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McRib Sandwich posted:All I can say is, it's about freaking time Yaesu gave a nod to APRS in their HTs... I just hope this isn't the kind of feature that only lives exclusively in the high-end models. They do support ARTS across their product line, so maybe they'll see APRS as supplanting that kind of role down the line, who knows.  ) FT-100 was made, so it seems like Yaesu was working too hard to reinvent the wheel. It's kind of like the different digital voice modes; there's what, 5 or 6 different "standards", not to mention the public safety/commercial digital standards that no two platforms support? (and they all sound like poo poo!)edit: I didn't even see that APRS was built in, are there any other radios that have the capability built in?
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May 15, 2008 00:56
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nmfree posted:edit: I didn't even see that APRS was built in, are there any other radios that have the capability built in? Kenwood TH-D7AG, Kenwood TMD-710A.
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May 15, 2008 01:11
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Haha, my dad and I took the test a few weeks ago. My dad's an electrical engineer, and he got his extra-class on his first try, which surprised/pissed off the crusty old hams that were running the test. I'm going to be in China this summer (Beijing specifically), does anyone have a good way to communicate using ham across that kind of distance (china to california.) I was thinking I could use that thing where you hit a repeater that passes it through the internet over to a repeater on the other side, but I forgot what that was called (dstar? d..link? d something.) Thanks!
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May 15, 2008 17:57
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That Yaesu is pretty sweet. I'm glad to see them integrating Bluetooth - a very neat and cheap tech that I think is perfect for amateur radio integration. (And no, I don't want to see some silly amateur-designed flaky Bluetooth clone on ham bands, I'd much rather use my commodity $10 headset, we can put our energies elsewhere)
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May 15, 2008 18:12
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Goon in the Mist posted:Haha, my dad and I took the test a few weeks ago. My dad's an electrical engineer, and he got his extra-class on his first try, which surprised/pissed off the crusty old hams that were running the test. http://www.echolink.org/ 
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May 15, 2008 18:48
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I just got back from vacation in the Bahamas. I was disappointed that they don't reciprocate tech licenses with the US, so I was unable to operate. However, when I got there I found no activity on 2m or 70cm. Taking my HT to do some listening was a waste of pack space  However, everybody in the area I was in seemed to live on marine band radios. You could call *anybody* in various towns on channel 16, like grocery stores, the town clinic nurse (we had to do this at one point, as a fellow on our boat cut his toe badly hunting for some snails in some mangroves  ) , restaurants, etc. That was pretty neat. Listening to it wasn't as interesting as the local greybeards on the local repeaters, but it was still pretty cool. Boat names are often absurd so its pretty great listening to Papa Nasty calling Harbor View Grocery.
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May 15, 2008 23:20
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I wonder if they're allowed to use Marine Band on shore like that. I mean, sure, you have shore facilities such as ports and terminals and the coastguards using it, but anyone else? They'd be unlicensed, surely, right? I wouldn't think they'd really like people yapping on CH16 in case of emergencies. Were people moving to a free channel after initial contact or just treating it like a party line?
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May 15, 2008 23:24
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most of it was pretty short QSOs if they stayed on 16, and anything complicated seemed to move off onto another channel.
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May 15, 2008 23:59
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So I've been taking the practice tests on the KB0MGA.net site for the General exam and it's getting to the point where I can consistently score ~75-85% depending on the pool of questions I get asked. Now I know that the FCC exams draw from a huge pool of questions, but are there questions that almost always appear on the exam or is the entire exam random? I noticed on the KB0MGA practice exams (and on the QRZ.com practice exams) that a certain bunch of questions appear frequently. I wonder how much of that is modeled on the test versus just a bad randomization algorithm on the practice pages themselves. Luckily I have another two weeks or so to really read over the material before testing...
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May 16, 2008 02:53
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Well I went through some of the flashcards and practice tests. If things hold up I should be able to get 80-90% on the technician, general and extra tests. I'm not very interested in chit chat on radios though. I'm more interested in novel things that amateurs haven't done or at least perfected yet. Amateur radar looks like it could be interesting. 2D phased arrays and other technologies look interesting as well.
