Amateur radio: Not much going on, other than the motherfucking satellite - The Something Awful Forums

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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Amateur radio: Not much going on, other than the motherfucking satellite

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

KC9GJC here, ready to pontificate in TWO threads!

At the end of the last ham thread there was a little interest in setting up a weekly Echolink net for SA people, would there still be interest in that?

hendersa posted:

I just got my technician license a few weeks ago, and I'm studying for the general license right now. While I'm not too crazy about yapping over the airwaves, I like the digital transfer modes that you can play around with.

You know...

[soapbox]
If the FCC had thought through their decision to eliminate Morse testing, I would have been on the air on HF the day that all codeless Techs were granted all Tech HF privileges. It apparently didn't occur to them that by removing the code requirement it didn't make sense to limit Techs to only using code on HF below 10M. I'm not saying that Techs should have any larger frequency allocation, but that every N/T subband falls within the generally accepted digital subbands, so why not stimulate and encourage newcomers to the hobby by letting them use some of these state of the art modes? I am not (currently) interested in learning code, but I'd run the poo poo out of PSK31, RTTY, FSK63, etc. (especially FSK16, have you ever listened to that? It sounds like the Martians are landing!) because digital keyboard modes appeal to me.
[/soapbox]

hendersa posted:

Is there a good software package for tracking communication satellites?

A lot of people like Ham Radio Deluxe, there's a whole satellite tracking/rig interfacing software suite included.

McRib Sandwich posted:

Is amateur radio actually full of old guys talking about their bad joints, and asking for Windows 95 tech support?

Yes, but they mostly hang out on 2-meter repeaters, so you can avoid them.

:laffo:

McRib Sandwich posted:

I really, really wanted to get the 897 as my HF rig, but the drat thing is too big to operate inside a vehicle, and it's counterpart (the 857) just seemed to small / hard to operate mobile... not enough controls directly accessible.

Wow, I looked and the 897 doesn't come with a separation kit, that's surprising. Even my FT-100 can be remotely mounted.

monoceros4 posted:

I built one of those Radio Shack shortwave radio kits with the spring terminals and little pieces of pre-tinned wire when I was a kid. Does that qualify me?

Not for this thread (unless you're interested in ham radio), try the Shortwave Thread instead.

Chromis posted:

Can you recommend any good equipment for beginners?

Check page 45 of the Shortwave thread, there's a little discussion there about what beginners might want to get.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2008 08:37

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 13:36

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Halah posted:

Have you guys heard of the 600 meter experimental group?

Yes, hopefully in the next 10 years or so the ITU will officially allocate that band as an amateur band.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2008 08:41

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

McRib Sandwich posted:

Which is funny, because you'd think that the illegal light bar and antenna forest on the car's rooftop would give it away.

https://www.hamsexy.com is a great repository of "whackers" of all sorts. Some of the things/people that they document is truly astounding.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2008 09:33

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Jonny 290 posted:

Haha, I like the hamsexy crowd. They are very technically skilled and have fun with radio. I think that a few of them tend to skirt laws and they do tend to be very elitist with regard to Motorola vs Every Other Manufacturer In The World, but I will never accuse them of running janky underbuilt radios.

On the flip side of the coin, one only needs to read their forums for about 10 minutes to see their dislike of everything non-white :ese:

:ese:

:whatup:

Also, their elitism over Motorola > "hammy gear" gets annoying after a while, too. No, not all of us have $10,000 of programming equipment to make some old land mobile radio work on 2 meter.

Jose Pointero posted:

Here's my 2 meter antenna chillin' in its tree. I think I said it was a discone in the SW thread, but it's not. I'm not sure what you call this antenna type actually. I call it Sputnik

That's not a discone, that's a vertical with the groundplane radials pointing up instead of down.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2008 20:14

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Hamster posted:

What would be a good middle-range system I could get for him? It'd be cool if it had a PC interface, and digital voice is something I'm sure he'd find interesting.
It doesn't have to be simplistic, as I'm sure he'd enjoy learning about all the advancements in technology he's been missing in the 20+ years he's been out of the scene.

