kidphc

Everyone I have met has been cool you are trying to learn CW. Some are bitter that they had to struggle with it to simply get a "Novice". I would just spin the dial and find some one else. Sometimes, even posting to a forum asking about a practice partner for "slow CW" will net some one to chat with via CW. Once you learn it you need to use it or you will lose it shortly. I have been using this smartphone app "morse toad" . Rather then learning the dit/dashes that correspond to a letter, listen to the tone patterns in your head and do a copy. A ham in my neighborhood (doesn't live here, travels a lot and is using his friend's address) pretty much is strictly CW. If you are musically inclined he said he has seen new user have an easier time with it. Instead of going ".-." equals R in your head and write it down. He said you should try and train so ".-." sound is trained in your head as "R". It is hard to explain in text. You kinda will understand what I am trying to say, if you speak a second language where you are trying to translate the foreign word in your head to your native language, is what you want to avoid. Instead you want to be able to see and apple and instantly translate into apple in any\ language. VIDEO OF WHAT I WAS TRYING TO EXPLAIN. Also, I have this as a visual reference. It may help you also.

This is true, Alexandria 675 is hidden. It is very much in use. I actually posted bitching about not knowing which repeater was in use. Till I found the setting. It is very much alive. Maybe a setting to say when the repeater was last heard to keep a repeater that is alive showing on the map. I found it hard to contact the repeater owner, not sure if it traded hand or the e-mail went into oblivion.

Maybe double billed you?

I h was and some will set up a hf rig on the car and run the coax from the base rig to the antenna on the car. With the same thought. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

You are probably wondering what a split is. Simply put Input and receive are on 2 different frequencies. Kinda like a repeater pair. On the FT991a you can manually program a repeater by using the split feature and then saving it. Nice thing about the radio is if you are a frequency range that is usually used for repeaters it will input the +- split for you. You just need to choose +- or the rep button to enable Some time on HF, the other side will want to split for whatever ever reason.. QRM (interference) or adjacent frequency spacing.due to local users.

RT systems is basically is just programming software much like CHIRP. DO NOT use CHIRP for a Yaesu radio, it has been known to brick the radio. Even Yaesu basically points to RT Sytems. You don't need it, just easier to download repeaters from Repeater Book from inside RT Systems then upload to the radio. There are only 99 memory slots that you can program. To do memory scans or quick recall. You can not use RT systems to do quick on the fly changes, Rt-systems require you to perform a reboot of the radio after programming. HRD has it's own memory slots so you can utilize that function. Download the trial AFTER you get your radio setup. You can download a trial key which is good for 30 days. As far as VFO (Variable Frequency Oscillator), it only has one. The second VFO "B" is so you can do splits and kinda does a software flop between the frequencies. Unlike a Baofeng that lets you listen to two independent VFO's. The radio itself can get frustrating till you get use to it. If you can get a member of your local club to help, you'll have an easier time with it. It is a lot to take in.

Awesome.!!! If you get the FT991a. A)Read the manual.. It is a really menu driven radio, and it sucks sometimes. To bury down menus to adjust sql and stuff, instead of just hitting a button then adjusting. B)Get RT system download, really just need an old school printer usb cable to utilize cat control and program. Keep in mind, two big downfall of the radio. 1.) 99 memory slots 2.) no true vfo B... Otherwise, I have been loving mine. I am waiting on the SDRPlay RSP1a to see if HRD will let me trying and control the radio through the Panadapter. I heard some week signals on the SDR that the FT991a couldn't hear.

It is slowly, very slowly coming together...

Wife had ordered one. I told her cancel that order. I couldn't find any information on how to scan a band unless the frequency was in memory. Can you do that even?

Sure. It is cheaper to home brew. Just no where on my lot to put it up.

You have all the awesome toys!!

