WRYZ926

I played with encryption enough while in the Army. We used both SINCGARS and commercial radios from Motorola. All permanent party units other than 11th ACR/OPFOR used the commercial radios when I was stationed at NTC/Ft Irwin.

We are in the process of removing the DMR capabilities on our 70cm repeaters since no one uses DMR. You will find that DMR and even the 1.25m band use will vary in different regions. This is true. It seems like you either get in with decent audio or you don't get in at all. Now that could be how the DMR was setup on our three repeaters. But it never impressed me. We are in the process of adding Allstar nodes to all three 70cm repeaters and our 2m repeater instead. The 70cm repeaters will be linked full time and we can link them to the 2m repeater as needed once everything is done.

I am not aware of any mobile VHF/UHF radios that have SSB capabilities. You would have to get an all band/all mode radio AKA "shack in the box" that does HF, VHF, and UHF to get SSB capabilities on VHF/UHF. The other option is the Icom IC-9700 VHF/UHF all mode base radio but that is expensive. I would love to use 2m SSB but I don't need or want a shack in the box radio as I already have 4 HF radios as it is. And I can't afford the Icom IC-9700 at $1900.00

No you don't. Anyone can look up repeaters without having to log in or have a call sign. You only need a call sign if you manage a listed repeater.

Repeater Book is a good place to look for local repeaters in your area.

I won't be much help on DMR since I have yet to use that mode. The national calling frequencies and local repeaters are a good start. Also look to see if there are any local DMR repeaters in your area. Asking on a local DMR repeater would be a good place to start.

Here is a good band plan that shows what modes can be used on each band. Icom band plan And the ARRL band https://www.arrl.org/images/view//Charts/Band_Chart_Image_for_ARRL_Web.jpg The ARRL band plan does better at showing what portions you can use per each license.

PS: Getting your general opens up all of the HF bands if you are interested. The general test is not hard, especially if you start studying now.

Congratulations! Now the wait begins. You will get an email from the FCC telling you your license is approved and a link for you to pay your $35. It should only take a few days as long as the VE submits everything electronically. Double check your spam folders too. Now you will have so many other squirrels to chase with your amateur license. Tech gives you AM, single side band, CW (morse code) and digital mode privileges on 10m. You also get CW privileges on 15m, 40m, and 80m. There is plenty to do with the 2m, 1.25m, and 70cm bands. You might end up enjoying talking to the space station when it passes over. It took 3 weeks for my technician and three weeks for my general since my local VE is stuck in the Stone Age and mails everything through USPS.

You don't apply or pay for your amateur license until after you pass your test AND the examiner submits the paperwork in to the ARRL who then forwards everything to the FCC. Once the FCC gets your paperwork and approves everything, they will email you with a link to pay for your amateur license and also to download a copy of the actual license.

I've used the QRZ practice exams, HamStudy and ham exam.All three work.

Some metal pins long enough to hit the center conductor stuck into coax has stopped the ID10T's in the past. Not that I would ever condone doing this. We have a guy that has gotten kicked off most local 2m repeaters sever times. He tries to make his rounds on each repeater until he wears out his welcome. This last time our executive board sent him an official letter telling him not to use our repeaters. So far he has not gotten on any of our repeaters since receiving the letter. We will see how long that lasts. Unfortunately an official cease and desist letter doesn't do any good if the person decides to ignore the letter. You can go through the motions, gather evidence and then submit a complaint to the FCC. You might get a response from the FCC but don't hold your breath waiting for one. As others have mentioned, one has to really mess up and cause a major problem before the FCC will even look into things. I have a neighbor that was using those ultrasonic pest deterrent devices in her yard. Those devices hurt my ears and caused bad headaches. They also caused interference with my radios. I filed several complaints with the FCC and never once heard anything back from them. The state actually made her stop using those devices once she became a foster parent.

I also like taking the practice tests on QRZ as they will allow you to work on each individual section/sub section you miss questions on.

