Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

Wilis

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

Hi All,

I have been a Ham for 9 years. (K4wil) I have used Ham Radio at several disasters including the hurricane in Louisiana. Where Ham is valuable is for the first 3 days when the normal system of communication is not working. For instance in Louisiana the warehouses just outside of New Orleans was getting way too much of some items and none of some. We were able to set up communication between several town away form the disaster and help correct the problem. Once Cell and normal communications come back this is the best way of communication. If we have an earth quake like Haiti in the US you will see what good Ham Radio is. I feel there is never too many ways to communicate when emergencies are involved. With a trained group of people with equipment running on their own power it could be a big help.

myocardia

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

Willis, I can't imagine anyone (on the entire planet) thinking that hams aren't invaluable in any disaster. Both the people and their radios.;) My question earlier wasn't me trying to say that ham radios are completely useless. I was just wondering if any of you guys don't sometimes feel (with no emergency happening, no meet/gathering happening, etc) something along the lines of "I could just pick up the phone and call them." Of course, the reason that I wonder is because I realize that that's exactly what would be going through my mind, if it were me. Please don't feel like I'm insulting your hobby, because I'm not. People who find something interesting, whether they're considering trying it for themselves or not, usually ask questions, no?

RandomJoe

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

To pick up a phone and call someone, I have to know their number. When I'm on the ham radio, I'm not necessarily looking for *someone*, I'm looking for *anyone* or at least a *group* of people. Phone conversations are also typically one-to-one. I rarely talk one-to-one on the radio, I prefer ragchew sessions where just about anyone could join in.

Also, there's something far more satisfying in reaching someone over the air. When I converse with someone online, I'm utilizing a HUGE infrastructure over which I have absolutely no control. When I converse with someone on the air, it is my radio to their radio with absolutely no other infrastructure involved. (Repeaters being the one occasional exception.)

niel

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

myocardia,
no offense was taken. you stated,
"hasn't the internet pretty much completely replaced the need for short wave radio?"

need was the key word there. if you'd have said something along the lines of recreation i'd have said yes that most go for the internet as there are more recreational options there. and yes you can call long distance usually for extra $ on a pc whereas we need the right conditions for communications to some places and that may also be band restrictive. not everybody would find talking on a radio to be fun either, even though those same people feel it to be fun to talk on a telephone or even over the internet. it's whatever floats one's boat, but as far as the net overshadowing the need for radio there's no contest as radio wins hands down.

AntronX

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

myocardia wrote: »

My question earlier wasn't me trying to say that ham radios are completely useless. I was just wondering if any of you guys don't sometimes feel (with no emergency happening, no meet/gathering happening, etc) something along the lines of "I could just pick up the phone and call them."

Yes, that's what I do. If I need to get a hold of one of my ham radio friends, I just email them or call if it's urgent. I use VoIP to talk to my relatives half way around the world for free. I send 500MB+ video messages and picture files to them over FTP. Cannot do any of above with same ease and speed using ham radio. And that's fine.

But, when hurricane Wilma hit S.Florida and knocked out cell and landline phone, cable TV and internet, I've set up 25 foot push up pole with VHF ringo ranger hooked up to my 50W radio at home. I gave handheld and set up mobile radios to my friends and relatives and we were able to get front places in line at gas station by giving each other heads up over the radio.

The beauty of 2-way communications is that there is no middle man between you and recipient of your message. You transmit on your radio, the antenna radiates RF waves and everyone within range that is tuned to same frequency will hear you. Completely self-sufficient communications.

Not so with cell and land line phones and Internet (except local long range WiFi mesh network).

Big part of it is social factor. Hams are like-minded individuals typically with tech background. Why do people spend crazy money on fishing supplies when they can buy fish at supermarket?

