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Bloody posted:crs finished all the flashcards for technician, pretty confident i could pass it right now, gonna start on general general is like 1.25x as hard, where extra is like 5x. if you can rote learn cards for tech you can do both tech + general the same test, just additional questions in the pool, it's not anything more significantly difficult and it gets you HF e: well its two tests but you can take them back to back and its more of the same
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Jun 11, 2014 04:03
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Sniep posted:general is like 1.25x as hard, where extra is like 5x. yeah this
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Jun 11, 2014 04:25
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are all of the tests multiple choice? are these hamstudy questions the literal test questions?
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Jun 11, 2014 05:06
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yeah this is a government test so due to FOIA and such the question pools are all public. THOUGH the answer order is randomized, dont memorize ABCD radiochat: as much as i love it, i am seriously considering selling my icom 475a to fund the bulk of an icom 706. i think that a decent swiss army knife radio is goin to do me more good in the RV than that really high-performance, but single band radio. thinking i can maybe squeeze $400 or so out of it, which would be 2/3 of a used 706mkiig. i'd keep the 271a because i have a 2m fetish and the 735 will be buried with me so
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Jun 11, 2014 05:49
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awesome. looking through the extra questions i might just go for all three whenever i get around to doing this
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Jun 11, 2014 05:52
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yeah i always recommend taking all the tests you can. they'll grade tech, if you get it you can sit the general, they'll grade that and if you pass you can sit extra going from no ticket to extra in one session is pretty pro tier
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Jun 11, 2014 05:53
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Jonny 290 posted:yeah i always recommend taking all the tests you can. they'll grade tech, if you get it you can sit the general, they'll grade that and if you pass you can sit extra no key no ticket to no key extra - one day actually knowing key and telling OF about it via key on day of license - priceless not that it happened to me but i bet there is someone out there who is an rear end in a top hat enough to have done that
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Jun 11, 2014 05:59
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Bloody posted:awesome. looking through the extra questions i might just go for all three whenever i get around to doing this sounds like u have a ee background so I bet u could do it
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Jun 11, 2014 06:09
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Sniep posted:no key no ticket to no key extra - one day we had that Nader warning yesterday so I busted out my radio to see what was happening on the repeater and dude I work w/ was asking if it was a ham radio and he used to be into it blah blah. 'so there's no test now right, you just fill out a form?' ugh. tbh I never would've gotten into this if cw was req'd. maybe I'll get around to learning it eventually, but yeah getting rid of that was the right move
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Jun 11, 2014 06:13
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haha thats why i made it a point to come out of the woodwork and general/extra at the last test session before they dropped the code requirement, thanks, ancient 5wpm CSCE i got when i was loving 13 lmao turns out even tho licenses are only good for 10 years, csce's were good 4 life
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Jun 11, 2014 06:34
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i'm like a 99% CW op on HF so I'm biased but... getting rid of CW for General was the right move, but I would have liked for them to keep a sliver of each CW subband being code-required, so it would be illegal for assholes with code readers to wade into huge pileups in that part. the frustration and QRM caused by this practice is something you just can't understand unless you are a code op They could have even made made extra no code, but kept a code endorsement requirement for the bottom 25khz of each CW band or something (sort of like it is now, but in the CW band you have to be extra plus code to get the whole subband, but on the phone side you got all the subband even if you were extra without code) 
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Jun 11, 2014 20:05
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Dijkstra posted:i'm like a 99% CW op on HF so I'm biased but... i'm cool w/ this. id like to learn CW one day but i barely have enough time to hit up the weekly nets
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Jun 11, 2014 20:07
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Dijkstra posted:i'm like a 99% CW op on HF so I'm biased but... idgi
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Jun 11, 2014 20:11
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spankmeister posted:idgi grandpa doesn't like computers
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Jun 11, 2014 20:20
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code readers work fine if you are having a normal qso with someone about whatever however when there are 100 stations calling DX in a 2khz sliver of band (and on top of the DX too) they don't work, so unless you understand code you can't tell what's going on it's almost like having 100 people yell 100 different things into your voice recognition software at the same time and expecting it to work Dijkstra fucked around with this message at 20:39 on Jun 11, 2014 |
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Jun 11, 2014 20:25
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Ughhhh, FCC taking their drat time posting my callsign. Got my Baofeng, been listening in on the two local 2m repeaters, and man, there's not much activity. Is it normal that most people are on simplex or something, or is it just my rubber duck antenna not picking much up. Sometimes I hop over to the 2 meter calling frequency and I've yet to hear ANYTHING. I'm certainly not in an urban environment, but its far from podunk rural country.
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Jun 13, 2014 18:48
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Low-Pass Filter posted:Ughhhh, FCC taking their drat time posting my callsign. here in a 'metro area' of about 500k i'd say that 60% of the local activity is on 2m simplex, 20% is on 70cm echolink dorkiness, 5% is on 10 meters (couple dudes always on), 10% is skywarn  guys and the last 5% is 2m repeater chatits weird
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Jun 13, 2014 19:26
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i get MAD at this local crew that hangs out on 146.500 because they should be either on 146.49 or 146.505 i dont care which just PICK ONE you're fuckin up the gentlemans agreement arrrgh
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Jun 13, 2014 19:26
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So if I want to get in on this 2m simplex action, I'll need something better than this handy talky right? Or at least a decent antenna hooked up to it? Am i correct that listening on 146.520, I should be hearing some folks looking to talk?
