First radio suggestions??

[rogersmithiii]

1. 6-digit is called 2x3 (i.e. 2 letters, a number, 3 letters AKA prefix, suffix). You can get a vanity call sign if you want. I forget the rules, but higher license levels can get shorter calls.
2. You have to wait for it to show up on the FCC website before you can hit the PTT. It seems to be pretty fast these days. My upgrade last fall was something like test Saturday, on FCC website Monday or Tuesday. Basically it's at the speed of mail and the VE's sending it in.
3. People talk directly, called simplex. That's typically done with known entities who are listening for you. There are also calling frequencies that are simplex, and people monitor those. 146.520 is on 2m and 446.000 is on 70cm. All bands have calling frequencies for various uses (FM, SSB, weak signal, etc).
4. If you're looking to test an antenna, I usually get on a repeater and tell people I'm testing an antenna and ask for a signal report. Or you'll hear people just asking if they're making the repeater; they could be mobile and wondering if they can reach it from where they are.

Some people feel like if you call on the calling frequency and start a QSO, you should then move to another frequency to free it up. It's used so little I don't do that. I've never had a problem but I don't use it often. But I wouldn't sit on it for an hour talking about hemorrhoids.

On 2 meters, the simplex chunks are as follows.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0a/d4/90/0ad4905994543ee8fc8db7c6a71adb8e.jpg

If I am traveling with friends, we choose an out-of-the-way, simplex frequency to chat along the route.

It never fails that no matter how weird the simplex freq, someone always chimes in with something like "Hey guys. This is the Podunk Hollow Ham Radio Club contact frequency. Welcome to the area. "

Someone is always listening.

 

[rogersmithiii]

This is all great info. Some of it is getting dated, like the Baofeng is now 8 watts. I'm trying to put together several of the different learning sites for the testing, so will assemble some of that soon, and post back here. Just jumping into this with both feet, and trying to learn a little along the way.

Quick questions about how some of this works:
1) You need to study, then take a test to get "Technician" license. This gets you the 6 digit license number, and the ability to "legally" broadcast?
2) When you take the test, do you get your license on the spot if you pass, or do you have to wait for something else to happen?
3) Do people just talk through repeaters, or can they talk directly to one another? I've only had experience with the former on ham, but seen plenty of the latter with walkie talkies when skiing, only it is not "just one another", it is a bunch of people on same channel sometimes.
4) How do you test if reception is working, other than just zoom around the dial looking for something? Got a radio and built an antenna, but have not heard a whole heck of a lot this afternoong. To be fair, the Baofeng is programmed with 20+ repeaters, and that hasn't picked anything up either.

For what it's worth, I have a bunch of repeaters programmed in, hopefully programmed correctly. I asked elsewhere on here for people to check, and it sounded like it was OK. Anyhow, if you want that file as a starting point, you can copy/paste the whole thing from my file to your configuration, then save it and upload to your UV5R or equivalent, again as a starting point. Hope that helps someone.

Thanks.

I don't know for sure, but running 8 watts with the HT antenna an inch from my brain freaks me out. Plus, 8 watts will suck batteries dry pretty quickly.

I try to keep power output as low as possible.

 

[namedpipes]

... A $23 Beofeng is NOT the same as a $160 Icom, Yaesu or Kenwood. To be honest, a Yaesu, Icom or Kenwood is not a Motorola either. Motorolas cost big money compared to the Japanese companies.

Absolutely.

But a $23 Beofeng is easily attainable (cheap AF) and is suitable for learning on.

Now you've had a few hours of mic time and really like it, drop the couple hundred on better equipment.

 

[rogersmithiii]

This is THE answer for someone just starting out. LEARN on the throwaway equipment. You'll either find you want/need a pricier radio or thank your stars you didn't spend a grand, instead of $30. And as Uzi2 says, it's an awesome backup even when you DO have better equipment.

You'd be better to find a used radio, even one that is single band. That will do a much better job than a Feng.

 

[ToddDubya]

I don't know for sure, but running 8 watts with the HT antenna an inch from my brain freaks me out. Plus, 8 watts will suck batteries dry pretty quickly.

I try to keep power output as low as possible.

But if there's one too many leaves between you and your buddy, it's nice to know you can crank it up to 8w to punch through.

Seriously though, the difference between 5w and 8w is likely unnoticeable except for battery life. I expect the trend towards 8w radios is marketing.

 

[Coyote33]

I once worked Paxton mobile from ...

What do you mean by this?

P.S. I doubt you'll find someone on 2m by spinning the dial. On HF that's how it's done, but there's just not that much activity/range on 2m for people to be out there calling CQ on random frequencies.

I thought 2M would be busier, since more people are licensed for that than other frequencies. Seems like a ghost town.

The main problem with HTs is crappy antennas.

What are some good ones? I think I got one of these, but haven't really noticed any difference: Super-elastic Signal Stick: SMA male — Signal Stuff

Seriously though, the difference between 5w and 8w is likely unnoticeable except for battery life. I expect the trend towards 8w radios is marketing.

I don't know. If I thought I could reach Warren, Monson, Wilbraham, or Mt. Tom from Worcester area; but can't with 5W, you bet your bippy I'm wishing I had 8W to try to see if that worked.

 

[rogersmithiii]

What do you mean by this?



I thought 2M would be busier, since more people are licensed for that than other frequencies. Seems like a ghost town.



What are some good ones? I think I got one of these, but haven't really noticed any difference: Super-elastic Signal Stick: SMA male — Signal Stuff




I don't know. If I thought I could reach Warren, Monson, Wilbraham, or Mt. Tom from Worcester area; but can't with 5W, you bet your bippy I'm wishing I had 8W to try to see if that worked.

Mt Tom is pretty busy, but those others are probably quiet.

 

[ToddDubya]

I thought 2M would be busier, since more people are licensed for that than other frequencies. Seems like a ghost town.

From what I see, people use it when they're looking for someone in particular. You don't hear a lot of people calling CQ on 2m simplex. The closest you get is "monitoring" on a repeater.

 

[Coyote33]

From what I see, people use it when they're looking for someone in particular. You don't hear a lot of people calling CQ on 2m simplex. The closest you get is "monitoring" on a repeater.

Why is that? It's not like 2M does not work, and most people are looking for someone somewhat local to themselves.

 

[ToddDubya]

Why is that? It's not like 2M does not work, and most people are looking for someone somewhat local to themselves.

I like to try and reach people as far as I can. I prefer HF. Even the VHF/UHF people I know go for distance.

If you're looking for simplex on 2m, just start calling on 146.520 and see if anyone comes back. People monitor it but I rarely hear anyone actually talking on it.

 

[Coyote33]

Yeah, so I find it very strange that the first thing you can communicate on with your first license has such a small amount of "traffic"; especially when those new people, such as myself would just like to reach out to some other people near them, such as from their recent ham radio class, or others in the area, or even from NES. Now I'm beginning to wonder if it was even worth the bother. Listening to people talk about their day or their latest medical condition or their driving to Walmart experience is not a huge interest of mine; no offense to those people who like to talk about that stuff. Maybe it gets more interesting during a Nor'Easter or something. Again, all the people I've "met" on the radio have been super nice and helpful, so I don't want to discount that. I'm not really seeking out contests or contacts around the world at this point. Am I wrong here?

 

[cookiecutter]

Yeah, so I find it very strange that the first thing you can communicate on with your first license has such a small amount of "traffic"; especially when those new people, such as myself would just like to reach out to some other people near them, such as from their recent ham radio class, or others in the area, or even from NES. Now I'm beginning to wonder if it was even worth the bother. Listening to people talk about their day or their latest medical condition or their driving to Walmart experience is not a huge interest of mine; no offense to those people who like to talk about that stuff. Maybe it gets more interesting during a Nor'Easter or something. Again, all the people I've "met" on the radio have been super nice and helpful, so I don't want to discount that. I'm not really seeking out contests or contacts around the world at this point. Am I wrong here?

