Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Yes, I've been eyeing that mount as well. Looks very nice!

 

Awesome, thanks!

 

I thought I was the only one that had one of those! It’s a cool rig. Coincidentally, yesterday I pulled mine out of storage and hooked it up in my garage just for fun. Thinking it might be really dood for a Hammo-can go box.

 

Well i took my tech test last Thursday and just checked online and theres my calling. KN4TOB

 

Awesome, congrats! K8JLW

 

KD7TRD

Always fun when someone on the local repeater says "Hey, TRD like toyota? Are you the guy in the white truck we always see around town?"

 

Congrats James!

 

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Well just got my aprs to work! So thats a plus today. Now time to try and find someone to talk to

 

I’ll talk to you on xbox live. Lol

 

Ill be on in a minute. Making my first contact

 

Pretty sure division 2 online is pretty laggy over a 9600 baud connection

 

Installed an Icom 2730a yesterday. Sounds great so far, but I'm definitely going to add an auxiliary speaker. I may also use the magnetic faceplate mount and put it under the radio, but I don't mind it where it is with double sided tape. Checked in to the local net last night using only 5w and it worked great.

 

I am looking to get my license soon. I'm pretty confident I can pass the exam without issue.

My main concern is a financial one. I don't want to waste a bunch of money on bad equipment. I will browse through the thread as well to see what's out there, but I wanted to go ahead and ask yall's opinion. I want to pursue a vehicle mounted option both for the unit and antenna. I am pretty set on

$15 Youmei Dual Band NMO Antenna Small Cannon Style Antenna UHF/VHF 400-470/136-174MHz 50W for Car Mobile Radio

this antenna for day to day stuff and I will just carry a longer antenna in the vehicle for if I need to reach further. I want to mount the unit itself somewhere inside the cab but discreet. I don't live in the safest city so I don't want any expensive looking equipment just sitting on the dash. Any suggestions?

I would prefer to stay under 300 for the unit itself but I can spend more if the benefit is there.

 

I don't know anything at all about that brand of antenna. Couldn't say anything other than, I'd go with a name brand. Off brand antennas are notoriously bad. A lot of folks use a lip mount on the edge of their hood to mount an antenna. As for radios, I'd first search repeaterbook.com for the repeaters in your area. See if they are mostly VHF or UHF, a good mix of both, or digital. If a good mix a dual band would be better, but if primarily one or the other, then a single band, of course. You can get a Yaesu single band for not too much, and they are outstanding. Either VHF or UHF. TYT or Alinco makes some decent entry level dual banders. Dual band in a name brand gets above $300 quick. Just some thoughts off the top of my head.

Good luck on the test!

Edit: You got me to looking at radios! for $279 you can get an Icom dual band with remote head unit (great radio). Radio goes under the seat with mic coming up from it, you can mount the head unit just about anywhere, and when not in use, put the head unit in the glove box, and mic under the seat. No radio to be seen.

https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=71-001866

 

That's the radio I just installed. Be sure to purchase the mounting bracket (sold seperately) so you can strap it to the underside of the seat. you're going to want to let it breathe. With the bracket you'll be around $300 after the $20 mail in rebate

 

My rig is fairly well hidden. And easily removed head. Details in build thread. Hard to hide the antenna. Transceiver is completely out of sight and head is hard to see.

 

Those salt shaker antenna's do not work very well. They work, but definitely a compromise. There are tuned ones out there. If you tune it to a specific frequency, then they are less bad. But they are locked to that frequency, which is generally a poor choice for Amateur radio.

Nothing beats a true 1/4 wave. Everything else is a compromise. I like the

$53 Comet B-10NMO 146/446 MHz Mini Dual-Band Mobile Antenna 12" NMO Connector

Comet B-10NMO on a drilled NMO mount in the center of the roof. It's very non-discreet, and it's not any higher then the AM/FM whip on the fender on my Gen2.