Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Ok. im looking into a bluetooth tnc to go to a tablet (Samsung 8e or,w/e). That has gps so i can work them together

 

Mobilelinkd.

 

@ETsemaj are you going back out into the truck tonight? Could try you via is-rf

 

Looks like aprsdroid is your only choice James.

 

What if I insert a zip code in front of the call sign?

 

LOL maybe

 

Whats thats?

 

I could try getting a message to you from my phone down to your local APRS tower

 

If you send a message to each other, it will automatically route through APRS-is to the other user. It works as long as both sides have an igate that is capable of gating IS->RF. Many gates are, but not all.

The message is routed to the gate, that heard you last.

The network is not sufficiently robust to send a message coast to coast via RF only. For long distance messages google "the golden packet"

 

Is there a way of finding info on repeaters with igates and their limitations?

 

Aprs.fi has a map with all stations

 

http://www.aprs.org/at-golden-packet.html

 

Yep just realized it was a silly question. If I can look it up on there it clearly has to be tied to the inet and the person using rf has to be hitting a node with APRS-if igate

 

Technically an igate could be connected to a private IP network, and a private APRS-IS. Rather then the public internet. That would be unusual.

I don't know an easy method to tell whether an igate is gating both ways. (Other then testing it) They all gate RF->IS. I've not heard of one that does not gate RF->IS. However, not all of them gate IS->RF. Some are made with RTL-SDR, so they have no transmit capability. So they're certainly not gating anything to RF. Even if they have TX capability, many will refuse to gate positions from IS->RF. Many of those will still gate messages (IS->RF) if that gate has heard that particular station recently. Position reports or otherwise.

It's not a silly question. I was just reviewing APRS.fi data to see if I could ascertain which gates go both ways, and which gate RF-IS only.

Of course, you can always attempt to ask the owner.

 

I just got put on the list, KE0VIG. I was all studied up and ready for the tech test then I went to a 6hr study session and they really messed me up. Anyways, I passed. I just have a little

$40 baofeng uv-5r ham radio long range handheld UV5R dual band 3800mah rechargeable two way radio walkie talkies for adults with earpiece,speaker mic and programming cable full kit (black-1pack)

baofeng uv-5r now but looking to maybe get a mobile for the truck down the road.

 

Congrats on passing!

 

Congratulations on getting your ticket. The Baofeng isn't a bad little radio. If you haven't done so, replace the rubber ducky with a 1/4 wave and that thing will perform very nicely.

 

Congratulations! I too recently passed my test and found the learning curve for me remains very steep. I started out with the baofeng but yesterday I finished installing my mobile rig (Yaesu FTM-400 XDR) into the Tacoma. I'm using the DMM mount but waiting on a part for the ram mount to finish it out the head unit. Amazon says today so I hope to get a pick up later.

 

I couldn't pass up a Retevis RT3S when they were on sale for $65 a few weeks ago. With a firmware swap, it will hold 120,000 contacts. However I had one hell of a time loading a CSV contact file. Turns out, you must have a copy of MS Excel on the PC you're writing contacts from. I found this out through trial and error, figured I'd share in case there are others like me that use non MS CSV editing software.....

 

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. @vssman I ordered a nagoya na- 771 and I can't pick up anything on it or the cheapo 1/4 band that came with the kit. Is there any way to test and antenna with a multimeter? My rubber duckie blows them both out of the water. Can't even pick up wx band on the 1/4 wave. Appreciate any advice.