Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Did that for a while with my Yaesu VX-7R. Better results, but still only 5watts

 

That is exactly why i bought mine. APRS, emergency backup, hiking, camping, and having a 2nd HT for events or loaning out one (I haven't seen my FT-60R in a long time). But that is the great think about His, they do so much.

If I could justify it, I would sell my d72 and buy a d74, I like the bluetooth and D-Star. But my 72 is a work horse and I can't ever see letting it go.

 

With a my external antenna, throughout the valley of the sun, I can hit a repeater in the north valley never having to change freqs. I get a +12db if I remember correctly. It's a comet 2/70 antenna and I love it. They have even better gains now as I've had mine a few years.

Traveling I'm not as dialed into where the repeaters are so I have a more difficult time w/ dead spots but it's a great way to get going for sure.

 

You get what you pay for. IMO, Yaesu, Kenwood, Icom, etc. are well worth their money. The baufang, etc. have their place in the market but.....
Love my Yaesu VX-7R, especially with the optional add ons like temp, barometer and built in emergency capabilities.

 

I ran a baofeng conneted to both a commet and then a diamond 770 atenna off the corner of the bed. The diamond atenna got up higher then the commet which helped... but as soon as i switched to a proper mobile - yaesue 100dr - it was a night and day difference. Deads spots for receiving before were now coming in crystal clear and able to tx clearly as well - muxh better then the ht. Now a higher quality ht might make a difference .....also the 100dr is a much ckeaner install with alot less clutter

 

From gigaparts.com

 

Next topic - antenna mounting. I'm not sure where would be the best to put one on my truck, or the least worst place. I have a tent over the bed and frequently have kayaks on the roof. Seems like an antenna on a tailgate mount, roof mount or hood mount would all be equally blocked by something.

 

You only mentioned cargo in your bed and on your roof...

Why wouldn't hood mount work?

Edit: hood mounted shouldn't interfere any more or less than your am/fm antenna I would think? Your thoughts?

 

Hood mount or even rack mount, if you have the room to secure it safely. Just put a piece of sheet metal under, as big as you can for a ground plane. Hood mounts work great and give the added bonus of being able to keep eyes on it.

 

I figured the hood mount would have signal blocked by the cab and anything on the roof rack, the tail gate would be blocked by the tent and roof rack items, and the roof rack mount would be blocked by kayaks. Just wasn't sure which location would experience the least signal loss.

 

Stupid question but do you want the rf shooting in the windshield? Forgive my ignorance.

 

The hood mount gives you the hood as a great ground plane.

I had a tailgate mount and when I put the shell on, the signal loss was so minor, it wasn't an issue. However, when I put my new rear bumper with tire carrier, that location became unusable. I have pulled the shell for a week and the signal came back. So the combo of shell and rear tire carrier killed that location, not one alone.

This is also were RF pattern out of 1/4, 1/2, and 5/8 wave antennas comes into play. Are most of your repeaters up on mountains or is everything you doing along flat ground?

I can't find the chart that shows each antenna's radiation pattern, sorry.

Not enough to be an issue, but a good question.

 

Most of the repeaters around here are up on hills.

 

If I remember right, if not someone will correct me. 1/2 wave will go out long and flat, while 1/4 wave will go out at a greater angle. 5/8 wave does a little bit of both.

 

This what you're looking for?



Keep in mind, the wave propagation in the pic above changes with antenna location, VSWR, frequency in use, blah blah blah...

 

N5RKE here.

Yaesu Ft-7800 mounted under the passenger seat, Byonics MicroTrak APRS:

(Looks like I need to do some cleaning!)

 

Passed the tech exam yesterday, now I need to figure out what I want to do for a radio setup. So many options.

 

Congratulations! Let us know when you receive your call. I hear that they are often available online in a matter of days now, whereas "back in the day" you had to wait for what seemed like an eternity for the ticket to arrive in the mail.

I took my Novice, Tech, and 5 wpm code at the Albuquerque hamfest in August 1990, and impatiently waited until my license arrived the end of October. Took the General and 13 wpm code a few years later, but even though the new ticket didn't arrive for the same time frame I was able to exercise my new privileges using the AG suffix.

73 de N5RKE

 

KL4NB. I'm impressed with how fast the club here sent in the paperwork and the FCC processed it.

 

Nice thing about Alaska is the fact that you get a 2x2 right from the start. Down in the lower 48 they are 2x3, and some of them are very cumbersome.

Kilo Lima 4 November Bravo has a nice ring to it.