What are /r/amateurradio's favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

It's a paid app (USD 3.99) but I think it's well worth the price, especially considering how much effort /u/taxilian put into his project.

Direct links: * Apple iPhone

• Android

I've been using this already for a bit and it's working great for me on Android.

(Good) TV antennas are directional definitely have rotors. When I was growing up, when we wanted to switch from channel 10 to channel 6, I would get sent outside. I would climb up a ladder and reach the bottom of the pole (which rested on our porch roof) and rotate the antenna. Then someone inside would yell out the window if it needed more adjustment. Other, more affluent families had a rotor and a box that sat next to their tv to rotate it.

Even some of the newer small hdtv antennas will have a rotor built in.

When I have cable on the ground or doing something similar, get some white flags and mark off the perimeter. Cheap. Easy. Gets the job done.

100 for 15$ on amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Swanson-FW15100-Marking-15-Inch-100-Pack/dp/B0081ZRO32/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1504069830&sr=8-6&keywords=marking+flag

When I was in grade school, my parents were tired of me reading science fiction all the time, and told me that I had to choose (and read) a book from the school library. I found Today I Am A Ham. I’d never heard of ham radio before, and this book opened my eyes. Today I am a ham, thanks to that book.

If the operator is a licensed ham and his station is in good operating order, there's not much you can do. All of your electronics have those labels on them stating that they are FCC Part 15 compliant - this means they must not create interference to a licensed device, and must accept interference form a licensed device. The law actually protects him, not the other way around.

There are ways to reduce the interference accepted by devices. Ferrite chokes are a common place to start. Wrap the leads on your speakers a few times through snap on ferrite cores (like these ). You'll also want to wrap a zip tie around the core, they snap on parts will loosen over time and the tiniest, tiniest gap renders them ineffective.

I have a link bomb of RFI prevention, along with some grounding things. That might have some helpful information for you. It generally comes down to applying lots of the proper ferrite all over.

The ham might be willing to help you correct the issue if you approach him cordially. Just nicely explain the situation. We may also be able to help some here.

Aside.. no way that's actually 400Wh battery. I have some various outdoor tools on that size of battery -- you're looking at roughly 7lb and four times the entire volume of that radio.

This is what a 400 (420, nominal) battery looks like.

And that's lion, which would normally be a 7.4V nominal in a 2S configuration, not 7.2V... so there's an entire possibility that it's using a heavier chemistry. Incidentally, NiMH is routinely 7.2V in a 6S configuration.

I think you mean /u/JeepinJon not /u/accents but I forgive you ;)

Edit: And thank you for the shout out! I'm working hard to get Ofcom (UK) to share their data, which they said they would do but it's been somewhat slow going. We've recently added Grid Squares as well. US Amateur Radio Band Plan for Android has added a callsign lookup feature to their app that is powered by HamDB.org's API, so we've made it into one app that I know of so far!

GPS is usually the preferred method of syncing time in the field, and can be done with a GPS USB dongle and some software.

https://www.amazon.com/Diymall-G-mouse-Glonass-Raspberry-Aviation/dp/B00NWEEWW8/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?keywords=USB+GPS&qid=1560106415&s=gateway&sr=8-5

...or similar.

If you're using a Raspberry Pi, there is the DRAWS hat board that acts as a digimode interface and has a GPS module built-in - just buy an additional $15 external antenna and Bob's your uncle.

http://nwdigitalradio.com/what-is-draws/

All that being said, most ham radio applications that require timing (FT8, JS8, etc) are pretty tolerant when it comes to timing. Syncing a computer clock manually based on WWV by ear...if it can be heard...is usually close enough. But GPS is authoritative.

> Why aren't they affected by say 20m amateur radio?

because they don't realize that such a thing exists for them to claim to be allergic to ; )

See also: Man Allergic to Wi-Fi; Sues Neighbor, which links to this wonderful neo-classic story of EM hypochondria: Locals Complain of Radio Tower Illness…Then Discover Tower Was Actually Turned Off

You can get a 12v USB-PD trigger board already set up in a cable now.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CCX5S96/

They don't yet have one with native Powerpoles on the end.

I've been wanting a good bag to take my G90 out in. I finally stumbled across a nearly perfect one on Amazon.

A padded inside pocket fits the G90 like a glove. The outside pockets are a great size for the hand mic and a medium sized LiFe battery or similar. I can fit everything I need for minimalist field operation. Just wanted to share for any other new G90 owners!

​

Available here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZM84YT/ No relation to the seller or anything.

As far as I can tell it wasnt the carrier that initiated the complaint but an individual.

"In March 2013, the Commission received a complaint from an individual who had attended a function at the Gaylord Opryland..." This individual might have been a ham.

Basically Mariott had a wireless network monitoring system that detected rouge APs. Except that this system should never be turned on for non-net devices. Lots of enterprise access point solutions use this kind of technology. I guess they were sending de-auth messages all devices.

See: http://hackaday.com/2011/10/04/wifi-jamming-via-deauthentication-packets/ More info: http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/20219/preventing-deauthentication-attacks

I wonder if the vendor is going to get shafted because of this.

You can buy a battery eliminator for the handheld and then a cigarette splitter. That way you have a single power source and dont have to worry about the battery in the HT dying.

Also, Amazon and Academy sell 'power stations' for trolling motors that those batteries fit into that have terminals, USB ports, cigarette sockets, etc

https://www.amazon.com/Newport-Vessels-Trolling-Battery-Center/dp/B01AE2TG7G/

The maker of ABP is getting paid to allow advertisement:

https://adblockplus.org/acceptable-ads-agreements

Ublock Origin is what you want to use.

Logos I have made for my station. These are deliberately low resolution to encourage you to acquire the SVG files after I have zipped and uploaded them. You will then be able to edit them in Inkscape or some other vector editor.

Please remember that Amateur Radio isn’t a dedicated emergency service. A couple of handhelds to go between people in the trip is a wonderful idea, and a set of FT-60/65s is a great choice for that.

Trying to use those handhelds to call helicopter rescue isn’t likely to work.

Get a PLB for emergencies.

For hiking, you can get a small solar battery with a USB port then get a USB to 12v adapter from Amazon the recharge the radio battery from solar. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08S6W8MH2/

well i caught a group here locally last month with 22 <strong>Amazon</strong> radios
did a bit of research and had someone the offenders know talk to them
and they returned the whole lot of radios to Amazon
the radios had the factory test freqs in them and they had different tones programmed from the factory so many of that batch couldnt even talk to each other

He Who Broadcasts Shall Be Listened To

also: it turns out BaoFeng is now selling a MURS compliant radio, which is about the only radio service you can use licence free besides FRS which you cant use your present radios for either

You might want to travel with a plug tester like this. Would make for an exciting day to find the hot and ground swapped because some idiot didn't know how to hook up a plug properly.

I was idly browsing the website of miniradiosolutions.com, the makers of the miniVNA and I found the tip that you can actually do this there. Had to try it, and well, it works.

Makes sense, of course, because RFID works in such a way, that there is a resonant circuit which powers the chip when it's in a electric field of fitting frequency. Because conservation of energy etc. etc. the power for the chip needs to come from somewhere, and in the end, that will be the device that generates the modulated electric field. Which then results in energy being "radiated" and not reflected and therefore better SWR at the fitting frequency.

Shameless plug: Software used is BlueVNA by YO3GGX. Great guy. It took him some time to get it running on Android 6, because he couldn't afford a device that actually runs that - so, if you're using it already, consider pushing him a donation. Yeah, he actually has a button on his website instead of a paid version in the store, don't ask me...

Sometimes a socket is used when firmware is burned into rom. Because updated firmware requires replacing the controller. If it's flashable the socket is still just a convenience.

There are many commercial products with the controller soldered directly into the pcb. A socket can cause long term reliability problems. Keep going it'll be fine.

If you ever have to change the controller clip the leads from the top side with small sharp flush cutters, remove the body of the IC, then unsolder the leads one-by-one. Less likely to damage the pcb.

For example: https://www.amazon.com/IGAN-170-Precision-Electronic-Strongest-Ultra-fine/dp/B07GR7QF63/138-4700774-4721663?psc=1

I strongly disagree. Don't make the mistake to learn the letters at 5 WPM and later switch to a faster speed.

Do it the right way from the start.

I am learning morse code with the above linked method (the Koch method) and I am using this Android app and it works great! Also my transceiver has a morse trainer that works like the Koch method, but I haven't tried it out yet.

I love this thing for passing cables through walls.

It's made for boats, so it's water tight. Works best if you have vinyl siding or similar.

Official statement by Joe K1JT: https://sourceforge.net/p/wsjt/mailman/message/35412782/

TL;DR: If you fill in all the required information (callsigns, grid locators) wsjtx will get that data out of the noise - the guys very likely did not even see a slightest trace of each others' signal.

Basically it just has all the amateur radio software contained in Debian pre-installed and ready to go (mostly). If you're on a slower connection, you can grab the Debian netinst CD from the Debian homepage and then add in just the metapackages you want after installation, https://www.debian.org/devel/hamradio/get/metapackages.

For license free handhelds(HT's), your common options are pretty much going to be FRS or MURS. Either will easily get you 1/2 mile vehicle to vehicle, but not always with the windows closed. FRS radios aren't allowed removable antennas, but MURS radios are which will alleviate the closed window issue.

You can get a few MURS HT's(The Retevis RT47v supports USB charging) and pair them with mag-mount antennas designed for 2M after a little tuning. That covers what radios I think meet your criteria. A setup like that should easily be good for at least a mile or two under most circumstances on open roads.

As to your other question, the range of any radio you realistically choose will be dictated by antenna height. NOT how long the antenna is, but how HIGH it is above ground level. More watts means a louder signal at the other end, but not more range.

Amateur radio equipment used to be expensive and only available from specialist suppliers. Unlicensed users did occasionally use equipment illegally, but with the exception of CB burners, it was a relatively minor problem.

The availability of dirt-cheap HTs on Amazon is a completely new problem in terms of scale. If you look at the Amazon reviews for Baofeng transceivers, it's clear that a huge proportion of buyers have absolutely no idea that they need a license.

I don't think we need to go as far as verifying licenses at the point of purchase. I do think that sellers should be required to prominently state that the equipment is for licensed users only, and that use of this equipment without a license is a criminal offence. At the very least, unlicensed buyers of these radios have the right to know that they're breaking the law.

