Ham Radio General

I posted so many questions in the last thread that I felt obligated to help set up the new one!
I finally got my license a week ago, I was thinking that there was no one out there. But then I hooked up a home made antenna to my oscilloscope and noticed that when I transmitted the carrier signal was not being modified. The little baofeng I had was just sending out Carrier wave DX .
So I soldered a few connections together to tie the outside mic and inboard mic. BAM I got it working and made my very first contact today! And not just one, as soon as I started talking I found out there are TONS of people out there just waiting to talk. All very friendly and helpful. Told me my baofeng was putting out crystal clear now that I fixed it up.
I'm very excited about this new hobby. Cant wait to get my IC 740 set up next month!

>>1134221
Haha good job figuring it out. 73

>>1134220
http://www.batc.org.uk/

>tfw not even a bong and know about this

Anyone listening to HAARP? It's up and running.

http://www.arrl.org/news/alaska-s-haarp-facility-once-again-open-for-business

I want to throw up a wire antenna and see if I can pick it up. I read somewhere it can be received globally (not sure about here in Ausfalia, but fuck it, worth a shot, I'm remote and the spectrum is quiet out here), but every fucking google search I throw down on the topic brings up conspiritard bullshit.

I hate people.

>>1134264
This could have something to do with best Korea I wonder?

Any kiwi sdrs around those parts?

>>1134264
What's the Australian community like? I been thinking about getting my licence, but I decided to wait until after I've done my gun licence. One hobby at a time...

Who here ARPS? I love live tracking hams who don't use their real call sign.

>>1134374
APRS is fun

>>1134374
Used to have a baofeng and old phone hooked up to aprs. Then I learned about the darkside of ham radio. I prefer to keep my movements private.

>>1134264
I haven't been listening for them yet. I've read the the are going to announce the frequency before each test. Supposedly, they will be staying between 2 and 10Mhz.

>>1134359
It veries by area. There have been some aligations of missmanagnent of funds at the wia but I don't know how deliberate these have been. License fees are high by international standards.

We have other hf alternatives to ham given the counties expance ie rfds, vks737 etc if you purely want coms.

Clubs vary in nature depending on area. There is facilities to get a licenses if you can't get to one for remote people. There is also some guy who runs courses via corraspondance for a price.
wia.org.au

>>1134437
Mismanagement? Sounds like the ARRL!

>>1134391
You don't have to put your FCC call sign in the station I'd.

>>1134484
Put anything you want in the call sign feild. FCC call sign is transmitted in the "Status" comments field and that satisfies FCC requirement to identify the station at least every ten minutes. Then Register the FCC license as a trust where trustees can use the ARPS then when people look up the call sign they will get a trustee address instead of your name and home address. yes you can operate anonymous legally on ham radio.

Do you guys keep your HTs on the charging base when not in use? or only when charging?
I've ruined a battery for my UV-5R by allowing it to be dead for far too long.

Lately I've been trying to power cycle the batteries at least every month or so to try and prevent this. I'd rather just be lazy and let them sit on the base. Any best practices or tips would be appreciated.

>>1134391
What do you mean, darkside of ham radio?

>>1134437
Some more info:

http://www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/amateur-licensing

http://www.wia.org.au/

http://www.res.net.au/

If you just want some HF outback comms (not amateur) read the following:

http://www.beadelltours.com.au/hf_information.html

The radios for the latter will cost more being type approved radios.

>>1134533
Go to YouTube and look for
KI4THX
K1LEM
AC9MV

Plenty of ham radio trolls...

Anyone here listen to International SW Broadcasters?

What's your favorite station?

>>1134654
Its been a wile since I listened for long with the prevalence of cri and death of radio Australia shortwave.

Used to listen to hcjb when they were on ~12mhz.

Sometimes listen to radio Vanuatu, the Europa band over there and pirates in the US and Europe via sdr.

>>1134506
lipos die if discharged too low, overcharged, or stored at full charge too long. You can also accidentally become overcharged if you charge at one temperature and then travel somewhere hotter. Fortunately replacement batteries are cheap for baofeng.

>>1134506
I've read that you can't use the UV-5R while it's charging. I just charge it up, unplug the charger and use it as a stand. There's also an extended battery pack that takes 6xAAs

>>1134220

http://gen.lib.rus.ec/search.php?&req=ARRL&phrase=1&view=simple&column=def&sort=year&sortmode=DESC

>>1134506
Most of the Baofeng's have a protection circuit between the battery and the radio, sometimes with the right charger you can get the battery back working. Done it once and it worked rather well.

>>1134533
Old yanks shitposting on the radio

>>1134221
Any photos of the repair? I can't quite picture what the issue was or how it was fixed (not an electrics kind of a guy, myself but I do have a baofeng and will have a license!)

>>1135166
Karol Madera, one of the worst, is Canadian...lol.

>>1135297
There's a guy in my area, radio terrorist. He has had his license twice. The first was terminated after 5 days. He was issued a second license 3 years later and it was terminated after 10 days.

He was KG5IDD AND KG5RQQ

I got my general license about a year ago and got a IC-718, but I feel too anxious to actually start talking. And the few times I've tried I called for like 15 minutes and nobody responded. (I know the radio transmits fine, I can hear it on a portable shortwave.)

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>tfw calling people racial slurs over ham radio

>>1135554
I suspect your not getting out. Hearing yourself on a sw radio 10 feet away is not a good indicator.

What type of antenna? How high is it?

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Hi.
I am a Physics Student and I took courses of Electromagnetism and (Basic) Electronics, if I wanted to get started in ham radios, what book(s) would you suggest to look into?

>>1135613
I have 55 feet of stranded 16 gauge electrical wire raised up about 25 feet horizontally on PVC tubing, and a 9:1 balun box I got off ebay.

>>1135763
get that big ass ARRL book

>>1135829
55' feet of wire seems awfully short for anything other than a "compromise" antenna. I'm assuming you're using a tuner? Most wire antennas preform best at 35 feet or higher. You're no doubt experiencing ground effect. At best your antenna is acting as a NVIS antenna, but most likely the majority your radiated power is being absorbed by the ground. That 10 feet can make a world of difference.

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What is going on here?

>>1135763

The ARRL study guides. The ARRL website also has supplemental info for each license class guide to help expand. Most of the books to get started in the USA up to the general class license are in the link this anon shared...
>>1134707

>>1134707

Anyone know where I can download the Amateur Extra study guide by ARRL??

>>1136035
Military shenanigans, probably. I live near a bunch of bases and HF is a fucking mess.

>>1136035
breakfast

>>1136035
That portion of the band is reserved for amateur television, but those don't look like TV signals. Amateur radio is a secondary user of the 70cm band, that looks more like data; possibly military or government.

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>>1135829
Do you have a SWR/power meter mate?

Could be that your SWR is too high so barely any power is getting out.

If it is high you'll need a tuner. I believe you can make cheap ones yourself.

>>1136123

In the 70s we smeared feces on the antennas and it solved everything. Kids today with their fancy expensive gadgets.

>>1135436
What did he do exactly? All I could find in search was was a denied FOIA and some gloating.

>>1136296

Jamming, terroristic threatening, just to name a couple. He cut the hardlines on one local guys tower.

I have a hard time believing there are over 700K people that are still into Ham radio despite being interested in it myself.

>>1137009

>over 700K people in the USA

>>1137009
There numbers are actually going up.

>>1135554
You weren't on 10m were you? That band is a dummy load these days. Your random wire with the 9:1 balun should get you out fine in good conditions. If height restricted, get a painters pole and get the center as high as you can and try inverted V. Also make sure you are tuning to the antenna.

Friend just sent this to me and I got a bit of a chub at "Earth-mode communications"
Doesn't seem to be much on there though. Any reading recommendations if I wanted to send my friend truly underground memes?

>>1137267
Forgot link derp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_low_frequency?wprov=sfla1

>>1137052

I heard somewhere that a bunch of millenials and hipsters are just getting the licenses to pad their resumes and hang on their walls for geek/nerd cred but aren't actually using them.

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>>1134220
Reminder that owning a ham license IS PROLONGING THE DICTATORSHIP OVER THE RADIOWAVES.
The ham radio spectrum is best left for public unlicensed usage! Yet the fucks with license would rather use the spectrum for themselves! We could have long distance emergency message service, and much of the spectrum except obscure military and scientific frequencies left for everyone to freely use if the people distributing it weren't selfish cunts!
DEATH TO HAM RADIO FUCKS! SOME DAY THEY'LL GROW OLD, DIE, AND THE SPECTRUM WILL BE OURS AGAIN!

>>1137541
Someone failed the tech exam, I see.

>>1137543
>implying I'd join their ranks
That's what these fuckers want to see. It pisses me off to no end they can triangulate and send out a partyvan to anyone who doesn't have a "license". NATURE DOESN'T NEED A LICENSE TO EMIT FREQUENCIES, NEITHER SHOULD I!

>>1137541
>THE SPECTRUM WILL BE OURS
They have had their very, very narrow bands several times longer than you've been alive.
And hey, you don't need their bands specifically, just transmit your important Hitler messages at whatever frequency you want to. It doesn't matter whether it is allocated for television, cops, army, remote control or whatever, it's all the same dictatorship and tyranny after all.
Or, you know, you could use one of the license-free bands.

>>1137541

CB radio is for mouth breathers like you.

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Here in the UK cb radio is full of retards. Running 500watts to chat with a mate half a mile down the road.

>>1137522
Are you the same poorfag from the previous thread angry that he can't afford a transceiver?

>>1137575
You also get CBers who just act like amateur radio operators with 59s, callsigns and all sorts of shit. Why don't they just do their license exam.

Also iirc isn't DXing illegal on CB? Feel like I read somewhere you're not supposed to use it for contacts over a certain distance or something.

>>1137594

No but maybe that is where I read it.

>>1137595

I never heard that about DXing on CB. When I was a kid in the 80s I made a few alleged DX contacts on SSB with a CB radio. It wasn't many. I had a tweaked base station with a shakespeare Super big stick and Silver Eagle Microphone. I still have the mic. That was around 1984ish

>>1137595
In my country you are not surposed to talk over seas. Lots do though and no one polices it.

>>1138436
What's it like in North Korea?

I've been a shortwave listener since 2012 and I'm wondering if it's worth getting a ham license or not.

Mostly I just listen to International Broadcasters so I don't know if it'll appeal to me, anyone got any suggestions on if it's worth it?

>>1138467
Not if you're only going to listen. The receivers are much cheaper, as well.

Rookie Ham here
Just bought a Baofeng UV-5R off ebay because it was suggested to me as a beginner (and I can see how popular it is for how many times it's mentioned)
I've had this radio for about two weeks and I haven't had any luck picking up and stations. I've been trying to listen to the police frequency but I haven't been able to. Which settings should I be focusing on and which ones arn't important? plz be gentle

>>1138517
Check radio reference for your local frequencies. If they are using P25 or EDACS, the baofeng isn't capable of receiving digital trunked networks.

I highly recommend enabling disabling transmit onot public safety frequencies to prevent accidentally keying up on those channels.

Monitoring, bump

>>1138541
I found the frequency on a database website and it also listed the tone and what you said, the mode which is "FMN", but I must have missed a setting

>>1138994
NFM = FMN. Narrow band FM. 12.5khz width 2.5khz deviation.

Menu 5 on the uv5r

>>1138517
scan everything for days.
Write down frequencys

Theres a function for that

>>1139017
You can also scan for the ctcss and dcs tones

>Scanning with a UV-5R

Lol have fun with that

>>1138517
Check the band plans mate so you know what you're listening to or looking for.

>>1139259
Pretty sure you can set an upper and lower limit for each band so you scan in vfo mode, if you have the software.

>>1139296
It's a pretty awesome radio once you get the serial cable. I thought mine was worth the $30 just using it out of the box but once I started using CHIRP to have different profiles of frequencies for different areas and to be able to actually name your channels, this thing's outstanding

>>1139259
Works great honestly, I'm in Dallas and police, fire, and sheriff are still on VHF and UHF repeaters. I use my UV82 as a scanner and the UV5R for ham.

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What do you guys think of this?

I'm planning on getting one once gearbest stock em.

>>1139314
They are pretty remarkable for 30 dollars. The have some great features. The software definitely makes it a better radio. The only drawback is durability. I use them for handouts, camping or anytime I don't wanna risk my yaesus.

I have a couple tyt th7800s as mobile rigs with tram nmo mount antennas. Ive had two rigs stolen, a yaesu and an icom. From now on I keep the cheap stuff in my vehicles and the good stuff in the shack.