I totally get your dis-interest. The thing about radios, though, is that they really shine when other things don't work. I look at the boring stuff as an opportunity to make sure my gear is working well. That being said, I only use the VHF/UHF bands for local simplex comms with the wife. Mostly I tinker on HF, where there is more complexity with the gear ... antennas are bigger and outdoors (for the most part) so they are more prone to aging failures. Talking to someone in another country about their rig or the weather is just a way to keep my skills and equipment ready.

 

[ToddDubya]

Yeah, so I find it very strange that the first thing you can communicate on with your first license has such a small amount of "traffic"; especially when those new people, such as myself would just like to reach out to some other people near them, such as from their recent ham radio class, or others in the area, or even from NES. Now I'm beginning to wonder if it was even worth the bother. Listening to people talk about their day or their latest medical condition or their driving to Walmart experience is not a huge interest of mine; no offense to those people who like to talk about that stuff. Maybe it gets more interesting during a Nor'Easter or something. Again, all the people I've "met" on the radio have been super nice and helpful, so I don't want to discount that. I'm not really seeking out contests or contacts around the world at this point. Am I wrong here?

I've heard some great conversations on the repeater with people passing through the area. They called the repeater, said they were driving through, and someone chatted with them until they were out of range. Other than that, for every person you hear on 146.520 you probably have 99 people monitoring who will never key up. Try throwing your call out there and see who comes back.

Factor in that many techs buy an HT, find out there's nobody to talk to, and don't use it. With single digit range in miles, it's a limited audience.

Maybe get some of the folks from your class to start a regular net on 146.52. Doesn't have to be anything serious, but it's bound to draw some attention. And I'm sure some old crank will be upset by people "hanging out" on the calling frequency when it should be reserved for monitoring dead air. If anyone complains, ask them to join.

 

[ToddDubya]

If you're thinking of a Baofeng, this is a much better option. On sale today.

YAESU FT4XR [FT4XR] - $74.95 : R&L Electronics, Amateur radio store

R&L Electronics YAESU FT4XR [FT4XR] - DUAL BAND COMPACT HT FT-4XR 144/440 DUAL BAND HT 2m 70cm Handheld Transceiver RADIO

www2.randl.com

 

[ToddDubya]

Just want to throw out there that I heard two separate POTA/SOTA operators on 146.52 this morning. Well, a couple on one mountain and a guy on another. I meant to leave the radio scanning today but thankfully my buddy texted me to let me know. Both groups easily got the 4 contacts required by SOTA, and the guy also doing POTA seemed to have enough people calling last I heard.

I love to hear it.

 

[Coyote33]

I like to try and reach people as far as I can. I prefer HF. Even the VHF/UHF people I know go for distance.
If you're looking for simplex on 2m, just start calling on 146.520 and see if anyone comes back. People monitor it but I rarely hear anyone actually talking on it.

Which I find strange, since so many more people have Technician than General licenses, and therefore, there are more of them.

Just want to throw out there that I heard two separate POTA/SOTA operators on 146.52 this morning. Well, a couple on one mountain and a guy on another. I meant to leave the radio scanning today but thankfully my buddy texted me to let me know. Both groups easily got the 4 contacts required by SOTA, and the guy also doing POTA seemed to have enough people calling last I heard.
I love to hear it.

This is awesome. Need more of this. Maybe even use a dedicate frequency or couple frequencies to do this sort of thing. Why not? Makes for good practice.

 

[ToddDubya]

This is awesome. Need more of this. Maybe even use a dedicate frequency or couple frequencies to do this sort of thing. Why not? Makes for good practice.

They just use the calling frequency. And yeah, it'd be nice if more people were on. I think the west coast has a lot more 2m activity. While the videos can be a bit much, I like the idea of the 2m Crew.

https://www.youtube.com/@2metercrew389/videos

 

[ToddDubya]

This is awesome. Need more of this. Maybe even use a dedicate frequency or couple frequencies to do this sort of thing. Why not? Makes for good practice.

No reason not to grab your favorite radio, go to the park, call CQ POTA.

Parks on the Air | POTA | Parks program for amateur radio.

Parks program for amateur radio, also known as Parks on the Air (POTA), including a map and list of entities for the program.

parksontheair.com

Parks on the Air | POTA | Parks program for amateur radio.

Parks program for amateur radio, also known as Parks on the Air (POTA), including a map and list of entities for the program.

pota.app

 

[Coyote33]

No reason not to grab your favorite radio, go to the park, call CQ POTA.

Parks on the Air | POTA | Parks program for amateur radio.

Parks program for amateur radio, also known as Parks on the Air (POTA), including a map and list of entities for the program.

parksontheair.com

Parks on the Air | POTA | Parks program for amateur radio.

Parks program for amateur radio, also known as Parks on the Air (POTA), including a map and list of entities for the program.

pota.app

Um, what are we signing up for, exactly?

I thought this is just something where you talk to people while at a park.

Does this involve doing something on a computer or a phone?

???

 

[ToddDubya]

The idea is a person, an activator, goes to a park with their radio. They attempt to make 10 contacts with other people, hunters. If the activator makes 10 contacts, that's considered a successful activation. The site is used to keep track of contacts, and you get awards and stuff for various things like X number of contacts as a hunter, or hunting a park in every state, etc. Not real awards, it's just for fun.

The website has a spotting page, which is useful for hunters to see who is out there and what frequency, mode, etc they're on. So activators will spot themselves so hunters know what park they're in, what frequency they're on, what mode (CW, SSB, FM, FT8, probably others). If people know you're out there, they'll try and hunt you down (on the air).

There are some people on 2m but it's primarily an HF activity because an activator is accessible to far more people (like, the world). But that doesn't mean you can't do it on 2m. It occurred to me that you could also "spot" yourself using a repeater. Basically call the repeater, let people know you're out there, then call on 146.52. Contacts made on the repeater don't count though, that's cheating.

After your activation (whether you get 10 or not), you submit your contacts to the website so everyone gets credit.

It's fun, and it's a reason to use the radio so you're not just getting on 146.52 and saying "Hey, anybody want to talk to me about anything?". And if you seldom hear anyone on 146.52 maybe making some noise will boost activity.

I'm not as familiar with SOTA, but it's very similar. Instead of parks they use summits and you only need 4 contacts to activate the summit. Today was the first time I ever contacted someone doing SOTA so that's as much as I know.

If you want to know more, there are about a million videos on youtube. People are very into POTA/SOTA.

 

[Coyote33]

If I'm in a park or on a mountain, the last thing I want is to log into something, or even write something down. Don't the people at home, who want the "credit" for that have the ability to record what they want? I would just want to be able to say "Hi, I'm on Mount Fuji. Nice day. Who are you and where are you? Oh, cool. Have a great day."

 

[ToddDubya]

I don't know what to tell you.

 

[Coyote33]

Maybe this whole "POTA" thing just isn't for me, if it is this big, structured organization thing. Thanks for helping though. Your explanations, links, and other assistance were spot on.

 

[ToddDubya]

The thing about it is if people know you're doing it, they'll be looking for you. It'll give you an audience of people who want to contact you. All you really need to write down is their call sign, maybe signal report, and the time. They have a beta version for submitting your log if you did it on paper, so no software required.

One of the guys I worked yesterday was on an HT with a homebrewed yagi. So doing these activities gave him a chance to go out and test his gear and make some contacts. If he was just calling CQ I doubt he'd get much response.

Anyway, that's all.

 

[Coyote33]

I got a uv5r and an ed fong antenna several years back. I have been able to listen to stuff within 30 miles. I never got a ham license so never attempted to xmit. I might get the license in short order now though......

Is that antenna mounted on your handheld, or on your house?

Any experience with these?
DBJ-1 (ham) dual band base antenna (144-148 MHz and 440-450 MHz) Maximum power input 75 watts. - $50 (also available in 250 watt version for $70. Please email me if you are interested in this model)

 

[lancecolonel]

Is that antenna mounted on your handheld, or on your house?

Any experience with these?
DBJ-1 (ham) dual band base antenna (144-148 MHz and 440-450 MHz) Maximum power input 75 watts. - $50 (also available in 250 watt version for $70. Please email me if you are interested in this model)

The ed fong replaces the rubber duck. It’s rolled up twin lead wire with notches at various intervals and a connector that screws into your antenna connection. The first time I tried it I was on the north shore and picked up chatter from seabrook nh.
no idea about the other antenna you mentioned.
I believe the ed fong antennas are made by his university students.

 

[ToddDubya]

I don't believe the Ed Fongs that he shows with the PVC include the PVC, and it's not your average Home Depot schedule 40. Just something to look out for. I think we had a whole thread about them at one point. And they're designed to be inside a PVC pipe. There are others designed to not be inside a pipe, so make sure you know which one you're getting.

 

[Coyote33]

There are some people on 2m but it's primarily an HF activity because an activator is accessible to far more people

I would think 2m would be the MOST popular, since there are more people licensed for them and they are more available and abundant than other radios.

The ed fong replaces the rubber duck. It’s rolled up twin lead wire with notches at various intervals and a connector that screws into your antenna connection. The first time I tried it I was on the north shore and picked up chatter from seabrook nh.
no idea about the other antenna you mentioned.
I believe the ed fong antennas are made by his university students.

The one I mentioned IS an "Ed Fong antenna", from his page.

I don't believe the Ed Fongs that he shows with the PVC include the PVC, and it's not your average Home Depot schedule 40. Just something to look out for. I think we had a whole thread about them at one point. And they're designed to be inside a PVC pipe. There are others designed to not be inside a pipe, so make sure you know which one you're getting.

Interesting. It doesn't say either way about the PVC. I thought the shipping costs seemed a bit low for a whole antenna. That explains why. I'm pretty sure this is just plain old PVC pipe.

 

[ToddDubya]

I would think 2m would be the MOST popular, since there are more people licensed for them and they are more available and abundant than other radios.

2m FM, which is what most people have, has a range of ones of miles for HTs and what most people have. If you're trying to contact as many people as possible you want a range of 100s or 1000s of miles. Plus that's the fun, talking to people all over the country/world from a park bench, a beach, or a rock in the woods. Many people have access to 2m FM, not many people use it.

Plus one of the things people try to do is collect parks in every state, or every park in a state, or a park on 10 different bands, etc. Or collect contacts from other countries. It's the nature of the game. 2m just does not have the range to make any of that possible.

Interesting. It doesn't say either way about the PVC. I thought the shipping costs seemed a bit low for a whole antenna. That explains why. I'm pretty sure this is just plain old PVC pipe.

This antenna is complete with exception of the 5 feet of ¾ inch Class 200 PVC pipe needed for the antenna. Individual shipping of the 5 ft antenna is $14 so we rather you go to Lowe’s (stock # 23990) or Home Depot (SKU #282-477) or Menard (SKU #6899684) and buy the PVC pipe for about $1. If you cannot find the PVC pipe, I can send it, but you will need to pay the postage. Please email me if you need me to send the PVC pipe.

Sch 200 PVC doesn't impact the impedance match like sch 40 does, that's why he recommends it. If you plan to use it, make sure you can buy it locally first.

About

DBJ-1 $50 Published in - QST February 2003 Our most popular antenna is the DBJ-1 which is a VHF/UHF Dual Band Base Station Antenna. It is available in HAM (144-148 MHz and 440-450 MHz) or...

edsantennas.weebly.com

 

[Coyote33]

Sch 200 PVC doesn't impact the impedance match like sch 40 does, that's why he recommends it. If you plan to use it, make sure you can buy it locally first.

Is this something that is in stock at Home Depots?