Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

We live in a hole and can't get out to the local repeater system. I plan to use a hill to station a cross-band repeater. Both our base stations are 2m only. We will need 70cm to pickup the cross-band repeater.

 

I want to build one of these. Having a hard time finding a 50 Ohm 100w carbon resistor or the like....

EDIT:
https://www.surplussales.com/Resistors/NonInductive/Res-NonInd_list.htm

(RNI) 00050-250A 50 ohm - 250w Globar Type CX, 1"D x 12"L, $175

Damn $$ for just a resistor

 

How about a salt water dummy load? I saw a guy built one on a YouTube channel.

 

Broadband internet, not HAM, but an amusing article about appliances interfering with comms nonetheless

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/22/uk/old-tv-breaks-broadband-village-scli-intl-gbr/index.html

 

You could just use a parallel array of resistors, which should actually load heat into your oil-bath more evenly (30 @ 1.5kΩ, 20 @ 1KΩ, etc) -- Just ensure that your wattage needs are met by the sum of the power ratings (30 @ 3w, 20 @ 5W, etc) and you should be golden. Metal oxide (or film) resistors will be your friend to minimize inductance. Pricing for the 3W should be in the range of $0.25/ each, and likely 3-4times that for the 5W options. The trick will be to keep your lead lengths as short as possible, and more so as frequency gets above 6-meters. Kind of a juggling act between resistor count, cost, and total lead length.

 

I havent seen that Vid...

I plan on running past legal limit.... ala Power Genius XL....

 

OK, I was shooting for that 100W free air from your OP. I use a gallon can of mineral oil with 20 1kΩ 5W and don't see any degradation at about 1.3kW for a minute or two (the old HeathKit SB220). Doubling the resistor dissipations to 10W each (building a composite 200W free-air load) should do quite well at sinking >2kW wet for a few minutes.

I did mine as a pair of 16-gage Cu plates with the resistors paralleled between em (HINT: use a big iron) -- I used a length of some weird corrugated coax from job I was doing back then, just to get the load deeper into the oil bath (why heat the top of the oil with convection and all that?)

 

Here's a write-up on one.
https://www.qsl.net/k5lxp/projects/SaltLoad/SaltLoad.html

 

dummy load for 100KVA DG

On a Amateur Radio Note... Conditions were good...... Made a contact 225 mile contact on 75w VHF

 

Thanks Joshua for all of the information above. I will research your questions and have to get back to you. Appreciate the honesty about not purchasing cheap Chinese radios. Preference would be buying a dual-band radio that will last 5 to 10 years. And thank you for some model numbers too. I will review those as well.

 

There is a Chinese radio brand that is a very good performer...it's just not cheap. If you you want some digital plus the standard VHF/UHF, namely DMR, then I would recommend the Anytone 578 mobile or 878 HT. There are alot of new hams that use the this brand for DMR. In my area, there are alot more DMR repeaters than say DSTAR or Fusion. You need to search for yourself the availability of repeater types in your area.

 

No problem. If you find something you think you want, we can probably help you evaluate it here.

 

Greetings all, well an update. I got to take my technician test yesterday and passed now just the wait lol I am now looking to see about hooking up to the net but looking for mac versions of the software so if anyone uses a mac and a ham. i could use all the help I can get

Robert

 

Congrats. It feels like a long wait; took two whole weeks for me to get my callsign and upgrade.

Are you trying to get on a net with Echolink?

 

No not echolink all i have as far as computers is 6 macs no windows units I am looking into general now not sure if I want to go there or not like I said kinda brand new want to set up my yaesu FT-1802 as a base for now and see how far I could talk I do have access to an antenna from a good friend who has passed not sure what it even is or how to tell but I think I may try and get it cost would be nothing so yeah maybe so anyway just looking to gain some more info on all this new world I stepped into
Robert

 

I have been running the FTM-400 in my 1992 beater pickup for a couple weeks now. My impressions.... meh. I think I'll eventually get a Kenwood D710G and try that out.



And of course I drilled a hole in my roof.




Pros: Pretty
Lots of notification options if you want them (ringers)
Mostly easy to type messages on the screen.
Separated A and B side memories (I like that)
Digital modes like Wires/Fusion (haven't used it)
Great for chatting with groups that have the same modes like group monitor (haven't actually used it either)
Memories are saved with power setting
Good audio. I think it has slightly better audio than my Kenwood. Somehow.

Cons: Obnoxious beeps. All my ringers are turned off but some APRS stations still make my radio beep. WHY?!
Too many button presses. ie. Scan takes up to 4 button presses and then the menu won't open when scanning.
Too many features. I know features are great but it's too many for me. There are so many I won't ever use and don't want the option to use. I'd like two options for ketchup in the grocery store, not 10.
APRS messaging isn't entirely intuitive; some things are quirky. If you reply, you have to remove the current message to write a new one.
Not enough buttons. Did I say this? If there were a few more useful buttons, total button presses for one feature would be less. Squelch should be a knob, not a button then a multi-function knob.
The touch screen is nice for some things but real buttons are more friendly while driving.
Screen doesn't have auto dimming. Really? I start driving before sunrise and the screen is blaring bright. I get in the truck after work and the screen is super dim. Long press a soft key, tap the screen, tap the screen again, roll the multi-function knob, tap the screen, tap the screen, tap the screen.

All this is said without actually being at the radio. I am sure there are some pros and cons I forgot. Take that for what it's worth. I find that using my TM-V71A and tablet to be easier. It's a bummer the tablet has to be on for beaconing but that will be resolved this winter if I get put my programming pants on.

 

If you added some punctuation, I could maybe understand you a little better.

With the radio you have, there's nothing you can really do with a computer interface. If you want to play with digital modes with a different radio (UHF, VHF, and HF all have options) FLDigi and FLRig are kind of the do-it-all programs. There's also WSJT-X and JS8Call for weak signal modes. I use a Raspberry Pi for my radio interface but these programs will also run on a Mac. If that's not what you are referring to, I'm sorry. I may still not be understanding the question right.

 

Im going to see how HF is acting in an hour....

 

I took down my antenna yesterday
I'm leaving home for a full month on business and wanted to take it with me.

 

Interesting antenna if you had open space to 60' ALG

https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/yaesu-ft-450d-md-100-palstar-at2k-qro-amplifier.726710/
Saw this somewhat local equipment for sale