đź’¬ OT The official Amateur (ham) Radio thread - and GMRS
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I have a Baofeng UV5R but besides programming in some weather channels, railroad channels and local repeaters I haven’t done much with them. Aren’t you only allowed to transmit on FRS using the low power setting and even that is technically a hair over what you’re allowed without a license?
I wound up down a weird rabbit hole when looking for headsets for my sxs...these dudes take this shit serious as a heart attack bruh.
Like fcc alphabet Boyz serious shit. Lol
It's still really active. There's a ton of local repeaters for 2M/70cm operation and there's quite a few nets held on a daily/weekly basis. As for the HF stuff(lower frequencies, long distance communications), that's active too but the solar cycle is causing trouble right now. I will say that most of this is dominated by old guys who primarily talk about their health issues and their radios/antennas.
There's cooler/newer technologies people are messing with on the ham bands. The digital modes allow you to send and receive messages over long distances using low power and/or where there's a lot of RF interference. The thing I've always wanted to try is EME, which is bouncing a signal off the moon in order to talk to someone way far away...It uses VHF/UHF frequencies, which is normally limited to line of sight unless you do something like that.
There's also a bunch of amateur satellites up in orbit that have HAM repeaters on board. You can attach a cheap handheld Yagi antenna to a Baofeng and be able to talk over the satellite to people hundreds/thousands of miles away...again, using frequencies that are typically only line of sight otherwise.
Oh, the ISS has a ham radio on board too. The will get on it and talk to people pretty regularly.
So it's cool from those aspects... But it's still primarily old guys.
J-LO! Sup buddy! You get a general license then? Was the test easy? Seems like it should be...
b00sted - Looking for good antenna upgrades for the Baofeng UV-5R. Thoughts?I have a buddy out in TX also getting a set of these things. He used to have his ham license decades ago for Eagle Scout stuff I believe. He's urging me to get mine so we can talk. LOL
Extra class operator checking in here.
Lots of truth in what he said. I had said in the C19 thread that I wouldn't be surprised if C19 killed 2-3 people I knew. Honestly a big part of that is because I'm in a ham radio club.
Seriously though, how I became the president of the club was the old president died. They went from "We haven't heard from him maybe he's dead" to "Yeah, he's dead" to "you're the president now" in about a minute and a half. I shit you not.Lots of good dudes and some sewing circle politics as well. It's a good way to kill time if you're wanting to be social from a distance. In this storm having someone to be social with is a good idea.
From what I understand of EME it's a money game.
In terms of the radios on FRS, you're not even supposed to do it with standard FRS power. The standard radios are fixed antenna and superior antennas makes them non-kosher.
Depending on the model you will have at least 70CM and possibly 2M and 1.25M. I'm betting just 70CM though.
In terms of what it takes to actually pass the test? You'll need to study the questions for the exam, there's no code any more. Get one of the practice apps. There's a pool of questions. You do need some basic electronics and antenna knowledge, basic operating (mostly common sense not to swear at people on the air) and some basic radio propagation knowledge. The youngest girl to ever get it was some thing like 6 years old so you need to prepare but it's not doing quantum physics or something.
You typically go to a meet up where there's 3 hams proctoring the exam (in your case General Class or higher) and they'll sign off on it. Right now's not a good time for to get your license but studying for it? Absolutely a good time. I will say that it's good for 10 years and there's not a test after either. I'm wanting to say there's not even a fee after for renewal. The test its self isn't all that expensive it's all of $14.
Tech Plus guy checking in. Got mostly 2m/440 (70cm) rigs around, with a 6m base station somewhere, and some 10m rigs. All the gear is from the mid-90's but still like NIB condition. Probably a good time to get back into it. Pretty sure I have a 13 element 2m beam antenna at my old house collecting dust, along with a spool of RG-6 and RG-8 coax for base station setups.
ill have to follow this. ive always been interested in getting HAM certified but always got caught up in the WIFI/mmWave stuff due to its close nature with IT.
You can do some cool stuff with HAM radios. I've always wanted to listen to the ISS as noted in this thread.
You can do some cool stuff with HAM radios. I've always wanted to listen to the ISS as noted in this thread.
15-20 years ago I was so into this stuff, hence my username . Wanted to go for my amateur radio license but never did it. It was mostly electrical questions IIRC. I do have a bunch of old private band radios, CBs, antennas, and linear boosters my uncle gave me. But HAM at the right time of the day, antenna position you can talk across the world. Definitely an older crew hobby but still exists. A few in my neighborhood have radio towers in their yard.
Didnt know you could go long distance on FRS. IIRC the unlicensed power limit was like 1 watt or 500mW?
. Wanted to go for my amateur radio license but never did it. It was mostly electrical questions IIRC. I do have a bunch of old private band radios, CBs, antennas, and linear boosters my uncle gave me. But HAM at the right time of the day, antenna position you can talk across the world. Definitely an older crew hobby but still exists. A few in my neighborhood have radio towers in their yard. Didnt know you could go long distance on FRS. IIRC the unlicensed power limit was like 1 watt or 500mW?
