The Ham Radio (and Related topics) Discussion and Question Thread

[KGIII]

VHF -and UHF need to be pretty much line of sight so antennas need to be higher for these bands Unless of course you going through a repeat that is already up high so on a high hill or mountain.

One of the things that makes me eager/curious is the amount of information I do not know. There's so much to learn. I don't know if I'll ever get into CW, unless I do so by cheating and using software to interpret it in both directions.

My lease spcifically forbids out side antennas. When you retired 70's and living in senior house.

Yeah, I could see them complaining about that, in that situation. That you're still hitting that range is impressive. We don't have all that many repeaters in my neck of the woods, so we'll have to see what happens.

 

[The Duck]

I have mentioned this before, but I have a tower (mast?) in a barn. A buddy of mine climbed towers, installed towers, and basically worked in that industry. He replaced an antenna for a customer and they gave him the old one, which he stored in one of my barns because he lacked the room.

He has since decided he didn't want it and that I should/could sell it for scrap. I could call someone to do all the work. You know what it's like here in Maine. I'd have no problem finding someone to pay me to haul it away. All the fittings are there, so I suppose I could have sold it.

For the life of me, I can't remember if it's 40', 60' or 80'. I'm pretty sure it's 60'.

I'm about 2600' ASL and the tower would get me over the tree line.

I'm thinking I could do okay with my physical location without a whole lot of extra complexity.

I am also nowhere near the point of having the tower erected. No, that'd be something possibly years into my future.

The only reason I have antenna towers is I got them free by removing them from people's property that wanted them removed.
Simple antennas are the best way to go.
As already mentioned you would be surprised what can be accomplished with a simple wire antenna.

 

[KGIII]

The only reason I have antenna towers is I got them free by removing them from people's property that wanted them removed.
Simple antennas are the best way to go.
As already mentioned you would be surprised what can be accomplished with a simple wire antenna.

Oh, I'm kinda familiar with that one idea. (I actually mentioned just chucking a wire out the window up above.) I might even do that for my first outdoor antenna. I don't mind throwing money at a good hobby, but I'd first like to make sure it's something I enjoy doing. I'm not going straight to a giant antenna in the back yard.

I had a ham friend way back in my earliest college days. He lived in the dorms but was on the top floor - so like the sixth floor. He'd just chuck a length of wire out the window and made a bunch of amazing contacts that way. A part of me wants to say that he had specific lengths of wire depending on what he was trying to do?

While enlisted, we had some (very) basic radio instruction. I was attached to OCS at the time. One of the things they had us do was take a length of wire, attach something moderately heavy, and just chuck it up into a tree.

At the time, Morse was still taught but we used these radios that had handsets that looked a lot like OD green old school cell phones (but attached with a cord). We didn't have to use CW, we could just use the handset.

Those memories are pretty distant and dim, but I think there was even an option to encrypt our transmissions if needed. I don't recall ever using any form of encryption, but I do recall it being mentioned a few times.

 

[kc1di]

I was in the Army for almost 12 years. High speed Morse op. for 8 of those. So as you see Morse is in my blood

there is all kinds of info on line about HF and antennas. If your going to do HF I would say invest in used transceiver to start with and an good Antenna tuner. Most of the transistor Final amps today need a match pretty close to 50 Ohm impedance. In the old tube days you could just stick a wire in the output and tune up the TX. It is a fun hobby with lots of facets to it. Key is finding what interests you.

 

[KGIII]

In the old tube days you could just stick a wire in the output and tune up the TX. It is a fun hobby with lots of facets to it. Key is finding what interests you.

I do love me some math. My first four years in college were as an EE major and a second major in Pure Math. It wasn't until I went to grad school that I switched to Applied Mathematics.

I could see me geeking out on optimising antennas.

I also think it'd be fun to bounce a signal off the ionosphere in such a manner that I can hear it when it comes back around on the other side. I think that'd be a pretty neat party trick.

It's Friday and the tourists are coming. I can tell because I use a cell tower that's closer to the village and my connectivity drops until late in the evening. I probably should stop being mad at the DSL provider.

So, if I drop out for the night (or at least until well after wine o'clock) there's a good reason for it.

 

[The Duck]

I have a 2 meter antenna just like this I built from scrap 1/2" copper pipe cost just my time it works good.
There's a bazillion different how to videos.

