/HAM/ - Amature Radio General:

[Anonymous No.1684698]

.-- . .-.. -.-. --- .... .-.-.--
FAQ:
ftp://50.31.112.231/pub/radio_FAQ_Preview8.htm
Previous: >>1672665

[Anonymous No.1684700]

What the hell is the difference and which is better?

[Anonymous No.1684709]

>>1684698
>Amature
Christ almighty, you fucking imbecilic homosexual.

[Anonymous No.1684711]

All hail Mickey Gordus our mascot!

[Anonymous No.1684712]

>>1684709

[Anonymous No.1684713]

>Welcom....!
>Amature not Amateur
Best thread 2019 right here
-.. . .-.. .-.. . - / .- -. -.. / - .-. -.-- / .- --. .- .. -. .-.-.-

[Anonymous No.1684716]

>Welcomh!
>Amature not Amateur
Best thread 2019 right here
-.. . .-.. .-.. . - / .- -. -.. / - .-. -.-- / .- --. .- .. -. .-.-.-

[Anonymous No.1684719]

>>1684716
>Version 1.1
I saw that, buddy.

[Anonymous No.1684753]

>>1684719
... ... .... .-.--

[Anonymous No.1684845]

>>1684698
is it real or is it hired

[Anonymous No.1684898]

>>1684753
>... ... .... .-.--
--. .- -.--

[Anonymous No.1684925]

-- -.-- .--. . -. .. ... .... ..- .-. - ...

[Anonymous No.1684928]

.--. . . / .--. . . / .--. --- --- / .--. --- --- / ..-. ..- -.-. -.- / -. .. --. --. . .-. ... / .- -. -.. / .--- .- -. -. .. . ...

[Anonymous No.1684961]

I know nothing about radios but I'm looking at getting a handset.

What will a DMR give me over a basic UV5R?

[Anonymous No.1684965]

>>1684961
>What will a DMR give me over a basic UV5R?
A bunch of guys complaining you're hogging the node when you've had a 2 minute rag chew.

[Anonymous No.1684994]

>>1684961
You can listen to all the empty talkgroups.
>>1684965
Not a problem for the unlis.

[Anonymous No.1685013]

>>1684925
>>1684928
-.-- --- ..- -- ..- ... - -... . .---- ---.. .-.-. - --- ..- ... . - .... .. ... ... .. - .

[Anonymous No.1685055]

I didn't vote for Trump. Will other hams hate me?

[Anonymous No.1685084]

>>1684961
that has more than just dmr. if you want more than a glorified walkie talkie you should get the anytone 878. I don't know how similar it is to the btech version though

[Anonymous No.1685091]

Anyone know anything about these? Seems like a no-brainer to grab this for under $80.

Or should I just stick to a dual band VHF/UHF?

[Anonymous No.1685098]

Mfw I'm texting Morse.
Too bad my ears aren't trained

[Anonymous No.1685338]

Is there a list or can one of the more knowledgeable hams point me in the direction of where to find the info to make a list of good SW frequencies to monitor post-shtf?

I have a GP-5 SW SSB radio and have all the 40/80/160 calling frequencies and some of the state and national "prepper" net freqs stored; I'd like to add some common overseas SW stations (news, entertainment etc).

[Anonymous No.1685355]

>>1685338
http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/mttopHF.html

[Anonymous No.1685363]

>>1685091
Well, I'm researching this one and there doesn't seem to be anything good about it.

It doesn't have an FCC ID so if you're in the US it shouldn't even be possible to purchase.

[Anonymous No.1685487]

>>1685363
All the ToysRus type two-way radios brought up here are illegal. Any FCC equipment certification evaporates as soon as you change the legal settings.

[Anonymous No.1685797]

>>1685363
>The FFC didn't put a sticker on my radio, so I can't buy it
Land of the free!

[Anonymous No.1685840]

>>1685797

[Anonymous No.1685921]

>>1685363
>doesn't have an FCC ID

[Anonymous No.1686012]

What are the chances this guy and Jimmy Saville were friends?

[Anonymous No.1686074]

Why is ham radio dominated by men?

[Anonymous No.1686165]

>>1686074
Maybe because women do not engage in anything that is not pure consumption?

[Anonymous No.1686185]

>>1686165
They could consume attention.

[Anonymous No.1686336]

Is it true that /ham/ once was about amateur radio?

[Anonymous No.1686352]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Nagoya na-810? I have a nagoya na771 but the antenna is kind of annoyingly long.

[Anonymous No.1686367]

>>1686336
So the legend says, anyway.

[Anonymous No.1686383]

>>1686352
>HT antennas
>na-771 - 15.6" - annoying long
>na-810 - 2.75" - ?
Why bother? May as well use a paper clip.

[Anonymous No.1686393]

>>1686383
paper clip has no smaf and is not flexible enough

[Anonymous No.1686408]

>>1686393
>I need my 2.75" antenna to be flexible
OK, retard.

[Anonymous No.1686411]

Look guys I made a thing
(First time winding a toroid)

[Anonymous No.1686418]

>>1686411
I mean, you could have spent $3 on a project box, but otherwise very nice.

[Anonymous No.1686428]

>>1686418
Where can you get waterproof project boxes for $3?

[Anonymous No.1686430]

>>1686428
Amazon.

[Anonymous No.1686450]

>>1685055
No, it's cool. What matters is that you go on the local repeater and start talking about politics, especially race relations and the consequences of mass immigration

[Anonymous No.1686455]

>>1686352
>extremely stubby rubber duck
Only makes sense for UHF, and it will work worse than any bigger antenna from the same company. You're making a big compromise when you use something like this.

[Anonymous No.1686457]

>>1686450
Ah, I see you're a fellow 435 repeater user.

[Anonymous No.1686462]

I bought a used VX-7R for $160 w/ 2 batteries.

the charger it came with is an incorrect model chinese knockoff. do you think its worth buying the charger? yaesu is $40 at HRO + needs seperate power cable. ebay has a cheap chinese knockoff for $17.

im thinking about just paying 6.50 to return/refund it.

part of the reason is i actually want a vx-8dr too, and i thought i was getting a deal with the charger included, now im not so sure.

[Anonymous No.1686477]

>>1686455
At least it has a resonance on VHF.

[Anonymous No.1686500]

>>1686477
That's fucking awful, on all metrics.

[Anonymous No.1686510]

>>1686500
Dual band antennas are all crap.

[Anonymous No.1686512]

Hello, new HAM operator here. I have an HF TS830, and am trying to find an antenna for it. Would a Buckmaster Multiband OCF antenna do fine? How would I make sure it works? Any and all information helps!

[Anonymous No.1686531]

>>1686512
You should have learned all of this for you tech. ticket.

[Anonymous No.1686535]

>>1686531
thanks for the help

[Anonymous No.1686537]

>>1686535
You have to put forth some actual effort with this hobby.

[Anonymous No.1686545]

>>1686537
so because I don't know something, you won't help me to understand?

[Anonymous No.1686557]

>>1686545
yes, theres people like that in every hobby. They think its their own special club and everyone who is newer than them doesnt deserve to be in it. Just ignore the retard.

[Anonymous No.1686602]

>>1686545
>Please hold my hand and spoon feed me everything!
>>1686557
>If you don't coddle low effort newbies, it's a special club.
>#Triggered; #safespace; #microaggressions;
KYS

[Anonymous No.1686620]

>>1686602
Fuck off before i pillow your ass boomer

[Anonymous No.1686687]

>>1686620
zoom zoom, boy.

[Anonymous No.1686691]

>>1686557
>will spend the time to moralize rather than simply offering the info requested
you are two sides of the same retarded coin

[Anonymous No.1686808]

>>1686512
You will need a tuner and a balun at the feed point.
This article covers all you need to know:
https://www.w0hc.com/ocf-dipole/

[Anonymous No.1686824]

>>1686185
It'd require them to learn

[Anonymous No.1686827]

>>1686428
Radio Shack


RIP

[Anonymous No.1686865]

I need a better HT omni whip, guys. rocking a UV-5X3 triband 2m/1.25m/70cm which accepts antennas with SMA-Female connectors.

