Thread 2931635

Literally Just Copypasting You Lazy Fuck edition

Previous thread: >>2917766
Eternal thread theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gd43b_ZcuU

>New to /ham/? Read this shit!
http://www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio
https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/bureau-divisions/mobility-division/amateur-radio-service
>Your search engine of choice works well too!

>The FAQ is now back:
>https://wiki.cybsec.io/index.php/HamFAQ
>OP, the cybsec domain is gone.
>NEW FAQ is updated to preview 15
https://files.catbox.moe/aftx43.htm

>The wiki is down but is archived: https://archive.is/PjR5s
>Idiot's Guide to Coax Cable
https://www.pcs-electronics.com/guide_coax.php
>Looking for frequencies to monitor near you?
http://www.radioreference.com
>Basic Rx loop fundamentals
https://www.w8ji.com/magnetic_receiving_loops.htm
>DIY SWL Mag. Loop
http://www.kr1st.com/swlloop.htm
>Small Tx Loop
http://webclass.org/k5ijb/antennas/Small-magnetic-loops.htm
>In Depth Loop articles
http://www.kk5jy.net/magloop/
>Homebrew RF Circuits
https://www.qsl.net/va3iul/Homebrew_RF_Circuit_Design_Ideas/Homebrew_RF_Circuit_Design_Ideas.htm
>NEW Library
https://mega.nz/file/UCgEGAjb#rwNcnMAQCUUbSp8supsFvn9QEHCWUW86eLcZa16ZG4Y

>Online Practice Tests:
http://aa9pw.com/
https://hamstudy.org/
https://hamexam.org/
> Real-Time Propagation Data
http://prop.kc2g.com/
>Space Weather
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/radio-communications
>WSJT-X 2.1 User Guide
https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx-doc/wsjtx-main-2.1.2.html
>Homosexual (ft8) guide
https://www.g4ifb.com/FT8_Hinson_tips_for_HF_DXers.pdf
>APRS
http://www.aprs.org/
>Weather Fax resources
https://www.weather.gov/media/marine/rfax.pdf
https://weatherfax.com/stations/
>point to point predictions, its free and will give you an idea of how much power/ what frequencies to use to reliably talk to your friend
https://www.voacap.com/hf/
>how do I into Morse code in a good way?
https://pastebin.com/HByjfN4F

>Shortwave radio schedule
https://shortwave.live/

Suck it losers.

Anyway, I'm hitting up the North woods for some camping and plan on bringing my rig. Probably mostly listening, but we'll see. I'm not a big fan of getting grime and bug spray on my radio, so who knows.

CQ CONTEST!

>>2931642
I do what I want.

Stop jacking off. There are real emergencies going on, not some larp to make yourself look important.

>we got flash floods everywhere, a total of 100 confirmed dead, 156 still missing. We need desperately need sup-
>CQ CONTEST CQ CONTEST
>CQ CONTEST CQ CONTEST

Trying to Crack P25 ADP.

No clue how to begin with doing so (;^ω^)

How does I build a radar?

>>2931857
Google your shit retard

>>2931857
i believe youll want full duplex for that(limesdr or bladerf) but the bladerf is kind of pricey. Cheaper thdn a radar though.

>>2931777
In the 60's my dad was part of a fire buff association. they were encouraged to help at fires, directed traffic, and helped clean up after the fire was out. my dad was friends with the fire chief. he even designed the response cards used until the fire department went computers in the 80's. his pictures were published multiple times in the local newspaper. he could show up in any fire station anywhere in the country and get the firemen to bring their trucks out so he could take pictures. I would play video games in the station lounge while he did this. man that was good times.

I've been to more fires as a kid, than your mom gave you encouragement to get the fuck out of the house.

but over time people lost respect for the fire department. fire stations used to be wide open to the public, nothing was locked up and no one stole stuff, but then "you know" came along (not ares never heard of them) and started stealing shit, and now stations are closed up and nowhere near as friendly as they used to be.

>>2931854
>No clue how to begin with doing so
and you never will.

>>2931873

I know it exists online somewhere, it is just a 40bit encryption. Essentially you feed it the encrypted audio and When it gets to the Frames other Audio where it's known Silence, you decrypt that. allegedly should only take an Nvidia Card 24 Hours to do

>>2931920
>>2931836
Oh hey it's the Cobra 26 guy. Glad to see you have everything mounted. Just a comment, mounting your antenna like that so close to the body of the van tends to de-tune the antenna and you may also get some weird signal patterns and reduced performance. Best is to get the base of the antenna at roof level or mount those on your sideview mirrors. But the way you have it now is better than nothing.

>>2931857
take a magnetron out of a microwave and make a circulator

>>2931642
you wasted a lot of time and money to get a license for something the fcc doesn't give a damn if you don't have

>>2932040
nta but are you saying that the fcc does not care if you don’t have a license to use HAM?
Honestly I don’t know what’s even the point. If I can take my phone and call literally anyone, then why do I need a license to talk to a guy somewhere in his garage?

>>2932055
You don't own the Infrastructure Maaaan.
You can't Police the Radio spectrum Maaaan.

>>2931872
>>2931872
Oh I can remember being in Cubs and going on a tour at our citys' main fire hall. This was in the era of the hit tv series 'Emergency!' which I was a big fan of, so it was pretty neat to me. Nowadays about 50% of the calls they go to are drug overdoses. Druggies are real pieces of shit. But I digress..

As for emergency comms as public service, our first responders are pretty much independant and set up well with back-up systems, generators, etc. It would be rare to get the amateur service involved here unless they wanted to use our repeaters due to their own radio circuits being overloaded. Or to send some ham into a remote town that has all comms cut off.

In my region we're mostly thinking of a 1964 Alaska earthquake/tsunami-like event. We suspect we'll act as messengers like the old telegraph system. Basically someone stuck in one town wants to send a message to mom in the next town over saying they're fine but running low on clean underwear. That kind of thing.

In all these years so far only once have I had to provide emergency communications. That was when the phone system failed for 9 hours in the next town over.

>>2931871
>>2932039
Cool! Thanks /ham/!

>>2932055
>If I can take my phone and call literally anyone
Infrastructure was hit last year. Both cell and landling. Some times, ours goes out. Radios are a good thing to have as backup.