Optimally it'd be sub-$1000 including accessories. He has a house, so he could even set up an external antenna.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

Depends if he wants to get on HF or on VHF/UHF; if it's just the former or both, you can't go wrong with an FT-100(D)- it's relatively compact, it can be mostly controlled from a computer, and you can get a nice setup for less than $500 on eBay. The only negatives are the limited CAT control (you can't, for instance, access or manage the built-in memories), the overheating problem ( :downs:

:downs:

hey lets not have the fans turn on when the rig is above 30MHz! :downs:

:downs:

), and the finals frying relatively easily if the antenna is way out of resonance (especially on VHF/UHF). If, however, he wants to be only on VHF/UHF then there are other radios out there that are much better.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2008 20:32

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

McRib Sandwich posted:

As for digital voice, I don't know much about it but I think Icom is the only one making D-STAR equipment right now, and to my knowledge it's VHF / UHF and higher. Maybe someday hams will be operating narrowband DRM, but to my knowledge there aren't any desktop rigs that operate this mode; even to receive it right now you have to mod your radio by pulling it out of one of the IFs and into a computer.

The future is here!

# ¿ Apr 17, 2008 21:38

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Snapshot posted:

I'm game, as I don't have access to a HF rig at the moment. What's the protocol for operating on Echolink? Same as a repeater?

Exactly the same as a repeater, because some over the air repeaters are hooked into the Echolink system.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2008 21:41

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

FuzzyBuddha posted:

Dunno if anyone's interested, but I figured I'd plug my Yaesu FT-897D programming blog. It's in need of an update, but I'm hoping to have one this weekend. Any ideas, or things people might like to see in a computer control for a radio, are certainly welcome.

You might have just made my day.

The FT-100 uses the same CAT command table (AFAIK all the modern Yaesu rigs use the same commands), and I want HRD to monitor the temperature of the finals. Unfortunately, I can't figure out what command to send to the radio.

The "Read Meter" opcode is F7, that I get. Under the paramaters, however, there are just stars- which for some of the other commands it seems like that means those are "empty" bytes, so I'd put in "00" or "69" or whatever junk value to fill out the block. Then, under notes, it says to refer to note 4, where it has a list like this:

I understand that if I send the appropriate command I'll get a return code from the radio from 00h to FFh that is the temperature on a non-calibrated scale. But what am I supposed to do with the +7? :eng99:

:eng99:

# ¿ Apr 18, 2008 00:02

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

IonClash posted:

Another one of my favorite ham sites is https://www.eham.net. Good reviews, interesting articles, and equally interesting forums (old timers versus no-code debate will never die).

That's no exaggeration.

:v:

:v:

Here's an article about this really cool antenna I built
:rolleyes:

:rolleyes:

That's pretty good for a no-code Tech/ Extra Lite
:v:

:v:

Whatever, if you like it, read it, otherwise get out
:rolleyes:

:rolleyes:

Here's a 10 page essay about how it was better back when I started in 1921. You see,

# ¿ Apr 18, 2008 08:43

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Jose Pointero posted:

Nice. They seem pretty easy and cheap to make. I'm planning on making a 440 version of it for use with my HT. I figure I can get some suction-cup hooks from Wal-Mart and put it in the window. The only thing I'm worried about is not having an SWR meter for the 440 band...so I won't actually know how well it's performing. Just gotta measure it as best as possible and hope for the best.

1. A quick search on :google:

:google:

confirms what I thought I remembered from when I built my own twinlead j-pole: one cut for 2 meters will usually work pretty well on the upper part of 70 cm, as well; if you're trying to work the lower end of the band (toward ~430 MHz or so), you'll have to adjust your sizings a little.

2. http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/pdf/0302038.pdf is a PDF from QST on building these little wonder antennas, just thought I'd toss that link in there. Also, I'm partial to this J-Pole design.

3. If you're a real masochist like me, L. B. Cebik has a four part series on J-Poles.

Also, what does everyone think about maybe doing an Echolink get together on Tuesdays around 0100 UTC? (It would have to start next week since I'll be out of town tomorrow, or someone else could take charge and run it themself.) What about some other time? (I know that's pretty late for Euros.)

# ¿ Apr 22, 2008 09:02

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Just a quick note- I linked to L.B. Cebik's antenna page on the last page of this thread; unfortunately, he became a SK last week. It's worth reading through the ARRL obituary page. :smith:

:smith:

mwdan posted:

Is there a specific channel for this echolink net? I've only ever logged into echolink enabled repeaters, and not net only ones.

