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My one came with some really lovely and floppy rubber duck and ended up picking up a cheap as poo poo Diamond RH-770. And in other news I found an FT-8900 at decent price and that should be with me today, I'm actually pretty excited about it to be honest. Next question, has anyone had any experience with ATV, namely stuff in the 23cm and 13cm bands?
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Apr 9, 2014 08:04
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My time with the loaner baofeng is over, switching over to the 70cm only Kenwood mobile I have is gonna suck … Also it looks like the venerable UHF-connector is the most popular choice for mobile antennas. Having a hard time finding a mount that can tilt/move more than a few degrees, as I would like to put the antenna on the fender or on the rear hatch. Not the most ideal location, sure, but they're much more easier to access than the roof.
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Apr 10, 2014 07:14
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I like those small kenwood mobiles, I've only had a brief amount of time to play with one but they seemed good. Also really getting a kick out of this FT-8900.
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Apr 11, 2014 15:38
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I got this guy which seems a little better but I still can't seem to hit the 2M repeater 10 or so miles away.
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Apr 11, 2014 22:04
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PuTTY riot posted:I got this guy which seems a little better but I still can't seem to hit the 2M repeater 10 or so miles away. Are you sure the antenna's making a decent connection to the radio? I have that same antenna, and the outer plastic casing only BARELY fits in the antenna mount on a UV-5R, I imagine if the tolerances were even SLIGHTLY different on a similar model of radio, the plastic would jam against the radio's housing before the antenna connector was properly seated (meaning you'd have to use a washer or something). Or just shave down the plastic on the antenna a bit, it's not like it's a huge investment. Assuming you're transmitting at 5W, it really sounds like something's wrong unless you're in the middle of the city or have mountains all around you or something, I can pretty reliably hit a 2M repeater 20-30 miles away (line of sight) with that.
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Apr 11, 2014 22:49
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If anyone is looking for a super-compact mobile that can be hidden or mounted pretty much anywhere in a modern car, take a look at the Leixen VV-808. It's a small, 10 Watt single band VHF or UHF mobile that has a bunch of features, and is fully computer programmable. Best of all, It can be had for as little as $100.75 if you shop around on AliExpress. I was able to install it in the little storage area above the stereo in my 2005 Subaru Outback. It comes with a mic that has a DTMF keypad and up/down channel buttons. Here's a pic of my VV-808 with a Quarter for size reference:  I've used it for about a week, and have gotten numerous compliments from other local hams about the sound quality of this little Transceiver. I'll post pics of it installed in my Subaru when I get a chance. I love cheap Chinese ham poo poo.  I currently own two Baofeng UV3R+ HT's, a Baofeng UV5R+ HT, A couple of Feidaxen FD160a's, and now this Leixen mobile. I can't wait until the PRC starts making cheap HF gear that eclipses the shoddy looking QRP rigs that are just starting to surface online. MullardEL34 fucked around with this message at 09:34 on Apr 12, 2014 |
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Apr 12, 2014 09:08
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 E-QSO card from NASA's JUNO mission arrived 
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Apr 13, 2014 16:48
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Went on vacation this weekend with some friends of mine who were hams, they brought along a pair of UV-3R+. I was really impressed with a $30 HT, my last one was an Icom 2M HT that was built like a brick shithouse but cost $100 used. That got stolen years ago and I figured for 30 dollars and free shipping I just bought 2, if I break or lose one, gently caress it. On that note, my interest in ham radio has somewhat rekindled. I'm not sure I want to drag out the SB-200 and the 706 (and rebuild the antenna farm) or finish my Gates BC-1T restoration project, but I kinda wanted to play with my FT-817. Is Tokyo Hypower still the only game in town for QRP linears?
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Apr 14, 2014 06:52
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The UV-3R isn't worth touching once you see how much more function and refinement a UV-5R variant gives for $5 more. Oh, and Tokyo Hy-Power filed for bankruptcy late last year.
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Apr 14, 2014 13:46
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Ten Tec and Elecraft make QRP linears that seem to be popular but I have no experience with them. The Elecraft linear is designed to be used with the KX3 but it can probably be easily used with other radios.
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Apr 14, 2014 18:00
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Dijkstra posted:The Elecraft linear is designed to be used with the KX3 but it can probably be easily used with other radios. At $700 for 100 watts, the smart money is on picking up a 100w rig new or used rather than that amp. It's pricing puts it in a very specific market segment.
