Ian
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Posts posted by Ian
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That'd be great, but I can't afford a Yaesu.
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https://cryptomuseum.com/burst/ma4230/index.htm
My holy grail of "learning Morse". Digital signaling is for machines.
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On 12/18/2021 at 11:49 AM, MichaelLAX said:
Well that's too bad that you feel that way because $27 radios can be a "gateway drug" into the wonders of radio transmission, and in my anecdotal experience here in Southern California, they are!
Then people see the advantages of a more quality and hence more expensive radio and by that time have the knowledge to know what to buy next!
No, but it is clear that YOU are dying to tell us what it means to YOU; so please end our suspense!
CCRs were in fact my gateway drug into advanced radioing.
- Sshannon and MichaelLAX
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Ouch. Seriously, though, I collect "unicorns" -- things the FCC approved though they violate FCC rules. FRS radios with detachable antennas, MURS multiservice radios, type-certified DMR FRS radios, weird shit.
- WRYF747, DeoVindice and wayoverthere
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Only one I've dropped coin on so far is DMR, 'cause I could afford it. Also, some of it's cheap enough that I wouldn't cry if I broke my radio! I wouldn't be happy, but I wouldn't cry either.
Still, I really wish I could find a cheap radio with a really good prolific mode. I'm reminded of Motorola Talkabout DPS radios -- put them in scan, and once they pick up something, you can key up, and the radio will mimic the channel and code of the last incoming transmission.
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On 1/11/2022 at 10:13 PM, WRAX515 said:
Yes I own one. And honestly at 1W power I would save your money and buy another radio. Initially I was buying it to use on 900 MHz ham frequencies since it covers the whole spectrum without any modifications like Motorola 900 radios do. However with 1W of power and 900 MHz repeaters not common in my area it just wasn't making the distance I needed to. So for about the same price I got a Motorola XPR6580 and software-modified it to use on 900 MHz bands and with the 3W power for the Motorola it does the job quite well. Bottom line, the Retevis 900 MHz radio is junk if you need it for repeater-type access, but for local on-site comms it works just fine within reasonable distance. Hope this helps...
How would it work for cross-band repeater use? That's the killer app for these ISM radios for me -- connecting to a big chunky base station in one spot in the house from anywhere on the property with a little shirt-pocket handheld. Traditionally, this has been the realm of the garage repeater, but if I cross-band, I can transmit on repeater inputs from the big remote radio, which would be kind of a killer app for me.
I'd just use MURS, but that's specifically forbidden from operating cross-band.
Edit: They mention double time slots, AMBE, and color codes. Is this just a DMR radio?
Crap, I wish they'd support AES256 or AES512. Not that I need that kind of encryption, but it definiterly makes my inner cypherpunk happy.
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On 1/11/2022 at 11:31 PM, PACNWComms said:
I still have those eXRS radios, I will not even give them away to anyone, they are that bad.
Not even to someone who collects failed techology like that? :3
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For the love of Xenu, why isn't the 275 programmable like the 400? I should __not__ have to ditch handheld-control-head mounting convenience for the sake of PC programmability. For Midland, it would be easy to hide advanced features behind a PC programming cable, but for anyone __but__ midland, implementing them is simply __impossible.__
They're __so close__ to actually making a __really great__ radio, and not just "Eh, good enough" radios…
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On 1/20/2022 at 11:21 AM, marcspaz said:
Something I was thinking about with regard to Line A... 90% of the US population lives on the the US borders and coast lines. ~79,633,000 people live on the northern border. That means that Line A has the potential to impact communications for more than 24% of the people in the lower 48 states.
As much as I like the idea of picking a channel, a channel other than 20 to avoid conflict with potential ORI type repeaters, a solution that potentially excludes almost one quarter of the population doesn't seem like a solution at all, IMHO. In fact, I would be more prone to encourage people to use 20 over 19, since many repeaters have light traffic and operators are supposed to be mindful of not causing interference as part of their license agreement, anyway.
I don't know the right answer. Just thinking.
I thought the point of ORI stuff was to allow opportunistic use by people who are in the region briefly to contact anyone physically nearby?
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Since the consensus appears to be 19 simplex, I will be reprogramming my radios.
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On 1/8/2022 at 1:44 PM, DanW said:
And some of you folks going with channel 20 love it because you've got your little ctss code to keep the hoards and unwashed masses from joining the party.
This might surprise you: I 100% support you in doing exactly that.
I'll be on simplex channel 19 and I think we'll both be happy. Win/Win!
I'm certainly not doing it to be exclusionary, just to be able to toggle from opportunistic use of ORI repeaters to simplex without changing parameters on the radio. If I could get a MXT275 to scan just 20/22 and 19/xx, that's what I'd have as a priority scan list. I suspect this sort of thing is what dual-watch and dual-ptt was always intended for…
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When I'm driving, I set 20(22) -- channel 20, 141.3 Hz CTCSS.
2022 is the year of the travel channel, friends!
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47 minutes ago, Padre1357 said:
It wouldn't be legal to transmit and I'm not sure I'd spend the money on it to risk in the water but, look at the FT3D with a mars mod.
Honestly, if you're going to freeband, might as well save the money and get a cheap baofeng. It's not good enough for Safety Of Life At Sea purposes, but if you just want to screw around, you couldn't really do it much cheaper.