You might wanna look into an SDR, a &amp;gt;$30 device you can get on amazon and can listen on your computer from 500 kHz to 1.7 GHz. tons of projects you can do with them like tracking aircraft and downloading weather info from NOAA satellites.. i use one to listen to my local police and highway patrol, Cal-Fire has been a big one this year to listen too... i also use it over my network as a garage radio listening to local FM stations, really handy tools to have. and you can listen to most the ham bands with it.

&#x200B;

i started off hooking mine up to a TV antenna just like the one you have in your attic and it worked well. i did end up making a di-pole with to get more all around coverage as that TV antenna is really directional.

My book, <em>21 Things to Do After You Get Your Amateur Radio License</em>, describes 21 things you can do to get started in amateur radio. They include:

• Join a club
• Join the ARRL
• Find an Elmer
• Buy a radio
• Get on the air
• Set up a shack
• Buy some tools
• Buy a digital multimeter (DMM)
• Build an antenna
• Build a kit
• Go to a hamfest
• Learn the lingo
• Subscribe to mailing lists, blogs, and podcasts
• Upgrade to General
• Go to Field Day
• Learn Morse Code
• Get to know your (ham) neighbors
• Buy QSL cards
• Join SkyWarn, ARES, or RACES
• Participate in a contest
• HAVE FUN!

It's also available as a paperback on Amazon.

Always a fun topic, but I dunno about that first paragraph. When I hit CW on my shortwave, I typically just assume it's you folks calling CQ, haha.

On top of the Conet Project, there's also PRIYOM, if any new folks out there are curious.

Isn't Dvorak pretty notorious for... getting shit wrong all the time?

edit His quotes from the past are fabulous: When I hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete, I see that the System Idle Process is hogging all the resources and chewing up 95 percent of the processor's cycles. Doing what? Doing nothing?

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_C._Dvorak

The extended batteries have that jack. https://www.amazon.com/Mirkit-Baofeng-accessories-set-Compatible/dp/B082PWZ4PJ would be an example.

Would firmly suggest a AA battery case they are cheap and it's easy to replace/rechange AA's.

You don't need the cable to use the radio. But it's a pain to program by hand and there are a few customizations that can't be made without it.

Memory programming is a pain on these, worse than big name HT vendors. It's much easier to use the CHIRP application to build your channel list then download it to your radio than to go through the dozens of menus to set up each channel one at a time. CHIRP can directly import a list of repeaters and other fixed channel maps in your region from repeaterbook.com, as well as lets you easily mark some channels as not scannable.

CHIRP also lets you change global options that don't show up on the keypad interface, like the ANI ID and squelch mapping (to fix the notoriously bad factory squelch).

No, Radio Shack won't have it. They may have the 2.5mm and 3.5mm stereo plugs but not the USB-to-serial adapter you would need to make your own.

Amazon and eBay have tons of these. Here's one that's an add-on deal for $5.79.

Hi! The Raspberry PI only has audio output. You need an external sound device to get the audio signal into the PI. It's likely that any cheeeep-o Amazon USB audio device will be discovered by the Linux kernel, no drivers needed. I have one of these ripped apart and soldered directly to an HT for packet work, and it does fine under Debian.

edit - wrong link*

https://www.amazon.com/external-Adapter-Windows-Microphone-SD-CM-UAUD/dp/B001MSS6CS/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1484950528&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=SYBA+external+USB+Stereo+Sound+Adapter+for+Windows%2C+Mac%2C+Linux+Extra+Audio+Source+with+M...

I'm not sure what OP used, but DroidSSTV is a good option for Android phones. Wolphi works on a few different ham radio apps (and other stuff) that are pretty useful. Check out their site and some documentation here.

edit: I guess I posted at the same time /u/iw1rgp answered.

In addition to the ones previously mentioned, check out:
* US Amateur Radio Band Plan
* RepeaterBook

Both are excellent.

Here's the Amazon link. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SV4KZ4B/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_5678ueKG8eT5o Had them a year and so far so good, just make sure to cover the contacts on the back with electrical tape or something so you don't run the risk of letting out magic smoke.

Very cool functionality

For those that aren't aware what this is (like me) here's the links:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.latin&amp;hl=en_CA

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gboard-the-google-keyboard/id1091700242

Even cooler, there is a Android application that displays the current beacon transmitting and other information.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wolphi.clock&amp;hl=en

Enjoy all!

Got mine from banggood and didn't seem to have issues with import tax etc. Banggood offer insurance against it too for a couple of bucks.

Mixed reviews are right, it is a convenient device, not the best in the world.

(link below) https://www.banggood.com/50KHz-200MHz-400MHz-2GHz-Malachite-SDR-Radio-DSP-SDR-Receiver-3_5-inch-Touch-Screen-AM-or-SSB-or-NFM-or-WFM-Analog-Modulated-p-1773087.html?p=HP080535844950201908&amp;custlinkid=1429766&amp;cur_warehouse=CN&amp;ID=6298871

Rule number 1 of college clubs is free pizza. When we advertised free stuff at our meetings and informationals, attendance increased tenfold. Some just come for the pizza but for others the food is enough to get them to bite the bullet and come by to see what's going on. There are good ideas with the money. One thing I would recommend is saving it up for assets too. HF radios are the bread and butter of ham radio stations and draw a lot of good

As mentioned, do get some RTL-SDR dongles. They're very cheap and can serve as a great live display of local radio activity at campus showcase events, and you can loan them out without much worry, and would enable your members to do a lot of tinkering.