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Apr 14, 2014 19:29
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It's marketed to Elecraft cultists who eagerly fork over thousands of dollars in order to beta-test Elecraft's products for them. 
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Apr 14, 2014 20:29
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Yep, that's the segment I was referring to.
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Apr 14, 2014 20:47
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Did we replace the Ten-Tec snobs with Elecraft snobs? Or are these two separate grumblegroups? I remember the beards back in the 90s just hating on anything Japanese, it was all just MY OMNI VI CW CW CW 200 HZ FILTERS CW CW CW CONTEST CONTEST CQ TEST TEST TEST those guys weren't much fun.
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Apr 14, 2014 20:53
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I haven't run into any Elecraft guys who are snobs about their equipment, just really really into the brand to the point of spending huge amounts of money on what ends up being very nice equipment, but subpar compared with other offerings for the same money and often buggy as poo poo in the first few releases with lots of promised (hugely expensive) add-ons that don't materialize for years (2m module for the KX3....where are you?) I really, really like the KX3 for the fact that it's an honest to goodness quality portable SDR. It's just too expensive and has some brain dead design problems (I/Q out only - no digial stream...really?) Motronic fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Apr 14, 2014 |
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Apr 14, 2014 20:59
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The USA USA USA guys are now all anti-china pro-japan. Elecraft stuff is great and cool etc. but yeah it's way too expensive and quasi-vaporware. Plus they advertise all these features on the stuff they sell you; but they won't work right until whatever EE student they are paying to write firmware finishes his exams and can work on coding. I mean I'm pretty sure they just now got the firmware for the 600w amplifier working 100% correctly with the K3. That amp is like 2 years old. Elecraft adherents aren't quite true cult-level yet but they are getting close. The Elecraft email list is pretty funny regarding this stuff; it's full of "Thank you Wayne so much for releasing this update" after they release beta code that sort of does what they promised the software would do 9 months ago. Kenwood/Icom could never get away with operating the way Elecraft does.
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Apr 14, 2014 21:20
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I don't quite know how I feel about Elecraft. On one hand I like the size of them and the range of functions that seems to be available but then I realise that $900 buys a whole bunch of other and more useful/entertaining stuff. In my opinion they're about $400 overpriced but it is what it is.
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Apr 19, 2014 08:25
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Dear radio thread: I am going to be getting a 10m rig in the near future I think. I have quite a large back yard but I'm not entirely sure what type of antenna would be best.
SoundMonkey fucked around with this message at 07:26 on Jun 25, 2017 |
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Apr 19, 2014 09:07
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Do you only care about 10m? If not, some sort of multiband vertical on the house or in the yard would be nice and easy. A dipole of some sort (even multiband would be cheap and nearly invisible if done right. Otherwise for just 10 it depends on what you want to get into. Do you want something directional with a rotator (awesome, but expensive) or do you just want to toss some wire in a tree? Either will work. In fact, both or more than two is a great idea just to futz around with antennas/antenna design/antenna placement. It's likely that the coax from your radio to the antenna will cost you more than a home brew dipole.
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Apr 19, 2014 15:26
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My recommendation is don't get a 10m only radio, as often they are not good.
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Apr 19, 2014 16:39
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I passed my General exam last night! I had to drive thirty minutes out of town to get to the testing location way out in the sticks, and wait around for almost an hour for the third Extra to show up to be able to test. There were a few other guys there testing; one for both Tech and General, another for General, and one for Extra. Fortunately, the guy who was taking Tech and General was able to take his Tech while we were waiting. The guy testing for Extra was still waiting for another VE to show up when I left. One of the professors at UAB is a ham, and offers extra credit in a communications course for passing license exams, with the points scaling along the tiers of licenses. The VEs were surprised when I told them I was testing just for fun and myself, since all the guys my age who test there are just in it for the extra credit. Indeed, the two others my age who were testing that night were testing for that reason. Maybe after they graduate they'll find an interest in it again, when their beards start to grey. While filling out the paperwork, I was a little surprised when I realized I'd had my Tech for almost four years and still haven't transmitted once. It's probably why I haven't found any grey hairs yet.
