Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

I’m studying for the test. I’ll post it when I get it.

 

What gear are you running?

What is the fix to this issue?
I would primary use it stationary in a “POTA” situation. I rent and my land loads has given me the stink-eye about my slim jim hanging outside the garage lol.

My initial plan was to use a YAESU - FT-857D with a Yaesu ATAS-120A Auto Active Tuning Antennas ATAS-120A.

 

I've put an FT-891, QRP-Labs QCX-Mini, and Elecraft KX2 in the truck all as temporary setups. The bugcatcher antenna in the photos was given to me from a guy I bought an HF amplifier from. It's multi-band but you have to get out and retune it manually. I haven't looked into bonding the body and frame on this truck but that is usually the hardest part of an HF mobile installation. I think I put 28 bonding straps on my 1992 Toyota pickup and now it is pretty efficient and RF quiet considering.

To fix the fuel pump RF issue on the truck you would probably have to built a faraday cage around the fuel pump, put ferrite beads on the fuel pump control wires, and maybe shield the fuel pump controller too. How would you shield the fuel pump? Well, that's the issue. It could be done with some ingenuity and a lot of time but... "ain't nobody got time for that."

For POTA, I'd get a spiderbeam mast, EFHW antenna, and setup on the tailgate rather than trying to mount something permanent on the truck.

The FT-857D is an okay radio. It does everything, which is nice, but it is a little difficult to use. I had one for a little over a year then sold it. If you plan to do 2m SSB, it would be a good radio to hold on to.

The ATAS-120A has some people who love it and some who hate it. It's pretty good with Yaesu radios for "automatic" tuning from what I hear though I've never used one. If you are portable, a wire antenna would still be better and get more RF out where you want it (a short antenna isn't as efficient.)

Joshua

 

$20 hamsticks work as good as anything. Screwdriver antennas are meh, sure you'll get a good match, but they are really inneficient unless you plunk down coin on one of those scorpions.

 

www.k0bg.com

 

Here's the mighty BaoFeng UV-5RTP in action. In the mountains with sketchy cell phone service and a nearby forest fire, I'm using it to monitor a local Search & Rescue repeater and local NOAA weather.



The UV-5RTP is the 8w version of the

$40 UV-5R 8Watt Ham Radio Handheld Long Range UHF/VHF Radio with 2 Rechargeable Battery, Portable Radio for Adults with Earpiece, GV-771 Antenna, Programming Cable (3rd Gen)

UV-5R. It has an ABBREE CS tactical antenna. The SAR repeater, 3 miles away, works perfectly clear, transmit & recieve. It's not my main radio but it's worth $35.

 

Yes, worth the $35. If you lose it, no big deal, but if you lose the antenna, that's a bit more sad. haha.

 

Did anyone experience the troposphere ductinging last night in the midwest. I was driving back to work in SD from PA and suddenly I was hitting 2m repeaters 150 to 200 miles away. This morning 70cm was 130 miles. Well the truck is almost ready for the haul up north!

 

We are supposed to be in the Meat and Taters of the Solar Cycle right about now. Been lots of great favorable conditions but an above average number of Coronal Mass Ejections, Solar Storms and Flares that have also worked to disrupt Amateur Radio. One minute I'm getting stations 8000 miles away (on HF/JS8-Call 40 & 20) and the next minute the noise floor pops up so high even the dead can hear it. I'd be lucky to get a 100w ground wave signal picked up by my neighbor three doors down. So spotty and infrequent.

 

I've been having really good success on 15m and 10m into Oceana in the mornings and evenings. A beam helps but it isn't necessarily required. Maybe part of the cycle "funk" is people's antenna situations as opposed to one solar-cycle ago. Lots of inefficient "low profile" antennas are in use as opposed to dipoles up high and beams adding gain.

 

And all those "Que Areee Peeee!!! Queeee Arrrrreee Peeeee!!!" people.

Life is too short for QRP.

 

Mmm, QRO...

 

Totally agree, but the Elecraft KX3 is all have at the moment.

 

DEFINITELY my situation for sure...
I'm running an EFHW / Random Wire out of a 9:1 laid over the roof so about 15' to 20' off the ground. It's kind of an arched NVIS antenna and compromised six ways to Sunday. I need to get up there and make sure it's still straight since I just draped it across the roof peaks.

But I also follow Space Weather on web site and app on the phone and we have been absolutely knackered by solar storms lately. Compromised antenna + Challenging situations = No Bueno

I have done QRP just to cross it off the bucket list. And if I start an extended QSO cross country, I'll dial it back to the necessary wattage. but 9/10 times I'm running the full 100 watts.

Digital, because of the duty cycle, I run 35, which is more than most people running digital.

 

Just put up an inverted V dipole with the center up around 50'. Much less noise than my efhw that is at 30-40'. Also have a 6 band vertical that is pretty quiet, but not good for local 80/40M stuff. 17m has been pretty good in the afternoon for me.

Most of the time, I'm using an IC7300, or FT891 at 100w, but I like my 705 too.

 

I ran a homemade EFHW for a year as my only HF antenna and I made plenty of contacts. I don't dislike the antenna but once I put up a better antenna, I was surprised at the results. I also play QRP sometimes as I have a couple QCX-minis, a QMX, and a KX2, but I know I won't find as many people as when I run 100w or 800w.

 

Blast from the past.

 

That is pretty cool, not many DIY SMD kits around. Did you build it?

 

Built by me, in 1999 or 2000. It works pretty good.

 

Hey!!! I resemble that!!!!
Generally, in my truck, I will take my G90 kit with my chameleon MPAS antenna, and set that up. Obviously, cannot drive, but it works stationary. Thats not QRP, but its close.
My QRP is my TX500. That I use exclusively an EFHW that I throw up into a tree. I run it either as a sloper, or as inverted V, whatever I am feeling like I guess (and who I am trying to target). I have the means to make a random wire dipole, but, in my QRP pack, I generally take only tuned antennas, as the TX500 doesnt have a tuner. I recently picked up a nano VNA for field ops, to try and field tune, but havent been able to get out to test it yet.