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May 16, 2008 04:56
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Dolemite posted:So I've been taking the practice tests on the KB0MGA.net site for the General exam and it's getting to the point where I can consistently score ~75-85% depending on the pool of questions I get asked. The VE's can select any questions they want from the pool, or they can use standardized ARRL tests, or W5YI tests, or whatever. Remember you can hop on the FCC website (I think it's linked from the OP) to see the entire question pool of every possible question on the exam.
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May 16, 2008 05:18
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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 02:54 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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May 17, 2008 06:31
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Jose Pointero posted:And now for something completely different... Ouch. My house is directly on an extremely heavily travelled parking lot, and I left my Uniden 396 on the hood of my truck for five hours on a Saturday afternoon. Our property is so urban that people cut through our yard to shortcut to the liquor store, so I was absolutely amazed to notice it still there when I remembered and dashed outside.
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May 17, 2008 06:41
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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 02:55 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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May 17, 2008 06:59
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Jose Pointero posted:Anyway, a hearty congratulations to you on your purchase of a new home! I hope to reach that point in a few years. Hope it's in a radio-friendly spot! Get your stuff moved and post some pics of your shack. Seconding the pic request... I'd love to see a proper satellite setup in action! Definitely be sure to document your new setup as it gets constructed, too.
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May 18, 2008 04:03
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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 02:55 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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May 20, 2008 21:48
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quote:Spring 2008 W1AW Frequency Measuring Test Set:
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May 20, 2008 21:58
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Jose Pointero posted:We fell down to page 6? What the hell guys. Yeah... no kidding. I've been hearing southern California, Bonnaire (Netherlands Antilles) and the British Virgin Islands in Central NC. I tried each, but CA is to far for my 100 watts and W5GI, and my antenna is pointed ENE - WSW so hitting the Caribbean is out of the question too I did make a couple Europe contacts a week or so ago on 20M too though... it's been interesting. I am able at least to relaibly get in to any state from about Texas to Ohio back east. I think in the last two weeks I've gotten most of the east coast and parts of the midwest, plus the aforementioned Texas and Ohio... Now I just need to work on the antenna stuff a bit and hopefully I'll be heard better west of the Mississippi.
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May 20, 2008 22:11
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Jose Pointero posted:We fell down to page 6? What the hell guys. drat do I need to get my hands on a good soldering station. My screwdriver antenna is just sitting here with a bare 20-foot run of RG-58 that I can't put the UHF connectors on because I don't have the right tools to do it with. I'd take pics of the rig otherwise (in the hopes that it would get others to post theirs too, hint hint), but my camera met an untimely death at the hands of a car door just a couple weeks ago 
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May 20, 2008 23:08
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Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Aug 28, 2019 |
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May 21, 2008 00:13
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Goon in the Mist posted:Haha, my dad and I took the test a few weeks ago. My dad's an electrical engineer, and he got his extra-class on his first try, which surprised/pissed off the crusty old hams that were running the test. You're thinking of VoIP. I don't know much about it, but I'm sure Google would be helpful. As far as talking on the radio over that distance, you're going to need an HF radio with some decent power and a beam antenna to direct your signal. It's a lot of big equipment, so you will either have to have it shipped or just buy it over there.
