Amateur Radio
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Done deal. Passed the technician exam earlier this afternoon. I only got 16 right on the General which is okay I guess because I didn't look at that material at all. Next Friday I should have my HT ordered. With the new baby and all it looks like it's going to be a Boafeng of some sort. Christmas time frame I might be able to setup a base station of some sort.
Good deal dude. Enjoy.
As far as base stations, you've got the right idea -- wait for a while. You may discover that 70cm or 2m are used more or less than the other band. Then pick up a mobile radio for that band, coax, antenna, and a 13.8v power supply, which you can usually get for about $300. Additionally, wait until everyone gets home from Dayton Hamvention and decides that they either didn't sell what they wanted to get rid of, or bought something they didn't need.
I've been putting up an antenna all evening. Just spent about 3 hours putting a 1/2 wave 80m antenna into the woods. Good times.
As far as base stations, you've got the right idea -- wait for a while. You may discover that 70cm or 2m are used more or less than the other band. Then pick up a mobile radio for that band, coax, antenna, and a 13.8v power supply, which you can usually get for about $300. Additionally, wait until everyone gets home from Dayton Hamvention and decides that they either didn't sell what they wanted to get rid of, or bought something they didn't need.
I've been putting up an antenna all evening. Just spent about 3 hours putting a 1/2 wave 80m antenna into the woods. Good times.
I am looking forward to learning more about the specifics now that I have my Tech license. While I was studying I was a little worried about reading to much on stuff that was out of the scope of the test. I am also glad I got it before June as the question pool is changing. I think I will have a lot more insensitive to get into the nuts and bolts once I get my HT in a few weeks.
I ordered a UV-5R last night and what hopefully will work as a legit programming cable. Going to get Chirp installed in anticipation this weekend. In a couple weeks I will probably be picking one of these bad boys up as well: http://www.2wayelectronix.com/Dual-band-2m-70cm-Slim-Jim-Antenna-dual-slim.htm
I also picked up a couple of apps to try and learn morse. The plan right now is to pickup a Rockmite in the near future to setup a homebrew is CW rig. But I have a helluva lot to learn about electronics in general before that goes down. Now that I am over the first hump (licensing) I am pretty excited to be working on something that I know nothing about.
I also picked up a couple of apps to try and learn morse. The plan right now is to pickup a Rockmite in the near future to setup a homebrew is CW rig. But I have a helluva lot to learn about electronics in general before that goes down. Now that I am over the first hump (licensing) I am pretty excited to be working on something that I know nothing about.
For an antenna, get an Ed Fong J-Pole (look it up on eBay, guy is a professor at UC Berkley IIRC) and some good coax. LMR400 is minimum for VHF/UHF work, heliax if you can afford it and the connectors. I'm in the middle of upgrading all of my HF antenna runs to LMR400 and UHF/VHF is going to get LMR600 or hardline (heliax) if I can find some affordably.
The UV5-rax is probably the most common model. Get a couple batteries, and get a better antenna. The stock antenna works alright, but a better antenna cut for amateur bands is what you really need.
The rockmite is pretty cool. You might want to look into the hendricks kits (http://www.qrpkits.com/) stuff if you're looking at building kits. It's very rewarding, and pretty soon you'll be able to fix ANYTHING. I mean it. Anything. Wife's hair dryer stops working? 15 minutes. Done. Internal wire on headphones breaks? 20 minutes. Done. Your desk clock keeps eating batteries? an hour and it works fine. Kit building is the best way to get on your way to MASTER electronics. You'd be surprised how much you will learn. I do SMD stuff now. I actually replaced some ram on a netbook last week for someone... Soldered on ram, and a voltage regulator.
Also, look at the CS7000 yahoo group. That radio is going to be WHACK. Full of features, and a bit cheaper than a big three radio. Connect Systems is an up-and-comer in the radio world.
Most important notes of all:
Learn everything about your radio(s)
Buy the best coax you can afford
Buy extra batteries for radios
Go seek out your local ARES or RACES guys, meet your local EOC folks
Find some local folks, you'll want to ask questions, and local folks sometimes will help you put up antennas and shit
The UV5-rax is probably the most common model. Get a couple batteries, and get a better antenna. The stock antenna works alright, but a better antenna cut for amateur bands is what you really need.