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Apr 19, 2014 17:44
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ickna posted:I passed my General exam last night! I had to drive thirty minutes out of town to get to the testing location way out in the sticks, and wait around for almost an hour for the third Extra to show up to be able to test. There were a few other guys there testing; one for both Tech and General, another for General, and one for Extra. Fortunately, the guy who was taking Tech and General was able to take his Tech while we were waiting. The guy testing for Extra was still waiting for another VE to show up when I left. South Shelby County here
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Apr 19, 2014 20:41
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uapyro posted:Congrats BHam ham! I made it from around 2007 until 2013 without really transmitting at all. Are you Birmingham proper or an outlying area? I'm in Vestavia Hills. I hear a lot of traffic on the local repeaters with my scanner, but I have no HT. I might pick up one of those UV-5R's and join in once in a while, but I'm much more interested in digital modes & DX on HF than shooting the poo poo with local commuters.
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Apr 20, 2014 01:43
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Ah, no, not getting a 10m-only radio (the ones on eBay look like absolute bullshit, at least the Chinese ones), just getting a radio capable of 10m and am mostly interested in 10m. Thanks for the suggestions about the antenna though, and yeah I'm looking for more of a "hang a wire from a tree" style than a rotation-enabled one or whatever the cool fancy option is. I'd just like to reach further than my 5W piece of poo poo HT can at 2m. I happen to have 20 metres of good quality brand new coax lying around with N connectors on it, is the coax spendy enough that I should just use N connectors for everything so I can use my good coaxial cable? e: The general wisdom is that I should DIY myself an antenna as opposed to spending large numbers of dollars on buying one, yeah? A lot of the ones I see linked in this thread seem to be pretty good and home-built. SoundMonkey fucked around with this message at 02:20 on Apr 20, 2014 |
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Apr 20, 2014 02:17
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Check your craigslist or similar classified boards for any base CB antennas. Maybe some dude is selling an Antron 99 or a clone, you can tune one of those up to 10 meters without too much trouble and it'd give pretty great performance if you got it 20 or 30 feet up. A tree-hung vertical can definitely work - might want to look into a coaxial vertical dipole. Basically you take a long piece of coax, strip off 1/4 wavelength of the outer jacket, and fold all that braid back over the coax. Make a choke balun with a few turns of coax where the braid ends and hang the thing from a tree, only one rope needed. e: a razor blade cut down the side of the coax almost all the way through the jacket makes for rapid stripping. Get the end started and unzip. Jonny 290 fucked around with this message at 05:28 on Apr 20, 2014 |
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Apr 20, 2014 05:24
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MullardEL34 posted:If anyone is looking for a super-compact mobile that can be hidden or mounted pretty much anywhere in a modern car, take a look at the Leixen VV-808. It's a small, 10 Watt single band VHF or UHF mobile that has a bunch of features, and is fully computer programmable. Best of all, It can be had for as little as $100.75 if you shop around on AliExpress. I was able to install it in the little storage area above the stereo in my 2005 Subaru Outback. It comes with a mic that has a DTMF keypad and up/down channel buttons. I love the Chinese poo poo too. I went and decided to buy a house a couple of weeks after getting my ticket so my budget for hobby poo poo is basically nonexistent right now. All I've got is a uv-5r and a couple SDR dongles. I'd love to get into HF on the cheap. Maybe I should get a hamitup or something instead of a full blown transceiver.
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Apr 24, 2014 18:27
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PuTTY riot posted:I love the Chinese poo poo too. I went and decided to buy a house a couple of weeks after getting my ticket so my budget for hobby poo poo is basically nonexistent right now. All I've got is a uv-5r and a couple SDR dongles. I'd love to get into HF on the cheap. Maybe I should get a hamitup or something instead of a full blown transceiver. Get the Leixen. You won't be disappointed. I've been running it in my car for about a month and have no trouble hitting repeaters from 25+ miles away on 10w.
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Apr 28, 2014 05:25
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I've finally exercised my newfound HF privileges, but nobody has answered my CQs. Granted, I'm not around to play with my radio until after most of the greybeards have long since gone to bed. I know my transmitter is working properly because I've been able to pick up my signal on a web based SDR out of New Jersey, which was pretty cool. I've got an old PC hooked up for modem and CAT, so tomorrow I'll VNC in during my dinner break and try some more.
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Apr 28, 2014 07:59
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ickna posted:I've finally exercised my newfound HF privileges, but nobody has answered my CQs. Granted, I'm not around to play with my radio until after most of the greybeards have long since gone to bed. I know my transmitter is working properly because I've been able to pick up my signal on a web based SDR out of New Jersey, which was pretty cool. A lot of hams are night owls by nature. Just be patient, keep at it and make sure you're in the right band section for the mode (and for your privileges) you're working.
