Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Looks like a raspberry pi with a vnc app on the tablet to access WJST-x (FT8). I'd like to hear about the battery though

 

The battery is an Amazon special. It's a 12v, 22Ah SLA. Cheap PWM charge controller, and a 100w solar panel I had laying around. I don't plan on backpacking with it so I didn't bother spending 10x more on a lifepo4.

The Pi is loaded with a full digital suite. I was running JS8 when I took that photo. Old Samsung Tab 3 I had around running VNC as @m603holden said. NanoVNA-H as an antenna analyzer. I'm using a GPS module to keep time while not on internet.

Home built EFHW 40/20/10 antenna with no tuner.

I think that's everything.

 

Super solid. Great build.

 

So who's going to be the first that comes out with a raspberry pi Transceiver. We can't be that far away.

Most of the other sdr are using I7 processors.

 

Battery was $44.99.

$47 Mighty Max Battery ML22-12 - 12V 22AH Schumacher DSR ProSeries PSJ-2212 Jump Starter Booster Battery

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BSYQRU4?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

Might try some of the battery stores. The SLA batteries that I use in my dive lights are $150 ea from the light company. If you go to one of the local battery stores they're $17.99.

 

I'm a a small town boy. No battery stores here. The few places I have found that carry SLA batteries had lower capacity at a higher price. I looked though.

 

Howdy gents!

New ham here and I want to get into APRS. It’s actually the reason I pursued my license. I took the Tech and General after a month of studying. Passed both.

I am torn between the Kenwood TM-D710G and the new Yaesu FTM-300DR.

Anyone with either want to share their thoughts? I am leaning toward the Kenwood because it has the built in TNC. How hard is it to send messages WITHOUT APRSDroid on either unit? I am an Apple guy but might resort to buying a cheap android to run Gaia and APRSDroid.

Thanks!
-M KJ7OWD

 

I'm sure @m603holden will chime in. He's posted a few outlines on here if you search back a little ways.

I think the FTM looks better. Both will do APRS out of the box. Both require knob spinning for sending text. What people usually say is your decision might be made by the digital repeaters available in your area. Since a lot of these digital modes are manufacturer specific, the brand you get limit what digital repeaters you can access. I'm not sold on digital 2m/70cm repeaters so I've never use them (and I don't think there are any around me).

I have also not used either of those radios. If I was to get an out of the box APRS radio, it would probably be the FTM400 due to the touch screen. I use a TM-V71A with APRS Droid currently.

Both are quality, the Yaesu just looks nicer. Only other fancy thing I saw right awa is the Yaesu has an interesting frequency monitor mode where it monitors a lot of frequencies simultaneously (with an SDR) rather than scanning like a typical mobile radio.

 

Here it is: Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

 

Josh,

Thanks for the quick and insightful response. I am going to take the time to read the posted link next. There is a lot of good information there. I am based in Las Vegas and there is a ton of DMR repeaters here (two dozen??). You are the second person to recommend the Yaesu. I was interested in the Kenwood because it also has X-band repeat function. I would like to sit in my backyard with my cheap Baofeng HT and rag chew with the local club but my house is in a bit of a shadow and 5W doesn't seem to be enough to hit repeaters on the south side of town. I don't know if this is a deal breaker though. I am still so new to ham, thoughts on that?

With the Yaesu do I need a separate TNC modem to use the APRS functions? BTW I am more interested in the FTM-300 over the 400 because of the form factor, I want to put the smaller head unit on an Expedition Essentials powered accessory mount. Touch screen while bumping around off road seems problematic too.

Another Taco owner I met on the Ham FB group mentioned using his Yaesu, a modem, and then another device to run APRS Droid. Does the Kenwood talk directly to APRSDroid? I have been blowing up his DM inbox and feel bad because I have a million questions that come up along the way lol. Unfortunately he is on a trip right now so its radio silence for me.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Next up on the docket is going to be asking about antenna placement. I am trying to decide if hood mount would be better than on my RLD camper shell. I am wondering if my Front Runner slimline rack would make a good enough ground plane or if I should put it right on the SS camper shell. The rack is made of aluminum, do you think galvanization would be a problem?? The hood mount seems great but because of my lack of knowledge I am concerned about RF radiation (my truck is called the DadWagen because I usually always have my family with me) and if the reception wouldn't be as good if it was on the roof rack.