>then why do I need a license to talk to a guy somewhere in his garage?
Hams are able to play around more. As a result, you can cause a lot more interference and damage. It happens more than what you think. There are dipshits who tie up a repeater during an emergency net for non-emergency reasons. CB, GMRS, and MURS, everything is already done for you. The power limits, the channels, the bandwidth, etc. This is to prevent you from causing interference.

>>2931872
Your dad is a pretty cool guy for that. The fire dept here hasn't lost it's respect, but like yours, there were a lot of thefts so they also had to lock up.

>>2932068
Drug overdoses here are so common. Everyone's basically trained to administer narcan at this point. I had to give one of my doses to a neighbor so he could administer it to his son if he OD'd. I have a lot since I can get them from work which they hand out like candy.

Here, hams are usually for handling messages to family if there is a disaster like in your example. One of the ARES members here has a perpetual JS8call station up that was used as a relay and message storing during last year's hurricanes. He also took messages from families in the disaster zones and called their loved ones away from that area to say they were okay. I have respect for ARES itself. It does its job. I just hate the larpers.

>>2932055
if you search the FCC's enforcement website you will not find a single instance of a private citizen being fine or in any way prosecuted for transmitting on a ham radio frequency. nor will you find any proof that anyone cited ever paid the fines.

>>2932021
yeah no. I've looked in to it, and so have many others quite keen to decrypt it.

The protocol supports the use of Data Encryption Standard (DES) encryption (56 bit), 2-key Triple-DES encryption, three-key Triple-DES encryption, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption at up to 256 bits keylength, RC4 (40 bits, sold by Motorola as Advanced Digital Privacy), or no encryption. The RC4 Advanced Digital Privacy can withstand casual attackers. It is supposed to offer 40-bit security, where an attacker must test the 2 to the power of 40 possible keys to find the right one. This level of encryption offers no real protection and there is software that allows you to find the key

no one that matters uses rc4

>>2932179
That’s pretty cool. When talking on hams, how many people actually speak without announcing a call sign? Also how many people here actually have a license?

>>2932027
My side power mirrors sadly don't have a straight shaft like the original mirrors did, so the ladder is my best bet for now.
The new microphone I bought from Amazon didn't work on the 26, but the one I got on eBay that looks just like the old one seems to work, or at least it works with the PA speaker so far.
Well, the PA speaker is actually just an "external speaker" that I mounted under the hood, it's too cramped in the engine bay of the van to fit an actual PA horn and I already had the external speaker on hand.

Speaking of, I bought a cobra 19 on eBay to put in my other car, the one that actually does have a PA horn, and it's really quiet for some reason, unless I talk really loudly directly into the microphone...

>>2932227
Not much. Everyone here follows the rules. As a result, there's rarely any problems. The only there is, it's usually on HF, and it's usually on 7.200.

>Also how many people here actually have a license?
Extra class :). It's somewhat worth it because hardly anyone talks in the Extra portions on the bands, and are usually cool people. Like on 80m, there isn't as much talk about tmi medical issues in the Extra portion. I mean, there's reak conversation. I rarely encounter a rule breaker, and it's usually a new ham with a General license just learning so no harm done. I just mostly care that there is no interference. I usually encourage them to get the Extra.

>>2932227
I got it now that morse code isn't mandatory, that you don't need to pay (a small fee) every year and your name and address isn't made public

>>2931854

First you need to be able to dump the signal as hex/binary. After that, you can use protocol specifications to see what each bit means and where the metadata vs the data is in the hex stream, and decode the format. It's where you start from turning a stream of bits into something understandable; you find the marker that indicates the start of a packet, then you see the headers that indicate its length, then other metadata like what the encryption format is.
https://www.qsl.net/kb9mwr/projects/dv/apco25/TIA-102-BAAA-A-Project_25-FDMA-Common_Air_Interface.pdf

This is the protocol specification apparently.

If the format is anything greater than like 56bits, don't bother trying computational brute force unless you have some serious cash to spend on computation.

>>2932179
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-02-23-me-410-story.html
>>2932227
Not many do, most people operate with a callsign, even those canadians that pretend to be terrorists on 20m. The pedophile guys. Some of them (based in the US) faced fines, prosecution, and loss of license, but the canadian government doesn't give a shit to renounce their canadian dude's license. This is because of threat of terrorism and jamming though. Lots and lots of examples of people getting fined and imprisoned for jamming amateur frequencies, but they have to do it blatantly and for long periods of time to get reported and investigated, as well as caught.
>how many licensed?
I have my general personally. I'm the guy working on the 2 50ft masts to support my 40m and 20m dipoles, but I've been so tired with work and the heat (110 degree days) lately that I can't touch it except on weekends.

The backlight in my Azden PCS-7000H 2 meter radio died. I use it as a base station in the shack. There's a video of a radio repair guy fixing the same issue on YouTube, but the fix is beyond my skill level and I'll end up killing the radio. I'm kind of sad because I prefer 90s single band radios; I don't want some new dual band mobile that's made in China. But the Azden just isn't the same without the warm orange glow. At least the mic leds still work.

>>2932354
The terrorist pedophile you're referring to is Carol (Karl) VE7FM. He calls himself radio Canada and CBC radio Canada has actually tried to get him to stop using that term without much luck.
I lived in his town for a bit and would attend his annual yard sale that consisted of old junk test equipment and boat anchors. He is terrible to deal with in person and will not negotiate prices. His house is also super creepy; real Adams family vibes.

>>2932312
Is HF or shortwave part of ham bands? Currently I have a CB, but one of these days the idea of getting a ham or hf transceiver interests me.
I’d like to make it a mobile setup in my truck or car though.
Also, what’s the price points of each? I bought my CB last week (Cobra 29 Ltd) used for literally $35. Around maybe 100 bucks for all the parts cause I already had an old whip antenna.

>>2932476
HF is anything below 30Mhz. There are lots of bands in HF that are in the amateur spectrum. CB is in the 11m band.

>Also, what’s the price points of each?
AAAAHAHAHAHAHA, you don't want to know. Hams either have more money than sense or are on the verge of bankruptcy.

>>2932476
>>2932497
You can get an hf mobile radio like a Yaesu Ft891 for ~600 new or under $300 used. Great little radios for mobile work. Also ideal for mobile base stations like ships or travel trailers. I'd put a high end radio out of your mind until you had a general class license though. You'll be disappointed trying to use 10 or 11m when the cycle dies in a couple years.