Abbree
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07STB8BD6/ref=twister_B07RQLDZS2?_encoding=UTF8&th=1 42.5", 5dBi, $21.50 @ amzn

Btech
https://baofengtech.com/nagoya-na-320a 17.7", 2.15dBi, $17.99 @ amzn(bought this already, barely an improvement over the stock antennas)

Comet Antenna
http://www.cometantenna.com/amateur-radio/ht-antennas/chinese-ht-antennas/ SMA-24J 15.75", 2.15dBi on 2m, 3.5dBi on 70cm, $24.95+tax @ HRO.

Diamond Antenna
https://www.diamondantenna.net/srj77ca.html 15", 6dBi, $24.95+tax @ HRO
https://www.diamondantenna.net/srjf40.html 16", 6dBi, $26.95+tax @ HRO

im starting to think i need to buy some male/female reverse/standard bnc/sma adapters to open up my options a bit.
pic related, is it just a thin wire going up the middle? because otherwise the radiation pattern is going to be retarded with that shape, right?

[Anonymous No.1686866]

>>1686865
post was at character limit.

im thinking of buying the abbree atm. the diamond SRJ77CA claims 6dBi but is only 15", I can't see it's reception being all that much better than the NA-320A im using now.

im also starting to want to explore portable magnetic mobile antennas. so far all i have seen is https://baofengtech.com/Nagoya-ut-308uv but it looks like it would do much better in a vehicle.

[Anonymous No.1686943]

BF-F8HP or UV5X3?

[Anonymous No.1686960]

>>1686943
>4-5w tri-band with more feature
or
>7-8w dual band

Same boat. Would I even notice the difference in power?

[Anonymous No.1686971]

>>1686691
>spends time commenting and name calling
>still offers no info
ironic

[Anonymous No.1686976]

>>1686866
HT antennas are mostly compromise, especially if they are under a quarter-wave in length, period. A half-wave telescopic antenna will blow just about every other HT antenna out of the water.

If you want a good mobile antenna that performs well too, you will need to drill a hole and mount it. Sure, there's clamp-on and mag mounts, but they won't compare to even a simple quarter-wave on a NMO mount.

[Anonymous No.1686979]

>>1686960
>Would I even notice the difference in power?
No, however you will burn through batteries considerably faster. You're better off using a higher gain antenna on the lower wattage radio.

[Anonymous No.1687009]

Is one S-unit really worth it?

[Anonymous No.1687019]

I fell in love with Lab599 Discovery TX-500

[Anonymous No.1687218]

>>1687019
Nice shillpost

[Anonymous No.1687225]

>>1687009
>the antenna will get in the way of my LARPing

[Anonymous No.1687226]

>>1687019
$700 for essentially a panadapter...

[Anonymous No.1687293]

>Be me
>Get my General
>Get my Skywarn cert in March because I'm a weather nerd
>Holy shit, the Stormwienies...
>Jesus Christ the Stormwienes
>The Skywarn memes are real
>Not a single spotter activation all season

Voi vittu...

[Anonymous No.1687302]

>>1687293
>skywarn weather net
>Looking for severe weather reports only
>downed trees, hail, flooding
>kxxxx, here
>. . . . . . .
>just started to rain and the wind is picking up
>. . . . . . .
>just saw some lightning
>. . . . . . .
>I might go mobile
>*heavy breathing*
>back to net

[Anonymous No.1687333]

>>1687302
>Monitoring Skywarn net one county north
>My county is not under Skywarn activation
>"KE#XXX to Net Control."
>"Go ahead KE#XXX"
>"Roger. just wanted to advise, the McDonald's at (Street) by (Cross Street) is without power."
>........
>NWS, "We copy that, KE#XXX. Thanks?"

True story.

[Anonymous No.1687353]

>>1687333
>Skywarn net goes up
>12 people within a mile radius of each other, in an urban area, check in.
>weather unlikely to impact said area
>3 more check ins
>one weather report consisting of dark clouds to the south of us, no rain yet.
>wt5xx here, check in my wife kc5xxx too
>club guy gets on the repeater during a net and starts rambling for 5 minutes, oblivious.

[Anonymous No.1687356]

>Club guy 2, who acts like the radio world would collapse without him, gets on repeater
>Beam pointed straight at repeater with 200W
>NET CONTROL, PERMISSION TO CALL AA0XX

[Anonymous No.1687374]

>>1685098
Keyboard?

[Anonymous No.1687385]

>>1687374
seems like google keyboard

[Anonymous No.1687392]

Listen to Radio Absurdistan:
left channel K6MWT
right channel W6NUT

[Anonymous No.1687412]

>>1687392
National treasures.

[Anonymous No.1687572]

>>1687019
Why?
Also, why do they use floating point DSPs when the ADCs have fixed bit width?

[Anonymous No.1687575]

>>1686971
I don't even have a dog in this cockfight, friend.
We CBers don't have the attitude problems you hamfisters seem to struggle with.

[Anonymous No.1687612]

>>1687575
You guys just run (truly) absurd power and echo mics, while screaming hillbilly lingo nonstop so no one can get a word in edgewise.

[Anonymous No.1687861]

Will I damage or do any harm to my HT if I turn it on without an antenna attached to it?

[Anonymous No.1687904]

>>1687861
Only if you TX。

[Anonymous No.1688364]

>>1687374
Gboard.
If you don't know CW, here's a great start
https://morse.withgoogle.com/learn

[Anonymous No.1688372]

>>1685098
I'm confused on the under text. .----- is under trained, and ..---- for trained to, but neither makes sense given that's - .-. .- .. -. -.. and - .-. .- .. -. -.. / - --- is the under text just meaningless?

[Anonymous No.1688379]

>>1688372
Oh I get how it works. It's numbered. Kind of defeats the point of the keyboard in my opinion.

[Anonymous No.1688467]

>>1686074
Christ, Saudis are so rich they can afford that shack. That guy has it all.

[Anonymous No.1688472]

>>1688467
Saudis are like that.
They'll spend millions on materials and $5 on labor, with the usual results.
A few good earthquakes and Saudi Arabia won't exist due to every building collapsing from shoddy workmanship.
While that room looks nice, I bet behind all that wood is a rat's nest of exposed wiring and it will eventually burn the entire house to the ground.

[Anonymous No.1688476]

What freq can I usually find 4chan autists on? I bought a UV-5R a few weeks ago, slowly learning how to properly use Amateur radio and would love to talk with some fellow kids

[Anonymous No.1688485]

>>1687861
Probably not, but it's possible- generally you don't want to TX without an Antenna hooked up.
>>1688476
you're gonna be limited to 5 Miles or so, unless you have a repeater nearby. There's some codeplugs for the UV-5R that'll let you listen in on FRS/GMRS/etc, easy
>>1687572
Floating point usually gives better precision and is much, much easier to deal with. I hate fixed point math- you get rounding errors, bits get lost, all kinds of nonsense.
> my day job is FPGA dev.

[Anonymous No.1688488]

>>1688485
I'm in Japan near a few military sites, so the odds of a repeater being close by are good right? Anything I can do to extend my range (antenna, I'm assuming)?
If I want to get into world-wide comms, what should I invest in?

[Anonymous No.1688491]

>>1688485
I know floating point is easier to program but I don't quite understand the argument about precision. Isn't that limited by the significant number of bits in the mantissa?

My day job was once to program fixed point DSPs but that is a while ago now.

[Anonymous No.1688512]

>>1688491
Hard to give a good explanation at 3 AM- there's definitely times you're stuck with fixed point. Maybe you don't have an FPU, maybe there's memory limitations, etc. It can be faster as well, but if you need to measure something super precisely (say 1.0350350505), doing so in fixed point is just a total pain imo because along with dealing with the mantissa, you have overflow and truncation to deal with. Ex, If all we're doing is right bitwise shifts, you can end up with fun stuff like 1.99 = 1.
That said, both fixed and floating can work and work well -I guess it's really personal preference, every time I do a fixed to floating point conversion it seems like I give myself problems later on lol.
This link has ok graphics about what I mean:
https://xilica.com/2018/10/13/fixed-vs-floating-point-dsp/
>>1688488
I'm only really familiar with US laws and legalities when it comes to radios, I think Japan is very similar but DYOR for sure on this. A 13" ABBREE or Nagoya NA-701 is a small upgrade over a stock Baofeng; Could also throw up a Dipole or J-Pole, but it's a bit overkill for an HT

[Anonymous No.1688772]

>>1688485
>There's some codeplugs for the UV-5R that'll let you listen in on FRS/GMRS/etc, easy
Can you explain this a bit more? I just got a baofeng and I'm completely new to this all. I want to learn as much as I can and I don't fully understand what you're saying.. "Codeplugs?"

