đź’¬ Off Topic The official Amateur (ham) Radio thread - and GMRS

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HF/VHF Propagation Tools (sites)
Band Chart, Grid Mapper, WAS Map
APRS Information
GMRS Information

Mr_Roboto

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I honestly dont know and looking for clarification lol

It depends on what you're looking to do honestly. If you want to talk world wide you'll want HF in all probability although 6M opens up depending on the sunspot cycle. You're going to have big antennas for that though. The highest frequencies in that range will be about 28mhz (10M,) similar to CBs. At the longest wave length is 160M which is below 2MHZ. Depending on which one you go with they come alive during the day or the night depending on ionosphere radiation. If you're into local stuff you'd be looking more at UHF (the 2M band) or VHF (the 70CM band or perhaps 1.25M.) Some people do operate HF mobile but they're pretty uncommon. You'd know one if you saw a hunk of PVC stuck to their vehicle with an antenna on top of it. The repeaters will extend distance to about 40ish miles with a mobile setup and a good antenna, the terrain permitting and the conditions right. The big thing you need to determine is local vs worldwide. You won't do worldwide bands on a tech license, you'll want to step up to General or Extra. There's apps for your phone that are a great way to use otherwise wasted time to study. I bumped 2 license classes that way in a shot (from Tech to Extra.)

"secure" comms aren't done via ham radio. The FCC rules around it prohibit obscuring meaning of a transmission through codes or otherwise. With ham radio you may as well be doing the RF equivalent of shouting it in the public square; it's hearable to anyone with a radio.
 
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Lord Tin Foilhat

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Oh one more thing BUY THE FUCKING PROGRAMMING CABLE. Almost all radios can be programmed without one but they suck to do such. These are slightly worse than the Kenwood I had for a HT last time.
Was going to get the bigger tri-band antenna and a programming cable as well
 
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Lord Tin Foilhat

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Lord Tin Foilhat Lord Tin Foilhat what were you going to do for a license, or do you already have one? I might have missed this part.
Just listening for now and will be getting licensed eventually. It's more for if SHTF, at that point i don't think license police are coming
 

Mr_Roboto

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GMRS is something where you pay $70/year for a family license and there's no test. It's pretty cool you get up to 50W (a common mobile power rating) as well as the ability to have repeaters and good antennas. Some of the frequencies overlap with FRS.

Something else I probably shouldn't say is that a radio like that UV-5X3 will actually work on FRS Frequencies as well.

If you're not licensed/don't have a call sign someone will take notice esp if you are on a repeater. In the boonies with lower power doubtful.
 

Lord Tin Foilhat

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GMRS is something where you pay $70/year for a family license and there's no test. It's pretty cool you get up to 50W (a common mobile power rating) as well as the ability to have repeaters and good antennas. Some of the frequencies overlap with FRS.

Something else I probably shouldn't say is that a radio like that UV-5X3 will actually work on FRS Frequencies as well.

If you're not licensed/don't have a call sign someone will take notice esp if you are on a repeater. In the boonies with lower power doubtful.
hm, 70$ for 10 years for the family.

for what I am going to use it for (short communication and monitoring) that might be a better option.
 

SpeedSpeak2me

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Lord Tin Foilhat Lord Tin Foilhat

Some licensing info for ya (me too):



Questions and the answers, to be used with the Study Guide


And the different bands:
 

Lord Tin Foilhat

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SpeedSpeak2me

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yeah works great with cell data signal. we have use those in the past.

I am looking at analog means of communication.
"analog"
1610653936016.png
 

Lord Tin Foilhat

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So I ended up with a Yaesu FT-70DR with a Diamond SRH320A antenna.

Why specifically? Because it looked good from a good brand and I could get it in 2 days from Milwaukee lol

Ive turned it on and started an auto scan (so far just static), thats about it. I have also bought a GMRS license and waiting for that to go through.

Lots to learn, probably going to consume a few hours of youtbe tonight lol.

radio.jpg
 

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