>>2932507
>10 or 11m when the cycle dies in a couple years
What do you mean by this?
>Yaesu Ft891
I’ll keep that in mind for the future, thanks anon. When it comes to HF radios, can I see a CB whip and coax or do they require an entirely different setup?
Also, what’s your opinion of pic rel?

>>2932288
>it's really quiet for some reason
When on-the-air if others are reporting low audio that could indicate low microphone gain. Whether it's by design or faulty is difficult to say.

>>2932515
Shortwave radio depends (primarily) on atmospheric propagation for long distance communication. This happens via the solar cycle, where sunspots from our giant nuclear reactor in the sky charge ions in our ionosphere. These create a "mirror" that allow signals to reflect back down to earth.

This cycle lasts ~11 years. During the peak, the ionosphere is greatly charged, often coming with solar storms that can knock out communications, but also allowing for amazing radio propagation in bands like 6m, 10m, 11m, and within reason up to 20m. Band conditions change constantly throughout the day and night, so what wavelengths operate the best may not last all day. Some bands like 40m and 80m are great night time bands, and they have atmospheric propagation during the downturn of the cycle. So when the solar cycle dips during it's 11 year mestral period, longer wavelengths become more prominent. This means bands like 20m, 30m, 40m, 60m, and 80m. Bands like 40m and 80m are also very reliable as they almost always have some level of propagation at night, though there are definitely times where theres no propagation anywhere.

This means right now 10m and 11m are hot, and there's a ton of activity. In a couple years they will die, and longer wavelengths (thereby requiring longer antennas at higher heights, especially for dx) become king. Most amateur operators have numerous bands in their arsenal. I personally (usually) have 10m, 20m, and 40m at all times, though I just recently moved so I don't have anything up yet.
>When it comes to HF radios, can I see a CB whip and coax or do they require an entirely different setup
I've hooked coax to a chainlink fence and made contacts. It'll see a cb whip fine, though it may not be broadbanded enough for 10m use without a tuner of some sort.

>>2932507
>Ft891
No thanks. Even if I went with Yaesu, I would use an ATAS-120 for the antenna. Unlike the other anon, I don't care about a HF rig in my vehicle. I'm not trying to be portable or mobile with HF. I only do HF when at home.

>>2932515
>pic
Avoid. It's a pain in the ass to deal with even with the custom firmware. Even then, I don't care about QRP (low power), and if I wanted to do that, I'd set the RF output lower on my main rig. I just got one for curiosity with data modes. I sold that fucker in no time to another curious ham. If you want a QRP radio, save up more and get an IC-705.

>CB whip
I'd go with a rig that has an internal tuner. If you want to go cheap, a Xiegu G90 does an "okay" job, and there's just one single diode you have to snip off if you want to transmit on the CB frequencies. It'll do decent with a CB whip antenna on other bands using it's internal tuner. Just don't expect phenomenal results.

>>2932520
This entire post is 100% correct. Listen to this anon.

>>2932518
That's the fun part, all this work with these radios and I have yet to actually successfully talk to someone on any of them.

>>2932520
All this is very fascinating, and I appreciate you typing all this out.
A few questions I have.
First of all- can you put in a very simple way to me what the difference is between 10m, 20m, and 40m?
Also-
>what is the “m” for CB?
>what is a tuner?
I have a SWR meter for my CB, but I doubt that’s the same thing.
Also, I apologize for the basic questions. I’m very new to radio. Also, I like the way you referred to the sun. lol

>>2932471
>VE7KFM
I almost bought an antenna off him last week until I recognized his callsign. Nope. Amazingly enough i've never heard him on the air, but then I am not on 20. I used to shop at the Fairways down the road from him in the late 90s, I'd look up at his tower whenever I drove by. I'm surprised no one has fixed his wagon by now.

>>2932354
I used to know the head DOC (now ISED) guy in Victoria and assisted in many enforcement activities. He retired by the late 90's and with it, regional enforcement declined. I know he mentioned that all the govt hacks now-a-days are basically clerks, many without technical experience. Smirking over coffee with him one day I noted that CBC Vancouver (CBU FM) was operating with a bandwidth that exceeded govt regs. He said good luck trying to enforce the government propaganda mouthpiece. :^)

>>2932521
>Xiegu G90
Thank you for the recommendation.

>>2932521
>I don't care about a HF rig in my vehicle
I can't say I blame you, I keep a 10m/cb in my truck but it's never plugged in unless I'm traveling. Otherwise I use a cell phone signal booster more often. I personally can't stand uhf/vhf amateur bands, I'm not a repeater warrior, so I just use my p25 compatible bearcat to scan everything, and again only if traveling. Right now I host the county's only public safety scanner (sheriff's office, fire, ems) on broadcastify, so everything runs through my computer 24/7. I then just listen on broadcastify if I'm on the road. I typically have dozens to hundreds of listeners at a time, and in a small town that's pretty huge. So I just keep it running.

>>2932523
10m is a 10 meter wavelength. Same for the others. If you imagined the signals as visible waves of light, 40m would be (rounded) 120ft tall, while 10m would be (rounded) 30ft tall. Shorter wavelengths have more energy density and therefore interact with their environment differently. Long wavelengths punch through water like it doesn't exist, same with trees for example. Short wavelengths (such as uhf or microwave signals) interact heavily with moisture and water. That's how your home microwave heats food, a microwave radio transmitter slapping radio signals into a Faraday cage that interact with moisture. This interaction is converted into heat. No aliens, no nuclear devices, no deadly radiation like Hollywood would have us believe (American horror story I'm looking at you.)

On the flip side, short wavelengths such as UHF and blast through the ionosphere regardless of what the sun's opinion is, attenuated or not. This makes it optimal for satellite work. However, it is heavily attenuated by things like rain, clouds, and trees.

>>2932467
I prefer 90's radios too. Unless you want to pay someone to repair it, the other suggestion would be to keep an eye out for a parts radio and swap out the front board.

I prefer the vacuum fluorescent displays. I keep them dimmed down to maximize they're life expectancy. I do the same with my other rigs that have backlighting. I was thinking of changing out the backlights in my Yaesu FT8800 with blue LED's so it matches my FT847 but naw... the warm orange is nice.

>>2932522
Yeah a co-worker had a 40 ch Radio Shack CB in his Jeep CJ about 15 yrs ago. He mounted a CB antenna on his back-right bumper like yours (your pic reminded me of his set-up) with the antenna only a couple inches from the body and hardtop. He complained to me of hearing nothing at all. My antenna analyzer showed that his antenna didn't resonate anywhere near the CB frequencies so not only was the antenna radiating very little RF but the high SWR was reflecting most of it back into his radio. I brought out my old Radio Shack TRC-211 hand-held CB and we could hear each other in close proximity confirming his radio was working. I wish I had a field strength meter, I was curious what kind of antenna pattern he had.

He bought it for off-road use. I told him unless he has a buddy with one the odds are long that at a random time and place he will find someone using one and then you'd have to figure out which of the 40 channels they are using. A scanning feature helps with this which his radio didn't have.

Otherwise I suggested he relocate his antenna by clamping it to his rollbar or a magmount on his hood. And set his CB to ch 9 or 19.

What you could do is whenever you see someone with a CB, approach and ask what the best channel is and if anyone is using them. I do this periodically and have had positive results.

>>2932549
>approach and ask
I could try, but me, a fat hairy dude driving an old ass van... sounds like a good way to get shot, lol
I'm kinda figuring I'll drive to the Pilot and just snoop on channel 19 to see if someone starts talking?
Oh, while I haven't successfully talked to someone, there IS some guy (I guess broadcasting from his house or something) who yells constantly on channel 6, but not much of it makes any sense.

I should probably buy a swr meter or whatever it is so I can test both of my CB antennas and the GMRS antenna, but I prefer the bliss of ignorance instead of the knowledge that none of them are set up properly...

>>2932551
Oh yeah and the built-in needle on the cobra 26 still doesn't move, so I guess it's just busted.

>>2932529
The thing is that when I'm mobile, I'm focusing on talking locally or regionally. The ones I care about in longer distances are constantly scanning the state wide repeater system which I can switch between repeaters quickly depending on where I'm at. The only other time is when I'm going somewhere with family and are following each other. With that, I just use GMRS with 50watts in case me or them is really far ahead. It ensures we make contact unless we are that far apart.

>>2932551
>channel 6
Ch6 is known as the Super Bowl. I don't remember the guy's handles, but they tend to stick to that channel, which I'm glad. I think the one is Motor Mouth Maul or something like that? I don't use CB: I do monitor it when I'm away on trips because truckers can provide some useful traffic information. My Yaesu FT-5D can monitor, though not transmit, on the CB channels.

>>2932532
Ah I understand. Thanks friend. I really appreciate the info.
You’re obviously a very knowledgeable fellow. I’m curious if your opinions. Like I said, I’ve got a CB I still need to set up, but the idea of a Shortwave transceiver intrigues me. Talking to truckers is cool, also useful for the interstate and such.
Not to mention the fact that skip even exists and can turn a little 15 mile radio into 1000 miles is SO cool. Haha
Anyway, is it a grass is greener sort of thing, or is there plenty of fun to be had on SW as well?

>>2932555
>Super Bowl
Is it like a nationwide thing? I'm in northeast Appalachia so I've been assuming all the mountains would cut off long distance transmissions...

>>2932467
it's ok, take your time, take photos of your progress so you can put it back together, there's a video, it's nice, you can do it anon.
Buy some tools if needed, a repair is easier with the right tools, maybe some tiny screwdrivers, anti static pad, etc. but don't sweat it too much.

>>2932561
>all the mountains would cut off long distance transmissions
No they wouldn't. I've done pota deep in the mountains and still made 6k mile contacts.

>>2932606
Damn that's pretty sick

>>2932354
>Lots and lots of examples of people getting fined and imprisoned for jamming amateur frequencies,
nope

20m dipole up 38'.

>https://github.com/SmittyHalibut/soldersmoke-challenge/blob/main/Schematic.jpg
>direct conversion without a crystal
>ring diode mixer
Kinda strange design. Aren’t direct conversion receivers a pain to tune in, and be prone to slow phase mismatch fading? Seems like it wouldn’t likely work for SSB either.

>>2932788
I think the challenge was building this by hand. Otherwise you would have replaced the ring diode mixer with a SA602 and the audio amp with a LM386.

>>2931635 (OP)
was out doing qrp contest with the club today, good fun, need to get a bit better with my CW receive though, it's not terrible but I don't tend to be able to hear callsigns first time at 30wpm which I need to work on.

>>2932507
>>2932515
>>2932521
Ft891 is great, I've got one for mobile and an ft710 for base station. HF is the most fun in my opinion, I made voice contacts with Peru from Europe few weeks ago which I was very pleased with and a few other great dx contacts including Bhutan

>>2932707
You people really do this to your properties? Fuck the neighborhood value, huh? Thank fuck for HOAs holy shit.

>>2932891
doesn't look bad at all especially if you have a bigger garden, my antenna is on a collapsible mast so I can easily retract it if I want to as well

>>2932702
Enforcement exists.
https://www.fcc.gov/general/amateur-radio-service-enforcement-actions
https://transition.fcc.gov/eb/AmateurActions/Welcome.html

From these notices, we can see that the FCC does enforce amateur rules, but not as often as we’d like to see. Usually, the situation has to be a big nuisance before it escalates enough for the FCC to take action. If you make a simple mistake once or twice, you are highly unlikely to be cited. If you are a more consistent or flagrant rule breaker, then you might get a visit from the FCC.

>>2932895
>>2932702
honestly I am so sick of people talking about broadcasting without a licence.

9 times out of 10 it's a prepper who can't be bothered to take the test and will never learn how to properly use the radio.

notarubicon is the worst for this - constantly going on about it, it's just boring. I'm not in the USA but if your basic licence is anything like here then it's a piece of piss. Best thing to do is get registered and practice using the radio. Especially if you are interested in survivalism/prepping PoTA and SoTA are great practice for that but of course you would need at least a basic licence. To me even the fact of them having your address is a complete nothing burger, just because they have your address saying you have a radio licence doesn't actually mean anything no increased risk to you just because they have your name and address saying you have a licence. If you're really paranoid just use a PO BOX

>>2932891
That's a manufactured home judging by the wall, nobody gives a shit about the property values.

>>2932903
don't need anything

>>2932891
HOA's are for fags who are all worried about muh equity. fuck you it's a house live in it. even in shitty neighborhoods the value of houses goes up.

