Radio information guide

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Nov 15, 2018
Messages
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Very SWEET!!! :thumbsup:

I need to seriously get back into HAM. Just last night, a friend of mine called me and we were seeing what the farthest repeaters we could hit.

Anyways, I only have a 2m mobile in my truck (FT-1900R) a good radio, but I've been thinking about changing it out lately? I don't know yet. I have other options with how I setup my truck, which is why I've left it in there for so long.

But yeah, NICE base you have there!!! :thumbsup::beerscheers:
 

Chipskip

Pitter Patter!
Joined
Oct 3, 2018
Messages
118
Age
45
Location
Phoenix
Very SWEET!!! :thumbsup:

I need to seriously get back into HAM. Just last night, a friend of mine called me and we were seeing what the farthest repeaters we could hit.

Anyways, I only have a 2m mobile in my truck (FT-1900R) a good radio, but I've been thinking about changing it out lately? I don't know yet. I have other options with how I setup my truck, which is why I've left it in there for so long.

But yeah, NICE base you have there!!! :thumbsup::beerscheers:


Thank you, it's my first HF rig.

My wife is literally in the think of all this virus stuff, she told me it was ok to get an HF rig..... I ran to HRO and got this. Tomorrow the antenna goes up, hopefully.
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2018
Messages
2,038
Thank you, it's my first HF rig.

My wife is literally in the think of all this virus stuff, she told me it was ok to get an HF rig..... I ran to HRO and got this. Tomorrow the antenna goes up, hopefully.
HAHAHAHA, we were just talking about HF rigs last night and in particular, the Corona Virus being a deciding factor. My friend has been talking about getting a base station for the longest time and now, just like your wife, I think his gf is realizing having communications like that isn't such a bad idea.

But yeah, I've been wanting one as well, but just working with what I have so far as "base stations".

Again, good deal man!!! Really happy for your first HF rig!!! :thumbsup::beerscheers:

You should do Field Day this year with your new rig. I have only participated using the local RACES here where I live. I sorta, kind of, knew the people and they let me participate. I made contact from Huntington Beach, CA to, I want to say a contact in New Mexico? I don't remember it was a few years ago now. But I was so STOKED about that!!! :thumbsup::p I THINK it was on 20m? I heard later, after I had left, early in the morning, someone from that same location made contact with Hawaii!!! Pretty cool in my book!!! :thumbsup:

I'm THINKING about doing a Field Day, but not for any boasting or anything as I could give a rats about all of that... I just want to test out my setup. I MIGHT go to a spot in Big Bear, CA? I don't know just yet?

Anyways, have fun brotha!!! :thumbsup::beerscheers:

73
KK6KHQ
clear
 

Chipskip

Pitter Patter!
Joined
Oct 3, 2018
Messages
118
Age
45
Location
Phoenix
HAHAHAHA, we were just talking about HF rigs last night and in particular, the Corona Virus being a deciding factor. My friend has been talking about getting a base station for the longest time and now, just like your wife, I think his gf is realizing having communications like that isn't such a bad idea.

But yeah, I've been wanting one as well, but just working with what I have so far as "base stations".

Again, good deal man!!! Really happy for your first HF rig!!! :thumbsup::beerscheers:

You should do Field Day this year with your new rig. I have only participated using the local RACES here where I live. I sorta, kind of, knew the people and they let me participate. I made contact from Huntington Beach, CA to, I want to say a contact in New Mexico? I don't remember it was a few years ago now. But I was so STOKED about that!!! :thumbsup::p I THINK it was on 20m? I heard later, after I had left, early in the morning, someone from that same location made contact with Hawaii!!! Pretty cool in my book!!! :thumbsup:

I'm THINKING about doing a Field Day, but not for any boasting or anything as I could give a rats about all of that... I just want to test out my setup. I MIGHT go to a spot in Big Bear, CA? I don't know just yet?

Anyways, have fun brotha!!! :thumbsup::beerscheers:

73
KK6KHQ
clear

Haha, I miss spelled, my wife is in the THICK of this virus. She is building labs and reporting on positives cases, speaking to the CDC and FDA daily. She still thinks it will get a lot worse before it gets better.

