******** The Official amateur radio thread ********
- Thread starter Feek
- Start date
Nice, very nice. Back in the day, a group of us used to go to the summit of Beacon Hill in Powys for VHF and UHF contests. We'd convoy down in a load of cars and land rovers and as each car got stuck driving up, we'd use the landies to drag them up to the top.
Well you know where to get one from
Just had a very nice natter for the best part of an hour with a local on 10m AM.
Strange people, very strange.
That's a lovely looking wireless, I've used an 870 briefly but I've never owned one. I like it.
The UV-5R is a perfectly fine, cheap as chips wireless. I've got two here, both with flat batteries and both the chargers are broken and it's not practical to repair them but I don't really care.
You're correct that it's perfectly legal to buy them and nobody is going to be bothered if you use them to listen to amateurs or PMR users on 446MHz.
Regarding the second part, this sounds as though you want to be able to transmit, have others receive you but not reply. If that's the case then the amateur radio licence isn't for you. "Broadcasting", ie transmitting on a one to many basis isn't allowed under the amateur radio licence.
If you used them on the public 446MHz licence free frequencies, you could do this and the other person can reply but technically, using a Baofeng for 446MHz is illegal because it breaks a number of the regulations regarding PMR446. However, I doubt anyone would even notice that you're doing it and wouldn't care either.
Even if you all take the Foundation exam and get licences then I still don't think that amateur radio is the solution you're looking for because one of the terms of the licence is that:
You're correct that it's perfectly legal to buy them and nobody is going to be bothered if you use them to listen to amateurs or PMR users on 446MHz.
Regarding the second part, this sounds as though you want to be able to transmit, have others receive you but not reply. If that's the case then the amateur radio licence isn't for you. "Broadcasting", ie transmitting on a one to many basis isn't allowed under the amateur radio licence.
If you used them on the public 446MHz licence free frequencies, you could do this and the other person can reply but technically, using a Baofeng for 446MHz is illegal because it breaks a number of the regulations regarding PMR446. However, I doubt anyone would even notice that you're doing it and wouldn't care either.
Even if you all take the Foundation exam and get licences then I still don't think that amateur radio is the solution you're looking for because one of the terms of the licence is that:
It sounds to me as though you're wanting something for commercial use which means that amateur radio is right out of the question.
Yup, that's the ones and that's the system.
Yes, the simple UK licence is not an amateur radio licence so it's not bound by the conditions I posted. I'd never actually heard of this licence before a couple of weeks ago so it's something new on me but I did some research on it then and found this which is a sample of the licence itself. There are a fixed number of available frequencies and they're shared with all other Simple UK licence holders around the country. It looks as though a Beofeng would be ideal for these with their five watts output power, zero gain aerials and ability to use the 449MHz frequencies.
That name though, "Simple UK" - It really sucks!
I've got two broken ones, they're useless, effectively unrepairable.
Nobody needs digital! The Anytone 878 is a decent enough handheld, even if you only use it for analogue radio. The Kenwood TM-D74E is superb wires, whether you use it for D-STAR or not. What's your budget?
HF can be done relatively inexpensively but I can understand this. The learning curve is potentially quite high and getting a VHF/UHF station is much easier and cheaperAfter messing around for the last 6 months, I have decided that I dontt have the space, time, money or facilities for HF
Excellent news.
Mobile. A proper mobile wireless with a real microphone and speaker is so much more satisfying to use than a handheld. Look at the Yaesu FTM-100 (which gives you C4FM if you want it), Yaesu FT-8900 or Kenwood TM-V71E. They're all technically 'old' models but they're all very good and aren't overpriced. As for an aerial, something like a Diamond X50 or an X200 will do you perfectly well for a home station.
Congratulations! I prefer buying new but it's worth looking at second hand kit. The IC-7300 is a very capable radio and when it was released, it pretty much took the wind out of the TS-590 but that's still not to say the the 590 isn’t a fantastic radio and if you can find one second hand, it's an absolute bargain.