What kind of university? If it's engineering, you've got it in the bag. Just call up on the university radio net guys to blast testimonial: https://sites.google.com/site/amateurradiocollegiatenet/ and https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/collegiatenet would be the place to go, and the owner /u/KD8PIJ hangs out here.

If it's not engineering, you can still spin the STEM point of view but my best bet is to showcase the emergency aspects of ham radio.

It'd be prudent to get some backing from some prospective members and use that as a leverage for the administration as well.

Finally, another recommendation is getting with a local radio club for ideas, and in doing that you'll passively solicit donations. Doing that and also bugging alumni got us over $10,000 in gear and effort to get our station back on the air for good. Older hams love the idea of getting the younger generation on the air.

source: W0EEE Missouri S&T alum. Only been out for 5 months.

Heard an extremely loud buzzing, 9+20 on my meter in Albuquerque, NM. It ended just moments ago at 06:02.

Screenshot

Audio Sample WARNING: Turn down your speakers/headphones.

Edit: I'd love to hear more details about the experiment as well as details about the setup that's putting out the signal.

Ok, maybe I need to shuffle around the website a little.

There's a list of the package groups included at https://www.debian.org/devel/hamradio/get/metapackages and this links to the catalogue pages for each group.

Everyone else has already mentioned that amateur radio cannot be used for commercial purposes, but should your drivers just want to shoot the breeze while driving, it's fine for that providing they're willing to sit for at least their Technician amateur licence (which is real easy to get), but you absolutely cannot discuss anything of a commercial nature on the amateur frequencies. That being said, there are a ton of drivers that do use it just to shoot the breeze to take the dullness out of the day.

Another option might be something like Zello http://zello.com/ Zello is a walkie talkie type app for your smart phone and folks can group chat or direct one-to-one chat on it all day long (so long as you have cellular data coverage and a modest data plan).

you need some of these. it will look much better https://www.amazon.com/Anteenna-TW-BNCJ-SMAP-Adaptor-Connecotr-Handheld/dp/B07842D5SN/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&amp;keywords=sma+female+to+bnc+adapter&amp;qid=1624938192&amp;sr=8-3

A lot more supplies these days are switching. The cost and efficiency are too good to ignore, and most hams are starting to get over their fear of them now that technology has improved.

I cannot speak to the quality of the $20 one on amazon, but it is a direct knockoff of a MeanWell supply (whose prices are also VERY competitive) The company I work for now uses MeanWell supplies for some of our products.

If you can, try to find the spec on the switching frequency, the higher it is the better off you will be (the easier it is to filter).

See my submission of using a Meanwell LRS-350-12 for a go-box: http://imgur.com/a/Wzn1g

You'll see I did have to make a small filter to make the supply totally quiet on 160 and 80 meters, you can also just use a long thick cable as a quick filter but that's not recommended due to the losses.

LRS-350-12 on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mean-LRS-350-12-Switching-Power-Supply/dp/B0109IMRPS

Do consider paying a few more bucks for an on brand supply, there are things you can cheap out on, but the thing that sits between your mains voltage and your LVDC powering our expensive rigs should NOT be one of them.

Amazon has them in stock and has a no BS policy on fulfilling orders. Seems to be about the same price.

Kenwood TM-281A 144MHz FM Transceiver https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007470C0A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_vsGhzb354VM51

I prefer the ISS Detector, Android linked, also on Apple Store. It can track multiple objects (e.g. planets, satellites, the ISS, comets, etc (paid upgrade for some of them)) and has Augmented Reality sighting using the camera, so it's very handy to mount on a handheld antenna and use it to aim at the satellite while the sat is moving. It also gives you a prospective plot of where the satellite will rise, set, and it's azimuth, as well as projected times for each.

I am currently learning the morse code as well. One of the best Android learning tools I found is this one:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iu4apc.morsemachine&amp;hl=en_GB

Experienced amateur operators say we are going through a CW Renaissance. Please join it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_oXTSQ4AGk&amp;t=973s

Digital modes use USB, so the actual transmit frequencies are above the dial frequency. When wsjtx is configured for JT65+JT9, it expects JT9 in the 2000 Hz+ audio range. So if it is 14076 dial frequency, JT9 is 14078+.

The source code bears this out. See line 80: in FrequencyList.cpp.

Just remember that this is in USB mode, so the audio passband is expected to be about 300-2800 Hz.

On a somewhat related front, I saw Mark Fahey's talk about the DPRK at HopeX last weekend in NYC. In the talk, he covered sone of the radio stuff and jamming that NK does. While no video of the talk is up yet, Mashable covered it fairly well. http://mashable.com/2014/07/22/life-inside-strangest-nation-on-earth/

The noise is constant, 24/7. The intensity of the noise and volume changes with weather, but seems to always be there in the background even when it is not that bad. I turned off all the power to the house and verified that it is not in here. It has to be coming from outside. I made a recording of the noise as hard on 15 and 40 meters as it is the most intense there today. In both cases it is S9+10-20

https://soundcloud.com/ad5da/15m-noise https://soundcloud.com/ad5da/40m-noise

Hey there!