Also, my parents live on a boat in Mexico, they are visiting now and with everything going on, my dad is returning to move the boat to a safe harbor and get their car. That means about 5 days at sea with nothing but a HF radio. He does email with it, but seeing he will be solo sailing, it will be nice to have regular comms with him. My parents are US citizens and hold Mexico Green Cards, so the current travel bans don't apply to them either direction. They can easily social distance, but are concerned about getting supplies from small towns along the coast as those places only get resupplied once a week. I have been planning to buy one to talk with them for years. The two items just allowed us to justify the cost now.

It will also allow them to participate in boating Nets they often do net control for.

I am hoping to do field day this year, I missed the last couple of years for work. When I have done them, they are a lot of fun. This is a light weight and compact radio, so ideal for field day.
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2018
Messages
2,038
Haha, I miss spelled, my wife is in the THICK of this virus. She is building labs and reporting on positives cases, speaking to the CDC and FDA daily. She still thinks it will get a lot worse before it gets better.

Also, my parents live on a boat in Mexico, they are visiting now and with everything going on, my dad is returning to move the boat to a safe harbor and get their car. That means about 5 days at sea with nothing but a HF radio. He does email with it, but seeing he will be solo sailing, it will be nice to have regular comms with him. My parents are US citizens and hold Mexico Green Cards, so the current travel bans don't apply to them either direction. They can easily social distance, but are concerned about getting supplies from small towns along the coast as those places only get resupplied once a week. I have been planning to buy one to talk with them for years. The two items just allowed us to justify the cost now.

It will also allow them to participate in boating Nets they often do net control for.

I am hoping to do field day this year, I missed the last couple of years for work. When I have done them, they are a lot of fun. This is a light weight and compact radio, so ideal for field day.
DAMN MAN!!! I pray your wife goes unscathed with this crap!!! That's just KRAZY MAN???!!!

Yeah, it has been a few years since my Field Day experience. I forgot how the abbreviations work? I remember certain number/letter combinations tell others what your setup is and how it is operated. For example, a certain number/letter combination tells distant contacts, that the transmitter is using generator only, how many stations, etc etc etc.. or something like that. I need to start looking into that again and go over how to "decode" it all.

Pretty cool though of you to do that for sure!!!
 

AssBurns

will wheel for beer
Staff member
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Location
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4runner DOA

Hold my beer
Staff member
Joined
Oct 2, 2018
Messages
15,887
Location
OC
Very tempted to buy some headsets and intercom. Keeps the music clear without being loud, I can talk to my co-pilot (wife) without having to turn down the radio, and can hear others in the group without having to turn down the radio constantly. I just need a racing steering wheel and push-to-talk.

Rugged Air RA200 General Aviation Pilot Headset Features Noise Reduction, GA Dual Plugs, MP3 Music Input and Includes Headset Bag


Sigtronics SPO-42N 4-Place High Noise Intercom

Fuck I always have to turn the radio down and roll up my windows if there hasn't been any chatter and someone says something. :rofl:
 

AssBurns

will wheel for beer
Staff member
Joined
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Messages
7,959
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31
Location
Yucaipa, CA
Fuck I always have to turn the radio down and roll up my windows if there hasn't been any chatter and someone says something. :rofl:
Right?!
I was with some friends that had these the past few weekends and it just seemed so convenient to have. Especially when we are hauling ass and need to quickly call out things such as oncoming traffic, big rocks in the trail or g-outs.
 
Joined
May 2, 2019
Messages
1,857
Location
SI NY
So, I have a specific question about an antenna. I need to build a directional(?) antenna for my handheld (Baofeng) to try to locate source of interference screwing with my wife's car/key fob. The fob operates on 433.92 Mhz, and I can hear chirping when buttons get pressed, even from 30 ft away. Unfortunately there is full bars of noise pretty much in front of our house and I'm guessing its messing with the receiver in the car (my next door neighbor also complained about recent intermittent issues with his car, same brand as my wife's).
I have a Pl-259 adapter that screws onto the transceiver, and since I'm not going to broadcast on that frequency, I figured a short piece wire would suffice. What should I use make it pick up signal only from wherever I point it towards?
Any help/ideas are welcome
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2018
Messages
2,038
So, I have a specific question about an antenna. I need to build a directional(?) antenna for my handheld (Baofeng) to try to locate source of interference screwing with my wife's car/key fob. The fob operates on 433.92 Mhz, and I can hear chirping when buttons get pressed, even from 30 ft away. Unfortunately there is full bars of noise pretty much in front of our house and I'm guessing its messing with the receiver in the car (my next door neighbor also complained about recent intermittent issues with his car, same brand as my wife's).
I have a Pl-259 adapter that screws onto the transceiver, and since I'm not going to broadcast on that frequency, I figured a short piece wire would suffice. What should I use make it pick up signal only from wherever I point it towards?
Any help/ideas are welcome
Someone else will have to step in as they may have a simpler approach, but what you are getting into is what is typically called "fox hunting" and a Yagi antenna is a good antenna design for more of a directional type of antenna for signal strength receive. As an example of this, a Yagi antenna had to be used at one of the fire stations in Brea, CA so that the signal strength could be increased, so to speak due to the location of the fire station being in a fairly bad spot to receive a good signal. Putting up a Yagi helped.

With that said, the video below gives you an idea of fox hunting and how it is done, but as you will see, it gets pretty involved when doing stuff like this, which I have never done, but only know about it.

The video below is a good one because he talks about SWR tuning, which other videos I have watched so far have not done this. The other thing is you want to buy/build an attenuator because as you get closer to the signal it will get strong to the point of not being able to pinpoint the source so you need the attenuator to reduce the signal strength being received.

There are quite a few videos out there and I honestly don't know which one is going to help you the best, as again, it gets pretty involved and this is the only way I know on how to pinpoint a source without dumping $$$ into it. :noidea:

Finally, I know it's not going to help you much with this post, but just letting you know it gets pretty involved and this is as much as I know about doing something like this? I know quite a bit when it comes to first responder setups and communications (i.e. how to program radios/configurations, DTMF, Two-Tone Sequential, Tone Remote, High/Low Speed Digital, Analog/Digital Repeaters, etc), but what I see as more R&D radio related type stuff I don't know all that much other than I'm just aware of what is out there.

I wish I could be more help and hopefully someone will chime in with something much simpler or something that you can buy for fairly cheap that does the same/similar thing?

@Chipskip or @MonkeyProof do you guys know anything simpler??? :noidea:
 
Joined
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Messages
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Location
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Someone else will have to step in as they may have a simpler approach, but what you are getting into is what is typically called "fox hunting" and a Yagi antenna is a good antenna design for more of a directional type of antenna for signal strength receive. As an example of this, a Yagi antenna had to be used at one of the fire stations in Brea, CA so that the signal strength could be increased, so to speak due to the location of the fire station being in a fairly bad spot to receive a good signal. Putting up a Yagi helped.

With that said, the video below gives you an idea of fox hunting and how it is done, but as you will see, it gets pretty involved when doing stuff like this, which I have never done, but only know about it.

The video below is a good one because he talks about SWR tuning, which other videos I have watched so far have not done this. The other thing is you want to buy/build an attenuator because as you get closer to the signal it will get strong to the point of not being able to pinpoint the source so you need the attenuator to reduce the signal strength being received.

There are quite a few videos out there and I honestly don't know which one is going to help you the best, as again, it gets pretty involved and this is the only way I know on how to pinpoint a source without dumping $$$ into it. :noidea:

Finally, I know it's not going to help you much with this post, but just letting you know it gets pretty involved and this is as much as I know about doing something like this? I know quite a bit when it comes to first responder setups and communications (i.e. how to program radios/configurations, DTMF, Two-Tone Sequential, Tone Remote, High/Low Speed Digital, Analog/Digital Repeaters, etc), but what I see as more R&D radio related type stuff I don't know all that much other than I'm just aware of what is out there.

I wish I could be more help and hopefully someone will chime in with something much simpler or something that you can buy for fairly cheap that does the same/similar thing?

