Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Get an 11M whip and tune it (cut shorter) for 10M or cut it for 10.5M Resonant right in the middle. Won't be great either way but gets you both.

Remember the Rules of Radio:
1. Everything effects Everything
2. It depends
3. Everything is a compromise of some sort.

 

Who here is SoCal and frequents the PAPA repeaters?

Amazing how many they are, all linked up and many have emergency power.

My next drive from LA to SD I'm going to validate repeaters I put into my

$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 via Chirp. If I can maintain coms the whole way, thats pretty neat.

 

Used only two PAPA repeaters to have total PAPA network coms while driving to and from San Diego to LA.

But despite most of those repeaters have emergency power sources, they are linked via the internet so in a grid down situation they will not be linked- but IMO one could argue thats a feature- if grid down there is going to be so many people going on those repeaters you wouldn't want them all networked and repeating each other.

 

If you don't mind, please report your findings to www.RepeaterBook.com. I'm one of two Admins for Arizona and I think California has three or four. But the whole value of Repeater Book is that we get good quality crowd sourced intel from the Ham Community. The more you funnel into it, the better it gets and the more value it reflects back to Hams - especially people coming from out of state that don't "know the lay of the land" as far as repeaters are concerned. It also interfaces with a lot of popular programming software so Chirp and a few others can source data directly from Repeater Book and pull it directly into the radio.

We are currently rocking an A Rating in Arizona (I'm pretty proud of that) but Cali needs a little help. It's a big state with a TON (2,600 to be exact) of repeaters to keep updated. The pandemic completely up-heaved the repeater systems. Repeaters tend to be owned and operated by older, more established Hams, or Clubs which are often run / officered by older Hams. So many went silent key through the pandemic, either because of the disease or because they couldn't get regular and dependable access to health care for other issues that eventually caught up with them. Then there were supply chain and parts availability issues so repeaters had health care problems too. Which is ironic because as the hobby / lifestyle was growing and newer younger Hams were being minted with all of their new found time at home, the infrastructure of Ham Radio was decaying. Now we are far enough past that point in time that the infrastructure is coming back but that means things have changed and we would greatly appreciate any solid, current, relevant information you have for California. This goes for other states too.

Good Luck and enjoy that Road Trip! I've made that drive once before and it was a lot of fun. The whole round trip was good as a matter of fact - Phoenix to LA to SD and back. Beautiful country to drive through.

 

I'll dig into the site and see if I have any good data to provide.

I'll probably program in some winsystem.org repeaters too.

 

Admin on the site, or admin of the one Papa tower in Arizona? Sorry, I can be a bit dense and easily confused.

Very cool



I could swear I've read on some GPS equiped radios a feature to switch to repeater channels based off of current location. Pretty neat if I understand that right.

I've already printed out my chirp program for reference and put it in my truck, bag etc. But that is hella clunky, would be nice to have these devices be more 'smart'.

 

Mike Bellanger - W1DGL and I, N5MKH co-admin the entire state of Arizona for Repeater Book. We monitor web sites for changes and update the listings as we become aware as well as taking in changes from the end user community.

The auto changing technology you mentioned based off of GPS is similar to tech that I've only seen in the Motorola Radios - $$$, and then some more $$$. Moto Turbo can be configured to constantly ping and track connectivity with in a repeater network and ensure that you get auto routed to the best repeater to carry your signal on the lowest wattage necessary. But both radio and repeater have to be configured so it is usally only used in business applications. We do have some Motorola systems in AZ though. You probably do in CA too.

 

Wait what?!?!

I believe this tuner

$75 Malahit ATU-100 EXT Antenna Tuner 1.8-50MHz atu100 by N7DDC 7x7 0.96" OLED 3.2 Firmware Programmed with Housing Assembled Machine with USB Cable（No Battery）

https://www.amazon.com/Malahit-1-8-55MHz-Firmware-Programmed-Assembled/dp/B099ZLVV3V
is reviewed to match SWR of about 3:1, but this guy's simple mods he is saying he can match 9 or 10:1?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78vwaK2SVQU&list=PLTsM0AcsHGVkwlPZlDyr7fZMtA50Uisik&index=23

 

Cheap portable Slim Jim antenna

https://watermanatwork.com/blog/slim-jim-antenna/

 

I've got an Ed-Fong J-Pole. They are great as a permanent install but I'm not sure the build quality stands up to constant use in a backpack deploying and then rolling up several cycles.

 

I use repeaters in AZ, CHIRP and RepeaterBook Android app. You're doing a good job.

 

I have three of N9TAX's slim jim - roll up J-poles. I have a standard one with an SO-239 up in my attic as a back up 2M/70CM antenna. And two with 16' cables and BNC connectors. I keep one in my backpack in the truck, and use another one when working out in the yard or garage. They work very well, and are pretty rugged too.

 

Anyone running an APRS weather station? I’m considering setting up a portable system with an Argent Data Systems station and HT for the transmitter housed inside a Pelican style case with a small battery and solar panel on the outside to keep it running.

https://www.argentdata.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=135

 

Anyone care to share their Memory list file in Socal Area?

 

Morning all,

In the market for a new unit to run in the truck. Thinking about the new D710-GA. Any reviews honest reviews or other options?

 

I used one for a few years and liked it. I thought it was discountinued and no longer available though.

 

I have two. Good luck finding one. When a Kenwood radio gets discontinued, the price for used units sometimes exceeds new. I also have a TM-V71A, another good radio but again, unobtanium considering what new prices were. I prefer real buttons to touchscreens. I like the volume and squelch to be available all the time. I like the full internal TNC on the TM-D710G that I can setup as a stand-alone node and mailbox or use as a packet node to connect to other packet stations.
I ran an FTM-400XD for a while (twice) but I prefer the Kenwoods.

The one thing I don't like about the Kenwoods is they get overloaded more easily in heavy RFI environments than the Yaesu did. Maybe it is evidence they are more sensative, I don't know. When I drive through town, there are two spots that will cause my squelch to break with static even at minimum sensitivity in the Kenwoods but the Yaesu wouldn't break.

The real question is, what are your requirements? 2m/70cm? Full duplex? APRS? D-STAR? C4FM? One million memories?



Joshua

 

Thats interesting as Kenwood still shows it on their website. If there is a newer model, then I would go that direction.

 

There is no replacement yet. They show a few radios on their site that they don't make anymore. Actually, they don't make any amateur mobile VHF or UHF stuff right now. They just got FCC approval for the TH-D75A to replace the TH-D74A but neither are for sale currently and those are just handhelds.

 

Ok. I saw on HRO the new D74A, but I don't want a handheld. I used one for many years, but I want more power this time around.