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I almost want that guy as my avatar. He looks like he means BUSINESS. EDIT: It's even bigger on his QRZ page, and even BIGGER with a direct link. He's straight up ANGRY about AMATEUR loving RADIO. The Muffinlord fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Apr 22, 2010 |
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Apr 22, 2010 02:34
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BigHustle posted:You might want to pick up an older radio if you aren't a menu kinda person. I've got an old Yaesu FT-101 rig that has knobs for everything. It doesn't have DSP or any of the fancy stuff the newer rigs do, but it works and there's nothing to remember how to get to in a cascade of menu screens. It also gives greybeards massive hard-ons. 
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Apr 24, 2010 16:12
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I plan to solve that problem by applying for a vanity callsign pretty quickly. Also, testing today! Wish me luck! Hoping to shoot straight up to General.
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Apr 25, 2010 15:03
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Passed the Technician and General class exams today! Alas, I didn't pass Extra, but then again, I hadn't studied, so I figure 26 of 50 questions is probably ahead of the curve in that case.  In a few days, I should have a call to post; in the meantime I'm looking to pick up an FT-817ND, as everyone in the IRC channel knows(and is probably sick of hearing); if anyone knows a guy who knows a guy who has one for cheap, point him my way, would you?
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Apr 25, 2010 22:01
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Either of those two or the 817 will do pretty much anything you set out to do, especially as a starter rig. I'm settled on the 817 because I plan on using it for portable operations every so often, but I want something I can hook up and do maddeningly obscure digimodes with every so often just to challenge people to figure out what the hell I'm sending. Also, as I'm living in my parents' house, I don't really want to make too much of an impact on my surroundings with my setup at the moment. When I move out and have a job again and all that I'll get something with more power behind it.
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Apr 25, 2010 23:16
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Ew, my new callsign is a 2x3. Wonder how long it would take for a vanity to process. Well, until I can get a 1xMWR to process(my initials), my call is going to be KB3UJR.
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Apr 26, 2010 17:31
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AtomicMonsters posted:It took mine roughly a month to go through. Well, I just signed up on the FCC's website, so hopefully I'll be able to get them to process it fairly soon. Not as big a concern until I have a radio, though.
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Apr 26, 2010 17:41
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I got my FT-817ND on Monday, but I'm having some trouble getting clear reception in my room, which sucks double hard since I was really planning to use my computer as a controller, and do work with digimodes once I got it all set up. My guess is that all the electronic crap in my room is working to negate the signals I want to hear with tons of spurious noise that I don't, since all I seem to be able to hear is super-strong shortwave emissions and FM broadcasts. I'm thinking of covering a few of the likely offenders in my room with aluminum foil to make a couple of on-the-fly Faraday cages. If it works for shoplifters, I think it should work for me. I'll let you guys know how it goes.
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May 4, 2010 20:57
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slap me silly posted:Then again you may have plaster walls with metal lath like me - then you are well screwed and will have to run something out the window. Nah, my walls are... uh, wall-stuff. I think my antenna(the MIRACLE WHIP, which I still owe Jose a "review" of) is too drat sensitive and is picking up everything going on. When I was just using a shortwave radio attached to a magnetic loop I could pick up all kinds of silly stuff from time to time.
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May 4, 2010 21:26
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Catastrophe posted:Yeah, having the ability to run off a few batteries has its appeal. QRP rigs look fun. They are, if you get good reception natively where you live. I've been struggling with my 817 all week, but I think part of it is that my antenna is somehow damaged. I'm trying to get in touch with Miracle Antenna's tech support, to see if they'll help me sort it out.
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May 9, 2010 17:16
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There may be an FM-Narrow mode or something on that radio, as well. I don't know, but my FT-817ND has such a filter built in, and I have to imagine it's exactly for those kinds of situations. EDIT: It is a Yaesu, so it may be buried on menu page eight thousand or something. 
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Jun 4, 2010 16:47
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LtDan posted:Took and passed the General exam today. I might try for Extra before the end of summer. Congratulations! By this point your callsign may already be in the FCC database; I think mine was there within a day or two.
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Jun 9, 2010 20:38
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Catastrophe posted:ft817 gives 2.5w on internal battery The 817 does 5w on internal batteries, chief. It does 2.5 when it's plugged in, and 5 again if you hook it up to a 13.8v power supply over 3A. It also has APRS support, though it lacks the GPS module of the vx8, due to its' larger nature. It's a surprisingly full-featured QRP radio. If you plan to set up an amp and a tower, I'd say go 857 or 897 instead, though.
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Jun 14, 2010 01:29
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Catastrophe posted:I still don't see anything about APRS in the manual, though. Turns out I was thinking of the range transponder system. Whoops! We all make mistakes.
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Jun 15, 2010 00:40
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xergm posted:Well you can, but you'll need a TNC to do it. Do elaborate!
