Who Ham? You Ham?

Cincinnatus

Cincinnatus

Not-quite retired Army
Also, a ham HT (hand-held transmitter) is all you need (for a ham radio) if you're doing SHTF prep. You can get a Baofeng for around $40, but they are NOT built to last. Plastic body & 'made in China' syndrome.

I picked up a used Yaesu FT-60 for about $150, and that's also about the retail cost at Ham Radio Outlet (HRO). They've got a store in Oaklamd - http://www.hamradio.com/locations.cfm?storeid=3

Yaesu FT-60 here - http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=h0-007323

Good luck, have fun, see ya (virtually) on the air sometime! :thumbup
 
Cincinnatus

Cincinnatus

Not-quite retired Army
Baofeng's body is plastic and doesn't survive multiple drops, plus not submersible . Yaesu is aluminum and submersible. Y > B, IMO.
 
dmaxAl

dmaxAl

Well-known member
Urg spent the day driving ground spikes and crawling around me basement pulling coax and earth straps. So got teh shack back online :party
Im using a buckmaster ocf dipole on 40/20/10/6 temp strung through a big oak, all the swrs except 6m down to ~1.1 so i should be good to go. Yay.
 
Cincinnatus

Cincinnatus

Not-quite retired Army
dmaxAl said:
Urg spent the day driving ground spikes and crawling around me basement pulling coax and earth straps. So got teh shack back online :party
Im using a buckmaster ocf dipole on 40/20/10/6 temp strung through a big oak, all the swrs except 6m down to ~1.1 so i should be good to go. Yay.
Click to expand...

I'm so n00b @ hamming that you're speaking Etruscan. :teeth

I did just get the new issue for HRO, tho. :party Gives me something to think about, getting equipment I don't know how to use yet. :laughing :loco
 
EastBayDave

EastBayDave

- Kawasaki Fanatic -
dmaxAl said:
Urg spent the day driving ground spikes and crawling around me basement pulling coax and earth straps. So got teh shack back online :party
Im using a buckmaster ocf dipole on 40/20/10/6 temp strung through a big oak, all the swrs except 6m down to ~1.1 so i should be good to go. Yay.
Click to expand...

Cool; what I need to do also w/so many cables/coax running around everywhere.

BTW, 6 meters is not used much anymore. My club has a 6 meter repeater, & it's hard to get in w/o power & a yagi, AND nearby. Haven't heard a peep out of it in a decade or more...

How is your Buckmaster dipole oriented? Vertical, or horizontal ? Also wondering how high? Nearby structures? Perhaps I can help w/advice on orientation...
 
dmaxAl

dmaxAl

Well-known member
Dave, yeah I know 6m is a bit of a dinosaur. But you know what, I paid for the goddamned receiver and I'm gonna listen :rofl Besides a sporadic E dx would be kinda cool :) The antenna is the short buckmaster (40/20/10/6) like I said swr metered at the shack is very good on the high bands. But the fact that 6m is still up at 4-5 tells me sumtin isnt quite right yet. The center is hung at about 30' (hoisted into a big oak tree branch). The shorter part of the antenna is strung over to another tree at not quite horizontal, with the end being about 5-6' below the center. The long half is where I think I might be having problems, way I have the center causes the wire to wrap around the trunk a little so it's not very straight, and this is right near the balun point, not sure if this matters. Other problem I have is there is a swing on the same tree that uses a pair of metal chains from a branch about 20' up, and as much as I'd like to get the antenna away from that metal it's tricky - that tree teeters at the top of a 45degree hill, so if I'm climing around up there and bail.. lol .. but there are better antenna positions in there so one day when I get my courage up Ill climb.. Did you make any progress figuring out your antennas?

in ma shack - top is a gobox with a uniden bcd996 trunking scanner and a yaesu ft-857d. A signalink-usb is crammed in there for digital, whole mess goes in a pelican case so I can throw it in the truck for mobile or on the camp table. Main HF radio is a yaesu ftdx3000 and the little ft7900 2m/70cm for all our local repeaters. I need to spend more time on vhf, my qth is apparently very frikkin good and I'm touching repeaters outside the bay area (antenna there is diamond vertical 2m/70cm dual).
 

