Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

I know a couple Colorado TW members with those antennas. Haven’t heard any major complaints out of them, but don’t get the impression they are particularly impressive antennas from them either.

 

Three weekends ago I flew to a dry lake for a little backcountry fly-in. I setup my homemade TNC and

$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 for an APRS tracker.


I have a question about path settings. I don't want to digipeat but I want my location reports uploaded online. If I don't set a WIDE repeat path, my locations aren't uploaded. If I set a WIDE repeat path, I get an ugly message on APRS.fi saying "Seriously Bad Path." Is there a way to be uploaded through an IGate without being repeated by other digipeaters?

 

not a bad little setup.

 

Should just be able to limit your path to just one hop with the first one spent on receiving.

 

I set it to WIDE1-1. Maybe APRS.fi is just touchy.

 

Honestly you could justify WIDE1-1, WIDE2-2.

Which SSID are you claimed as?

 

I tried wide 2 on my ft3d, great radio. still playing with it.

 

Do you mean my callsign SSID I used or the path SSID?

 

anybody here have a FT-3D by chance?

 

I bought one on Friday.

 

DUDE, I am digging this, I picked one up from HRO monday. Cant seem to get my APRS to work right. they were sold out of the software and cable too.

 

What's wrong with the APRS? You don't need a cable, I use a micro SD card and downloaded RT systems.

 

nothing, I finally got it to work, FINALLY! I am a newb when it comes to DMR so I could just go buy a SD card and load the software onto that or ?

 

I'm not super familiar with DMR just yet, but yes you can download settings onto the SD card then upload it on the radio.

 

Yeah. There are repeater networks that'll i

callsign. I wonder if its just looking at the number and judging what your path is with that. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Give Wide 1-1, Wide 2-2 a shot. not sure if I have the spaces proper, but you get what I mean.

 

Gonna be even harder to do DMR on a radio that doesn’t do DMR. FT-3dr is a C4FM/wires X radio.

 

you sure? I have a open spot shark rf too

 

I was using -11. It judges it by using the altitude value ie. "/A=008521". I'll set it to WIDE1-1 and call it good. Looking at the last position report, it never hopped, it just got absorbed by the iGate. https://aprs.fi/info/a/KJ7LVZ-11 I think my path was set to WIDE2-1 which is doesn't really make sense but that is what I had used to try and make it not repeat. My longest tx was well over 100 miles on 4w.

On another note, I've got some ATMEGA329P SMD and THT ICs, two GPS modules, and a couple bluetooth modules. I'm designing some APRS modems. Some stand alone position reporting systems like a tinytrak but used with a seperate radio. Another mobilinkd variety, and a couple weather station varieties. Found a good Arduino library for the APRS transmission and receiving. It's from Micro Modem who also makes a mobilinkd type device.

 

I knew Open Spot 3 would do cross platform but didn’t think it was out yet.

I know of some repeaters that are linked into both systems. We have one here that’s DMR and C4FM combined. But, to select a room you have to be on one or the other for that system. I know of some Brandmeister rooms are setup with both sides linked also. Do tell. I just have a regular hotspot for mine that does all the different modes.


Not something I’d probably be interested in buying because I have both systems already but it’d be cool to know about.

 

I have a question for you guys and while I have decided to not go ahead with my ham radio setup, I hope you guys can still help me.

The groups that I wheel with have all decided to transition from CB and upgrade to GMRS. I have decided on the Midland mxt115 radio and am now trying to decide on the best antenna for me. I plan to use the radio for trail comms and highway convoys. Most of our communications are typically no more than five miles on the highway, and typically within 2 miles while in the mountains on trails with lots of trees around. My question is, would it be better for me to use a 3db ghost antenna on an NMO mount on the roof, or a 6db 32" whip on a ditch light bracket? The ghost antenna on the roof will be shadowed by my roof-top-tent behind it, and the whip will obviously be shadowed by the cab of the truck. With these considerations in mind, which antenna setup do you think will yield better performance out of my radio?

Thanks for any advice you may be able to give me.

Here are links to the products mentioned above.

Radio https://midlandusa.com/product/mxt115-micromobile-2-way-radio/
Ghost antenna https://midlandusa.com/product/micromobile-mxta25-3db-gain-ghost-antenna/
Whip antenna https://midlandusa.com/product/micromobile-mxta26-6db-gain-whip-antenna/