>>2932903
>talking without a license
the license costs money that you don’t need to spend, retard.

Recapping the Rebel Cobra 29 LTD Classic I got in 95'

This Mother fucker is all static before. hopefully after the Recap, I get her guts Gucci Pucci

>>2932895
If you look at them, the last one was 2018. Most of the time, it's the hams themselves that police the ham bands. This always get them to stop, and the best way is just to ignore it and have back-up frequencies. The ones causing interference are attention whores.

>>2932903
>9 times out of 10 it's a prepper who can't be bothered to take the test and will never learn how to properly use the radio.
Blame larper channels more than notarubicon. When I was watching him, he didn't do anything that broke the FCC rules. Larper channels, on the other hand, would tell people to get a Baofeng UV-5R, and throw it in their larp bag for a rainy day.

>having your address
Not an issue. The most I got were the ARRL with their junk mail about joining them, one here and there for morse code courses, and Ham Radio Outlet despite never buying anything from them.

>>2932923
>HOA's are for fags
This. Anyone who is in one is an idiot or has a wife who just had to have that house (still an idiot.) I'd take a trailer on junk land over ever being in a HOA.

>>2932928
This is why I stay on shortwave to filter the faggots.

>>2931635 (OP)
Military themed thread? OK, Signal Service is here, everyone suitably impressed!


>>2932476
>Also, what’s the price points of each?
With a /ham/ license you are allowed to make your own rig. Some appropriately /diy/ HF radio stuff, complete with source code, can be found here:
https://101-things.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ham_transmitter.html
https://101-things.readthedocs.io/en/latest/radio_receiver.html
https://101-things.readthedocs.io/en/latest/breadboard_radio.html
https://101-things.readthedocs.io/en/latest/breadboard_radio_part2.html
https://101-things.readthedocs.io/en/latest/breadboard_radio_part3.html

>>2932947

Recapped and she does not Transmit (~_~メ)...

I'm thinking I have to Peak and Tune the Transmitter Portion? I don't have an Oscilloscope so...

Clueless here
Some niggers/shitskins moved in 2 doors down and put up a small antenna, what are they transmitting? Also my amp for my speakers some gets interference with loud blips.

>>2933128
Get a RTL-SDR and find out.
The size of the antenna indicates roughly the wavelength in use.

what is the ideal length of coax cable for HF transceivers?

>>2933200
Checkd

The length from the back of the radio to the Antenna Literally.

>>2933200
It depends on the type of coax and how damp the soil is in your yard, but 69 feet is usually just right to couple with magnetic north. Doesn't have to be exact, just close.

>>2933200
2000ft of RG58. With excess, coil it up for less interence.

>>2933200
The ideal length is 0 because of the loss. In theory with a perfect resonant antenna at 1:1 swr and symmetrical (dipole) you don't care about the length, in reality you might want to avoid some particular lengths : quarter wave lengths and odd multiples of it (take velocity factor in account)
https://w3gmsrepeater.com/2020/02/20/does-it-matter-how-long-my-coax-line-is/

>>2933128
Post antenna.

In you guys’ opinion, what’s the most ideal wattage radio transceiver for HF? I’m just looking, and honestly I don’t know if I’ll even like radio. I found a really cool little 20w pic rel with a metal construction, but it’s like 5-600 bucks. And for that price, I’m sure you could get a big boy radio.

>>2933128
not every antenna is for transmitting moron.

>>2933285
>it’s like 5-600 bucks
wtf, just get a FT-818 for that price or a bit more, or a FT-891, it's bigger but you'll get real sensitivity and modulation

>>2933144
>>2933280
>>2933290
Here you go.

>>2933327
It's a TV antenna, you faggot.

>>2933327
a review of this antenna if you want one for yourself
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGJJLFdPRSg

>>2933334
>>2933343
Understood.
Typically taxi/emergency vehicles cause audio blips with my amp/speakers. The blips started recently and are somewhat regular, what could the source be?

>>2933345
are they periodic ? I mean exactly the same time between each blip ?
Are they present during the day ? During the night ? At random time ? During the week end ?
It will help to find what activity it can be related to

>>2933346
Maybe 2-3 times per a week. I can only make note when I am at the computer with the speakers on. I can't provide anymore notable details.

>>2933352
>I can only make note when I am at the computer with the speakers on
kek I forgot that aspect, maybe a cattle electric fence ?

>>2933353
In suburbia? I doubt it.

>>2933345
your cell phone is too close to the amp/speakers

>>2933345
Solar pannel inverters.

>>2933361
Never owned a cell.
>>2933362
While not impossible, this area is too poor for that.

>>2933364
Flood lights, accent lighting, above ground pool pumps, lots of stuff use solar.

>>2931635 (OP)
I want to attach a baofang to a weather balloon and set it to broadcast profanities and watch the boomer ham police lose their minds driving around trying to find the source.
>that is all

>>2933364
>Never owned a cell

>>2933373
k

>>2932928
If you're worried about the cost of the licence you're too poor for ham radio

>>2933424
I guess I can just broadcast from my smart fridge then.

>>2933424
>If you're worried about the cost of the licence you're too poor for ham radio
Quite literally.

What type of radios do military broadcast on, and is it illegal to aske them what they had for breakfast via said radio?

Bumping >>2933285

>>2932948
>Blame larper channels more than notarubicon. When I was watching him, he didn't do anything that broke the FCC rules. Larper channels, on the other hand, would tell people to get a Baofeng UV-5R, and throw it in their larp bag for a rainy day.
Doesn't violate rules just constantly going on about hoe it's against muh freedom to need a test, also he always try to bully hams he has on and get things politic, eg with Ringway Manchester

>>2933285
>>2933490
Like
>>2933323
Said if you're going for radio get the 891 for mobile that's 100w. Or get a 100w base station like the ft710, in general you want to start with 100w

>>2933489
They have some designated frequencies that they use, and they use digital encrypted comms nowadays. It is also illegal to use these frequencies and it annoys the military if you are broadcasting FM on these because it is interference. Do you really want to be interfering with military comms frequencies?

>>2933489
They use unencrypted p25 out here, but I don't know of any commercially available radios that do p25 on those frequencies. When they're analog you can probably transmit in a baofeng, but they usually use a repeater and are only cross repeated into analog.

>>2933497
>bully hams
Sometimes I wonder if his pinned comments are just his alt accounts pretending to be angry with him.

>>2933497
>>2933572
Here's the thing, notarubicon doesn't know anything about radio. His knowledge is limited to baofeng/walkie talkies rules and functionality, as well as gmrs shit. Get off uhf/repeaters and you'll avoid him and all his like-minded idiot followers. All his knowledge of ham revolves around the extremely limited functionality of a baofeng, programming it, etc.

Can a baofeng be used as a cheap scanner? Sure. But almost everything worth scanning uses DMR, P25, and other digital modes. Good luck with following trunked conversations or simulcast. Can a baofeng transmit on repeaters and kerchunk them/troll them? Sure. But who cares? Does a baofeng even work well as a uhf/vhf radio for 70cm/2m ham bands? Barely, and with low power and dogshit front end filtering who cares? Just another walkie talkie. Literally nothing.

Get on shortwave and immediately leave people like him to play with their walkie talkies. Let them have their fun. It doesn't bother me, my scanner works with police/fire/ems p25 repeaters, so I can't hear them. My radios work from 6m to 160m, so I can't hear them. Even if I picked up my 10m/cb truck radio, I cannot hear them on their beoshits. You get to play with ft8, varAC, fldigi, Morse code, station tracking software, spy number stations, slow scan television, worldwide dx to over 100 countries on every continent including Antarctica, contests of every kind on every mode, commercial broadcast shortwave radio, and almost endless possibilities if you put down the baofeng and get your general license.

>>2933489
They are not much into broadcasting unless you count Commando Solo.
The military uses reserved bands across the entire spectrum, such as VLF for submaring communicaitons to SHF and EHF for links and satellite communications. They use numerous supplies such as Harris and Collins.
Pic. related are two old military receivers, still very good by today's standards.

Quansheng UV-K6 arrived, still waiting on the modchip (ordered the Bluetooth one). I’m never going to use the DTMF am I?

>>2933514
>They have some designated frequencies that they use, and they use digital encrypted comms nowadays
everyone has designated frequencies you nonce. and the military does not always transmit encrypted. I listen to my local air force base on apco 25 phase I 300mhz, and air craft comms on 120, 200, and 300 mhz. the only encrypted stuff at my AF base is the security and when they are talking about secret maintenance stuff on the F-35's.

>>2933536
>p25 on those frequencies
phase 1
GRE PSR-500, PSR-600
Radio Shack Pro-96 1, Pro-2096 1, Pro-106, Pro-197, Pro-18, Pro-651, Pro-652
Uniden BC296D 1, BC796D 1, BCD396T, BCD996T, BCD996XT, BCD396XT, HomePatrol-1
Whistler WS1040, WS1065

Phase 2
GRE PSR-800
Radio Shack Pro-18 3, Pro-668
Uniden BCD325P2, BCD436HP, BCD536HP, BCD996P2, HomePatrol-2, SDS100, SDS200
Whistler WS1080, WS1088, WS1095, WS1098, TRX-1, TRX-2

>>2933536
>P25
Phase 1
GRE PSR-500, PSR-600
Radio Shack Pro-96, Pro-2096, Pro-106, Pro-197, Pro-18, Pro-651, Pro-652
Uniden BC296D, BC796D, BCD396T, BCD996T, BCD996XT, BCD396XT, HomePatrol-1
Whistler WS1040, WS1065

Phase 1 and 2
GRE PSR-800
Radio Shack Pro-18, Pro-668
Uniden BCD325P2, BCD436HP, BCD536HP, BCD996P2, HomePatrol-2, SDS100, SDS200
Whistler WS1080, WS1088, WS1095, WS1098, TRX-1, TRX-2

>be me earlier
>meet up with guy to trade Cobra 29 Ltd classic for Cobra 148 gtl plus 100 bucks cash
>”oh by the way- this is a modified radio. I have a switch that opens you up to like 40 more channels” or some crazy stuff like that
>bro taught me about amps, and extending my range
>learned I can Citizens Band my way all across the US and other parts of the world through questionably means
>gave me a folder with the instruction manual
>included a mounting bracket and a mic
>before I left, he told me once I had my radio hooked up, we can try to make contact
Today was a good day. I learned CB’s are a lot cooler than I thought. And I made a friend that wasn’t on an underwater basketball team weaving thread.
Also, Jesus is Lord.

Question- so I’ve got one of pic rel in my truck. Would my radio work just as well if I hooked it up to this as opposed to the fuse box or battery?

>>2933711
No way you posted scanners as a way to transmit on military frequencies.

>>2933748
Probably worse, if anything. It's just one more converter stage, so worse efficiency and more SMPS noise, and it's not like you can get more power out of that than a cigarette socket. It will give you a flatter DC input voltage after your radio's PSU, but that probably never matters unless you've got particularly unstable VFO, and would better be served by an appropirate DC-to-DC converter anyhow.

>>2933769
Man.. thanks anon. So what would be the most effective way to wire a CB then?
Cigarette lighter, fuse box, or directly to battery?

>>2933772
Fuse box is probably the best way, especially if you have a spare fuse slot, but adding a fuse-tap is still an ok way of going. CBs are power limited IIRC, so you wouldn't need so much power that going directly to the battery would be worth doing. Lighter plugs aren't the best connection, but if you want to be able to easily take it out and put it in another vehicle it's definitely the most flexible method.

>>2933695
>modchip
>Quansheng
makin' a radar are you?

>>2933784
Ok, thanks friend. Hey, I just thought of something- I can’t take a picture of it right now, but I do have one of those cigarette lighters cables. The guy that sold me the Cobra 29 gave me a power cable and he spliced it and added some kind of box in the middle wrapped in electrical tape. He said it was supposed to make it less staticy or something idk.
You think that’s a fuse?
Would I just be better off to buy a new cable? Im going to be running a Cobra 148 gtl, so I’m not even sure about how that’s gonna work for a different radio.
Also- how do people plug in their CB’s in their homes? Like base stations.
>pic not red

>>2933873
I just want it to be able to receive HF. But now I learn that my modchip is worse than the non-Bluetooth unit because it lacks an RF amplifier. Maybe I can fix that.

>>2933906
Doubt it’s a fuse, it’s probably a filter of some sort.
Running a CB unit at home just means getting a 12V PSU for it. Be that a benchtop supply or a little wall-wart.

