Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Asked one of my ex-amazon coworkers, and it sounds like I had it backwards. Amazon's warehouse team takes care of it all. Only thing I can think of is they were stocked out, and they drop shipped you one.

 

Yeah, that's kinda what I figured. Still not a smart way to ship with no tape or anything over the tab holding it closed.

 

Just picked up a satellite in my truck . That was pretty cool!

Anyone on here work satellites?

 

Heard the ISS overhead talking to a school...

 

Well that's cool. I've just been listening for now. But at some point I'd like to make a contact. Would be neat

 

https://issfanclub.com/frequencies

 

Awesome. That's good to have. I was tracking the....AO-92 I believe

@MonkeyProof now I'm regretting not getting the D710 and putting it on power poles in my truck so I could have yanked it out for fun time with satellites at camp.

 

@BenMara would you know / have better Googlefu than I do, if you can still upgrade a Kenwood TM-v71a head to the D710? I'm finding the remote head rc-d710 unavailable in most places and getting mixed reviews on if I can incorporate it in place of my TM-v71a head.

Might just pull the trigger on a d710, but if there's a more cost effective way to do it I'd rather that option.

 

not that i know of.. id just bite and get D710.. its an awesome radio... ive had one at one time...

 

or just get a really, really, ridiculously good looking CAT5 cable long enough to run it to your picanic table..

 

I've got about 100' left in a box.

 

Howdy folks! Fairly new to the forum and just noticed this thread. I've been a Technician for a little over a year. Haven't taken my General yet, but darn sure need to. Callsign KG5TNK Recently joined the forum because I just bought a Tacoma. Haven't put my radio in yet, so running a handy and mag mount dual band until I do.

How difficult is it to drop the headliner in a Taco to get a NMO mounted?

Do y'all use Hotspots like the SharkRF OpenSpot or DVMega on a Raspberry Pi? Those are the 2 I am using. If so, what reflectors/groups/linked systems do you hang out on? Usually Texas Nexus or Texas Statewide here.

My radios
Mobiles:
Kenwood TM-D710G
Yaesu FTM-400

Handys:
Anytone AT-D868UV (DMR)
TYT MD2017 (DMR)
Icom ID-51 Plus (D-STAR)
Kenwood TH-D74 (D-STAR)
Yeasu FT2D (YSF)
Yaesu VX-6R (Analog)

 

Hey there! Welcome to TW

KN4OZE here and a Tech also.

I just ran a NMO 2 nights ago in mine and it wasn't bad at all in mine. Haven't really looked at a 3rd gen in that manner but I just pulled the dome light and upper console out along with taking the visor off and had plenty of room to run mine down the A pillar up front. I ran RG-195 so I wasn't too concerned about where I ran it and it seemed the A post was the easiest to run through.

I'm using a Jumbo Spot mainly at the house to get into the local DMR repeater because the cutoff is literally right in my front yard. I'll monitor Tac 310 sometimes. Haven't heard much on America, Alabama, Georgia or Gulf Coast. From what I hear our local group here is kinda odd as we're on there almost all day. I haven't been out of town yet but they say most repeaters around aren't like ours with a lot of traffic on it. Starting to notice that with these groups. Tac 310 seems to have a good bit of traffic on it though.

 

@tex.proud You may be able to help me out. Is there something in the D710 that will basically turn off the GPS? I've got everything set like it says in the APRS section of the manual but I'm not showing any satellites on the screen so I must be missing something somewhere. I am receiving ARPS just not sending any. It does show that it's sending but I'm not showing up on aprs.fi. Any suggestions?

 

Good to hear it's not all that difficult. I didn't do it in my old F150 because people always talked about what a PITA it was. Just ran a custom mount bolted to the bed that put it at cab height. Thinking about a NMO on this one.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2012-dc-interior-head-liner-removal-write-up.247104/

 

In the GPS "Basic Settings" make sure Battery Saver is turned off. It will interfere with APRS by not keeping a constant reading. If you're on freq and have F-5 APRS12 active it should work. Make sure the in APRS Basic Settings the Data band is set to the one you are using A or B.

To show up on aprs.fi you need to have a digipeater in range that will send it. Otherwise you're just being heard by local radios.

 

When I dropped those two the headliner was plenty flexible to droop it down and get it through there. At the front I did use a wireworm to just get it done a little faster because at first I was going to go down the B post but changed my mind back to the A post.

Not sure if you're familiar but it basically kinda like a over grown wire tie without the locking part on it. Great to run wires and stuff in our trucks with. Here's one.



Learned about them from our local commercial radio shop that does our radios at work. I need to find out where they get theirs because they only pay about $2 for them.

 

I have some large/long wire ties. I'll cut the clasp off and use it. Good idea.

 

This look right? As far as the screen settings. I’ve got it set on B band for APRS.