Any Ham Radio Enthusiasts Here on Free Republic?

Red Badger | Jan. 5, 2021 | Red Badger

[Magnum44]

I am a spacecraft engineer and pilot, and I wouldnt know raspberry pi from a 1980’s pocket pager, I am embarrassed to admit. I will see if I can find what you are referring to and try to see if thats going to fit what I am looking for. Thanks

[Bobalu]

It will operate across that entire range, but as it comes from the factory only the ham bands allow for transmit.

There is a single surface-mount diode that if removed will allow transmission on the entire frequency range...

You will need an inexpensive 2 meter radio for vhf...

You can get a fine 25watt mobile radio for 79.99 delivered at Amazon...covers 2 meters and 440.

The 7300 has SSB, CW, RTTY, AM, FM modes.

RTTY is a sort of old-school digital mode...text transmissions like the old news teletype machines...works well. most any rig can do some form of digital with an adapter.

This ad is from gigaparts.com

[abigkahuna]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnpln-aRWrs&t=1275s

Found the linky...see if this helps.

[metmom]

It’s a world of its own that most people never have reason to learn anything about.

I’ll bet more people today don’t even know what it is.

[Magnum44]

Thanks for that. As has been pointed out to me, I will also need to find a good antenna to match with transceiver and the bands (10 meter for now), and I am starting from scratch on this as well. I live in a rural area, but I do have neighbors and I suspect I wont be able to erect a permanent tower, so I need to find antenna solutions that are either low profile or fast/easy to deploy and stow.

[abigkahuna]

Are you looking for HF gear? I know you are interested in packet radio. That ship sailed in the 90s with the advent of email and internet unfortunately. But, there are still things going on. Things like JS8Call or similar digital platforms that allow long distance contact and brief messaging. I will let you know about my journey on building a RPi4 computer. Not the first time. I did build an allstar node for 220, which was cool.

[Magnum44]

Thanks again. This is very helpful.

[Bobalu]

This is a budget rig, but will do the job. 100watts and has good specs. Not an SDR but will do an excellent job.

Just 559.95 after a rebate and free shipping

At gigaparts.com

[Magnum44]

I did build an allstar node for 220, which was cool.

Congrats, I think. (I wish I knew what that meant - laughing again)

[central_va]

[Magnum44]

ICOM seems to be the reputable name out there. Thanks

[TopDog2]

KD9CVW here.

[TheDon]

Studying for my General license.
Please add me to a ping list.

[Magnum44]

So I am getting back to your antenna comment. For the 10 meter (tech license level) HF, what are some options for antenna that wont get neighbors (or HOA Karens) up in arms? Is there such a thing as low profile or easy deploy and stow? Do I need to have directional steering?

[Bobalu]

The end-fed half wave wire antenna can do the job.

I make my own, you need an 11 dollar toroid, a short piece of #20 enameled wire, a 200pf 5000v capacitor, some sort of a case, a socket to connect your pl-259 coax plug into...that's about it....just cut to size and string it up and it will work a single band or multiple without need of a tuner. You can buy ready made but don't get the one from MFJ as it has bad reviews.

The image below is a low-power version...you can see how simple the thing is...just a bit of soldering involved... this is a 20 dollar kit from qrpguys.com the 100watt version is the same design but you use a larger toroid that cost 11.00

[Magnum44]

Your pic got blocked by a firewall I think. Can you send me the link to the pic?

[Vermont Lt]

If you do a search you will usually find a club doing tests. I was close to WPI at the time and went in with a bunch of nerdy college kids—straight out of “The Big Bang” theory.

Of course COVID HAS to be screwing this up.

[steve86]

I just do shortwave DX but happened to have assembled last night one of the small active magnetic loop kits (K-180WLA). Really impressed with the noise rejection and pull (in my basement!). Also impressed with the Android app Skywave Schedules. I do have one of the Wouxun 2M handhelds but do not transmit. Do listen to local nets.

[dragnet2]

All my gear is ICOM except for an old HF general coverage receiver. ICOM is some of the best stuff in the amateur radio world. Those interested in getting into this field, I would suggest a used ICOM 746 transceiver. It has general coverage receive, AM etc, and nearly all the HF bands and it covers the 2 meter band!! All in one package.

You can get these radios on the used market for about 300 bucks. I've had one for about 20+ years and still works perfect.

[Bobalu]

For the single band of 10 meters the cheapest and simplest antenna is an inverted vee dipole...it is unobtrusive and costs virtually NOTHING....if you have a good electronics junkbox :-)

It consists of 16ft of wire of just about any sort..connected to coax at the center and placed on a pole of some kind.

Just search for inverted vee and you will see how simple it is.

You can build the inverted vee for 20 meters...in this low-sunspot period 20 is far superior to ten meters... it is alive for long-range contact most days...10 is NOT.
For 20 the vee would use roughly 32ft of wire.

Low-cost RG8X coax is good enough for short runs of up to 50ft or so. I get it in 500ft spools on ebay....about 100.00/roll you can get cheap 100ft rolls with a coax connector on both ends..the coax connector is only needed at the radio end as you solder the other end of the coax directly to the antenna...be sure to seal the coax with good caulk or coax-seal tape so water does not infiltrate the coax shield and cause loss of signal...you can find full instructions online.