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Yeah thats the big innovation with this one, no-hacking HF reception. The downside is the method they use means that there's no gain control on the HF receiver side, and its very likely that with any antenna long enough to pick up shortwave/HF, you're going to get overloaded by local AM broadcast/etc. But it's definitely a good start
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Aug 20, 2016 22:10
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| # ? May 25, 2024 08:14 |
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Hey ... Czech out my new key!  
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Aug 24, 2016 00:14
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That is loving ill. Flameproof? or just enclosed to keep the contacts nice?
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Aug 24, 2016 00:16
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Jonny 290 posted:That is loving ill. Not sure about flameproofedness, but it's got a wicked logo:  And a loving hood!  It feels really nice, it's a Czech Army key, known as the RM 31. Here's some more info on it: http://www.his.com/~jrusso/CzechMorseKeys_210613_USA/Info.html
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Aug 24, 2016 00:21
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:What band(s) do you want to listen to? I'd like to take advantage of it being a wide band device and get something versatile, if that's even possible. I've got a lot of research to do but it's hard to figure out where to start.
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Aug 24, 2016 04:36
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No one antenna is going to cover the full range of that SDR with anything approaching effectiveness, so i would recommend some sort of shortwave/HF antenna if you want that stuff, and then a separate smaller one for vhf/uhf. Its not like you need to instantly switch between radio habana and the cops all the time. For the higher bands just a whip or vertical dipole of some sort will work for starters. The problem is that the stuff you care about is in about a decade of range (say 100-1000 mhz) and there is virtually no antenna invented that works over that wide of a range. Discones brag about 10:1 but i find from modeling that you usually get a 3-4:1 frequency range before the pattern and usefulness goes to hell. Narrowband resonant antennas are suggested by me for the SDR sticks. They fall over to stuff like pager transmitters and FM broadcast, and if your antenna is too good on those frequencies, things go to hell.
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Aug 24, 2016 05:10
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With radio spectrum going from the 1 mhz up to the ghz range, picking something to start with does seem daunting @ first... it gets easier to figure out what you want once you start dipping your toes in the water. Just pick something to focus on in the beginning and see where the journey takes you.
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Aug 24, 2016 13:24
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One thing less than desirable about my copy of this RM-31 key is the screw terminal banana plugs. They popped right off by accident. I have no idea how that would have ever worked in the field. Looks like I won't be keeping this key completely stock and instead just soldering on a standard mono plug.
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Aug 24, 2016 14:10
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Hu Fa Ted posted:Not sure about flameproofedness, but it's got a wicked logo: While I wouldn't bet my life on it, that looks like it was designed and built to be "intrinsically safe". Very bad rear end.
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Aug 24, 2016 15:49
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:In other news, I see rfparts.com now actually has 572B tubes in stock, they must have gotten the QC issues they were dealing with fixed. The tubes have a 1 year warranty, not bad. I'll think I'll pick 2 up for my SB200, the old Cetrons are getting tired. (I got an email out to rfparts asking exactly what the difference between the Taylor and RF Parts branded tubes is) They never returned my e-mail so I called them. I was told that both tubes are manufactured by RF parts, however the RF parts branded tube MAY be able to handle a little bit more power then the Taylor branded tube.
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Aug 24, 2016 19:44
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I got the RTL-SDR in today, and I haven't done anything really exciting with it but I found I can pick up the voice bands from the little airport that's near my apartment.
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Aug 27, 2016 23:57
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I got the RTL-SDR v3 in a few days ago, and I'm mostly annoyed with it as the frequency accuracy goes loving nuts above about 20mhz. 10 meter transmissions show up as ~32MHz for some bizarro reason I haven't figured out yet, even though the low bands are spot on. When it works, it's amazing for $20, when it don't it makes me wish I'd saved my money for a good one. I'm toying with the idea of returning it for a real one tbh.
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Aug 28, 2016 02:04
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Motronic posted:While I wouldn't bet my life on it, that looks like it was designed and built to be "intrinsically safe". Thanks! I plan on making a steel base and drilling some holes and epoxying in some neodynium magnets to make it a touch more stable, it's actually not as heavy as you'd think. For what it's worth I finally came across a Navy "flame proof" morse key today. Sorry for not being up on the joke ya'll.  It does make you wonder why that was a feature of a morse key. The regular ones don't look like they're all that fire catchery.
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Aug 28, 2016 02:09
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"Fire proof" in that context was just the term that was used before "intrinsically safe". And you wanted an intrinsically safe keyer in the navy because you may have fuel or other explosive fumes wafting into the radio room if things go wrong while you're operating your spark-generating device. Same reason our fire department radios and pagers are intrinsically safe (I still don't trust them to be - I'm sure they were at the end of the manufacturing line - but after what I put them though?).