I actually started one of these up last year, and had some encouraging participation, though nothing enough to keep it self sustaining.

I've already built a pretty large (40+) mass of individual and club contacts throughout North America, and we're based in a Google Group.

Unfortunately, I've been so busy with school, I haven't really had the time to try to keep nets going on a regular basis. I've been looking to share the promotional and administrative aspects of the Net so the work doesn't fall on one single person. If you are interested in getting something started again, I can make you an admin of the Google Group so you can access all the legwork I've done so far.

If you're up for it, send me a PM with your email and I'll add you as an owner of the group.

EDIT: I'll add, I despise unnecessary redundancy (i.e. multiple school nets), so my post here is an effort to try and pool resources into one awesome group of participants. That being said, don't be turned off by what I thought the net should have been. You're more than welcome to take the work I've done in any direction you please.

I just want to see participation on the school/college level! :)

Yup..that's about it. This is power cable for a moving device, maybe an overhead (gantry) crane for example...

So long as whatever radio you want to use is supported by hamlib, you're good across everything on Linux. If not, well you should bug the hamlib devs and/or write it yourself.

I don't think there's anything I can't do with our radio and our Linux-running radio computer. fldigi, WSJT-X, and FreeDV are all setup quite easily, and I've made a number of contacts with JT65 using said setup. (only got it all setup a couple days ago)

I've been using cqrlog for logging, and it works very nicely (although you might need to build from source if you're using MariaDB instead of MySQL).

As for the exact programs listed in the TS-590SG manual:

• ARCP-590G grig
• ARHP-590G grig and rigctld over TCP (SSH, OpenVPN, cjdns, whatever you want)
• ARVP-10 Mumble (on a server you trust to be secure)
• ARUA-10 ditto
• Virtual COM Port Driver haha windows.

The serial control connection for the TS-590SG should show up as a /dev/ttyUSBx which you can plug into hamlib/grig/etc (or, better yet, /dev/serial/by-id/[radio]). Then the USB Audio feature should just show up as another audio source/output in PulseAudio/ALSA/whatever which you can wire into fldigi/wsjtx/freedv/whatever you want.

Hack A Day talks about this and their last few paragraph have a good possible reason why it was cancelled: http://hackaday.com/2015/07/14/how-to-build-a-proxyham-despite-a-cancelled-defcon-talk/.

tl;dr: it was never intended to be presented in the first place, scheduling and then cancelling the talk got this guy and his security company a boatload of attention.

i say Drive as you get chat and such with hangouts
but if you wanted local then how about <strong>Citadel</strong>
I had a instance of it running for awhile and it seemed pretty useful

Ok, so you probably want to look into GMRS. That is ham radio like. It's meant for short distance communications. It can use repeaters in your area. And you could even set up your own. Most of the cheap walkie talkies operate in GMRS and FRS frequencies. Its just an easy license to purchase. You can setup a home station and powerful radios in your vehicles to talk with.

Is that what you were looking for? CB is ok, and probably better for discreet communications right now because most people don't use it. But it has its limitations as far as power and distance. GMRS would probably suit your needs better.

I do suggest learning about Ham radio and getting a study guide. Learning about frequencies and propagation will help you understand what is going on and why some forms of communication are better than others depending on distance and conditions. Get this for starters before spending any more money. 2018-2022 Technician Class https://www.amazon.com/dp/0945053908/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_VEG12KVFC4S07CEYTPA4?_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1

It does, but a bunch of these Baofeng radios basically are the UV-5R with minor changes. I have a BF-F8+ for instance.

Hey all,
I'm a bit of a keyboard nerd and it just occurred to me that the pouch I have for my planck keyboard is just about the perfect size for the TX-500. Those pouches are sturdy, they have a healthy amount of padding and a soft interior. I think I got mine when I got the keyboard on drop.com but it looks like they are now selling the pouches individually: https://www.amazon.com/Drop-OLKB-Preonic-Carrying-Case/dp/B08L3Y4T41 (not an affiliate link).

73,

VA2MVC

Use a speaker tripod. And a 5-10 pound ankle/wrist weight around the center on the bottom.

https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Speaker-Tripod-Stand-Mount/dp/B005I2YL7I/

Get the 5lbs x2 https://www.amazon.com/HEALTHYMODELLIFE-Ankle-Weights-Active-0-5lb/dp/B01DK9FEWG/

Please use clean amazon links so your messages don't get caught in the spam filter. Thank you.

https://www.amazon.com/Uniden-BC125AT-Alpha-Tagged-channels-Lightweight/dp/B00772MR0K/

Please message the mods to comment on this message or action.

Maybe not the answer you want to hear, but do you have a computer programming cable? IIRC, Amazon sells (or sold) a relatively cheap fairly universal programming cable.

Run that with the free program Chirp, and you have a pretty inexpensive computer programming option.

I've found that sometimes when I'm almost ready to hurl my radio at a brick wall, programming software makes setting up the radio a breeze.

I've also found that when all else fails, the computer option is often the kick in the nuts a uncooperative radio needs.

Link to download Chirp.

Cheap programming harness

Good luck!

