Leaderboard

Here is the USCG page for channel/freq assignments: https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/us-vhf-channel-information. Even though I'm just a recreational boater, it's still fun to monitor some of these channels, especially when overseas.

And it takes a while for the signal to be received after it is sent. Get's longer every minute. Still, it is pretty cool that we can still communicate. I'm waiting for someone to respond on that frequency. Could be interesting.

I run common mode chokes at the antenna feed points and also use clamp on ferrite beads on all coax and computer cables inside my shack. A common mode choke helps keep RF from coming back down the coax into the shack. And that is a must especially on 40m. You can either use a toroid with the proper number of wraps of coax or you can use clamp on ferret beads. You want to use between 5 and 7 clamp on ferrite beads right at the antenna feed point to be effective. Less than 5 ferrite beads will not be very effective. I had a lot of RF issues with my computer when operating on 40M until I put 7 ferrite beads on the coax at the antenna. Another source of interference that is often overlooked is network cables. I kept getting interference on my HF radio until I swapped all of my cheap Cat5 cables for shielded Cat 5 and shielded RJ45 connectors.

WMPT is cranking a meg these days. If I recall correctly, they had a temporary experimental licensed increase to 2 for a few months. My father bought a beam/yagi so far back I don't remember not having it. Probably on advice from my godfather who was a navy radio tech in the very early 1960's.

Keep the original balun on the antenna and put the 1:1 current balun right before it with a short jumper of good quality coax. Get a good balun rated for 5kw from DX Engineering. They are decent quality.

What type of antenna you using? I had the problem with my 80m OCF dipole. I don't think it is a USB problem. A current balun cured my issue. I have USB cables going to all the radios and amp. Even have ethernet cables going to a few radios.

Something I always found interesting is most VHF stations were using about 3kw ERP. Some UHF stations were 150kw ERP, but high-power stations were 500kw ERP. Between the higher power and shorter wavelengths, UHF always had better image quality compared to VHF. I remember dang near every house had a massive TV beam antenna on the roof and a rotator controller on top of the TV. We had a list of what direction to point the antenna to watch specific channels, and we would kind of fiddle with it to get it just right. But the best was if you had a set of TV top 'rabbit ears' and loop. I remember (before we got a beam) we weren't allowed to move around the living room while mom and dad were watching TV and we all had specific spots to sit when we watched TV, because our bodies would impact how well the TV signal were received. Or we would stand there touching the rabbit ears so grandpa could watch the news. LoL

Don't tell the EME guys that. Well, maybe they fit "very unusual circumstances" LOL

"With ease" is a stretch as well. I remember reading these in real time.

Then do that. If you have a tipping mast then there is no real down side to using the temp ground plane.

Access is just a matter of tipping the mast up and securing it to a post with hose clamps. I just now emailed Comet about the radials. In the meantime, I'm going to stand it up and do some tests with the improvised radials. It will be easy enough to tip it back down and change them when the "correct" ones arrive.

Either way, bad things can happen when dissimilar metals are put together and exposed to the environment over time.

Amazing to think about.. Here is a neat video, long but very interestig about communications to and from space

takes 20 hours to receive a signal from Voyager and the same amount of time for Voyager to receive a signal from earth.

The originals are stainless steel. Always stinks to have delays. But... do it right, do it once.

Nope, no stars between us and Voyager. Voyager is 15 billion miles away. The nearest star (other than our sun) is 23 Trillion miles away.

Interstellar dust Asteroid fields Kuiper belt The heliosphere

I'm of the opinion that on 2m/70cm, anything more than 50 watts is just wasted, with perhaps a few exceptions under very unusual circumstances.

There aren't any buildings in the way.

what amazes me is how far we can communicate into space.. For example Voyager 1 is some 15 billion miles into space and we are communicating with that spacecraft to and from with ease.

That Sir, Is Not Correct. I Suggest You Do Further Research, And Consult The Motorola R56 Manual For Site Grounding Requirements For Commercial Sites. See Link: https://wiki.w9cr.net/images/1/14/Motorola-Standards-and-Guidelines-for-Communication-Sites-R56-Manual_68P81089E50-B.pdf

Q: Which band are you working today? A: Yes. It's been interesting following the FTX-1 pre-order drama online, I guess. People walking into Hamvention and walking out with one, while pre-orders have not been shipped yet. Seems like HRO is shipping out orders now though.

It is just a out the nicest day here.

Buying some antenna stuff. Got the Diamond NR240CA wide band antenna just to screw around with. Picked up the optional spring lower section for the Comet CA-2x4SR wide band antenna. Finally got the super flex dual band antenna with the BNC connector to use with the HT SMA/BNC adapters.