Thanks again so far!
-M

 

Crossband is the other thing I forgot to mention. I like having it on my Kenwood but don't use it often. There's some questionability of accessing repeaters through it due to a squelch tail loop where your radio hears the squelch tail off the repeater then has its own squelch tail that the repeater hears and they just keep kerchunking each other. I have heard it once over a repeater but have never caused it myself. Still, crossband is handy and the 71A does it right. I am not sure how the other radios handle crossband.

The FTM300 seems to be a FTM400 without the touchscreen so I would assume (without reading) that they have otherwise very similar features. None of the radios will talk directly to your phone/tablet from what I understand. My 71A uses a homemade bluetooth TNC that talks to my tablet. It plugs into the back of the radio. Really, it is just a little soundcard that accepts data from the tablet and turns it into audio. Someone hacked the 710 to work with APRSDroid but it included some new hardware. I like the map and texting features of the tablet for APRS rather than a small screen to scroll through.

My setup is a TM-V71A, NMO mount Larsen dual-band antenna in the center of my roof, DIY Mobilinkd, Samsung Tab3. Easy, cheap(ish), fully functional. I only recently purchase an HF mobile rig and TM-281. Not much experience with other quality radios for mobile. The 281 lives at home, the HF isn't actually a mobile unit yet, just semi-portable.

 

You mentioned dmr and then in the next sentence mentioned Yeasu. Yeasu doesn't make any dmr radios. You have to go to Motorola or China to get dmr. Also as the owner of a dmr mobile radio, I do NOT recommend it. Get an ht, 6x2 is one that is well recommended, and use a Hotspot and tether it to your phone, it opens far more doors than bringing a dmr mobile in the truck.

 

I would guess it's a failure in understanding all the terms that are similar. Digital modes on HF, digital modes on our VHF radios, and Digital Mobile Radio. All different things that don't necessarily mix.

Digital modes on the Yaesu and Kenwood are proprietary modes that transmit voice digitally rather than over an analog format. You get less audio drop-out until you do. What I mean is, voice won't have static over a digital signal when analog FM may. But, when the digital signal starts to fail, it fails completely while analog FM may still be readable although very noisy.

I know very little about DMR. It is kind of proprietary but seems to be very widely implemented. There are lots of articles online about what DMR is. Seems to have a lot of internet linking. I try and keep the internet out of my radio habits. If I have to use the internet to communicate, I won't use my expensive radios to do it. I'll use my cell phone or laptop. I'm kind of a downer on Echolink too. Seems like cheating.

 

This is whats happening. Thanks for the clarification. I have only had my call sign about a week and a half. Other than the rote knowledge for the test I am still learning all the different modes. I mainly want to use APRS so my family can track me and send me messages. I have a Garmin InReach but the messaging portion gets costly, especially if you don't go one month out into the sticks. Personally I would like to use the InReach on its most basic plan for SOS options and APRS to send messages home.

-M

 

Is the 6x2 a Btech? I feel like using this as my primary Tx/Rx will be limited because its still only 5 watts. The reason I want to get a Mobile system is to have a little more power at my disposal so I can hit distant repeaters.

Again, pardon my n00b.
-M

 

Asking questions is what it takes. The tests don't teach you how to use a radio or what to look for, that's what we are for.

Speaking of, what would be a good HF mobile mount? I plan to use Shark Hamsticks. Should I get a lip mount for the hood or build a bracket for the bed? The bed is mainly plastic so that seems problematic.

 

You do realize the letters on the keypad of the mic are there for typing messages, right?

 

Hadn't used one of those radios but... duh! Haha. I use that to key in memory names in the past. Didn't think about that with radios that do APRS.

 

No worries. We all start somewhere. The reason that I suggest an ht over the mobile dmr is that the mobile dmr is... How to put it lightly. It's garbage. I despise using it for anything but dmr. It's just junk. Get a real mobile unit like the v71a and get a dedicated dmr ht to use on dmr with a hotspot. Please accept this advice from someone who has all these radios and has them because mistakes were made.