djg0770 481 Posted May 31, 2015 Lol thanks Dan I do appreciate the offer as well. But newtonian is about 15 minutes from me looks like your over in passaic. I saw that the baofeng are only 30 to 40 on amazon it's just my thing of not personally knowing you guys. I'm actually waiting on a return call from newtonian to meet up so I can at least see his baofeng and yaesu. I'll probably pick one up in 2 weeks when my next paycheck comes in and I have so.e funds freed up. Then I'll have a boat load of questions lol No problem! I bought the longer flexi antenna right away since the radios were so cheap. When I first looked into Ham back in the 90's there were no "cheap Chinese Electronics" and the least expensive HT was well over $300. I'm waiting for another Chinese MFR to get into the HF side of things to provide a lower entry price point. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tinman22 0 Posted May 31, 2015 i'm sure another company will get into it and that will do one of 2 things. either the prices will stay low and just give us more inexpensive options or it will be an option war and prices will go up because there will be more features on the radios. I bettter get on the band wagon vefore the cheaper option dissapears lol. at the rate i'm going I may have my general before I even key up unless I stumble on a conversation on 10m. we'll see how my studying goes for that Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W2MC 1,699 Posted May 31, 2015 No problem! I bought the longer flexi antenna right away since the radios were so cheap. When I first looked into Ham back in the 90's there were no "cheap Chinese Electronics" and the least expensive HT was well over $300. I'm waiting for another Chinese MFR to get into the HF side of things to provide a lower entry price point. They are getting closer...but you do understand that, as with anything in life, you get what you pay for.... http://www.cheapham.com/alinco-dx-sr8t-hf-transceiver-memorial-day-weekend-special/ Truthfully, most folks starting-out in the HF side of amateur radio would be well-served by either a second-hand rig, or something like this: http://www.gigaparts.com/Product-Lines/HF-Radios/Icom-IC-718.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Silence Dogood 468 Posted May 31, 2015 Hit my first repeater today on 2m. Started on HF so this is new territory to me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Newtonian 453 Posted June 9, 2015 Hit my first repeater today on 2m. Started on HF so this is new territory to me. Interesting. I need to get onto HF soon. How did yo start? What's your HF rig/antenna? Curious minds want to know. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Silence Dogood 468 Posted June 15, 2015 HF rig is Yaesu FT-DX-1200 (160m-6m) into an 82' physical length (electrical length 131' with integrated inductors) AlphaDelta DX-CC center-fed multi band parallel dipole mounted just over 1/4 wave (66' +/-) above the ground between two trees. We're at the highest point in town so the dipole is oriented north-south at about 365' above sea level. Fixed connection at one end with the other end over a marine grade pulley, down the tree in UV-rated 3/8" cord (similar to paracord - 600# breaking strength) to a Variten Antenna Tensioner (acts as a shock absorber - outstanding product). Feedline is supported up to 35' or so on a tree before it loops out to connect at center insulator. Feedline is 240' of low loss LMT-400 Ultraflex coax (SO-239 connectors) - best source is sagemaiden on ebay. Feedline lightning protected with Alpha Delta 3TTG50 surge protection and grounded at base of tree to copper bus and out to (3) 8' copper clad ground rods in 2" wide copper strap. Single-point grounded with #4 bare copper to house ground rods. 6m antenna is homebuilt horizontal with Buddipole whips. http://yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=102&encProdID=9D00B8E5727EF1E6778041A8B0133A22 http://www.dxengineering.com/parts/alf-dx-cc?seid=dxese1&gclid=CPbT5sjekcYCFZWRHwodzUwArg http://www.alphadeltacom.com/pdf/prices_surgeprotectors-4.pdf http://antennatensioner.com/drupal/ http://georgiacopper.com/ Georgia Copper is your friend in this endeavor! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W2MC 1,699 Posted June 15, 2015 HF rig is Yaesu FT-DX-1200 (160m-6m) into an 82' physical length (electrical length 131' with integrated inductors) AlphaDelta DX-CC center-fed multi band parallel dipole mounted just over 1/4 wave (66' +/-) above the ground between two trees. We're at the highest point in town so the dipole is oriented north-south at about 365' above sea level. Fixed connection at one end with the other end over a marine grade pulley, down the tree in UV-rated 3/8" cord (similar to paracord - 600# breaking strength) to a Variten Antenna Tensioner (acts as a shock absorber - outstanding product). Feedline is supported up to 35' or so on a tree before it loops out to connect at center insulator. Feedline is 240' of low loss LMT-400 Ultraflex coax (SO-239 connectors) - best source is sagemaiden on ebay. Feedline lightning protected with Alpha Delta 3TTG50 surge protection and grounded at base of tree to copper bus and out to (3) 8' copper clad ground rods in 2" wide copper strap. Single-point grounded with #4 bare copper to house ground rods. 6m antenna is homebuilt horizontal with Buddipole whips. http://yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=102&encProdID=9D00B8E5727EF1E6778041A8B0133A22 http://www.dxengineering.com/parts/alf-dx-cc?seid=dxese1&gclid=CPbT5sjekcYCFZWRHwodzUwArg http://www.alphadeltacom.com/pdf/prices_surgeprotectors-4.pdf http://antennatensioner.com/drupal/ http://georgiacopper.com/ Georgia Copper is your friend in this endeavor! Nice set-up....I'll second the Alpha-Delta; particularly the DXCC - you're paying extra, but its extremely well-built and I've never heard a complaint about them. I have their DX-B, which is the wire sloper for use with a tower to cover 30, 40, 80, & 160 Meters. Works great! How do you like the DX-1200? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carcano 14 Posted June 15, 2015 I had a really nice catch on 10 meters yesterday. I worked an EA station out of the Canary Islands, a station in Germany and another in Brazil. Almost fell out of the chair, haven't heard anything like that on 10 for a while! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carcano 14 Posted June 15, 2015 Worked these stations on 20 meters last night/early this morning running 100 watts on a Windom OCF 80-6m di-pole 25 feet up: IZ8GNR, OJ0B, UA3KW, HA8IB, OE3DIA, S57V, 9A2YM, LZ293MA, G4PVD, and MW0YVK. Solid 5/9's sent and received. That Windom has a low SWR and I never need to tune up on 40-6 meters but on 80 it's a must. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Silence Dogood 468 Posted June 17, 2015 How do you like the DX-1200? Love it. Great reports on audio/voice quality. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1LtCAP 4,264 Posted June 21, 2015 i know this is a ham radio thread.......but that means there's bunches of guys in here in the know. what's opinions on cb? just looking for a max of 9-10 miles, and prefer to not need to depend on repeaters or get a license...... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
djg0770 481 Posted June 21, 2015 9-10 miles u need an amp which is illegal. If you want illegal, please look elsewhere. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carcano 14 Posted June 21, 2015 i know this is a ham radio thread.......but that means there's bunches of guys in here in the know. what's opinions on cb? just looking for a max of 9-10 miles, and prefer to not need to depend on repeaters or get a license...... CB still has it's uses. When thing I learned from HAM was that many HAM operators were against CB ownership/use, hell I was excommunicated by some locals simply because I still owned a CB radio. I would get a CB with SSB (sideband, LSB and USB), the one I have is stock (not illegally modified) Cobra 148 GTL with an Antron 99 antenna 10 feet off the ground and range is a good 10-14 miles from the house to the car. I use the upper channels such as 36, 37, 38, 39, and 40. Many of the lower channels (including 9) have lost any legitimate use over the years in these parts. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carcano 14 Posted June 21, 2015 9-10 miles u need an amp which is illegal. If you want illegal, please look elsewhere. You do not need an amp for 9-10 miles of range. You need a good base antenna and a good mobile antenna, properly installed. Running a stock Cobra 148 I can easily reach people at 10+ miles. Here is the base antenna I have: Cobra 148 GTL (can be had used for a lot less...) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA3K31701891&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC-_-pla-_-Two-Way+Radios-_-9SIA3K31701891&gclid=CMKa8f_FocYCFdUXHwod8tsJ3w&gclsrc=aw.ds Antron 99 antena: http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=A-99&utm_campaign=base&utm_medium=organic&utm_source=google_base&gclid=CMujn5rGocYCFZGPHwodcpgA8Q Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tinman22 0 Posted June 22, 2015 I have to agree with carcano. Easily can get 9 to 10 miles with out an amp. I have an old president Washington and an A99 antenna and have managed to talk to mobiles down by byram which is probably 15 miles or better straight line from home. Also talked to other base stations in blairstown etc. Heck I talked to a mobile in colorado on 38 lower about 20 years ago on 12 watts when I lived in woodbridge on the same equipment Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tinman22 0 Posted June 22, 2015 Now that I have a radio for 2m and 70 cm in need to get a contact on that. Seems no one's on the repeater I'm listening to when I'm on Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1LtCAP 4,264 Posted June 22, 2015 9-10 miles u need an amp which is illegal. If you want illegal, please look elsewhere. no, i'm not that guy dude. i want no-hassle comms, and to me getting a license to communicate is a hassle. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1LtCAP 4,264 Posted June 22, 2015 i think djg's torqued 'cause of the guy earlier that was offering illegal document fakes. i ain't looking for illegal. Carcano......i have an antenna that looks like that on my shop. the guy i bought it from was a bit into cb's, and had had it installed. what do you mean by properly installed concerning the mobile antenna? as in what would be necessary on my truck? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carcano 14 Posted June 22, 2015 i think djg's torqued 'cause of the guy earlier that was offering illegal document fakes. i ain't looking for illegal. Carcano......i have an antenna that looks like that on my shop. the guy i bought it from was a bit into cb's, and had had it installed. what do you mean by properly installed concerning the mobile antenna? as in what would be necessary on my truck? You want a good ground plane for the antenna. On the vehicles roof or if you have a tool box I've mounted them to those in the past with good results. When you ground the radio do not ground it to the negative terminal on the battery, run the negative line to the vehicles frame and clean up the area with some sand paper / use a clamp and attach it to the frame. Also avoid using a cig lighter plug or the fuse block...run the positive line DIRECTLY to the battery. Another option is GMRS (requires FCC license but NO TEST!), I forget the cost but it's around $70 for 3 or 5 years I can't remember off hand. You can have a UHF repeater on the GMRS band legally. I have two Motorola MaxTrac police-surplus radios setup along with the repeater interface I bought off ebay. All said and done with two antennas, two MaxTrac radios (for building the repeater), interface box, power and coax cables (coax 2 x 50 foot runs) and a cheap DC power supply I had under $400 in this setup and can get a good 15-20 mile range. I also have UHF Saber police-surplus handhelds ($30 a pop on eBay, battery and charger add $40 or so) setup so I leave one ot two around the house in the event someone needs to call me. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carcano 14 Posted June 22, 2015 I have to agree with carcano. Easily can get 9 to 10 miles with out an amp. I have an old president Washington and an A99 antenna and have managed to talk to mobiles down by byram which is probably 15 miles or better straight line from home. Also talked to other base stations in blairstown etc. Heck I talked to a mobile in colorado on 38 lower about 20 years ago on 12 watts when I lived in woodbridge on the same equipment I had a President Washington base, those were well built radios and put out a clean signal (so long as somebody didn't bubba it up). They had the built in AC power supply, too! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1LtCAP 4,264 Posted June 22, 2015 CB still has it's uses. When thing I learned from HAM was that many HAM operators were against CB ownership/use, hell I was excommunicated by some locals simply because I still owned a CB radio. I would get a CB with SSB (sideband, LSB and USB), the one I have is stock (not illegally modified) Cobra 148 GTL with an Antron 99 antenna 10 feet off the ground and range is a good 10-14 miles from the house to the car. I use the upper channels such as 36, 37, 38, 39, and 40. Many of the lower channels (including 9) have lost any legitimate use over the years in these parts. somehow i missed this last time through.....why were they against cb's? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carcano 14 Posted June 22, 2015 somehow i missed this last time through.....why were they against cb's? Many HAMs feel CB is an embarrassment to the hobby. CB has changed a lot since the 60's/70's/early 80's. Today most of the guys are interested in pushing power (illegally), combined with cursing, non-stop jamming, radios that are out of band, some of these guys even use the 10m HAM band illegally, plus many other FCC violations. A lot of HAMs see CB users as being lower-class, basically "white trash". I disagree with that view, I started with CB radio and that got me interested in HAM,. While most leave the CB hobby once becoming licensed I kept my CB equipment and use it for it's intended purpose. It's not right to group every CB user in the "white trash" category but many HAMs still do. Go on the QRZ forum and post a CB related question, you will see what I mean. some clubs I've been a part of were so against CB and it's users they made it a point to tell new HAMs trash the CB equipment or get out. Of course I told them to pound sand and have not been involved with any club for the past 6 or 7 years and have not missed out on anything. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carcano 14 Posted June 22, 2015 http://www.ebay.com/itm/KENWOOD-TKR820-UHF-REPEATER-HAM-GMRS-PL-DPL-/151713596818?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2352d5c592 Nice Kenwood UHF repeater up for grabs, $35 extra to program. I might jump on one the seller has a few. Keep in mind without duplexer you will need two antennas Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1LtCAP 4,264 Posted June 22, 2015 the repeater's getting a bit outta my range, knowledge wise. i'm gonna find a base cb to keep here at the house.....or i'll simply use a mobile unit, fed through a 12v power inverter.......and mount a decent antenna on the roof.......... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carcano 14 Posted June 22, 2015 the repeater's getting a bit outta my range, knowledge wise. i'm gonna find a base cb to keep here at the house.....or i'll simply use a mobile unit, fed through a 12v power inverter.......and mount a decent antenna on the roof.......... Look on ebay for a President Washington base unit, One sold last week for $40 + $14 S&H. Whatever you get, I would spend the extra and make sure it has SSB but that's just me Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1LtCAP 4,264 Posted June 22, 2015 Look on ebay for a President Washington base unit, One sold last week for $40 + $14 S&H. Whatever you get, I would spend the extra and make sure it has SSB but that's just me ima gonna follow your advice on that sir. and also, i will reitirate for jkg's peace of mind.....i am not looking to do anything illegal.i'm too young and virile to go to jail, lololol. i simply want simple and easy. cb's if i can get a little range fill that gap nicely. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W2MC 1,699 Posted June 22, 2015 i know this is a ham radio thread.......but that means there's bunches of guys in here in the know. what's opinions on cb? just looking for a max of 9-10 miles, and prefer to not need to depend on repeaters or get a license...... Haven't been on the Chicken Band in years. To use a car comparison; Ham Radio is like a Cadillac...CB is like a Yugo. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1LtCAP 4,264 Posted June 22, 2015 lolol...just went and looked....3 all not working, lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W2MC 1,699 Posted June 22, 2015 and if you happen to be in the south jersey - Marlton area, stop by the South Jersey Radio Assn's Field Day operation at Savitch Field. We will be operating in category 6A - that means 6 transmitters operating simultaneously (plus a GOTA station, and we are also thinking VHF) More info, and photos from previous Field Day events: http://www.k2aa.info/basic-page/field-day W2MC Just a reminder......this is NEXT WEEKEND Set-up starts Friday; operation starts Saturday afternoon 2 PM Saturday to 2 PM Sunday Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W2MC 1,699 Posted June 22, 2015 http://www.ebay.com/itm/KENWOOD-TKR820-UHF-REPEATER-HAM-GMRS-PL-DPL-/151713596818?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2352d5c592 Nice Kenwood UHF repeater up for grabs, $35 extra to program. I might jump on one the seller has a few. Keep in mind without duplexer you will need two antennas There's a LOT involved with setting-up your own ham radio repeater; both technical and paperwork-wise (repeater coordination). You dont just plug it in and start playing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites