đź’¬ OT The official Amateur (ham) Radio thread - and GMRS
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This is probably like buying a basket case exotic car, but fuck it. This is the Collins R-390A. Arguably one of the most sophisticated tube type HF receivers ever made. They produced something like 55,000 of them and they were pretty well the official HF transceiver of the Viet Nam War. They were in use up into the late 80s/early 90s by the military. The tuner mechanism is flat out exotic as well, a strange mechanical setup. This will have a few hundred in parts into it by the time I'm done but these are a $1500 radio even today.
This is probably like buying a basket case exotic car, but fuck it. This is the Collins R-390A. Arguably one of the most sophisticated tube type HF receivers ever made. They produced something like 55,000 of them and they were pretty well the official HF transceiver of the Viet Nam War. They were in use up into the late 80s/early 90s by the military. The tuner mechanism is flat out exotic as well, a strange mechanical setup. This will have a few hundred in parts into it by the time I'm done but these are a $1500 radio even today.
Was eyeballing a xeigu g90 a while back honestly.Mr_Roboto take a look at HRO if you need any kit. They have a lot of excellent deals right now. I’m desperately trying to talk myself out of a Yaesu FTM-500DR that’s down to $430 from $650.
The ICOM IC-7300 is also massively discounted.
Just looked, they have a bundle, bringing the cost down to $399.
Xiegu G90 HF Radio | SDR | QRP | Auto Antenna Tuner | 20W | Remote Head
The Xiegu G90 HF radio is a portable 20W HF 10-160 mtr. multimode transceiver using 24-bit digital architecture. It also includes an internal automatic antenna tuner and packs huge performance into a small portable package. The G90 has a removable display head that can be separated from the main...
Level 2/Tech took me about four minutes to rip through, including going back and checking answers. Level 3/General took me about 8-10 minutes because I read everything slowly, wrote down which ones I wasn't 100% sure, and went back. For two of those I'm glad I did, cause I changed them to the correct answer.
Two of the VE's are fairly certain that since my original call sign was not reassigned, and is still attached to my FRN that they will simply reauthorize it. They have seen that happen in the past, as they figure it's easier to do that than issue a new call sign. I'll know by Tuesday or Wednesday, when I get the notice from the FCC to log into CORES so I can pay. If not, then I can apply for a vanity call sign, and I'll just request my old one.
Mr_Roboto I've got three new rigs in my stable. Well, one is "brand new", the other two are basically new....
Yaesu FT5DR (used about 10 times then boxed back up)
YAESU FT5DR
5W C4FM/FM 144/430MHz Dual Band Digital Transceiver includes SHB-26 black holster
www.hamradio.com
Yaesu FTM-500DR (new)
ICOM IC-7300 (used for about a year, excellent condition)
ICOM IC-7300
HF plus 50 MHz RF Direct Sampling 100 Watt Transceiver with Touchscreen
www.hamradio.com
Okay, so I'm OTA with 2m/70cm. Grabbed an N9TAX Slim Jim antenna for 2m/70cm and threw it up in to the attic.. No problem hitting the 70cm repeaters in Chicago with just 5w. Still need to find a good tri-band stick to throw up in the spring. Leaning towards the Diamond V2000A or the Comet GP-15. I have real-world data on the V2000A since my dad has one, and would really like to throw the RigExpert on the GP-15 to see how it compares.
Looking to put up a long wire this weekend, that will cover 80-10m, as I have the 132' needed for an EFHW.
Looking to put up a long wire this weekend, that will cover 80-10m, as I have the 132' needed for an EFHW.
So, since getting my General license, been playing around on HF (put up a 132' EFHW). Tonight, in the first 30 seconds of powering up, I heard some of the nastiest conversations that I think I have in the past few weeks. Holy shit was it funny. Totally against FCC rules but hilarious none-the-less. I just wish I had thought fast enough to record it.
7.200.00 MHz
I guess on 3.9xx is pretty much the same.
I did manage to jump into a CQ contest and get a 5/9 on N1W (K1RX), with only 40w (powered was turned down).
7.200.00 MHz
I guess on 3.9xx is pretty much the same.
I did manage to jump into a CQ contest and get a 5/9 on N1W (K1RX), with only 40w (powered was turned down).
That's effectively what I did for the Tech. Just went through the published answer pool like they were flash cards. I didn't know you could do more than one test in a day, so I didn't bother with the General questions. Then, when I was there, they asked me if I wanted to try the General. They're not supposed to give you the score, but he showed me and I missed it by 1, which was annoying.
But, either way, I wouldn't mind doing it and dabbling with something (voice) other than 2m/70cm.
With Tech you can do voice on 6m as well, pretty much the entire band except for the bottom which is CW. I did buy the ARRL General Study Guide, its Q&A pool is good till 2026. I read it through a few times, just casually. A lot of the technical stuff (components, circuits, formulas) was over my head, but fortunately most people won't even get into that on a regular basis. The majority just want to be able to work HF with something other than CW or RTTY, like phone or digital. Just to be safe I programmed my IC-7300 to show the full band (to the edges), but it will only TX where I'm allowed to do voice.
The biggest aid was using HamStudy.org. Free to register, free to use the website. Can do cram sessions and flash cards, plus practice exams. It'll show you where you are deficient. If you're using the flash cards it'll focus on where you get your answers wrong. They have an app ($4 ?) for both Android and iOS/iPadOS, which ties into the website, so keeps track of everything for you. I was adamant about not just memorizing the questions and answers. But I reached the point where reading the guide just wasn't working anymore, so I invested in the app. It does give you all three classes, and some other non-amateur stuff. I might go back to it to see what I can pick up from the Amateur Extra guide.
Something to note, HamStudy.org is run by SignalStuff. They make some nice HT antennas, of which I just purchased two of. They're 1/4 wave on 2m, and 3/4 wave on 70cm, which is kind of unusual. Normally you'd see a 5/8 over 1/4. But they chose to stay true to the 1/4 wave resonance. Haven't had a chance to really play with them much, but looking forward to.
The biggest aid was using HamStudy.org. Free to register, free to use the website. Can do cram sessions and flash cards, plus practice exams. It'll show you where you are deficient. If you're using the flash cards it'll focus on where you get your answers wrong. They have an app ($4 ?) for both Android and iOS/iPadOS, which ties into the website, so keeps track of everything for you. I was adamant about not just memorizing the questions and answers. But I reached the point where reading the guide just wasn't working anymore, so I invested in the app. It does give you all three classes, and some other non-amateur stuff. I might go back to it to see what I can pick up from the Amateur Extra guide.
Something to note, HamStudy.org is run by SignalStuff. They make some nice HT antennas, of which I just purchased two of. They're 1/4 wave on 2m, and 3/4 wave on 70cm, which is kind of unusual. Normally you'd see a 5/8 over 1/4. But they chose to stay true to the 1/4 wave resonance. Haven't had a chance to really play with them much, but looking forward to.
The local GMRS towers at night get pretty hilarious when you can tell most have had a few already
Which one(s) are you listening to? From where you are, I know which ones you should be able to hear.The local GMRS towers at night get pretty hilarious when you can tell most have had a few already
Ahh, ever run into any issues programming an HT so that it remembers the repeater offset for input, instead of keying on the repeater’s output and talking simplex?
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