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May 21, 2008 00:26
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welp As of tonight, I'm now KC9GJC/AG. Hopefully I'm getting a new call (I didn't know if I needed to check the box on the VEC paperwork, and I wasn't going to ask.). Oh, well, doesn't matter, really. Oh, and [ASK] me about being at a VEC session where there were 7 VEs and 4 people taking the test.  Jose Pointero posted:Well I did some more checking and 2 of the spots faded and we're left with this little guy who will probably be gone soon Jose Pointero posted:I've been thinking though, we need to get together and come up with a "Goon Frequency Plan" or "Goon Band Plan" or [insert catchy name here]. Basically just a set of frequencies in every mode of every band that we can CQ on to see if any other goons are on the air before we look elsewhere. Good idea? Dumb idea? You tell me. ).edit: K1CUF and K4CUF are both available... Jose Pointero posted:is that image breaking the tables? I'm using a widescreen TV as a monitor so it's hard for me to tell nmfree fucked around with this message at 03:08 on May 21, 2008 |
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May 21, 2008 02:59
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nmfree posted:Of course, I'm super juvenile (and looking for an obscene vanity call If you're a Rush fan KØYYZ is open, which is also cool because they play the letters 'YYZ' in the opening in cw. I think the hamsexy guys took all the *WTF ones already, but you should check. Also Congrats on general!
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May 21, 2008 05:15
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McRib Sandwich posted:drat do I need to get my hands on a good soldering station. My screwdriver antenna is just sitting here with a bare 20-foot run of RG-58 that I can't put the UHF connectors on because I don't have the right tools to do it with. I'd take pics of the rig otherwise (in the hopes that it would get others to post theirs too, hint hint), but my camera met an untimely death at the hands of a car door just a couple weeks ago If you are looking for a station you might try a SP200 for 260ish from HMC electronics. Otherwise the OKI PS800 is a cheaper alternative. quote:Haha, my dad and I took the test a few weeks ago. My dad's an electrical engineer, and he got his extra-class on his first try, which surprised/pissed off the crusty old hams that were running the test. I'm planning on doing this myself as well. Hopefully I won't piss them off too badly. How many of you guys are actual radio builders? I'm interested in amateur radio but I could really care less about much of the social aspect. I'm more interested in technology aspects. AMSAT is pretty interesting, but outside of a few hot spot cities it doesn't seem possible to really participate int the technology aspects of it. The microwave and satellite bands seem interesting as well from a technical standpoint. I guess my goal with this whole thing is trying to do things that other hams haven't done yet technology wise. An amateur radio performance equivalent to the DSN would be interesting. SETI did some good work with their array. It would also be topical since AMSAT is in the planning stages of a microsat mars mission. Full decoding of GPS hasn't been done yet either. There is a ton of stuff that can be done like ionosphere compensation using the P(Y) code. L2C support, WAAS would be nice. Also developing terrestrial transmitters for very precise positioning over a small area. Staarfire is a good example of this, some receivers can get centimeter level precision with local transmitters. I'd really like to see the amateur community push the technology a lot more than they seem to. It seems like DXing, RACES and other activities are more what the community is about. Or maybe its just my area (west MI). For my next project though I think I am going to build up some basic things I need. A GPS disciplined OCXO will let me get a tight frequency base. Not sure what I will do after that. Maybe another SDR RX/TX of some sort and some analysis equipment. A precise freq counter, SWR meter and a few other tools would be useful. ValhallaSmith fucked around with this message at 09:17 on May 21, 2008 |
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May 21, 2008 05:36
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blugu64 posted:I think the hamsexy guys took all the *WTF ones already, but you should check. Also Congrats on general! So I get back from passing my test, and my FT-100 decided that the AM/SSB receive isn't going to work anymore.  Apparently, there's not much that can be done because Yaesu doesn't support the radio anymore. So, now I have a $400 dual band V/UHF radio that isn't very reliable on either band (the finals are made out of paper or something).Guess it's back to using my FT-757 that likes to drift all over the place ValhallaSmith posted:I'm planning on doing this myself as well. Hopefully I won't piss them off too badly. So how bad was it?" ...he had forgotten that I had already passed the General test.
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May 21, 2008 08:32
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Jose Pointero posted:is that image breaking the tables? I'm using a widescreen TV as a monitor so it's hard for me to tell
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May 21, 2008 09:12
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So if I wanted to get started in this and got my license... how much does an average ham radio actually cost, starting with nothing?
