Ham Radio

Is there any Ham Radio people on here, if so do you have pics?
Just Checking.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/amateur-ham-radio-bs-and-callsign-thread.260643/

 

Here are a couple of videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk3AQSgWz94

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idQj21pYg2s

 

Thanks, just got ID 5100 and looking for ideas to mount the body.
Appreciate all the info.

 

Since you have an Icom, check out this thread with lots of pictures.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/icom-id5100a-install.725457/

 

Check out this thread for install ideas...

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/clean-vhf-cb-radio-installs.415584/

 

I've got a couple of videos of my install posted: https://www.youtube.com/@4lohamadventures I've made a couple of minor mods since the install, might make a short vid showing those sometime.

C

 

I got a Digirig Lite so I could send digital data from my Mobile Radio. Finally hit the trail to test it out using APRS. It worked AMAZINGLY well. I was out in the back country with no cell reception and if I did snag a cell signal it was one randomly stray bar when I was up at elevation on some mountainside switchbacks.

But the DigiRig was able to hit Digi-peaters and relay my GPS location and text messages back to the wife via the APRS SMS Gateway even when I was down in a canyon, creek bottom, surrounded by Sycamore Trees. I was in places that hitting an FM Voice Repeater would have been a stretch or not even possible. I kept the left side of the radio transmitting and receiving data on 144.3900 and the right side tuned to the W7ARA Repeater on Mt. Ord (The Mt Ord Monster that covers an 80 mile radius and links to the Phoenix Metro Link). I never heard a blip of traffic on the FM Voice repeater the whole time I was down low in the canyons and low water crossings / dry creek crossings.

I'm considering slowly acquiring a Digirig Lite for each of my HT's and Mobile Radios. Already have the DigiRig Mobile running on the Base HF Radio and set it up to run JS8-Call during the day. One day I hope to have a small portable pack radio or mobile radio in the truck for HF activities.

 

Regarding APRS, I put in a separate Byonics TinyTrak RTG setup. I originally got this for my motorcycle(17' BMW F800GS Adventure) when I had metal saddle bags on it, but I went the way of soft bags since. It has the transmitter built in. Connect a GPS dongle, an antenna and power and program it for your info and it just works. I have the power on a switch up on my dash so I can shut it off if I don't want to be tracked. I have 2 VHF antennas on the roof currently- one for the ID-5100 and one for the APRS setup.
Side rant:
I really wish Icom would come out with some radios with APRS built in. I don't even need the 5100 really-Dstar and DPRS is useless, a group around my area had Dstar repeaters in a bunch of locations but they all have gone by the wayside and there isn't a single Dstar repeater I can hit from home(even on an antenna at 73ft).

 

Since the giant spicy meatball in the sky has settled down a bit (no coronal mass ejections or solar flares) for a day or two, I fired up the HF radio and started running JS8-Call again. There was a TON of traffic on 7.078 and 7.107 MegaHertz. Been nice watching the traffic and seeing Ghostnet in use. Still would like a mobile set up for this.