Ham Radio / Off-grid communication

[Jump]

US we got 2mhz of 220 taken away for landmobile and trains,

Ya UPS pushed for and got a chunk of 220, then just never used it.
And we just lost 3.3Ghz. And you can bet the cell companies are licking their chops over the thought of getting 900mhz and 1.2Ghz.
Meanwhile scumbag companies like Echostar are just squatting on ton of usable bandwidth up there purely as a speculative investment. Only recently has the FCC started to meekly push them to shit or get off the pot.

But as I got older, I've realized that it seems like the only people on ham radio are older guys talking about military shit, usually about their time serving the military.

There is more to ham radio then just yacking on 75meters ssb. Most younger people stick to the digital modes or keyboard-keyboard stuff.
And there is also the CW autism

 

[Spasticus Autisticus]

I thought about getting my license but tbh I don't really see the point. My grandpa had a ham radio and every time I would visit him, I would always have fun listening to him and his friends talk. Sometimes I would even get to say "hi" and talk a bit.

But as I got older, I've realized that it seems like the only people on ham radio are older guys talking about military shit, usually about their time serving the military. There's nothing wrong with that, but I feel like there's no point in me getting a license because I don't want to interrupt other people talking, especially about subjects that I can't talk about. It would be cool to talk to other lady hams but in my years of listening and even talking on there, I only found 2 other female users, and neither of them were into it, they were just supporting their husbands

As Jump said above there is a lot more to ham radio than just ragchewing with old dudes about their health problems. FT8 is a digital mode that is purely about making contacts, no conversation involved. There are satellites that have repeaters on them, those are good for making quick contacts since there's usually no time to chat on them anyway. CW is good for quick contacts as well. There are always contests running, those are just all about completing the exchange and being done. You can do Summits on the Air or Parks on the Air, or chase operators doing them if you can't or don't want to do portable ops. If you still want to chat but don't want to do it by voice, there's JS8Call and PSK31 digital modes, or CW. Ham radio is a hobby full of mini-hobbies. I think it's worth getting a ticket if you have any interest in RF comms, you're bound to find something that piques your interest.

 

[Dante Alighieri]

I still need to get into HF but I don't have the light license class for it.

 

[Another Char Clone]

The best HF SDR I've had experience with so far has been the RSPDuo which is in a similar price point when compared to the AirSPY HF+. It has two independent 50 ohm connections so you can run two different antennas to the receiver. But if you are just getting started with the hobby and don't want to spend more than $30 the RTL-SDR V4 can provide basic HF coverage for most of the bands.

I have the RSPDuo from UK too, but it pales in comparison to the HF+. I find the RSPDuo as more general purpose, capable of going from 1kHz-2GHz, the proprietary drivers needed for it was janky on Linux as well. The Airspy HF+ is a HF band specialist, I think I tried doing FM VHF radio with it too, but it did very poorly compared to the RSPDuo.

Something to note for using the RTL-SDR for HF reception is the cable is going to make a lot of difference. The RTL-SDR has an SMA port and you'll probably want to get a SMA to PL-259 adapter and some RG8/RG-58 cable. You also want to keep the cable run as short as possible. For other SDR receivers I have found this to be less of an issue but the RTL-SDR platform is very sensitive to noise.

I have a couple of LMR-400s running around my house, my place isn't big, so it's peanuts cost wise. Supposedly does better than RG-58s.

 

[CoolFool]

As Jump said above there is a lot more to ham radio than just ragchewing with old dudes about their health problems. FT8 is a digital mode that is purely about making contacts, no conversation involved. There are satellites that have repeaters on them, those are good for making quick contacts since there's usually no time to chat on them anyway. CW is good for quick contacts as well. There are always contests running, those are just all about completing the exchange and being done. You can do Summits on the Air or Parks on the Air, or chase operators doing them if you can't or don't want to do portable ops. If you still want to chat but don't want to do it by voice, there's JS8Call and PSK31 digital modes, or CW. Ham radio is a hobby full of mini-hobbies. I think it's worth getting a ticket if you have any interest in RF comms, you're bound to find something that piques your interest.

Thanks for the info. I'll look more into it and see, it has been a few years since I've tried ham radio and I was limited to whatever my grandpa wanted to do, which was pretty much just talk with his local buddies lol. What I liked doing the most was when me and my grandpa would make contact with people from out of state and out of country, that was fun since it didn't require you to be friends with the contacts already.