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Aug 28, 2016 02:53
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Hu Fa Ted posted:I got the RTL-SDR v3 in a few days ago, and I'm mostly annoyed with it as the frequency accuracy goes loving nuts above about 20mhz. 10 meter transmissions show up as ~32MHz for some bizarro reason I haven't figured out yet, even though the low bands are spot on. When it works, it's amazing for $20, when it don't it makes me wish I'd saved my money for a good one. I'm toying with the idea of returning it for a real one tbh. These things see images all over the place. I can get NOAA weather on 162.55, or around 158 MHz, or 136....... also the low VHF range is their weak spot - too high for good direct sampling, too low for normal mode.
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Aug 28, 2016 03:20
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Hu Fa Ted posted:I got the RTL-SDR v3 in a few days ago, and I'm mostly annoyed with it as the frequency accuracy goes loving nuts above about 20mhz. 10 meter transmissions show up as ~32MHz for some bizarro reason I haven't figured out yet, even though the low bands are spot on. When it works, it's amazing for $20, when it don't it makes me wish I'd saved my money for a good one. I'm toying with the idea of returning it for a real one tbh. Have you calibrated for your ppm difference? I use mine in the 100-900mhz range mostly and once calibrated seemed to work fine. If you don't use the hardware agc and futz with the lna settings yourself you can usually reduce a lot of the signal imaging
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Aug 28, 2016 05:47
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FT-60R still the recommended handheld for a new ham?
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Aug 28, 2016 20:34
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First Time Caller posted:FT-60R still the recommended handheld for a new ham? Absolutely IMHO, especially if you're getting a tech. FT-60R + SRH77CA and you're good-to-go and will be a mile ahead of anyone with anything baofeng
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Aug 28, 2016 23:28
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Great, yeah I didn't like the Baofeng because I'd like to listen to air traffic control sometimes. Any bay area ham goons? Taking tech exam on 9/11.
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Aug 29, 2016 10:09
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I'm on the opposite coast, but good luck with the test! In other news, if you guys aren't a member of the SKCC there are some pictures of some hand made keys around page 25 that are jaw dropping: http://www.skccgroup.com/member_services/newsletter/issues/201609_Rag_Chew.pdf (also there's a bonus dogge pic on page 3 that cracked me up) Trabisnikof posted:Have you calibrated for your ppm difference? I haven't yet, but didn't know I needed to. I'll give that a shot, thanks.
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Aug 29, 2016 18:13
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What are the best websites for looking up vhf/uhf local/regional frequencies? I've been using some combination of RadioReference and RepeaterBook... both of them seem kinda lovely. What are the cool sites I need to know about as a new ham?
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Aug 30, 2016 23:23
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First Time Caller posted:What are the best websites for looking up vhf/uhf local/regional frequencies? I ususaly use repeaterbook (free) or RFinder (paid, but its like $10/year). The thing about almost all of these repeater databases is that they rely on users to provide them the info, so if they get poo poo info (or no info) thats what you get. My area had several repeaters that had either been dead for years or were never there (someone got a coordnated freq but never put up a machine). The frequency coordnator for your area should be the most reliable place for what's in your area (For Northern CA it's http://www.narcc.org/), but many frequency coordnators haven't updated their databases in ages or don't have searchable online databases. Another issue, at least for me, is my area is kinda a no mans' land, some repeaters are coordnated thru one entity (Southern Nevada Repeater Counsel) while others are coordnated thru another one (CARCON), and the two don't talk to each other.
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Aug 30, 2016 23:40
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Repeater registries are cool for programming in frequencies (hopefully you're using CHIRP instead of the FT-60R interface), but they don't tell you which repeaters have any traffic and when they're used and by whom. Around here, hams are also not great at updating webpages at all, so you might find a page for a cool net that hasn't operated in years. Our link to the W8IRA statewide linked repeater system went down in like April and the first time I ever saw the page updated was Julyish. Based on my humble experiences, either talk to actual hams and find out where they congregate or plug in all the repeater frequencies and let your HT spin through them, you'll get an idea for what happens when and where. After a while you can cull it down, "why do I have a preset for 146.700, I have literally never heard a human speak on that frequency". Try a google search for "[mycity] radio nets", God willing if there are any active ones they'll have a site with the frequency and PL tone. qrz.com is also pretty handy for figuring out who people are, more so for HF but also interesting for local stuff. Go ahead and make yourself a little profile with a picture of your dog or whatever once you get your call sign, it's neat to get a little personal info when you look someone up. hogmartin fucked around with this message at 12:02 on Aug 31, 2016 |
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Aug 30, 2016 23:53
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It is a crime that web 2.0 never hit the online ham communities.