When I looked around the other day "WMPORN" looked like a good conference candidate.

Paul MaudDib posted:

To any prospective hams out there, I have a warning and recommendations.

Honestly, you shouldn't let a few cranks drive you out of a hobby that you otherwise enjoy; I've found that digital modes and bands like 30 Meters generally are much more laid back and the ops are more interested in just talking to you (about the usual stuff, of course, the weather, your rig, etc.) than in engaging in a pissing contest.

Jedi425 posted:

Unfortunately I don't own, I rent, which limits me even further as I technically don't own the property at all. The landlord is totally awesome (he hates this HOA as much as I do), and would almost 100% certainly not give a flying gently caress what I put up as long as it's done safely, but I'm watched on at least two sides by angry old people who apparently live to call the HOA on other people.

To channel Gunnery Sergeant Highway, improvise, adapt, and overcome. Are you living in a house? Or in half a duplex? If you have access to the attic, you have a place to put antennas. Sure, it's not up as high as one would like to see, but a smaller, lower, less efficient antenna is still better than none at all.

Jedi425 posted:

Oh and I love that flagpole antenna, McRib, that's plan B since I'd have to put it down in the yard, it's way too big for the roof of this place. I'd rather have my antenna up where the local stray cats can't chew up the wiring or fry themselves on RF.

Another flagpole solution is to get an aluminum flagpole planted in the ground, bury some radials and the feedline into the house, and hide your connections in a small box at ground level (or in some PVC buried a few inches deep). Again, not the best solution, but one that has been used by many hams and one that is better than being completely QRT.

McRib Sandwich posted:

In other news, two old fogies just started talking about politics on 146.730 FM locally. Did I miss the amateur radio exam prerequisite where you have to be an old white conservative to get your ticket, or did they waive that when I took it?

It's in the same part of the rules as where it says that all Amateur communications must end with "God bless".

# ¿ Apr 23, 2008 09:37

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Jedi425 posted:

In both cases, the problem then becomes getting the wire in the house, which I may yet be able to pull off by using one of the existing cables that run into the house. (The TV cable appears to emerge from deep in the earth out front and run into our house. Cox Cable apparently outsources to Fraggle Rock or something.)

It's not a good idea to use CATV cable because 1)it's a different impedance and will make a bad situation worse and 2) the first time you key up you'll fry every TV, VCR, DVR, etc. on your local circuit. Even if there's a connector at the far end you can tap into, the cable company will probably frown on you "hijacking" their connection.

# ¿ Apr 23, 2008 22:46

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Double post, nothing to see here! :derp:

:derp:

# ¿ Apr 23, 2008 23:07

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

SheriffHippo posted:

FREE HAM RADIO EQUIPMENT

I think you might be surprised at how much some of that stuff is worth on eBay, although the vultures already circling probably gives you an idea.

Jose Pointero posted:

Thanks for the linkage, I'll probably try building one this weekend. As for Echolink, I don't have a mic on the computer I use in the living room. I don't really know much about Echolink anyway, would we be using a repeater somewhere or is it just a web server?

A little from column "A", a little from column "B". I don't know where you are exactly (i.e. I'm too lazy to figure it out), but many people have spare VHF radios hooked up to a spare computer and running the Echolink server software so others can talk into the system over the radio. If you search on their webpage you might be able to find someone near you that you can talk in to. For a net, we'd connect to a conference, which is sort of like IRC over a repeater network (kind of).

Paul MaudDib posted:

Honestly I was interested in packet and FSK. The problem is that I have no idea where to start. I need an interface for my radio, but I don't know anyone who makes them for a TS-820S, or the Yaesu 2m mobile I have. Is it even possible to get them running, and if so, who makes the best interfaces?

Rigblasters are the "best" (read: most expensive), but I use the RASCAL interface (TS-820 version linked). Chances are, if more than 5 units of a particular radio were produced, there's a RASCAL for it.

# ¿ Apr 24, 2008 09:41

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Global688 posted:

Whoa forgot to reply. Anyways the LF stuff has to do with subs and thats all im gonna say about that.

Do surface ships monitor/decode VLF stuff?

McRib Sandwich posted:

Did we agree on a time and place for the SA EchoLink net yet? I've never used it before, but if someone provides the details on how to connect to it, I'll add that to the OP too.

