Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

The book is good but getting the first hand knowledge you’ll be tested over is even better. I passed with hamstudy then went back and read the book afterwards.

 

Yeah that sounds more like the success formula I'm used to

 

Has anyone played with FT4 at all? I made my first contacts on FT4 tonight. I read it's designed to be a contest mode but have yet to see the FT4 mode mentioned in any upcoming contests.

 

I will toss this out.....probably the BEST study guide and real experience.....

I will Toss this out........


https://hamradioschool.com/


No better study guide AND everything you might need to know.

Do yourself a favor and check it out.....from tests and the manual........

"Stu" the author lives a mile from me and he is the BEST mentor ever. He is a USAFA professor and KNOWS just about everything when it comes to HAM operations.

You can do any "CRAM" session but if you want to actually learn a bit AND pass your test, Just do yourself a favor and go with what I suggested...



Just My 2.5 cents of wisdom

Feel free to reach out and ask me any questions......

KE0UIV...aka Mike

 

Gone mobile!

https://aprs.fi/#!call=a/KC1JXQ-9&timerange=3600&tail=3600

 

Did you stop at Mobtown and get yourself a wedding bumper?

 

No time making our push to the outer banks

 

Poor weapons and tactics usage in movies / TV is my trigger. Haven't paid much attention to comms oddities yet.

 

Got me a Tram 1/4 wave antenna. No more getting out and moving the 42" antenna twice every day. For $15 it should hold me over until I cough up the change for a power folders.

 

I've got alot to learn.

 

It never ends

 

That's the fun part. I've had my extra class ticket for more than 20 years. I just started trying to figure out DMR. It's like startng from scratch.... My last foray in digital radio was VHF packet cluster networks. Things have really progressed!

 

Civilian prof? If so I wonder if I ever ran into him.

 

Hey guys, I know this is a CB question but I thought you might be able to help me out.

I have a 102” whip antenna on a Firering coax cable. The radio picks up very strong static interference at times and it goes away when I touch the antenna. Does this mean I need to add a ground wire to the antenna? I read online that with this type of mount that’s not necessary but I’m not convinced. The reason I have this mount is that at first I was running a Firestik NGP antenna. Any advice is welcome!

Here’s a photo of how I have it mounted

 

I'd toss a ground wire on it and see if it gets better. If you touching it improves it, it sounds like that's the issue.

 

I've never used that particular coax connector, so don't have much advice for it. Make sure that the shield of the coax has a good ground to the bottom side of the mount, and have someone with an Antenna Tuner check your SWR.

A 102 whip is going to receive immensely better than a firestick. Pulling in much weaker signals, and more ambient static. You'll hear blinking red lights as you drive under them even. If your SWR is good then make sure your Noise Blanker and Auto Noise Limiter NB/ANL functions are on and set your squelch.

KG5TNK

 

My SWR is something like a 1.2 on all channels last time I checked it a while ago. My radio only has an adjustment for squelch, and the static will break the squelch when it’s turned all the way up. It comes in as strong as 4 by 5 on the radio sometimes. My radio has no adjustable RF Gain...something that I think I would benefit from being able to turn down.

 

Sounds like another source of interference. With a true quarter wave at 1.2 SWR your ground does not sound off. Run the power direct off the battery with the truck shut off and see if it goes away.

 

3rd Gen antenna mounts? I can’t seem to find one for the front of my truck, suggestions!

 

https://www.victory4x4.com/product/VT3CB-BARE.html