I put my amp in QRP mode and it's idling at 1,300 watts.

We have an active, polite, and helpful, GMRS community and there are a couple of nets each week on the main repeater. We sort of, kind of, tend to encourage folks to use phonetics when first transmitting their callsign but don't chastise anyone if they don't. We may ask them to use phonetics if we can't understand them because they are talking too fast (or our ears are too slow) or the transmission isn't clear. Other than that there aren't many "rules" or etiquette for general conversation. We have some folks that talk conversationally, others that use more military-type jargon, and the occasional user that sound like they're Smokey and the Bandit. We don't get too bent out of shape and just roll with it. Usually it is an acceptable combination of all three. The advice given in previous posts is good. Don't be a jerk, keep your language clean, and be polite. If you have a repeater you can get on, listen in to see how the users converse. After a while you will start recognizing call signs and voices and how the flow of the repeater works. Most of our repeater traffic goes something like this. -Listen for traffic, if none heard- "WSFN703 Monitoring (or standing by or listening)" - if you're not looking for anyone in particular but open for conversation. You may strike up a conversation with someone. If someone is driving they may say "Mobile" instead of "Monitoring". This can let folks know that you may lose TX/RX due to terrain, buildings, or distance. It also tends to imply that you may not be active on the radio for very long, i.e. you reach your destination. "WXXX123, WSFN703, Fred are you out there?" - if you're looking for someone specific. If they answer, you go on with your conversation. If you know they are listening, just call them by name. "WSFN703, Radio Check" - if you want to see if your radio/antenna is working and how well. Someone will chime in with their evaluation of your signal. If there is traffic and you want to say something, be it a comment on the topic being discussed or a question for one of the participants, maybe an emergency call, or to contact someone else (and then move to another freq. or repeater); -Listen for a break in the conversation- "WSFN703 Break (or Comment/Question)" - Wait a second or two for the other stations to acknowledge your break, then proceed with your comment. "WSFN703 Emergency, Emergency, Emergency" - State your emergency and vital information. 9-1-1 should be used first but there may be cases where cell phone coverage is not available and GMRS is all you have. After your conversation, however brief or extended, is ended. "WSFN703 Clear" - usually means you are signing off but may mean you are done with the repeater and may still be listening but not actively looking for a conversation. The context of the conversation can provide the meaning. "Well, I've made it to work. Good talking to you. WSFN703 is clear." "WSFN703 Monitoring" - I'm done talking but still listening if someone else wants me for something. This is not any kind of official script we follow. It's just how most of us talk when we're on the repeater. It helps keep things manageable. If we are on a net, we let the net controller set the rules. Simplex may be similar but generally it's just you and a friend or two on a channel so it's whatever etiquette you wish to follow. Profanity and vulgarities are still generally frowned upon since children may be listening but I don't know anyone that polices it.

Welcome aboard, I monitor Thompson Station, Brentwood, both Franklin and Grasslands repeaters. We have not set up a formal net, but with 44 members we should be able to set up some days and times for shout outs.

Undoubtedly 50 watt radios would work better, and at twice+ the cost, but that is not what I was trying to do. That's like saying a backhoe works better than a shovel. We needed a "shovel" as an occasional use, put up and take down, simple repeater for very limited TX/RX. So far it meets our needs more than adequately.

I've reviewed the Chirp code for the 5RM and the 17Pro. It's largely the same code (5RM class inherits from 17Pro class). There is no reason that I can see that the 5RM radio of the same version as mine, would not work with the 5RM entry in Chirp, unless you downloaded your code plug from a different radio and then modified it and tried to upload it as a 5RM. I suggest that if you cannot use the 5RM model in Chirp for your 5RM radio, you file a bug report with Chirp, because it's clearly not the intent for that to not work. As a software engineer it drives me crazy that two people with identical hardware and identical software would not get the same result. If you file that bug report, you will help all the people who are experiencing the same problem you are experiencing. Here is a link to the code in question: https://chirpmyradio.com/projects/chirp/repository/github/revisions/master/entry/chirp/drivers/baofeng_uv17Pro.py#L1313 That code encapsulates both the 17Pro and 5RM classes of radios. And here is a link for submitting bug reports: https://chirpmyradio.com/projects/chirp/issues I've seen that the developers for Chirp are highly responsive. Your bug report will get addressed. The address may be "We can't reproduce", but I rarely see bugs closed that way in the Chirp issues stream. Usually they either result in a patch being created, or the developers discovering an issue with how the software is being used. But either way, someone learns, the developers improve their knowledge base too.

I won't be a member of any club that would accept me as a member...

I disagree. "...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" was pretty precise... nay concise, but citizens and the government continue to F that one up pretty regularly.