Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Congratulations on passing. 17' won't be long enough. I used closer to 24 when I went from the driver tailgate to under the driver's seat. There is a lot of up and down and routing around stuff that really eats away at the length on the coax.

 

Good to know-

I found a MNO mount with 30ft coax attached and no connector on the other end so Ill probably go that route. Will let me run it and trim the excess and then install the connector.

 

Hi DrewDown, So the first question is how much positioning/finding each other do you want to do? If you guys are just wanting something to talk voice on to talk to each other while camping all near each other I would all get handhelds, doesn't have to be crazy could but be baofengs, sit down with each other and pick a frequency (simplex) or two that you want to use as your talk channel. Now it sound like you might be wanting to do more of a someone goes out Thursday and picks a spot but the other two guys need to find him on Friday after they get off work. Here is where I would start. Go to https://www.radioreference.com/ look the in the frequency database. Choose your state and area you are looking to go start making a spread sheet of all the repeaters you would like to program into your radios. If you copy the callsign and search it in google or something often you can find either a webpage for the repeater or some other site that list the location or mountain top its on. If you are looking to do more of that I would suggest each person gets a mobile set up in their vehicle and maybe even build a base camp radio set up with a battery. Mobile radios will do much higher power output and will allow you to hit a repeater at much further distance than what a handheld will do. And again you can use the handhelds and mobiles to talk to each while out and about.

Now if you really want to get into it you can do APRS, Automatic Packet Reporting System. Here is a good place to start for that. http://www.aprs.org/
Though position reporting is not the only thing APRS does it is one of the main things it is used for. There is a national frequency, there are repeaters on this frequency across the nation. Now you don't have to use that frequency for it you can choose a simplex frequency and have everyone set to it and only those will receive the information. You can also pass it though another public repeater however you need to be careful with that because it can be a high transmission rate which will crowd the repeater and you can make people mad if you do that. But if you set it to send say once an hour just to put your position out to any of your friends listening that would be okay. https://www.byonics.com/ is a website that has stuff to do APRS, some companies are making APRS capable handhelds and mobiles right out of the factory. I've been eyeing setting up an APRS system for camping. https://www.argentdata.com/products/otplus.html is another place that I've heard good things about.

Thats where I would start

 

Awesome thanks for such a thought out reply. I will look into the things you mentioned!

 

Negative, but I've got the book for it and I'm studying now.

 

Just picked up my book today

 

Guys, I'm back. I re-read my posts back from around page 97 and the informatiion you gave me was very helpful. I wanted to hear opinions on the Yaesu FT-8900R. My conditions are a detachable face and aviation RX. I have done some reading and it seems that a lot of 10m radios can be modded to work on CB freqs. Is that true? If that were the case, would I be able to have all the different bands work with one antenna? I am still wanting to get into HAM, but am starting to think that it might be best to buy once and cry once.

 

The 8900 and 8800 will Rx aviation bands.

I have never heard of modding a ham radio to work 11m (CB). But it might be possible. You would need a quad band or several antennas and a switch of sorts.

Honestly I would have a ham and a separate CB.

 

a ditch bracket should work for you. Diamond makes a good 2m/70cm antenna. Tri band or quad band antenna would be overkill for you. get a couple spare whip antennas for 10meters and 6 meters then store them under the rear seat. Not very much to be heard on 10 meter or 6 meter FM mode. They are fine bands for SSB and CW and some data modes. 6 meters you might find a repeater in your area. On 10 meters everything that is designated for FM mode (simplex phone or repeater) is on the upper part of 10 meters outside of the technician class privilege.

if im incorrect about the band plan, someone please chime in

 

Thanks!
I ordered everything for my "Hammo Can": 12v 9Ah AGM battery, voltage gauge, 12v input for wall charger, 12v input for external battery power, and a double-pole double-throw switch to switch between the two power sources. All in a 50cal ammo can. Should be a fun little build.

 

Yout can definatly mod certain 10 meter radios for 11 meter use. In fact that's what I run..I mean this guy I know does..... Allot of the import 10 meters are actually built to be modded as a high power 11 meter. Its illegal and you could possibly be fined for doing so. With that said you could buy lottery tickets and wait for the FCC to care and see what happens first. Since that little radio runs a few hundred bucks I'd ask a tech about modding it to make sure you don't brick it. If you go with setup I look forward to seeing it!

 

Long time listener, first time caller.

Got my ticket a few months back. My life/location is pretty urban and I don't want to advertise that I'm running a ham radio in my Tacoma, so I was considering re-purposing the stock antenna as my dual-band since I never listen to AM or FM in my truck. According to my research, if I trim to ~19.5 inches I can have 1/4 wave for 2M and 3/4 wave for 70cm. (I think - this is all pretty new to me still)

Plan is to DX via 5w Baofeng handheld initially, perhaps a mobile radio long-term.

Thoughts on that approach? Has anyone done that? I know it is not ideal but my situation doesn't allow for additional antennas so I either have to repurpose what's there or go covert, and I can't find a decent covert option.

Thanks in advance - Cheers! - Brian (K2BMC)

 

Drew,
I am from Tucson, born and raises and just recently moved out of state, but there are a bunch of repeaters in southern AZ. EAARS is a huge linked repeater system. http://www.eaars.com/eaarsnetwork.html for more info. Also, for going places you've never gone before, https://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/index.php?state_id=none this is a great site to use. There is also an app for your smartphone which is insanely easy to use and very handy at times. Hope this helps.

 

There is a guy on this site that tried to make his radio antenna as a 2m antenna. He was able to tune it well, but he ended up scrapping the mission if I remember correctly. You could probably find it after a quick search.

Is there a reason why you don't want to "advertise" that your a ham? General public doesn't know what the heck the antenna is for. Most people think its a CB. I can't tell you how many times people came up to me at a gas station and asked me what kind of CB i have and well it works.

 

Hmm, maybe I should talk to a guy before buying... Thanks for the reply

 

Hammunition Can complete! A company sells these for $300+ without the transceiver. I've got about $50 in this one, not including the TYT 9800. 9Ah battery power, switchable to 12v shore power and wall charger input. BAM!

 

Give us more details, build list?

 

@conifers4 this is sweet...

 

You make something that cool you NEED to post a writeup!!

 

LOL. You're right.

Standard 50cal ammo box
TYT 9800 quad-band Transceiver

$24 ExpertPower EXP1290 12 Volt 9 Amp Rechargeable Battery

9Ah 12v AGM battery

DIGITEN 0.56" Red DC 4.5-120V Digital Voltmeter Voltage Measurement 2 Wires Gauge LED Panel

12v volt gauge

$8 Gardner Bender GSW-14 Electrical Toggle Switch, DPST, ON-OFF, 2 A/125V AC, Screw Terminal

Toggle Switch

PeleusTech Battery Charger, 12V 14.4V 1A Portable Lead Acid Battery Smart Charger Maintainer - Black

Wall battery charger
A pair of XT60 Panel mount connectors on a 90-degree roofing strap from Lowes



I'll have a full write up soon!