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VHF/GMRS hybrids
- West Marine VHF255 (22 channels, AAA backup, 0.4w gmrs)
- COBRA MR HH450DUAL (no repeater, no interstitials, 3w gmrs, AAA backup)
- Cobra Marine VHF HH425 (no repeater, no interstitials, AA backup)
- Uniden Atlantis 290 (black case) and 295 (camo) (22 channels, AAA backup, 3W GMRS, no repeater)
Edit: Another ghost-hunter here, it seems!
https://www.cobra.com/collections/marine-radios
Cobra seems to still be producing the 450Dual, which makes it your best bet, perhaps. There are currently refurbished West Marine VHF255s on eBay right now, but used so YMMV.
Happy hunting!
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Is it worth picking up a default-programming DLR for funsies?
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I use it on the regular, and I hear some telemetry on MURS3 near the Wedgefield GMRS repeater. It's about a fourteen minute loop, with a bit of CWID at the end. Still no joy on figuring out the data protocol, but I've really never actually tried very hard; if I cared, I'd get a SDR for $25 and run the usual SDR tools instead of recording it with a HT and a digital voice recorder as an MP3.
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I've got about a half dozen of these, and a few of their base stations. Wanted to add some of their sensor modules for the funzies, but couldn't justify the expense for a toy like that. The radios perform admirably, but their tone codes apply to every single channel, and are not set individually. Fine for the rural family use case for which they were designed, but suboptimal for spying on Walmarts for fun and profit.
Performance is really quite decent for two watts.
All programming is front-panel, and the menu structure is admirably simple and easy to use. You'd spend more time setting up someone else's cloning system than just hand-programming these.
The included nickel hydride batteries are crap by comparison to Eneloops, at only around 600 mAh. Eneloop FTW. (My radios were old, and the batteries they came with were shot)
For a base station designed to be wall-mounted, they should really have put the cable connections on the bottom. Ah well.
Never did figure out how to trigger their "alert zone XX" thing; it's some kind of subaudible tone signaling but their phone support guys couldn't give me implementation details.
The belt clips aren't spring loaded like Motorola's, and the whole thing feels just a little less sturdy than Motorola's commercial grade radios, but these are marketed to people who have to buy their own replacements, and are likely to treat them with kid gloves, so… acceptable?
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I always ask "How much radio do you need?"
But I also have an unhealthy obsession with "vehicular repeaters" and wireless speaker-mics. So take this with a grain of salt.
But sometimes you really don't need much radio -- range or power -- to achieve your goals. We should really be encouraging small garage repeaters on Open Repeater Initiative configurations; there's a lot of coverage holes, and this would help with that.
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On 9/8/2021 at 5:52 PM, Citizen said:
pcradio, thank you very much. I did as you suggested: contacted Retevis and they responded with links to the firmware update. I followed the directions and it worked, as I can now go above channel 30 with the keypad arrows or the dial. I have not yet tested TX & RX (wanted to come online & give you an update right away).
Just another note: I did not see two channel 30's, but notice there are two channel 36's, and NO channel 37 (I'm assuming the 2nd ch 36 is actually ch 37--will test that).
Thank you again!
Thomas
Can you post the files? They told me to download them but didn't provide active links. It wants me to log into my account, and it'll only let me download software for radios I've purchased __directly__ from them. Amazon purchase? No such luck. Suuuuper customer-hostile and baffling move.
I don't think I can in good conscience buy any more Retevis products, and it's making me reconsider their lunchbox repeater.
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I run a crapload of security software -- content blockers, adblock, script limitations -- because modern web technologies have made the Goodtimes Virus a practical reality.
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On 6/19/2021 at 10:23 AM, Citizen said:
The RT76P firmware and instructions can be found here: https://www.retevis.com/Retevis-RT76P-GMRS-Radio-Portable-Walkie-Talkies/#A9180BX1-C9034AX1 . Then click "Support", then click "Firmware/Software".
Once I did this firmware upgrade, programming was easy using a Windows PC. I was able to set wideband, high/low power, and fix the Channel 8 bug as found by atnbirdie.
Before you give up on the radio, try this. It's pretty decent once things are ironed out.
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They really don't want me to be able to download those files, though. I didn't buy them at Retevis.com, so I keep getting
QuoteUsers who purchased this product on www.retevis.com, please sign in your account and download the document. For other users, please contact us to obtain it.
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The RT76P has some seriously dodgy firmware issues. This one's new to me, normally it's getting config files to stick when programmed from the radio's control pad. I highly recommend trying a firmware update and seeing if it resolves that. I'll let you know if it works for me… once I figure out how to update the firmware!
Seriously, I'm considering giving up on my 76P and ordering the RB27 at this point. If you have any insights, please share.
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I'd like to second the MXT 275. Had nothing but good results with that radio in practice, except for the included magmount antenna. Like most of them, they fail after a year in the Florida sun.
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The killer feature that I don't expect but would love would be a second jack for a speaker-mic.
https://www.bearcatwarehouse.com/accessories/wireless-cb-microphone
The whole house is now your radio shack…
Communication with the ISS
in Amateur Radio (Ham)
Posted
The ISS is in the UHF/VHF bands which a mere Technician has privileges for. A tech with a BaoFeng can do it, but more fine-grained control to compensate for Doppler shift would be worlds away better. You'll also want a UHF/VHF directional antenna and a steady hand to keep the thing pointed right at the station.
(I honestly don't know which ISS radios are currently active; I read that they recently got a new Kenwood VHF rig a few years ago…)