[Anonymous No.1688783]

>>1688772
It's called codeplug because it neither contains code nor is it a plug. It's a settings file you can write into your feng's memory like you store stations on a radio or a teevee.

[Anonymous No.1688797]

>>1688772
It's a holdover from another era- long ago to program many commercial / military radios, to change frequencies or encryption codes you'd literally plug in a small module which held that information. Today it's all software based. Baofengs are very simple to program using a programming cable (literally, search amazon for "baofeng programming cable"); and open source software called CHIRP.

Once you've gotten that far, you can literally make your own, or download others that people have made. Pic related is a decent starter, but a bit out of date.

[Anonymous No.1688877]

>>1688797
>>1688783
Oh, so it doesn't "unlock" anything in the radio.

I thought you meant that I needed to use one of these "codeplugs" to enable something with the radio to make it able to function on those frequencies. Alright, I can program it easily enough. Thanks.

[Anonymous No.1688911]

>>1688877
It'd doable but a bit of a pain to program manually. Yeah, a codeplug is really just a frequency / channel list, when it comes to the UV-5R series. The radio already has tx/rx over a wide frequency range, there's really nothing to unlock.

[Anonymous No.1688924]

I need to buy coax, guys. i remember some threads ago someone mentioned something that is basically lmr400 but like half the price or so?

i also need some quality coax that is a bit easier to work with for on the test bench(need to make bnc cables to connect scope to function generator and such), and to bundle with my HT's for when using a portable discone or w/e.

i have used and appreciate belden cables, but im not sure if i have belden money atm. suggestions please?

[Anonymous No.1688934]

Stupid question, but I''m going to ask anyway.

If I do a software hack that can artificially show 000-999 MHz on the LCD screen of my HT, it will still only be able to function on the designed frequencies right?

[Anonymous No.1688947]

>>1688934
No, you'll be able to communicate through subspace. Possibly through time too.

[Anonymous No.1688991]

>>1688924
For short lab runs RG-58 or something similar is fine, and it's cheap enough in bulk. You can get by pretty well with RG-8 or RG-8x in many cases.

Where to get cable:
> DX Engineering
> k1cra Radio Store
> Universal Radio
> Gigaparts
> Ham Radio Outlet
> Many others (You can google)
If you want cheap LMR-400, Get Davis DRF-400 instead. < $0.80/ft instead of $1+

[Anonymous No.1689061]

>>1688512
Well, and ADC cannot be more precise than that least significant bit, or is there an issue here I forgot?
I used to program fixed point DSPs (DSP56300 etc) and I think the decision to use these were that these were smaller, cheaper and less power hungry than floating point units. The decision to use these was not mine.
These had overflow handling capability like a 56 bit accumulator where the upper 8 bits were guard bits, so overflow was not a problem. We also had audio type ADCs feeding data into the DSP. If all teh signal was in the last bit we would have had other problems than just a signal processing problem.

I have been thinking about a DSP based goniometer, with 4 or 8 antennas, each with a ADC, feeding data into a DSP. That way one should be able to do direction finding and beamforming. Perhaps some 5G chip sets can do this as beamforming is a hot topic in that field.

[Anonymous No.1689070]

>>1688379
I'm not sure I'm following, but glad you get it.
I guess you'd prefer 1 button verse a daud and dit? This way seems to go a little faster imo

[Anonymous No.1689143]

>>1689070
I meant that instead of doing the letter you're doing a number, but I guess it'll teach you 1-3 lol. An option to get a single button would be nice though.

[Anonymous No.1689165]

>>1688991
Thanks. so rg-58 for workbench and portable setups then? Gonna look into it.

[Anonymous No.1689201]

I just got my ham license over the weekend. Not even sure what the fuck I can do with it.

Am I allowed to talk over the air about how hitler did nothing wrong and how minorities are ruining the country?

[Anonymous No.1689211]

>>1689201
You'd think that would be on the test.

[Anonymous No.1689212]

>>1689201
give it back

[Anonymous No.1689223]

>>1689201
That's the topic of this week's net on Fellowship Radio.

[Anonymous No.1689232]

>>1689211
I know the technical limitations of what is allowed, I'm just not sure what use I can actually get out of it.

Based on the geriatric fucks who were there when I took the technician exam, all I can really do is say "hello" to some old geezers and put them in a logbook. Real exciting shit.

[Anonymous No.1689233]

>>1687412
>National treasures.
Now in STEREO

[Anonymous No.1689239]

I'm interested in this whole radio thing. I'm an EE major at college right now and HAM was always something that came up in possible hobby options. Can someone give me a quick rundown on what its all about?

[Anonymous No.1689253]

>>1689232
>Just got his tech ticket
>Already complaining about talking to people
Great LARP, retard. Too dumb to pass your test, or just too lazy?

[Anonymous No.1689261]

>>1689253
>Great LARP, retard. Too dumb to pass your test, or just too lazy?
Which test are you referring to? I got every question correct on the Technician exam. Am I not cool until I also get my General and Amateur Extra?

[Anonymous No.1689270]

>>1689261
You'll never be cool.

[Anonymous No.1689313]

>>1689165
It's an application specific problem, but for short runs what you use, especially if we're talking a hobbyist setup (Rigol DS1054z, cheapo function gen, etc.) probably won't matter as much. If you're doing 1 Ghz+, even little things start to matter and costs rise exponentially. For very long runs (100ft+) get the best quality, lowest loss cable you can afford; be it LMR-400 equiv. or Hardline.
>>1689061
No, you're correct- It could be floating point dynamic range is just so much higher than an equivalent fixed-point DSP that it trends well to communications applications, but I'd have to noodle on it a bit more.
I like your Goniometer idea- IIRC it's not a trivial thing to implement though, and yes much cellular hardware does beamforming nowadays. I always thought it would be a cool thing to have in a car radio; to be able to "see" FM stations on a 360 degree bearing, and you could just rotate a wheel to pick one.
>>1689232
There's cool people out there, you just need to find them. Do you live in a rural area? You might be better off with HF, most cities see plenty of repeater activity still. The geriatric guys who talk about their latest colon goiter surgery are as much a meme as real, sadly

[Anonymous No.1689365]

>>1689165
>>1689313
>It's an application specific problem,
when i get a stable enough long term living situation to warrant a mounted antenna, ill buy lmr-400.

im looking for some quality 50 ohm test bench wire.

also portable setups with HT + w/e antennas(discone atm). Of my HTs collection I have capabilities of 50mhz, 144mhz, 220mhz, 440mhz, 900mhz, and 1.3ghz. I would go even higher if i could but i dont know of any HTs that operate on higher frequencies. so if im going into ghz i need the good stuff then. i dont want to buy a roll thats good to like 440 mhz and then want another roll thats good into 1ghz+. i want to get 500ft to get good pricing.

ive actually relented and im looking at belden right now, but goddamn, just going to coax, 50 ohm transmission cable yeilds 110 results. i feel a bit time consumed by that and thats just one brand.