>>1139322
No familiar with that model

>>1139335
>ham radio stolen from car
Must've been pretty upset when he realized he couldn't play his nigbeats with it

>>1139338
Naw, crackheads hoping they can get a few bux for it at a pawnshop.

>>1139337
It's a Xiaomi brand UV-5R clone essentially, uses half the same internals as a 5R but it has bluetooth, a standard 3.5mm headphone jack and will likely be far more user friendly.

Considering how big Xiaomi are into "inter-connectivity" between devices it'll probably have a complimentary mobile phone application too.

$35 and in terms of actual radio performance it'll be the same as the UV-5R i've no doubt.

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>>1134220
I travel a lot and take my minivan places that minivans aren't meant to go, so I've decided that I need a line of communication beyond a cell phone. What will best suit my needs? I like the idea of ham radio so I can do things like practice foreign language and be less lonely when traveling alone in the middle of nowhere, but I know next to nothing about this.

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>>1139413
VHF/UHF mobiles and handhelds are line of sight ish.

HF is long distance.

VHF/UHF is cheap HF is expensive but a lot of people do HF from their cars

Something like an FT-817ND is about £500 new and very portable, it's tiny. Also does VHF and UHF as well as HF. You can probably get a second hand one in the £300 range.

For the antenna you could do many things, you could have a 'whip' stuck to the top of your car which will do the job and you can talk whilst you drive. If you want to do a better job when you've stopped somewhere, say on the seaside (amazing for HF and LF especially) you could get a cheap telescopic fibreglass pole, run an end fed antenna up it and you have a vertical.

>people tuning up on the frequency people are talking on

Are they fucking stupid, just move off the frequency and tune you twats.

>>1139621
If it's done intentionally to QRM an in progress QSO, yes they are douche nozzles. Often, they offenders cannot here distance stations in QSO and believe the frequency is not in use. QSL?

>>1139627
>If it's done intentionally

I've no doubt that happens, I've heard it happen but I think a lot of the time people are just idiots.

>>1139629
I'm more aggravated by the retards with no licenses, buying cheap baofengs on amazon who figure how to program repeater pairs and intentionally jam our local 2m and 70cm repeaters. Luckily most club users can up the power and pound their signal through the jamming via capture effect.

>>1139613
With VHF it can vary quite a bit. I once got into an APRS digipeater in one hop in Canada... nearly 200 miles northeast of my location at time time over land.

Then of course if you live near large bodies of water (such as the great lakes region) interstate communications is a very realistic possibility.

>>1139413
Continuing on the above, look for ham radio swap meets and that sort. Often times you can find good used equipment at reasonable prices. Either VHF or dual band VHF/UHF would be most appropriate for in-car use. You could do HF from your car but it can be difficult as the environment is not optimal and lower bands require rather large antennas you might not like attaching to your vehicle.

>>1139800
>With VHF it can vary quite a bit
I'm well aware but I didn't feel it was relevant to start talking about tropospheric ducting, sporadic E, meteor scatter and other shit.

>>1139800
>>1140040
Forgot to add though from what I've heard a general rule if you've got no obstructions, good takeoff etc is VHF is to the horizon plus a little bit.

>>1140045
On flat ground with no obstructions, the radio horizon is approximately 15 percent greater than the physical horizon.

Hey HAM, going to hopefully be getting my General this Saturday. Just starting to get into radio, and I was wondering if I'm allowed to speak non-English if I'm in America. Intuitively, I'd think its not a big deal, but a lot of these practice questions kind of have me wondering. I know I'm allowed to talk to (most) foreign countries, but some of the questions seem to imply English only, and it seems like foreign tongues could be considered "secret code"

I live in Alaska, and want to try making it across the ocean to Japan. Is that reasonable?

>>1140226
You must identify in English, but you are no prohibited from conversing in other languages

>>1140226
Its not like Jap language is a secret. Just use your call sign and go for it.

>>1140254
>>1140256
Thanks for the info, anons

>>1139800
>lower bands require rather large antennas you might not like attaching to your vehicle.
How large are we talking?

>>1140518
You ever see pickups with those huge antennas that are like 3x the vehicle's height?

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http://www.aredn.org/

Someone posted this link last time and was talking of long range fast data connections with ham. I don't really understand how that link helps me build one.

>>1140519
Does anyone make good fold-down or telescoping variants? Sometimes I drive my minivan under small bridges or innawoods.

Is ham experiencing a resurgence because of long range quadcopter/drone comms?

>>1140526
I attribute it more to the prepper movement than anything else.

>>1140526
>>1140576
This an also an increase in electronics interest.

>>1139634
>repeater pairs
>jam our local repeaters
>pound their signal
>capture effect

What?

>>1140770

Repeater pair: the input and out frequencies of a repeater. Also known as shift or offset.

Jamming the repeater: intentionally causing interference and denying the use of the repeater to licensed users.

Pounding the signal: the ability to over power the 5w baofeng with a 75w yaesu. Using a more powerful radio to break through the interference.

Capture effect. See FM blocking. The ability of a recever to selectively receive a stronger signal.

Ya retard...

Is there an entry level HF rig that won't break the bank? I'm a college student so I looked at a mobile I could mount in the car or bring inside, not even sure where to start.

>>1140903
Alinico dx8 rt or Icom 718

>>1140526
Some guy in a previous thread said it was because of the RTL-SDR and its huge popularity

>>1140933
Not sure I agree with that, but i welcome the increased interest in the hobby. If the interest fades they will slowly take more and more bands or bandwidth and "sell" them to corporate entities.

>>1140933
From what I've seen, it's the RTL-SDR, SDRs being accessible online, Baofeng and other manufacturers dropping the price floor, the prepper movement, and the rise in digital modes. What a time to be alive.

>>1140903
How much are you willing to spend?

>>1141181
Less than $400 would be ideal. Not looking for the Baofeng version of an HF rig, but a few steps up would be nice. Is that asking too much? Honest question.

>>1141231
400? Yeah that's asking too much. Even for the used market. The Alinco is your only hope. But the you'll need an antenna and possibly an antenna tuner...

>>1141231
Hahahaha...poorfag

Is this radio thing CIA proof technology?

>>1141417
Uhmmmm no....