Why don't we (for now) say Wednesday 0100 UTC (8 P.M. Central Time), conference chat TBA? Note that I have no experience running a net, so for the first time it might helpful to have someone who has done it before in charge. It doesn't have to be a formal net, though, we can just roundtable too.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2008 09:38

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

nmfree posted:

conference chat TBA?

Just an update, anyone can set up a conference with their Echolink client, so we can run our own, too, if we want.

# ¿ Apr 26, 2008 09:02

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

blugu64 posted:

I believe most of these were actually CB radios, but I could be mistaken.

They were all CBs, and most of them came with crystals for channel 14.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2008 00:14

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

McRib Sandwich posted:

Actually, I was under the impression that the toy walkie-talkies operated on those wacky ISM frequencies reserved for low-power unlicensed stuff, maybe not though. You know those cheapo R/C cars? They always operate on 27.something and 49.something MHz; each of those is a small ISM allocation if I remember correctly. I figured the cheapo walkie-talkies where the same way. Either way, those were some fun times.

Those remote controls? Yeah, they use CB channels, usually between channel 30 and 40. (At least, all the ones I've ever seen.)

49MHz is a fully-duplex personal communications band; some of the walkie talkies do use these, that is true (and I forgot about those), as well as old cordless phones and baby monitors.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2008 20:35

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Just in case anyone hasn't seen this, Gigaparts runs a drawing for a new transceiver pretty much continually, this month it's for a Yaesu FT-950.

McRib Sandwich posted:

Aha, found it... the unlicensed 27/49 RC devices (and I think all modern toy walkie-talkies, too) are technically Part 15 devices, and while the 27 MHz one operates in the CB service range, it doesn't occupy a CB voice channel. Some of the old walkie-talkies did occupy CB space, but apparently those were phased out of that band some time ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CB_usage_in_the_United_States#Part_15_and_ISM_Devices

Well, there you go. I do find it odd that the walkie talkies would use the "A" channels, but v :shobon:

:shobon:

v .

# ¿ May 1, 2008 21:23

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

happy purring catfish posted:

There is no such thing as "only 2 meters". The poster a few above me is right, it will also be resonant on 70 cm.

You're not going to get much cheaper than $30 for an antenna anyway (at least new), so I wouldn't worry about it.

# ¿ May 3, 2008 09:45

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Mah Lttle Ponyta posted:

What is the best way to RFI-proof your car(Honda Accord)? I have some RadioShack CB radio hooked up to my car currently with a magnet mount antenna and whenever the engine is running there's a whole bunch of static and then I can't hear poo poo. I think I've had something get through the squelch once ever.

Your problem: you're using a mag mount. Sorry, but no matter what you do, you will always have higher noise than if you had a permanent mount on the roof.

That being said, some things you can do to help yourself:

* Run large gauge wire directly from the battery to the radio (I'd use at least #10, assuming a stock radio)
* Inspect your body panels (especially) and make sure they're bonded solidly to each other and to the unibody. Often times a person will have to use braid (such as the outer braid stripped from coax) to bond body panels to each other and to the unibody/frame to lower the resistance to ground.
* Place beads on power leads to certain components, most often those associated with the fuel system. The fuel pump and fuel injectors are notorious for generating tons of hash in any car (I suffer from this, too, you can hear the fuel pump kick in and pressurize the fuel system in my pickup on my :ninja:

:ninja:

CB)
* Make sure your radio is properly grounded, at the very least, and make sure the coax connection (not really practical with a mag mount, I know) is as short as possible.

If you're interested in doing some reading, this guy really knows what's going on. (yeah, he's an rear end in a top hat on eHam, but his site is great for learning about mobile installations.)

Mah Lttle Ponyta posted:

If I tried to operate a handheld in my car in its current state would I get this same interference since the power isn't coming from the car's battery?

Yes, I'd even guess that it might be worse.

Mah Lttle Ponyta posted:

Also, why are CB radios so common in Jeeps, do they emit less RFI just because they're Jeeps?

:lol:

There was a discussion on the FT-100 mailing list the other week about how horrible Jeeps are re: RFI.

