/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>how do they find me?

HF Radio Communications

Space weather impacts radio communication in a number of ways. At frequencies in the 1 to 30 mega Hertz range (known as “High Frequency” or HF radio), the changes in ionospheric density and structure modify the transmission path and even block transmission of HF radio signals completely. These frequencies are used by amateur (ham) radio operators and many industries such as commercial airlines. They are also used by a number of government agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Defense.

There are several types of space weather that can impact HF radio communication. In a typical sequence of space weather storms, the first impacts are felt during the solar flare itself. The solar x-rays from the sun penetrate to the bottom of the ionosphere (to around 80 km). There the x-ray photons ionize the atmosphere and create an enhancement of the D layer of the ionosphere. This enhanced D-layer acts both as a reflector of radio waves at some frequencies and an absorber of waves at other frequencies. The Radio Blackout associated with solar flares occurs on the dayside region of Earth and is most intense when the sun is directly overhead.

Another type of space weather, the Radiation Storm caused by energetic solar protons, can also disrupt HF radio communication. The protons are guided by Earth’s magnetic field such that they collide with the upper atmosphere near the north and south poles. The fast-moving protons have an affect similar to the x-ray photons and create an enhanced D-Layer thus blocking HF radio communication at high latitudes. During auroral displays, the precipitating electrons can enhance other layers of the ionosphere and have similar disrupting and blocking effects on radio communication. This occurs mostly on the night side of the polar regions of Earth where the aurora is most intense and most frequent.

Geomagnetic Storms

A geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere that occurs when there is a very efficient exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding Earth. These storms result from variations in the solar wind that produces major changes in the currents, plasmas, and fields in Earth’s magnetosphere. The solar wind conditions that are effective for creating geomagnetic storms are sustained (for several to many hours) periods of high-speed solar wind, and most importantly, a southward directed solar wind magnetic field (opposite the direction of Earth’s field) at the dayside of the magnetosphere. This condition is effective for transferring energy from the solar wind into Earth’s magnetosphere.

The largest storms that result from these conditions are associated with solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) where a billion tons or so of plasma from the sun, with its embedded magnetic field, arrives at Earth. CMEs typically take several days to arrive at Earth, but have been observed, for some of the most intense storms, to arrive in as short as 18 hours. Another solar wind disturbance that creates conditions favorable to geomagnetic storms is a high-speed solar wind stream (HSS). HSSs plow into the slower solar wind in front and create co-rotating interaction regions, or CIRs. These regions are often related to geomagnetic storms that while less intense than CME storms, often can deposit more energy in Earth’s magnetosphere over a longer interval.

Storms also result in intense currents in the magnetosphere, changes in the radiation belts, and changes in the ionosphere, including heating the ionosphere and upper atmosphere region called the thermosphere. In space, a ring of westward current around Earth produces magnetic disturbances on the ground. A measure of this current, the disturbance storm time (Dst) index, has been used historically to characterize the size of a geomagnetic storm. In addition, there are currents produced in the magnetosphere that follow the magnetic field, called field-aligned currents, and these connect to intense currents in the auroral ionosphere. These auroral currents, called the auroral electrojets, also produce large magnetic disturbances. Together, all of these currents, and the magnetic deviations they produce on the ground, are used to generate a planetary geomagnetic disturbance index called Kp. This index is the basis for one of the three NOAA Space Weather Scales, the Geomagnetic Storm, or G-Scale, that is used to describe space weather that can disrupt systems on Earth.

During storms, the currents in the ionosphere, as well as the energetic particles that precipitate into the ionosphere add energy in the form of heat that can increase the density and distribution of density in the upper atmosphere, causing extra drag on satellites in low-earth orbit. The local heating also creates strong horizontal variations in the in the ionospheric density that can modify the path of radio signals and create errors in the positioning information provided by GPS. While the storms create beautiful aurora, they also can disrupt navigation systems such as the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and create harmful geomagnetic induced currents (GICs) in the power grid and pipelines.

>>2607404
>Hides behind propagation, antenna profiles, and environmental factors

>>2607398
>It's the end of the world if I tx on FRS with 8 watts while GMRS can use 50

>>2607429
>>2607430
>seething

>>2607354
this party can't start without captain prostate.

>>2607432
You hear my kerchunk because I'm not dumb enough to fall for an ic-705

>>2607441
>poltard larper boasting about vhf power

>>2607455
Vhf/uhf isn't to be taken seriously unless you do EME or satellite work. I hit St. George repeaters from Vegas (100 miles) using 15 watts through a cheap anytone and diamond x50a on a 20ft mast. Repeaters kind of do all the work anyway. Even with my truck, I use a baofeng and comet SBB-5. A seemingly indestructible antenna that does all the work. 5 watts works simplex for 50 miles no issue.

The only time vhf/uhf should be taken seriously is doing 6m aurora/sporadic e work or satellite/moonbounce. Otherwise, I can't tell if someone is using a $20 rig or $2000 one through the speakers of my anytone.

Took down the hexbeam, for now.

>>2607538
Seems like you change antennas a lot. Why did it come down?

You WILL respect the Chad Repeater.

>>2607398
>NOOOOO HOW DARE YOU WANT TO ONLY CARRY ONE RADIO AROUND INSTEAD OF FIVE FOR EACH SERVICE LIKE HAM/GMRS/CB etc!!!!!
Hence why I have all my radios MARS modded. Feels nice to have my IC-7100 be able to communicate on GMRS and CB also.

oh please no

>>2607583
QRL QRZ CONTEST QRZ CONTEST THIS IS G0OBR G0OBR
some first class operating right there

>>2607542
I was tired of rotating it, and the vertical usually came within half to 1 s unit anyway. Very uncommon I had stations on 10m I could only work with the hex, and the hex was a monoband anyway. It's just 10m after all, and the bands have been weak the past few weeks. The vertical I've been running on 10, 15, 17, 20 and 40 with a tuner just fine. All over the world in fact. People are shocked when they hear I'm basically using a cb antenna on 40m and getting 5/9 signal reports.

>>2607583
When is this from?

>>2607583
When is this from?

>>2607600
Now, from SDR in Twente, Netherlands. There's a contest on 40m, strangely propagation isn't bad on 20m and 15m but there's nobody.

>>2607603
Twente chads reporting in

>>2607354
>I can only find Preview 13 prepackaged with some other documents:
You missed Preview 14. We are now up to Preview 15:
https://files.catbox.moe/aftx43.htm

>>2607677
Your digits approve of your assistance, anon.

>>2607398

>>2607398
>>2607691
I expressly got into ham for the sole reason of being able to use 10w ht's on frs frequencies while doing outdoor activities with friends

>QSO PARTY!!!!!!

>>2607691
>seething manchild

>>2607804
No one cares other than you and other grumpy OMs, OM.

>>2607814
says you

Is RTTY dead?

>>2607354

>>2607997
Why is it always 30 year olds

>>2608016
Because it's a milestone, and it rolls off the tongue.

>>2608016
>>2608025
the mid-life crisis stoic commer

>>2607997
This was written by someone that has no idea what they're talking about.

