Amateur Radio FAQ

Yaesu's are very, very good. But if you only spend $1 on the radio, it's going to be a Baofeng.

The slim-jim antenna is a good antenna, and cheap if you already have or can easily get a short length of ladder line. Can't go buy it by the foot at Radio Shaft anymore, sadly.

Another stupid-cheap-and-simple option is a 1/4 wave ground-plane built on an SO-239 (UHF Female bulkhead connector). Make it out of spare copper wire or even coat hangers; any wire that can be soldered or clamped to the SO-239 and will hold its shape.

http://www.hamuniverse.com/2metergp.html
https://offgridsurvival.com/2meterantenna-homebrewdroopygroundplane/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkmD3Sgz7Q0

The 1/4 wave doesn't have the gain of the slim-jim, but for casual use I don't think it's needed. I'm using a 30-year-old 1/4 wave mag mount on top of a metal shelf under a metal roof inside my house deep in a narrow valley. I don't have any issues hitting the repeaters in the area with a couple Watts from a connected HT.

Thanks guys. I do plan to use it while 4 wheeling, camping plus at home.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

gamer_jim said:

My first ham radio was a Yaesu FT-60R. I do recommend it for being an HT. I do not recommend it if you think your going to try to operate from your vehicle while driving to work. Yes, it is possible but the controls were just too much of a pain.

But if your looking for a good HT the FT-60r is a good choice.

Click to expand...

I ran an FT-530 for mobile for quite a while. And my ex did so for longer.

The trick is, use a mic. So you are not manipulating the radio while driving.

Baofengs

5 Baofeng radios and a programming cable for $95:

https://sellout.woot.com/offers/baofeng-uv-5r-two-way-radio-5-pack-15

Woot! is affiliated with Amazon. Your nerd/geek friends have been buying from them for years. You’ll get your order, but it’ll take more than two days. Looks like a week or so.

Feels like the C&R "In-Stock Now!" thread: Sold Out.

TapRackBang said:

Feels like the C&R "In-Stock Now!" thread: Sold Out.

Click to expand...

Sellout.Woot is both quantity- and time-limited.

Honestly, if you’re not cruising the internet for gear in the middle of the night, I’m not sure you’re really dedicated to guns, radio, whatever...

WOOT deals

Leeann scored this on WOOT, yeah sometimes there are deals on gun stuff on WOOT

TapRackBang said:

Feels like the C&R "In-Stock Now!" thread: Sold Out.

Click to expand...

Yes! And with the remote testing pending, it's like waiting for a tax stamp too!

Just my guess, but based on what I have read I don't think we'll see remote testing around here until after regular inperson testing has resumed. Maybe for next winter.

Mark75H said:

Just my guess, but based on what I have read I don't think we'll see remote testing around here until after regular inperson testing has resumed. Maybe for next winter.

Click to expand...

I don't care which one comes first. I just want to get tested.

Shinny said:

I've read until my eyes started bleeding. ARRL has a ton of info, so much it makes it hard to find the actual beginning point of an online class. One link says I need ICS certification, then another says I need a SID number, then another says you don't need the SID. I found one website that charges $10 for a class, another that says it's free. I prefer online classes and this D!@# virus stopped in-person classes. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Click to expand...

I have spent a lot of time watching the Technician class videos from this guy on YouTube. They are actual recordings of his in person classes. He also has videos for other levels as well.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI3DKjqB4OLY2UXm2KqDpwQ

I've been toying with some emergency comms ideas for a while now. I've been planning to hack up my Baofeng BF-888s radios when an appropriate project tickled my fancy. Well, my fancy has been tickled.

(yeah, that sounds nasty ...)

The BF-888 radio is an el-cheapo 70cm (440MHz) UHF radio that is available for about $10 each. No frills - no keyboard, no display, minimal controls. You can program 16 channels using remote-control software from a PC. It also appears to be discontinued due to the recent FCC kerfuffle with being not-type-accepted for transmitting on certain bands like FRS and GMRS. Regardless, it's still pretty available on eBay and Amazon.

I found a nifty project on Github for a Raspberry Pi simplex repeater. It's targeted at the Pi 2+, but I happen to have a handful of Pi Zero Ws in my project box. The Zero W doesn't have an audio interface, but I also have a Sabrent USB audio dongle that I'm not using. Seems like a good match. I'm thinking that I can remove the speaker and mic from the 888 and stuff the Pi Zero W and Sabrent dongle in the available space.

First up, I cloned the Git repo and confirmed that the software runs on the Pi Zero W without issue.
https://github.com/allebb/pirrot
It works fine, in spite of complaining that it can't initialize the speaker (something left over from ALSA configuration on the Pi 2?) I confirmed that I can play back the beacon ID audio over the Sabrent interface, and I can manually trigger the Radio COR input ("carrier operated relay" aka "squelch has broken") and make the simplex repeater function properly - receive the inbound voice, record it, and replay it back immediately.