 

[SciTecDC]

@SciTecDC,
Well written, but don't throw the baby out with the bath water. I will agree there is some very profound truth in your analysis. But there is still for me at least a bit of magic in the air waves. It's not a practical thing, one could communicate much better on line or via other means than by Ham Raido. But There is a special place for radio in our lives. It may be fading but it's still there.

One should always be realistic, no one can say that ham radio is already dead, but it's going downhill in leaps and bounds and by the middle of this century the whole movement around this hobby will be about where CB is today, those are the facts. I'm not one of those people who would want to deprive someone of the joy of this hobby, as long as you enjoy it you can still do it. However, it has long since ceased to be desirable, least of all for young people. That's why I particularly like parents who refrain from forcing their hobby on their children. Children should be free to choose what is fun for them and what is not.

And It still fills a place for emergency communications when all else fails. And a trained cadre of ops that know how to work in a emergency environment is still needed today.

This is also one of those ancient myths that are unfortunately still being repeated like a mantra, but are demonstrably false. The best example of this is the prepper movement that has sprung up in recent years and is largely a bunch of incompetent busybodies. In an emergency, these people even get in the way of professional emergency services and are more likely to cause even more confusion when it comes down to it.

Here is an example: Hurricane Maria in 2017 devastated the island of Guadeloupe so much that the inhabitants all had to be evacuated, because the supply of drinking water, food and energy had completely collapsed. Now, do we really need one of those nitwits who take nearly half an hour to set up their gear? Certainly not! Instead, we use a satellite phone, such as Iridium, and call the Coast Guard on the mainland, explain the situation, and wait for responders. In the best case, a foldable solar panel with a charger would also help, so that we remain independent of the electricity grid. That's how you do it in the 21st century.

This also applies in particular to yachting, where the installation of redundant systems such as GMDSS and satellite telephone is also a question of security. So if amateur radio can also be found on a ship in addition to marine radio, then that's the way it should be, but relying on it in an emergency would be a sign of bottomless stupidity. In fact, nowadays there are no longer any gaps that absolutely need to be filled with amateur radio.

 

[kc1di]

I can't write to the first statement as I have no direct knowledge of the popularity of Ham Radio among the younger generation except in a general manor. But as to the Emergency comms. I can speak a bit. I can not vouch for other countries or even states. But here in Maine at least there is extensive training on going all the time among many Hams and ham clubs in our area to prepare and coordinate with Local and State Gov. Agencies in preparedness for emergencies. So though it's not as prevalent as in the past it still provides a level of usefulness. Especially in remote areas of the state. I wouldn't say it's a myth at all that many ham ops give up their own time to be trained and ready. Supply there own equipment and money to be of help.
To call these dedicate men and women busybodies is a bit harsh in my opinion and need not be said. The need may not be as great as it used to be. But it's still there.

 

[KGIII]

But here in Maine at least there is extensive training on going all the time among many Hams and ham clubs in our area to prepare and coordinate with Local and State Gov. Agencies in preparedness for emergencies. So though it's not as prevalent as in the past it still provides a level of usefulness. Especially in remote areas of the state.

I don't think people realize how remote and sparsely populated Maine is. Then, there's the state of our communication infrastructure. We still have people who legitimately can't dial 911. We have people who can dial that number but the response time is outlandish. So, there are still plenty of useful things that we can do on the radio.

I have a 2 meter antenna just like this I built from scrap 1/2" copper pipe cost just my time it works good.

I could make that antenna. I don't have much in the way of copper pipe, but there's a hardware store that has everything I'd need to build it. (I refuse to do plumbing work unless it's to help a buddy AND it's new construction. I otherwise will not help, nor will I do my own.)

Are the connections soldered?

 

[kc1di]

I could make that antenna. I don't have much in the way of copper pipe, but there's a hardware store that has everything I'd need to build it. (I refuse to do plumbing work unless it's to help a buddy AND it's new construction. I otherwise will not help, nor will I do my own.)

Are the connections soldered?

the Jpole is a good 1/2 wave antenna I used it many times with good success, and it can be scaled to 10 M and 6 meters also. Or to 220 and 440 MHz as well.

 

[Deleted member 108694]

Never was much into ham radio but I do dabble in CB Radio

 

[KGIII]

the Jpole is a good 1/2 wave antenna I used it many times with good success, and it can be scaled to 10 M and 6 meters also.

They don't look very complicated. I suspect someone will have already done the math for me, so I won't have to do that myself and I won't have to tinker too much.