>>1141250
Do you have a suggestion for a starting budget? The FT817 looks good but $700 for 5W, it's not made from solid gold..... Everything else I looked at was like ancient and/or used tubes and all of those were in poor condition. I would prefer a mobile so I can make it a desk rig if I want but that seems to increase the cost significantly.

>>1141272
Thanks for the oh so insightful reply, you must be from /b/.

>>1141563
Radio, power supply, antenna, antenna tuner and misc, your looking at about 800 to 1K. That's even with budget items.

The Alinco has a head separation kit and can be used mobile or base. It lacks in filtering and DSP, but not a bad starter rig.

A great camera with a crap lense will always take crap pictures, likewise in radio your money is well spent on a decent antenna. A great radio is worthless with a cheap antenna

Build your own fucking antenna, nobody used to BUY one.

>>1141641
I agree. However, my HOA and insurance didn't have a problem with me putting up an antenna, just not a home brewed one..

>>1141563
If you're looking to go mobile, Try the 2m Hamstik (the non-spring one on amazon still requires a spring for good SWR) and either an alinco, the TYT-9800, or one of the wouxons.

I personally use the TYT-9800 quad band and have had no issues with it, and many local hams have tried it out aswell, seeing similar results. It can be programmed via CHIRP and as a bit cheaper than the Alinco, with two extra bands (the TYT quad is $210, and the alinco dual is $330)

I will say that the TYT-8900 (the dual band version) is exactly the same as the 9800, just with two less bands, and thus a waste of money.

The TYT also has a separation kit.
You may only be able to use 2m/70cm (MAYBE 6m if you're careful) with the 1/4 wave or 5/8 wave Hamstik, but the options are there if you want them.
10m on this rig is FM only so no techies on this one.
It can also receive air-band and public service. anything between 20 and 900mhz except the broadcast bands.

The woxuons have more and different features, but are more hit and miss from what I hear.

All in all the TYT install was ~$400 (this including the nickel and dime items, car power rewire, adapters for antenna mounting, coax, SWR meter (i didn't have one before this) radio, Velcro, mic hook, and antenna itself.)

I get a range of about 40mi on 10w to the repeater. Pretty close to full quieting.
I can actually run 5w and still get in, but at a detriment to quality. I should note the antenna is mounted and grounded to my bullbars.

>>1141692
He's looking for HF. Those tyt 9800s and yaesu 8900s are FM only on 10 and 6m...and there isn't going to be anyone to talk to on 10/6m FM. 99% of traffic on 10 and 6 is SSB.

>>1141698
>10m on this rig is FM only so no techies on this one.
I am aware of the issues of HF on the TYT, I was not aware that anon was looking for HF.
RTFT I guess.

In that case he may also consider building a few kit radios until he has money for an off the shelf unit. Something with more power than a pixie, but also not as overpriced as the MFJs or other brands.

HF antennas are dirt cheap and easy to /diy/, in fact, the best ones are /diy/. There is no real reason to buy one unless you're going field portable or mobile, but even then there are some really good and cheap /diy/ solutions.
If HOA got you worrying, /diy/ one that looks nice, and don't tell them you made it.

>>1141635
For me it was
>Yaesu FT-450D
Really like it, not many niggles with it but already know what my next rig will be. Stupid really as I haven't had it long at all and haven't used it to anywhere near its full potential.
£500
>Alinco DM-330MWII power supply
Great switch mode, noise offset works great, adding a toroid to the cables got rid of loads of noise.
£130
>Comet CAT-300 Antenna Tuner
Really good, can tune fucking anything. Can be very twitchy at times though but it's just practise, 20m is a cunt but I'm getting better at tuning.
£200
>Signalink USB
Haven't properly used yet, done some tests and works well though.
£100
>Other shit like antenna and coax
£100 ish

HF is expensive, the signalink is obviously an extra, and the ATU can be made yourself or just ignored and just make the right length antennas yourself.

Haven't even done any digital stuff yet, too fucking scared to.
>likewise in radio your money is well spent on a decent antenna
To start with a doublet will be fine and they're cheap to make or buy. Height is everything though, mine is too low and the angle of radiation is shit, rarely get any long distance DX sadly. Heard a bloke in Massachusetts in the US the other day on 20m at about 14:00, was an S7 and sounded great too. Called him a few times but I'm only on 10 watts and never had a chance.

>>1141635
>>1141692
>>1141707
I should know better than to go to the Internet and not expect to come away with more questions than I had before.

I passed my General over a month? ago and I'm not exactly sure what the HF outlook for Texas is. Dallas used to have a 10m FM repeater but I think it might be dead, I want to say it was linked to a 2m repeater but I don't remember which one. My HF knowledge at this point is just off watching various repair videos off Youtube and going "Holy hell that thing is a boat anchor!" I hoped to find a sub $100 shortwave receiver and get a feel for HF before diving in, but the AM/FM/SSB receivers aren't very far from the price of a full transceiver. I was hoping to figure out where the activity was here and build a radio from a kit, but I'm not sure where to start at this point.

Not exactly OVERWHELMED, but it's pretty confusing when I'm used to fatfingering channels into an HT and just going.

>>1141635
You can get lower if you buy used equipment and watch for deals on ebay/craigslist. I got a IC-718 for around $350 from a local ham (apparently it had been his "backup radio" for emcomm, but he wanted to replace it) and ended up spending about $250 on a Alinco power supply, a MFJ tuner and coax, matchbox, wire, grounding stuff, etc.

>>1142134
Still over buget...

>>1141760
You can get a Tecsun radio for as low as £30 that'll allow you to listen to shortwave broadcasting stations and give you a bit of a feel for HF. It covers the ham bands but only does AM on HF, you can get Tecsuns up to about £100 that do SSB though.

>>1142143
Well your budget is not enough for most hobbies let alone HF amateur radio.

>>1140782
Ah, got it.
Faggot.

Anyone have any plans for a multi band cobweb antenna? Preferably 40 thru 10m.

Can anyone explain how one can create a long distance intranet connection with ham with really fast data speeds?

>>1137052
Of course they're going up, it's not like anyone notifies the FCC when a ham dies

>>1137541
If ham gave up their band where I'm from, they'd just become another unwanted TV or phone channel

>>1142802
That's not entirely true. Many hams report SKs to the fcc. There are hams and websites dedicated to scouring obituaries for the sole purpose of harvesting the 1x2 and 2x1 call signs.

Hams, being generally kind and decent folks, also like to ensure SK's get the dignity, honor and memorials they deserve.

