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ryan_j

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I thought you hit the repeater the other day?

Sorry I meant to say through the computer. I've hit 8-9 different repeaters, made 7-8 different contacts. I can get one of the Hopatcong repeaters easily, and one in Vernon, from my attic but not on the first floor. I can program manually in less than a minute. This is beginning to be fun for me :)

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Newtonian...are you using the stock "rubber ducky" antenna with your Baufeng? If so, you'll get better range with one of the inexpensive after market antennas. Nagoya, Diamond and Comet are 3 reputable brands. They all use, roughly, the same model numbers : 701 and 771. The 771 is longer then the 701. They are both whip antennas,so they may not be suitable for use if you are going to carry the radio on you belt. I put Nagoya 771's on my 2m/70cm HT's and it made a big difference. If you do go with Nagoya, be sure to shop for an authentic Nagoya. There are alot of bootleg asian knockoffs in the market place, some are OK, but many are not..

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Newtonian...are you using the stock "rubber ducky" antenna with your Baufeng? If so, you'll get better range with one of the inexpensive after market antennas. Nagoya, Diamond and Comet are 3 reputable brands. They all use, roughly, the same model numbers : 701 and 771. The 771 is longer then the 701. They are both whip antennas,so they may not be suitable for use if you are going to carry the radio on you belt. I put Nagoya 771's on my 2m/70cm HT's and it made a big difference. If you do go with Nagoya, be sure to shop for an authentic Nagoya. There are alot of bootleg asian knockoffs in the market place, some are OK, but many are not..

I do use a Nagoya, but not sure if it's a knock-off or original. I seem to get better reception with it than with the factory antenna.

 

Still learning, still learning. Would be nice to have a ham channel here :) I know it's off-topic but any mods listening?

 

I'm now thinking about D-star. Seems like cheating but what do you guys think about it?

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I do use a Nagoya, but not sure if it's a knock-off or original. I seem to get better reception with it than with the factory antenna.

 

Still learning, still learning. Would be nice to have a ham channel here :) I know it's off-topic but any mods listening?

 

I'm now thinking about D-star. Seems like cheating but what do you guys think about it?

 

I never got into DSTAR but hear it's a blast.

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I know this is kind of late but anyone heading over to the hamfest in Annandale this morning? KD2HPQ

 

You should make the trip to Dayton, Ohio it's May 15-17 and if you can't find it from one of the indoor or outdoor vendors it probably doesn't exist.

 

Well worth the drive I booked last minute in 2013 and grabbed the last room I could find online, the drive was a back breaker (10 hours or so just stopping for fuel each way) but I brought home so much stuff...actually I even picked up a payphone for $40 and programmed it for the house :D

 

Besides equipment I remember one guy had a huge RCA sign from a store/service shop....damn it I wanted that in the worst way but couldn't lug it home.

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Any old tube gear?

I saw some tube stuff but wasn't sure what it was. There was a lot of old gear, including tubes and other components. Only one vendor had any quantity of new equipment. I bought one of those Quick Guides from him for my Yaesu handheld. 

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10 meters is smoking hot right now with euro-contesting DXers all over the band.   Contacts yesterday in Croatia, Ireland, Poland, Spain (lots), Italy and the Netherlands (lots).   All they need is your callsign and state.   Even 28.300.000 - 28.400.000 (usually more QSLs above 28.400.000.   Enjoy!

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10 meters is smoking hot right now with euro-contesting DXers all over the band.   Contacts yesterday in Croatia, Ireland, Poland, Spain (lots), Italy and the Netherlands (lots).   All they need is your callsign and state.   Even 28.300.000 - 28.400.000 (usually more QSLs above 28.400.000.   Enjoy!

 

Yes....the ARRL international DX contest (phone) is this weekend.  Anyone in the continental US/Canada sends state/province, while the DX sends their power level (you'll hear a lot of 'k' - means kilowatt).  The DX works stateside; stateside works DX - so no one from, say, Tennessee wants to work you in NJ....but ALL the DX wants YOU!  

 

If you're lucky, you can make DXCC in a weekend.

 

Contest runs to (I think) 00:00 Zulu tonight.

 

 

more info at  --  http://www.arrl.org/arrl-dx

 

jon - W2MC

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Yes....the ARRL international DX contest (phone) is this weekend.  Anyone in the continental US/Canada sends state/province, while the DX sends their power level (you'll hear a lot of 'k' - means kilowatt).  The DX works stateside; stateside works DX - so no one from, say, Tennessee wants to work you in NJ....but ALL the DX wants YOU!  

 

If you're lucky, you can make DXCC in a weekend.

 

Contest runs to (I think) 00:00 Zulu tonight.

 

 

more info at  --  http://www.arrl.org/arrl-dx

 

jon - W2MC

 

Hearing a few station out of England this morning calling on 28.400

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The recent geomagnetic storm has really shut down 10 meters!

That's a shame, too...the CQ WPX contest is this weekend. Everybody works everybody, the exchange is a qso serial number, and multipliers are call sign prefixes.

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i w2mc sorry i have not been at anymore meeting i was working wednesday nights but i have off now i should be able to attend them until i start working wednesday i still need to fill out an application i will try to fill one out soon and mail it in 

 

KC2HWF (andrew)

 

i also have some questions about a yaesu ft8000 

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Guys I have a really stupid question. How do HF transceivers work? I have the VHF/UHF repeater thing down by now, but on HF how does the xmit and receive know what the other is doing? Is it automatic? 