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Jun 15, 2010 20:04
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Catastrophe, how are you hooking your radio up for digimodes? I've slowly been discovering that despite my expensive sound card with front-panel outputs and all that jazz, I need an audio interface to produce sounds that are actually decodable. I haven't settled on a model yet, but I'll probably go with one of g4zlp's boxes with the integrated CAT controller as well. My advice would be to fire up another radio nearby and check to see if you can actually be heard, and furthermore compare what you're hearing against what you hear when you just let your digimode program pipe it through your speakers. I tried for a while last week to make OLIVIA contacts, and what I heard through my g6 sounded dreadful. It sort of sounded like it was overdriven, but also producing the wrong tones for the character. 
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Jun 15, 2010 23:09
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nmfree posted:Before you invest $$$ in an interface I'd suggest you get a cable that can plug into the earphone/speaker jack on the radio and the line-in/mic jack on your computer; it will probably be a double-ended 1/8" male plug. Way less money to fool around with before committing the big bucks, plus the cable will be handy to have around. quote:As shown by K7AGE, the best way to get your stuff set up is to transmit into a dummy load and have another HF radio hooked up to a separate computer in the same room (although if you have two sound cards I guess you'd only need one) to monitor what you're actually putting on the air. I'm looking into this now. Hopefully I'll figure this nonsense out soonly.
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Jun 16, 2010 21:44
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Yeah, I hooked my G6 up to the other audio-in and let fldigi decode from it while I transmitted from Digital Master 780. I thought I was overdriving, but when I raised the DIG MIC on my 817, sure enough the signal became decodable. Fancy that. It still sounds awful through the g6, but it decodes, and that's what really counts.
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Jun 16, 2010 22:36
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nmfree posted:There was a little discussion about this last night on IRC: So he is! Would explain why none of them use callsigns. I wonder if any F/V captains are hams in their off-seasons, though. Catastrophe posted:You know, when I first got my FT-817ND, I wasn't really impressed by it. The more I use it, the more I like it though. One thing I immediately noticed was that it suffers from NONE of the intermod problems that my VX-8R does. Now to just get a decent antenna up. This Miracle Whip antenna I have right now is totally balls. The Miracle Whip works pretty well for receive at just about any frequency, but it's exceedingly sensitive to local qrm. It's also optimized for transmission on the higher bands, which can make tx on 40 and 80 meters a pain in the rear end. I've heard that a suitable counterpoise, say, 1/4th wavelength, can really improve the SWR ratio on the lower bands. The Muffinlord fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Jun 17, 2010 |
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Jun 17, 2010 03:50
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Catastrophe posted:EDIT: I'm retarded. The FT-817 needs an interface like a RigBlaster or Signalink USB to work properly with a PC, it seems. Lame-o! You don't *NEED* one, but you need a cable that connects to the DATA port and takes audio input somehow. I've just got a G4ZLP data cable that connects to the microphone and headphone jacks on the front of my computer; it's probably not ideal, but I showed up in four different people's PSK Reporter data yesterday, and I confirmed with the line-in jack on the BACK of my computer, hooked up to my G6, that my OLIVIA broadcasts were decodable, even if they didn't sound quite right through its' wholly insufficient speakers.
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Jun 19, 2010 00:54
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Rev Quackers posted:I just renewed my licence (o dear god I got my licensed in the 8th grade and I'm still a tech!) I've just started to get back into ham radio and I've discovered that I love echolink and now I want to get my general licence this year, but thats a different story for a different post. Do like I plan to do: 
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Jun 23, 2010 02:09
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Catastrophe posted:Except I can't receive crap because all I currently have is a Miracle Whip antenna since I live in a cramped Philly apartment. What it IS great at picking up is massive amounts of QRM. I get S9 to S+ signals on... everything. If there's anyone broadcasting out there, it's masked by a giant wall of hissing, snarling background noise for me. I'm hoping my new living location I'll be at in a few weeks will be better for this. I'll also have more space and a yard out back so I can put up a proper antenna once I'm in Portland. Sounds like open carriers, though you could try listening to the sounds of digital modes and see if anything sounds similar. Also, I've sent PSK31. It carries pretty far; I showed up in PSKReporter logs from Ohio and Connecticut, both pretty far from suburban Maryland.
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Jun 28, 2010 23:27
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BigHustle posted:Where the hell is TC the Giant? He had plans to broadcast an SSTV image of the Get Out frog for all of Hamkind once he got his license. I haven't had the time to put together SSTV images yet. I got one of those job things everyone talks about. It's still the plan, though, but you have to find a place to broadcast it, plus identifying your callsign every ten minutes or so. Not to mention I can't cause much GET OUTrage with a 5-watt transmitter...
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Jul 12, 2010 02:37
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CW also has one-dimensional bandwidth requirements. SSTV needs about as much bandwidth as a normal phone transmission, and isn't terribly robust to begin with. I'm still going to make the test pattern GET OUT image, but I don't know how far I'll be able to throw it. On the plus side, if someone gets seriously up in arms over it, I promise I will issue a public statement calling them a loving retard.