>>1142948
I received a letter from a gentleman whose father was the previous holder of my call sign. He is now a ham and he politely asked if I would consider giving up my call so that he may petition for it.

I'm strongly considering it...

>>1142803
Same here, they have to fight to keep the bands enough as it is, if it was unlicensed they would all disappear.

That poster is just mad he can't pass the exam.
>>1142949
That's nice, if he asked politely I would personally give up my call.

Hopefully he isn't making it is up and just wants your callsign though.

>>1142993
I looked him up on ULS and he seems legit. His QRZ page also mentions his dad by call sign as one of his elmers.

The only way he can get it without waiting the 2 years and 1 day is if he can prove he is related to the original holder.

>>1142754
Were you the anon who asked about AREDN, what exactly is your end goal? Ham band means you can't use encryption, at least in the US. Ubiquity makes some pretty nice routers in dish form that are used for rural WISP systems that might be useful? Need more to go on.

I just got back from the Mike and Key show in Seattle.
I got SO MANY TOYS,
I finaly got my ICOM 740, a few dipoles for different bands, a handheld yagi for uhf, an iambic keyer, and a homebrew antenna tuner.
Now its time to set it all up and try out HF for the first time.

>>1143908
Have you ever used an iambic key b4? When I switched from a straight key it was night and day; for me there was big learning curve.

>>1143908
Nice one mate.

Going to do some satellite stuff with the yagi?

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I'm new to ham radio(gonna take my tech test next week) but what exactly is rtl-sdr and why is it so special?

From what I've read it's basically radio but with digital knobs on a screen instead of on a physical radio. There has to be a better explanation though.

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>>1144597
iirc 'rtl-sdr' is using a TV usb dongle thing as a reciever. SDR just means 'software defined radio', not sure what rtl is, it's something to do with the firmware of the tv dongle I think.

Overall it makes for a very cheap receiver with a wide range. You control it through your PC.

Plain SDRs are just boxes that connect to the computer which have all the radio stuff in but you control everything via the computer.

They have advantages and disadvantag4es. The rtl sdr dongles are very cheap and are a great way for beginners to get into it.

SDRs that can transmit as well as receive are rather expensive.

I'd quite like to get a receive only SDR, like the SDR play to try it out even though I've got an HF rig. The SDR play goes up to something like 10ghz though.

Get an rtl sdr though, they're really cheap.

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>getting BBC World Service from Ascension Island here in England

This is mental, 12.097mhz too and it's nine o'clock at night. Had no idea the band would be open at this time, especially that far.

>>1144683
Pretty much the only place on earth you can't pick up the BBC world service is in the UK.

>>1144638
>SDRs that can transmit as well as receive are rather expensive.

From what I've seen they're in the range of $400-500 and that's for the very high end. That's STILL much cheaper than the average base radio.

>>1144597
All tuning, demodulating, decoding, etc. is done with software on your computer. For most functions where you would need to add hardware to a regular radio, you could write software to perform that function.

>>1144051
Im gonna start looking into that.
I dont really know where to start though

DMR is really fun.

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Newfag checking in. Got a couple 'fengs and I'm actually very impressed; they'll hit every repeater in town no problem. I can reach my house from the roof of my office a couple miles away, which is more performance than I expected from a $50 radio. One annoying thing is that the firmware isn't upgradable, and the two radios I got had different firmware versions so I can't use the same image for both radios in CHIRP.

Studying for my General and I'm looking at picking up an FT-450D in the future. Does anybody with this radio have anything to say about it? Should I buy it new for $750 or is it worth it to crawl swap meets?
cc >>1141742

>>1145147
cc here.

It's a good radio. It's my first and only HF rig and I've not used enough of others to properly compare it though.

Sound quality is good, speaker isn't the best but does its job. Internal ATU tunes up to 3:1 SWR, doesn't do the best job but I've got an external ATU now so don't use it. DSP noise reduction actually works quite well and you can change the amount of it depending on the noise, and obviously turn it off. Using RF gain and the pre amp on/off, AGC control etc really works well getting people out of the noise especially on the lower bands like 40m which can be a bastard for me. Very very rarely use the noise blanker, seems to work. Display looks good and you can change the brightness. VFO A/B control is perfect, so easy to use and very useful. Never used split but seems easy, clarifier is easy. Tuning is very nice, fast button for fast/fine tuning. There's a scan feature but it's quite slow, you can have it scan through ranges and stuff though.

One really good thing is although I haven't used the memory stuff much yet I've got every shortwvave broadcasting band stored to memory banks along with medium and short wave. What it means is I can hit a button, and then use a dial to flick through each band and use the main tuning knob to tune around. Works very well and it's incredibly easy for sw listening.

The problems I have with it are just things like menu navigation, only one programmable button, contour is shit it's more like an audio equaliser, the notch works but for some reason it takes fucking ages to move around, the narrow SSB filter is too narrow for it to be useful imo, CW narrow filter works well and wide AM works really well for broadcasting. Also 60 metre support is meh for me but might be alright for you. Basically there's 7 pre set channels for the 60m band that you can tx on, but here in the UK we have about 11 channels now so it's out of date.

Not really sure what else to say desu, any questions mate?

>>1145147
Hams got along for many years without all the wizz-bang doo-dads.

The FT-450D is a great entry level radio. I prefer the Alinco DX-SR8T or the Icom IC-718 for an entry level low cost HF transceiver. Once you learn to tune in a weak signal on one of those, tuning a rig with all the bells and whistles is gravy.

My earlier opinion still stands, I think your better served investing in building or purchasing a great antenna system. A great radio on a lousy antenna will yield nothing but disappointment. A mediocre radio using a great antenna on the other hand....

>>1146719
All he needs to start is a doublet that he can make himself and will cost him next to nothing.

The Alinco and Icom are not far from the price of a 450D and you might as well get the 450 for the wizz bang doo dads because it's better value for money.

Someone explain this to me;

I'm on a local repeater just lurking, some guy starts talking.
It's clearly a two-way conversation, call and response rhythm etc.

But I can only hear this one guy.

What's that about?

>>1146797
The Alinco is $499 and the 450D is $750. $250 on a limited budget is far from being "close".

>>1146798
It is possible the other end is simplex on the repeater output and his signal is too weak for your receiver pick up.

>>1146808
Crikey I bought my 450d last year for £500, now everywhere is selling it for £600.