Yeah, my 10m rigs were used frequently on 11m. Had some really, um, efficient setups, including a Texas Star 500 and a Phantom 667. Sold them a long time ago, including a really good President Washington base station that would key 3w and swing to 40w. Drove that 500 like a champ, especially when used with a full wave antenna.
Have to look, think I have a President AR-44 with a 40 up/down kit, as well as a Cobra 129 Classic with the same setup. Then two President HR-2500 both of which were modded, extensively.
Once I got my Tech+ I kind of lost interest in the 11m (CB) stuff, as I achieved way more range and clarity and better tech. Plus wasn’t worth losing my license for running 10m walking shoes on 11m.
If I’m going on a long road trip I’ll usually toss an HR-2500 with Gray 100 in the truck with either a Francis whip or Wilson 1000 mag mount, just in case.
As for catching skip, the long wave bands was great for it. Low wattage for long distance, especially when running a horizontal beam antenna, except below certain frequencies you could only use Morse, no voice.
Have to look, think I have a President AR-44 with a 40 up/down kit, as well as a Cobra 129 Classic with the same setup. Then two President HR-2500 both of which were modded, extensively.
Once I got my Tech+ I kind of lost interest in the 11m (CB) stuff, as I achieved way more range and clarity and better tech. Plus wasn’t worth losing my license for running 10m walking shoes on 11m.
If I’m going on a long road trip I’ll usually toss an HR-2500 with Gray 100 in the truck with either a Francis whip or Wilson 1000 mag mount, just in case.
As for catching skip, the long wave bands was great for it. Low wattage for long distance, especially when running a horizontal beam antenna, except below certain frequencies you could only use Morse, no voice.
http://www.arrl.org/find-an-amateur-radio-license-exam-session
This is typically where you'd go. That said not sure about with C19 happening. I actually went to Schaumburg just due to scheduling. I am dubious on them actually testing right now but may be wrong on that tbh.
This is typically where you'd go. That said not sure about with C19 happening. I actually went to Schaumburg just due to scheduling. I am dubious on them actually testing right now but may be wrong on that tbh.
I did mine at College of DuPage in like 1995. Read the prep book a few times, then went in to take the test, as mentioned above.Mr_Roboto where would I go to take a test these days? Interested in getting at least a tech license.
Would have to look to see which licenses allow for what now. But I specifically did Tech+ to avoid learning Morse but still give me a ton of options.
I mean I'll wait this out to test unless they move to online, but maybe you guys who've been in this can point out some of the following?
Good study guides/apps/books/etc?
What license to shoot for if I'm a hobbyist?
Rig recommendations for a home setup? Mobile setup? etc
Learn Us Plz.
Good study guides/apps/books/etc?
What license to shoot for if I'm a hobbyist?
Rig recommendations for a home setup? Mobile setup? etc
Learn Us Plz.
I got into a set of these based on referral from my buddy:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072HXQ5GG/?tag=tcg21-20
8w tri-band handheld. I've heard good and bad, but Amazon users seem to rate them highly.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072HXQ5GG/?tag=tcg21-20
8w tri-band handheld. I've heard good and bad, but Amazon users seem to rate them highly.
One of the cool things about the modern Ham Radio stuff is you don't necessecarily even need a radio. You could do Echolink as well to get started after you're licensed. I've got Kenwood and Icom Mobiles, both of which are decent. I use Baofeng handhelds largely although you'll see a lot of opinions there.
Also, some repeaters support digital modes. These tend to be proprietary. Dstar (Icom) and Fusion (Yaesu) are the two big players in this arena IMO. Dstar offers some gateway functionality to access other dstar repeaters but I'm not sure about Fusion doing it. Haven't kept up on the digital modes much.
Besides that, good antennas are money well spent. Look for the highest gain you can. I'd typically upgrade my antenna before the radio in terms of cost honestly. If I was doing a very nice setup I'd end up with a 2M/70CM dual band radio, a nice antenna and a linear. Even with just the antenna and mobile radio I can hit the Joliet repeater from roughly Bollingbrook.
Also, some repeaters support digital modes. These tend to be proprietary. Dstar (Icom) and Fusion (Yaesu) are the two big players in this arena IMO. Dstar offers some gateway functionality to access other dstar repeaters but I'm not sure about Fusion doing it. Haven't kept up on the digital modes much.
Besides that, good antennas are money well spent. Look for the highest gain you can. I'd typically upgrade my antenna before the radio in terms of cost honestly. If I was doing a very nice setup I'd end up with a 2M/70CM dual band radio, a nice antenna and a linear. Even with just the antenna and mobile radio I can hit the Joliet repeater from roughly Bollingbrook.
Exactly... on lower power mobile/handheld units an improved antenna can make a huge difference.
Related, with a 10amp power supply in the house, my mobile Kenwood 2m/70cm rig using my 13 element beam antenna I could key up the repeater in Macomb from Glendale Heights. Antenna height on tower was about 40' so that helped.
And I agree, a 2m/70cm dual band would be a good starting point. I recall buying a majority of my gear from AES up in Wisconsin.
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