Is there much room for error, or do the measurements need to be precise? I'd imagine there's some room for error, but I might be looking at the process wrong.

Never was much into ham radio but I do dabble in CB Radio

That's definitely a related topic. We have some CB use up in my neck of the woods, but it's not like it used to be back in the late 70s and early 80s. Well, I don't know what it was like here back then - but it was quite popular elsewhere during that timeframe.

I do have a car and a plan that requires a CB, but that's a whole other subject entirely.

 

[The Duck]

Here's a video of the j pole.

Yes it is soldered at the joints.
There's some room for error I don't know how much.
I messed around with mine until I got it 1.1 SWR which is what you want.

Build a jpole antenna - Milwaukee Area Amateur Radio Society

Copper Cactus Dual-Band Super J-Pole Antenna Project Building Suggestions 1. You may use a Fiberglas rod (arrow shaft) as an insulator, but you will have to be very careful with the torch or you may weaken or burn the rod, or make it brittle. 2. When cutting the 1/2" copper tubing, cut the...

www.513repeater.org

J POLE ANTENNA DESIGN CALCULATOR by K4ABT

K9JEB - Ham Radio and Electronics

This guy may still be selling them I don't know though.

Home - KB9VBR Antennas

There's a bunch of different how to build a j pole antenna on Youtube.
When I built mine I soldered the pipe joints together using plumbing solder and c flux and then washed the joints and pipe clean to remove the flux from the joints and pipe.
Any wired connections were soldered using rosin core solder aka electronics solder.
I would try and be as accurate as can be with the lengths of pipe.
To short or to long can make a difference in matching the antenna to the radio.

 

[atanere]

I got the Baofeng UV-5R

They are nice little radios, but a royal pain to program manually. Or they used to be. I'd recommend that you get a programming cable (like this one, or similar) and check out CHIRP programming software.

There may be even better programming options available, but I've been out of it for many years now.

 

[atanere]

I also think it'd be fun to bounce a signal off the ionosphere in such a manner that I can hear it when it comes back around on the other side. I think that'd be a pretty neat party trick.

I don't think that's quite possible. The earth is too small, meaning radio signals (traveling at the speed of light) would arrive back at your receiver too quickly to detect the "echo" of your own signal.

Moonbounce, however, is possible to hear your own signals after traveling the greater round-trip distance to the moon and back. This is a more advanced communication method, usually using very large antennas that can track the motion of the moon, and often using a lot of power. But it can be done with less too... that's the challenge for many people.

You mentioned repeaters in Maine, but another repeater you can access with a Technician license is the International Space Station (ISS) or other amateur satellites. The ISS has a voice repeater in the 70cm band, and it also has a "packet radio digipeater" on the 2m band. It is fairly easy to transmit a digital packet signal and see the echo of it from the ISS on your computer screen. Bouncing your packet signal off the ISS like this qualifies you for a QSL card to confirm your "contact" with the space station.

If you transmit a packet signal to the ISS using a precise location format (called APRS), you can see your station location posted on a map here. The ISS also sometimes uses Slow Scan Television (SSTV)... which is not really TV at all... they transmit a still frame image that you can capture on your computer with the proper software. See ARISS.org for more info.

With determined persistence, you can sometimes actually speak to crew members on the ISS. I have spoken with many astronauts and cosmonauts (between 1993-2008)... on the ISS, the space shuttles before they were retired, and the Russian space station, Mir, before it too was decommissioned. I have recordings of all my voice contacts with crew members, including Mark Shuttleworth, the owner of Canonical/Ubuntu, when he was a paying "space tourist" in May 2002.

Unfortunately, it's rare now for crew members to make random contacts using amateur radio, though you may hear them as they make scheduled contacts with school kids all across the planet. You might also help arrange a contact for kids at one of your local schools, if you're interested. It's a fair amount of work to meet NASA requirements for redundancy (spare radios and antennas), but I've been involved with a school contact once, and it's a great satisfaction when it all pays off with a good contact and many kids get to ask questions of the crew.

It is a fun hobby with lots of facets to it. Key is finding what interests you.

This... exactly. Space communications was my operating passion for a long time, but there is much, much more that you can do with amateur radio. You might look around the ARRL website to learn more, and you might consider joining them (disclosure: I'm a Life Member).

Good luck!

 

[kc1di]

I might add to what @atanere said that because of the speed of the radio waves it's veyyry unusual to hear ones own signal around the earth, However there have been in the past what is called long delayed echos in which some have heard there signal again sometimes days after transmitting which indicates a bounce off some opbject further away from earth. These instances are very rare however and have never heard my own signal.