The Alinco and Icom are both around £600 too what's going on?

The Alinco looks too basic for the money, the Icom seems to have more features, go for that if there's a big gap between the two but when I bought my rig last year the Alinco and Icom were £400 each and the 450d was £500.

You want good value for money but you don't want something lacking features and will mean you 'grow' out of the radio quickly.

>>1146719
Are there any options for space-constrained HF antennas? I'm in an apartment for the time being, so I was planning on buying the FT-450D after I moved into a house because of the lack of antenna space.

>>1146798
Are you listening on the input frequency instead of the output frequency? Double check against RepeaterBook and/or the repeater's website, if it has one.

>>1146798
>>1146838
Sounds like you're listening on the input

>space-constrained HF antennas

Yes but things like loops are expensive. Are you on the ground floor or higher up? You could dangle an end fed out the window lel

>>1146841
I'm 4 floors up. If I dangled a wire out the window though, it would dangle right in front of the window of the dude below me.

>>1146841
>>1146838
That's a good first thought but nope, i've got the offset and everything set up right, repeater works just fine when I use it.

>>1146842
Not sure what to suggest desu you could just try using a doublet, end fed or w/e inside and see what happens.

>>1146844

This >>1146809

Or the station you're hearing has a dual VFO radio and he's answering on the wrong repeater, i.e. he has the wrong side set as the "main" band.

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>>1146842
MFJ makes an apartment balcony antenna. I'm not familiar with it's spec or performance tho...

MFJ-1622

>>1146919
Looks diyable.

How do you set up a fast intranet with ham links?

>>1148317
Yeah, it's basically a mount, loading coil and a telescopic whip.

>>1137009
Many, like me, have been a military morse code operator and got the license through the service. Of course we still had to sit the exams, but the material was already covered in our work.

That is probably one more or less continuous source of resupply to the hobby.

>>1148609
What are you? 80 years old?

>>1148674
iirc I think they still teach morse in the forces

I know in aviation they brush over it as VORs and NDBs will transmit their name in morse code.

>>1148321
I know fuck all about packet radio and all that but I think 23cm is a good band for fast packet radio. Could be wrong though.

>>1148677
>fast packet radio
The Ubiquiti Rocket M2 seems to be the popular choice.

>>1148674
Nope, but old enough to have finished military service and a degree and other things. You just have to be efficient.

>>1148676
>>1148720

US Army signal corps. ETS in 2000 as an O-3 after 6 years as Signal Officer 25A. I was part of the Team responsible for the integration of MSE Mobile Subscriber Equipment which has since been replaced by WIN-T, the War Fighter Information Network - Tactical. Morse Code has not been a part of the curriculum for any communication MOS in over 30 years.

>>1148854
The Navy still does some Morse training (for ship-to-ship signaling more than CW, I think) and I think air crews learn Morse RX.

>>1148923
Pretty sure 99% of the signal lights used between ships is now automated. They are self-aligning. The traffic is input into a terminal on one end and received and decoded on the other. This is more of a redundant backup than a primary means of communications between vessels.

>>1149130
Low power VHF using directional antennae has all but eliminated the need for signal lights. And thus reduced the threat of advisaries using DF to locate a task force underway.

>>1148923
>ship-to-ship signaling more than CW,
Using Aldis lamps, right? I had no problems with morse RX over radio but could never do Aldis.

>>1149130
>redundant backup
And that is a huge advantage of morse over radio: simple, reliable and requires low tech equipment. Even in heavy QRM you can get through.

>>1149149
Most modern Aldis systems are now fully automated and operate in the IR spectrum. These are backup systems to the the extremely low powered directional VHF systems.

With the low angle of radiation over bodies of water, a system utilizing low power / narrow beam VHF is vritually undetectable by advisarial signals intercept and intelligenge systems and much more efficient. These systems employ voice and data streams at vastly superior data rates than can be achieved using optical methods. This is especially useful in periods of severe weather and low visibility.

Are there any study guides for canadians? Or are the rules the same as the americans?

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I'm wanting to get more into backpacking and was considering getting a uv-5r v2 to take with me. Would this be good to learn on or should i just get some walkie talkies from a box store? I kind of want 3 or 4 that i can give to friends when i go out and can't use my phone plus being able to lurk on 911 dispatch seems like it could be useful as well. I dont know about talking to randoms though.

>>1149364
http://wp.rac.ca/how-to-begin/

>>1149655
Thanks. So are the canadian rules that different from american rules? Like if move to america i might accidentally break a rule or something? Or would i have to get an american licens

>>1149660
The laws vary by country, if you move to America you would have to get an American license however you can get an American license even if you live abroad from what I understand as I know Brits here who have alternate American callsigns and they've taken the exams here.

If you're going on holiday most countries recognise usually the top tier license to be able to use whilst abroad, you might need permission first but you should get it.

Check the radio amateurs of Canada website though, it should tell you.

Rules wise they're standardised ish internationally then into 3 regions and then into each country.

For example every country to my knowledge has the 20 metre band available to them. Region 2 which is North and South America, that sort of area, has a 1.25m band but Region 1 and 3 don't for example. Then within the bands each country has it's own 'band plans' like an area for something like digital modes might be a different frequency or size in America to that of Canada.

Not sure if that's explained it

>>1149664
That explained it pretty well.
Does anyone have a pdf to a canadian study guide?

>>1149666
Find your nearest club and contact them, they'll be happy to help and may even have second hand copies.

>>1149693
Alright but if i go to a club how likely is it ill just find a bunch of weird old people?

>>1149508
You could totally get a few UV-5Rs, put better antennas on them (The stock rubber duckies are fucking atrocious and hobble the performance) and use them on PMR446, maximum power output is WAAAAAAAY exceeded by the UV-5R but you aren't going to get in trouble for that unless you go and bludgeon someone to death with the handset.

It's not used much anymore so just go for it.

>>1149798
Cool thanks man. Should i go get licensed and all that?

>>1149813
From a legal perspective you MUST get licensed yes, in order to use the UV-5R.

From a practical perspective PMR446 is for unlicensed use and nobody is going to give a fuck.

People can shittalk over the airwaves from their houses for years without licenses and nothing happens (They even get popular on youtube), you're not going to get picked up in black helicopters on the side of a hill for using a licence-free short range band, even if you broadcast above the watt limit, the 5R isn't THAT powerful.