I actually just spent $100 so I can finally do HF from my apartment:

• MFJ QRP Loop antenna ($59)
• PVC sections from Home Depot to form a cross shape ($10)
• A lighting tripod from Amazon ($20)

Still waiting on the antenna itself. Then I can see how well it performs from my balcony.

I had an idea similar to this, but using a weather balloon instead of a kite. My buddy thought it was a dumb idea since we mostly stick to 2m, but it might work well for other bands.

The one I found on amazon (20ft diameter) is kind of pricey, but I would imagine it would be reusable since it would be tethered. In the question and answers section the say it can hoist 10 lbs.

I found these 36 inch balloons that are more affordable, but it would take several to do the job.

It might be a viable alternative to a kite in a no wind situation.

I just had to buy an antenna for my truck--different size and different reason. I've got a hood mount for my half-ton and moving from a center roof mount because of job switch and new parking situation (garage). I bought this antenna after doing a bunch of research: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AR08WQW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&amp;psc=1

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It's got a spring for springing and sproinging against things, it's 18" tall and you won't find much that's between ~18 and ~36 inches, as near as I found. They make an NMO version as well, or NMO to SO-239 adapters are available as well.

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Just finished the mount, cable, and radio install--just waiting on the antenna tomorrow from the Amazon truck. (not affiliated)

No, but did you know there is a book specifically about amateur radio projects and the Arduino?: https://www.amazon.ca/Arduino-Ham-Radio-Electronics-Microcontroller/dp/1625950160

I have tried a ton of them over the years on both iOS and Android.

Now I am A big fan of IZ2UUF on Android. Nice the way it can send groups of random letters, and a few seconds later say the letters. Handy for mentally quizzing yourself while driving etc and then hearing the answers and if you are correct or not right away.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.iz2uuf.cwkoch&amp;hl=en_US

Just get some rg-174. This is what I use for portable ops. 25' for $17 with ends terminated in BNC - works FB.

I powered through the questions in this app for about a month to prepare. Passed my technician exam on my first try!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.iversoft.ham.test.prep&amp;hl=en

I'm sure there should be an iOS version as well.

ISS app is what i use

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.runar.issdetector

GET THE PRO VERSION https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.runar.issdetector.pro

havent found a free app thats has the same functionality

In the list is a Pinecil that works on USB power (high amperage though).

If you want a station, can't really go wrong with the Hakko FX888D https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B00ANZRT4M/

There are some other cheaper Chinese made soldering/hot air stations that would allow you to do more surface mount stuff but I couldn't suggest one.

Temp control is the way. BIG difference if all you've used was the rat shack 25-35w pencils. Worth the money IMO.

> Not sure on the fastest digital mode

Well he specifically mentioned HF digital, and the fastest bitrate for digital data there is up in the high end of the PACTOR family of digital radio protocols. PACTOR I is the slowest in this family (at 200 baud, it's slower than HF packet) but is still fairly popular because it's open source, particularly the AX.25 signalled PACTOR I that is used in the Winlink HF maritime mobile e-mail system.

The faster PACTOR II and III protocols are proprietary and VERY expensive to buy modems for as there is only one manufacturer, SCS over in Germany. But they do have a (small) userbase on HF. SCS has also just introduced PACTOR IV which is faster still (~10kbps) but its legality for use on HF ham bands in the USA is still a bit of a grey area.

9600 baud packet radio is a thing. Requires FM transceivers with flat audio, not audio tuned for voice. This is usually labeled as 'data' mode or 'packet' mode and usually uses a different input line.

Alternatively, you might want to look at devices targeted for the 433 MHz ISM band (region 1). Or import devices like this (do some research into legality; YMMV, I'm not endorsing this product).

So, Debian has this concept of a "pure blend", which is sort of like a customized distribution with a bunch of pre-installed packages. They get published as a pre-made image, but they also come with "meta-packages" that install a bunch of related packages at once. These are available on any Debian or Debian-derived image (e.g., Raspberry Pi OS).

So if you have a working Raspberry Pi, you can copy-paste the command at the bottom of this page and get all the ham-related packages installed at once: https://www.debian.org/blends/hamradio/get/metapackages

(Or you could just install the metapackage you care about, e.g. apt install hamradio-datamodes will install WSJT-X, fldigi, etc.)

73 was the REAL independent voice. Wayne Green haaaaaated so many of the ARRL's policies, often with good reason. (Look up "incentive licensing" sometime.) Damn, I miss that mag. At least they're all available online.

Edit: 73 mag free archive: https://archive.org/details/73-magazine

If you need to get tqsl for 14.04, the easiest way is to use the package maintained here:

https://launchpad.net/~kamalmostafa/+archive/ubuntu/trustedqsl

I used the packages yesterday to update (I'm using Xenial) and my FT8 uploads went fine. Just do:

1. sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kamalmostafa/trustedqsl
2. sudo apt-get update
3. sudo apt-get install trustedqsl

And you should be good to go.

edit: if you've already installed it from another repository, you might want to uninstall the old one first, then do 1-3 above.

If you absolutely have to have a book, I recommend Gordon West's series. He has tech, general, extra and GROL study guides. They are broken down in a way that was easier for me to study with. The ARRL study books are more like school style text books. Gordo's are more like cliff notes, IMO.

r/https://tinyurl.com/y86mmj7v

I supplemented what I read in those books with practice testing at hamstudy.org.