Windows 10 and 11 will expand .zip files natively. You will need a third party tool to expand .rar files.WinRAR and 7-Zip are good Windows programs for expanding car files.

Here is another example of how changes in the atmosphere effects UHF radio waves. My bother and I both have Allstar nodes and both were set to the same frequency and PL tones. These nodes only put out about .05 to 1 watt of power on transmit. And we have our radios set to 5 watts or less when using the nodes. We are 19 miles apart and 5 watts is normally not enough for us to hear each other. The other day there was a storm cell in between us and we could hear each other. My brother was using his Allstar node to talk to guys in Texas. I could hear him but not the other people. He could also hear me when I was using my node. The storms and low cloud cover was bouncing the 5 watt signal 19 miles. Granted neither one of us had a very strong signal as the signal strength meters barely moved, but it was enough of a signal that we could hear each other. We both ended up changing the frequency that our Allstar nodes use to stop this from happening.

I'm currently running a TYT TH-8600, Comet 2x4SR antenna and a Midland SPK100 20 watt speaker. Before switching to the TYT TH-8600 I was running a Wouxun KG-XS20G. I have a modified expanded metal hitch rack mounted on the back of my Honda Pioneer which provides a good ground plane for the 2x4SR. The reason for the Wouxun KG-XS20G and TYT TH-8600 is that they are IP rated for dust and water. The Midland SPK-100 allows me to hear the radio over the engine and road noise even when cruising at 35 MPH down gravel roads.

I'm well aware how SINCGARS works since I used the system when I was in the Army. One still has to input the security keys every 12-24 hours depending on SOP.

I always used either 6" or 12" numbers when using a hand held in vehicles. I use to run a hand held CB radio with an external antenna for a while back in the early to mid 90's. Adding another 6-12 inches of RG58 to the antenna coax won't hurt. Most mag mounts use between 13 and 15 feet of RG58 on average. I have SMA to BNC adaptors for when I want to use my hand held with my portable yagi or faraday cloth j pole antennas. Having a box full of adaptors comes in handy.

I agree that it is courteous to ask for permission to use open repeaters. But it's definitely not required. As the custodian of our GMRS repeater that is open, I always try to approve requests to use our repeater when I receive them. If they are courteous enough to ask then I will be courteous enough to grant permission quickly.

Local ham fest's are another good place to look for used equipment. There are pluses and minuses on buying a shack in the box radio that does everything. One major downside is if something goes wrong then you lose everything at once. Another negative is that shack in the box radios are Jacks of alll trades but masters of none. The big plus is that you only need one radio. I personally prefer separate radios for home use. You also have CW privileges on 15m and 40m as a technician along with 10m AM/SSB, CW, and 10m digital modes. Since you recently got your tech license, now is the time to study for and take your general test as everything is still fresh in your memory. There really isn't much differences between the tech and general tests. Like any hobby, radio can get expensive if you let it. There are so many different things you can do with an amateur license, especially once you step up to general or extra.

I have a Quansheng UV-K5 (8) running a custom firmware. These are neat radios than can do quite a lot. With the proper firmware, they will even do double side band on the 2m band. I don't know about your radio but there are add on boards for the Quansheng to allow it to transmit on HF. I haven't tore into mine yet to add the board and second antenna.

I know when repeaters can have issues when setup for both analog and DMR if not done correctly. Whoever setup our 70cm repeaters for both analog and DMR didn't get things right and we had nothing but issues with the entire setup.

And I fully understand that. But there are better ways to go about that without having to worry about federal regulations. And digital signals along with secure encryption causes noise/interference for those using analog on the same channel/frequency.

From what I was told, even the US military went away from using a hardware key loader for at least the SINCGARS radios. Encryption might be fun to test but remember that the FCC states that encryption is not allowed on amateur radio bands or on GMRS channels. I find no use for AES256 after having to deal with it all of the time while in the Army.

BNC connectors is the way to go if you plan on connecting and disconnecting the external antenna often. Breaking the SMA connector is always possible when using a SMA to SO-239 adaptor cable.