******** The Official amateur radio thread ********

PermaBanned said:
Do you have any pictures of your... you know... inside gear? :p
Click to expand...
Not really, I'm on the verge of stripping my shack out completely and rebuilding it to give me more space so will post pictures once that's done.

Tican said:
So... I just contacted my local amature radio club for the foundation training. It does say on their website that they will only run it if there is enough interest :(

Am I able to put up an aerial and just listen for now? So I can get a feel for things? I have never used amateur radio stuff before :/
Click to expand...
Yes, there's nothing stopping you doing that - For receiving then a simple bit of wire strung around as high and as long as you can get it will be fine.
 
davestar_delux said:
From seeing the morse being sent, could you transmit data i.e. computer files to someone and if so at what kind of data rate? Or would it be fairly useless for something that large.
Click to expand...

From my very limited knowledge you can transmit data files, but on their own they require special encoding and can take a relatively long time. Might be worth looking into SSTV for that (i wonder if Feek's ever tried it... ;)).

I've "seen" people connect to the internet over radio, but you're looking at speeds lower than dial up. Still great if it's your only option (say, in a boat) or if you're just using it for experimentation.
 
Feek said:
Not really, I'm on the verge of stripping my shack out completely and rebuilding it to give me more space so will post pictures once that's done.


Yes, there's nothing stopping you doing that - For receiving then a simple bit of wire strung around as high and as long as you can get it will be fine.
Click to expand...

The highest point on the house/in the garden is my TV aerial (no longer used) - Would that do, maybe if I ran the wire the length of the garden and back?
 
davestar_delux said:
Really interesting thread, thanks for posting it.

So are most of the people you contact able to speak English?

Also, how good is a connection to someone, like can you lose a signal during a conversation and not be able to get it back sometimes, e.g. if the weather suddenly takes a turn for the worse or something?

From seeing the morse being sent, could you transmit data i.e. computer files to someone and if so at what kind of data rate? Or would it be fairly useless for something that large.
Click to expand...
Almost everyone speaks English, I know a few phrases in some languages that I use from time to time but the common language is English.

It's very possible to lose a signal. Propagation can change very rapidly and signals can go from being incredibly strong to being inaudible. Back in September I had a few RTTY contacts in a contest first thing in the morning before heading out for a while and conditions were good. On my way home I had a text from my brother saying that he'd put his radio on and the bands were dead. I had a look at a site which monitors solar activity when I got home and saw this.

Absorption-at-0959z-20120108-204712.jpg


There had been a massive solar flare at 09:40 which totally wiped out all the HF bands. That image should be completely black!

Checking a couple of the slow Morse grabbing stations around the world, it was possible to see exactly when the solar flare hit the planet. The first one is in Essex, the second is in the Netherlands and you can see the signals just vanishing as the solar flare hit us.
grabber_when_the_flare_hit-20120108-204917.jpg


another_grabber_as_the_flare_hit-20120108-204943.jpg


File transfer by radio really isn't practical, the bandwidth just isn't there.

Tican said:
The highest point on the house/in the garden is my TV aerial (no longer used) - Would that do, maybe if I ran the wire the length of the garden and back?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't double it back on itself but if you can go down one side and back the other, that'll be OK.
 
Yeah, that's Slow Scan TV (SSTV) that PB mentioned. I used to mess around with SSTV on the 2m (144MHz) band many years ago but really it quite bored me. Two minutes to send a grainy picture isn't really my idea of fun but some radio hams spend a lot of time doing it. Each to their own.
 
ins0mn1ac said:
Can you pick up emergency service transmissions? and is it illegal to do that sort of thing?
Click to expand...

Yes and no (in that order, not at the same time). You can even do this on CB, Channel 9 i think is dedicated to emergency transmissions but it depends who around you is using it. If you do come across an emergency transmission then you can do your best to help out, which i think is more common in places in America where there might be more large scale emergencies like hurricanes where the "official" services might not be able to cope. I believe there are whole qualifications based around it.
 
My two main radios at the moment... I like a certain brand as you can see ;)

Picture is a bit naff because of my skills/phone cam/poor light.

950.jpg

990ac.jpg
 
Last edited:
Ewaf said:
Kinda cool, I guess.

Seems like an utter waste of time and money, why do this when we have the internet.
Click to expand...

The same could be said for most hobbies, why go fishing when you can buy Cod at the supermarket? Its a hobby and if you enjoy it then why not. Granted this one is up there with trainspotting :)
 
Ewaf said:
Kinda cool, I guess.

Seems like an utter waste of time and money, why do this when we have the internet.
Click to expand...

You didn't read my first post then where I said that the thrill is doing it all unassisted. I can communicate with the world without having to rely on anyone else whatsoever.

It's a niche hobby though, no doubt.

Stiggeh, the 950 is a nice wireless. I have no brand loyalty though and when I was looking to replace my 847 I went with the Kenwood TS-590 and what a cracking piece of kit it is.
 
Interesting thread, I always wondered about amateur radio and this has cleared a few things up.

I think it would have definitely interested me if the internet had not evolved as it did as it could have been very practicable apart from a hobby.
Where would you say the future is in this though, has this kind of technology peaked?

Also, when you say you do not go over 400mhz - is that a legal limit?
I remember when I was young my dads friend had this hand-held scanner for picking up emergency services voice-wave (he said this was legal), but I remember him scanning once and it started picking up mobile calls!
Are mobile calls still sent out by this kind of system or is it all encrypted somehow now?
 
Last edited:
mejinks said:
Have you thought about doing a live web feed so we can listen to your dulcet tones?

Feek FM :D
Click to expand...
Oh my word, not a chance! Besides, I very rarely use FM :)

Ice Rich said:
Interesting thread, I always wondered about amateur radio and this has cleared a few things up.

I think it would have definitely interested me if the internet had not evolved as it did as it could have been very practicable apart from a hobby.
Where would you say the future is in this though, has this kind of technology peaked?
Click to expand...
Nope, new stuff is still being done all the time. There's always work being done to improve the data modes and as technology moves on, equipment changes.

Ice Rich said:
Also, when you say you do not go over 400mhz - is that a legal limit?
Click to expand...
No, the 400 is 400 watts, the legal limit in the UK for power is 400 watts. We are allowed to use frequencies as high as (get this) 76GHz. That's pretty specialised though and there's not much going on that high.

Ice Rich said:
I remember when I was young my dads friend had this hand-held scanner for picking up emergency services voice-wave (he said this was legal), but I remember him scanning once and it started picking up mobile calls!
Are mobile calls still sent out by this kind of system or is it all encrypted somehow now?
Click to expand...
Police transmissions have been digital (using the Airwave system) now for quite a few years and they're very heavily encrypted. I'm not sure about the fire and ambulance services. Mobile phones are all digital as well now. Baby monitors can be a good source of entertainment though :D

j0s said:
my uncle is into ham Radio, G4XFC

He also helps with the Lincoln short wave radio club http://www.g5fz.co.uk/
Click to expand...
The callsign is familiar but he's not in my log for the last year. I have spoken to the Lincoln club though, they ran a Special Event station last year to commemorate the Dambusters raid.

I know from previous threads that we have a few people in the forums with licences, it'd be good for some of them to join in here.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom