Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Why are some models listed on Amazon but not on baofengs website?

 

No clue really. Most of the Baofeng models are all the same boards and firmware just packaged differently. IRC the latest and most up to date radios are based on the

$40 UV-5R 8Watt Ham Radio Handheld Long Range UHF/VHF Radio with 2 Rechargeable Battery, Portable Radio for Adults with Earpiece, GV-771 Antenna, Programming Cable (3rd Gen)

UV-5R board.

My personal favorite is the UV-B5 and the UV-82 for form reason mostly. I have 4 of the BF-888's re programmed to FRS and GMRS freq for handing out to friends and family when needed.

 

the newest one is the BF-F8+ which is an updated

$40 UV-5R 8Watt Ham Radio Handheld Long Range UHF/VHF Radio with 2 Rechargeable Battery, Portable Radio for Adults with Earpiece, GV-771 Antenna, Programming Cable (3rd Gen)

UV-5R with an 8W final amp

 

Ahhh I didn't know that. It's been a little while since I've looked them up or bought one. Thanks for setting me straight.

 

A straight cable can work, but it's a little finicky. I use the easy digi setup so I can charge my HT and my phone to do APRS. The easy digi uses an optically coupled vox circuit to eliminate ground loop emi. it's been really reliable so far.

I don't know of any base station or mobile radios that have VOX. And even w/o vox, you could build a vox circuit to get an Android to work with APRSdroid on a radio like the FT-2900R

 

I thought it was the

$63 BF-F8HP (UV-5R 3rd Gen) 8-Watt Dual Band Two-Way Radio (136-174MHz VHF & 400-520MHz UHF) Includes Full Kit with Large Battery

BF-F8HP.. ?

 

same thing. Like 8 names for the same radio. Much like the 8 versions of the

$40 UV-5R 8Watt Ham Radio Handheld Long Range UHF/VHF Radio with 2 Rechargeable Battery, Portable Radio for Adults with Earpiece, GV-771 Antenna, Programming Cable (3rd Gen)

UV-5R(AlphabetSoup)

 

I really wish Baofeng would scratch the stupid flashlight on top and put a physical squelch knob on all their models. That's one of the reasons why I liked the UV-B5 so much.

 

@teamhypoxia

Hey man, and anyone else wanting to make a cable for APRSdroid.

I took another look at the cable I made back in 2014 and cut open the heat shrink and it turns out I did solder in two 500ohm resistors placed inline of the RX and TX wires. It was so long ago I couldn't remember what I did!

So yea... use the resistors.

 

I've been listening to 10m fm on my ft-8900 in my truck lately. I know 10m isn't regularly open yet, but past few days I've heard a guy from the Bronx. He could hear me, but couldn't make out my full call. Yesterday I heard a guy from Houston. He couldn't hear me at all. Not sure if I'm just getting sporadic E, scatter or ducting? But excited for it to open! Both of them were crystal clear!

 

OK, Hams, I need some guidance.

With the help of my local drive time net, I was able to determine that my Rx issues on my motorcycle is being caused by my LED driving lights mounted to the front of the bike. Someone said they had heard of LED lights putting out major RF.

Any one have suggestions that I can try to fix this issue without replacing the lights? Is replacing them my only course of action?

I am guessing a few RF chokes are my best choice.

 

I don't have any ideas for you but if you solve it I'd like to know how.
I can confirm that I have to turn up the squelch on my cb when I turn my leds on, so they definitely do emit rf.

 

Just ordered some Ferrite chokes, so hopefully I can deal with this weekend. Apparently it is a major issue with LED lights. They are causing a 3-4 feet RF Rx dead zone around my bike. Not a good thing when trying to use an HT.

 

What band(s) are you having interference on? I have one of these on my light bar. Three wraps . Cleaned up my 857D. But doesn't seem to help on 17 meters.

 

2m & 70cm

The lights are within a foot of my HT, mounted onto of my side mirrors.


Not a great pic, but you can see the lights. I have my HT mounted between the handle bars and an antenna on the rear case.

 

Well I just tested my 2/70 baofeng to my ferrited/ un-ferrited light bar and it was definitely day and night. I had to hold the antenna to the ferrited light bar to lose dx on a local net doing roll call.

You have enough power wire on the lights to do a few wraps?

 

Well, I'd try this first to troubleshoot. If you had handheld HT that's not connected to your power system, is there still a dead zone?

If not, then it's a power issue, get yourself some clean power and call it a day. BTW, ferrite chokes do not count as clean power, use an isolation transformer.

 

I have plenty of extra wire tucked away.

I haven't gotten around to wiring the HT into the bike, ground looping will be another ballgame with the HT and the bluetooth adapter, so they are both on their own "battery power". I have walked the bike with the lights on and I can't get within 3 ft of the back 3/4 of the bike without loosing all Rx. I can't get within 5-6ft of the front of the bike without loosing Rx.

 

So generally with LED Lighting, the common setup is to use a pwm-based voltage regulator. Like Solar panels, these things send pulses of electricity down the line kinda like using your hand to spin a wheel. As we know with the flow of these f*cking electrons, they create f*cking magnetic fields, which in turn create f*cking EMI.

f*cking A.

So unless you decide to change the circuitry supporting the LED or specifically shield the electronics with a faraday cage, there's nothing you can really do to minimize the interference. The wiring itself is likely acting as an antenna. In this situation if you were to go the scorched earth method, you would use a ground loop transformer to separate the lighting from your power system, use shielded wiring, and use aluminum foil around the power circuitry.

The other choice is buy other lights.

 

http://www.k0bg.com/rfi.html