AntronX

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

Funny story:

The first morning after the hurricane, Me and my friend were driving around town looking at the damage. I had the scanner in the car tuned to local police department channel. As I am slowly approaching the intersection (traffic lights were down) I see an officer standing in the middle of it and talking into his radio. He was asking (in stressed voice) for somebody to quickly bring him more traffic cones. I was only about 50 feet away from him at that time, so I was clearly able to tell if it was his voice on my scanner. Literally seconds after he finished talking, I pull up to him while rolling my window down and say "the cones are on their way!" and immediately drive off. He kept looking my way with genuinely surprised and puzzled look.

CaptTurbo

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

AntronX wrote: »

But, when hurricane Wilma hit S.Florida and knocked out cell and landline phone, cable TV and internet, I've set up 25 foot push up pole with VHF ringo ranger hooked up to my 50W radio at home. I gave handheld and set up mobile radios to my friends and relatives and we were able to get front places in line at gas station by giving each other heads up over the radio.

For me in SW Fort Myers Wilma was a powder puff. 110 mph and wet. Lost power but not phone or Sat TV. I got by with a 5000 watt gas genny and used my two charter boats for the fuel source. Now Charley was a real kick in the pants but the same could be said for life after that except that most folks that were near the eye like I was had to go look for their sat dish or keep a back-up one like I do. :cool:)

The hurricanes are what got me thinking about going Solar. Thinking about achieving some level of self reliance and well, so far that has become a can of worms ... but I digress.

The radio bit is kind of similar. It's cool to be able to help others and yourself when things go bad so I can see that it has it's place. I also think you can use the latest tech to secure communication as well. internet sat service is available these days so you just need to be able to make your own power to stay "up" when the grid is down.

I'm not sure we can prepare for everything but I'm glad to know that there are HAM folks all over this country. It's a layer of protection. Now if we get whacked with concerted EMP attack, I guess we will lose the HAM advantage as well.

halfcrazy

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

CaptTurbo wrote: »

I'm not sure we can prepare for everything but I'm glad to know that there are HAM folks all over this country. It's a layer of protection. Now if we get whacked with concerted EMP attack, I guess we will lose the HAM advantage as well.

Oh I suspect there are a lot of older emp proof radios and also suspect there are lots of radios setting in Faraday cages laying in wait for just such a thing.

BB.

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

halfcrazy wrote: »

Oh I suspect there are a lot of older emp proof radios and also suspect there are lots of radios setting in Faraday cages laying in wait for just such a thing.

Such as car trunks, metal cabinets, hidden from spouses, etc.

-Bill

CaptTurbo

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

I have an alluminum "Ted Shed" that I had built for keeping all my outdoor lawn and gardening stuff. The shed is crammed full now since it also houses my four motorcycles as well.

The shed is alluminum as I said but it has a plywood floor. I was wondering if such a building could protect electronics from a pulse? Steel buildings are very popular because they are fast and easy to errect and I suppose a little cheaper as well. The same would apply here that the floors would not be metal.

In the case of garden shed at least here in Florida below ten feet above sea level, they must be put on blocks so they are not even on the ground. I wonder if the EM pulse would just come in under the floor?

The car trunk might protect from the EMP but is a particularly poor place to store electronics because of the humidity from condensation. That, and the bouncing around can't be too good for them.

I've never heard of the "Faraday cages" but assume they are simply an insulative cage?

BB.

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

Faraday cage


In general, an EMP (electro magnetic pulse) from a "nearby nuke" is probably going to affect those pieces of equipment with longer electrical connections (power lines, communications lines, perhaps wired computer networks--Ethernet, dangling accessories like printers and keyboards, large antennas, etc.).

If the equipment is disconnected from external cables (or the cables are stored in figure "8" instead of coils of "O") it probably will be OK.

Inside of a steal/aluminum shed probably would help. Putting a metal screen under the floor and connected to multiple places at the walls may help--but probably not worth the work.

The reason I am not so concerned is that I used to do electrical discharge testing of computers (back in the early 1980's). We had a little tool that could discharge from zero to 15kV to computer equipment (human body model--small cap and a hundred ohm resistor or so)...

It turned out that computers/etc. are susceptible to high frequency RF energy... And high voltage like 7-15kV had such slow rise times (ionization of the air slowed the edge rate way down) that it was hardly worth testing.