I got to go to a new location to do portable QRP this weekend: Don Roberts Park, a tiny little strip of land between industrial park on one side and the mighty Fraser River on the other. The weather has been unseasonably sunny this November, and I wanted to take full advantage of it. You can see some pics here:

https://imgur.com/a/q373qao

So how'd I do? Not bad at all! With a 20m dipole up in a tree and running 5 watts, I managed to snag three CW QSOs: one in Texas, one in Colorado (first SOTA activation!), and KH7XS from Hawaii. At 4331 kilometres / 2706 miles, this is my furthest QSO yet.

I also discovered that one of the local repeaters has IRLP and Echolink available to everyone -- for some reason, I'd thought they restricted it to members only. I discovered this when, in the middle of scanning, I heard someone talking about the weather in Tampa. I stopped to listen and had a chat with him when he was free; after that, I heard someone in Manchester, UK talking to someone in Texas. I suspect this was an Echolink connection, but I don't know for sure...if anyone has any ideas ("oh yeah, that's the [whatever] channel they were probably using"), let me know. I'll definitely be listening in more often.

> I suppose if you put a receiving element close enough to a powerful enough transmitter, this might happen.

OK you go ahead and walk up close to a &quot;powerful enough&quot; transmitter, I'm a stand back here

Last weekend was supposed to be full of contesting and contacting JOTA stations. But alas, two things happened in quick succession:

1. Super Typhoon Lan. This was the third typhoon to hit the JA mainland this season alone, and it forced me to go outside on Sunday morning in a driving rain to bring the HF antenna down. Honestly, I'm just so goddamn done with this year's weather antics.
   Also, no sooner did Typhoon Lan peel off into the northern Pacific after causing widespread flooding and mud slides, than guess what? Typhoon Saola spawned, this right before my weekend company trip, followed immediately by a business trip to Germany on Sunday -- the estimated time of Saola's closest approach. I wanna die.

2. I got in the truck last Thursday morning to discover that my mobile rig refused to power up. It had worked fine the night before (no tx, only receiving 40 meters), but suddenly it was dead. I suspect maybe a fuse has blown, but it's been raining so hard (and I don't get home from work until after dark on weeknights) that I can't pop the hood to check. So, until I get back from my trip and figure out what the hell just happened there, I'm totally off HF.

I mean seriously what did I do to piss off the ham gods?

I use <strong>this</strong> to block ads for this very reason. I can turn them on when I get to a site I trust, or need to have the ads (CNN, for example, if you want to watch their videos), but by default, everything is blocked. You can check to see what they want you to see, where you would be redirected, what's happening in the background if you'd like.

Love having things protected in nice sturdy boxes. This one can be tossed into a go-bag without worrying about dinging up the HT. Got them from Amazon for $9.99. Currently holds my TH-D74A, rubber duck antenna, spare battery, speaker mic and charger.

get this power supply from Amazon. It's 30A and very economical. I have been using one for two years.

Gecko45 is that you?

You'll be the guy/girl at work that is "too good" for the standard equipment and your coworkers/boss might react badly. Do you really want to be "that guy"?

FRS frequencies are 0.5 watts from a handheld, not 2 watts. You'd be using 10 times the legal power. It also means the battery will go dead 10 times faster while transmitting.

MURS would go through walls better then FRS. CB would go through walls better then MURS, but CB needs an 8 foot tall antenna to be efficient so it isn't practical.

My suggestion, get this: https://www.amazon.com/BTECH-MURS-V1-Manufacturing-Personal-Business/dp/B075VBP9YG/

It is the only Baofeng that is type accepted by the FCC for MURS. It's also cheap.

You won't need the programming cable as these are set correctly for MURS out of the box.

Amazon has trouble keeping them in stock because they are powerful for a handheld and US-legal without a liscense.

It will only work to other MURS radios, so you'll want 2 of them.

Picked it up from Amazon a couple of years ago and it will run the 703 for quite a while.

TalentCell Rechargeable 72W 100WH 12V/8300mAh 9V/11000mAh 5V/20000mAh DC Output Lithium Ion Battery Pack for LED Strip and CCTV Camera, Portable Li-ion Power Bank, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01337QXMA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_vnKABbC72C474

Those are Nagoya knockoffs. Buy genuine Nagoya in the green bags. The yellow or red bags are fakes. You may have gotten a dude but more than likely those reviews are bought/fake. That’s a major issue on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Authentic-NA-771-15-6-Inch-SMA-Female-BTECH/dp/B00KC4PWQQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1548378318&amp;sr=8-1-spons&amp;pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&amp;keywords=nagoya+na-771&amp;psc=1

Btech is an authorized retailer of Nagoya and Baofeng products. Also look into the NA771R retractable antenna. I use it and it’s fantastic.

I have a MFJ Antenna Analyzer (don't remember the model number off the top of my head). I see a number of people are buying and using ones like in this link. It seems these have pretty good reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/50KHz-900MHz-Analyzer-Measuring-Parameters-Standing/dp/B07Y53RCKW/ref=asc_df_B07Y53RCKW/?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=385267912548&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=16652502257177856262&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9015384&amp;hvtargid=pla-844422862531&amp;psc=1&amp;tag=&amp;ref=&amp;adgrpid=76690811697&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvadid=385267912548&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=16652502257177856262&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9015384&amp;hvtargid=pla-844422862531

HamLog might.