>>2933757
not to transmit. no.

>>2933908
>pic rel
I forgot he spliced in a fuse in there too, but yeah idk what that box is for.
>Running a CB unit at home just means getting a 12V PSU for it.
Ok, so if that’s the case then why can’t I just buy one and plug it into the outlet in my truck I posted earlier?

>>2933914
>Ok, so if that’s the case then why can’t I just buy one and plug it into the outlet in my truck I posted earlier?
You can. As I said:
>It's just one more converter stage, so worse efficiency and more SMPS noise, and it's not like you can get more power out of that than a cigarette socket
>It will give you a flatter DC input voltage after your radio's PSU, but that probably never matters unless you've got particularly unstable VFO, and would better be served by an appropirate DC-to-DC converter anyhow
Except instead of just one converter stage extra, you've got two.

>>2933973
Ohh ok, I understand. Thanks anon. I appreciate the information.

>another video about using the UV-5R as a larp radio
>they buy a shit ton of accessories and converters to make it somewhat functional, but is a very big rats nest, and is severely overcomplicated
>meanwhile, you can buy a decent radio of way better quality with actual accessories made for it, less wires going everywhere, less complications, and does the same. exact. thing. for the same amount of money. Some of them even have bluetooth connectivity so there are less wires
This is why I don't take larpers seriously.

>>2934023
I bought one as a fun toy to talk to my friends. That's about what it's best for.

>>2934026
I have no issues itself with the UV-5R. I have many put away for issues. A neighbor just had hip replacement surgery two days ago. I gave her, her husband, and her daughter who lives right across from them UV-5R's along with spare batteries to charge. It's working great. An example one time she couldn't get off the couch to use the bathroom, which then her daughter rushed over, and helped her up. At least she didn't have to pull out her phone, dial her daughter's number, and prayed she answered. Her daughter had her radio on her, and the daughter heard while her husband couldn't because he was at the store.

It's the larpers I have issue with.

>>2934029
Isn't this what CB radios should be for? Set a channel and CTCS/DCS on all the radios so you don't pick up chatter from others.

>>2934030

You could also set Code Squelch and Digitallly Coded Squelch on the lil chink Radios too. Just use those radios on MURS and GMRS channels. Or whatever your country has for walkie talkie frequencies.

>>2934030
You could do that. It has its uses, esp since CB is used around here. I just keep more UV-5R's back since at the time I bought them it's cheaper for situations like this. I can program in the GMRS or MURS channels (inb4 an OM has a meltdown) in, and tell them to use MURS since no one uses MURS except for car dealerships and Walmart. That way, you don't have to worry about having a CTCSS tone. I also program in the local emcomm repeater that's constantly being monitored by the local ARES members as well just in case.

I'm monitoring those channels anyway with my scanner, and there's no activity. If there is any, it's FRS/GMRS Channel 1 and on CB channel 1.

Bumping >>2933914
I don’t know if this power cable is safe for my current radio.
Plus if anyone has a clue about the black box, let me know.

This may be a stupid question, but If I wire my cb directly to my battery, do I need to ground it, or is that only with the antenna?
If so, how? I don’t know much about electrical stuff.

>>2933656
>that R-389
Beautiful. There's a local slowly restoring one of these. I got to see it during a shack tour but didn't realize the significance until I went home and looked it up. I'm into VLF and wished I had taken a closer look at it.

>still very good by today's standards
Indeed. Very low internal noise and sensitive.

>>2933489
>is it illegal
Yes, unless you have a proper station licence to transmit on that very frequency.

A funny thing happened to an old radio friend (now SK). He liked to build radios and inadvertantly contacted an RCN ship. One day in 1995 he calls me up on 146.535 MHz and says he's finished building one for 80m but he's not hearing his signal with a 2nd receiver and he suspects he might be off frequency but can't be. Asks me to listen around 3700 kHz for his expected carrier. He sends lots of triple-V's, his call sign, sends "CQ TESTING 3700 kHz", key downs etc. I tune through all of 80 and a bit below but nothing heard. This goes on for about 15 minutes. Suddenly on 2m he calls me and says he's gone QRT and suggests I pop over for a coffee. Kek, I take the hint, somethings up. I go over and he tells me that when he paused sending, a strong signal came on frequency identifying itself as a Canadian naval vessel and that his signal was interferring with operations and requested station ident. Whoops! My buddy never replied. Weeks later It turns out the 80M crystal he ordered out of California was mislabelled and he was way out of band.

>>2934251
Haha wow! That’s a really cool story actually. It’d be really cool to listen in on stuff like that, but alas I think those kind of radios and equipment are outta my price range.
Currently I’ve got a little Cobra 148, and I’m still waiting on stuff to come in the mail. But anyway, the guy I bought it from told me it’s modded so I can get a bunch of other channels outside of the standard 40 on a CB. So that’s pretty cool.

>>2934221
what's the value on the fuse ?
The black box would be a common mode filter, some ferrite core with the cables going into it, around it, etc.
like that : https://powerwerx.com/dc-line-noise-filter-oemt

>>2934221
The black box looks just like another fuse box. It may be a box holding a toroid, but that makes zero sense at all. If you are worried, just get a new cable. Do you know how to solder, or at least splice wires? You can take the box out of the equation by cutting it off, then resplicing and soldering the hot and ground (i.e. red to red, black to black.) Just be sure to tape it well and use heat shrink. I miss the electrical tape my dad brought back from the mines almost daily. He hasn't had any in about 5 years since he retired 10 years ago and used it on many projects.

>>2934234
>ground it
I don't. Like the other anon, I just plug it into my cigarette lighter port because I don't want to take the time and run the wiring through the fire wall. Sure, it's nowhere the best thing to do, but it works for me. A lot of the stuff I don't is that: what works for me. It's nowhere the best nor the safest.

>antenna
I don't bother either. It just runs from the magmount to the radio. Yes, go ahead and fry it if lightning strikes or some freak of nature occurs. I use cheap mobile rigs anyway for my car since I rarely talk. The last time was a month ago it was just raining hard for a long time, and just wanted to check into a skywarn net to see if there was any reports of road flooding (there was, and I detoured since it was on my regular path.)

>>2934251
Now that is a pretty cool story. I wonder how many others in the past had the same thing happen. Your generation was one that had a lot of interesting things happen in radio.