Building your own dipole is straightforward and as I'm a fan of resonant aerials, it's something I recommend. It's also worth looking at a Cobweb which is a multiband aerial made up of multiple folded dipoles. It's omnidirectional and each element is a true dipole for each band so it's a resonant aerial and doesn't need an ATU.
Whatever you do, don't fall into the trap of thinking you need to get on every band and mode possible as quickly as possible. The hobby isn't going away and there's plenty of time to experiment and see what you fancy doing.
However, while you've got the Foundation stuff fresh in your mind, pick up a copy of the Intermediate manual and start studying that. It's just been announced that as from August, the testing will be available online so get yourself up the ladder as quickly as you can
It was longer than three months. It's been nearly five months.
I spent three hours in the garden yesterday rebuilding it. Then I spent another three hours this morning finishing it off, followed by a couple of hours work getting it all mounted to the mast, tightened off and raised back up.
Looking good.
It's an Alimast from John, G4ZTR (Aerial-Parts of Colchester). I've got four sections, along with the associated accessories, coupling packs, base pack, top plate and rotator plate. Yes, it's still available.
I put it up in 2011 and if you go back to the very first post in this thread, there's a load of pictures of the whole process of assembling it and getting it all installed plus a link to a video of it being wound up when it had my MA-5B on top.
Like anything else, it's all down to perspective. On the ground, it looks enormous but once the mast is wound up, I don't think it has anywhere near the same visual impact.
I wanted to run five sections to give me 12.5m height but John highly recommended against it because I'm running unguyed. I seem to remember he says five sections guyed is a good figure with 75Kg headland but if you want more details, drop him and email and I'm sure he'll be able to help you. Drop my name and see if that does anything for the price (I've known John for years and he was happy to sponsor qso365 back in 2011).
I actually found out recently that the conditions prohibiting discussion of religion and politics is no longer in the licence conditions
I've got a length of 450 that I bought from eBay years ago with the intention to use it for my VHF system but in the end I went with Ecoflex 15 from the shack to the masthead preamp and then a tail made of Ecoflex 10 to go round the rotator and up to the aerial itself. I'm still using that coax but it's connected to a Diamond X510 now. I haven't used 2m SSB for nearly ten years although I did buy one of those cheap Ukrainian transverters for 2m to get me back on the band. I know it'll be useless being cross polarised but for local natter, it's fine.
I have no brand loyalty - Whenever I'm looking at wirelesses, I try and spend some time at a shop playing with different models to see what I fancy. My shack isn't full of radios, I've just got a Kenwood TS-590, Icom 5100, Yaesu FTM-100D and an Anytone handheld here so a nice mix of makes.
As has been said above, simple wire aerials are pretty straightforward, easy to build and very unobtrusive. I'm assuming you're talking about HF though because if you're in the middle of GM land, I can't imagine there's much in the way of VHF/UHF activity.
If all you want to do is receive at the moment then just run as much wire as you can around wherever you can and connect it to the centre of the aerial connector.
Congrats, now while it’s all fresh in your mind, start looking at the full
I had a dreadful night sleep last night and so I switched the wireless on. 40m was buzzing on FT8 in the early hours. Signals were weak but there were plenty of them and I picked up some new band slots, most noticeably Bonaire and Peru.
I had a dreadful night sleep last night and so I switched the wireless on. 40m was buzzing on FT8 in the early hours. Signals were weak but there were plenty of them and I picked up some new band slots, most noticeably Bonaire and Peru.
The slot on 40m means I've worked PJ4 on all bands from 40m through to 10m now but nothing lower. I need to sort out a half decent aerial on 80m so I can work on that band next though, thinking about a G7FEK as that'll fit nicely in the space I have available with the supports I already have.
Not sure if you've seen but it's possible to book the full online now, this were announced a few weeks ago.