You are going to look like a porcupine, just try to get over it fast. If you are lucky enough to get a tower and some verticals. In my land the Sauron (HOA) has eyes on all. I'm not allowed any antennas outside of satellite dish. Even then it has to be hidden. I have no trees on the back side of the house and the house is viewable from the street on all sides FML My psedo elmer gave me this article to ponder. He also advised against attic installs, he had it once and was un happy. Guess where all mine are going even with that said. Early plans are 40m,20m,10m,6m home brew fan dipole (the 40m will be in a ramsay configuration) with commercial balun. Diamond x50 or x300 (depends on how much space I have left over from the fan dipole). and a M2 stacked halo for 2m ssb. http://k3rrr.com/wire-antennas-287-different-wire-antennas-to-choose-from/ I hope to add either a scorpion screwdriver home setup or crank ir in a couple of years. If you have trees on your lot in the back. Go for a fan dipole in the trees or long wire. The tree that is circled decided to rest on my neighbors house so it is gone now. Current Progress of setup

Yes. The recieve has been better when I have added cattails. It works best when you get it close to the 1/4 wave of the frequency in use. I had the best results with 2m with a 19" cattail. The abree made no difference with the cattail. I believe it is due to the coil at the base of the antenna. Which looks to be the counterpoise. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Good to know. I still have a valid VWare from my days at EMC.

Just remember there is a lot of loss on 70CM as well as 2m in the coax. Don't get cheap, hopefully you'll only be doing the run once. Here is a chart from DXengineering that will show you some of the losses you can expect. Don't expect a cheap Chinese LMR 400 to have the same losses as something from Times microwave. In fact from reviews the charts that the cheap chinese coax company send it's not even close, almost double the amount of loss they specifiy. https://static.dxengineering.com/global/images/chartsguides/d/dxe-11u_us.pdf

Did you try setting the backward compatibility in Windows 10? Right click icon. Properties Compatibility tab "run this porgram in compatibility mod for" "windows 7" or "windows Vista sp2" Doesn't always work but can work wonders for some software

Ok. First off. I do not know how to property test Ht antennas. A calibration was done with the SMA extension for each frequency band when changed. All antennas are authentic from what I can tell. The Nagoya's are from Btech and the Abree is from Abree. Nagoya 701c 144.000 1:1.38 146.460 1:1.15 147.999 1:1.32 420.000 1:2.06 450.000 1:2.21 462.5625 1:2.15 467.7250 1:2.13 Nagoya 771 144.000 1:1.23 147.999 1:1.50 420.000 1:1.55 450.000 1:1.14 462.5625 1:1.37 467.7250 1:1.45 Abree 42" 144.000 1:1.55 147.999 1:2.02 420.000 1:1.55 450.000 1:1.84 462.5625 1:2.24 467.7250 1:2.38 There was a big difference between holding the coil of the antenna(base) and the lead. Unfortunately, it isn't like an MFJ analyzer where I could screw it into. So I chose to hold them by the coil except for the Abree. Holding the Abree by the coil it would go from 1:1.55 and then jump to 1:6.63. Even laying the antennas on the table it would jump by quite a bit. Try holding a 42" antenna by the SMA lug, my fingers hurt.. Again take this with a grain of salt. Should add, for GMRS the 701c is the one I would go with. The 771 works but I perfer the 701c. The Abree rocks for 2m.

Yes correct. Miss info mis type no difference it was the wrong info. The info I typed turns out was for proposed c4fm national simplex calling. Which apparently there 3 different frequincies. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

