Announcing the RME on-air ham radio net

TurboMinivan

Still plays with cars
Location
Lehi, UT
I can hear you guys on my baofeng, but can’t talk (too far).

I tried to join again tonight but I just can't get to the repeater from the Layton/Kaysville area.

Yeah, it seems neither of you could hit the repeater at all--we didn't hear any weak signals from distant radios. At least now we know what you tried tonight certainly didn't work. (I am certain if I tried using my HT from my house, I wouldn't get in to the repeater either.)


Here’s the antenna. Bad pic but enough to get the idea

What size is that? Is it ~18" or more like ~36"? I'm just curious if it is a 1/4-wave or 1/2-wave. Either way, it was working great for you tonight.
 

SmoothLC

New Member
Sorry I missed it. I programmed 146.940 into my Kenwood, but only heard static when people were talking.

I was also a little late.
 

mbryson

.......a few dollars more
Supporting Member
Yeah, it seems neither of you could hit the repeater at all--we didn't hear any weak signals from distant radios. At least now we know what you tried tonight certainly didn't work. (I am certain if I tried using my HT from my house, I wouldn't get in to the repeater either.)




What size is that? Is it ~18" or more like ~36"? I'm just curious if it is a 1/4-wave or 1/2-wave. Either way, it was working great for you tonight.


18”ish mast and add a couple inches for the base. Similar to what I run on my “Jeep”
 

TurboMinivan

Still plays with cars
Location
Lehi, UT
RME net #5 just concluded. The following folks checked in:

NM0AB---Dempsey (TurboMinivan) as net control
KI7TWF--Davy (mesha)
KI7YLK--Mark (Revitup-n-go)
KD7DAA--Dave (DAA)
KC7MDT---Cade (mr_cade)
KC6BSA--Josh (fogo)
KE8L--Eric (unimog)
KI7BUY--Jared (iceaxe)
KF7ULD--Roger (MOODY)
KI7ZXQ--Jeff (not an RME member, from Taylorsville)
KJ7DCZ--Jameson (not an RME member, from Bountiful)

EDIT: our "mystery" check-in was MOODY, coming in from Sandy. His signal had so much static that it was virtually impossible to understand what he was saying. From his post below, it sounds like he has ideas on how to improve things for his next attempt, which is fantastic news. (Thank you to Dave for using your Reverse function to try and hear him.)

I was happy to hear Mark participate, especially when he told us that this was almost his first time transmitting on his radio (other than a couple simplex contacts with Davy). The whole purpose of the net is to give us some practice and help us all be more comfortable using our radios. It warms my heart to hear you guys take advantage of the opportunity.

I again brought up the idea of someone else being net control. Because I am working until 9pm next week, somebody else needs to take the reins. When I brought this up last week, two of you--Dave (moab_cj5) and Eric (unimog)--said you might be willing to do this. If one of you is able to give it a go, please speak up. If anyone else out there is willing, you can chime in as well. Whoever volunteers, I will be happy to send you my written script as well as the template I use for writing down check-ins and other notes.

Thanks again to everyone for a good discussion.
 
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Daverz

New Member
Location
Heber Utah
(EDIT: our next net is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, April 3rd at 8:30pm provided someone agrees to be net control.)

Now that permission has been granted to use a centrally-located repeater, and after an impromptu dry run by myself and @lhracing, I am ready to hold our first official RME on-air ham radio net. All licensed ham radio operators on RME are invited to join in. Any RME members who own ham radio equipment but are not licensed are welcome to listen, but are not allowed to transmit and join the net (except via approved third-party communication). You've probably already read these details in the other thread, but in case you missed them:

  1. we will use the 146.940 repeater (88.5 tone) located on Farnsworth Peak
  2. this will take place Wednesday night at 8:30pm
I intentionally selected a repeater which requires a tone for access. This means all would-be participants have a homework assignment: in order to join us, you'll need to figure out how to program your radio for tone output (on transmission only), and configure it accordingly in advance. Most Japanese radios will make this fairly simple; if you have a more complicated Chinese model such as a Baofeng and are having difficulty figuring this out, let me know and I will offer assistance.