Did anyone else play in CQ WW this weekend? Conditions were unusual with lots of short skip on the higher bands with my favourite band being open for a long time. I've not had so much fun in an SSB contest for years.
I had a break for the F1 qualifying and race and we were out most of Saturday evening but despite that, I'm very happy with my results.
I need to replace my Heil Pro Set Plus though, it's a superb headset but I just don't find it comfortable for hours at a time. I'm looking at the Radiosport RS60CF.
I had a break for the F1 qualifying and race and we were out most of Saturday evening but despite that, I'm very happy with my results.
I need to replace my Heil Pro Set Plus though, it's a superb headset but I just don't find it comfortable for hours at a time. I'm looking at the Radiosport RS60CF.
Bands have been opening far quicker than I expected in cycle 25 - I worked ZL on 40m FT8 a couple of mornings ago and although he was weak, he wasn't far off being workable on CW so conditions are definitely improving.
@Cromulent
It's dead easy to get a Foundation licence now - Take a look here: https://rsgb.org/main/clubs-training/for-students/foundation/
I can thoroughly recommend the Essex Ham course which is free.
@Cromulent
It's dead easy to get a Foundation licence now - Take a look here: https://rsgb.org/main/clubs-training/for-students/foundation/
I can thoroughly recommend the Essex Ham course which is free.
Fixed my Hexbeam again today - One side of one of the 17m elements broke in a storm we had back in November and because of all the rain we've had, it's just not been possible to do anything in the garden because it's just been waterlogged. The hanging part of the element had wrapped around the centre of the aerial making it difficult to turn so I've been stuck with a fixed heading Hexbeam and no 17m since then.
Today I lowered it, re-terminated the element and installed a fix that should stop this happening again. The whole process took a couple of hours and then I spent a happy afternoon on 17m, I didn't work any new slots or anything like that but it was good to get Colombia, Kuwait and Indonesia in the log. Yesterday I worked VK on 20m with the aerial pointing due west so it was bang off one of the sides!
A few weeks ago I picked up a Yaesu FTM-300 and I've got it in the office on a Nifty stand so I can natter on a local YSFReflector.
Today I lowered it, re-terminated the element and installed a fix that should stop this happening again. The whole process took a couple of hours and then I spent a happy afternoon on 17m, I didn't work any new slots or anything like that but it was good to get Colombia, Kuwait and Indonesia in the log. Yesterday I worked VK on 20m with the aerial pointing due west so it was bang off one of the sides!
A few weeks ago I picked up a Yaesu FTM-300 and I've got it in the office on a Nifty stand so I can natter on a local YSFReflector.
Aye, I like 17m and at this point in the cycle, it's my preferred band of choice. Once conditions pick up a bit more, I'll be back on 15m properly which is my favourite band. You've done well, I've only worked the Vatican once and that was back in 2012!
My path to JA is pretty good, I've worked there a fair bit this year already on 30m and now I can use the hex on 17m again, I've had a nice little run this morning on FT8. It's nice to call CQ and have half a dozen JAs reply at the same time. It's all about the aerial, the hex is still a bit of a compromise but it's a lot better than many people can manage in a suburban area. Putting up a full size dipole for 30m, even at only 20ft above the ground has transformed the band for me.
I wonder what you're using the SDRPlay for?
My path to JA is pretty good, I've worked there a fair bit this year already on 30m and now I can use the hex on 17m again, I've had a nice little run this morning on FT8. It's nice to call CQ and have half a dozen JAs reply at the same time. It's all about the aerial, the hex is still a bit of a compromise but it's a lot better than many people can manage in a suburban area. Putting up a full size dipole for 30m, even at only 20ft above the ground has transformed the band for me.
Some of the prices for these kits are ridiculous and as you've said you can knock up the cables yourself for just a few quid. The nifty stand is expensive for what it is, it's not that sturdy really but it does the job. I doubt I'd buy another one as I misread the advert and thought it was made of metal.
I wonder what you're using the SDRPlay for?