>>2607997
Rf doesn't carry enough energy to cause cancer.
ISS talks to vhf/uhf stations every day, from people transmitting legal limit and government entities transmitting well beyond.
Spread spectrum isn't going to happen from a baofeng.
Radio interference laws in countries you're not even in is kind of the point of the laws. They apply to people within a certain distance of the borders of other countries.
I think someone that got excited about their baofeng made this, and that's cute, but they have no idea what they're talking about.

>>2607997
>likely written by a /k/fag who thinks a baomeme and rtl-sdr are the epitome of radio communications hardware
>>2608108
Did the porn-addict-jak somehow cause question, or was it the tape measure antenna?

Does having like a 3" long pigtail cause significant loss?

If I had a 50 foot run of 400max coax and I didn't want to use an angled adapter to connect it to my radio, would a really short pigtail I already have on hand cause a noticeable loss in performance?

>>2608273
Only way to find out is to test them side by side and see what kind of loss the pigtail seems to generate. My only concern is if this isn't for a small handheld radio, but a 100w rig or something with an amplifier. Pigtails aren't capable of handling any kind of power, especially not with moderate swrs (above 2:1) and the heat can quickly destroy the solder and connections.

If this is for a handheld on vhf/uhf, it doesn't matter and you won't notice.

>CQ CONTEST CQ CONTEST

>>2608380
>mayday mayday mayday this is misty vision misty vision 35.304-
>EXCUSE ME THIS FREQUENCY IS IN USE, CQ CONTEST CQ CONTEST KILOWATT NORWAY SEVEN AMERICA AMERICA
>NOVEMBER FOUR INDIA INDIA, FIVE NINE
>WHAT IS YOUR ZONE NUMBER
>WHAT ZONE!?
>ZONE 4 THANK YOU, PLEASE LOOK UP CONTEST RULES BEFORE YOU RESPOND TO CONTESTERS, CQ CQ KILOWATT NORWAY SEVEN AMERICA AMERICA QRZED

I want to build a SAR radar. How to do that?

>>2608438
go away

>>2608438
>SAR radar
first you gotta startup your PC computer's CPU unit, then browse to the URL location of google

>>2608461
> first you gotta startup your PC computer's CPU unit, then browse to the URL location of google
And then?

>>2608482
eat a bullet

Is multiplexing common in amateur radio? My shack is going to be on the opposite side of my house to my antenna and it just dawned on me that I can eliminated the need for multiple runs of transmission line with this. Diplexer at one end, duplexer at the other.
Am I retarded? The only problem I can think of is if I say transmit on HF I'm also transmitting HF on my VHF antenna and visa versa.

>>2608677
you'll loose some power (not a lot, quality diplexers are nice) but why not.
I ran a line for VHF-UHF and one for HF, then things got crazy and I have an antenna selector for HF now, there are some you can pilot via tee bias on the coax, but I decided to ran a 4 wire cable too.
And a RG58 to power the VHF-UHF pre-amp (yes you can also use a tee bias for that)
And a RG58 cable for SDR receiving.
OK you can save on cable, but once you have installed one cable through the whole house, it's easy to put more, the holes are here. Make a present to the future you and even if you put one cable at first, make the passage for some other ones. You'll put more cables there.
>The only problem I can think of is if I say transmit on HF I'm also transmitting HF on my VHF antenna and visa versa.
You mean transmit on VHF while transmitting on HF ?

>>2608689
>You mean transmit on VHF while transmitting on HF ?
Kind of. Specifically, transmitting HF on the VHF antenna. However I'm reading more into this and it seems that simply two diplexers will do the job just fine with their passive filtration and I wont have to worry about that. I created an image of how I believe this would work with my current understanding. These band-pass filters should protect say my VHF/UHF rig from the transmission power of the HF rig assuming the diplexer is appropriately rated to handle the TX power of each unit, right?

I do plan on creating a passage for easy cable passthrough. I'm envisioning some kind of plastic conduit fed down from the attic in between the wall space so if I do want to modify transmission line it's easy fishing in and out of the wall and to the attic. But I digress.

>>2608713
>transmitting HF on the VHF antenna
As you guessed on your pic, it shouldn't be possible as the diplexers send the right signal on the right antenna.
They have at least 60 dB of isolation If my memory serves me right.
You need reversible ones and yes the VHF will not be in danger when you transmit on HF.
If you get HF : 1-30 MHz and VHF 140-150 MHz it's ok, the problem can appear for 50 MHz, it's a bit close to 30 MHz and far away from 140MHz so the isolation can be less as the filters needs to be wider, less steep

>>2608677
with all due respect i think calling the act of passing two signals of completely different wavelengths without having to do any shifting simply mixing and then filtering, over the same wire, multiplexing, is a bit of a stretch.

>>2608677
HFC cable TV gear puts 54 to 800MHz signals on to WDM fiber, with an analog modulated laser
You could build a little cable TV network out to your shack
I don't much about HAM shit, but I used to build cable networks

>>2608718
I'll keep that in mind wrt 6 meters. I haven't really had much of an interest in it but at the same time I don't want to unnecessarily shut myself out of it if I can avoid it. I think building my own diplexer would be fun-and in the spirit of ham radio-if I can.

>>2608720
No offense taken. I'm definitely still green, and "mixing" is easier to understand anyway.

>>2608723
Reassuring to know the concept isn't uncommon. Speaking of, fast scan TV is something I want to get my hands dirty with when my shack is all built out. That'll probably be a ways out from now though.

How dead is 222mhz?

>>2609188
Around where I live, it's a ghost town just like 6m.

>>2609188
Deader than sstv.

>>2607354
How viable is LoRa for rural digital comms?
I wanted to create something a while ago that was basically a mesh network of RPi's placed up in high places with some kind of radio hat for digital communications.
But, looking at LoRaWAN devices - looks like I can purchase shit that will "just work" for cheap and also be normie-tard friendly.

>Barb! This fella is using one of them Chinese radios.

>>2609449
>glory to the PRC
China #1

>>2609449
>>2609461
I have really nice expensive radios but for some reason this cheap piece of shit calls to me and I must answer

>>2609466
fuck

CQ CQ CQ DE LU1XXX LU1XXX LU1XXX
PROSTATE OK?
PROSTATE OK
That said, I have my first radio, a stupid little chink Baofeng UV5RT+ that can work some local repeaters and stations, but have been having problems rejecting the high VHF and UHF noise levels in Buenos Aires city. I've been browsing some local ham radio groups, and saw a few OMs posting their Yaesu FT7B's for sale for around USD300 plus shipping, which is around right for my shithole. Is it reasonable to make a FT7B portable this day and age? I think it doesn't have any valves, but do correct me if I'm wrong.

>>2609476
I have no experience with the radio myself but everything I'm reading says it's easy to operate and fix. That seems to be supported by the manual having a listing of every component and wiring diagrams in case you need to repair the radio: http://www.radiomanual.info/schemi/YAESU_HF/FT-7B_user.pdf

The price seems somewhat high but you've said that's normal for where you live. I'd say if you've got easy access to the components to repair/upgrade the radio it'd be decent. If you want to do digital modes it might be a bit of a pain in the ass rigging things up to work.

>>2607583
I dont get it. I’m looking at at a power spectrum here, is there something onerous about it?

>>2609601
SSB QSOs on top of other QSOs, total chaos, unintelligible crap, 99% "CQ CONTEST CQ CONTEST" at 2kW without any nice propagation.
If you don't have a 1500 KHz SSB filter you'll get nothing

I upgraded to my first "good" radio which has dmr but I have no idea how to use it or where to start learning about it.

Since it's an HT and there's no dmr repeaters anywhere near me, should I even bother with it for now? I intend to upgrade my base station at some point so I'm sure I'll learn about it then but for now it doesn't seem particularly helpful

cheap and good radio? any advice? something for the band below 2m

>>2609603
Thanks for the annotated explanation.
I note that the boomer cq contest looks blurry on the spectrum, is that because of the sideband use?
Based boomers seems clear and well defined.
Sorry, not used to reading SDR, i dont have one.

>>2609603
what's the zoomers band doing?

>>2609631
Ft8 on 7.074.

>>2609603
> you’ll get nothing and like it
I think AM and SSB can be used at the same time

>>2609611
>something for the band below 2m
Huh?

>>2609449
There is nothing wrong with them. And I'm a person who EDCs between a Yaesu FT3D and a VX5R depending on where I'm going.

>>2609697
>>2609449
They're truly craptastic. DE LU1XXX MY RIG BAOFENG UV5RT+ MY PWR 8W CPY?

>>2609704

So my ESSGOO chinkshit radio finally found a window without a suicide net.
What's the best scanner I could replace it with?

>>2609614
it's a screenshot from online SDR at Twente university, Netherlands.
Yes it's SSB and there are transmissions over other transmisions
based boomers is CW, Morse code.

>>2609704
That's cute, is he talking to you over echolink?

If I wanted to get into HF but I live in a high rise, is a mag loop really my only option?

>>2609775
No, and in fact a mag loop is digustingly dogshit at transmitting. Do you have a balcony? If so, you can top-feed an end fed, or run a vertical from the patio there and just bring it in every night. If you have no balcony and only windows, your transmitting abilities will be severely hindered. I would then suggest working mobile when wanting to get on the air.

>>2609775
By the way, my buddy uses a vertical out his window (it opens and has a little ledge) and runs the radials out into his room. Has about 10 on one side. He then uses a bunch of 8ft hamsticks and an antenna tuner to get on the air on pretty much every band below 60m. He even has his DXCC, but he's been doing stuff like this for decades.

>>2609770
It is me: >>2609706 >>2609476

>>2609711
>finally found a window without a suicide net
kek

How can they target find you if you jam airtraffic radio only occasionally from a wheat field for short period of time? How does it work?

>>2609706

>>2609808
Stop being a fucking retard.

>>2609796
Yeah, 8w will work local repeaters fine. I hit St. George Utah from Las Vegas using 15w, about 100 miles, because their repeaters are high up on mountains. I work pretty much all of Las Vegas, Boulder City, and Henderson simplex with just 25w. Sometimes I'll get a hint of something back and forth in Flagstaff as well.

All that said, it doesn't matter, because HF shits all over uhf/vhf and baomemes are a joke.

Thought this was a neat pic of the antennas. No filters or anything.

>>2609775
How far up do you live? You cannot sneak a random vertical wire outside your window?

>>2609775
Can you get access to the roof? A roof mounted antenna does not have to be visible from the ground.

>>2609961
How do I run the coax down to my condo?

>>2609977
There are usually conduits for such things, such as for normal TV antennas on the roof, water and electricity.

How many of you fat fucks have caused more damage than help trying to "help out."

>>2609983
How does someone keying up their radio and calling 911 cause any damage?

>>2609987
I guess you are new here. >>2609983 is pasta that appears in nearly all of these threads. I suspect it is teh same dude who is soooo concerned that /ham/ operators are obese and in dire health. This is probably some kind of fetishism, I just don't know which one.

>>2609983
I intentionally transmit over public safety frequencies

>>2609990
>/ham/ operators are obese and in dire health
You all are. Only one of you has proven otherwise.

>>2610007
This makes absolutely no sense, especially as you break down and confess it has been proven otherwise. Are we being invaded by /k/?

>>2610011
Nah, they are regular tourists though. That guy is too dumb and lazy to pass a multiple choice test. In addition, he unable to be anything but a complete sperg around other humans, so he shit posts here and elsewhere for attention.

>>2609787
>>2609788
>>2609924
I live on the 12th floor out of 15 and it's a modern building so the windows open like an inch but my place freaks out if anything hangs out the windows because they fine people for hanging flags and shit.

I could probably droop a wire out the window to dangle downward but I was hoping for something permanent since I'm going to be here for another few years at least

>>2609961
nope, it's locked plus it's a far distance from the roof to my window anyway

>>2609977
why are you pretending to be me

>>2607354
Does anyone have a list of HF freq they listen to?
I found what amounts to the Chirp equivalent for the IC-7300.
Thought I'd throw in some frequencies - just tried saving out of band and those work too, so some .mil freqs would be fun

>>2610065
You just need to scan around the band, bro. Use the waterfall if you have one.

>>2610065
Go dig around hfunderground, you'll likely find what you're looking for there

>>2610065
https://www.df8ry.de/htmlen/home/%F0%9F%8F%A1welcome.htm

>>2609895
>HF shits all over uhf/vhf and baomemes are a joke
Indeed, which is why I'm looking for something that can actually get me on the air, plus they aren't eight real watts

>>2610018
>yOu CaNnOt PaSs A tEsT
The go-to sad ham cope.

>>2610038
>not allowed to open a wi dow more than an inch
Get out of there, or do you like being a cuck?

>>2610188
Cute. Post rig and antennas with timestamp as well. Or did you just pull someone else's license?

>>2610194
>why doesnt everybody just live in the basement like me? adults r so stoopid!
(You)

>>2610105
>>2610107
>>2610123
I've made some progress, but my bigger hangup is how poor the IC-7300 'scan' feature is. It just goes through each memory channel for a few seconds. If you want to stop, you have to do so.
In contrast, I was expecting a VHF style scan where it flies through channels until it hears something and stops.

>>2610233
I found a csv in a /skyking/ thread that kills it
>https://pastebin.com/nRaDXdZN

>>2610038
Hope you have a tuner. Have a end-fed half wave antenna? You can let it hang out the window. Along the same lines, you can get thin wire and put it on a 49:1 unun, and let it hang outside the window. Along the same lines, hang the wire all along the wall closest to the outside. You'll end up with doable, but bad results doing this.

>>2610234
Nice. Thanks for sharing it.

>>2610236
>Along the same lines
>Along the same lines
>Along the same lines
You need to keep you autism in check.

>>2610011
The comm general on /k/ is much better than /diy/'s general.

>>2610424
I had a read. That didn't take much time. I saw absolutely no evidence for your claim, none.

>>2610470
That's because you read it with the bias of an angry boomer.

>>2610490
No. I read it with the bias of someone who once served in the military and did radio communications. I don't think my stint in Nintendo makes me an expert, it is just that with that background I saw nothing of value in /k/.

>>2610505
Oh so you are a larper then?

>>2610508
Hardly. I am just a civilian /ham/. Most the hams I know around here have a similar background as mine. I enjoy long treks in the mountains, did that before my time in the military too. So I plan to get a mobile rig and try some SOTA activity.
I was thinking of getting the 818ND but I hear that one is EOL, so I am looking into the truSDX.