[Anonymous No.1689421]

>>1689365
Give the section on transmission lines in the ARRL Handbook a read, for real.
> i dont want to buy a roll thats good to like 440 mhz and then want another roll thats good into 1ghz+. i want to get 500ft to get good pricing.
Drake DRF-400, see link below. Cost is per ft.
> www.universal-radio.com/catalog/cable/coax.html
I'd still suggest getting cheap RG-58A/U Or RG-8X to start. Universal Radio sells "standard grade" 58A/U for 25¢ / ft, and you can upgrade later on. You could also use RG-316 as a test bench, but since you seem keen on rolling your own, the 58A/U is probably your best bet. Don't forget you'll also need connectors and other stuff. Over a short 3 ft run, even at a Ghz we're talking <1 dB of loss with the cheap cable.
> Didn't even get to the part where coax can go bad and all that nice expensive cable is trashed because water got in it

> high Ghz gear
Most people have them, they're called cellphones. There's not much dedicated ham gear at those frequencies, though; but plenty of RF experimentation, amateur radar, etc. You also start seeing things like heliax cable (hardline) and microwave wave guides. It's expensive, and easy to blow things up (literally and figuratively).

[Anonymous No.1689515]

>>1689421
>high Ghz gear

[Anonymous No.1689567]

>>1688467
If he's in Saudi Arabia why does the pic have a United States callsign?

[Anonymous No.1689583]

Is 20M completely shit or is it my homemade antenna?

[Anonymous No.1689597]

>>1689515
>no TBS Crossfire

never gonna make it

[Anonymous No.1689605]

>>1689583
20 m is poor, but on 22 m I can listen to the Holy Quran from a distance of 4250 km with my trusted RedSun RP2100.

[Anonymous No.1689613]

>>1689583
Upper HF bands have been shit for at least 2 weeks. Took 800 watts to yak with Germany from the midwest last Saturday.

[Anonymous No.1689617]

>>1689583
Geomagnetic field is unsettled.

[Anonymous No.1689633]

>>1684698
>>1684709
Clearly OP meant to type "Armature Radio". Pic related.

[Anonymous No.1689634]

>>1689633
They have a couple of those at The Henry Ford.

[Anonymous No.1689654]

Any tips on getting solder out of a hole without a vacuum or special cloth?

[Anonymous No.1689656]

What type of antenna do i need to listen to HFGCS with my RTL SDR? Will a 6m antenna suffice or will i need something else?

[Anonymous No.1689658]

>>1689656
For listening, any random wire will do. The higher and longer, the better. Even speaker wire is fine just for listening.

But if you can get a mini-whip ($30-$50 on Ebay) and ground it really well, it's a better choice. The PA0RDT style, works amazingly well.

[Anonymous No.1689661]

>>1689605
>RedSun RP2100
How do you like it? What bands frequencies can it pick up?

[Anonymous No.1689668]

>>1689656
Connect your 6m wire, set machine to USB and 3kHz, scan the seven frequencies and see what you get.

[Anonymous No.1689670]

>>1689654
Drilled it out with a Dremel. Time will tell!

[Anonymous No.1689671]

>>1689670
D2 looks like it needs to be soldered to the board better. Also, next time heat up the solder in the hole and quickly tap the board against a hard surface before it hardens again.

[Anonymous No.1689698]

>>1689661
It's actually the RP2000 (no memory) sold here as Roadstar TRA-2350P (and other names). I never had a more convenient radio for shortwave listening. It feels like a good analog radio, continuous tuning without any noise or (even worse) muting while tuning. It covers AM, FM and the complete range from 1.7..30MHz.

Currently I'm listening to the wonderful music of All India Radio on 9445 kHz, transmitter in Southern India, 250kW, distance 7250km. No external antenna.

[Anonymous No.1689715]

>>1689617
confirmed

[Anonymous No.1689740]

What happens between 225Mhz-260Mhz?

I'm noticing some of the triband models vary from 220-225 to 220-260.

[Anonymous No.1689742]

>>1689654
theres literally a tool called a solder sucker.

[Anonymous No.1689753]

>>1689740
Other services, beyond amateur, occupy it.

[Anonymous No.1689771]

>>1684698
What are the connectors and cables I would need to make this work? I want to attach a speaker mic and antenna to a watertight box though holes sealed with rubber gaskets. Recommendations on waterproof speaker mics or waterproof earbuds with mics? Recommendations on improving the water resistance of a UV-5R or UV-5RIII?

[Anonymous No.1689784]

Are there any other handhelds that have an RX range anywhere near the VX-6 (0.5-999mhz)?

[Anonymous No.1689793]

>>1689421
>>1689313
>>1688991
TYVM for all the help given so far regarding coax. i understand your desire to keep pushing rg-58, as i know i have used it in the past and it is decent cable and very common, as are its connectors.

I have been thinking about needing good cable for ghz+ though, and i'm looking real hard at LMR-240 right now. opinions? it seems like the best you can get without going with big stiff unwieldy cable. I have gone to times microwave systems and read about it, and see the options for connectors available is pretty good. i have also scoped out some 10-packs of lmr-240 pl-259 and bnc connectors for half price on ebay. think the ebay knock offs are worse enough to warrant spending the extra cash on TMS/amphenol?

[Anonymous No.1689812]

I think the storm is doing something interesting to the bands. WWV sound better than it has in years here in New England.

[Anonymous No.1689849]

Anyone know anything about the DM-9HX?

[Anonymous No.1690003]

>>1689771
Keep the antenna on the radio, since otherwise you'll need to worry about SWR. Otherwise a really short coax cable (1 inch) should be OK too. For the speaker, the baofeng uses the Kenwood 2-pin connector. So any speaker out of the Kenwood 2-pine line advertised as waterproof should be a good bet.

You've probably thought of this, but you won't be able to turn it on or push any buttons while it's in the box. More expensive but in many ways better is just buying a waterproof radio...

[Anonymous No.1690005]

>>1689849
Baofeng DMRs all kind of suck. No promiscuous mode is a major bummer unless you know what you're trying to listen in on. Better off with an Ailunce HD-1 or TYT 380

[Anonymous No.1690021]

Picked up a baofeng uv-5r as an intro to ham radio and police scanning. I have no fucking idea what I'm doing. I don't pick up any chatter from the programmed frequencies I put in, is it usually this quiet or am I not in range? Any tips on making function better?

[Anonymous No.1690023]

>>1690021
>baofeng uv-5r
>police scanning
>I have no fucking idea what I'm doing.
At least you know one thing

[Anonymous No.1690033]

>>1690021
did you pick up the programming cable and CHIRP? There should be a USB programming cable available on baofengs website. Also is radioreference.com showing your areas police dispatch?

[Anonymous No.1690043]

>>1686808
Make your own antenna. Don't waste money on buying one. Try this one: http://webclass.org/k5ijb/antennas/All-Band-Doublet.htm
It will work on every band with a decent tuner - if your TS830 doesn't have one built in.

[Anonymous No.1690047]

I have a IC-T81C w/ a BC-119N battery charger. i have a "batteries america" 9.6v for the radio, and it seemed to work fine at first, but when i drop the radio into charger w/ this battery the charger's LED flashes red, indicating protection circuit is active. i unplugged the cradle from wart and wart from surge protector, and the same thing. battery is not warm to touch either. these are the only 2 things listed as to why it wouldnt work. any ideas? is the battery shot? i read 3.5v on it with my dmm.

[Anonymous No.1690051]

>>1690047
>IC-T81C
IC-T81A

[Anonymous No.1690055]

>>1690021
Throw it away, and buy something other than a baomeme.

[Anonymous No.1690067]

>>1690047
>>1690051
>IC-T81A
>9.6v battery measures 3.5v w/ DMM
>is the battery shot?
Very likely, due to dead cell(s) in the pack. Chargers usually don't lie about the condition.

[Anonymous No.1690083]

>>1690021
you need a $500 scanner to scan what little public service channels are left.

>make it function better
stock antenna is garbage.
honestly though, im kind of in the same boat as you. i bought a 5x3 + na320 antenna, and it is marginally better than stock. i have an abree 42" otw to see how that does... even though it kinda defeats the point of a HT by making it 4' long.

im a bit dissapointed DESU. im not sure if a better reciever in a radio would make much of a difference, or if theres just such little traffic nearby me, idk. i'm also thinking of a mag mount, or maybe i should make a cable to hook it up to my discone and see how i do. but again, this defeats the point of it being a HT.

[Anonymous No.1690098]

>>1690067
yea you may be right. i put a dead iom 4.8v on the radio and charged it just fine. afterwards i tried the knockoff again and it started blinking orange indicating it was taking a charge, but it finished a bit too quickly.