Where we had most of our failures was around 800 volts or less (if I recall correctly) because the air did not ionize and we would get a very fast edge rate. We needed the high edge rates/frequencies so that the energy would get through the electrical gaps in the cases so that it could get "received" by the internal printed circuit board traces and components. (we also had contact discharge testers--basically bypassed the ionization issue with a high voltage switch to create the current flow).

For the most part, removing over spray paint from mating sheet metal, screw/clips every 1" (~1/4 wave length of 1 GHz), etc. fixed the ESD problems.

When the European requriements for EMI and Susceptibility testing was implemented and FCC Class A and B was pretty much impossible to avoid by manufacturers--the whole ESD susceptibility pretty much became a non-issue because all of the fixes for ESD protection where the same as those needed to reduce radio emissions and passing the various European/CE requirements too (never had a piece of gear fail the 5 or so CE tests for commercial computers once we passed FCC A and ESD tests--and we never bothered with the CE tests until we passed FCC class A -- for the equipment I designed).

From my experiences with EMI--I found that most wiring peaked out around 180 MHz and ~10' as an antenna (above that frequency, there were too many losses for the cabling to be an effective antenna, and above those frequencies, slots / slot antennas in the cases where usually the problem). And below 30 MHz, the cables just were not that good of radiators (we had to do conducted tests rather than open air for <30 MHz).

So--you are left with trying to protect against lower frequencies--which require relatively large antenna "structures" to "receive" the induced power and inject it into the equipment and cause damage.

For example, from what I have read (fortunately, we do not have much lightning around where I live), most lightning damage is from direct strikes or nearby strikes that induce energy into nearby power and communication lines. I have not heard of anyone complaining that there walkie/handy talkies / cell phones / portable gear failing. It was the power cables/phone lines that injected a fair amount of voltage/current into the devices that caused the failures. And a simple switch/surge suppressor is not going to protect against a direct strike.

If you have small gear in storage that you really want to protect... Put it into boxes and wrap it in copper mesh (the edges of the mesh need to make electrical contact with the other sides to create a closed box). But that is a bit excessive in my humble opinion.

There are sites that talk about draping equipment with "Mylar space blankets" and attaching a grounding clip... From my limited experience, what they are describing is something that may help protect against static build up and very high frequency RF--which most electronic equipment is pretty immune to anyway. The grounding clips are irrelevant for RF pulses (see how a Faraday Cage works in first link--has nothing to do with ground).

This guy wrote something that I pretty much agree with (with my limited education):

To answer the specific question of the OP, it depends upon the application. Military electronic hardware, save for acceptable commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components, area built to specific interface standards like MIL-STD-464 (Electromagnetic Effects Requirements for Systems), MIL-STD-461 (Requirements for the Control of Electromagnetic Interference Characteristics of Subsystems and Equipment), and MIL-STD-2169 (Classified) (High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse Environment). The latter is probably most pertinent to the question, and for obvious reasons unavailable to the public at large. However, the ugly truth about high altitude EMP is that no amount of shielding, save being buried deep under hundreds of feet of rock or dirt, is really adequate to protect sensitive microelectronics. By their nature, the electronics are delicate and sensitive to small levels of excess voltage, and it is nearly impossible to make a practicable sensor, communication system, or avionics control that has to interface with the outside world and yet is adequately isolated against large pulses.

High altitude EMP (HEMP) devices produce three distinct regimes of pulse, referred to as E1, E2, and E3. Microelectronics are most sensitive to E1, which is due to interaction of x-ray and gamma ray radiation with the rarified upper atmosphere and the geomagnetic field resulting an a nearly coherent, widely distributed pulse, sort of like a very large free electron maser. In more dense atmosphere where the the rays are rapidly absorbed and don't have much length to deflect, this pulse is serious attenuated, and the amount of damage done but the physical effects of the blast (shock and thermal wave) would likely make E1 effects moot. E2 is more like static electricity, and can typically be shielded by using a protected ground or faraday cage type shielding. E3 is energy that is stored in the Earth's magnetic field (similar to that which comes from coronal discharges and solar flares) and will cause longer term disruption and very high voltage spikes in large arrays like power grids; again, not much of a threat to microelectronics.