As for the popularity of CBs, most offroading groups use CB because A) it's free to use and B) has much better range in the forest, mountains, etc. than VHF radios (FRS, GMRS, etc.). Also, a lot of the guys have been using CBs for 20+ years, and they're hesitant to change. If I offroaded (and hopefully some time I will get into that hobby) I'd definitely have both a 2M HT and a CB in my rig.

# ¿ May 3, 2008 10:03

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

TetsuoTW posted:

Just scanning the 2m band and thought y'all might be interested to know that yes, even in the Inscrutable Orient ham radio appears to be practically the cellphone for the elderly.

E: And it certainly sounds like 2m is home to a shitton of taxi radios. Is this common in sane countries too?

No, in between doctor's appointments, our grebeards busy themselves writing letters to the FCC about every little unauthorized sound they hear on the bands.

# ¿ May 6, 2008 23:18

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Dolemite posted:

So new plan: Since I can't take the FCC exam until June when it's administered in my town, I'm going to study for, and take the general exam since I can already pass the technician practice exams with ease.

Holy crap though! The general exam is hard! There's so much electronics knowledge involved! I'm only getting 60-70% scores on the practice tests right now.

Something that's been helping me as I study for the General exam is to read a chapter in the book, then read the (more or less) companion chapter in the ARRL Handbook; if nothing else reading the same material again from a different writer's perspective has helped me understand more concepts in more depth.

Many libraries have the Handbook, or else you can do what I did and get last year's edition secondhand off of eBay (interestingly enough, I got the copy formerly owned by the Seattle Public Library).

# ¿ May 8, 2008 03:29

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Is anyone participating in the Armed Forces Day celebration this weekend? (crossposted from the SWL thread)

quote:

The Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard are co-sponsoring the annual military/amateur radio communications tests in celebration of the 58th Anniversary of Armed Forces Day (AFD). Although the actual Armed Forces Day is celebrated on Saturday, May 17, 2008, the AFD Military/Amateur Crossband Communications Test will be conducted 10 May 2008 to prevent conflict with the Dayton Hamvention (16-18 May 2008), which is the same weekend as the actual Armed Forces Day.

The annual celebration features traditional military to amateur cross band communications SSB voice tests and copying the Secretary of Defense message via digital modes. These tests give Amateur Radio operators and Short Wave Listeners (SWL) an opportunity to demonstrate their individual technical skills, and to receive recognition from the Secretary of Defense and/or the appropriate military radio station for their proven expertise. QSL cards will be provided to those stations making contact with the military stations. Special commemorative certificates will be awarded to anyone who receives and copies the digital Armed Forces Day message from the Secretary of Defense.

Military-to-Amateur crossband operations will take place on the dates and time in UTC on the frequencies listed for each station on the Army MARS Web site. Voice contacts will include operations in single sideband voice (SSB). Some stations, depending on propagation and manning, may not operate the entire period. Participating military stations will transmit on selected Military MARS frequencies and listen for Amateur Radio stations in the Amateur bands. The military station operator will announce the specific amateur band frequency being monitored. Duration of each voice contact should be limited to 1-2 minutes.

The .pdf with more information, as well as frequencies and modes, is here. It also lists how to send in a reception report to get a QSL card.

Since the .pdf is kind of long and difficult to read, I've cleaned it up and posted just the frequency schedule here.

The really nice part about this is that any ham can participate, as the MARS stations will be listening in the regular ham bands. It's too bad that I'm taking the General Test a week and a half too late to participate in this as a ham, but I'll be listening when I can to send in for some QSLs.

# ¿ May 9, 2008 00:37

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Jonny 290 posted:

I am already in talks with several crazy redneck junk dealers around here to try to find old tower sections.

You're braver than I am, I would only ever even consider using a used tower if I could inspect it before taking it down from the old location myself.

# ¿ May 13, 2008 19:01

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

I guess that in my opinion whether a tower is climbable or not isn't going to matter much when the bracing fails and it comes crashing down in your yard/on your house/on the neighbor's house because some bubba took it down originally with a chain attached to his truck bumper.

That's just me, though, I'm pretty paranoid about such things.

# ¿ May 13, 2008 20:39

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Dog Case posted:

I think Darth Vader works for Yaesu's design department.

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht/0008.html

That's pretty cool looking; it's a little unfortunate that they extended the receive even more instead of tightening up the front end of the VX-7 (for instance). Be interesting to see how much that's going to be, I'm sure we'll find out on Thursday or Friday this week at Dayton. Neat little radio.