If you wanted to get more into the hobby then yeah, go get a license dude it'll improve your experience totally, if you're just fucking around with friends don't both.

>>1149749
100% but your here so one can assume your autistic anyway. Just don't bring up illegal stuff and everything is illegal. listen close and you will be taught the ways to protect the band's from non licenced users.

>>1140933
That's why I'm here. Started with an rtlsdr dongle and got my general license a few months later. Life's been kinda hectic lately but I'm gonna be stringing up a big dipole and hopefully buying a transceiver soon. Im mostly into qrp digital modes. No interest in voice shitposting with a bunch of fossils.

>>1149951
But I have been trying to learn CW a little.

Just passed my technician test today. Feels super good desu.

>>1149990
Good jorb anon.

>>1149990
Get your amateur extra and might be impressed...

Technician test:
Q. what color is sky?
A. Blue

Congrats, feel free to shit post on local repeaters...

>>1150080
>impressed
>by a HAM test

all the questions are public lmao.

>>1149749
Old people 100%, weird people nah, from my experience everyone in the ham community is really friendly.

>>1150218
I dunno, my local club has plenty of wierdos...

One that's always commenting on "hot" 13 year olds.

Another that every time he keys up, he ends up crying about ptsd...the guy served 2 years in the coast guard in the late 70s...

>>1150735
Old people talking about their ailments is normal though.

hot 13 year olds sounds a bit dodgy though

>>1150218
>weird people nah
>On 4chan
Thanks to superhuman self control I shall resist pointing out the ... erm ...

Anyways, back when I served as a military morse code operator about half were peculiar and that included some of the officers. Some would include me in that group but we should not listen to that crazy talk.

It is only natural then that hams are not that bland.

>>1140524
The are many suppliers for all sorts of antenna masts. Some are raised in place, others are extended along the ground and then tilted upwards.

Some are winched up others use electric power. There is really a huge set of combinations. You might get some mil spares.

Some videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeq67zIh_bPIAlyAQmqxwfg

>>1140903
Search for "Cheap QRP" and you will find a lot, mostly kits but that is not a problem. Here is one example:
http://kitsandparts.com/1watter-V5.php

Question for our code people, is Morse Toad good for getting started with learning CW or should I just stick to a dedicated program? And when you where learning it, how did you schedule your practice?

>>1151507
That's what I used to learn and stay sharp. Pros: it is at 20wpm right off the bat. Cons: it is only single letters.

Once your comfortable get the arrl practice files and sharpen your copy skills

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Do any of you fuckers have any interesting SSTV stories?

>>1151882
>Giga powerful
You could stand next to the receiver with 50 milliwatts and still come in that well.

Noon here

Is it true that in the US, all the license questions are posted online?

What prevents somebody from just memorizing the answers and pass the test without knowing shit about radio?

>>1152012
Nothing, except good luck memorizing a couple thousand questions without learning anything about radio.

>>1152013
OK that makes sense. I'm studying for a technician lisence and was curious.

Also, from a purely hypothetical view, how hard would it be to make a homemade all-mode transceiver (HF, VHF, UHF) with a basic physics and electronics knowledge?

>>1152016
Ranging from "difficult" to "lel", depending on the level of functionality you want.

Just did my first every digital QSO.

Fucking heart was beating like mad and I've got the shakes.

>>1152286
Forgot to add it was PSK31, was a nice chap in Hamburg, I'm in England. Strong signal on his end with very little errors in decoding.

>>1152286
>>1152295
Congratulations are in order, anon!

I had no idea there was a ham general on here. Who here goes to Hamvention in Ohio?

What are the differences between the canadian and american regulations? Can i as a canadian get away with reading an american book?

>getting NVIS on 40m at 8pm

That was unexpected, was PSK31 again, could only decode about 60% of what the bloke was saying but I could understand.
>>1152330
Thanks mate! This is fun so far.
>>1152776
Each country has it's own things m8, the knowledge will be roughly the same but with differences. Study the Canadian books for the Canadian test.

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I plan to buy the Baofeng radio to begin this hobby as it interests me. What do you enthusiasts think of this package?

http://www.buytwowayradios.com/products/btwr-essentials/GSK-HAM-UV5R.aspx

Thanks in advance.

Is it true you can get internet via ham radio?
I hear it has lots of controversy on its legality.
Would it be worth pursuing for someone out in the sticks with no internet?

>>1153013
Yes you can, but any encrypted traffic is illegal.
So no https:// sites.
This means anyone listening can find out what you're doing, and if you use passwords they aren't protected.

Basically, it's do-able, but at the speeds you'd get (over a longer distance than UHF and microwave can cover) it's not only impractical, but not worth it.

Not to mention you have to either have a station to link up to the net with, or know someone who does. i.e. there is no ham internet service. You have to set it up yourself, both at the final destination and the originating node.

>>1152995
Go for it mate

>>1153013
>I hear it has lots of controversy on its legality.
Check the pasta https://pastebin.com/9uYXMhVm

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>>1153013
if you want base to base net you can use long distance wifi antenas (to max around 50km)

>>1153173
Another possibility is optical communication:
http://modulatedlight.org/optical_comms/optical_index.html

Infrared light will penetrate rain and fog better than visible light and strong IR sources are cheap an also unobtrusive. Lasers are not recommended.

>>1153013
Some areas have a system like that set up; search for your location with the terms HamWAN, HamNET, and HSMM.

Encryption is indeed illegal in the ham bands, and you may get in trouble if you use packet, which is just as well, as it's far too slow to be useful.

You can, however, use Wi-Fi equipment and get a pretty good range if you have a directional antenna, a tower or hill (or both), and enough transmitter power. You don't even have to be a ham necessarily, as you can stick to Part 15 (unlicensed, consumer/professional grade) stuff and visit encrypted sites all day as long as you don't modify the gear.

>>1153267
If it's in the ham segment of the band, uses a different mode than normal, or is accessing a ham radio network, he does indeed need a license.
It's the use, not the equipment, that determines the requirement most times.

But if you're talking about just using vanilla off the shelf wifi links, yeah, there's no need.

>>1152466
Haven't been yet, but thinking about this year. Kinda bummed I missed the literal shitshow I heard about.

>>1154012
>literal shitshow

Explain

>S0 noise on 40m

Fuck me this is rare, it sounds amazing.

>>1154374
and now there's S8 wot, street lights maybe? But it completely varies day to day.