>>2610512
The only long treks you do is the long climbs of hills in your mind.

>818
In all seriousness: get it if you see it used. It's a tried and true QRP rig for portable operations. The truSDX is good if you want to be old fashioned and put kits together for low cost. But the 818 also gives you VHF/UHF if you so happen to need it, and there's a lot of videos people making portable setups including manpacks for them. The only drawback is lack of waterfall, but that's really not much since it just makes things slightly easier.

>>2610515
>The only long treks you do is the long climbs of hills in your mind.
Projecting much?

>818
IT has many good qualities. I am worried that the component issues will make it impossible to repair. It is not clear which component they no longer can get. It was asked here earlier, got no answer.

>>2610424
I dunno dude, the conversation over there is pretty basic and low effort. Just conversation about VHF/UHF handhelds and "I DF u lolololol" which is shit I can read on any baofeng users forum. The cool shit to do with VHF/UHF radios is making directional antennas, hiking to the local hilltop to get your signal out, bouncing the signal off of a surface to get around obstructions, working digital modes with tablets and analog radios, and other shit that none of those dudes are ever going to do. That's not even going into the interesting shit on the HF bands that larpers like them should be interested in, but I think I've made my point.

>>2610233
Df8ry will show you the exact station when you tune on the frequency.

Sorry for the phone pic, I was in a rush.

>>2610199
I'm still waiting. Why did you post a license, pretend to be amateur extra, and not post any equipment? Seems silly huh? Then you deleted the post when called out.

>>2608382
lmao

i'm gonna use my changfeng baobox to talk on GMRS and there's nothing the feds can do about it. Come get me you bastard, we'll all go up in a ball of fire

>>2610676
This is what every GMRS user in my area does and they all joke about it constantly. No one gives a shit unless you're an asshole and anyone telling you otherwise is an assmad nerd.

>>2610676
>using a boofang to do non-FDA compliant activities with it
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

>>2610767
>FDA

Where do I start if I want to hear submarine transmissions on LF? I have a receiver that goes down to 100kHz, it also has 3.5mm jack output and it has left and right RCA audio output. Can I put this audio into my computer with some specific software to decode RTTY? Also what antenna type is best for LF? I have heard ground antennas are good for LF, although I have a fuckton of speaker wire and a 1:1 balun so I can pretty much make anything within reason.

>>2610853
I have successfully received 17 kHz from about 6-700mi with just a HF dipole.
If you have a garden you can hang full with wire, or build a ferrite antenna for indoor use.

>>2610853
Make a full wave antenna at least 40ft in the air. Suspending 9670.724 feet of wire should be easy.

>>2610788
Clearly too much food and too much drugs.

>>2610853
>Where do I start
Check out http://www.vlf.it/
Local noise can be a showstopper, you might have to go somewhere remote. LED lightening power controllers and solar panel inverters are perhaps the main noise sources. It is as if China carefully fills up the West with radio noise sources.

I'm looking for advice on whether I could create a setup to transmit/receive marine SSB MF/HF bands 1.6-30MHz using standard HAM equipment. I'm mainly interested in recieving weatherfax and maybe taking part in cruiser radio nets without having to fork out for specific marine kit.

My boat has a triatic stay that I could isolate to use as an antenna. I'm mainly after advice on tuners/head units

>>2610953
alright that seems doable, I'll get my contractor friend to put up some scaffolding

>>2610953
Your antenna should be at least half-wave above the ground

>>2610989
you can get a standard ham radio and open it for general coverage

>>2611010
How would one do that?

I'm not sure if HF conditions are the worst in a year or if I have a corroded coax somewhere.

>>2611056
it's dead for me in Europe and it hasn't been great for the last couple of weeks. If you have a bad coax you'll have SWR when transmitting ?

>>2611059
SWR is normal, but I've had the copper coax become brittle, break, and separate at the so239 before and never knew it until I started digging into why I was so deaf. I can hear a little, but it seems really slow for a Saturday.
I only remember this chart being this red around 2019. SFI is great, A & K is low ... I'm not seeing what's up.

>>2611061
Maybe it will be better Monday
https://www.spaceweather.gov/content/space-weather-enthusiasts-dashboard
Electron flux is low, I guess the upper layers aren't that ionized and propagation is not great ?

>buy ARRL handbook
>it’s in burger units
Bros I’m retarded

What's with the Chinese stations around 7.3Mhz?

What is the cheapest and simpliest way to find signal's location azimuth using an SDR and some antenna? Like rotating antenna or building an array or something like that, but the cheapest and simpliest way.

>>2611169
I would make a DIY beam antenna. They are the best at direction finding because they have high gain off the front. You can basically go around with a handheld and a beam antenna and find a signal, or upscale that to a basestation, preferably one with an s-meter, in your vehicle. Basically go around, take so notes on how the signal strength is, and eventually get a good idea as to where the signal originates from.

>>2609912
New Mexico? or Arizona? Being out there seems pretty nice, I think the only reason I'd move out there is if I had a fuck ton of land, and lived away from people. Personally the only attraction out there is the cheap land price.

Great white noise machine.

>>2611283
Vegas unfortunately.

>>2611169
For UHF and up, a Yagi is the simplest. A log Yagi can give you a huge bandwidth, and printed on a PCB you can make it within fine tolerances.
For VHF and below, a loop antenna with a sense antenna to create a cardioid is the simplest.

>>2611262
>>2611362
It's for 1.5GHz. I've found yagi for $30 on ebay which promises 11dBi, I've checked an online calculator and it seems kinda wrong, although I'm just a noob.

>>2611372
11dB gain seems correct for 8 elements, the ones for 432 and 144 MHz are around that value

>>2611374
Is there a simple way to estimate the range of such gain with an SDR receiver? Like how far approximately can I see a 1W signal in line of sight for example?

>>2611376
You need the other part characteristics too, they are called link budget calculator. Like that :
https://www.pasternack.com/t-calculator-link-budget.aspx, choose frequency on the left, but you have to specify the distance and has the resulting signal level, usually people want to know what antennas and power to chose for a specified distance
Here you have some formulas, so you can get the distance if you have everything else :
https://www.netcontrol.com/services/radio-networking-tools/radio-link-calculation
Let's say the SDR can receive -80dB signals, that's your attenuation

>>2611379
Turns out nothing is that easy... Thank you.

Don't give any money to the antenna jews. You can save thousands and still Dx.

>>2611372
>It's for 1.5GHz
Check out this tag:
https://www.rtl-sdr.com/tag/direction-finding/
In particular
https://www.rtl-sdr.com/generating-a-wifi-radio-heatmap-with-a-helical-antenna-antenna-rotator-and-a-hackrf/

>>2611487
I've scrolled it down and all those technology is expensive. Although it's technically called SDR, I've obviously talked about those other cheap SDRs.

>>2611509
That site is mostly concerned with RTL-SDR, which is super cheap. You can generate a heat map with that rather than a HackRF device. The rotator can be cheap but will involve a bit of work.

>>2608438
Creating a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) system at home is a complex and challenging task that requires a solid understanding of electronics, radio frequency, signal processing, and programming. While it may not be possible to build a high-quality, professional-level SAR radar at home due to regulatory and safety concerns, I can provide you with an overview of the components and steps involved in the process.