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Aug 31, 2016 01:44
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Here in denver, repeater flood is a serious problem. in a 50 mile radius (about expected for FM here) there are 42 repeaters on 2 meters. On 70cm, there are SEVENTY repeaters in range. i like old radios, so often i have to deal with fewer channels than that, and i like running scan and hate spending 80% of the scan time on dead repeaters. I keep lists in chirp ready to fly into any radio with various subsets, top 20, top 5, so on. Right now my favorite 2m rig is this ancient kenwood with five memory channels. makes you think about what you want, especially when 2 of those are simplex and the radio only has one PL tone. My 500 channel 8900R in the car has 20 UHF and 20 VHF programmed. I aint got time for all those other DMR squawks and dead machines
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Aug 31, 2016 03:24
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Hamgoons, I was wondering what kind of line you guys use to suspend wire dipoles and such. I've used plain old paracord since I got my ticket in 2009 but UV and weather wreaks havoc on it and I end up having to replace it every year. Is there another type of line that is readily available that holds up to weather better? I use a 100ft maple tree in the corner of my yard to hoist most of my wire antennas. I just purchased a multiband end fed dipole and I'd like to hang it in some kind of semi-permanent manner. PS, If you ever need to use a tree to hoist an antenna, go to walmart, buy a slingshot, a cheap fishing reel, and some large lead sinkers. Duct tape the reel to the handle of the sling shot, tie a large sinker to the end of the line, and I'm guessing you all know the rest.
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Sep 3, 2016 07:31
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MullardEL34 posted:Hamgoons, I use black dacron. I've had some up now for 6-8 years and it's still fine. The worst part about it is I forgot about it and it grew into a tree, so to let it down I gotta tie some more onto it and cut it. Old trick there, I've also seen folks use a dog ball thrower. If you buy them commercially they cost $100 or more though which is a ripoff. Also things I've seen used, fishing poles, bow and arrow, cross bow and a lacrosse stick. I wish I could find a line thrower that they use in maritime. Those things will shoot a line hundreds of feet.
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Sep 3, 2016 15:00
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Tennis ball launcher (like the arm you use to whip a tennis ball for the dog) is good, yeah. I like that one. Big not-fan of the bow and arrow method, especially since all the prepper heads around here are gonna use what bow they have on hand, which is a goddamn 80 lb compound launching an arrow they've duct-taped some AA's on the end of
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Sep 4, 2016 00:11
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MullardEL34 posted:PS, If you ever need to use a tree to hoist an antenna, go to walmart, buy a slingshot, a cheap fishing reel, and some large lead sinkers. Duct tape the reel to the handle of the sling shot, tie a large sinker to the end of the line, and I'm guessing you all know the rest. Actually, just take all the sinkers out and tape them together. I can't count the number of sinkers and pieces of fishing line still stuck in my trees.
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Sep 4, 2016 03:02
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There's a silver maple back in Arkansas with about a half-dozen old rusted deep well sockets hanging from tangled nests of 10 lb monofilament.
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Sep 4, 2016 03:09
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The dongle recommended last page is not available. They recommend a Noo Elec in some of the reviews a comparable. Do you guys have another recommendation. I've had my baofeng UV 82L since October 2014 and I replaced the charger station 6 months ago. Its lasted on hikes and in the car and I'm listening to the repeater check ins now. I'm ready to go deep and that wide spectrum dongle looks like tits.
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Sep 9, 2016 01:58
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Usually can't go wrong with a Noo Elec RTL-SDR. The big advantage of those is that they already have the direct sampling mod, so they can recieve at frequencies <50Mhz and they still only cost around $25. I think the normal RTL-SDR without the mod will usually do between 50 Mhz - 1.7 Ghz or so. For HF on these, you either have to pull out the soldering iron and perform the direct sampling mod yourself, or purchase an upconverter (I have a Ham It Up, which cost about $40 without the case - $60 with). If HF on the cheap is a must have (~$25), your options are modding a regular RTL-SDR, or waiting a couple weeks until they're back in stock. If you're a little more flexible in budget and need it now, the upconverter route is still less than $100 for everything you'll need to receive HF. As Jonny 290 pointed out, the way the direct sampling mod is performed leaves you without any sort of gain control. An upconverter lets you use the gain since it just shifts everything up by X Mhz, into the normal receivable range of the dongle.
