The Ham Radio Thread

[sixstringsteve]

Impressive! It was fun listening to a father and son chatting on their way up Spanish Fork Canyon.

I'm thinking a magnet mount would be simple. I plan on leaving it up there all the time. The mag mount would allow it to tip over if it hit something. I'm thinking something like this.


Since my trailer is aluminum and doesn't have anything steel to attach it to. I'm curious if I can use the roof of the Airstream as a ground plane (although, with solar panels all around, I'm curious if they'd interfere). If I used silicone to stick down a 6"x6" steel plate on the roof, would the ground plane extend beyond the plate?

 

[TurboMinivan]

I'm thinking a magnet mount would be simple. I plan on leaving it up there all the time. The mag mount would allow it to tip over if it hit something.

In that case, you might consider the Comet SBB-5NMO (their equivalent of the Larsen) since the Comet has a fold-over hinge built into it. Yes, this means you'll need to physically climb up there whenever you want to fold/unfold the antenna. Still, I think it might be worth it. The hinge will definitely work better than relying on the magnet to give way and simply tip over--I expect you'll break something before that happens.

Having said all that, I can certainly vouch for the Larsen being somewhat flexible. I know it can take significant impact, at least so long as the impact point is not right at the base of the whip. Maybe you could go either way.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I have another idea. My 4g booster is on a mast that I raise. It's a 698-960/1710-2700 MHz Yagi antenna. If I mount the larsen on the same mast, do you think the two antennas will interfere with each other? If not, it'll be the perfect solution, as it's down when I'm traveling and up when I arrive.

 

[TurboMinivan]

Hmm, can't hurt to give it a try.

 

[sixstringsteve]

It's only money.

I think I'll go that route and see what happens.

 

[TRD270]

Just to follow up on the ground plane, taking my newly received knowledge from Dempsey I sought to improve the performance of my VHF in my work truck. After some measuring I learned my work radio had a 5/8 wave antenna mounted on the fender. I consulted again with Dempsey and acquired an old antenna. I trimmed it to 1/2 wave length and re-installed. I've had a noticeable improvement in performance, so if you don't want to mount it in the center definitely go with a 1/2 wave. Also could help with your low bridge situation as my antenna isn't contacting as much stuff now either.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Good info Josh, thanks.

I'll be on the sinbad machine tomorrow around noon as we head to utah valley. It'll be fun to see how much signal I can get through Spanish Fork canyon.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Does anyone want to share their Chrip files? I'm finally starting to use chirp and I'd love to see how you guys have stuff set up and how to group your channels/info.

 

[nnnnnate]

This is a mashup from a couple guys here. My geography isn't great and I don't know where all of the ridges are so thats why I have the city or town location listed as the name, that still doesn't help all the time but I don't always have my ham turned on anyway.

Its in two posts because of character limits.

Location	Name	Frequency	Duplex	Offset	Tone	rToneFreq	cToneFreq	DtcsCode	DtcsPolarity	Mode	TStep	Skip	Comment	URCALL
1	OFFRD	146.46		0		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
3	SMPLX02	146.4		0		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
4	SMPLX03	147.56		0		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
5	NTLCall	146.52		0		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
6	ARES	147.4		0		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
7	FARNSWRTH	146.62	-	0.6		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
8	BUTTRFLD	145.45	-	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	NFM	5
11	SLCC	146.88	-	0.6	Tone	88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
12	ENSIGNPK	146.7	-	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
13	SMPLX04	446.5		5		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
14	SMPLX05	447.8		5		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
15	ARES01	438.15		5		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
16	ARES02	438.175		5		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
17	CURRYPK	447.9	-	5	Tone	114.8	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
18	ARESSX	147.54		0		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
20	FARNSWRTH	147.12	+	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
21	SNOWBIRD	147.18	+	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
22	ENSIGNPK	449.4	-	5	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
23	SQTLLPK	145.23	-	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
24	WAREAGLE	145.23	-	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
25	BRIGHTON	145.27	-	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
26	BURLEY	145.27	-	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
27	LEVAN	145.27	-	0.6	Tone	103.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
28	ASPENMTN	146.68	-	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
29	STGEORGE	146.82	-	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
30	MONROEPK	146.84	-	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
31	IDHOFLLS	146.85	-	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
32	FRISCOPK	146.94	-	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
33	BEARLAKE	147.02	+	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
34	MONTPLR	147.12	+	0.6	Tone	123	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
35	3FORKS	448.35	-	5		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
36	PAGEAZ	448.6	-	5	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
37	FLAGSTFF	448.875	-	5	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5

 

[nnnnnate]

second.

40	LAKEMTN	147.08	+	0.6	Tone	77	88.5	23	NN	FM	5		Lake Mountain
41	VERNAL	147.04	+	0.6	Tone	136.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5		Grizzly Ridge
42	DUCHESNE	145.49	-	0.6	Tone	136.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5		Flat Top
43	FORDRIDGE	145.31	-	0.6	Tone	88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5		Ford Ridge
44	SCOFIELD	147.08	+	0.6	Tone	88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5		Boarding House Ridge
45	CARBON	147.32	+	0.6	Tone	88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5		Bruin Peak near East Carbon SDARC
46	CSTLDALE	147.06	+	0.6	Tone	88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5		Horn Mountain, Orangeville and Castle Dale
47	CEDARMTN	147.14	+	0.6	Tone	88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5		Cedar Mountain
48	HANKSVL	147.08	+	0.6	Tone	136.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5		Henry Mountains
49	MOAB01	146.76	-	0.6	Tone	88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5		Moab, on Bald Mesa
50	MOAB02	146.9	-	0.6	Tone	88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5		Moab, downtown
51	ABAJOPK	146.61	-	0.6	Tone	88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5		Abajo Peak
52	MANTI	448.275	-	5	Tone	107.2	88.5	23	NN	FM	5		Barton Peak
53	EPHRAIM	146.66	-	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5		Ephraim
54	HOLDEN	147.1	+	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5		Beesting
55	MONROE	146.86	-	0.6	Tone	100	88.5	23	NN	FM	5		Monroe Peak
60	WX1PA1	162.4		0		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
61	WX2PA2	162.425		0		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
62	WX3PA3	162.45		0		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
63	WX4PA4	162.475		0		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
64	WX5PA5	162.5		0		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
65	WX6PA6	162.525		0		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5
66	WX7PA7	162.55		0		88.5	88.5	23	NN	FM	5

 

[McFate]

This is a mashup from a couple guys here.