The rockmite is pretty cool. You might want to look into the hendricks kits (http://www.qrpkits.com/) stuff if you're looking at building kits. It's very rewarding, and pretty soon you'll be able to fix ANYTHING. I mean it. Anything. Wife's hair dryer stops working? 15 minutes. Done. Internal wire on headphones breaks? 20 minutes. Done. Your desk clock keeps eating batteries? an hour and it works fine. Kit building is the best way to get on your way to MASTER electronics. You'd be surprised how much you will learn. I do SMD stuff now. I actually replaced some ram on a netbook last week for someone... Soldered on ram, and a voltage regulator.
Also, look at the CS7000 yahoo group. That radio is going to be WHACK. Full of features, and a bit cheaper than a big three radio. Connect Systems is an up-and-comer in the radio world.
Most important notes of all:
Learn everything about your radio(s)
Buy the best coax you can afford
Buy extra batteries for radios
Go seek out your local ARES or RACES guys, meet your local EOC folks
Find some local folks, you'll want to ask questions, and local folks sometimes will help you put up antennas and shit
Right on man thank you for the input. I actually had the Hendricks site bookmarked but haven't actually looked around to much. I just might go that route over the Rockmite. I hope to make the next monthly meeting with the local club next month and talk to them about RACES/ARES. Thanks again for the info sir I really appreciate it.
Well I got my Baofeng UV-5R in the mail yesterday and got some local repeaters setup. As far as I know anyway. I can get the repeater response after keying the mic for two seconds. So that is good I guess. Just looked on the ol FCC website and my call sign has been posted. I've got my reference license printed off so I can hae that with me while traveling about with my HT and all that. Next week I want to get a better antenna ordered for the Baofeng and I have been looking more into the kits you mentioned above.
Yeah, don't dead-key the repeater, that pisses people off. Sometimes when a repeater is malfunctioning, it won't output any audio, so just throw out your call, if someone is there, and wants to respond, they will.
Be careful with QRP. It's an easy way to get really frustrated with HF really quickly. For your first rig get a good, new-ish 100W transceiver and a good auto-tuner. IC718, ic7200, ft450d, ts450sat are all good radios to start with. It's a lot easier to get accustomed to operations when you don't have to struggle to be heard. Don't skimp on a tuner, and ESPECIALLY don't cheap out on a balun for your antenna(s). Easiest setup for a beginner is a 125ft (45ft and 90ft) off center fed dipole, or "Carolina Windom" and you can build it yourself for about $120 ($40 for 500ft of wire, and $95 for a good 4:1 balun), and just add coax. RG8x is good to start with, and probably will work best for a good couple years.
Check out EchoLink as well. It's fun for when you don't have access to a repeater but do have the interweb(s).
My county's ARES/RACES repeater suffers from a desense problem, because there's some HUGE noise source locally. It's been a problem for over a year, and has basically blacked out VHF in my county. Well, I think I found it. Looks like this cell phone tower site was broken into several times over the past couple years, and after looking at the site, it sure seems like it. It took a total of 20 minutes of driving around with my fiancee, my kali chromebook on her lap running gqrx on a rtlsdr, and a radio shack mag-mount scanner antenna on the roof.
Worked VERY well. I just kept driving until I saw the signal peaked, and strangely enough, it showed up as broadband noise 145.600MHz to 146.600MHz, which was covering the input of the repeater in question.
It may not be the problem, but it's a start. That plus the official interference complaint is getting the tower company to come out and do a full look at everything on the site. They told me on the phone they'll be out before the weekend. I'll update as I find out more, but I'm limited as to what I will hear from Crown Castle, they may just fix it and never say anything back.
Worked VERY well. I just kept driving until I saw the signal peaked, and strangely enough, it showed up as broadband noise 145.600MHz to 146.600MHz, which was covering the input of the repeater in question.