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Apr 29, 2014 14:29
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Finally made my first contact, on 40m with PSK31 to a guy out of Cuba! It was exciting to see my callsign decoded from an over the air signal after years of only listening. Sadly, propagation shifted almost immediately after he replied to my call, so I wasn't able to get a full QSO out of it. A few minutes later I answered a CQ from a guy out of Georgia, and we were able to get a few turns back and forth before I had to close down because of a thunderstorm rolling in. ickna fucked around with this message at 01:31 on Apr 21, 2017 |
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Apr 30, 2014 04:00
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Hello, autists! I will have approx 200-300 dollars available in the near future to purchase an HF rig. Assume I can make my own antenna. I just want to talk to people far away. What's the best option, considering this will be an indoor (as in the transmitter is in my house, not in a car) rig? Digital modes would be awesome (I can do microcontroller poo poo if I need to), but not essential. Basically, what's the 120VAC-powered UV-5R of 10-40m? EDIT: I love Chinese poo poo, so that's not really a factor as long as it works. SoundMonkey fucked around with this message at 08:13 on May 3, 2014 |
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May 3, 2014 08:11
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SoundMonkey posted:Hello, autists! You're probably going to be best served with a used 100w all mode rig. There are plenty to choose from in that price range. The Chinese stuff is interesting, but low power at this point. All of them are likely to be 12v. Very few are 120, other than old hybrid and tube rigs. Antennas - yes, you can build your own, so the most expensive part is likely to be the coax to get it from your radio to the feed point of the antenna. What do you have to work with for a yard? The easiest/cheapest answer here is: I have lots of tall trees that I can stretch a wire between, and at least two of them are 100 feet or so apart with a spot that I can get the wire up at least 20 feet. Unfortunately, with coax, a power supply and possibly an antenna tuner (depending on whether the radio you get has one built in or not) you're likely to be a couple hundred shy of getting on the air. Unless you have some stuff around to get creative with.
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May 3, 2014 17:30
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SoundMonkey posted:Hello, autists! I was able to find a Ten Tec Omni D (circa 1979 solid state, all bands except 12/17/30/60) along with a MFJ antenna tuner for about $300 on eBay. It is a bit of a crap-shoot with gear this old, but I lucked out. I connected this with some cheap twin-lead to a $40 20m dipole in the attic. To avoid expensive coax you can also look at making your own 450-600 ohm balanced line. Balanced line is actually better in many circumstances as it has substantially less attenuation than just about any coax you can come up with. You can make it out of household wire--search out a thrift store or used building supply place. For power, I used a switch mode power supply from some old piece of junk server and was able to get the needed 12V @ 25A to power the transceiver. For digital modes all your rig needs is SSB (which just about everything has, excepting some QRP rigs and whatnot) and some way of keying the transmitter. The Omni D has VOX which works pretty well for digital modes. Otherwise you can either buy or rig something to key the transmitter. In sum: early 80's solid state gear (TenTec, Kenwood, Yaesu, etc.), computer switch mode supply, DIY balanced line, either an antenna tuner with balanced line inputs or add a decent balun.
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May 3, 2014 21:16
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It's been a while, but i will be rejoining the ham community soon. I've been cruising around for local clubs and a good starter radio lately and will bite the bullet on it within the next month or so. Experiencing a storm-a-geddon like last week has me wanting to get involved with the local weather warning community, and other than messing with weather balloons and APRS my license has been grossly underutilized  also need to pick up my electronics knowledge, especially in the radio department.My apologies for dropping off the planet way back when i did the OP, life took an interesting turn around that time. glad to see its still kicking though! ickna posted:I'm in Vestavia Hills. I'm up around huntsville now, so other AL hamgoons expect KI4TXS to start blabbering soon!
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May 4, 2014 19:23
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Motronic posted:You're probably going to be best served with a used 100w all mode rig. There are plenty to choose from in that price range. The Chinese stuff is interesting, but low power at this point. I can deal with using a switching power supply from a PC as the other dude mentioned, so 12V stuff wouldn't be a big deal. Oddly, coax is the free part, since I have about eighty feet of brand new coax that nobody's gonna need for years. It has N connectors, is there some kind of general standard for certain bands / power levels, or am I just going to need to buy some adapters?