Long delayed echo - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Also some other resources for you to consider.

Free Ham Radio Practice Tests – Ham Radio Prep

Take our free ham radio practice tests to prepare for your technician, general or amateur extra license exams. No sign up required!

hamradioprep.com

HamStudy.org: Cutting edge amateur radio study tools

Free ham radio flash cards, practice tests, and question pools as well as introduction to ham radio and explanations for questions.

hamstudy.org

 

[atanere]

One should always be realistic, no one can say that ham radio is already dead, but it's going downhill in leaps and bounds and by the middle of this century the whole movement around this hobby will be about where CB is today, those are the facts.

Can you link to those facts? Or at least describe what metric you are measuring with to determine the success or failure of amateur radio?

According to ARRL, the numbers of amateur radio operators reached an all-time high of 727K in the beginning of 2015, and today it is up to almost 760K. That hardly sounds like "going downhill in leaps and bounds," though some individual years during this period may (or may not) have declined in numbers. But amateur population is just one metric and not a full picture either.

Like a lot of things in life, I think with amateur radio... you get out of it what your put into it. But it's different things for different people. For some, it's social and casual (ragchewers), and for some, it's technical and competitive (contesters)... but this is an over-generalization, and there is much more than just these two camps. It can be fun. It can be boring. It can make you angry. It can make you happy. It's a great way to spend (waste?) uncounted hours pursuing one small goal after another, like working a new country, or building a new kit, or learning Arduino programming.

 

[atanere]

I could pass the ham examinations with some quick study.

I'm sure you could pass all three of them easily. Here's a little enticement for you to pass all of them and earn an Extra Class license: The call sign KG1II is available! But you can't get it with just a Tech or General license, you must be an Extra Class.

Yes, that's a ONE in the middle because a single number is required. But ONE is the proper district for Maine so it works out well for you. It is not required that you get the proper number for your district though, in case other call sign district numbers might interest you in other ways. There are other restrictions about call signs too, so you have to pay a little attention to them if you want to request a vanity call.

I don't know about Maine, but many states allow you to put your ham call sign on your vehicle license plate for a modest fee (less than normal vanity plate fees).

 

[KGIII]

Here's a video of the j pole.

Thanks! That seems like a fun area to geek out on, making my own antennas.

Or they used to be.

Yup. I've got CHIRP already installed and am just waiting on the radio. I made sure to order one with the programming cable. I had to use Wine to program my scanner, 'cause I sure as heck wasn't going to do that manually.

I don't think that's quite possible.

I'll have to trust you on that one. I was told that it was possible if the conditions were just right.

I was responding to other posts and then my internet decided to take a vacation. I'm actually out and about now...

I'll get to the rest later.

I like the direction this thread is going.

Also, I kinda figure that I will take the technician and general tests on the same day.

I still don't have internet at the house. I have a public facing device that isn't pingable. It's not responding.

 

[KGIII]

According to ARRL, the numbers of amateur radio operators reached an all-time high of 727K in the beginning of 2015, and today it is up to almost 760K.

If I understand correctly, many people used the COVID break to get their licenses.

Also, again if I understand correctly, COVID was also the start of people taking their exams online. The VEs themselves wrote new software for testing. As far as I've gleaned, this whole digital thing has also sped up the process in a few areas.

I'm told that once in a blue moon you'll sometimes see the test done early enough in the day that the results are batched in the afternoon and people have received their license (not a physical copy, of course) the same day they took the test.

The amount of online content would indicate to me that the hobby is alive and well, though perhaps diminished from earlier times. During the pandemic, people weren't going out and spending money, so they had more money for their hobbies.

Speaking of which, I wonder how many will stick with it now that things have returned to mostly normal?

I know in the guitar world there's now a glut of cheap slightly used gear for sale. People bought gear during the pandemic and then didn't use it all that much. Though, the guitar is one thing people think is easier than it really is, assuming you want to do more than play a few cowboy chords. I wonder if the reverse is true with amateur radio. Do people think it is harder than it is? I was watching a live chat last night and some dude was complaining about schematics in the test. Those are pretty logical.

The call sign KG1II is available!

LOL I had already looked that up! "Kilo Golf One Lima Lima" has a nice ring to it.

It'd sound even nicer if I could replace the 'one' with 'uno'.