Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Wanted to give it a try, but wanted to see if it's a complete waste of time. Would like to have everything sitting on my tailgate.

 

Just make a nice DC to DC jumper to the battery and transmit.

 

Thanks guys, sometimes I need to talk out loud.

 

thats why i quit taking on 2m repeaters

 

Are you admitting you said some dumb things for the whole RF world to hear, Ben?

 

Retevis helmet radio is on sale. Be the envy of the overland crowd:

https://www.retevis.com/RA616-PMR-ultra-high-temperature-warning-helmet-Radio

Not sure what high temperature has to do with it, a Chinese translational issue, perhaps.

 

Yea all the locals know Who I am....

But I am on the grand scale.... HF now...
I still monitor the local 2m, i rarely say anything anymore. On HF I'm always looking for those DX contacts.
Daily routine to look at the

 

@BenMara I have a long drive and have made several friends on the local 2m system. I have a few simplex frequencies I contact people on along my drive too. Been enjoying my new-to-me D710G. That said, HF is where all my money goes. Been eyeballing that 85' Spiderbeam mast. It makes my 40' Spiderbeam look like it has micromast syndrome.

The Solar-Terrestrial Data is okay but in the end, the only way to check propogation is to key up. I've made lots of contacts when the band was "Fair" or "Poor" so I don't actually look at it that often. I'll be excited the the SFI climbs above 100 though. 10m and 6m will be great while portable! Currently 40m is where I hang out.

 

No issue with translation, it says what it is. OSHA and others getting into letting others know when it's getting hot.

 

And my local ham buddies always ask if ive turned on the 2m. Its always on, never gets transmitted. Always on scan.

 

That's interesting. I have some jobs in the everglades, maybe I'll get one :^)

 

Wondering if any of you guys can point me in the right direction chasing a decent SWR. I have a newly installed

$104 Larsen NMO2/70B Pulse Larsen 144-148/440-450 MHz Dual Band 37.25" Antenna - Black

Larsen NMO2/70B mounted on a ditch light bracket on the driver-side hood hinge. Braided ground strap maybe 8" in length runs from a hood hinge bolt to the fender. The radio is 2m only. All of this is new, never been set up before.

SWR is way into the red on the meter--like 5.5:1. At 144Mhz it is slightly lower than it is when at 146Mhz. Based on the length = (constant) divided by frequency: l = x/f formula for middle of the band, I think the length of the antenna should be 38.5 inches. The length out of the box is 31.75 inches, but that doesn't account for the antenna coil.

Any ideas about first steps? I've half a mind to cut off a quarter inch and see what happens, but I hate just guessing.

 

What are you using to measure SWR? The formula isn't applicable with a loading coil. Have you tried transmitting with it? If your rig doesn't fold back power I wouldn't worry about what the swr is.

 

Antenna from the factory should be below 2.0 on 2m. I would check the Coax and find someone local with an antenna analyzer.

 

Thanks for the info, guys. I'm using this old para thing. When I have transmitted others report I'm all static.

 

That's for CBs, HF frequency.... I don't even think I'd trust it for that.

I Definitely wouldn't tune my VHF antenna based on readings from it.

 

OK, I was under the impression that it was good for vhf as well. I will look for something better or try to find someone with gear to come out here. Thanks again, I appreciate the knowledge.

 

Pretty new TW member here. My Grandpa-in-law was a Ham. He wanted me to like it but my interests were way more high speed than that. After he was long gone I calmed down enough to like the radio stuff. If I was interested in it, he would have given me his whole shack. It consisted of about 20 pieces of Collins. Very nice and top of the line back in the day and still in perfect condition. He used it all up until he was in his 80s. If I had only known.... I am only a tech but have logged lots of contacts on 10M back when it was hot and I lived in OH. Now I am an OH call in CA. Not near as much 2m here as there was there. Kenwood TS590 HF with a wire and a couple different 2m radios is my shack. Kilo Delta Eight Whisky Tango Quebec. 73

 

I miss my D710.
I looked at those Spiderbeams when i was researching for my Hexbeam.
True on just transmit.

When its Bad or Poor, i get covered up by the big stations in the 80m DX window.

 

The VNA analyzer says 7+. I checked continuity from the mount, antenna, coax, etc. For insurance I removed the mount and sanded more powder coating and paint off of all mounting surfaces of the mount and trunk hinge. Great continuity everywhere. Same results with the SWR. I didn't know a number that high was possible.