' NOTE: This app has ADIF Export AND Import and QRZ XML Lookup integration. As well as CloudSynch to synchronize logs across devices and platforms (Android/iOS)'

I think you should be fine. I studied from the General guide that was expired when I took my exam. The qualitative content of the exam really doesn't change. The question pools change somewhat but if you know your stuff, you'll have no problem learning the changed questions. I used a combination of the old book for understanding everything followed by this Android app for studying all the current questions (similar resources available online too). The combo was bulletproof and the exam was no prob.

That's a pretty simple radio so it shouldn't be very difficult. All of the tubes it uses (12BE6 12BA6 12AV6 50C5) are ridiculously common and should be available, NOS in box, for dollars each. eBay is fine for buying; tubesandmore.com also sells a lot of those parts. You can find the parts list and service schematics here: http://www.nostalgiaair.org/references/manuals/

The transformer is likewise easy to find. There's some on eBay right now for $3/ea: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Good-tested-tube-amp-50C5-output-transformers-/390378516701?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&amp;hash=item5ae45f70dd#ht_500wt_922 or you can buy any late '50s/early '60s plastic tube radio and rip the transformer out of it to use.

Post on here if you have questions during the process, sounds like a fun simple project.

This is a cutting mate (A1 size). I bought it on on Banggood (https://www.banggood.com/A1-A2-A3-PVC-Cutting-Mat-Cutting-Pad-Patchwork-Tools-Manual-DIY-Tool-Cutting-Board-Double-sided-p-1107228.html?cur_warehouse=CN&amp;ID=5143476290288&amp;rmmds=search)

How does it handle voltage dips? I'm not a SOTA operator myself (yet), but I have some experience flying hobby drones and the voltage can sag significantly under load, especially with older batteries. I use these nice multi-cell battery monitors with a loud beeper and configurable threshold: https://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-1S-8S-Li-po-Battery-Voltage-Tester-Checker-Indicator-Monitor-Buzzer-Alarm-p-26049.html?rmmds=search&amp;cur_warehouse=CN

I agree. If you're scoring 80%+, just take the test. If you really do want audio, though, the audiobook version of my No Nonsense Technician Class License Study Guide is available from Audible.

In Linux, I use arecord to record my radio/scanner audio to files 15 minutes in length and also above a set threshold point. In Windows, I use ScannerRecorder.

I was wondering about the demographics and the politics of the ham community as well. (Not judging but definitely observing...)

I came across an old metafilter thread entitled "No ham for radio for old men..." which was entertaining if not enlightening.

http://www.metafilter.com/100039/No-ham-radio-for-old-men is the link.

It's worth a read if you have a little time - it'll definitely make you smile. Make sure you read the one that ends with "I was abused by ham radio as a child."

Enjoy.

There's a native Linux JT65-HF: https://groups.google.com/group/jt65-hf/browse_thread/thread/cfbe3208b65fd755

It's a bit basic - it has no real controls, and assumes that pulseaudio is perfectly set up for vox - but works quite well.

You want to buy a domain name, which you do through a domain name registrar (I am a fan of https://www.gandi.net/). The #1 important thing here is that the domain is owned by you so that you aren't locked in to any hosting service.

Once you have a domain you get to specify, for that domain, whose servers host the actual content. And that service has to be configurable to know "when your domain is asked for, show your content", as opposed to using only their domain. WordPress.com is an example of a service that can work either way.

There are roughly three tiers of hosting service:

• You get to manually upload HTML etc. files — so you can create a “static” web site. This means that nobody can e.g. leave comments — in general do something that is seen by other visitors. The big advantage here is that nobody can “hack” your site (other than by getting the credentials you use to upload stuff). This sort of hosting is good for e.g. publishing Instructions To Make This Thing I Made, or a blog without comments (you run software on your computer to make up the blog HTML and upload it).
• The host provides a CMS (content management system) which allows you to put information into preformatted pages. Blogs and wikis are specific kinds of CMSes. WordPress.com provides this kind of hosting. Disadvantage: it's harder to migrate your stuff to some other platform, because this hosting is less “generic” ('just files' or 'just Linux') than the other two.
• You get a virtual (or physical) machine in somebody's data center, probably running Linux, and set up the web-server and whatever else on it yourself. Most flexibility, most setup needed.

Well, if you're gonna drop the money, get one of the RFinder branded ones. The Rfinder software will, as they claim, automatically find nearby repeaters, program the talkgroups, timeslots, color codes, ect. I'm not sure if it works on all Runbos, or just the ones they sell.

Though I have no experience with it, I have a feeling it's a pretty poor radio and an even worse mobile phone.

Look up ZTerm to communicate over the serial port.

http://www.dalverson.com/zterm/

You'll need to build or locate a Mac serial port cable, and learn how the PK-232 works

http://www.repeater-builder.com/aea/pk232/pk232mbx-operating-manual.pdf

It's so easy now! There's even software that does the CSS for you (haven't tested myself but here's one free option), if you could put together a site with just HTML tags you already know more than you need to.