So, my interpretation of what to plan for...

1. Assume Power Grid and Land Lines (copper wiring, not fiber optic) will be down. For the power grid, that will probably mostly be transformer failures (internal arcs?) and it could take year(s) to replace all of them (factories don't have ability to produce massive numbers of transformers in a short time). From what I have read, minor modifications to transformers can harden them against EMP).
2. Typical Survival planning...

• 3 minutes without air, you die
• 3 hours without shelter (in harsh climates), your in trouble
• 3 days without water, you are in trouble
• 3 weeks without food, you are in trouble

So, having some stored water (at least 1 gallon per day per person, hot water heater, well, filter, bio-treatments), tent/etc., and non-perishable food (canned, dried, room temperature stable) are a minimum requirement. Plastic bags for trash, paper towels, toilet paper, soap for washing) will make things much easier too.

Next fuel for cooking/heat (without carbon monoxide poisoning).

Lastly, electricity. I would hope a solar array/battery/inverter would survive. A portable genset that was not connected to anything (long cords, into the house wiring via a transfer switch) for backup.

For electricity, I am a minimalist... Small radios (pick AA battery for common use amount lights/radio/etc., solar powered), LED flash lights (low power / multi-output level to keep battery use low), Lithium batteries (good for 10+ years of storage). Keep a fresh supply of AA Alkaline batteries (3-5 year storage life).

Basically, keep all of your camping gear functional and fresh (fuel, lights, food, tarps, water treatment/filters).

I think for most people water will be the problem--enough fresh (no salt), clean (filtered), and pure (boiled, chlorine, bio-filtered) for whatever your planned off-grid time will be.

Take the basic steps for survival planning--and don't sweat the big stuff--you are not gong to be able to do much about it anyway.
If you survive the nuke and your RF equipment is fried--come back to me and complain--I will reply if I survive too...

-Bill

BB.

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

I guess I should add:

• Help will take at least 3 days. My plan is to survive 2 weeks without help.
• 1 month backup supply of any medication you cannot live without (and plans for keeping cool if required).
• Security... Fuel, gensets, etc. should be locked up (or chained to tree if operating) to prevent theft.
• Never run a genset in or near a home--Carbon Monoxide poisoning is extremely easy to die from.
• Check/rotate your supplies.

-Bill

CaptTurbo

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

I find that if I read your posts two or three times I start to understand a fraction of what you are saying. My level of understanding in the field of electronics is embarrassingly limited but it's for that reason that I am here with you smart people.

My rambling thoughts about my shed were because I might end up with a couple new GT inverters that wont be used. I'm not sure how much if anything I could get if I return them after the shipping costs, and that's if the the outfit that sold them to me would even take them back.

I thought that the metal shed might protect them from an EMP if they were stored there. I like the notion that my little 5000 watt genset might be somwhat protected in there as well.

I guess the problem is in an EMP event, our solar arrays would probably be toast anyway and storing a large number of spares is not practical at least for me.

The Faraday cage reminds me of what I watched on TV that was showing linemen working on high tension power lines using a helicopter. The guy was clad in a stainless mesh suit. It was fascinating!

BB.

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

CaptTurbo wrote: »

I find that if I read your posts two or three times I start to understand a fraction of what you are saying. My level of understanding in the field of electronics is embarrassingly limited but it's for that reason that I am here with you smart people.

You obviously are talking about somebody else here. :roll:

I thought that the metal shed might protect them from an EMP if they were stored there. I like the notion that my little 5000 watt genset might be somewhat protected in there as well.