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Jun 13, 2014 19:34
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yeah .52 is the most common, but look every 15 khz up and down. .535, .55, etc. and you will need a better antenna most likely unless they're just a mile or two away dont skimp, its better to have $150 of antenna and coax cable feeding a $50 radio than to have $50 of antenna and coax feeding a $150 radio and its not like antennas go bad unless they get damaged
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Jun 13, 2014 19:42
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Yeah, figured as much. Some of the homemade j-pole antennas look pretty easy/fun to build, and I have access to some high trees, going to try to knock one out this weekend.
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Jun 13, 2014 19:44
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what can i do with a fourth floor apartment and no roof access in the middle of a city
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Jun 13, 2014 19:53
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Bloody posted:what can i do with a fourth floor apartment and no roof access in the middle of a city do u have a vehicle?
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Jun 13, 2014 19:55
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i have a couple of bicycles
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Jun 13, 2014 19:55
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hang a wire out the window
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Jun 13, 2014 19:55
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i can do that
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Jun 13, 2014 19:56
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do you have a window that opens
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Jun 13, 2014 19:57
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i wonder if theres any turbonerds around here on the higher frequencies i wanna be one of those turbonerds
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Jun 13, 2014 19:57
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ya removable screens and everything
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Jun 13, 2014 19:57
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the rockies are a hotbed of microwave ham activity because mountaintops so i'm going to get in with those dudes tiny waves are magic
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Jun 13, 2014 19:57
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Bloody posted:ya removable screens and everything if you can figure out how to bolt or screw some sort of mount to a relatively strong location outside the screen, you're in business don't worry about holes they never check the outside of the windows as long as the screens arent really hosed up and i guarantee you they didnt inventory any potential holes out there for HF you may want to consider maybe mounting a 102" cb whip sticking straight out or at a slight angle up, if you're not lucky enough to just have a tall tree a few feet away. you will absolutely need an antenna tuner and a counterpoise system (which is just some wires strung along your baseboards) but hams have been doing this for years for vhf/uhf you'll need a vertical antenna of some sort, but offset from the building as much as you can. ive done everything from coathanger vertical dipoles just screwed to the window frame with an 18" coathanger bracket to super stealth setups involving long runs of fake PVC air conditioner drain line up the side of an apartment building Jonny 290 fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Jun 13, 2014 |
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Jun 13, 2014 20:01
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its probably all brick and metal but im sure i can figure something out
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Jun 13, 2014 20:02
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against my better judgement i looked into "no ground plane" antennas cause fiberglass body RV welp turns out that they have a SPECIAL COAX CABLE which sounded fishy, turns out the coax radiates, the antenna's a dummy load. so eff that We're going with the classic 102 inch CB whip, probably mounted on the front bumper with a big rear end ball mount and the big spring. There are some pretty decent steel frame members just a couple of feet away,so I'll copper-braid to that, but I'm also going to do no fewer than three 1/4 wave radials (remember this fucker is 8 feet wide) inside the front end. I think it'll be fine for CB and 10 meters. Incidentally, I did some mmana-gal math, and if you take the standard 102 inch CB whip and a six inch spring it's almost perfectly resonant on 27.185, BUUUT if you put a 70 pF (give or take) cap across the input, lo and behold it's got a 50 ohm resonance right around 28.5. i think i could put a relay together to switch the cap in and out, boom, combo cb and 10m antenna speaking of which, do not fear, the hy-gain 18 footer will be going on here, though it of course wont be deployed in transit
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Jun 15, 2014 03:52
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Hey Jonny, can you give us more info on how to contacted ISS? That was one the things in the OP that made my opinion of radio go from "lol wut" to "buying study guides on amazon RIGHT NOW." What antenna setup, how much power, and how did you track their location (if needed)?
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Jun 15, 2014 04:06
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I got at both satellites and ISS/Mir (yep) with a 2-meter mobile radio, 50watts, into various antennas. the key is elevation. a coat hanger ground plane at 30 feet is going to beat the pants off of a $100 antenna at 10 feet. generally a 5/8 wave antenna is just about right for entry level space work, it has a bit of gain at the horizon (where you need it) and still is okay enough at higher elevations. above 80 degrees or so every vertical shits out, but at that elevation everything moves so fast, and those overhead passes aren't really the norm orbitron is a decent enough program for tracking satellites and space objects, it will show you where it is in your sky, predict passes, etc.
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Jun 15, 2014 04:16
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did you just listen for someone on board to CQ, or did you initiate contact?
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Jun 15, 2014 04:18
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when they're operating voice, you will hear them first as there's a constant pileup as they move around the globe sometimes, say on a SW to NE pass coming out of the pacific over california, for example, they're coming from an isolated area so probably aren't wrapping up any contacts, but generally there is so much activity that as soon as they're remotely in range, the big guns will be trying to work them. as soon as the iss starts working those dudes, you'll hear 'em
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Jun 15, 2014 04:20
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With such a pileup, is contact pretty much limited to "hi, you guys rule. Ok bye." or is there any actual conversation going on? Also, whats a good way to monitor multiple frequencies? You mentioned earlier checking 15 kHz above and below 146.52, how do I practically monitor those feqs without sitting there punching in numbers all night?
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Jun 15, 2014 04:25
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Yeah it's just exchanging call signs, "thanks for the contact" or maybe a few seconds of chat. They'll let like little school kids ramble more than grownups. Every modern radio (like, since 1980 or so) has a scan function as well as a search function, and enough memories that you can program in pretty much every simplex frequency and every possible repeater in your area, and just let it scan, you can set it to either resume scanning after a time delay or when the transmission drops.
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Jun 15, 2014 04:29
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got it, thanks for the help. I can see how this can become a black hole of stuff to make/do/buy.
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Jun 15, 2014 04:34
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