 

[Mikoyan]

Ya UPS pushed for and got a chunk of 220, then just never used it.

There was a joke at the time that they were going to assign them a callsign like KA0UPS for the transition period.

Weird they never used it. I was looking at some development planning docs from the FRA and apparently it's the thing to use for remote control trains and stuff now. They should've just handed it back but once the bureaucrats get hold of it...

 

[robobobo]

US people should bear in mind before having hilarious hijinks on the airwaves that the very nature of radio involves emitting a signal that is in fact pinpointing your location to everyone around you. All it takes is a handful of other people being pissed off enough to cooperate and there could very quickly be some gentlemen knocking at your door. So don't be retarded and do anything illegal enough to rouse the glowies. That said, you can probably get away with low-key trolling or flaunting rules more or less indefinitely, as the FCC itself can't be bothered to track down people over minor shit.

 

[Archie_Kimkicker]

Did they ever dox Oink Oink?

 

[allthewaydowntotheballbag]

US people should bear in mind before having hilarious hijinks on the airwaves that the very nature of radio involves emitting a signal that is in fact pinpointing your location to everyone around you. All it takes is a handful of other people being pissed off enough to cooperate and there could very quickly be some gentlemen knocking at your door. So don't be retarded and do anything illegal enough to rouse the glowies. That said, you can probably get away with low-key trolling or flaunting rules more or less indefinitely, as the FCC itself can't be bothered to track down people over minor shit.

Only if you do those hijinks on non-ham, licensed frequencies. I personally knows people who have been doing shit on ham frequencies for literal decades and the worst they got from the government was a slap on the wrist. Everyone know who they are and where they live, but all the wrath they've felt from autistic, hall monitor-type faggot hams was a whole bunch of empty threats.
Those guys who were caught were licensed and they only got caught because someone recognized their voices. I've never heard of anyone who actually got triangulated via direction finding of some other technical bullshit.

 

[Jump]

Did they ever dox Oink Oink?

I don't know why anyone would bother trying to track him down. There is lots of funny stuff like that on HF. People try messing with the AM phone guys a lot too but your typical 100 watt ssb radio in to some low effort antenna like a g5rv wont do it.
The 2 guys having the QSO in this recording might not even be able to hear him. The oinker could just be a mud duck thats close to the guy recording the video.

On HF having a big signal costs money, work, and some skill. Its not like ordering a bofang off amazon and bootlegging on a local FM repeater. Its hard to come over the top of someone on 80 meters where these guys are talking. Forget 160meters. A normal dipole there is 246' long. Anything smaller is a compromise. I think that's why most of your trolling happens on 40 and 20 meters. Its not that hard to put up a decent antenna for those bands. Especially 20 meters.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Did they ever dox Oink Oink?

It's hard to fathom how simply using the phrase "oink oink" triggers people to such a degree.

 

[mlanguishi]

The RTL-SDR is at V4 now, I have a V3. The drivers for the V3 barely work with Windows 11. You can't use core isolation at all. Apparently the V4 has new drivers. Does anyone have one that can confirm if the newer drivers work with core isolation?

 

[JusesJeece]

Did they ever dox Oink Oink?

I've been going down the Bossy Guy Mike channel rabbit hole today. He's got plenty of recordings of W6WBJ (William Crowell) who got a massive $25k fine from the FCC for relentlessly trolling a hugbox net called WARFA.

From what I gather the case went on for years, and he's now had his licence shitcanned, but I don't think that's going to stop him.

 

[cybertoaster]

Obligatory

 

[VIPPER?]

E: Be honest with me: is the Baofeng a meme? Its insane proliferation in tacticool circles makes it seem like a meme to me. I'm not terribly interested in HF or CB, but there's lots of stuff nearby on UHF and VHF because open water. If/when I want to do more than shitpost with people on the water would it be sufficient? If I only want to shitpost with people on the water would it be sufficient?

I've never heard of anyone who actually got triangulated via direction finding of some other technical bullshit.

I've seen it once, but it was someone who locked out a ship's radio improperly so it was blasting white noise over Ch16 for like an hour.

