you put the mag mount on and use it to really clean your trunk/roof beforehand. Repeat every time you wash the car. That stuff will pull up a lot of the particles and supposedly prolong the finish even more. Dijkstra fucked around with this message at 15:19 on Jan 17, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2014 15:12
|
|
|
Double post
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2014 15:17
|
|
|
If you're going to stick a mag mount to the same spot, just buy a sample square of 3M paint protection film and apply it first. I didn't notice any performance hit to the antenna and when I decided to just drill a hole, the film peeled right off with no paint damage after two years of mag mount use. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk...sample&_sacat=0
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2014 15:44
|
|
|
eddiewalker posted:If you're going to stick a mag mount to the same spot, just buy a sample square of 3M paint protection film and apply it first. I didn't notice any performance hit to the antenna and when I decided to just drill a hole, the film peeled right off with no paint damage after two years of mag mount use. I think the January QST had a thing about this. The trick was to apply a bumper sticker to the magnet side, and then trim around the base of the magnet.
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2014 15:50
|
|
|
I tried applying something to the mag mount. The antenna still scooted around and scuffed the paint with dust and road grit. I thinking applying it car-side as a sacrificial layer is the only way.
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2014 16:01
|
|
|
eddiewalker posted:If you're going to stick a mag mount to the same spot, just buy a sample square of 3M paint protection film and apply it first. I didn't notice any performance hit to the antenna and when I decided to just drill a hole, the film peeled right off with no paint damage after two years of mag mount use. Awesome, I'll give that one a try. Thanks!
|
|
#
?
Jan 18, 2014 00:02
|
|
|
Anyone have any recommendations for a reasonably compact 2m mobile rig, with bonus points for it being "heavy duty"? I was looking at the Yaesu 1802 and the Kenwood TM-281, but I haven't been active in years so I don't know what's good or what else is out there. I'm looking to buy used. HF capabilities would be a nice bonus but probably not possible with my limited budget.
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2014 20:08
|
|
|
Compact like would be necessary on a motorcycle, or would a remote face be sufficient?
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2014 22:18
|
|
|
If you only really care about 2m and "Heavy Duty" it's hard to beat an Icom V-8000. They are built like tanks. Mine's 13 years old, has been in three different cars and has otherwise survived being badly packed in a couple of moves. It weighs about as much as one of those old Motorola Maxtrac commercial radios.
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2014 23:59
|
|
|
eddiewalker posted:Compact like would be necessary on a motorcycle, or would a remote face be sufficient? I guess compact was a bit vague; it's replacing an Icom IC-229H, so anything that size or smaller. Smaller would be awesome, but we're probably talking big bucks. Something with a remote face might be handy. It's going in a Subaru. Dijkstra posted:If you only really care about 2m and "Heavy Duty" it's hard to beat an Icom V-8000. They are built like tanks. Mine's 13 years old, has been in three different cars and has otherwise survived being badly packed in a couple of moves. It weighs about as much as one of those old Motorola Maxtrac commercial radios. That looks pretty nice too. Where should I be looking if I want to find one under $150, or preferably under $100? Should I just keep trolling eBay? I missed out on a Yaesu 1802 for $75 that a buddy was selling and I kick myself every time I think about it. As far as 2m-only, more would be cool but at the moment I'm only a Tech. I've been out of it so long I don't remember if that even gets me anything besides 2m. infrared35 fucked around with this message at 01:09 on Jan 21, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2014 01:06
|
|
|
infrared35 posted:I've been out of it so long I don't remember if that even gets me anything besides 2m. CW privs on a bunch of bands, voice and CW on a small portion of 10.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2014 01:42
|
|
|
infrared35 posted:
Here's a TM-281 for $110: http://swap.qth.com/view_ad.php?counter=1109893 Here's 2 V-8000's for $175 each http://swap.qth.com/view_ad.php?counter=1110701
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2014 02:07
|
|
|
I'm a big fan of the Kenwood TM-V71A for mounting in a small car. The face and microphone can both be extended with plain ethernet cables and you can hide the bulk in the trunk or under a seat. It's a little pricey, but you get two independent radios in one, both sides with 2m, 70cm and wideband receive. Crossband repeat was a big selling point for me because I wanted to use my car parked on a hill as a repeater when I'm out on the lake. But, I never actually did that.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2014 02:38
|
|
|
Dijkstra posted:swap.qth.com Awesome, thanks. eddiewalker posted:I'm a big fan of the Kenwood TM-V71A for mounting in a small car. That sounds like a sweet rig, but yeah, it's a fair bit outside my budget.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2014 02:51
|
|
|
Dijkstra posted:So how many radios can you have in your vehicle before you are considered a whacker? Then there's the guy who thinks having anything less than 20 watts of power will make communication impossible, while exactly 20 watts will give you 100% global link reliability with quality of service. Of course, that's just based on postcounts and not representative of the actual readership. 
Vir fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Jan 21, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2014 17:01
|
|
|
Vir posted:Then there's the guy who thinks having anything less than 20 watts of power will make communication impossible, while exactly 20 watts will give you 100% global link reliability with quality of service. Of course, that's just based on postcounts and not representative of the actual readership. The whiner's post counts are probably that high because they can't figure out how to make their radio work and/or are saving up for that 1.5k linear because their antenna sucks and they don't know it. This leaves them plenty of time to bitch on the internet about a hobby they barely understand.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2014 17:24
|
|
|
Dijkstra posted:So how many radios can you have in your vehicle before you are considered a whacker?
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2014 17:47
|
|
|
Dijkstra posted:So how many radios can you have in your vehicle before you are considered a whacker? I have a TM-71A dual bander and a TYT-9000 220 radio in my truck (which thanks to a cascaded duplexer/triplexer setup use the same antenna,) but I am thinking of adding 900mhz and another antenna. I've got a Hy-Gain AV-18VS on the back right corner of my Blazer (to be extended only while parked, obviously). You're good. My next phase is to get one of those extending paint poles and do a 12-16 foot mast on the other back corner, and put a UHF discone on top. Max antenna farm.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2014 19:32
|
|
|
Gisnep posted:That depends. How much emergency lighting do you have? I don't think radios alone will qualify you. Not automatically, but I'd argue this is pretty whacktastic without a bit of emergency lighting: http://www.hamsexy.com/cms/?p=1067 IMO whackers are sort of like the "ricers" in the car scene. They know what they want, in the case of the ricers it's a race car, in the case of whackers it's usually some variant on a "command vehicle". Their common defect is that they then decide the way to achieve that goal is to just apply parts they think look good somewhat randomly to whatever vehicle they have until it very roughly resembles what they see in their mind. It's hard to draw a hard line, but in the case of mobile installs I'd say two major factors are how clean the install is and the actual utility of the equipment. Some of the porcupine cars you'll see at Dayton and such are just loaded with gear that would never logically be used, like a half dozen two meter radios. Other than APRS users having a second 2M unit for that it's hard to come up with reasons to need multiple transmitters in the same band. They're never going to use most of those, it's just for show in some strange way. Maybe Penn Jillette's rule on cat owners applies here with radios: quote:With each additional cat over two, the crazy increases exponentially. 3 cats, 27 times as crazy. 4 cats, 256 times. By the time you get to 78 cats, you have all the crazy in the free world.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2014 20:19
|
|
|
Won't lie, while this seems excessive for a mobile there's a part of me that wants it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iRN2NfT-sQ
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2014 20:48
|
|
|
Jonny 290 posted:I've got a Hy-Gain AV-18VS on the back right corner of my Blazer (to be extended only while parked, obviously). You're good. I love my discone antenna, 25-2000 MHz RX coverage and not a bad transmitter, it would probably look awesome on a sedan. IMO the correct number of 2m/70cm antennas on a ham car is three, a small 2m APRS/other packet antenna, a dual band whip for talking, and a second dual band whip on the other side for diversity RX. Also there should be a isolated battery for the radios with a rig to allow bidirectional charging (built-in jump-starter!) just in case you need to run cross-band or relay APRS from the car for a while. E: and I've found that the H-250 military handset has a really great speaker for listening to noisy transmissions, so I'd mod in one of those too (a real surplus one, not one of the replicas) longview fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Jan 23, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2014 20:46
|
|
|
I've been hearing about the Zastone ZT-2R for a little while and my curiosity finally outweighed the $80 price so I ordered one. Apparently it's a replica, counterfeit or otherwise duplicate of the discontinued Yaesu VX-2r. Yaesu accessories work. It programs as a Yaesu radio with VXCommander. The online manual is just a link to Yaesu's PDF. It's almost as if someone found the plans for the VX-2 in an old filing cabinet and rebooted the factory. Apparently the performance is good, and it has the wideband receive (and AM rx!) that other cheap Chinese HTs don't. Most of the info I've found is in Russian, so I guess we'll see what's going on when my package comes in 2 weeks.
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2014 06:57
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 13, 2024 21:19 |
|
|
I just found this on the sidebar when I clicked on something else on imgur.
|
|
#
?
Jan 29, 2014 07:03
|
|