Short answer... Buy some desiccant, seal the equipment + desiccant in airtight plastic bag/tape/hot sealed. Check desiccant indicator once year so (blue=dry; pick=wet)

From an EMP point of view--I doubt that any well made electronic device (from inverters to radios, to TVs, to disconnected gensets) will be damaged by an EMP (the RF part) unless there is 10-1,000s of feet of wire attached to them (that does include power cords and long wire antennas not being connected in storage).

And if the grid it taken down, GT inverters will be the least of our problems.

I guess the problem is in an EMP event, our solar arrays would probably be toast anyway and storing a large number of spares is not practical at least for me.

Again, from my limited knowledge... The solar array will probably only be destroyed by hard radiation (xray, gamma ray, etc.)--you won't care at the point.

The "radio frequency damage" (like lightning) will probably "break" the 120/240 VAC output state of the off grid inverter (Windsun, our host, made a post several years ago that off-grid systems damaged by lightning were mostly the inverter output section).

And, of course, the output stage of a Grid Tied connected inverter (just because it is connected to the power grid which will probably be the worst hit by RF EMP).

So, the most practical spares are the AC inverter and possibly a charge controller.

The Faraday cage reminds me of what I watched on TV that was showing linemen working on high tension power lines using a helicopter. The guy was clad in a stainless mesh suit. It was fascinating!

Yes, Faraday Cages are very interesting. Here is a youtube video of a home made Tesla Coil in Australia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO7j5LKmd3I&feature=related

Note: Tesla Coils are high frequency devices and their behavior can be much different vs a DC arc--so don't assume you can do anything you see in these videos without killing yourself (a little knowledge is a dangerous thing).

In the end, what will do-in most of your equipment will be moisture and bugs. Temperature cycling can also be hard on equipment--so avoid baking in a metal shed (without ventilation) and condensation/freezing during cold nights.

An interesting rule of thumb is that the life of something is 1/2'ed or doubled for every 10C (18F) change in temperature. Run your electronics 10C cooler, they will last twice as long. Run your batteries 20C hotter, they will last 1/4 as long (1/2*1/2=1/4).

-Bill

icarus

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

myocardia wrote: »

Tony, you had better get rid of that thing, ASAP. It's gained 50lbs in 11 months.:D

To all: hasn't the internet pretty much completely replaced the need for short wave radio? I mean, I can call anyone on the planet that has high speed internet completely for free, using software called Skype. And recently, a product has been introduced called MajicJack that allows you to call any phone in the US or Canada for $19.95/year. Or is it kind of like car audio or computers, just something to do with your time and money?

Radio doesn't suffer from a bandwidth issue in an emergency either. That is, an unlimited number of receivers can tune in to a station and the next one doesn't degrade the signal of the last,, unlike the net where in a emergency, emergency info servers crash due to too many hits. Additionally in a disaster situation, servers go down. All you need for Ham communication is one transmitter with a charged battery and one receiver. Small battery units can be made to work almost anytime.

When I was growing up, our only communication was via Ham (20 and 40 meters) and way more than once we were able to get a float plane in in an emergency. It was a red letter day when my Dad got a Swan Tranciever that we could run off a car battery! (Wouldn't run very long however!)

Tony

myocardia

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

AntronX wrote: »

Yes, that's what I do. If I need to get a hold of one of my ham radio friends, I just email them or call if it's urgent. I use VoIP to talk to my relatives half way around the world for free. I send 500MB+ video messages and picture files to them over FTP. Cannot do any of above with same ease and speed using ham radio. And that's fine.

Yeah, those were actually the types of things that I was thinking about. It's also how my friend that's a ham who is my age (~40) feels about it. My ~75 year old uncle, on the other hand, doesn't feel quite the same way about it all.;)

Big part of it is social factor. Hams are like-minded individuals typically with tech background. Why do people spend crazy money on fishing supplies when they can buy fish at supermarket?

Yeah, I was assuming that was likely the case. I'm actually glad that some people have chosen it as a hobby. During times of natural disaster, they come in very handy. I personally have a $5,000 car stereo, and spend ~$1,500/year on parts for the computers that I build for myself. Both bring me at least $10 of enjoyment for every dollar that I have spent, yet neither will help anyone else if a hurricane hits Dallas tomorrow.