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May 6, 2014 10:50
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SoundMonkey posted:I can deal with using a switching power supply from a PC as the other dude mentioned, so 12V stuff wouldn't be a big deal. Oddly, coax is the free part, since I have about eighty feet of brand new coax that nobody's gonna need for years. It has N connectors, is there some kind of general standard for certain bands / power levels, or am I just going to need to buy some adapters? What kind of coax (should be printed on the side)? Generally you need to worry about that more in the higher bands, so as long as it's 50 ohm coax you're good, especially at 80 feet. You need the big stuff as you get into VHF/UHF over longer distances. Chances are that your radio will have a PL-259 on it, so you'll need a PL259 female to N male adapter for that side. A commercial HF antenna would also most likely have a PL-259, but if you're building your own just buy an N-male for it and use what's already on your coax. So that means you're a radio, an adapter, a N male, some wire, and some hardware store junk to use as insulators and to hang it away from being on the air. Your budget sounds pretty doable to me with those things in mind. That's exactly what I meant by "unless you have some stuff around to get creative with."
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May 6, 2014 15:11
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You usually want to avoid PC power supplies for HF band use and sometimes even VHF, they're designed to be used inside a shielded box and so have little in the way of conducted emissions filtering on the rails, making them a handy noise generator should you ever need one. A pile of ferrites might make it livable but I'd recommend a linear supply or even a battery and a trickle charger over a PC PSU. My preferred cheap low power linear supply is a current limited constant voltage supply set to the battery float voltage (13.5-13.8), ideally with four terminal sensing on the terminals, that way the idling current is supplied by the PSU and high current peaks come from the battery.
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May 7, 2014 21:23
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longview posted:You usually want to avoid PC power supplies for HF band use and sometimes even VHF, they're designed to be used inside a shielded box and so have little in the way of conducted emissions filtering on the rails, making them a handy noise generator should you ever need one. That is an awesome idea! What size battery would you use for a 100W transmitter? What sort of duty cycle can you get?
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May 9, 2014 04:09
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I used a 20 Ah battery for my 100W setup, but I also had a PSU that could supply about 20A. The battery was mainly used as continuous emergency power in that case. I think the most important part is to prevent the battery from being drained by the idling current, a voltage drop across the wires from the PSU to the battery would also correspond to a potential decrease in charge. My setup in 2-wire mode would drop by about 200mV when I turned the radio on, this would affect the battery charge, if the regulation's tight enough then the PSU will deliver all the current provided it's capable. A current limited supply will also drive a part of the current even when it can't handle all the load, decreasing the battery load. The duty cycle would depend on the difference between the RMS current when transmitting (pretty low in SSB) and the PSU current capability. So if you pull 20A RMS (you won't) and have 2-3A of PSU then a 10% duty cycle can be maintained indefinitely, short term you're limited by the battery current capability and capacity. If you size the battery to drive the radio by itself for however long you want to use it at a time (a few hours probably) then it will probably be fine. I suspect it would benefit the battery to occasionally do a maintenance charge cycle, I don't know enough specifics of lead acid batteries to give advice here but the setup I describe would be a special case of float charging. It's also important to make sure the power supply won't be destroyed if the mains supply is removed, some linear regulators will present a short if the output voltage is greater than the input voltage. I built this supply: http://ludens.cl/Electron/Ps20/Ps20.html with a relay to disable the supply if the mains supply failed, and thermostat-relays to control fans and thermal shutdown. longview fucked around with this message at 18:45 on May 9, 2014 |
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May 9, 2014 18:42
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| # ? May 24, 2024 23:18 |
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longview posted:The duty cycle would depend on the difference between the RMS current when transmitting (pretty low in SSB) and the PSU current capability. So if you pull 20A RMS (you won't) and have 2-3A of PSU then a 10% duty cycle can be maintained indefinitely, short term you're limited by the battery current capability and capacity. If you size the battery to drive the radio by itself for however long you want to use it at a time (a few hours probably) then it will probably be fine. Our car has some electrical issues that cause battery fuckery on occasion, so we're probably going to be getting an external charger in the near future, which sorta leads me to think... can I just run the radio off a goddamn battery and not deal with power supplies at all, then just charge it when I'm done (assuming a pretty low duty cycle and decent sized battery)? Admittedly not hugely convenient long-term, but easy and cheap short-term. Also upon closer inspection my coax is 'Belden 50 ohm low loss coaxial H500', and feels pretty hefty (I sure won't be making any sharp turns with it), will that be ok or is it piss garbage?
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May 11, 2014 01:28
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