 

In other words if you're listening to some frequency on the 20m band and you hear a CQ, and if you just start keying or speaking, will the transmitter know where to send?

 

The reason this came up is I've become interested in QRP as a way to get into HF after I pass my General exam and learn the code. I see these little kit gizmos that fit inside an Altoids can but they have no dials or displays. How do you know "where you are"???

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Guys I have a really stupid question. How do HF transceivers work? I have the VHF/UHF repeater thing down by now, but on HF how does the xmit and receive know what the other is doing? Is it automatic? 

 

In other words if you're listening to some frequency on the 20m band and you hear a CQ, and if you just start keying or speaking, will the transmitter know where to send?

 

The reason this came up is I've become interested in QRP as a way to get into HF after I pass my General exam and learn the code. I see these little kit gizmos that fit inside an Altoids can but they have no dials or displays. How do you know "where you are"???

 

Someone else on here (W2MC) will be able to give you a much better/detailed explanation, but give this a quick glance:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable-frequency_oscillator

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Someone else on here (W2MC) will be able to give you a much better/detailed explanation, but give this a quick glance:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable-frequency_oscillator

Thanks Car. Couldn't find the info I was looking for but it was an interesting (if dense) article.

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Transceivers do it automatically. Internal circuits cut out the receive portion when you transmit. Most older separate transmitter and receivers have a cut off relay somewhere in between if I recall. Been awhile, since I've had older units.

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Guys I have a really stupid question. How do HF transceivers work? I have the VHF/UHF repeater thing down by now, but on HF how does the xmit and receive know what the other is doing? Is it automatic? 

 

In other words if you're listening to some frequency on the 20m band and you hear a CQ, and if you just start keying or speaking, will the transmitter know where to send?

 

The reason this came up is I've become interested in QRP as a way to get into HF after I pass my General exam and learn the code. I see these little kit gizmos that fit inside an Altoids can but they have no dials or displays. How do you know "where you are"???

 

As Bhunted pointed out, modern transceivers "do it" automatically.  You CAN set a split frequency, where you are transmiting on one freq, but listening on another, but unless you purposely set it otherwise, a modern HF transceiver will transmit at the same point where its receiving.  There are a bunch of good reasons for setting your transmit freq differently from your receive, be it for net operation (where you should stay on freq, and sharpen-up the other participants with your RIT (receiver incremental tuning), working "split" - a DX station, for example, transmitting on one frequency, but receiving 5-20 kHz higher in order to manage the pile-up), or, particularly on 40 meters, hams in other countries transmitting on one freq (where you cannot transmit in the USA, but they can) and listening on another frequency where they cannot transmit, but you in the USA can.) 

 

In the deep mists of time (i.e., before my time), where receivers and transmitters were completely separate units, hams would transmit a "CQ", then announce where they were listening (where their receiver was set).  You could also synchronize the receiver and transmitter, so that they were transmitting and receiving at the same place.

 

With little QRP kits like Newtonian is talking about, the answer is "it depends"...some of the kits will be transmitting on the same frequency that you are listening to, with others you have to synchronize the receiver and the transmitter in order to be transmitting and receiving at the same freq.  If they don't have a frequency read-out (just a knob), you just have to know the slice of a band where they are transmitting and understand where they are tuning, so you don't go out of band.  Most of the altoids-box rigs are single-band transceivers and most guys running them know generally where they are, frequency-wise, and just tune themselves to the station they're communicating with....

 

Yes, the kits can be fun...but for a "first radio", I would strongly recommend a good used 50-100 watt transceiver in the "10-15 years or newer" range, with transistors (NOT TUBES) for the final output stage (you don't need to add the complexity of dealing with tubes when you're trying to learn how everything else works).  There's plenty of good, solid transceivers in that range to be had anywhere from $200 to $500 which will serve your needs well.  Another possibility are new low-end transceivers...for just a few dollars more, you can find a good low-end transceiver to start your HF ham career (like an icom IC-718, Yaesu FT-450, etc).  You don't need a top-of-the-line rig with rows of buttons and dials that you don't understand...and by the time that you do understand what they do and can appreciate and control them, you won't need me to explain what each of the dials does. 

 

From my viewpoint, I would generally stick to something made by Yaesu, Icom, and Kenwood...yes, each of them made a few clunkers, and other names made some outstanding radios, but generally you will find there's a ton of good radios made by the 'big 3' that will serve your needs for now and into the future.  Others, such as Ten Tec, JRC, SGC, Elecraft, Patcomm, and older names such as Halicrafters, Collins, or Drake all have made good radios, but they tend to be a little more on the 'niche' market, and not what you need for a good first radio.  (Note that I did NOT mention Alinco....while they have made a few good radios, they've also made a bunch of clunkers, too.  You can do better, elsewhere.)

 

The problem with QRP operation (5-10 watts and under is considered "QRP" on HF) is that you are severely limiting your ability to make contacts.  I've run QRP quite a bit (I've owned several QRP rigs), but with such a low power level, it's easy to find yourself frustrated with ham radio...because at these power levels, you're trying to make contacts with both hands tied behind your back.  If you want to try QRP, you can turn down the 100 watt transceiver to QRP levels easily enough.

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Wonderful advice from everyone. W2MC touched on a lot of great subjects too. 

 

I wasn't planning to have my next radio come from a $14 kit :) I just became curious. Maybe somewhere down the line.

 

In the meantime I'm looking for a good no-frills used all mode HF rig that I can learn on. 

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