Official Colorado HAM and cheese thread

We are going to take 128 on the way back. I use aprsdroid for aprs on my tablet. It will show data on a map without cell or WiFi. Not sure what you mean by is APRS 2 way. You can send messages with it if that’s what you mean.

 

Why are you using a tablet if your radio has built in gps?

 

Just to display the aprs info on a map. The gps data is coming directly from my radio. Without the tablet my radio shows the direction and distance to another person beaconing, but it’s nice to see it on a map too. It’s totally usable without a tablet at all though and that’s how I do it most of the time.

 

I think he was wondering if 2 APRS rigs are out in middle of no where, can they see each other on a APRS display and answer is yes from what I know. No repeater is necessary.

 

i have used aprs droid and a baofeng with mobilinkd and a mag mount for the past 3 years. I think its a great setup because it also works with backcountry navigator which also supports the funtreks/charles wells add on.

 

Here's how the APRS coverage was for me on my short trip to Moab this weekend. This was using medium power on my radio (10w) and a Comet 27" antenna on a hood hinge mount. I expected the coverage to be good on I-70 which turned out to be true, but the coverage on the smaller highways to/from Moab was good too. Even in some deep, narrow canyons. As you can see from the map my beacons were getting picked up by digipeters and i-gates many many miles off my path.

 

APRS is a quasi-mesh. So if there's a digipeater it will listen to packets like any other radio. If it's just two radios, no I-gates or digipeaters, they'll just pass packets between themselves. All the radios within RF range will hear your packet but not all of them do anything with the data.

Any digipeaters are sniffing on the packets to decide what to do, whether to just repeat them, send them to the Internet, etc. That's what the WIDEn-n telling it, how to relay the packet. They operate on a store-and-forward concept, meaning they hear a packet, decode it, wait for the channel to be clear and re-transmit on the same frequency.

That's how the whole system can work with individual stations and repeaters on the same frequency. Watch when you transmit a packet, a couple of second later the digipeater will send your packet and that's when it shows up as a heard station on your list.

 

Have you tried a different antenna? You should be able to hit a dozen or more repeaters in Denver with your radio.

 

Does anyone use a Yaesu FT-2DR for APRS? I have purchased one and frankly, it has been an expensive bust. I was doing the aprs droid with mobilnk and it was bit clunky, so I went with the Yaesu. it seems like it never gets a GPS lock (which I believe it requires to for the APRS to work).

 

turns out i cant sit on the porch and have to walk into the backyard beyond the shadow of the house pretty much

 

you might try a quality Nagoya or diamond brand. I can sit in my basement with my baofeng and hit repeaters 15m away. same with my yaesu. makes a big difference. Unless you have some major RFI at your house.

 

got me a new call sign! thanks to @YamaDirtrider

K0OOP

 

This might have been answered at some point in the last 49 pages... but I will ask again. Why are there 2 Excel files in the Google Drive? Is there a difference? I just downloaded the latest one to do a comparison to what I have loaded vs 2 other files I got.

 

They're the same except one is a Google sheet.
Don't remember if I did that on purpose or if it converted it automatically.

 

Ah OK. Good deal.

 

I have question for the knowledgeable HAMs out there (obviously I am not)

I'm looking to add a Yagi Wi-Fi repeater antenna to travel trailer. My bright idea was to mount the yagi to the TV antenna that we never use. This would allow the antenna to raise lower and have 360 degrees rotation which would be great for a directional antenna. Added bonus is there is already coax running to the TV antenna so I won't have to run anymore cable.

Here is the TV antenna mast thats already on the trailer.

This is the Wi-Fi repeater antenna I'm looking at.

I was going to mount the yagi to one of the fins of the TV antenna with square u-bolts.

My question is will I need to cut off the fins of the TV antenna to prevent interference or am I over thinking it?

Thanks!

 

-Can a standard Firestik be used as an antenna for a 2m HAM setup?

-If not, does anyone have a whip they'd recommend that would mount up to your standard CB/Firestik spring mount?

I've already got CB hooked up, and I'd like to just utilize the antenna system for HAM instead of running/hiding new wiring.

 

I looked into this at one point and determined that running new wire and new antenna was the best option for me. I do believe that firestik makes a 2m ham antenna though that’ll screw right into a CB stud. I’ll see if I can find a link.

EDIT: Here’s one. They probably have other colors/lengths too.

$37 FireStik 2m-4 Bk 4' Black 2 Meter Fiberglass Antenna

https://www.amazon.com/FireStik-2m-4-Black-Fiberglass-Antenna/dp/B000SA4DK0

 

Cheers. From what I've been reading, the 3/8-24 thread doesn't allow contact ideally for 2m. Looks like I'll probably have to just bite the bullet and run a new antenna.

 

Working on my antenna placement for upcoming radio changes. The "wide band" 2m/70cm antenna on a hood lip mount. This antenna claims gains in the indirect line of sight communications, COMPACtenna. I mounted it on a Diamond K400SNMO mount to the back of the hood. The Devils Radio (CB) is a President "New York" antenna, it is a mag mount and will be center mounted on the roof in front of the rack. I need to finish up that Tundra job so I can get my runner in the garage.


Antenna site with videos

https://compactenna.com/