This repeater was also selected due to its location. Sitting atop Farnsworth Peak, this repeater offers good coverage from Ogden to Payson, and should also work for guys out west in the Grantsville/Tooele area as well. From what I saw in the other thread, this means it should be a good location for the vast majority of RME members who want to participate. Having said that, we are all experimenting. If you go to participate only to discover your exact location has poor coverage, we'll talk about it later and see what we can do to improve your experience the next time. Also, if you only have a handheld radio and are a considerable distance from Farnsworth, you may have difficulty participating. We'll just have to try it and see how well it works.

I selected Wednesday night at 9pm for a few reasons. For starters, it is a time when most of us are probably at home for the evening. Also, it seems to be a time when this repeater is not already tied up with another net. (If we are surprised and there happens to be something else on this repeater that night at 9pm, we'll bump ahead to 9:30 or 10:00 to give the other net time to complete.) If this day/time proves problematic for some of you, we can look at moving things around in the future to accommodate more members. I will try to be as flexible as possible.

Lastly, I will be net control (meaning the person leading the net). While I have joined dozens and dozens of nets over the years, I've never been net control for a single one. This means I, too, will be learning and stepping out of my comfort zone... so nobody here should feel frightened or nervous because they are attempting something new. We're all in this together, and RME is a judgement-free zone. :)

Right now, I do not expect this to become a permanent weekly net. I envision us doing this a few times, for sure, to make sure everybody gets some practice and experience to get them on their way to comfortable radio use. Having said that, we do have permission to use the repeater as much as we like, so I guess this is really up to the body of RME and not just me. If you guys decide you're in it for the long haul, I can be as well.


Are there any questions?
Thanks Dempsey,
Newbie here to Ham. Recently got my license and a handheld on the way. I'm in Heber.
I'd like to try and get on but I believe I'm out of range. Can I hit Farnsworth through a different repeater? i'm completely green to
this form of communication, but eager to learn.
Thanks
 

MOODY

Bald Guy
Location
Sandy
I’m KF7ULD. I have only ever used this Icom handheld for simplex communications and I tried out a new Diamond antenna, so my apologies for making things difficult. Should have gone to the truck where I have more experience with that unit. Frustrating as hell. Oh well, practice makes perfect.

I believe I figured out the issue.
 

moab_cj5

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
I got hung up and couldn't jump on tonight. Sounds like a great net!

Unfortunately, I'll be out of town next wed so I can't do net control. I probably can after next week though.
 

DAA

Well-Known Member
Good net last night - thanks everyone!

Trying to get out of town next Wed. Not a done deal yet, still need to find a dog sitter. But hoping to be heading for St. George.

- DAA
 

mesha

By endurance we conquer
Location
A.F.
It was a good net last night. Mark was really excited to give it a try. I also had another friend sitting in the back seat of the rig listening in. It got him excited to take his test. He has been studying, but this might have finally pushed him over the top to get it done.

My wife and son were in the other jeep listening in too. Davy got excited when DAA hoped on because he recognized his voice.
 

TurboMinivan

Still plays with cars
Location
Lehi, UT
Newbie here to Ham. Recently got my license and a handheld on the way.

Congratulations!

I'm in Heber.
I'd like to try and get on but I believe I'm out of range. Can I hit Farnsworth through a different repeater?

You've got some large mountains between Heber and Farnsworth Peak, so that's virtually guaranteed not to work for you (especially with an HT). The repeater we use is not linked to any others, so if you can't hit it then you aren't able to participate in this net. However, don't let that discourage you. Let us/me know when you get your radio. When you do, I'll be happy to make contact with you via a repeater that you can hit.

Mark was really excited to give it a try.

Good to hear. He sure had a great signal into the repeater.

Davy got excited when DAA hopped on because he recognized his voice.

:rofl: So when are you going to have him take his own Technician test?

I’m KF7ULD.

Ah-ha! Man, I tried so hard to make out what you were saying but there was way too much static on your signal. Thank you for trying to check in. Hopefully you'll have better results next time.


Speaking of next time:

Unfortunately, I'll be out of town next wed so I can't do net control.

Okay, Dave is out. Anybody else? If nobody else is able to be net control, I am still willing to do it... but we'll need to push our start time back an hour to 9:30pm.
 
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