# ¿ May 14, 2008 01:16

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

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.

I don't even get the point of the ARTS system in the first place. I know what it's supposed to do, but APRS had been around for a while when my (rev. 1 :shobon:

:shobon:

) 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?

# ¿ May 15, 2008 00:56

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

quote:

Spring 2008 W1AW Frequency Measuring Test Set:

W1AW will conduct a Spring Frequency Measuring Text. This FMT will begin on Wednesday, May 21 at 9:45 PM (EDT) (that's the same as 0145 UTC on May 22), replacing W1AW's normally scheduled phone bulletin. W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, recommends that those planning to participate should listen to W1AW transmissions prior to the event to determine which band -- or bands -- will be best for measurement purposes.

For this FMT, participants are asked to measure the frequency of an audio tone, given an exact frequency for the carrier signal. The tone will be between 1000-2500 Hz. The carrier frequencies will be 3990 kHz (LSB), 7290 kHz (LSB), 14290 kHz (USB) and 18160 kHz (USB).

The techniques for measuring a modulating tone are described in the November 2004 QST in an article on the Frequency Measuring Test by H. Ward Silver, N0AX. The article can also be found at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/fmt/2004/04fmtsilver.pdf. The FMT Web page also has several interesting articles about measuring on-the-air signal frequencies.

The FMT will start with a general QST call from W1AW at exactly 0145 UTC, transmitted simultaneously on the frequencies listed above. The test will consist of three 60-second key down transmissions for each band, followed by a station identification. The test will last for approximately 15 minutes and will end with station identification. W1AW will identify before, during and after the transmissions. There are no plans at this time for a West Coast station.

As in the November 2007 FMT, your report should be submitted via the FMT Report form web site at, http://www.b4h.net/fmt/fmtentry.php. Along with your call sign and e-mail address, enter your most accurate measurement on each band. There will be a window to list your equipment, describe the method you used to make the measurements and enter any Soapbox comments. Participants have 14 days to input their data. Participants may input their data more than once, although the final entry will be the one used for the results.

W1AW will post the transmitted frequencies on the W1AW FMT Web site shortly following the test. This will allow participants to quickly determine the accuracy of their equipment and methods. A complete package of results will be available via the FMT Web site after the 14-day reporting period is concluded.

The results from the November 2007 FMT are available on the 2007 FMT Results Web site at, http://www.b4h.net/fmt/fmtresults200711.php .

If you go to the websites listed, there's a ton of complicated procedures for testing the audio tone's frequency; I'll be doing it the easy (i.e. lazy) way by running a software audio spectrum analyzer while the test is going on.

# ¿ May 20, 2008 21:58

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

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. :v:

:v:

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

It's like in the movie Supertroopers: "Oh, that little guy? Don't worry about that little guy."

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.

We could be like the PSK people, except instead of being on the '70s, we could be on the '69s. For example, 7069 for RTTY/PSK and 7269 for SSB on 40m, 14069 for RTTY/PSK and 14269 for SSB on 20m. Of course, I'm super juvenile (and looking for an obscene vanity call :v:

:v:

).

edit: K1CUF and K4CUF are both available... :v:

:v:

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

You're good.

nmfree fucked around with this message at 03:08 on May 21, 2008

# ¿ May 21, 2008 02:59

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

blugu64 posted:

I think the hamsexy guys took all the *WTF ones already, but you should check. Also Congrats on general!

Thanks, and there are a couple of WTF ones that I could grab, I suppose.

So I get back from passing my test, and my FT-100 decided that the AM/SSB receive isn't going to work anymore. :smith:

:smith:

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 :smith:

:smith:

:smith:

ValhallaSmith posted:

I'm planning on doing this myself as well. Hopefully I won't piss them off too badly.

The VEs encouraged me to try the Extra test while I was there tonight- I maybe got 10 questions correct (out of 50, for those who don't know). The VE was a little taken aback when he came out to tell me my score and I said " :v:

:v:

So how bad was it?" ...he had forgotten that I had already passed the General test.

# ¿ May 21, 2008 08:32

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

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!

# ¿ May 23, 2008 02:13

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Sindow posted:

woot passed the extra element. Now all I need are a radio, an antenna and someplace to put them.