I knew that setup looked a little familiar…

So… because I'm a giant nerd, I ended up moving my preset info to Github so that I have a backup and can keep track of things when I change it. More for my benefit than anything else, but if someone else finds it useful, go for it.

https://github.com/joshbuhler/RadioPresets

For each radio I've got both the CHIRP image files, as well as a .csv file version of the data. There's a text file explaining the general setup of the radio memories, and some other notes in the FT-8800 folder about how I setup that radio's hyper-memory stuff. Each radio's folder also has an Excel spreadsheet that mirrors the other files, but also has notes and other info about each memory. I use the spreadsheets to print out a paper copy that I keep in the truck and in my radio bag. These have the frequency, offset, preset name, as well as notes about where the repeater is located, general range, etc.

You can browse the files on Github, or it's easier to just download them. Just find the "Clone or download" button on the right side of the screen, and choose "Download ZIP" option. Or, if you're a Git user, you've probably already cloned the repository.

The .md files are just Markdown text files, any text editing app should be able to open them, but if you don't have an app that likes them for some reason, just change the extension to .txt, and you should be good.

 

[sixstringsteve]

You're the man Nate, thanks for sharing that.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Tonight I put a $20 mag mount dual band antenna on the airstream, ran the coax inside, and got a small adapter to connect it to my Kenwood HT. I was hitting the 76 repeater clear as day with no static. That's a GREAT upgrade for such a cheap price. Now I can use my HT more like a permanent unit. I know it's been talked about before, but I thought I'd share it here and add my experience.

Here's the antenna I got:
http://amzn.to/2qn78ZG

And the adapter:
http://amzn.to/2oNyLOi

Since the Airstream is aluminum, the mag mount wouldn't stick to it. HOWEVER, the aluminum still acts as a ground plane. So I was able to use VHB tape to stick it to the top of the roof and it works great. I love that VHB tape. SUPER happy with this setup. It's cheap, it hits the repeater well, and it's got a little spring on it in case I smack a low bridge or something. It'll be cool to have a radio in the van, and another in the Airstream that I can detach and walk around with if needed.

 

[TRD270]

Looking to move to a mobile setup in the truck. Just wondering what everyone is running? If you like it? pros cons? Features you wish it had? Etc etc

I was thinking about this setup as i'd like the head unit to separate from the radio

https://www.amazon.com/Yaesu-Origin...=1493857256&sr=1-24&keywords=mobile+ham+radio

 

[TurboMinivan]

I was thinking about this setup

I run a 7900 in the Jeep and another one in the Burb. I could not be happier. Dual band, simple to operate, excellent output, rugged and reliable... need I go on? True, they don't do cross-band repeat but I've never needed or wanted that feature. I think the 7900 is a nearly unbeatable value. I want to buy another one for the Grand Prix plus another one to set up at home. Seriously.

Pro tip: it is only $250 at Ham Radio Outlet.

EDIT: digging deep, the only complaint I can come up with is the user-assigned labels can only be 6 characters maximum. But even still, this has not proven to be any significant drawback since one simple button press will toggle the display between your assigned label and the frequency.

 

[jeeper]

My baofeng showed up yesterday... I've already learned how to turn it on.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I have a Kenwood D710 in my van (disclaimer, they gave it to me in exchange for video work). I love it, but I'm a noob and I love most radios. I like the big screen, the APRS is actually quite fun to use with others who have APRS. I like that the menus are set up similar to my handhelds. Very happy with it, but I had to add a remote speaker (which made a HUGE difference).

 

[TRD270]

Pro tip: it is only $250 at Ham Radio Outlet.

Thanks for the heads up

I have a Kenwood D710 in my van (disclaimer, they gave it to me in exchange for video work). I love it, but I'm a noob and I love most radios. I like the big screen, the APRS is actually quite fun to use with others who have APRS. I like that the menus are set up similar to my handhelds. Very happy with it, but I had to add a remote speaker (which made a HUGE difference).

That looks like a sweet radio, wheeeeee bit out of budget though. Maybe down the line if I get into the HAMing more.

 

[TurboMinivan]

I had to add a remote speaker (which made a HUGE difference).

Oh, good point. If you're going to remote mount your radio--and that's half the reason you buy one that is remote mountable--you'll very likely want/need to install a remote speaker. I have one in the Jeep and also in the Suburban.

 

[gijohn40]

I bought me a Yaesu FTM-3200DR the other day.. Its a fully digital radio that has a feature called group monitor. If other digital radio operators are set up in the memory, when they get within communication distance the radio beeps with their call sign in the display. Anyone else have a digital radio yet?
I was listening to a conversation on the new Yaesu DR-1 repeater (fully digital) and the sound quality was perfect! You owe it to yourself to look into the FTM-3200 seeing they are going for dirt cheap on ebay at the moment (i paid $151 for mine).