[Anonymous No.1690112]

I have a spare UHF mount and direct line run from the battery in my car.
Already have a 2m setup - am thinking of adding a cheap 6, 10, or 11M mobile radio. WWYD

[Anonymous No.1690113]

>>1690112
CB, I doubt you'll find anything on 6 or 10 unless there's dedication in your area. In addition, are you really going want to wait for openings on 6 or 10?

[Anonymous No.1690119]

>>1690113
My thinking was that is 6 and 10 are shit, how could 11 with 1/10 the power be better?

[Anonymous No.1690128]

>>1690112
>have a 2m setup
why not add 70cm

[Anonymous No.1690133]

>>1690119
You'd find local traffic on the CB. 10m or 6m can be local or DX, but most people only wait for DX openings. The openings usually don't last long (minutes) and happen around sunrise (mostly).

[Anonymous No.1690139]

>>1690133
>most people only wait for DX openings
Activists get automatic alerts from the beacon network. Waiting is for passivists.

[Anonymous No.1690140]

>>1690128
I have a dual band ht. Seems 75cm is just a continuation of 2m omelette bros.
I'd rather explore dx or dirty stories
>>1690133
I appreciate it. I did have a ht mobile unit in its position for awhile, but grew tired of the lack of traffic. For 20M+, I'd have to park, which made the mobile aspect futile.
I still have all the whip antennas; those CB radios are a lot nicer on the wallet ...

[Anonymous No.1690143]

>>1690140
Do not disparage the Omelette Bro. Thanks to his 45 minute review of a dry cleaner, I now know it's worth an hour drive to go there to get my pants let out when Ham-itis kicks in.

[Anonymous No.1690180]

>>1690143
Like must be good if that's all you have to focus on

[Anonymous No.1690207]

>>1684698
I was scanning SW wide band on my little Grundig Satelitt 750 today.
keep getting Interference signal across all frequencies from about 10000khz all the way down to around 1000khz, a steady beeping noise. beeps about every 5 or 10 seconds. sort of steady beep at regular intervals

what the hell could it be?

[Anonymous No.1690216]

>>1690207
What's your general location? If you're close to an airport, it could be harmonics of the 5 mile beacon.

[Anonymous No.1690217]

>>1690216
Eastern MT. there is a small local airport nearby.
is that what harmonics can do? propagate across the entire SW band?
is it due to weather?

[Anonymous No.1690225]

>>1690217
In the glibbest since, it's overloading the input of the radio. I have a Mexican music radio station near me that makes my cheap SDR useless without an AM broadcasting bandpass filter.

I suggest the beacon as the issue because there's one around my area that does the same thing to car AM radios if you get close to it. But considering you might be near a missile silo, it could also be something military.

[Anonymous No.1690246]

>>1690225
ok. thanks for the analysis.
this is the first time I've noticed that particular i interfere after having this radio here and using for about 6 months off and on. i don't have a good antenna and i hardly know how to use this thing.
mainly what ive learned so far is it seems this rigs just about worthless without an antenna

[Anonymous No.1690303]

Has anyone been busted using a Baofeng on FRS?
I want to use it or my SDR to spy on people

[Anonymous No.1690313]

>UV-5X3 advertised as having a 220-225mhz band
>Order one
>It's really 222-225mhz

Did I get a dud? All the UHF/VHF frequencies work as advertised.

Kinda pissed off about not having the advertised 1.25m range available.

[Anonymous No.1690326]

>>1689313
>No, you're correct- It could be floating point dynamic range is just so much higher than an equivalent fixed-point DSP that it trends well to communications applications, but I'd have to noodle on it a bit more.
You are right the dynamic range is better on floating point, my concern is that once you get into the deep negative exponent area you are more like searching for a black cat in a coal cellar.
>I like your Goniometer idea- IIRC it's not a trivial thing to implement though, and yes much cellular hardware does beamforming nowadays. I always thought it would be a cool thing to have in a car radio; to be able to "see" FM stations on a 360 degree bearing, and you could just rotate a wheel to pick one.
I'd be interested to hear your comments on some thoughts I have
- start with, say, 8 antennas, each with a phase coherent ADC
- each channel goes to a FFT
- the goniometer sweeps a manifold across 360 degrees, and sums the 8 amplitudes times the phases shifted by the manifold
- show an a radar like plan plot, with frequency as the radius and angle corresponding to the angle of arrival
I think this also should resolve the 180 degree ambiguity in most DF systems.

Clearly it is not very elegant as you have to do an angular sweep and it uses an awful lot of computational power. The advantage is that you can use the goniomenter to do beam forming and focus on the directions you are interested in, possibly several simultaneously. Essentially this is a home made Wullenweber.

I first thought about doing sampling rate related phase shifting but it seems you get very few working directions that way.

[Anonymous No.1690329]

>>1690313
Well, voice on 1.25 is only from 222-225 and you can only do fixed message forwarding on 219 to 219.99 and 220 to 221.99 is reserved for UPS so you have the full 1.25 band that you can do with a portable.

[Anonymous No.1690375]

>>1690329

So you're saying, it's good to go to grief the losers at UPS?

Okay, I'll be driving around sending .-..--.--...-. on high power every few seconds whenever I hear people talking business on the 1.25m band.

[Anonymous No.1690384]

>>1690329
Yeah, but Im still butthurt I don't have the advertised range. Anyone have one that HAS 220-221.99?

Kinda bummed I can't listen to UPS now.

[Anonymous No.1690385]

>>1690375
>>1690384
They use it for data, not voice.

[Anonymous No.1690389]

>>1690384

If you have 1.25m repeaters around your area, you should go make use of it.

>>1690385
Bummer, what modes, do you know?

[Anonymous No.1690399]

>>1690329
>reserved for UPS
In 1988, thanks in part to the urging of United Parcel Service, the FCC reallocated the 220MHz–222MHz part of the band for commercial use.
The reallocation proceeding took so long that UPS moved to other radio communications alternatives, and the new band was chopped up and offered via lottery to other commercial entities (and speculators) in five-channel blocks.
https://urgentcomm.com/2002/02/07/why-220mhz-3/

[Anonymous No.1690429]

>>1690055

Make some fucking suggestions, then. He's new, he doesn't know shit - help him out.

[Anonymous No.1690435]

>>1690429

Alinco DJ-G7T

Anyways, does anyone know what the Grand Solar Minimum brings, in terms of impacts on comms? From shortwave to satcomm.

[Anonymous No.1690437]

>>1690021
buy a nagoya 771 antenna for it.

[Anonymous No.1690438]

>>1690313
try opening it up with chirp

[Anonymous No.1690453]

>>1690438
Thanks for the suggestion, but you lost me. I'm still learning and these threads are pretty much my go-to for information outside of playing with shit and learning as I go.

I've heard you can "hack" frequencies into baofengs with software, but they only display and don't actually function on those frequencies. Unless I'm wrong... Do you mind explaining or going a bit more into details?

[Anonymous No.1690473]

>>1690021
Step 1: Get a programming cable and CHIRP
Step 2: Get a Nagoya NA-24J, 771, ABBREE, or ExtremePower XP-669C. Can't really go wrong with any of those.
Step 3: use the /k/ommunication presets for CHIRP https://pastebin.com/raw/x3Uyzitd
Step 4: Find out your local repeaters, and program those in too. (You can use repeaterbook.com) if you get any of those antennas, you should be able to get up to 60 miles received, transmit though not so much.
Step 5: get your loisence.

[Anonymous No.1690475]

>>1687612
This is so true.What the fuck is the point of this shit? It's barely intelligible and has no context beyond whatever it was they screamed at each other, the last time they screamed at each other.

[Anonymous No.1690481]

>>1689654
Yep, heat it up, and blow it out with compressed air. It's a technique I have to use all of the time at work, because I work with idiots who break our de-soldering equipment as soon as it gets replaced. Just make sure you're wearing safety glasses or a face shield.

[Anonymous No.1690494]

I want to get a handheld that I can primarily use for scanning my area and graduate to using for transmitting once I get my license.

