Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Well no go on the net earlier. That must have been the repeater that the link is down on they were talking about in that post. I did get a good bit of traffic earlier on it though.

 

I’ve used a Baofeng monitoring a ham frequency and transmitting on a GMRS frequency for communications with unlicensed friends. My mobile in the truck monitors the GMRS and transmits on the ham frequency. It’s not entirely legal but is a decent work around and I haven’t had any problems with it.

 

There are so many legal/technical issues with your post that I'm not going to offer any advice other than "Rethink what you're doing!". Have a nice day!

 

Few hams will help you be a pirate.

 

They recognize that if the FCC cracks down on illegal use more unlicensed yahoos will end up on the ham bands. Maybe the thinking is its better they continue to be thorn in the side of Motorola and Midland on the commercial and GMRS bands.

 

I'm licensed and transmitting on a legal ham frequency using my callsign. There's nothing pirate about that. The other radio is a Baofeng (non-certified of course) but transmitting only on a GMRS frequency. Yes, supposed to have a GMRS license but no one in this country does or will pretty much. In my mind it's no different than going 5mph over the speed limit. It's illegal and we all know it and everyone does it with no ill effect.

 

Thanks for the recommendation! I hadn’t even considered a CB, now I have more to research!

 

@k8md ...not sure how to the partial quotes...

[QUOTE="I was able to convince my wife to get licensed. [/QUOTE]

I might need lessons on this first...haha, I brought it up at lunch today and i'm pretty sure I got an eye roll.

[QUOTE="Get a quality commercial radio. It's performance will blow the Baofeng out of the water and also beat most amateur portables as well. Some commercial Kenwood mobiles and portables are part 95 certificated for GMRS. Depending upon terrain, you might make the trip with mobiles: car to car. [/QUOTE]

I had no idea the radio world was so big...I'll have to look into the commercial radio options too. Is there any difference in the commercial units as far as certifications?

[QUOTE="Is this an area that you frequent or do you own the property? Can you put up your own GMRS repeater in that area? Well thought out placement of a GMRS repeater potentially can make communication very simple. The site doesn't necessarily need commercial power. The current solar, wind, and battery technology make repeater placement possible and even practical without commercial power available.

If amateur radio repeaters already cover the area, then a little bit of prodding for her to take the test may pay off a much larger and more simple reward.[/QUOTE]

There is a 2m repeater in the area that we camp, but no GMRS repeaters anywhere here that i've found. The area is a state park and we frequent it often, but i'm not sure about setting up a repeater there. I hope to take my Tech exam in the next few weeks or the soonest that I can find one and start talking to the local guys for options.

 

@dbrfan if you just click and highlight the sections you want, an option should come up for qoute or multiple qoute.

 

Oh man. The Colorado guys must be stoked on a free exam

 

There is a group out here “patriot ve” or somthing like that. They do the exam for free and even hold a basic tech class to help get your license

 

That's awesome. I was talking to a local today who's taking a code class. I guess I knew there was such a thing, but it sounds like it's be really helpful. Once I get off third shift it'd be nice to utilize things like that

 

Question I'm new to cb radio ham radio thing but whats the watts with the antenna mean higher wattage means farther distance

 

And another thing I plan to mount a 4ft antenna on my ditch light mount will it interfere with radio antenna or do they run on different frequencies

 

Bump. Anyone have a good link for this gentleman?

Long story short, a good antenna does wonders . I'm working, so I'll let someone give a better in depth description

 

Same could be said about heroin, I suppose.

This thread is a dumpster fire.

 

This is pirate. It's not legal to communicate with unlicensed persons.

 

Step 1: Complete.

It may be possible to set up a portable GMRS repeater to cover the area. With UHF (& also with VHF) height is might. Building a UHF slim jim is a good first antenna project. It will go smoother with a local Elmer to help you find the 50-ohm impedance point. These antennas can also be purchased. They're very common for VHF, but they do exist for UHF. Use a slingshot to get masonary line in a TALL tree and hoist up the slim jim. Should cover a relatively large area. Especially if you can get it up on a peak. If you start with a portable GMRS repeater, you might be able to convert it to 70cm ham at a later time. Maybe...

I'd still recommend proceeding to step 2 on getting her licensed. Incessant prodding and utilizing the "its something we can do together" bit. Before she was licensed, my wife would help me log my HF contacts. This gave her some exposure to the radio. I would frequently say "I couldn't make out that call, did you?" It made her role in the activity feel critical. Lol. She took a liking to a few of the local club members as well, which was a big help.

Many commercial radios cover the Amateur allocation as well. Just look at the specs. As long as it's part 90, then it's fine to use. Some are more simple then others. If you have to do hardware mods or catastrophic software mods, then you need to re-tune the radio to make certain it's still complying with specs. I've moved a variety of icoms and Motorola into the Amateur Allocation. Most commercial radios will out perform most Amateur Radios. They also tend to be more rugged. For these reasons, I prefer using commercial radios.

I really like the Icom F2000. Only downside: it's shipped in the US as a narrowband only radio. Even though you can choose "wide" in the software, it's forced narrow. I had to make adjustments to make it wide only instead. Not something for a beginner, but also not difficult with the correct equipment. I'd be happy to do it for anyone (properly licensed) that needs it in this forum.

 

General rule is "bigger is better"... That being said, taller antenna will give you more range. High wattage antenna can handle high watt amplifiers, but using them on a stock CB radio might not give you who knows how much range, unless it's whip is taller than the lesser power counterpart. Similar goes with HAM antennas, of which my current Browning is rated at only 100W. Which is reasonable.
Please do a bit more research on ham antennas before you buy one. Some might have cool features like a spring, or possibility to lay it flat (fold 90° at base) to prevent damage in parking garage....

Quick links
https://www.thetruckersreport.com/t...ntenna-watts-question-for-the-experts.102477/

https://www.rightchannelradios.com/blogs/selection-guides/18542007-choosing-the-best-cb-antenna

^^^ Good quality antenna is the key. My Browning is not a high tier antenna...






Edit: Would you look at that, I just did a post about CB antennas in HAM thread....