1. Research and planning:
Study SAR systems to understand their principles, applications, and components. You will need to determine your desired frequency band, system architecture, and the required components.

2. Components:
A typical SAR system consists of several components:

- Radio Frequency (RF) source: Generate an RF signal, usually a chirp or pulse, for transmission.
- Transmitting antenna: Send the generated RF signal toward the target.
- Receiving antenna: Receive the reflected signal from the target.
- RF receiver: Process the received signal.
- Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC): Convert the received analog signal to a digital format for further processing.
- Signal processing unit: Perform range compression and azimuth compression to generate the SAR image.
- Data storage and display: Store and display the generated SAR image.

3. Assemble the hardware:
Acquire the necessary components and assemble them according to your planned system architecture. At a basic level, you will need a transmitter and a receiver, antennas, ADC, and a computer or microcontroller for processing.

4. Software development:
Develop software for your SAR system to control the RF source, process the received signals, and generate SAR imagery. This likely involves implementing algorithms for range compression, azimuth compression, and motion compensation.

>>2608438
5. Testing and calibration:
Once the hardware and software are functional, test the system and make any necessary adjustments or calibrations to validate its performance.

6. Safety and regulatory compliance:
Operating radar systems may be subject to local, regional, or national regulations. Ensure that you comply with all applicable laws and safety requirements for operating radar devices.

Note that this is a high-level overview and should not be considered a detailed guide. Building a SAR system is a complex project that requires advanced knowledge and potentially advanced equipment. It may be more practical to explore educational and commercial kits or devices for learning about radar systems.

>>2611702
>>2611704
go back and take your AI with you

Coming from /rcg thread about drones, someone said that his video transmitter (5.8ghz) is interfering with GPS receiver (1.5ghz):
> will totally shit on your GPS performance
How is this possible?

God deemed it so.

>>2611999
>How is this possible?
it's not.
Maybe it's a data bandwidth problem, the central thing has to feed HUD data to the video transmitter and it hasn't enough processing capability to do that and get the GPS data ?

>>2611999
Receiver blocking.
The GPS receiver has some kind of bandpass filter to only receive in its band. But the nearby strong video TX is something the bandpass can't handle.
It's probably not possible, but if it is, try to place the GPS receiver to face upwards and shield it from below, and try to place the video TX on the bottom of the drone.
A few centimeters of distance may make a difference.
And it's not entirely impossible this anon is right >>2612009

I am not a smart man.

Is the math for comparing wattage just as simple as "the 100 watt panel will charge a battery 4x faster than a 28 watt panel?" I'm worried way more about the size/volume of the panel than I am about the cost difference but I'll deal with it if it's that much better. I'll play radio once in a while but mainly I need my battery to recharge all the kid's fucking phones and shit

>>2612202
The limit is the maximum current and voltage to charge your battery.
Charging voltage (V) x current (A) of your battery gives power in Watts.
Just so you don't buy oversized panels.

>>2612202
Keep in mind, you're not getting the peak output most of the time.

>>2612209
Should I just deal with the size and get a 100 watt panel?

>>2609188
It's active around here.

>>2612280
I would just get better batteries and forget the solar panel.

*kerchunk*

>>2612009
>data bandwidth problem
Betaflight can monitor processor loading, so that is easy to check for. The Bard explains.
www.youtube .com/watch?v=eD3aIyWz8a8

>>2611424
should DX ant be vertical or horizontal? i can't hear shit with my 70ft horizontal wire

CQ CQ CQ DE LU1XXX LU1XXX LU1XXX
UR PROSTATE OK?
MY PROSTATE OK
Did a few contacts over the weekend with some ham students in my area. It was some nice fun. Plenty of prostates in good shape.

>>2613077
>prostate
We get it. You're gay and are infatuated with geriatric men.

>>2613071
A vertical antenna will have a low take off angle, better for DX, you need a ground plane, radiants, counterpoise, something.
But if the horizon is free from obstacles, you can do some great things with a vertical on HF. For lower bands you'll need to put your wire so high it is not feasible in most cases

>>2613077
>didn’t inquire about gout or arthritis
You fucked up

>>2613157
I'm still new, Ill take it into account next time, TNX FER UR ADVICE

Wandered in here from outside. What's the point of talking on a radio to strangers?

>>2613197
SN3ED

>>2613197
>Radio waves propagate around the globe and to space
>Can bounce off the ionosphere or even the moon
>With the right gear it can be done in even the most remote areas
>Brag about your gear to other radio nerds

Can you shit post on ham radio? Can you get banned for shit posting. Asking for a friend.

>>2613231
Oh yeah absolutely, digital modes & SSTV allow you to beam memes to your friends even if there's no internet

>>2613237
I just send spoopy pics.

>>2613231
Consequences? Sure.

>>2613237
>vhf
Why not HF sstv that gets out world wide?

>>2613231
Yes, I drive around in the car with my Baofeng, switcthing between 2M/70cm simplex, and channel 1 GMRS, talking my shit.

>>2613246
Well I sent that a few months back over MURS on a Baofeng whenever I didn't have a ham license. Now I have a general license and a HF radio on the way.

>>2613354
Imagine getting a license when you could be a chad Baofeng pirate

*roger beep*

>>2613361
>*roger beep*
Based.

>>2613361
There's no comparison. It's like he wants to drive a car and you suggest he walks. You're pissing off a small group of locals in a 30 mile radius that ultimately probably don't care. HF allows you to shitpost to literally thousands of people at once. Go put a roger beep on 75 meters at 1am and you'll have the best fucking trolling of your life.

>>2613365
The limitations of the feng is what makes it so fu, having to run a good antenna, going up to elevated areas to even get your shitposts out there, beaming an AM radio or whatever HF is at 100w and propagating thousands of miles at night isn't that hard.

>>2607401
ugh, is miltiary using Harris? All I hear are negative stories about that company

>>2613361
If you're serious about ham radio as a hobby you're gonna outgrow the feng pretty fast. HF is where the fun is at https://youtu.be/--3ULQDidIU

>>2613368
That's what's so sad. I can hear more from my 20ft high diamond x50 than I can from on top of a mountain with the shitty rubber duck antenna that comes with the baofeng. Don't get me wrong, I use one for mobile with a comet sbb5 on the roof of my truck, and it gets out fine. But if your antenna is inside the vehicle or below the roof line, or doesn't have any real gain, it's doing nothing to anyone. It's also analog only and has no real scanning capabilities. You don't even know what amazing trolling you're missing by cucking yourself to a walkie talkie. There's a whole world out there.

>>2613368
>hf isn't hard
>but keying up a baofeng locally is
ok

>>2613197
kys

>>2613199
>CQ DX CQ DX Sierra November Three Echo Delta

>>2613422
A polish callsign at that.

>>2613431
>The name here is Mietek, Mexico Italy England Toronto Echo Kilowatt, my prostrate Panama Roger Ocean Sierra Tango Republic Alpha Toronto England is fine
>Foxtrot Italy November England
>fine!

>>2613465
QSL QSL QSL QSL QLS QUEEN SALLY LESBIAN, ROGER?

*volume knob click*

*beep beep*

"FREQUENCY MODE"

"ONE

"FOUR"

"SIX"

"FIVE"

"TWO"

"ZERO"

"ahem"

"SIMPLEX NIGGAS, COME ON!"