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rodr

rodr

Well-known member
For anyone with an interest in ham radio and at least a passing interest in Linux, there's this coming up in Davis on Monday, Dec. 21:

The Linux Users' Group of Davis (LUGOD) will be holding the following meeting:

Monday
December 21, 2015
7:00pm - 9:00pm

Presentation:
Amateur Radio (ham radio) with Linux - Roundtable
presented by Brian Lavender, Tony Cratz, Eric Engelhard, and Tim Thatcher

Amateur radio (also called ham radio) describes the use of radio
frequency spectra for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages,
wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation and
emergency communication. The term "amateur" is used to specify "a
duly authorised person interested in radioelectric practice with a
purely personal aim and without pecuniary interest;" (either direct
monetary or other similar reward) and to differentiate it from
commercial broadcasting, public safety (such as police and fire),
or professional two-way radio services (such as maritime, aviation,
taxis, etc.). (Source: Wikipedia.)

This roundtable presentation will cover various aspects of ham radio,
including licensing, ham related groups (e.g., Mt. Vaca Radio Club -
Yolo Amateur Radio Society) and activities, and of course, how to use
Linux with radio gear. Numerous open source tools and applications, as
well as dedicated Linux distros, exist for such purposes as logging,
browsing programming schedules, receiving and plotting Automatic
Packet Reporting System (APRS) position packets, spectral analysis,
repeater control, satellite tracking, and of course controlling a
ham radio. There are even apps for practicing and preparing for a
license exam.

It will also touch on other Linux-based software-defined-radio
hardware and software solutions, atmospheric radio propagation,
and solar/geomagnetic weather, and will include a introduction
to fldigi, wsjt-x and what it does and the JT modes it supports,
and predict/gpredict orbital tracking software and a little about
working satellites.

This meeting will be held at:

Yolo County Public Library, Mary L Stephens Davis Branch
Blanchard community meeting room
315 E. 14th Street
Davis, CA 95616

For more details on this meeting, visit:

http://www.lugod.org/meeting/upcoming/#next

For maps, directions, public transportation schedules, etc., visit:

http://www.lugod.org/meeting/library/

------------
About LUGOD:
------------

The Linux Users' Group of Davis is a 501(c)7 non-profit organization
dedicated to the Linux computer operating system and other Open Source
and Free Software.

Since 1999, LUGOD has held regular meetings with guest speakers
in Davis, California, as well as other events in Davis and the greater
Sacramento region. Events are always free and open to the public.
Click to expand...
 
P

packnrat

Well-known member
well now that i own a place again, can put up a tower... but sad i sold my 60 ft tower last year.

maybe try and climb up a tree and attach something up there. :rofl

got a 1/2 acre, long and narrow but should be able to string a couple wires. and call it good. :wow
but 2 meter first. and in the pu. maybe a new hand held for use on/with the bike? seeing as i ride a klr some times. :teeth


.
 
dmaxAl

dmaxAl

Well-known member
If you're gonna do tree's or similar get another pair of hands driving the analyzer. I finally got my dipole tuned down for 40m thru 10m, 6m still sucks donkey butt, but it took a couple of attempts. ANd that meant a couple or 10 times up and down the ladder :laughing
 
Eldritch

Eldritch

is insensitive
mosquito said:
Who's a ham around here?

After the Napa earthquake I decided it was high time I got my amateur radio license and get my self connected to the SF NERT organisation: if something bad happens in a big way in SF, I want to be able to help make things better.

So... last weekend I went up to Petaluma for a Ham Cram, took the Element 2, asked for Element 3, then asked for Element 4. I got pretty much what I expected: passed 2 & 3, but wound up having to guess for half of Element 4 and my score nearly exactly reflected that. Still, I'm shortly going to be licensed for the General class.
Click to expand...

I am also a NERT and an ALERT. Looking into getting my ham license now. Any tips or pointers for new guys?

Radio suggestions for portable?
 
Cincinnatus

Cincinnatus

Not-quite retired Army
Join a club. I'm a member of ORCA (Oakland Radio Communications Association), the USS Hornet club, and the Hayward Radio Club. Gets you a huge amount of resources, knowledge, and community involvement.

ORCA deployed to 8 Oakland fire departments last Saturday, lit up the ham radios at each one, and participated in a tactical net. Very good exercise.

I've got a Yaesu FT-60R HT, a couple of Baofeng HTs, a mobile FTM-100DR in my truck, and a rolling encomm (emergency communications) go-kit based on a Yaesu FT-857D. If the SHTF, I hope that I will be able to communicate and support my neighborhood.
 