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Sep 9, 2016 14:44
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I found this, it looks like they combined it with two antennas for an uncharge https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011HVUEME/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A37V0QGFC9C912 RTL-SDR Blog R820T2 RTL2832U 1PPM TCXO SMA Software Defined Radio with 2x Telescopic Antennas Looks like I'm good to go with this guy, no need for the up converter right?
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Sep 9, 2016 15:50
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From the looks of it, yeah I think that one has the mod, so you should be good. For actually receiving HF, you're definitely going to want to ditch that little telescopic antenna and got a long wire antenna up at least. I've been meaning to try to experiment with antennas more. I'm curious as to how something like my rain gutters compare to my big ol' dipole.
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Sep 9, 2016 15:56
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Took my tests for Tech and General last Saturday and just got assigned my call sign. Time for some  - I have an 817-ND on the way and some basic antenna equipment on the way. Hoping to do some SOTA activations around the northeast US this autumn on the 20m band.It's fairly tempting to cram for the Extra class test and I might just go for it soon. Colonel Taint fucked around with this message at 00:09 on Dec 16, 2016 |
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Sep 9, 2016 18:40
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SintaxError posted:Took my tests for Tech and General last Saturday and just got assigned my call sign KC3HSU. Time for some Congrats! (Also you realize you just told everyone your real name and home address right? Some people care some don't.)
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Sep 9, 2016 19:04
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Ha yes I realize - I don't mind - although I guess there's not much of a point in posting the call sign on the forums. For a mobile HF antenna, I pretty much just got some coax, a balun, and some speaker wire. Does that sound about right for a simple dipole antenna? I couldn't find much info on the baluns I ordered - they were cheap enough and sold as video baluns so I might just have to give it a shot and see how it turns out, unless this somehow sounds like a terrible idea?
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Sep 9, 2016 19:35
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Yeah toss those things out the window. You're in ham land now and we need things that can take powah. Coil up about 10-20 feet of coax in roughly 6" coils, one layer (don't 'scatter wind') at the feedpoint. Boom, plenty of choke. something like  And welcome and congrats!
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Sep 9, 2016 19:50
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So I started looking at Walkie Talkies to use at the beach. After looking at products, and reading a bit more between the lines of available features, I quickly discovered that I would soon become a felon if I purchased that $22 set of radios I was looking at on Amazon. The only reasonable thing to do now was to invest my days learning about radio and to get a ham license. I scheduled my technicians exam, and am looking at getting some hardware to get more hands-on learning. I hate to drum up the same old "whats the best X for hobby Y", but I've looked at the Baofeng stuff (leaning towards the UV-82), and also looked at the SDR Nooelec dongles. Fellow radio enthusiasts and hobbyists, what would give me the best bang for my buck (from a learning perspective)? A) Buy a Baofeng B) Buy a dongle
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Sep 13, 2016 22:37
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| # ? May 25, 2024 08:14 |
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They're entirely different products for different applications. The dongle will only let you receive, so once you get your ticket and want to get on the air, you'll still need to get a transceiver. It also won't do anything for your original 'walkie talkies at the beach' requirement. They're useful little gadgets and you can learn a lot from them, so I'd never say not to get one, but I think an actual HT will be more useful for you right now. As a new Technician, your communications will be almost entirely on 2m/70cm and local repeaters or nearby simplex. Having an actual HT and learning how to set up offsets and PL tones kind of made all the book knowledge for the test 'click' to me in a practical way. Getting licensed and being stuck hearing people and watching a waterfall from the SDR without being able to join in would be very frustrating. Jonny 290 has some very compelling reasons not to get a Baofeng, I on the other hand think they're a cheap way to get started and figure out what you want in a higher-end radio when you're ready to step up. If you're going to use it as a beach walkie talkie, remember that both parties need to be licensed so you can't just get your ticket and hand a second Baofeng off to your wife or buddy unless they're licensed as well. Also, if they're likely to get wet, it might be worthwhile to step up to something like a Yaesu FT-270 or FT-60 right away, since they're much better radios than the Baofeng to begin with and can also withstand being dunked. The 270 is cheaper, but it's also 2m only. Which leads to my last recommendation: see if there's a ham club around and try to find out which bands most of the traffic is on. If everyone's on 70cm repeaters, it doesn't make much sense to get the FT-270 even if you really only want to do beach walkie talkie simplex; eventually you might decide to see who else is out there. What city are you in? e: not trying to talk you out of getting your license, but wouldn't a 2-pack of hunting FRS radios from Dick's or something work just fine for talking on the beach? hogmartin fucked around with this message at 00:13 on Sep 14, 2016 |
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Sep 13, 2016 23:28
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