*ROGER BEEP*

>>2613846
Daily reminder that no one owns the air

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpllpB3aqMs

So I'm working on an RDS and MPX encoder LV2 plugin, and I need a low power FM transmitter that takes a premultiplexed signal. Anyone got any recommendations? PLL if possible.

>>2613846
>doesn't register on any listening devices because the baomeme has a 7 mile range

>>2614062
Not if you're on a big mountain, I've talked to 20w hams 40 miles away with the good ol chink radio, it's based.

>>2614094

>>2614100
It's line of sight shit Anon, if you get really autistic with it, like my nigga with the yagi antenna, you can talk over 100 miles radio to radio, even if one of them switches to the stock rubber antenna.

https://youtu.be/gqZzGgOE4-o?t=12

Fucking shitheads changed the Challenge plaque. This is 1990s Microsoft clipart.
Is nothing sacred?!

>>2614094
>20w hams 40 miles away
I've reached out 100 miles on 15w before on my base station. I use a baomeme with this in the truck, but only because I can't be bothered to put another mobile radio in my truck when the 10m/cb radio takes up dash space already. Mobile radios need air too, you can't smack them under a seat because they'll overheat quick.

It gets out fine, 5w is what it is. Furthest I've spoken line of sight is probably 30 or so miles. That said, I don't think people understand how far 30-40 miles really is, that covers distance between cities no problem. But keep in mind that only half of people potentially listening can probably hear you in the city, mountain or not. Sometimes kicking out 50w is what it takes to get your signal out. Power is much more important mobile imo too, especially if you're offroading or in the mountains and need to make contact, and you can't really have a big boy antenna on mobile.

If you want to make it easier, get a good mag mount. A comet sbb5 is the equivalent to a diamond x30a/comet gp1. The sbb7 is the equivalent to the x50a/gp3. Both make excellent base station antennas with height, and on mobile you don't need insane ground planes, so you essentially have the option to run base station antennas on your vehicle. I use a feng, but if you want some power 25w makes a night and day difference. Beyond that, I have had diminishing returns. Double the power is only 3db gain from a reference point.

My primary issues with the feng are the slow scanning and lack of dmr. I have debated putting a scanner in the truck just to listen.

>>2614109
>My primary issues with the feng are the slow scanning
That is true, I admit ti having multiple baofengs to listen to multiple freqs at once without messing with the dual watch or having my 100+ GMRS freqs and repeaters cycling constantly.

>>2614094
I've done the same with a rollup j-pole, it's pretty neat. But my IC-V80 does it better and will pick up much fainter signals. I still have the fengs kicking around for friends when we go hiking.

>>2614109
>My primary issues with the feng are the slow scanning
That's what snapped me out of my Baofag/TYT addiction.
I got a FT-7900 and it scans quicker than I can read

>>2614117
>>2614143
I have nothing against baofengs, but people don't realize how shit they are. Pick up a decent yaesu for $300 new and it'll make that baofeng look awful.

I don't take vhf/uhf seriously though so I don't give a shit.

>>2614107
>expecting a bunch of boomers to change with the times

Apologize

>>2611424
Doesn't work. I went with some site thst explains 84ft with 17ft counterpoise will get me most bands. Yet the SWR is way too high on every band exceot the data portion of 80m. Using a tuner has not helped.

Should I use a 49:1 instead?

>>2614520
>qrp sdr
Apologize for what?

>>2614520

>>2614529
>>2614551
APOLOGIZE

>>2614561
>qrp
>no 5v input
>no data port
No thanks. Defeats the entire purpose of QRP rig set-up for me. I'm better off spending it on half a brick.

Long time lurker first time poster just bought a this BaoFeng BF-F8HP. How do I talk to yall?

>>2614576
Set power to maximum, talk very loudly. We'll be able to hear you.

>>2614576
>How do I talk to yall?
You don't, you talk to people in a 7-10 mile radius, if lucky, unless you sit on top of a building or mountain.

im looking to create my own station to transmit music to my small town. is this an effective setup? im not sure if it would be easier to move all my stuff or set it to self destruct.

>>2614569
You're a blind faggot

>>2614520
>>2614561
To the contrary, this is clearly a Chinese copy, and it took less than a minute to find the original:
https://antrak.org.tr/projeler/usdx-sota-modular-all-mode-sdr-hf-transceiver-for-qrp-operations/
Essentially this is to units in one box, and the units are not even cabled together. Are these Chinese companies incapable of original designs themselves??

Anyone having any luck with the Annual Armed Forced Day Crossband Test today?
I can't hear anything.

>>2614514
>Takes a classy, timeless trophy and fucks it up

>>2614576
>buying a used baomeme >>2614551

I've been listening to the Buzzer at 4625KHz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqzPWIafKuE)), and at around 2023-05-13 11:55 UTC, there was a lot of wide-band interference affecting not just the Buzzer's frequency but a bunch of others too. It lasted up until around 12:00.
People in the chat said this happens regularly.

Does anyone know what could be a source or purpose of this interference? Is it simply just some guys trolling? What frequency ranges does it affect?

>>2614894
I heard it was Ukrainians trolling Russians.

>>2614746
It's an uglier xiegu g90

Man, HAM always seems so cool, but I always get shut down when I mention it interests me to my family. No, not underaged or anything, sadly I'm an old cunt who is just living in the country without a vehicle and is at the mercy of family with a car. It sucks.

>>2615138
Baofengs are cheap m8, it's an easy way to get into the hobby.

>>2615140
Yeah, I've eyed them before. I was also thinking of the RTL-SDR dongle and a netbook, but I'm not incredibly knowledgeable about the RTL yet.

>>2615146
>RTL-SDR dongle
That's actually a really cool way to just listen to people talking on ham radio or GMRS, it's almost better because your computer can listen to stuff that the baofeng can't, like 108Mhz air band or even CB radio, I've had a lot of fun scanning around when I'm outside with the baofeng, but just being at home and being able to punch in a freuency would be cool

>>2615156
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Also helps that I'm the sort that enjoys listening over speaking.

>>2615163
Honetly Anon, I would just become a listener, there's no license needed, I've made contact with people radio to radio with the Baofeng, but your recieve side will always be better than your transmit, even at 8w a Baofeng will need elevation to get that VHF out, the VHF 400MHz+ side is pretty punchy at 2-3 mile transmit in town but I've yet to see someone on 446MHz, but the SDRs you can buy are so incredibly wide banded with what you can pick up, it's incredible, even if you used it to listen to normal FM radio music, it's better than streaming because there's no internet latency.

>>2615137
And what was that Xiegu a copy of?

>>2614576
Get in contact with a radio club, do your coursework, and get your license. You'll know when you don't need to ask that question.

CQ DE LU1XXX. Went to my first hamfedt. Plenty of prostates a reasonably good shape and few cases of gout, no cases of arthritis. Good times. Saw nothing to buy immediately.

>>2614576
Fuck licensing

>get in the car
>drive up mountain thousands of feet or go somewhere high up with view of the city
>Tune into 146.520 in frequency mode
>talk shit
>peel out

My home is to oclose to one of the largest power distributions stations in the country. In spite of obvious security issues, it is all open air, with 10+ pylon gates coming in and out. QRM is out of this world.