Funnily enough, I seriously considered the hobby myself, about 10-12 years ago. I ended up deciding that it wasn't for me, for two reasons. First, I absolutely hate traveling. Hate as in I just refuse to do it. And traveling to "meets" or disasters seems to happen fairly often/be expected/be the norm. The other problem is the antennae/towers. No, not how they look. It seems that the burglars actually drive around, looking for the towers, because of the expensive electronics that will be in that house. So, it just wasn't right for me. I can understand the appeal, though.

niel wrote:

myocardia,
no offense was taken. you stated,
"hasn't the internet pretty much completely replaced the need for short wave radio?"

Ahh, my mistake. I meant, but didn't specify "except during an emergency/natural disaster". While it would most likely still be possible to use a computer after the average disaster, I wholeheartedly agree that a ham radio would be the better piece of equipment after a disaster, if one were forced to choose only one.

niel

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

my comments in bold.

"Yeah, I was assuming that was likely the case. I'm actually glad that some people have chosen it as a hobby. During times of natural disaster, they come in very handy. I personally have a $5,000 car stereo, and spend ~$1,500/year on parts for the computers that I build for myself. Both bring me at least $10 of enjoyment for every dollar that I have spent, yet neither will help anyone else if a hurricane hits Dallas tomorrow.

boB has a link for you to buy a special outlet for your stereo.

Funnily enough, I seriously considered the hobby myself, about 10-12 years ago. I ended up deciding that it wasn't for me, for two reasons. First, I absolutely hate traveling. Hate as in I just refuse to do it. And traveling to "meets" or disasters seems to happen fairly often/be expected/be the norm. The other problem is the antennae/towers. No, not how they look. It seems that the burglars actually drive around, looking for the towers, because of the expensive electronics that will be in that house. So, it just wasn't right for me. I can understand the appeal, though.

1 traveling? there's no need to even go out of your door with radio. the only thing that needs to travel in radio is the radio wave and i don't sit there waiting for disasters or meets in order to talk.
2 antennas mean burglars? new one on me. how do they know the value of the radio by seeing an antenna? better yet, how do they know you even still have a radio? now that line of thinking may hold true if in a car.
note to icarus: put up an antenna and they'll steal that boat anchor so you don't have to ship it any place let alone lift it.:roll::p"

halfcrazy

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

niel wrote: »

my comments in bold.


Funnily enough, I seriously considered the hobby myself, about 10-12 years ago. I ended up deciding that it wasn't for me, for two reasons. First, I absolutely hate traveling. Hate as in I just refuse to do it. And traveling to "meets" or disasters seems to happen fairly often/be expected/be the norm. The other problem is the antennae/towers. No, not how they look. It seems that the burglars actually drive around, looking for the towers, because of the expensive electronics that will be in that house. So, it just wasn't right for me. I can understand the appeal, though.

1 traveling? there's no need to even go out of your door with radio. the only thing that needs to travel in radio is the radio wave and i don't sit there waiting for disasters or meets in order to talk.
2 antennas mean burglars? new one on me. how do they know the value of the radio by seeing an antenna? better yet, how do they know you even still have a radio? now that line of thinking may hold true if in a car.
note to icarus: put up an antenna and they'll steal that boat anchor so you don't have to ship it any place let alone lift it.:roll::p"

I agree with Neil here what little I know about it so far you are not required to go anywhere now if there was a disaster in my state and they desperately needed people with Radio's I would be there but that would be me not everyone would do that.

RandomJoe

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

The only radio-related traveling I do with any regularity is to a guy's house on the other side of town. Every so often he'll host a "tailgate" in the field beside his house and a bunch of locals show up to eat donuts drink coffee and talk face to face. Maybe buy/sell a few items.

I might occasionally head off to a hamfest / swapmeet elsewhere in the state, but only because I feel like it. Certainly no obligation to go!