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May 21, 2008 09:54
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nmfree posted:welp Congrats on the upgrade! I'll add it to the OP soon. I'm actually studying to become a VE as we speak, so that's interesting in and of itself. As for the new call, my newfound VE training says that unless you specifically requested a new sequential call from the pool upon upgrading, you should be keeping your original call.
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May 21, 2008 16:48
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IIPunnII posted:So if I wanted to get started in this and got my license... how much does an average ham radio actually cost, starting with nothing? Heh, that's a loaded question. If you're buying new, a little handheld FM transceiver can be $200 or less if you look around, and definitely cheaper than that if you get a hand-me-down. The handheld radios work in the VHF/UHF bands, so they'll be for communicating locally, but a lot of them have wide-coverage receive too (which lets you listen to local business and public safety radios, aircraft band, etc.) Desktop rigs can really run a wide range depending on how old or used you buy. Probably one of the best ways to get a lead on cheap ham stuff is to find a local ham radio club and see if they have a for sale / trade list. Some clubs have a lot of older rigs they will loan to their members to get them on the air, too. When you're just starting out as a ham, the technician-level license doesn't give you a great deal of operating privileges on the lower bands, so usually a handheld is a decent first radio to get. It's nice that they're inherently portable, too. The Yaesu FT-60R has come up a few times in this thread as a great HT to own. Generally speaking, the other hams I know (college-age) all have an HT, as we do some public safety nets around here; others also have a mobile rig for their car, and a couple people own desktop rigs too. Most of them are only technicians though, so it makes sense that they don't own any lower-band gear (of which almost all desktop rigs today are).
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May 21, 2008 18:34
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Yeah, I settled on the FT-60R largely because it has three knobs instead of one or two like most of the other current multi-band HTs. I just ordered it new from Universal for just about $200. Of course that doesn't include the other stuff I couldn't turn down like headset, extra power cord, ... also it is backordered until the end of the month. Dammit! On another topic, does anybody know of any ARDF going on in Tennessee?
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May 21, 2008 23:46
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As long promised, I took pictures of the station in its current form. Pardon the mess, I haven't mowed the back or cleaned my desk in a minute. The main mast, 15 feet of metal, Alliance U-100 rotator, then 4 feet of PVC ending in a T fitting and a 4 foot crossboom. On the ends are 145.8 and 436.0 MHz Yagis using 1/4" aluminum rod stock and OWA element spacing - direct 50 ohm feed. The 2 meter antenna in particular is awesome, it has ridiculous bandwidth. They're pointed at the horizon, usually stay that way. I have experimented with tilting them up but you lose too much signal at the horizon, where path loss is highest. I can hear AO-51 over the top on high passes no problem off the sidelobes.  Behind it on the fence, my 40m-10m (really 30m-10m) vertical. It's a Hy-Gain AV-18VS clamped to the fence with a bunch of radials too. It's.....meh. It would work a lot better if I got a larger lot and was able to place it away from the house.   Rrrrrrrrrrradials. Looks pretty much the same on the other side of the fence.  On the back fence, you can see my 40 meter inverted V dipole. The sun washes out the elements, but you can see the coax choke at the feedpoint up there.  On the side of the house I have a Diamond F23 2 meter vertical on another 15 foot mast, and the little PVC mast holds a 440 Mhz vertical folded dipole (coathanger) and 4:1 balun, for my scanner and PCR100s.  Around front you can see my 75 meter inverted L. The landlord chopped down the 20 foot bush so it's more of a sloper now.  From the front, the setup is pretty camo.  Around the side, you can see nature assaulting my feedlines. I should probably sort that.  Count 'em!  They of course lead.... Inside! Left to right, top row: Kenwood AT-230 tuner Old wattmeter of unknown origin, pretty accurate MFJ 2m/440 cross needle meter Alliance U-100 control box Left side: 2x Icom PCR-100 wideband receiver Bottom row: Icom 735 Icom 271 Icom 475 (my child) Compaq Armada 600 MHz P3 laptop running XP - rock solid and great for this stuff    Truck rig. Icom 208H into a Larsen dual band vertical on the mirror.  I love how my 102" whip makes it look like some crazy RC car. Loads up okay with my tuner on 40 meters and up on camping trips, but I have a 58 foot long piece of wire with an alligator clip that I clip on the end and throw in a tree usually, works fine on 75 and up. You can kind of see the 2 meter antenna on the driver's mirror.  240sx rig. Ancient Alinco DR-119. It has unblocked 800 MHz, kind of neat, I usually pack my 396 when I'm driving, though. 