I do have line of sight to a 650 tall mountain nearly 10 km away. Is there a legal way I can set up a radiolink between my home and the summit? Equipment, frequencies...

>>2615411
Nobody listens to 2m simplex. Everyone is on repeaters. If there is anyone listening, they're probably having conversations with people that stomp so hard on your signal you don't register through the QRM and background static.

>>2615506
Ree but I got the 8 watts

zoomie here what kind of mf uses a ham radio? fr fr

I'm contemplating messing around with 2M SSB for EME or ??
I contemplated an old Icom, but am drifting towards an IC-9700 since I have a 7300, or a FT-991 since it's cheaper and could give me a backup HF rig.
Is EME or VHF/UHF SSB worth such a barrier to entry? What else could I be doing as someone drawn to DX and weak signals?

explain how free space has an intrinsic impedance. ill wait

I heard a ragchewer today saying the FCC was going to take to the field to enforce hams.
I went to check 7.200Mhz for Dan and the crew, but they were nowhere to be found.
Do we need to start behaving?

>>2615583
Not sure about the autistic ham bros, but if you're a based Zoomer like me, you're using a Baofeng illegally on simplex, and GMRS freqs with the bois.

>>2615411
That's a lot of work just to piss strangers off.

>>2615639
How many times are you queers going to fall for this bait?

>>2615766
A lot of work to piss nobody off because nobody is listening or cares about 2m simplex.

>>2615595
It's magic. No explanation needed.

>>2615778
Watch me put it in channel mode where I have all the repeaters stored to kerchunk and fuck with everyone.

>>2615789
>sitting at desk
>*kshh beep boop*
>think nothing of it, don't even pay attention because repeaters pick up wandering signals constantly and kerchunking is so common even among seasoned ham operators
>again nobody cares

>>2615791
How do you not hear me dialing the keypad ahh

>chinkshit UHF radio
>"If you use an external antenna make sure the SWR is about 1.5:1 or less to avoid damage to final transistors"
lolwut
explain plz

>>2615796
Make sure the antenna you use resonates on the frequencies you are trying to transmit on. If not, power sent to the antenna may be reflected, and sent back into the receiver, causing overheating and eventually damage.

Will this happen with 5w? Probably not. 1500w? Could absolutely happen.

>>2615796
Yeah I don't get why hams think they're gonna blow up their 4-8w chinkshit radio with SWR or keying up without an antenna on it, it's not a base station lel.

>>2614802
Yall boomers like to shit on the 'Feng but I'd like you to name literally anything else sub 200 that comes close to it

>>2615827
Kek Fengs are so based, that Gaesu even had to make cut down radios that look like Fengs, but the Fengs will do expanded transmit without even having to physically fuck with it.

>>2615827
Every handheld dual band radio on the market that's under $200 with out perform a baofeng.
>>2615828
99% of radios can do the exact same thing by plugging into a computer. Icom, Kenwood, Yaesu, Anytone, you name it.

>>2614781
Are they taking applications and do they really require 72 hours of attending nets a year?

Can't find a tutorial how to make a radar. Any suggestions?

>>2615789
>Watch me
It's radio, no watching involved.

>>2615963
suicide

>>2615828
>This miracle product does it all!!!
>radio + flashlight
>only 3 payments of $17.99
>we'll throw in a free antenna, a belt clip, and cut one payment

>>2615963
Shout real loud, measure the time the sound takes to come back. turn 1° to the left or the right, repeat the operation.

>>2616001
Not sonar, but radar.

>>2615999
That flashing LED on a feng could save your ass possibly.

>>2615597
They aren't on today either.

>>2615796
You don't even worry about it much unless you are talking a lot, using data modes, and using a lot of power. Just as long as you keep it around 2:1, your radio is going to be okay. Most rigs are programmed to power down and even shut down before any damage is actually done. The main reason to be resonate is optimizing your signal and making sure your losses are minimal. If you are using an amplifier and going up to 1.5kW, then yes: make sure your antenna's SWR is as close to 1:1 and no more than 1.5. Even at that point, just get a better antenna for your situation and get it high.

>>2616339
1500 watts is for big players, but it doesn't really offer much over 400 watts. To get 3db gain (or half an s unit) you need to double power from a reference point. 400 to 1500 watts only gives 1 s unit, or 6db gain. 100 to 400 watts benefits from the exact same increase. You also will never work a station that you can't hear, so honestly 100 watts and a great antenna go further than anything else.

Kicking up the power helps if they're running power or simply can't hear you, maybe they have gain and you're running a vertical or something. But it isn't some miracle fix for bad reception.

>>2616387
Keep in mind that you'll probably need a dedicated circuit and possibly new wiring for anything above a 600w amp.

>he is so shit at ham radio he needs 1500 watts to make a contact

>1500 watts on GMRS

>>2616339
>Most rigs are programmed to power down and even shut down before any damage is actually done.
I thought several Yaesu models had PA stages that were very easily blown. In theory it should be preventable, but implementations vary.

>>2615796
Reflected power is sent back to the final transistor, it has to dissipate it, plus the power it is sending, that kills it.
1. Because it is a chink radio cooling is not good (paste, radiator, fan, everything can be terrible)
2. Because it is a cheap radio, no SWR measure to limit or shut down power
I had the problem on a Wouxun UV-920P, a 4 channel very compact VHF UHF chink radio and a friend killed a baofeng because the antenna SMA central pin wasn't making contact and he tried multiple times to transmit at max power.
Thanks to this thread I bought a VHF / UHF SWR meter to check the antennas and the cables some months ago

How the hell do people actually get into this shit? I've never picked up any transmissions that weren't someone I knew IRL. Gotta memorize a study book and either do the test online or something and pay money for a license that only allows you to talk on 'specific' frequencies that you're expected to have memorized.

It's a massive pain in the ass, and I'm gonna guess that more than half of the stuff they want you to study you won't use in a meaningful way. Plus you gotta always give your callsign even if you're talking to radio pirates like I would like to do.

Might run an antenna up a tree or something if I can ever actually get my license. I'm in area 8 if that matters at all.

>>2615894
cope

>>2616517
>How the hell do people actually get into this shit?
Generally most people meet a ham that's doing something cool with a radio and it sparks their own interest in the hobby.

>I've never picked up any transmissions that weren't someone I knew IRL. Gotta memorize a study book and either do the test online or something and pay money for a license that only allows you to talk on 'specific' frequencies that you're expected to have memorized.
Outside of absolute chinkshit radios that let you transmit on any frequency, most dedicated purpose radios are programmed to only transmit inside the frequencies their service is allocated, which is mandated by the FCC. They might even be channelized so there's no frequencies to memorize. Also the capability and rules around talking on a radio just depends on what service you're talking on. It kind of exists in tiers:

>License by rule tier | MURS, FRS, CB | You're licensed as long as you follow the rules (aka use the right radio and don't be a shitter)
>Pay for License tier | GMRS | You're licensed as long as you pay $35 and get a callsign from the FCC
>License by certification tier | Ham, LMR, etc | You're licensed as long as you pass the requisite exams and pay fees.
The higher the tier, the more power and spectrum access you get, depending on the service.

