Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

Haha you're going to love it.

Edit:........ @medic2230

 

Stimulus check just ordered me a Kenwood TM-281A and power supply for my office, and a back ordered Icom IC-2730A for my truck. Now to wait...

 

I also picked up a TM-281A for a base station. I am solar powered at 24 volts so I am still pondering power source options. I don't want a linear regulator because of the inefficiency. What power supply did you get?

 

I have 200w of panels and a 12v battery, maybe I can wire that up. Wonder if the charge controller will induce noise though.

 

Everything I have seen everyone says the TM-281A is a workhorse so I figured for a cheap base 2m rig I couldn't go wrong. For the power supply I ordered an Alinco DM-30 TR (my first ever power supply) Its a switching power supply and I had done a little research on switching vs linear and found mixed reviews most complaining it was noisy weren't using it for 2m/70cm which is all I use so I rolled the dice on it.

 

I saw this on a SOTA page (my goal in amateur radio at the moment), for a homebrew antenna on 2m. For $25 on Amazon this is amazing. I was able to pick up a net from a club over the hill from me about 25 miles. Excited to hike it up to a local peak tomorrow and try my hand at an activation!

 

@joshuajayg mess with that 891 yet?

 

I haven't been home yet. I work too much mid week and stay in another town two nights every week (this is night 2).

I pulled down an Astron power supply at work and turned the radio on today but I don't have an antenna yet. My PL-259 connectors haven't arrived either. I just poked some buttons and listened to static. Also turned on the TM-281A but still... no antenna. Everything is at home.

For receiving I am sure wire gauge isn't important but when I build a dipole for transmission, what gauge am I looking at? I'll probably order a couple torroids to wind my own 1:1 baluns. I don't have a tuner so I will just build a couple resonant dipoles to start out.

I have enough RG-58 to run up a short pole; ladder line isn't important, is it?

I'm on chapter 3 of the General book so I'm about a month or 45 days out from transmitting.

 

Haha need to find a chain link fence to clip onto. You'll RX then haha.

Wire gauge is only a factor when considering power and range in a band. As in a larger wire will widen his much of the swr curve will be flat and low in the band.

Generally speaking 18-14g is fine, 12g is pretty rugged for more permanent set ups.


Dipoles would be a fun start. I really enjoy building antennas. Build a 6 & 10m one for now while you wait. 10m has been opening left and right and you can make some great contacts. I'm in NH and have been getting FL, GA, TX, WI and MN. Fun stuff. @medic2230 has been playing on there too. Similar situation as you, waiting to get his general.


What's your situation looking like for where you can put up an antenna? I can wind up an end fed half wave antenna for you to borrow to get you on your feet.

 

See if you can find a way to orient the legs of the antenna vertically. It sounds like you are using it to access FM repeaters. FM transmissions are generally vertically polarized while 2m side band transmissions are horizontally polarized. Grabbing that signal out of phase is hurting your ability to pull out weaker signals and also harming the strength of the signal when it gets to the vertically polarized repeater antenna.

 

Also check this out @BaywatchDV

https://n9taxlabs.com/

 

I had a realization last night that I have phone and data privileges on 6m and 10m. After operating FM on the common tech bands, I forget about those that have real propagation.

I have 3.5 acres in the middle of nowhere. Space isn't an issue for me. No HOA; building permits are hardly even considered out where I live (four miles down a dirt road). I can set up an antenna, but I will need to think about a mast. My house is two stories so I can use it as to mount an antenna. I wouldn't turn down a loaner antenna.

 

This would be something to look into as well.

This will be my next tuner. I have the big boy overkill version. I'll be going to this one next. It'll be used primarily for portable work.

Also, if tuned right, this antenna doesn't need a tuner for the majority of the bands including 10.

Tuner
https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-009809

Antenna
https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-008371

 

I made a Summit to Summit contact today with someone using that! I went home and ordered already!

 

Heard lots of CW and SSB on 20m last night. Also one SSTV but didn't have the app download in time to decode it. Listened to K2H from Staten Island, NY and another guy from Ohio.

I made a 14awg 10m dipole and put it between two trees. Only 7 feet off the ground. No contacts though.

 

Camp right on 28.400 and roam +/-20khz. That's where you'll likely find most of your action.

Tonight should be hopping. If you can get the dipole to face towards TX you should pick up a lot of chatter tonight. I'll be on later as well. I'll hit you up. Normally the Mississippi River is the line for me. With 10m but I'll give a shot.

 

I'm tuned to 1.5 SWR, moved the antenna up to about 10ft, and pointed it SE. We will see what happens.

 

Well, I finally bit the bullet again. I had a nice D710 setup in my 1st gen that was built into an overhead console, then it got stolen. I've been without a radio since then. I've been lurking around here and threw the question out for recommendations a while back. Though I'm not a big fan of the menu setup, I went with the D710 again. This time I installed it so that it would be a ton more work for thieves. I still have a little bit of work to do for heat dissipation on the body, but that's pretty straightforward.

Head unit mounts to the dash. The mount is held on with

$8 3M VHB 100x200mm~ (4" X8") Double Sided Foam Adhesive Sheet Tape 5952 Automotive Mounting Industrial Grade Very High Bond 5952 (1 Sheets 100x200mm)

3M VHB. I ran cables from the body to the head unit and terminated them in sockets for the mic and for the head unit/body connection. This will let me easily disconnect when I'm not using the radio:


The mic socket is next to the USB AUX socket, the head unit plugs into the socket where the knee cubby used to be.

Here's the functional test with a temporary cable. I've since made a cable that's just the right length and black. It clips into two clips to keep it tucked out of the way and it's easy to disconnect when I'm not using the radio:



There's a clue in the above picture as to where the main body of the radio is tucked away. I am going to add some additional ventilation for it

Of course, when you bury the main body of the radio you kinda lose the speakers. I took a page out of my original HAM setup and installed the speakers in the sunglass holder. I used two MFJ 281 speakers. I pulled the backs off, drilled holes in the sunglass holder and screwed the speakers in. I did have to do a bit of filing on the edges to match the curve of the sunglass holder. Oh, I also painted them to match a bit better.



I ran the antenna to the canopy on the bed. It'll be protected by an awning when we're traveling. I wanted to go dead center in the roof of the cab, but we travel with a canoe and I usually load it on the driver's side. It's more than half the width of the roof.



I take the antenna off and cap the NMO mount when I'm not using it. Still need to hang the mic mount, that'll go under the passenger center vent.

 

Any action???

 

Nothing yet.