>>1154393
You might want to track it over a week and see if it relates to time of day or day of week. A simple rtl-sdr with a Raspberry Pi might do the trick.

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Frequency allocations are rather complex. Pic. related.
And even within allocations, like amateur bands, there are sub-allocations (CW, RTTY, slow CW, fast CW and more), many that differ between regions.

Is there some interactive diagram available? Perhaps naively I would have thought a HTML based tool would enable navigation and drill down to the specifics.

>>1154470
That's the overall frequency allocation table which is hug, if you want the amateur one check the ARRL's website.

>>1154705
Sure. The problem is that ARRL is the American one. Some of us travel and an all in one would be better. Moreover the ARRL tables are hardly user friendly and instead stuck in the 1980's table style.

>>1154764
I presumed you were American as you posted the American frequency allocation chart.

Where are you from?

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>>1154831
I posted the US one since it is rather nice and since I couldn't find the UK chart.

While I live in Europe it is not uncommon to travel elsewhere for ham operations and you always have to respect the local regulations.

>>1154940
Every country has their own regulations though they are standardised mostly into 3 regions, region 1 being Europe and Africa. You can travel without issue if you have the highest tier amateur radio license you will probably need to contact the national amateur radio society of the country you are visiting first though.

What do you want to do exactly?

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>>1154962
>What do you want to do exactly?
I have had my license for a long, long time but not been active. Work has been brutal but I need to get time again for hobbies and ham is one I am thinking of. A lot of new bands have become available since then so I need to read up, a lot.

A graphical navigable representation would be good.

Where I am now a lot of bands have been open but if we are fairly alone in that respect you cannot use these to contact people abroad. Thus you need to know the allocation home but also abroad.

>>1154993
The bands are mostly standard worldwide to the point where you don't really need to worry about that.

The UK one is here
http://rsgb.org/main/operating/band-plans/

>>1154993
That's a classic piece.

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>>1155201
I know the tables are available and have seen plenty. Nevertheless I submit that tables like this: >http://rsgb.org/main/operating/band-plans/
are far less user friendly than graphical representations like this >>1154940


>>1155210
>That's a classic piece.
Agreed. And I'd like one of course. Most likely I'll settle for a Pic. related.

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>>1154993

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>>1155233
We are heading for radio pr0n here. Excellent!

This has probably been asked a million times before but whats a good radio for a noob that isnt too expensive?

>>1155225
How is something like this
https://thersgb.org/services/bandplans/html/rsgb_band_plan_2017.htm
Less user friendly? You click on the band and it tells you everything you need to know.

>>1155282
VHF/UHF or HF?

>>1155305
Actually I take it back I suppose it is a bit complicated to read. I can't find an image one though sorry

>>1155306
HF

>>1155327
Go to http://www.rtl-sdr.com/

>>1155336
I meant one that isnt sdr.

>>1155343
Receiver or transceiver?

For receiver only there are many crystal receivers that are easy to make and work fairly well. A good antenna is always a must.

Why isn't SDR a good fit?

>>1155355
Transceiver. Sdr is fine but i just want to have a regular radio as well.

>>1155363
What's your budget because they're not cheap.

>>1155371
This is true.

A search for "cheap QRP kits" will give you a few useful leads. There are many to chose from but since your requirements are a litte vague I cannot be more precise.

>>1155371
I guess 200-300 maplebucks.

>>1155423
Lel. Have fun with that.

>>1155426
Figures

>>1155423
Have a look at Elecraft K1 kit.

>>1155468
That seems good. Have you built one before? Is it a difficult build?

>>1155468
Oh wait its CW. Nevermind, I guess I'll just have to stick with sdr then.

>>1155978
Enjoy your ban.

>>1155981
Bruh it's/diy/ on a ham thread. Chill.

>>1155595
I haven't built it, no, but I am tempted.

>>1155597
>CW
Yup. That cuts costs a lot.

>>1155978
Check with your local radio amateur society, I think all countries have one.

>>1155978
The 'dark side' of ham is just old men shitposting, it really isn't interesting.

>>1155998
To be fair though you can get cheap second hand HF rigs off ebay. The older rigs need more TLC and often fixing but look like fun.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sommerkamp-Yaesu-FT-77-HF-Transceiver-Fully-Boxed-Org-Manual-Yaesu-MH-1-/222459608905?hash=item33cba03f49:g:OXwAAOSwol5Y3~Nc

This is £225 buy it now for example

>>1156000
Ham swap fests are another source of cheap transceivers and electronics in general. A lot of boat anchors and junk but some gems can be found too.

>>1156105
Yeah rallies you can get stuff cheap. Have a chat with the people on the stalls and they'll do you a deal.

Nearly bought an old rig for only about £100 at my local rally.

>>1156144
Also mailing lists can be useful. The Elecraft mailing lists occasionally have posts about used rigs for sale.

>>1154138
Couple years back, I guess the sewer line backed up and blew shitwater throughout the entire venue. In the middle of summer mind.

>>1157763
Oh gross. When I was a teenager I worked at the county fair during the summer and we had the same thing happen whenever the barns for the livestock exhibitions got cleaned out. One time I saw a woman changing her baby on the grass 5 feet from a pool of sewage. Another time it all backed up because somebody flushed their underwear and it backed up the entire sewage system on a day when there was horse racing.

6 metre contest with the club tomorrow, should be fun, hopefully get some sporadic E.

There are a few ISM bands in the HF band. Why are you not allowed to transmit on these?

>>1158777
You are, actually. There are, however, heavy power limits.

There's a whole website devoted to Part 15 ISM operation over at lwca.org

>>1158854
I checked with a kiwisdr on the net (in Sweden I think, earlier using a websdr in the Netherlands) and checked the 6, 13 and 26 MHz ISM bands and all were dead quiet.

>>1158957
What time? 13 and 26 are daytime bands, due to the sunspot cycle 26 will probably be dead too.

>>1159141
Checking just now, early afternoon in Europe. Swedish node was busy, tried one in Greece
http://sdr.telcosol.gr:8073/
6 MHz: rather quiet
13 MHz: quiet with a little something in the RFID-band within the ISM band
26 MHz: a few strips of continuous noise. This is rather a wide band.

Looking just outside these bands there is a lot of traffic. It seems that these ISM bands are under utilized. The issues seems rather too obvious to me so I guess there is something else I have overlooked.