@Chipskip or @MonkeyProof do you guys know anything simpler??? :noidea:
Thanks for responding. "Fox hunting" is exactly what I had in mind, but the name of it skipped me... I'll look into the videos, and maybe they'll give me some ideas on doing what I need, without spending a too much on it.
 

Chris In Milwaukee

Ain’t no mo’
Joined
Dec 16, 2019
Messages
3,101
Age
56
Location
North Woods, WI USA
Radio stuff has always fascinated me. Back when I taught electronics in the Navy, I was really into it. I’ve forgotten more than I know now. Keeping a much longer story short, after the Navy I wanted to get my EE in Electromagnetics, Optics, and Acoustics at U of Washington but life got in the way. It’s still crazy cool magic and I dig it. Time to dig out the radio guides again and start reading.
 
Last edited:
Joined
May 2, 2019
Messages
1,857
Location
SI NY
Someone else will have to step in as they may have a simpler approach, but what you are getting into is what is typically called "fox hunting" and a Yagi antenna is a good antenna design for more of a directional type of antenna for signal strength receive. As an example of this, a Yagi antenna had to be used at one of the fire stations in Brea, CA so that the signal strength could be increased, so to speak due to the location of the fire station being in a fairly bad spot to receive a good signal. Putting up a Yagi helped.

With that said, the video below gives you an idea of fox hunting and how it is done, but as you will see, it gets pretty involved when doing stuff like this, which I have never done, but only know about it.

The video below is a good one because he talks about SWR tuning, which other videos I have watched so far have not done this. The other thing is you want to buy/build an attenuator because as you get closer to the signal it will get strong to the point of not being able to pinpoint the source so you need the attenuator to reduce the signal strength being received.

There are quite a few videos out there and I honestly don't know which one is going to help you the best, as again, it gets pretty involved and this is the only way I know on how to pinpoint a source without dumping $$$ into it. :noidea:

Finally, I know it's not going to help you much with this post, but just letting you know it gets pretty involved and this is as much as I know about doing something like this? I know quite a bit when it comes to first responder setups and communications (i.e. how to program radios/configurations, DTMF, Two-Tone Sequential, Tone Remote, High/Low Speed Digital, Analog/Digital Repeaters, etc), but what I see as more R&D radio related type stuff I don't know all that much other than I'm just aware of what is out there.

I wish I could be more help and hopefully someone will chime in with something much simpler or something that you can buy for fairly cheap that does the same/similar thing?

@Chipskip or @MonkeyProof do you guys know anything simpler??? :noidea:
Thanks for responding. "Fox hunting" is exactly what I had in mind, but the name of it skipped me... I'll look into the videos, and maybe they'll give me some ideas on doing what I need, without spending a too much on it.
Heh, it seems a bit more involved than a 'string and a cup' solution i was hoping for, but definitely doable.
 

MonkeyProof

PowerTop
Joined
Oct 26, 2018
Messages
660
@MonkeyProof linked this radio before:
https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-015771

What’s the verdict? This or the Kenwood that a lot of people have?
@WileECoyote

The Yaesu has 200 channel memory, 80watts transmit power. louder speaker, but not located on the front panel like the Kenwood

That particular kenwood that is mentioned has 200 channel memory, but only 100 channels can have alpha numeric assigned, 65watts transmit power, and speaker on the front panel.

Either radio is a great choice

EDIT: The Kenwood will have only 100 channel memory if you assign names to each channel

EDIT: This is the radio I would get if I needed another basic single band 2m radio
https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-014764
 
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4runner DOA

Hold my beer
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Joined
Oct 2, 2018
Messages
15,887
Location
OC
The Yaesu has 200 channel memory, 80watts transmit power. louder speaker, but not located on the front panel like the Kenwood

That particular kenwood that is mentioned has 200 channel memory, but only 100 channels can have alpha numeric assigned, 65watts transmit power, and speaker on the front panel.

Either radio is a great choice

EDIT: The Kenwood will have only 100 channel memory if you assign names to each channel

EDIT: This is the radio I would get if I needed another basic single band 2m radio
https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-014764

Can those be modded to transmit at higher bands? Reason most of us like the Kenwood is because there's a mod to do that. We usually hang out in the 151.xxx range.
 
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