That said, it was Harbour Control who showed up, not some kind of hamcops. IIRC the guy who showed up also said he had to check like five ships before finding ours. Naturally, Harbour Control would have direction finders for people blasting MayDay or PanPan but not knowing exactly where they are but I can't imagine actual cops would. No fines were involved since the guy who came saw it chalked it up to "equipment malfunction", figured whoever did it was long gone, so let us off with a warning. But I'm pretty sure it's a few thousand bucks normally to the average mariner or pilot to do that.

For anyone curious how that can happen, when it was locked at the end of the day, the lock-out device was either broken or just not designed well and ever so slightly rode on the PTT button. We just unplugged the handset and left a note to get a different LOTO device.

 

[oh no its pipkun]

E: Be honest with me: is the Baofeng a meme? Its insane proliferation in tacticool circles makes it seem like a meme to me. I'm not terribly interested in HF or CB, but there's lots of stuff nearby on UHF and VHF because open water. If/when I want to do more than shitpost with people on the water would it be sufficient? If I only want to shitpost with people on the water would it be sufficient?


I've seen it once, but it was someone who locked out a ship's radio improperly so it was blasting white noise over Ch16 for like an hour.

That said, it was Harbour Control who showed up, not some kind of hamcops. IIRC the guy who showed up also said he had to check like five ships before finding ours. Naturally, Harbour Control would have direction finders for people blasting MayDay or PanPan but not knowing exactly where they are but I can't imagine actual cops would. No fines were involved since the guy who came saw it chalked it up to "equipment malfunction", figured whoever did it was long gone, so let us off with a warning. But I'm pretty sure it's a few thousand bucks normally to the average mariner or pilot to do that.

For anyone curious how that can happen, when it was locked at the end of the day, the lock-out device was either broken or just not designed well and ever so slightly rode on the PTT button. We just unplugged the handset and left a note to get a different LOTO device.

we used baofeng walkie talkies at work. had this great feature of the earpeice shocking you whenever you transmit. i assume their other electrics are just as shoddy.

 

[Jump]

Be honest with me: is the Baofeng a meme?

They are sort of a meme but they work. Ive owned a few over the years I have hacked up for different projects.
The newer(slightly smaller) 2nd gen ones are not that bad. You can get the normal 5R for 20 bux on amazon. The "8watt" ones with wacky folding antennas are likely a waste.
I have seen them on a spectrum analyzer and they are not terrible. The direct conversion RX is kinda crap and wide as a barn door. So if your operating in a hostile RF environment your going to have sensitivity issues. The audio isn't great and the internal speaker/speaker mic plug seems to be a common failure. If you are looking to just dip your toe in to radio and tune around there is noting wrong at all with a standard 5R.

Its insane proliferation in tacticool circles makes it seem like a meme to me.

They are dirt cheap and most tacticool people and youtubers are just consoomers that like buying tons of gear.
The serious tacticool/prepper radio is the FT-60r. The guys with a few more bux get the VX-6r.

Both are still made in Japan. The FT-60r has the most selective receiver I have ever owned in a ham radio. The VX-6r is 90% as good but wins for being able to RX 500khz-999mhz am/fm. Yes you can listen to shortwave if you clip a random wire on to it.

If I only want to shitpost with people on the water would it be sufficient?

I wouldn't fuck around to much on Marine VHF while at Sea. The USCG Rescue 21 system covers most of their territory now.

It used to be limited but after proving itself for years they expanded to cover basically the whole coastline.

 

[888Flux]

: Be honest with me: is the Baofeng a meme? Its insane proliferation in tacticool circles makes it seem like a meme to me. I'm not terribly interested in HF or CB, but there's lots of stuff nearby on UHF and VHF because open water.

They are a perfectly fine beginners radio but I would recommend the TYT TH-UV88 transceiver over the Baofeng UV-5R. There is far better quality control and they are overall much better radios for an identical price point.

 

[Jump]

Obligatory
View attachment 5474270

The 30 year old commer has nothing on the CB keydown niggers.

Before LDMOS was common some of these guys with high voltage AC alternators are pushing past 60KW (for 10 seconds lol). I can only imagine what the top guys are doing now.

 

[BIG BILL HELL'S]

The 30 year old commer has nothing on the CB keydown niggers.

View attachment 5476452
Before LDMOS was common some of these guys with high voltage AC alternators are pushing past 60KW (for 10 seconds lol). I can only imagine what the top guys are doing now.

It's a shame that many of the videos on bigradios.com from 20-25 years ago are gone. Some of them were utterly nuts.