Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

lol, didn't make the connection between the national calling frequency. it was either that or "omg, someone uses 6 meter!!!"

 

Oh yeah I completely understand! It's not like I'm going out on some big adventure and using this to save my life. Rarely am I in a situation where I have no cell coverage. But if some freak accident happened at least I would be slightly more prepared then a guy with just a cell phone.

 

No I've never made it down to the 6 meter band.

I can't say that I'm a die hard HAM. I don't have a "shack" at home and am only ever on the air when I'm in my truck. Heck I only got into HAM because about 6 years ago the local Jeep club I was in all decided to go to 2m for it's benefits over CB. Still to this day the technical aspect of it and the "comms" part of HAM is really the only parts the appeal to me. I'm just not much a rag chewer I suppose.

 

Are you saying that listening to a couple of "Elmers" cry about their bunions all morning isn't the height of entertainment to you? Shame...

 

Ha! You get it.

 

Yeah, so I encourage you to check it out because it's a slick feature, but don't get your hopes too high and definitely play around with it before you get into a situation where you need to send a text out of service. Like Stanley was getting at, it's likely that you will not be able to reach a digipeater, especially with just an ht on 5w. A full mobile rig with 50w and a nice antenna is much more likely, but still hit-or-miss depending on location.

And I second using a usb battery to extend your phone battery. I've had excellent luck with Anker and the unit I have will provide at least 2 full re-charges of a medium-sized smart phone, so that drastically improves your operating time.

 

This could be a handy programming set
8 in 1 USB Programming Cable For Motorola Kenwood BAOFENG Radios & Mobile Radios
https://bnc.lt/4Sug/Lu0Nt3Vsdt

 

I would be wary of Chinese made cables. A lot of them are using FTDI serial/usb chips that are fakes. When the FTDI drivers get auto-installed from windows it'll die and never work again.

 

I have quite a few knockoff ftdi's for the quadcooters and such, you just have to install an older version for the silabs drive and your good to go!

 

it's not real until you post the link for the drivers.

 

Another question from the newbie here..... Is a igate its own separate receiver? Or are they inside digipeaters?

 

IGATES are receive only. They send the data from the transmissions they receive to the APRS-IS service that they're configured to send data to.

aprs.fi is a good example of one of many APRS-IS services.

 

https://m.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/2iktoz/how_to_fix_arduino_knockoffs_serial_port_driver/

I will get a link to the actual driver in a day or so

 

Okay. Can packet data reach an IGATE through digipeaters?

 

Theoretically yes, a digipeater would need to be merely configured to rebroadcast transmissions to an IGATE listening on the same frequency.

 

Oh. so under normal conditions you will need to directly contact a IGATE to get data on APRS-IS?

Thanks for the help!

 

Sorta, not quite. Some people may connect an IGATE to their digipeater setup since most people in the USA have internet access and the data requirements for forwarding APRS packets to an APRS-IS service isn't crazy high, even for a 56K modem. If you're going to go to the trouble of running a digipeater, it probably makes sense that your setup has the reception and power in your area, so you might as well run APRS-IS since the cost to you is negligible.

The other thing is that digipeaters are a bit interesting because instead of repeating on different frequencies that they receive on, they send and receive on the same frequency 144.390mhz. This complicates things if you're running a non-standard APRS frequency because, most likely, nobody is gonna hear you unless it's an intended party you've mentioned the frequency to.

 

This is where I'm getting lost.... why would you have a digipeater with you? Won't your radio transmit just as far as the digipeater if your using them in the same place?

I understand the rest of it...just not having your own digipeater.

 

I'm lost too, where did I say I'd have a digipeater with me?

A digipeater's only duty is to receive and retransmit.

It's literally a digital repeater.

A digipeter is typically setup in a static location for a long term deployment. Of course with Ham, anything goes. A digipeater setup for long term use is likely to be at someone's home or atop some ridge somewhere with an internet link of some sort. At the same time, there's nothing stopping a person from setting up a digipeater without internet access for a trip for a couple of hours for a specific purpose.

I think you're confusing a person merely using APRS from the duties of a repeater. Just because you're alone in the woods Sending and Receiving APRS packets does not mean you are or have to be a repeater.

To be considered a repeater, the station would have to receive and THEN send the packets without any modification to the transmission to count as a repeater.

 

I get what a digital repeater is and its function. So, for example, I could have a digipeater in my truck. Its function would be to receive and transmit APRS data from my handheld will walking through the woods. This is what your saying they are used for?

I was just getting confused cause it sounds like you were saying that I would have a digipeater in my truck and then it would receive and transmit data that I'm sending while in my truck.... Which I guess makes since, but only if it can transmit my data with more power then the radio im using to send data to it.

So your saying that people make there own digipeater so they have a place that is sort of a relay for information? A stationary kinda base camp that when there away from it, they can send data to it so that data can travel farther through other digipeaters.


After reading your statement another time I think we are on the smae page about what I was getting confused about. I think it makes since now!