HF will spoil you.

[TNFrank]

Even with the couple hours I spent on 10M SSB I can see how HF can totally spoil you with the range you can get from Simplex. I was picking up folks from Canada, Japan, Michigan, Texas and if my antenna would have been tuned better I'd have had a contact in Maryland. I just wasn't making it out well enough for him to hear me even though I had him in at 5/6-7 without issue. 

I just wish the FCC would open up more of the HF Bands for Technicians than just 28.3-28.5MHz SSB.  If we could have all of the 28MHz Band that'd still leave 29MHz for the General and Extra guys. Also a little 12M would be nice too since I can mod my radio to do 12M.

For now though I'm just going to get my antenna sorted out and have some fun.

[WRYS709]

So the Radioddity QT-60 came in?

I've been submerged in 20 meters all day today.  

[TNFrank]

Yep, I went out and played around a bit on Saturday.  I think I'll be playing with 10M SSB a lot more than 2M/1.25M/70cm simply because of the range I can get. 

I've tried to do CQ on 2M Calling a few times and heard zip. Same for 1.25M and 70cm. There's just no one doing Simplex on those Bands in my area.

[AdmiralCochrane]

The thing to do on 2m 1.25m and 70cm simplex is monitor and learn when people will be active. 

[WRYS709]

32 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

Yep, I went out and played around a bit on Saturday.  I think I'll be playing with 10M SSB a lot more than 2M/1.25M/70cm simply because of the range I can get. 

I've tried to do CQ on 2M Calling a few times and heard zip. Same for 1.25M and 70cm. There's just no one doing Simplex on those Bands in my area.

I am pretty sure the 2 meter SSB Bozo Net is active in Arizona; track down the times for their Net.  Here it is Sunday and Wednesday 7pm.

You acquired 2/1.25/0.70 meter SSB equipment?

[TNFrank]

I don't know if the RT95 will do SSB or not. I'll need to check.

[SteveShannon]

29 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

I don't know if the RT95 will do SSB or not. I'll need to check.

FM only 

There aren’t very many SSB 2 meter radios still being made. Mostly they’re all band all mode radios like the IC-705, FT991A, IC-7100, and FT1X. Or people using transverters.

[marcspaz]

I have an IC-7000. Thing is a rock star. I love 2m and 440 SSB, but it's usually only active during contests. 

[Northcutt114]

I've said this somewhere else but I have been absolutely gobsmacked with HF. Sitting in a park with my little Harbor Freight knock off Pelican case and listening to someone who is roughly 3,000 miles away from me, with no repeater or internet tom foolery? It's really pretty amazing. This what I got into Amateur Radio to do.

 

[Northcutt114]

1 hour ago, marcspaz said:

I have an IC-7000. Thing is a rock star. I love 2m and 440 SSB, but it's usually only active during contests. 

So, let me ask this question? I notice that those all band radios have two antenna out ports. I assume that one is for UHF/VHF and the other is for HF? With my little field portable POTA antenna, I have to reconfigure it for the various HF bands. Is there an "all in one" HF antenna that people use in more permanent installations, or vehicles for that matter?

 

[WRYS709]

The Icom 705 has only one antenna input

[SteveShannon]

37 minutes ago, Northcutt114 said:

So, let me ask this question? I notice that those all band radios have two antenna out ports. I assume that one is for UHF/VHF and the other is for HF? With my little field portable POTA antenna, I have to reconfigure it for the various HF bands. Is there an "all in one" HF antenna that people use in more permanent installations, or vehicles for that matter?

 

For permanent installations the EFHW is one, but so is the random wire antenna, various versions of fan dipoles, and several other multi band antennas like the GB5RV etc. Or there are vertical versions of antennas like the DX Commander  

For portable operations there are various multi band antennas that sacrifice sensitivity and bandwidth in favor of portability. I have a Diamond BB7V for example. For an emergency backup antenna it would be fine but it really doesn’t compare to the EFHW. But it’s quick to set up and doesn’t require a tall mast or guy wires. 

For mobile operations the screwdriver antennas are popular, like the Yaesu ATAS 120. They can be setup to actually tune themselves (actually adjusting their length as needed.)

[WRYZ926]

 Some more options for 6m through 20m: a cobweb antenna -omni directional and a hex beam antenna - directional. The downside to a hex beam is you will need a rotator (added expense)

An EFHW antenna when built right will give you multiple bands without a tuner and will be under 3:1 for the bands that are not resonant. Plus an EFHW antenna can be pretty stealthy and easier to hide from an HOA.

Another option for both portable and permanent is a multi band vertical 1/4 wave antenna such as the DX Commander antennas.

Then there are different multi band yagi/beam antennas out there. But they definitely need a rotator.

If you have room for a 40m or 80m dipole then you can always build it as an off center fed dipole with a 4:1 balun to get multiple bands.

[marcspaz]

8 hours ago, Northcutt114 said:

So, let me ask this question? I notice that those all band radios have two antenna out ports. I assume that one is for UHF/VHF and the other is for HF? With my little field portable POTA antenna, I have to reconfigure it for the various HF bands. Is there an "all in one" HF antenna that people use in more permanent installations, or vehicles for that matter?

 

 

When I was using All-Band/All-Mode mobiles in my vehicle, I used a diplexer and a single screwdriver antenna. It was the most simple solution. 

 

These days, my mobile has dedicated radios for GMRS, Amateur VHF/UHF and HF, with 4 antennas (one on each corner). This is because im running amplifiers and don't want to share transmission lines with high power options.