EastBayDave

EastBayDave

- Kawasaki Fanatic -
dmaxAl said:
Dave, yeah I know 6m is a bit of a dinosaur. But you know what, I paid for the goddamned receiver and I'm gonna listen :rofl Besides a sporadic E dx would be kinda cool :) The antenna is the short buckmaster (40/20/10/6) like I said swr metered at the shack is very good on the high bands. But the fact that 6m is still up at 4-5 tells me sumtin isnt quite right yet. The center is hung at about 30' (hoisted into a big oak tree branch). The shorter part of the antenna is strung over to another tree at not quite horizontal, with the end being about 5-6' below the center. The long half is where I think I might be having problems, way I have the center causes the wire to wrap around the trunk a little so it's not very straight, and this is right near the balun point, not sure if this matters. Other problem I have is there is a swing on the same tree that uses a pair of metal chains from a branch about 20' up, and as much as I'd like to get the antenna away from that metal it's tricky - that tree teeters at the top of a 45degree hill, so if I'm climing around up there and bail.. lol .. but there are better antenna positions in there so one day when I get my courage up Ill climb.. Did you make any progress figuring out your antennas?

in ma shack - top is a gobox with a uniden bcd996 trunking scanner and a yaesu ft-857d. A signalink-usb is crammed in there for digital, whole mess goes in a pelican case so I can throw it in the truck for mobile or on the camp table. Main HF radio is a yaesu ftdx3000 and the little ft7900 2m/70cm for all our local repeaters. I need to spend more time on vhf, my qth is apparently very frikkin good and I'm touching repeaters outside the bay area (antenna there is diamond vertical 2m/70cm dual).
Click to expand...
Sorry 'bout the late reply; I just haven't been on this Forum or any of my radio's lately. You see, a couple of years ago my son got the shack for his personal bedroom. I guess he deserved it; so the shack was dismantled & I moved out/he moved in.
About the same time all my health issues cropped up; thus all my antenna's are down & no shack. Someday I hope to get back into it hopefully...

Antenna's there's one rule of thumb I've found always works: The more metal you can get up in the air the better. The more that's resonant on the bands you want to work, the better.

Thus I ended up w/the Moseley "Pro-57b" seven-band five bander. (http://www.mosley-electronics.com/pro.html) It has at least 3-4 elements on most popular bands/contest bands. GREAT antenna but hanging on the backyard fence at the moment....:cry I'll get the station going again someday....but bikes are 1st. :teeth
 
DonTom

DonTom

Well-known member
mosquito said:
Who's a ham around here?
Click to expand...
I am AA6GA. I got my first ham ticket (WB6YYO) in 1966 when all testing was done at the FCC office. Includes the sending and receiving on CW. Things have changed a lot since those days!

I hold the Extra Class. I work HF CW only.

I will be on the air during this trip with my KX2 on HF CW. and TW4040.

73, -Don- AA6GA Williams, AZ (on RV trip with my Zero DS on the hitch).
 
m0t0_ryder

m0t0_ryder

RYD!
Wow Don,

A real old timer on air!
Nice!

Although I've been in communications since the 70's I was never really motivated to get the License. Even though I had a couple of Ham buddies back then pushing me to take the test. Back when Morse was required.

Then a few years ago I realized that with my solo back country rides it might be a good idea to carry a transceiver. So, I did a quick 3 day study session (I'm a EE so that helped with theory) and took the test.

KM6RPY - Technician class

I received a few transceivers (antiques with crystals) from my father-in-law. As well as a couple shortwave receivers. (One a Heathkit tube unit).
Been thinking about putting up a long wire antenna.

I've (since licensing) purchased the Yaesu VX-6r and the BaoFeng BF-F8HP.
Hope to pick up a trunking scanner soon to help ID users where(ever) I am.

Now I just need to find me an Elmer to teach me the methods.

Yeah, I know, join a local Ham club.
 
DonTom

DonTom

Well-known member
m0t0_ryder said:
Although I've been in communications since the 70's I was never really motivated to get the License. Even though I had a couple of Ham buddies back then pushing me to take the test. Back when Morse was required.
Click to expand...
Back in those days, one had to be motivated to get a ham ticket. That has changed. Now there is no motivation to learn CW at all, not for any class of license. Back when I was young, many other hams were my young age (teens). Now everybody on CW is still my around age (70). No young ones on CW any more. But IMO, anybody who learns CW well enough to get good at it, usually gets hooked on it. There are many hams all around my age, who ONLY work CW, such as myself. Looks like when we're gone, there will be no more CW ops in the USA.

m0t0_ryder said:
I received a few transceivers (antiques with crystals) from my father-in-law. As well as a couple shortwave receivers. (One a Heathkit tube unit).Been thinking about putting up a long wire antenna.
Click to expand...
Is the Heathkit Receiver a HR-10?

I used to homebrew all my transmitters. But now, I just find it too easy to buy the stuff. My main rig is a Yaesu FTdx1200

73, -Don- AA6GA/7 Payson, AZ (RV).
 
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