>I'm gonna guess that more than half of the stuff they want you to study you won't use in a meaningful way.
To give you an idea the entry level technician test is mostly some basic electrical theory, how RF interacts with the atmosphere and physical objects depending on wave length, some simple algebra for determining voltage/amperage/wavelength, basic electrical safety, and legalities about power & other radio users. Using that knowledge in a meaningful way is going to depend on what you do with the hobby, but it'll certainly be useful to know if you end up wanting to upgrade your license.

>>2616058
>flashing LED provides greater communication range than actual radio it's attached to
how amusing

>>2616529

>>2616530
Yeah I understand that. I used CB radios as a truck driver and everybody was always on about 'Ham Radios' and whatnot. I want to get into Ham so I can stick a big antenna up and talk to all the local dudes. Eventually I want to build my own repeater for local use (though most people on it probably won't be legal HAMs).

Technician license apparently only lets you use a small portion of the HAM band, anything above that and the tests get harder and harder. Why the hell is the FCC trying to filter people this hard? Seems detrimental for a hobby that's relatively expensive. I do want to try and follow the law mainly so I can actually talk to other law abiding people. That and I'm probably gonna have to use that one youtuber fellow to try and actually get the test done since there isn't a HAM community near me.

>You should report illegal users.
Good luck. bear hunters and etc are the main gang around here and they drive around constantly. You aren't foxhunting them. Instead of trying to live in opposition I want to live in relative neutrality to them.

>>2616577
>Why the hell is the FCC trying to filter people this hard?
The same reason there are different driver's license classes and endorsements. If you were a truck driver you should understand that.

>>2616578
It still does not prevent anyone from being retarded. a 4-wheeled SUV will kill you as badly as a semi truck.

>>2616582
>It still does not prevent anyone from being retarded
Well, there's no hope for you then.

>>2616577
If you just want to talk local, GMRS might be for you.
Otherwise, the ham test isn't hard and it's $15.
It requires some responsibility and respect to tx with 100 or 1,500 watts and the concept of making people jump through some minimal hoops is a decent idea.
Would you let a 16 year old test drive a semi?

>>2616517
Vhf/uhf is a toy you use in the car with a much better antenna, to talk to locals. HF is where the magic happens, mobile or from home. Slow scan television from Australia/Japan/all of the American continent, ft8 world wide, ssb world wide, etc.

Local fm is little toy shit. It's fun to scan local repeaters with a feng or pick up analog work radios, but honestly a digital scanner that has trunked signal tracking does it 900x better. It's a little toy walkie talkie.

Here's from when we set up a fast scan television broadcast to a TV repeater, which transmitted to a live stream on YouTube of us using a 240ft vertical radio station tower on 80m/160m am/ssb radio. The baomeme is a toy I keep in my truck that let us set up audio from 20 miles away temporarily while fixing technical difficulties with the stream, using the truck antennas.

>>2616577
>Technician license apparently only lets you use a small portion of the HAM band
The main limitation is you can't dip any deeper into HF than 10m SSB/CW/Data, but you get full access to all the ham bands above that point in VHF/UHF/SHF. Allocated frequency space on HF can be limited and specific to certain modes depending on where you are in a band, so knowing what you're doing is important. I used hamstudy.org to prep for my Technician and General tests, just did quizzes and tests for a couple weeks and was ready to go. If you're already deep enough in the sauce to be contemplating setting up your own repeater you'll probably already understand many of the concepts.

>You should report illegal users
I don't give a shit as long as they're not fucking me over. That seems to be the mentality of others I met in my area who do ham radio. You're being reasonable.

I'm a ham looking for a scanner project.
I've been printing coils for a POTA experiment, then came across some collapsible antennas.
I haven't conceptualized the project, but am thinking of mounting a few coils on top a ammo can, then attach the collapsible antenna on top of each coil, then run each coil through a RTLSDR, and add computers as needed. RasPis and connect it into my home network?
I don't have an end goal. If K9RSY was still on 7.200 I could snip that, but they've been quiet.
I have a transcription program I could run that'd eliminate the need to listen to hours of silence.

>be listening to a net
>CQ CONTEST CQ CONTEST
Fuck off, contesters. Stop interupting everything fir your shitty "sport".

I have this old TV antenna in the attic. Can I use it for HAM

>>2617013
That is a yagi-uda antenna for television.
Should be good for VHF an UHF.
That is, 30MHz to 700MHz, or the 8m to 1m band.
Hams dont usually do anything in that area, but it’s possible in some regions.

>>2617021
>Hams dont usually do anything in that area
There are the 50 MHz (6m), 144MHz (2m) and 432 MHz (70cm) bands ? It's substantial. Plus a lot of services if they still are using old school radios between 50MHz and 144 MHz
So is it a large band yagi something like a log periodic or a dual band antenna for 2 TV bands ?

>>2616053
You need to shout at higher frequencies.

You are getting QST magazine to see shit like a boomer making a cup coaster QSL card b/c he was out ... over a FT-8 contact, right?

>>2617024
It has a lot of power but that is exchanged for being highly directional.
It might have some labelling somewhere for more details. You’d hope, anyway. Depends on era and location to some degree.
Might have a motor attached to it for rotation, and a balun transformer for impedance matching.
Might even have some of that flat 300 ohm FM radio wire still hanging on it. Good stuff.
You can get analog switchers if you still want to use it for free TV, although for reception only, obviously it’s going to work for both at the same time.

>>2617013
Yes, they make great 6m antennas usually. Just be aware they're 75ohm, typically, while a ham radio looks for 50ohm. You'll need a balun to transmit, as well as 50ohm coax.

There is a Codan NGT for sale for about USD 1000. Is this a good deal for a good radio? There is limited information on this model.

>>2617131
I thought boomers hate FT8 and think it's not real ham radio?

>>2617463
They hate it. Then they see how that one boomer makes DX contact after contact and want to impress others and start learning it, using it and teaching it to other boomers.
It's a sight to behold. Suddenly you have all the old farts sitting and clicking through QSOs.
I hate FT8 and boomers.

>>2617463
In typical boomer fashion they say they hate it, then enrich themselves in the benefits of what they claim to hate

>>2617131
I have no idea of what any of that aside from Boomer and coaster mean, but I'm curious.

I have a 8.5 meter long vertical with two 2.7 meter long radials, fed with a 4:1 unun and 3 meters of rg58, is picrel correct?
When I brought the aerial I wasn't thinking of using it on 11 meters and it just became a convenient coincidence.

>>2617720
You should put a spoiler on it for faster frequencies.

>>2617720
Might even be flatter than what the VNA is saying, you got a directional wattmeter?

>>2618210
You go to prison for doing that in my country

boofweng

I've been waiting 6 months for radio equipment that I ordered and its still awaiting stock. Should I ask for my money back? Or do I wait...

>>2618302
What is it ?
I received some antennas from Diamond a couple of months after the restock date that was already some months after the order, just when I wanted to contact the shop to cancel the order.

>>2618327
An mfj antenna tuner, 160$

Why are they so

>>2607354
>>NEW FAQ is updated to preview 13
No. It is a lot newer. Please use the newest version in the next thread, we are in autosage and page 8.

>>2618518

THIS THREAD IS GOING QRT NOW >>2618595
SWITCH FREQUENCY >>2618595
TUNE CHANNEL >>2618595