Welp, I can't help you with the first and last thing, but I'm working on a magnetic transmitting loop right now, and if I can get it to work decently, I'll post some pics in a few days.

# ¿ May 26, 2008 09:55

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

TetsuoTW posted:

How does Echolink fit in to licensing and operating requirements, especially if just used with a mic and headset on the computer VoIP style? 'cause holy Christ the more I learn about Taiwan's requirements, the more I'm tempted to just sit the US test next month, get my Tech and call, and just use Echolink like that until I'm out of this regulatorily fucktarded country. Would I just need my call, or does Echolink, even just as what amounts to a niche VoIP service, still generally come under radio regulation?

You have to be licensed for the RF portion of any Echolink communication; I believe that having a Tech license is enough because they all are on VHF/10 meters in the Tech subband.

# ¿ May 27, 2008 11:36

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

U.S. Barryl posted:

What kind of antenna would be recommended if I want something cheap to make or buy, and want the widest range of coverage possible?

Fan dipoles and trapped dipoles are what you're going to be looking at the most, I'd bet. As long as you understand their relative weaknesses and strengths as compared to other antenna types, you'll be OK with either one.

If you're planning on getting a tuner, then your options will become much wider. I would suggest looking around at https://www.cebik.com (you have to register a free account) to see if anything strikes your fancy.

edit: and if you do spring for a tuner, I'd suggest something that has a dummy load built in so you can kill two birds with one stone.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2008 01:34

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

U.S. Barryl posted:

Thanks to both of you for your advice. I figure it sounds like the best thing would be to tune a long wire, so I went ahead and ordered a tuner. I have an Icom IC-718 which automatically drives the AH-4 McRib mentioned. I found one on ebay for way cheap and in supposed "Mint-Like new" condition. It says it can tune any wire 23 feet and up, but would it tune a vertical like the buddistick? (https://www.buddipole.com)

The neat thing about the buddipoles is that you don't need a tuner for them, you manually change the position of the tap on the loading coils on the antenna itself to tune for whichever band you want to work. Having an autotuner would end up being superfluous.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2008 23:18

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Epicenter posted:

This is really interesting stuff. I'd like to get into it, but I think the route I want to take is building my own radio. I've got lots and lots of spare parts around and I suspect most all I'll need to buy is a VCO for the tuner and proper antenna, as I understand it. Could anyone recommend some good resources for plans/info on building a good reciever?

If you want to get a little more complicated, the new model of the SoftRock receiver just came out.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2008 04:08

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Dolemite posted:

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to F5 the hell out of the FCC database page!

Or here: http://www.qrz.com/new_hams.html

Hu Fa Ted posted:

100W HF will burn,

100W HF can generate several thousand volts on an antenna, depending on what kind of design you're using. I'm currently bumbling my way through building a "magnetic" loop antenna for HF, and in investigating designs, I found one guy who set his coax on fire with 100W! (The coax in question was used as a tuning capacitor at the far end of the antenna.)

Hu Fa Ted posted:

and 5W VHF will boil your eyeballs.

It will? AWESOME

/runs off to make eyeball soup

# ¿ Jun 4, 2008 02:18

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Epicenter posted:

TBH I'm mostly just interested in recieving right now but it could be fun to hop on some of these frequencies with all the morse code I hear on the 'software radio', xmit a few words and see if anyone can hear me.

Yeah, please don't do that. Seriously, not only is it impolite, it's also a criminal offense.

I'm guessing you're in the military, so not only do you have to deal with US licensing requirements, and then with the Japanese radio authority, as well as whatever military hoops you have to jump through to operate an Amateur station while deployed. Good luck with that.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2008 03:07

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 13:36

nmfree: Aug 15, 2001; The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Sindow posted:

So what happened to this project and how come it didn't turn out how you wanted?

Because when desinging it, I made it as large as the software would allow... it didn't fit up the stairs :laugh:

:laugh:

I know how to fix it (cut it in half), I have the piece to put it back together when I get it upstairs, but I don't know how well it will work because I don't have an antenna analyzer to do any tuning. v :shobon:

:shobon:

v Also, I have to build a mounting frame for it so it's not sitting on the floor.

I forgot I posted about that, actually.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2008 17:43

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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Amateur radio: Not much going on, other than the motherfucking satellite

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