Next up, I want to run the whole sheabang off the Baofeng's internal battery. That's a single LiPo cell, so I'm looking at 3.7-4.2V rather than the 5V the Raspberry Pi wants (and who knows what the Sabrent soundcard requires.) I put the system on a bench supply, and it's happily trundling along at 3.7V drawing about 180mA. I re-tested the system at 3.7V, and everything seems to be working fine.

That's where I am so far. I'm going to pull apart the 888 soon and see how much room I have with the speaker and mic cleared out. Docs are available online showing where to pick-off the COR, PTT (push to talk) and other signals from the 888.

So I know this might be a long shot, but anyone getting rid of a 2M/440 SWR meter? Or know a good model for fairly inexpensive? I built a copper j-pole for 2M that I had been using for receive only, and want to make sure the SWR isn't to far off before I put a transmitter on it.

Thanks,
Mark

MigraineMan said:

I've been toying with some emergency comms ideas for a while now. I've been planning to hack up my Baofeng BF-888s radios when an appropriate project tickled my fancy. Well, my fancy has been tickled.

I found a nifty project on Github for a Raspberry Pi simplex repeater. It's targeted at the Pi 2+, but I happen to have a handful of Pi Zero Ws in my project box. The Zero W doesn't have an audio interface, but I also have a Sabrent USB audio dongle that I'm not using. Seems like a good match. I'm thinking that I can remove the speaker and mic from the 888 and stuff the Pi Zero W and Sabrent dongle in the available space.

Click to expand...

That's pretty cool. I have no Pi experience but I've been looking for an easy entry level project to start learning.

markgrutz said:

So I know this might be a long shot, but anyone getting rid of a 2M/440 SWR meter? Or know a good model for fairly inexpensive? I built a copper j-pole for 2M that I had been using for receive only, and want to make sure the SWR isn't to far off before I put a transmitter on it.

Thanks,
Mark

Click to expand...

I'm not sure how much you were planning to spend but I got one of these NANO-VNA antenna analyzers and it's crazy useful for antenna tuning and they are only $50 on ebay. A bunch of people in my club have them and have been showing me how to use the thing.

I found this video online that does a pretty good job of providing a comprehensive review and an decent over view on how to use the device.

Check it out the You Tube Video

ToolAA said:

That's pretty cool. I have no Pi experience but I've been looking for an easy entry level project to start learning.

Click to expand...

They're pretty straightforward if you have any Linux experience - Raspbian is a Debian derivative. There are special extensions to interact with the GPIO pins like a microcontroller would.

Microcenter has the Pi Zero for $5, and the wi-fi capable Pi Zero W for $10. Hard to beat that (I usually grab one every time I'm at the store.) I like the W version because I set up the wi-fi, then SSH into it through a command shell and don't have to hook up anything other than power. That'll be useful for a simplex repeater that I might stick in a tree in my back yard.

Use the Git installation method (the tar version didn't work properly on my W)

sudo apt-get install -y git
sudo git clone https://github.com/allebb/pirrot /opt/pirrot
cd /opt/pirrot
sudo make install

Click to expand...

markgrutz said:

So I know this might be a long shot, but anyone getting rid of a 2M/440 SWR meter? Or know a good model for fairly inexpensive?

Click to expand...

Personally, don't bother with an SWR meter anymore. When you can get a NanoVNA for $60 delivered, they aren't worth it. The NanoVNA can do so much more and makes tuning/checking an antenna so much easier.

Edit: ToolAA beat me to it. Careful on Evilbay; there are some mediocre clones out there.
Get one that looks like this: http://nanovna.com/ (Useful site for all kinds of info and tools for using the VNA.)

That thing looks kinda cool. I will have to scope out ebay and see if I can pick one up that doesn't ship from China sometime between now and 8 months from now And it's cheaper than the small MFJ meters.

Mark

markgrutz said:

That thing looks kinda cool. I will have to scope out ebay and see if I can pick one up that doesn't ship from China sometime between now and 8 months from now And it's cheaper than the small MFJ meters.

Mark

Click to expand...

TapRackBang is right about clones, but they all are really clones from China. Get one with a built in Lithium Ion battery. If your antenna connection is not conveniently near a power source it can be a pain.

I just searched Amazon and they have a new model available for $79 that has a wider bandwidth from 10hz to 1.5ghz and it comes with a built in battery and plastic case.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Z5VY7B6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_BI5PEbW6N4YCS

They also have the same $50 one that I brought that arrives next week.

One more thing. Using the touch screen is better if you have some sort if plastic tip stylus. Or even better download the PC software and just control the device from the PC. Much better for old eyes and fat fingers.

I'm trying to make HF contacts for the first time, I'm on 20m. My radio is a 5w Yaesu FT-817. I've been calling cq every couple of minutes for three beers now and I haven't had anyone respond. Is that normal? I've never made a contact with this radio so I'm not sure if it is even transmitting. I've heard other hams in conversations but can't get a qsl. Is it normal to keep calling cq without a response back?