Ham Radio / Off-grid communication

VHF/UHF: Icom 5100
HF: Icom 706mkiig

Icom gang. Put a FTM500dr in my truck and sold it a week later. Memories being csv files on a SD card make keeping all the memory lists in sync across HT and mobile nice and easy. Smart move on Icoms part.

Wind storm took down my end fed half wave 20m wire antenna (it sucked anyways) so I picked up a 6 meter yagi. 6m may be spotty, but thats part of the appeal. All of a sudden, Japan comes booming in around 50mhz, or you get a double hop and span the country.
 
ignusfiremage said:
What's your set up?
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I fuck with a FT-70DR for HT & Mobile VHF/UHF (I run coax from a mag mount thru the rear window of my truck) and an IC-7300 for HF. Love both of them to death.

Lmk how the new Extra exam is. I've been sitting at General a decade and haven't felt the sneed to upgrade but if you think it's passable, I'd take a crack at it.
 
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Roxanne Wolf said:
FT-70DR
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I have one too any really like it. Other then the common complaint of poor battery life. Spare batteries are cheap so its no big deal. And ya you can't send 320x240 meme's over the local Fusion repeater like you can with every other Fusion radio but its a sub $200 made in Japan radio that does digital.

I have very much become a yaesu fanboy. I have FTM-300dr's in the mobiles and shack. A submersible vx-6r replaced my old icom in my "go bag". And I am getting ready to pull the trigger on a FT-DX10 to replace my old boat anchor hf rig. For camping/mobile HF I have a ft-891. Though I will admit I wish I never sold my icom 706mk2g years ago. That was a really good HF+6 mobile and you got 2m/70cm all mode. A real "shack in a box" rig.


Another kiwi brought up a cubesat in an A&N thread.

Based Elon at SpaceX has really driven down the cost to put stuff in space. Putting up a cubesat is very much in reach of schools and other clubs now. A new golden age for amsats.
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This spring im putting up a set of egg beaters for V and U so I can do more sat work.

777Flux said:
I've been trying to find a good mobile antenna for 6m FM that I can mount on my car.
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Larson NMO-150 is a 5/8th on 2 meters and 1/4wave on 6meters. Most people including myself have had luck getting them tuned on both bands. If you want just a strait 6meter antenna then the Larson NMO-50 works. If you have a 3/8" antenna mount then the SharkRF 6meter hamstick works. Unlike the Larson you can easily retune it if you want to move around the band.. The Larson's are cut to tune.
 
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777Flux said:
Which yagi are you using for 6 meters? I've been trying to find a good mobile antenna for 6m FM that I can mount on my car.
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Cushcraft 5 element beam. Its 10' long, not for mobile (well you could try).

Weather is nice might go out and get a mast up on an eaves mount this weekend.

Anyone fuck with digital modes? Dstar/YSF/DMR? Any hot reflectors/talkgroups out there? I wanna soak in whatever reflector the truckers hang out in. REF030C is nothing but radio checks half the time.
 
Roxanne Wolf said:
An Anytone is on my shopping list. DMR HT looks like fun especially if you're like me in a metropolis with repeaters galore - there's always fun to be had I've been told!
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I have an Anytone but I haven't used it for DMR much. It defines 'cheap and cheerful'.
 
hog cranking frog said:
Anyone fuck with digital modes? Dstar/YSF/DMR?
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I think on YSF the most popular room is America Link. I think its actually homed on Wires-X but someone has it linked to YSF.
Even only counting the Wires-X side there is a decent amount of people on it.
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Jump said:
I think on YSF the most popular room is America Link. I think its actually homed on Wires-X but someone has it linked to YSF.
Even only counting the Wires-X side there is a decent amount of people on it.
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America Link is also bridged on DMR through Brandmeister (TG 31656). Overall I suspect DMR is the most popular if you're talking about Internet linked modes, between Brandmeister and TGIF networks. But if you get a hotspot with cross-mode functionality, it doesn't matter, just get whatever digital radio you like. In my area, DMR repeaters are the most widespread, followed by D-Star and P25. Fusion is nearly nonexistent although I have seen some SOTA ops use it every now and then.
 
I don't see it posted here but for anyone looking to boost their VHF/UHF signal in a limited space place (such as an apartment) I didn't belive it at first, but a magmount antenna on a pizza pan works damn near wonders (compared to a rubber ducky antenna on an HT).

I didn't think the difference would be as noticeable at first but for shits and giggles awhile back I got a pizza pan at QFC, pulled out a new to me magmount that wouldn't meet the clearance on top of the refrigerator and wouldn't you know it, I got remarks on how much better I was coming in on the weekly nets.

Plus, you never know when you'll need to go mobile so I think having a mag mount is a must-have (I've had no issues with my Comet).
 
Yup ground plane does wonders. I often bench test VHF/UHF with a spare baking sheet and a cheap mag mount antenna. Explains why in mobile installs its far far advantageous to get brave and drill a hole in your roof for the antenna over hood lip mounts.

Another one thats minorly mind blowing: salt water. Do some portable HF from a salt water beach. You'll get good HF propagation.
 
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hog cranking frog said:
Another one thats minorly mind blowing: salt water. Do some portable HF from a salt water beach. You'll get good HF propagation.
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Thinking on it, it's funny how I might take for granted these simple tricks.

The ocean is the best ground plane and when I have the opportunity to do a beach-side portable, it's also great to allow intrested passer bys a turn on the mic (supervised of course) if whoever I'm ragchewing with wants to say hi. I like to think it's the little things like that that get people intrested.
 
Does anyone here know of quality amateur radio clubs that allow participants to join online? The ones I've tried so far have been pretty busted. Looking for clubs that cover a wide array of topics - anything from beginner to almost advanced. Bonus points if they're into vacuum tubes.
 
Listening to local nets have been enjoyable. I've been waiting for the 6G grid anntenna to come in so I can pick up satellites. I've been also trying to make my own radio using a pi4b Poe hat and screen, one of those pcie to pci 16x boards, and some other random junk I have lying around.

Are there any good methods on memorizing Morse?
 
Aljam said:
Listening to local nets have been enjoyable. I've been waiting for the 6G grid anntenna to come in so I can pick up satellites. I've been also trying to make my own radio using a pi4b Poe hat and screen, one of those pcie to pci 16x boards, and some other random junk I have lying around.

Are there any good methods on memorizing Morse?
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If you're using SDR, use something CWGet or SDRAngel's built in cw decoder.
Otherwise it's just practice (or link it on a PC, record the Morse code and then use cwget).
 
Got myself a Quangsheng UV-K5, looks like the perfect inexpensive UHF/VHF handheld for dicking around with the custom firmware available.
It will soon join my Odroid C1 and a sound+PTT interface I've made using a 2$ CM108-based USB sound card (idea ripped off https://yd0nxx.wordpress.com/2020/05/12/adding-ptt-on-usb-soundcard/ )

I need to get my shit together on HF but since I'm moving in a few months, I'm not sure that trying to get an HF antenna on the balcony is worth it.

While family and work leave little for ham radio, I've decided against my common sense to accept my radioclub's offer to be an official "helping hand" in running the club.
 
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