WSBV579

Thanks

It appears Northwest District 1 would be my area, so should I listen in to 151.13 or 156.135? Or both?

I know some ham guys are in here, so maybe they can help. Missouri has a big snow storm coming, and I was think of listening in on MoDOT frequencies to hear how plows are doing and such. I found two callsigns they have designated for my area...KFN580 (151.130, FB2) and KRZ38 (156.135 and 156.045, FX1). http://www.interceptradio.com/fcc.php?z=1&sfreq=4&scall=KFN580&cfreq=1&cstate=1&ccounty=1&ccity=1&cpl=1&ccall=1&cchan=1&cue=1 ...and... http://www.interceptradio.com/fcc.php?z=1&sfreq=4&scall=KRZ38&cfreq=1&cstate=1&ccounty=1&ccity=1&cpl=1&ccall=1&cchan=1&cue=1 I have no idea what I should tune to, to listen...or what FX1 and FB2 mean. Could anyone provide any help?

I've purchased a shortwave radio (ATS-20+) as a beginner radio to fool around with. It comes with a telescopic, bnc connection antenna. If I buy a connection adapter, can I use my outdoor mast mounted GMRS antenna for listening on this radio? I'm brand new to shortwave radios, and know very little about them...but I really want to learn.

Yeah, I figured that...I was just curious if it really was 8, as Amazon advertised. I doubted it, but bought it anyway. 5 watts is good enough for me. My 5R and 9R are gonna be having some fun together tonight...maybe some antenna swapp'n, some Rx and Tx, maybe even a few Roger beeps back and forth, and I'm not even gonna use my callsign...it's gonna be SO hott!

I'm just wanting a couple miles, like my UV-5R gets. The UV-9R Pro says "8 watts"...but I doubt that. Did you ever do a video testing the wattage of the 9R Pro?

I just bought a UV-9R Pro as a cheap water resistant option for junking around: hiking, farm work, weekends at the cabin, fishing. Something I won't be upset if it gets broken. Anyway, right now I've got the stock mini whip antenna (NOT a rubber duck antenna) on it. For those who own this HT, what's your opinion of the stock antenna? Or, do you prefer another antenna for it?

I write down a few people's calls signs when I have an interaction with them on a local repeater, or if I find out they use simplex in my area. But after I learn their names, I typically just refer to them by their number or first name (WSBV579 to ###, hey *name*, how you doing?) But the simplex guys around here know I monitor 19 for family use, so they'll just get on and reach out to me by first name...likewise, I do the same for the channels they typically monitor. It kinda makes sense to log call signs on repeaters until you get to know everyone...just so you can remember and associate a call sign to a name.

Oh, alright...I think that makes sense. Thanks

I'm using the Surecom SW 102, that I'm sure most people use. Are they not meant to measure HTs that tx 5watts?

I was curious and just started fooling around today. I hooked my UV-5R up to my base station antenna to see if I could hit a repeater I use occasionally at around 30 miles out...which it did. I was kinda shocked. So, I hooked up my SWR meter, and damn! I was getting a 1.02 and 4.8-ish watts hitting that repeater. So, I hooked my base station radio back up and tested it. It's a Btech UV-25x2. It got 1.4 SWR at about 18 watts. Why would a 5 watt radio have a better SWR then a 25 watt radio when using the same coax and antenna?

I'll be holding onto this antenna. I may decide to play with it at some point (maybe an antenna for our camping trips), but for now the frustration has hit me pretty hard and I'm kinda done with it for now. I'm a mechanical/manufacturing engineer as well. Not leaving "well enough" alone is a bad habit of mine, though it typically does well for me in my career field. But radios, antennas, RF, SWR, dbi...it's all new to me and I'm still learning. I appreciate the help.

Well, this has all been a lovely learning experience and everything...but I'm just gonna have to be without my base station radio until I can get a new antenna. I've got a problem with not being able to leave "well enough" alone. I'm the type that wants to always try to fix it to make it better, whatever "it" may be. That didn't work this time. Now that I've decided on GMRS, rather than getting my ham ticket as well, I guess I'll be buying a GMRS antenna when I can afford to.

I don't really have a need for dual band anymore. I was gonna get my ham ticket, but GMRS suit my purpose just fine. So, what your saying is, I can remove the could completely? How will that harm the dbi?

Above the coil. 467.000 is at 1.58, 462.000 is at 3.00. Should I have been trimming below the coil? How bad have I f'ed up here?