I'm looking at databases on https://www.radioreference.com and the majority of things around me are "trunked". What exactly does this mean? Would I need to get a DMR to be able to receive these?

[Anonymous No.1690495]

>>1690453
With chirp you can program what frequencies it can reach. For example you can set it to go to 100 MHz to 999 and it can tune to that, it wont receive since its only a triband, but you can still type the number in. If you have your antenna set to 1.25 meters and you set it in chirp you can probably get to those frequencies. I assume the radio can rx and tx that but by default its programmed only for 222-225. Like its only set for 142-155 by default.

[Anonymous No.1690509]

>>1690494
>majority of things around me are "trunked". What exactly does this mean? Would I need to get a DMR to be able to receive these?

No, DMR will not Trunk. Trunking is a frequency hopping system that sort-of makes it difficult to monitor public safety calls. If your area is still using Trunking a used 20 year old Bearcat Scanner will work.

Most public safety is switching to P25 which is sort of like DMR but more complex but also is public record since Motorola had to release the code to attain contracts. There's software you can plug into SDRs that can decode it and right now, it's all not very user friendly.

That said, an SDR is your best bet for now. You can get plug-ins for Trunking and P25 and listen to your local Omelette Bros banter for $50 and a little time learning how to Trunk and P25 with them.

[Anonymous No.1690520]

>>1690509
Thanks a bunch. Any you'd recommend?

[Anonymous No.1690588]

>>1690326
I'm far from an expert in these systems, but it would be interesting to experiment with. The PPI plot with Frequency and angle is pretty cool as well, I was thinking only angle in my FM radio idea.
I've heard of other systems doing co-phased array (sic) RDF as well, but they used 4-8 antennas and calculated the difference of time-of-arrival on each antenna of a given signal. The first antenna(s) to receive a given wavefront gave direction, and as echos and reflections would always take longer to arrive, could be easily discarded. A problem was the high precision timing; but this was before the era of cheap GPS.
There's something to be said for elegance, but we have a ridiculous amount of computing power available now. Even cheap cellphones have 4 or 8 cores; combine that with dedicated algorithmic hardware from an FPGA and you can do basically anything you want.

[Anonymous No.1690621]

>>1690520
Not him, but the RDL-SDR is a great SDR bang for your buck (+/-$20 on eBay from China).
You can't transmit with SDR.
For that, get a UV-82HP ($40) and follow this advice >>1690473.
That'll get you on the air locally and you'll learn frequencies, offsets, programming a radio, lingo, etc.
Then come back and ask how to do a mobile install or HF.

[Anonymous No.1690637]

>>1690520
States With Some Form of Full Police Encryption (in orange), May 2015.
'OP25 for dummies' gives you an impression of what you're up to.

[Anonymous No.1690759]

>>1689658
Hello, the PA0RDT is a whole antenna? I dont need any other components for it? Just plug it into my sdr and done?

[Anonymous No.1690772]

>>1690759
>Just plug it into my sdr and done?
Sort of? They need to be well-grounded for the best RX (if you have a metal garage, you're in luck). It's the one major drawback to them and you do need to have a power supply for it (5 volts).

The Twente WebSDR uses one and if you play around on their radio, you will understand why I suggest it.

[Anonymous No.1690824]

My 40M dipole (bare stranded wire) is heads over heals better than my THHN 20M dipole on 20 meters.
How do I fix that?

[Anonymous No.1690856]

>>1690759
No, you also need 12V and a power splitter. Read this to get up to speed:
http://www.merseyradar.co.uk/uncategorized/hf-receiving-antenna-pa0rdt-mini-whip/

[Anonymous No.1690891]

>>1690824
I probably need to strip the wires, right?

[Anonymous No.1690894]

>>1690891
Yes and then put shrink tubing or several layers of pain over it to prevent corrosion.

[Anonymous No.1690907]

>>1690894
I appreciate it. I may be a moron, but at least I'm learning.
I wouldn't need to also do the insulator side since it's ... insulated, right? Just the balun?

[Anonymous No.1690910]

>>1690894
>several layers of pain
Please, don't hurt your radio. It's trying it's hardest

[Anonymous No.1690917]

>>1690907
Forgot the pic. Already heard across the cou try where before I never picked up a word (duh)

[Anonymous No.1690918]

>>1690917
Damnit! Forgot the pic again

[Anonymous No.1691131]

>>1690083
>you need a $500 scanner to scan what little public service channels are left.
can't you use an RTL-SDR and a program like unitrunker to do this?

[Anonymous No.1691162]

>>1691131
Or OP25 depending on your local Public Safety's system.

A $30 SDR and a $25 discone antenna with some vague grasp of how radio works is really all you need if you're willing to take the time to play with the software.

[Anonymous No.1691178]

>>1686411
>Look guys I made a thing

Please don't talk like reddit

[Anonymous No.1691263]

>>1691178
Who is reddit?

[Anonymous No.1691295]

>>1691131
You need two dongles set up for trunking with SDR.

[Anonymous No.1691302]

>>1691295
Plus a quantum dongle for the decrytion. The public dispatch babble has a webfeed anyway.

[Anonymous No.1691357]

>>1689793
It really depends on run length. LMR-240 IIRC is just high-spec RG-8X, probably fine though unless you're making ghz+ 400ft tower runs. Keep in mind coax loss is just one piece of a communications system, and usually antenna and or receiver is a greater limiting factor.
> Connectors
Build quality is lower than US made connectors, but they seem to perform OK. The soldered kind are much superior to the twist on versions for BNC. Ham Fests are usually a great place to find both cheap cable and connectors, of all qualities (but it's hard to beat amazon sometimes)

[Anonymous No.1691365]

>>1684698
How to into ham? What is this about?

[Anonymous No.1691397]

>>1691365
>If you're starting with a fully cooked ham, bake it in a 350 degree F oven for about 10 minutes per pound. If your ham is only partially cooked, bake it for 20 minutes per pound. To help keep your ham moist and juicy, place the ham cut-side down in a baking pan and tent it with foil.

[Anonymous No.1691434]

>>1691397
>Not using a probe thermometer and cooking to 140°/150° (cooked/uncooked)
>No instructions for applying glaze/crust
>Not even specifying country vs city ham

At least try, Anon.

[Anonymous No.1691495]

What used HF rig for HF beginners? Can't even hear shit on RTL-SDR without an upconverter, kinda just want to get a transceiver. 2m chat is boring dying locals, I wanna hear boring dying people far away.

[Anonymous No.1691506]

>>1691495
>What used HF rig for HF beginners?
Any rig you can afford that still has it's finals and the caps aren't bloated.

Check QRZ.com and craigslist. Price it compared to what it costs new if it's model still on the market. Some of these old timers are retarded and try to sell used equipment 10% below new prices (I hate them) but I see good deals on CL sometimes when the kids are cleaning out Grandpa's house to get ready to sell it asap.

[Anonymous No.1691696]

>>1691506
Is eBay a no-go?

[Anonymous No.1691795]

>>1691696
Hit-or-miss. You might get something with blown finals and the guy might have an "As-is, no refunds" policy and lied about the condition.

[Anonymous No.1691801]

>>1691696
The problem with ebay is generally anything good will have hundreds of geriatric retired hams looking over it and bidding on it. You can still find deals on stuff but it's usually mislabeled/misspelled/miscategorized things.

[Anonymous No.1691891]

>>1691506
Keep in mind a New Yaesu FT-450D can be had for <$700 USD, has an IF-DSP, ATU and is easily on par, if not better than many of the "classic" 80s era Solid State rigs. Deals can be found but the boomer hams believed their gear "held value", and often it's not worth the asking price. Even the cheapest Direct RF Sampling (SDR) radio is going to be on par with what was a $10,000 radio 20 years ago.

[Anonymous No.1691896]

Tfw ur great uncle dies and ur getting all his whole fancy hf setup.

[Anonymous No.1691899]

>>1691891
>Even the cheapest Direct RF Sampling (SDR) radio is going to be on par with what was a $10,000 radio 20 years ago.