It may not be the problem, but it's a start. That plus the official interference complaint is getting the tower company to come out and do a full look at everything on the site. They told me on the phone they'll be out before the weekend. I'll update as I find out more, but I'm limited as to what I will hear from Crown Castle, they may just fix it and never say anything back.
It really is amazing how terrible a lot of these sights are secured. You would think these companies would secure their sites better. Especially when it is considered by most to be a critical piece of infrastructure.
I am still new to this whole game but I am assuming those cabinets are shielded in some way? It looks like the cover might be off on the side facing the tower.
I am still new to this whole game but I am assuming those cabinets are shielded in some way? It looks like the cover might be off on the side facing the tower.
Anyone (who is licensed) want to buy any of the following radios from me?
Icom IC-718 (1.8-30MHz general coverage)
Golden One Telecom GY-1907MU UHF 65W (400-490MHz general coverage)
Yaesu FT-2900r VHF 75W
Diamond MX72H UHF + VHF Diplexor (allows me to use a dual band antenna with both UHF and VHF radios)
Let me know if you're interested and we'll discuss a fair price. 65W is A LOT on UHF, and 75W is A LOT On VHF. I live in a valley, so I need all I can get, but I'm building a pair of amplifiers to take care of the need now that I have an IC-7100.
Icom IC-718 (1.8-30MHz general coverage)
Golden One Telecom GY-1907MU UHF 65W (400-490MHz general coverage)
Yaesu FT-2900r VHF 75W
Diamond MX72H UHF + VHF Diplexor (allows me to use a dual band antenna with both UHF and VHF radios)
Let me know if you're interested and we'll discuss a fair price. 65W is A LOT on UHF, and 75W is A LOT On VHF. I live in a valley, so I need all I can get, but I'm building a pair of amplifiers to take care of the need now that I have an IC-7100.
So, a lot has happened in the past year. I now have several acres.
40m vertical:
1. Windom antenna, at about 40ft (used for 80, 40, 20, and 6m)
2. 43t wire vertical with a MFJ-994BRT at the base (used for 160, 60, 40, 30, 20, 17. 15. 12, 10m)
3. 32ft 1/4wl vertical for 40m
I only have pictures of the 1/4wl right now.
I also have a 250ft beverage for receive, that goes out to the northeast.
I run it from inside the house:
But it's sitting upstairs in my garage loft. Don't hate, it's only partially finished. I used MDF from shipping crates to build the walls, and I plan on finishing it in the next month or so.
I'll see if I can find a good sat-image of the antenna field.
40m vertical:
1. Windom antenna, at about 40ft (used for 80, 40, 20, and 6m)
2. 43t wire vertical with a MFJ-994BRT at the base (used for 160, 60, 40, 30, 20, 17. 15. 12, 10m)
3. 32ft 1/4wl vertical for 40m
I only have pictures of the 1/4wl right now.
I also have a 250ft beverage for receive, that goes out to the northeast.
I run it from inside the house:
But it's sitting upstairs in my garage loft. Don't hate, it's only partially finished. I used MDF from shipping crates to build the walls, and I plan on finishing it in the next month or so.
I'll see if I can find a good sat-image of the antenna field.
And more about my radio:
https://apache-labs.com/al-products/1045/ANAN-100B-HF---6M-100W-ALL-MODE-SDR-TRANSCEIVER.html
It's a full software defined radio. It sits in the garage, and I control it completely from either my tablet or the computer.
On the control-end, I have a Hercules DJ controller, a mixer-board, and a large diaphragm microphone.
Unfortunately, I've probably got $5k invested in this setup. And that's not touching the mobile HF setup in the car, but that's for another time.
Who all has their license now?
https://apache-labs.com/al-products/1045/ANAN-100B-HF---6M-100W-ALL-MODE-SDR-TRANSCEIVER.html
It's a full software defined radio. It sits in the garage, and I control it completely from either my tablet or the computer.
On the control-end, I have a Hercules DJ controller, a mixer-board, and a large diaphragm microphone.
Unfortunately, I've probably got $5k invested in this setup. And that's not touching the mobile HF setup in the car, but that's for another time.
Who all has their license now?
