Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Why so fancy

Plain rubber band for the cheap.

 

I figured it out and you were on it. The audio level on the phone was set too low. It was at 20%, bumped it up to 80%.

That's about when I figured it out lmao. It was the audio level setting on the phone. It was at about 20%, adjusted it to 80% and boom...I appear on the map. Then I went to bed.

 

Change your icon you nerd. Haha

 

Better?

 

There's only one right choice

 

Damn skippy!

 

Come on, guys...

 

I wish they had the eggplant symbol

 

Hopped in on a Echolink node last night. It was an ongoing net in PA and net control was in FL. Then after that there was a local IRLP/Echolink net that I listened to on a VHF repeater. Tried to check in but they couldn't hear me. I had a borrowed

$50 UV-5R 8Watt UHF/VHF Radio with 2 Rechargeable Battery, Portable Radio for Adults with Earpiece, GV-771 Antenna, Compatible with BAOFENG Programming Cable (3rd Gen)

UV-5R Beofang. Not impressed. 3.3 miles from the repeater.

 

That would be rad

 

IRLP and Echolink can be weird in the way the audio mixes with over-the-air audio. You might have been getting into the RF side of your local repeater but not trigger the link or the linked repeater might have a voting scheme that wasn't letting you in. Nets over IRLP need the stations to leave significant pauses to let links reset.

 

Net control could hear the break and hear noise but the voice wasn't clear enough to understand.

 

Interest. Does the HT sound alright over the air? What about other stations trying to use Echolink on that repeater?

BTW, are we talking about the one on Abajo Peak? If so I just tried connecting to node 64264 (which I think is it) and it rejected a connection from my computer, it'll only do RF node linking.

This sounds like a sound card issue on the repeater, assuming the radio sounds reasonably OK otherwise. BTW, also make sure your HT isn't set to half deviation or narrow bandwidth or something like that.

 

I spent the night in Price so I was using the repeater in Price. I haven't used the handheld to talk to anyone else before so I am unsure of its performance otherwise. I'll have to look into the bandwidth settings.

The guy I borrowed this handheld from has tried to make contacts with me before on one of his handhelds and it always sounds crummy on my end. I don't know if he was using this handheld or his other. I was in my truck and could hear everyone else fine. Several full quieting conversations from my TM-V71A with other people. I even put the Larsen back on and had good response on Bald Mesa 2m two days ago. Thanks for pointing out that antenna was fine, BTW.

 

Guessing that radio is set up wrong or maybe junk (like wildly off frequency). IRLP and Echolink tap the repeater audio and digitize it so if the bandwidth is too narrow or the quality is poor the ADC is going to have trouble. It'll sound like a bad VoIP connection or like when your cell phone hits the fringe of cell. It's not a graceful fall, it goes from OK to complete gibberish and out of order packets. On analog the sound might not be as offensive.

 

You called it again.

 

Narrow is 12.5khz and wide is 25khz. That's a bit wider than the typical FM 2m bandwidth. Utah spacing is considered +-10khz or 20khz bandwidth. The band plan states typical observed bandwidth of 15khz.

 

My Baofeng belongs where this plunger belongs. Surprising how a ~$50 walkie talkie doesn't work as well as a $400 rig...

 

Channel spacing and occupied bandwidth are independent. Utah follows a 20 KHz channel spacing on 2m, Colorado uses 15 KHz. But that doesn't change the deviation and filters you use.

In this case with a maximum audio frequency of 3 KHz the 12.5 KHz (narrow) results in a deviation of +/- 2.5 KHz and an occupied bandwidth of 11.25 KHz. This is the 11K2F3E emission mode to the FCC.

Same audio frequency of 3 KHz using 25 KHz (wide) setting results in a deviation of +/- 5 KHz and an occupied bandwidth of 16 KHz. This is the 16K0F3E emission mode.

Why this is requires understanding the Carson Bandwidth Rule. Before going any further, are (or were) you an engineering or math major?