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Jul 12, 2010 22:02
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nmfree posted:Something like this would be better; those who get the joke will get it, and those who don't won't. Basically, but I want to start with an SVG, and also I'm very lazy.
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Jul 13, 2010 21:38
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xergm posted:Is there anything like DIGTRX that works on Windows 7? I get DIGTRX to work in Vista by running it in Windows 95 compatibility mode. Maybe the same thing will do it in Win7? Alternatively, the same thing, but in the WinXP virtualization mode.
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Jul 13, 2010 22:30
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That's why we need to keep the hobby alive: so we can raise a new generation of ham coders who actually know how to build an interface and write reliable software!
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Jul 14, 2010 00:35
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I will happily treasure our funds we're broke
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Jul 17, 2010 18:40
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Quackers, any progress? I haven't heard anything back, which can make a fella wonder if his e-mail got to the right person.
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Jul 21, 2010 18:26
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Eccles posted:According to http://www.pskreporter.info/ I'm being heard across the US with 20 watts out. No actual QSO's yet though. Maybe in a couple weeks when the few sunspots we have rotate back around. Yeah, my problem never seems to be getting heard, but getting people to respond. Annoying!
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Aug 24, 2010 20:51
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CWGet is kind of a mess, honestly. I'd recommend tagging it out for either fldigi or Digital Master 780, part of the Ham Radio Deluxe suite. Both of those have better interfaces and do a lot more than just CW.
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Aug 26, 2010 21:28
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AtomicMonsters posted:My radio has been collecting dust for months, so I'm selling it. If anyone's interested, it's an ft 817-ND over at the QRZ Swapthinger That's a shame, man. For anyone who's interested, I love my 817ND. It's about the size of an optical disk drive, has good sound, a great scanning range, and pretty decent battery life. There aren't too many better radios to have in a pinch.
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Oct 5, 2010 06:46
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Vir posted:As for battery life, how much operating do you get out of the internal rechargeable battery? I hear some QRP'ers complain that the FT-817 eats batteries, but maybe that's compared to a HT, a dedicated super-efficient CW radio, or a simple short wave radio? I get about three or four hours of battery life. When it drops low, I charge it. It'll charge overnight and be good as new the next day. My little Grundig G6 lasts forever, but it's got a lot less going on under the hood. Simpler electronics take less juice. I don't have a SSB filter installed, but I can hear people just fine if I tune it right. I'm usually listening for digimodes and weird crap, so those don't always come in crystal clear, but if I were right on top of the station, what would be the fun in that? Reception is fine, and might even surprise you.
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Oct 8, 2010 21:44
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Vir posted:Yeah that's what I figured - more blue smoke to keep warm. I use the g6 pretty sparingly nowadays. Last time was really only to check that my digimodes were decodable. Might start bringing it on trips where I can't bring a full ham setup, though.
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Oct 9, 2010 17:51
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Do you use your G6 for any Ham stuff? Maybe if you were in a location where you didn't have a solar panel and lots of batteries at hand you could plug the antenna into the G6 to listen for contacts, and then switch over to the 817 when you hear someone you want to work?
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That SDR-Cube thing is neat. I'd love to have one, but their website is awful sparse on a handful of details, like, y'know, price. And power output. The invoice lists an amplifier module, but that doesn't rate a wattage either. 
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Oct 12, 2010 20:53
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dv6speed posted:Do we have an IRC channel? If not, then someone knows what they have to do. Why not just use SynIRC's #hamradio channel?
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Nov 12, 2010 23:49
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God drat this thread lit up over the weekend. I'm trying out the Echolink android app, but it doesn't let me use my callsign; even though I've been verified it keeps wanting me to sign up for an account. What gives? EDIT: It's working now. So I can't just key in the node number and connect that way? The Muffinlord fucked around with this message at 03:59 on Nov 15, 2010 |
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Nov 15, 2010 03:20
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AstroZamboni posted:I'm getting a Droid X next week, and I'm no longer constrained to using the internet on a communal family machine I can't install software on. So I sent in my info for SAARS. Listen soon for my callsign, KF7JKA. I love my Droid X. I'd love it more with a keyboard for games, but when you get the hang of Swype even typing on it is a breeze. Get Echolink and AndChat(for IRC) and come hang with us on #hamradio!
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Dec 9, 2010 22:43
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Hey, shut up, that Ohm's Law shirt is pretty rad. I'd wear that one, in 3X.
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Dec 17, 2010 04:49
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drat, that VenTenna looks nice. Sadly, I'm drawing a blank on the name of the PVC pipe antenna that's designed for apartment use; was it the Wonder Stick or something? Also, now that I'm living in an apartment, I'm going to try to get our balcony railing turned into a HF antenna, or at least build a magnetic loop for receiving. I've been so turned around lately, having started a new job and having to move(twice!) and all, that I haven't had time to look into it. Here's hoping things smooth out soon, I miss scanning the airwaves.
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Apr 3, 2011 17:19
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