I have never traveled anywhere for a disaster. I'm here if they hit my area, if they hit elsewhere usually the *best* thing anyone can do is stay the heck away and let the pros (fire / police / resuce teams / what-have-you) do their job without added distraction.

I have a friend who also worries that erecting antennas would invite theft. He may be right in that his neighborhood is so low-income that he'd stand out a mile from everyone else. But most of the time I'd figure a bunch of antennas would be less interesting than nice cars or lots of "toys" (motorcycles, boats, etc) that suggest these people spend money on consumer goods that are easily fenced. There is also a difference between one or two simple antennas and a tower or two festooned with every antenna imaginable!

niel

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

randomjoe,
you know i'll bet they wouldn't bother breaking and entering as they'd probably just take the antenna for its metal content. one could disguise an antenna too as many have done in some residential coops, or whatever they call them, where there's restrictions over everything.

halfcrazy

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

Just a quick update I took my tests today for Technician and General and passed them so I am off radio hunting soon. I should have my call sign by the end of next week. I am in the market for a mobile radio and boB has gave me a good recommendation and I welcome everyone else s opinions as well

boB

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

halfcrazy wrote: »

Just a quick update I took my tests today for Technician and General and passed them so I am off radio hunting soon. I should have my call sign by the end of next week. I am in the market for a mobile radio and boB has gave me a good recommendation and I welcome everyone else s opinions as well

CongRATulations 1/2 Crazy !!

I enjoy what I have in my car, a Yaesu FT-857D HF/VHF/UHF rig which allows me to get on HF while I am driving to and from work. I even work some DX there, which is the only time I have to be on the radio.

Great job !
boB

niel

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

1/2c,
again my congratulations. keep me updated on your radio quest.:D:D:D:D

AntronX

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

Yaesu FT7800R. Reviews. Solid little radio. It has detachable control panel, so you can place the radio in the trunk close to your antenna. Receives 108 - 999 Mhz AM and FM. Sensitivity is -121 dBm (20 dB quieting) on both ham and commercial bands. Service manual with schematic available online.

halfcrazy

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

I have purchased 2 radios the first is a Yaesu FT60 hand held and the second was the Yaesu FT857 boB recommended they both seem to do what I need at the moment. Got my call sign today and have been playing on 2 meters and a little on 20 meters

Vic

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

WOW ! Congratulations halfcrazy ! 73 GL Vic K6IC

halfcrazy

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

Thank you Vic 73 KB1UAS

niel

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

i'll bet it was quite an experience for you yesterday. uas huh, we need some good phonetics for you.8) what did you use for antennas on both bands? i'm guessing you went with a dipole for 20mtrs. it's your thread so fill us in with details.:D

halfcrazy

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

well for now the radio is in my truck so I have ham sticks for the HF bands I have been thinking of making a tri band dipole I have read about. I also may look into a vanity call sign to drop a letter or 2?

Here is a couple links to the antenna
http://www.sstowers.com/aa4cv/pg2/pg2.html
http://www.hamuniverse.com/multidipole.html

It is a lot of fun though I have not had the regular radio on in my truck since Tuesday

niel

Re: Help me with My interest in Ham Radio

ah yes mobile for now. any goods contacts?

the dipole antenna looks good and i'm curious why you would not elect to have one of the higher frequency bands above 20mtrs? you may possibly operate 15mtrs with the 3 band arrangement as 15mtrs is a harmonic of 40mtrs, but check swrs first. a tuner could slide that into place if it's too far off. i was thinking 17mtrs is a nice band, but it's somewhat narrow. there's lots of room on 10 and 15mtrs with 15 staying open for longer periods. all hf frequencies of 20mtrs and above are good for long range contacts like between boB and yourself. 40, 80, and 160mtrs are good for shorter contacts such as between yourself and me and all are subject to band conditions, time of day, and even time of year.

oh i guess i should add that the orientation of the dipole can have a significant impact on your contacts as dipoles are still somewhat directional with maximums going off the antenna at 90 degrees. this means an antenna laid out so as to extend in a north/south orientation will have its greatest strength in the east/west direction.