I know to get accurate numbers its difficult. So I won't be doing any soon. As long as the antenna is equal to or greater then a dummy load I am good. I should say I don't mind as much since most hts can handle the higher swr. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

yeah. Not keying up with the ft991a any more on vhf. The baofeng, well its a baofeng and a ht.... so I will be pounding the ptt. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Here is the video on swr (standing wave ratio). Long and reminds of video from grade school. But worth it. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Sorry the third part. You can use a sealant for the connectors. It is available from most radio shops. I'd use a weatherproof boot specific to the connector and maybe some electrical tape. Problem with heat shrink is if you need to remove the wrap to service the connector you need to cut it off. In doing so you may cut the cable. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Low swr is better. 1:1 means you are getting all the power out. Higher means you are getting reflected power or wasting some as heat. There is an old video (50's 60's) that explains it with models. Swr is not the end all to antennas and many focus on it too much. But generally strive for lower. Db is the increase of gain on the antenna. Dbi means it is based off a reference. Usually DBi gives you a better idea of increase in gain to a reference antenna. Where db may the gain vs a pencil for all you know. So 3 db with make your 5 watt radio equal to a radio with 15 watts of power with no gain. The higher the gain value normally the radiation pattern is flatter with a higher take off angle. For example 1/4 wave antenna is a bit more spherical (like a ball). So when offroading it can be beneficial if you are going up a dune at the crest and there is a truck below you, you'll can hear him. With a half wave design the pattern is flatter and you may not hear him. However, when using a repeater from a mobile the 1/2 wave can more beneficial because then repeater is higher and you have more gain. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Here is a little review. Since I got the Nano VNA f I decided to test an antenna that I have had for a while. I had bought 2 for a road trip. Btech sells them for $29. They are a lot cheaper then buying a magnet NMO and nmo antenna. I have been happy with the 2m (144mhz) performance, It has ok performance with GMRS and I feel it has been meh with 70cm (444mhz) performance. So I wanted to see what the numbers were like as far as SWR. I have been mostly using it for repeater usage on 2M and GMRS. No luck on 2m simplex, FRS/GMRS works well for simplex when in range. Furthest GMRS repeater has been to Alexandria give or take 11 miles from the truck. The same antenna, is being tested on a cookie backing pan in my dining room connected to an FT991a. I have managed to connect to 2m Frederick MD repeaters which are 27+ miles away on 5 watts. Still can't make a simplex call 5 miles with the same setup running 30 watts. The stats from BTech 's website: https://baofengtech.com/NAGOYA-UT-72 Frequency Range: 136-174MHz, 400-520MHz; Optimal Frequency Range: 140-170MHz, 420-470MHzWave: 1/4λ (144MHz) - 5/8λ (430MHz)Gain: 3.5dBiMax power: 80 WattsVSWR : Less 1.5:1Impedance: 50 OHMConnector: SMA-F & PL-259Length: 20 inches So the VNA is showing the following. 144.562 National 2m SWR 2.53 :1 144.000 MHz SWR 2.89:1 147.999 MHz SWR 2.21:1 159.300-163.500 lowest SWR of 1.18:1 420.000 SWR 1.92:1 450.000 SWR 1.33:1 444.900-445.800 lowest of SWR of 1.3:1 FRS/GMRS Frequencies 462.5625 SWR 1.35:1 467.7250 SWR 1.40 SWR was 1.35-1.38:1 for most of the FRS/GMRS band. Lowest actually was at 1.27:1 at 464.575 - 465.763 MHZ well outside of Amateur radio and FRS/GMRS service allocations.

Congrats!!!. I have the FT991a... it's an awesome radio. Well minus the menu system, 99 memory slots and lack of a true second vfo. I personally bought it for an intermediate radio. I wanted a 10m,6m,2m,70cm radio, really to utilize a lot of the technician license. I really hope to have the fan dipole, 2m vertical and 2m horizontal up soon. If you want something like that to grow into there is also the IC 7100. Then you have the likes of icom 706 mk2, Icom 7000, Yaesu FT857d that should be considered. Even a baofeng will get you on the air. As soon as you get your call, you'll be legal on the 2m and 70cm bands with that radio. Which you already knew. However, I would suggest you spend a little more and get something like a Yaesu 60r. If looking at HTs. Don't exclude some of the mono band mobile units for base station usage. Oh talk to club members. Again a lot of them will loan stuff till you get your own gear. Just to get you on the air.