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May 22, 2008 03:00
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Pretty nice setup you got there. I've only got a few 2m rigs. An Icom IC-2200H in my truck and a kenwood tr-7625 setup as a base station in the house. Anyone talked to the ISS, or a shuttle while its up? All the talk about how the next several days are going to be good for viewing the ISS got me to look up the frequency and try and get them. e: its late.. we're in region 2 DUh.. voice downlink 145.8 voice uplink 144.49 mwdan fucked around with this message at 05:10 on May 22, 2008 |
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May 22, 2008 04:57
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Those ancient Kenwoods are BULLET. PROOF. I had a TR-7800 as my first radio, $75 from a hamfest, and we had to work for weeks to find a six pin mic connector, they were evidently used for approximately 42 minutes and then everybody moved to 8-pins. Fun times. That rig got beaten to hell and back, I mounted it on my Huffy mountain bike with a vertical dipole and 7 amp-hour gel cell and talked simplex from the woods. God, such a nerdy kid.
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May 22, 2008 22:29
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This one has a 5-pin connector, though, only 4 are used. Haven't been able to track one down, so I had to rewire this one completely. I think theres a problem with the pickup, because every time I use it, I'm told its quiet as hell. But, I got it, along with an Icom IC-220S and an Azden PCS-3000 for $25 at the local hamfest last year.
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May 23, 2008 01:24
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If you're looking for an unsusual mic connector, Buxcomm is the place to go. He has an atrocious website, but he also carries just about every microphone connector ever used in ham/commercial radio. They even had new 3 pin mic plugs for my IC-22!
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May 23, 2008 02:13
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Is it possible to take all the class exams (Technician, General, Extra) one right after another the same day? From what I can tell I have a good month+ before the next exam in my area and I wouldn't mind studying for all three in the mean time.
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May 23, 2008 02:50
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absolutely. As long as you pass the required test, you can take the next one in order. I took all three when I did mine, and only missed extra by I think 12 or 15 points. Which wasn't bad for not having looked at the question pool at all.
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May 23, 2008 02:56
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I did that last January, went from tech +, took General and Extra. Most stressful 5 minutes I had were while they were grading the General. Hams are super stoked when people get multiple upgrades, and everybody cheers when somebody goes from no ticket to Extra in one session.
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May 23, 2008 02:59
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Haha! In my case it was less cheering and more of the flabbergasted "Dang, did you study for all those?" But everyone was supportive, even the VE who talked like he wanted to bring back the original code requirements. And yes, it can be done.
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May 23, 2008 04:00
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Jonny 290 posted:Those ancient Kenwoods are BULLET. PROOF. I had a TR-7800 as my first radio, $75 from a hamfest, and we had to work for weeks to find a six pin mic connector, they were evidently used for approximately 42 minutes and then everybody moved to 8-pins. Fun times. That rig got beaten to hell and back, I mounted it on my Huffy mountain bike with a vertical dipole and 7 amp-hour gel cell and talked simplex from the woods. God, such a nerdy kid. Kenwood just absolutely perplexes me... they can't even standardize across their own hardware. Every time a new rig comes out, something stupid and unnecessary has changed on it, usually for no discernible reason. Like how none of their mobile rigs let you plug the microphone into the head unit. Or how none of their head units even mount to the radio itself.  You really can't beat the TS-2000 for a do it all HF/VHF/UHF rig, though, I'll give it that. For all the features it has, that thing's a steal. McRib Sandwich fucked around with this message at 04:56 on May 23, 2008 |
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May 23, 2008 04:54
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