This, hell for ~$60 you can get an SDR dongle with 12 bit ADC that shames most retro HF receivers.

[Anonymous No.1691906]

>>1691896
Including his license, of course.

[Anonymous No.1691913]

>>1691896
Get licenced and apply for his callsign.

[Anonymous No.1691935]

if i want to put s splitter on my radio's antenna line and use it for example spectrum analyzer, communications monitor, etc., is there a device that will allow me to block the power from the transceiver and send it all out the antenna?

[Anonymous No.1691998]

>>1691935
>is there a device that will allow me to block the power from the transceiver and send it all out the antenna?
a switch comes to mind

[Anonymous No.1692001]

>>1691899
>my $60 Chinese SDR is better than $1000+ Japanese radios
Ok, retard. Your baomeme must be better than everything else too.

[Anonymous No.1692005]

>>1691935
A T type connector and an RF attenuator feeding you monitor.

[Anonymous No.1692008]

Would a 50/144/440 tribander be "better" than a 144/22/440 model? I live in an area with repeaters for both 6m and 1.25m.

What happens on 6m vs 1.25m band? What would be used more often?

[Anonymous No.1692024]

>>1691899
>>1692001
not the 2 you guys are arguing with but I use an Sdrplay as a panadapter and there is nothing that my 7300 can hear that my Sdrplay can't. The 7300 obviously has a better front end but for receiving-only modern SDR's (not those 8 bit pos) are pretty much on par.

[Anonymous No.1692034]

>>1692008
Get both, find out.

[Anonymous No.1692037]

>>1692008
Well, the only time I ever heard anyone on 6 meter in my area was via groundwave when my buddy a couple miles away asked me to help calibrate his 6 meter vertical by having me listen for him.

[Anonymous No.1692067]

Hi guys i have some basic electronics and rf knowledge/exp but i consider myslef on the newbie side a bit too. im trying to buy some test equipment to get me going further in ham doing electronics/rf electronics/antennas.

1st question is: if i buy a function/arbitrary waveform generator, would that completely eliminate the need for an audio signal generator and a pulse generator?

2nd question: would an antenna analyzer completely eliminate the need to buy a Q meter and Grid Dip meter?

3rd: Would a RF power meter such as e4118b completely eliminate the need for a SWR meter, rf millivolt meter, and rf microwatt meter?

i'm not at all above buying dedicated pieces for each type of test equipment, but if theres honestly zero reason to, then why should i, right? i have been looking at a lot of yokogawa/hp/agilent/keysight, wavetek, tektronix, and phillips/fluke. i have been mostly forking out for HP equipment.

[Anonymous No.1692068]

>>1691357
>Ham Fests
ty for insight. yeah i havent pulled the trigger yet but right now im looking at getting just 100' of LMR-240 ultraflex for my current needs. im not doing any super long or permanent runs yet, i just want a stock of good cabling for my test bench and portable setups. i know hamfests can be a gold mine but i dont always have the time or even knowledge of their existance to go to a local one.

[Anonymous No.1692103]

To pinch pennies, what are good things to buy in bulk from China?
>misc PL-239 connectors
>Powerpole connectors
>???

[Anonymous No.1692111]

>>1692103
A bride

[Anonymous No.1692141]

>>1692111
Roger that, 1 dozen sex dolls.

[Anonymous No.1692178]

>Buy $500 IC-706
>Turns out finals were blown
>Buy $20 SDR
>Can hear across the world
>Buy FT-101 at a hamfest
>Ohhhhh, this is perfect!!!!
>Can't recieve a goddamn sound.
Fuck you and fuck this bullshit hobby. Anyone in the 4 zone want this over priced bullshit? It'll be outside getting rained on until the garbage man comes

[Anonymous No.1692192]

>>1692178
>spends ton of money on equipment that seller knows nothing about
>buys junk
its literally your own fault. be more savvy when shopping for used goods. if its broken, it could be irrepairable. price it accordingly.

[Anonymous No.1692235]

>>1692192
>>1692178

Always buy a shitty something brand new rather than a cool used thing until you learn how it works.

Like a brand new Civic is way better than a Ferrari that is on it's last leg that is 1000 bucks cheaper.

[Anonymous No.1692331]

>>1691913
I am already licensed. Gonna get my general soon.

[Anonymous No.1692456]

>>1692178
What SDR anon?

I'm thinking about getting into SDRs. Any suggestions guys?

[Anonymous No.1692518]

>>1692456
RTL-SDR is all you need, $20 from China.
More important is the antenna (make one) and connections.
Also understand you can't transmit.

[Anonymous No.1692722]

>>1690113
>>1690133
Thx. CB and 2M setup for +/- $50.

[Anonymous No.1692725]

>>1692722
NQ4Y linked repeater system?

[Anonymous No.1692733]

>>1692725
One state off - close enough to hear k9rsy on bad days.

[Anonymous No.1692748]

Omelette Bro was on yesterday while I was in my shop. He was talking about the history of a nearby small airport and while I knew most of what he was mentioning, I did learn some new tidbits about its WWII importance.

[Anonymous No.1692981]

[Anonymous No.1692996]

>>1692981
Is Larry omlette bro?

[Anonymous No.1693358]

What's the cheapest HF radio I can buy?

[Anonymous No.1693373]

>>1693358
CB.

[Anonymous No.1693377]

>>1693373
Are all CB radios HF?

[Anonymous No.1693379]

>>1693377
They're 11 Meters, which falls in the HF spectrum.
But for a 160 meter to 10 meter radio, are you talking new or used?

New, I suggest the IC-7851.

[Anonymous No.1693380]

I have a half-wave dipole constructed of speaker wire, along with an air choke made from 18ft of rg8x placed at the feedpoint. There follows a ~100ft run of rg8x into the shack.

SWR is asymmetric - 1.5 on the low end of the band and creeps down to 1.1 as I tune upward.

This tells me I should lengthen the antenna, but no matter how I adjust I cannot get the SWR readings to change. Lengthening or shortening by up to 2 inches yields no difference.

My questions are
a) Do I need to worry about this at all since it is still apparently a fine match?
b) Removing the choke causes SWR to drop to essentially 1.1 across the board. Is it the culprit, or a false reading?

t. retard

[Anonymous No.1693546]

>>1693380
>Removing the choke
How many kilowatts? Can you tolerate a slightly radiating feedline?

[Anonymous No.1693581]

I want to into ham. Is there a radio that I can just connect to a usb port to turn it into a sdr? Also where do I start?

[Anonymous No.1693588]

>>1693581
ctrl-f sdr

[Anonymous No.1693595]

Radio doesn't draw amps or move the SWR meter when TX on SSB HF.
When I move to FM, it draws 10 amps. What's going on here?

[Anonymous No.1693604]

>>1693595
That's normal, it means you have no license.

[Anonymous No.1693608]

>>1693604
I guess I have no choice but to accept the cards I've been dealt.
I'm not a ham. I'm a pirate FM disc jockey. Farewell, gentlemen.

[Anonymous No.1693611]

>>1693595
What band are you TXing FM on?

[Anonymous No.1693615]

>>1693611
20/40 at the lowest power. Just trying to diagnosis and get the radio right so I can tune up and tx on SSB

[Anonymous No.1693628]

do I need a loicence if i live in eastern yurop?

[Anonymous No.1693632]

>>1693628
Probably. It usually goes hand in hand with getting a callsign.

[Anonymous No.1693637]

>>1693632
oh yeah i do
nvm then i guess i'll just get into drones or some other shit

[Anonymous No.1693648]

>>1693595
You should have learned the reason this happens while studying for your tech ticket. You should also have learned not to transmit FM on HF bands.

[Anonymous No.1693661]

>>1693648
Turns out I didn't come across either of these in the hour it took me to study a test that a 5 year old can pass.

[Anonymous No.1693722]

>>1693546
>kilowatts plural
egad man. But no, this is qrp from a battery-powered setup.
I suppose I will just remove it since it is adding complication, and at these levels it likely isn't even necessary.
I am mainly curious why it would have that effect when connected, though.

[Anonymous No.1693777]

Not exactly HAM, but would it be legal to transmit FRS from a device independent of a human? I.e. based on some kind of sensor input, send out a pre-recorded tone or even digital signal? Assuming the antenna is fixed and the signal power is <0.5W etc.

[Anonymous No.1693785]

>>1693777
Checked.
You could go up to 2 watts, and nobody would ever notice.

[Anonymous No.1693793]

>>1693785
So no laws against automated signals?

[Anonymous No.1693827]

>>1693793
pretty sure you just would have to broadcast your callsign every 10 minutes

[Anonymous No.1693834]

>>1693827
Not on FRS ...

[Anonymous No.1693836]

>>1693834
didnt read your assumption about power

[Anonymous No.1693844]

what's a fair price for vx 8dr with just the unit, stock antenna, and charger (not the cradle charger) and original manual and box

[Anonymous No.1693858]

>>1693793
family radio service unattended operation
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-08-29/pdf/2017-17395.pdf
47 C.F.R, Part 95
§95.587 - FRS additional requirements.
- Digital data transmissions must be initiated by a manual action or command of the operator
- FRS units may be designed to automatically respond with location data upon receiving an interrogation request from another FRS unit

[Anonymous No.1693860]

Any Mexicans in here? I know you can't get licensed in Mexico, but do the police there even actually enforce that law?

[Anonymous No.1693861]

>>1693722
>I am mainly curious why it would have that effect when connected, though
Bad coax

[Anonymous No.1693864]

>>1692001
> believing everything you read on the internet
> t. peak short bus posting
So for those who can understand words with more than 4 letters, some sensitivity tests:
> Airspy R2 : ~ 0.02uV / -139 dBm - $ 160ish
> R820 based RTL-SDR dongle : ~0.044uV / -135 dBm - $25ish
> Icom IC-781 : " < 0.16 uV / - 123dBm " - $10,000 ish in 1990
Granted this is from lab tests and spec sheet data, real world you'll never see close to these (local noise, antenna, system setup, etc.); but RF direct sampling systems literally are going to replace superhets as the dominant radio technology in the near future. They're not perfect, but they're a lot cheaper to implement, especially as ADC costs keep going down.
>>1692178
A lot of that old gear really is beat to hell. If you're an electronics guy and like projects; they can make fun restorations, though.
>>1693358
He's not joking, and you'd be surprised what a little 4W AM/SSB radio can do for local comms. If you get a decent antenna setup, 10-20 miles range is very possible. CB used to get a lot of hate because of all the wackers on it, but hardly anyone is on it in my area, except one construction company and a few randoms; plus whatever gets picked up when the skip comes in.
>>1693380
> Do I need to worry
We're talking a loss of 4% at 1.5:1 SWR, Only if you're running a boatload of power. If you have a tuner, i'd just match it at the transmitter and call it a day. If you're running QRP, probably no need for the choke if you're getting 1:1 across the board
> The choke
The choke is also adding inductance to your transmission line and, probably acting like a loading coil of sorts.

[Anonymous No.1693867]

>>1693861
>Bad coax
Possible. The choke is made from a leftover length I had lying around in the garage. I could also conceivably have goobered it when winding it onto the form I used.

>>1693864
Thanks, amigo. So far my plan is to omit the choke for now since its absence will evidently cause no real harm.
Then per the poster above I will try making a new choke with some known good coax to see if that works - if not I can just shitcan the thing and move on with direct feed as god intended.

[Anonymous No.1693869]

>>1693858
Well shit

That second part though might work for me since I'm really just asking to avoid paying for a cellular service for a GPS tracker (anti-theft). Would like to have an an accelerometer-triggered alarm too though. Maybe if the human-based FRS unit just pinged every 30 seconds there could be an accelerometer status tacked onto the location data

[Anonymous No.1693870]

>>1693858
WAIT A MINUTE ONLY Digital transmissions, so I could just have some automated analog sound signal played back from the sensor trigger... That would work.

[Anonymous No.1693911]

>>1693777
interesting question. sounds like it could go either way, i could see an fcc officer saying opening and modifying the radio makes the antenna no longer fixed like they expect. Then again that would require enforcement officers to exist. AND youd have to get caught.

[Anonymous No.1693912]

>>1693860
>mexico
>police
youre adorable.

[Anonymous No.1693962]

>>1693911
Actuate ptt with a servo and then feed audio via the mic jack

[Anonymous No.1693968]

>>1693962
sounds like you got it figured out. mind if i ask what use you found for frs outside of kids toys?

[Anonymous No.1693974]

>>1693968
I just want to make an anti theft device for my bike actually. GPS trackers require a sim card and that requires a subscription, for that price I could just get insurance. Also cops apparently don't always act on stolen bikes even with trackers. Im thinking if I could just get some kind of direct signal from the bike while I'm in a store/house/whatever that would be ideal. I'm never really that far from my parked bike, but usually too far or with too many/thick of a wall for wifi direct. I figured FRS must have better range and penetration than wifi and it's available to use without license. In my area listening to the FRS channels I never even hear anything anyway.
No idea if it'll work yet, and actually having to use a factory premade radio without modification probably just killed it unless they sell micro ones, but I figure somewhere inside the bike would be an accelerometer which would then get a ucontroller to feed a pre-recorded audio alarm to the radio when it senses too much movement, and of course I'd have another radio wherever I am so I can go and save my bike before it's stolen/vandalized or at least fuck the thief up.

[Anonymous No.1693976]

>>1693974
decent idea. sounds a bit bulky to be honest.
serious advice: move somewhere else.

[Anonymous No.1693989]

>>1693976
I'd have to move to Japan, my clunky BSO got stolen in a part of town with no score (i.e. safest) on the Trulia crime map

[Anonymous No.1694027]

>>1684698
Could any you guys help me find a simple diagram for a variable stub?

[Anonymous No.1694094]

I'm wanting to build a custom ham bench, any good examples out there?

I have an existing 1200x600 table I'd like to use, and heaps of 18mm ply, and 300x15mm pine boards. Have the following base station radios to mount to give an idea of what its needing to accommodate:
>Vhf marine radio
>CB radio (gme tx2720)
>SsB cb radio (uniden bearcat 9800ssb)
>Dual band VHF/UHF KT8900
Want to able to monitor multiple means simultaneously, have a mains to 12v powesupply to run them and dedicated antennas for each radio.

>Bench/desk/ham shack designs, what you got?

[Anonymous No.1694110]

>>1694094
Anything with a shelf above the desk you can mount them under.

[Anonymous No.1694119]

>>1693595
Try a new mic

[Anonymous No.1694193]

guys im digging around amazon and ebay looking for a *nice* coax crimper, but none of the brand names im seeing are jumping out at me, and none of the pictures look too impressive either. is there a premium quality coax crimper & die maker? i would like the ability to do various 50ohm and 75ohm connectors.

[Anonymous No.1694222]

life is short it is time to die.

[Anonymous No.1694264]

>>1693595
Try a new radio

[Anonymous No.1694266]

>>1693595
Try a new hobby

[Anonymous No.1694486]

>>1694193
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/?qs=kaOkW4VzSzcoF%2FkuYEQlmw%3D%3D

[Anonymous No.1694489]

>>1694486

[Anonymous No.1694499]

I'm kind of interested in amateur radio but not sure what I could practically use it for.
I definitely can imagine myself trying to practice foreign languages on shortwave. What is the voice quality actually like for intercontinental communication provided you have some decent hardware?

[Anonymous No.1694504]

>>1694499

[Anonymous No.1694506]

>>1694504
>what to use amateur radio for
what do you use any hobby for?
heres some things you can do though https://www.qsl.net/w2vtm/hamactivities.html
>>1694504
whats your point?

[Anonymous No.1694509]

New thread

>>1694508
>>1694508

[Anonymous No.1694871]

Just got my liscense today, Who should I contact first?

[Anonymous No.1694967]

>>1694193
https://www.amateurradiosupplies.com/ham-radio-tools-s/106.htm
They sell the jaws individually, if you need anything specific.I use the same crimpers at work (for different connectors) and they work very well.

[Anonymous No.1694974]

>>1684698
killed another one!