>>2933906
>>2933914
Chances are that's an RF choke to mitigate electrical noise from entering the radio via the power cord. Rest assured they are common and good to have. The wire is probably safe, your radio appears to be an early model (microphone connects on the side). It will draw the most current during transmit, about 2.2 Amps. As long as your wire isn't thinner than 16g it's probably fine. It might get warm during long-winded contacts. There are charts that show minimum gauge sizes vs length and current.

A friend had a radio like yours in the early 80's in his '81 Camaro. He ran it barefoot and without a slider. Had some tech tweak it for optimal performance, improved gain, slightly better power out (6 watts irc, any higher and the final ran hot), etc. He never ran an amp, he wasn't interested in running skip.

>>2933747
Speaking of amps, I wonder how clean the out put is.

>>2934268
>Chances are that's an RF choke to mitigate electrical noise
Awesome! Now that you mention it, that’s what it probably is. The guy that did it told me it was for helping with static.
>A friend had a radio like yours in the early 80's in his '81 Camaro
That’s sick! Haha I have an 05 Mustang GT I was thinking about putting it in. I would honestly love to do that, but I couldn’t figure out a way to mount the 102” whip without drilling holes in the body, and that’s just something I’d rather not do. But it would be so cool.
Instead I’m planning on putting it in my truck.
Also, would you happen to know what a good amp would be, or say how far I could reach out with one?
The guy a bought it from- we were talking about skip and amps and all that, and it was a very interesting conversation. He was saying how basically with the right equipment, you could reach out across the whole country or even globally.
Personally I find the global part a little hard to believe, but it’s a fun idea nonetheless.
>A friend had a radio like yours in the early 80's
That’s really cool; honestly I’m not sure how old it is. I just know cobra doesn’t make ssb’s anymore.

>>2934268
>2.2A
>16awg
Mate that can handle almost ten times that

Is there anything useful I can make with a bunch of RG59 75Ω coax?

>>2934268

I Forgor Pic

If my 102” whip has some oxidation, can I lightly sand it? What grit sand paper?

>>2934501
It won't effect anything beyond the feed point.

>>2934511
What’s the feed point?
Also, how would I get the rust off this? Coke?
It’s my brothers old whip. Been sitting out in a barn for the past 15 years or so.

Is CB really unusable these days like Reddit is saying?
Is it morally wrong to use an amp?
Will amps really ruin everyone else’s fun?

>>2933748
No way that thing is going to put out real sine waves.

>>2934551
>Is CB really unusable these days like Reddit is saying?
It's fine around here. When I'm traveling out of my area, I monitor CB. I rarely hear anything except truckers on a few channels.

>morally wrong to use an amp
As long as you are not causing any interference, I don't care.

>amps really ruin everyone else's fun
How? Unless they're butting into everyone else's conversations or just flat out jamming, there's no issue. If there is, switch to another channel. There's usually other channels available. There's always the option of getting a CB rig that does SSB or does freebanding.

>>2934551
It's barely usable when propagating because you have 40 channels of southerners flaming and spamming sound boards.

>>2934551
>Is CB really unusable these days
not where I live, the only thing you can hear is the superbowl channels. there is almost no one on it here.

If I were to, in minecraft of course, create a moderate-strength pirate radio station in the middle of my city, how would I go about obfuscating the source of the broadcast? Is it possible?

>>2934644
Imagine for a moment that you have built a very bright lamp, and you've placed it in a city of semi-transparent buildings. It shines brighter than the rest, and has a unique color. Do you think you could keep it hidden for very long?

>>2934646
No :( I guess I'll just stock the fuck up on guns and wait for them to get me

>>2934551
French fag here, it's making a come back thanks to local ham, with a friend we are trying to use it as portable to base communication.
>Is it morally wrong to use an amp?
No, legal limit here is 4 watts, it's ok in line of sight coms of a couple of kms, but for ground wave and NVIS we need 20W

>>2934515
Feed point is where it connects to coax.

>>2934671
>>2934614
>>2934587
That’s really awesome to hear, anons. How many watts of an amp can I run without causing interference?

>>2934656
Sorry to be a downer, but radio broadcasts are effectively the same as emitting a flickering light that we can't see. Even a hobbyist could track down your signal in a matter of minutes with nothing more than a radio and directional antenna. There are a few tricks that would slow a search party down, but about the only longterm trick would be disposable transmitters or very brief transmissions that move each time.

>>2934722
It depends. How much usage does your area and frequency see, and how clean does the amp run? Even a low power transmitter can interfere if it's close enough. The higher you boost your signal, the wider your signal will be on the spectrum, eventually stepping on completely different channels. I'd argue that you'd be better off doing directional broadcast unless you have no idea where you're trying to be picked up from.

>>2934728
I couldn’t say. I live in a pretty rural area. The only time I could see not using an amp is on the interstate, and that’s like 25 miles away.
>The higher you boost your signal, the wider your signal will be on the spectrum, eventually stepping on completely different channels.
Yeah, I’d like to go as high as I can without doing that. I don’t wanna bother other people.
>I'd argue that you'd be better off doing directional broadcast unless you have no idea where you're trying to be picked up from.
I have no idea what that is, but basically I’m interested in a few things.
>skip
>having conversations as far as I can away from me
>but also using a CB when I get on the interstate to talk to local truckers

>>2934501
Use fine steel wool to clean it.

>>2934515
wire wheel on a grinder or bench grinder

>>2934736
Directional transmissions are done by using an appropriate antenna. It works much like a telescope, focusing your waves in a more specific cone, rather than spraying waves in all directions. Doing this allows for communication with far less actual output by both parties. For example, an antenna with 13 dBi of gain will take 1 watt of output and concentrate it to 20 watts of effective power in the cone you've aimed at. This also has the benefits of picking up less signals from other directions, while boosting the direction you're listening. Only works if you know where to point stuff though.

As for normal omnidirectional communication, do bear in mind that more output is useless if you can't pick the other party up as well. Pointing a loudspeaker at somebody does no good when they talk quietly.

>>2932707
20m @ 38'
10m @ 30'

All I'm missing is 40m, then my bread and butter for bands I frequent will be completed.

>>2934762
Are you putting up a separate dipole for each band? Why? Why not just create a fan dipole?

>>2934773
I already had both of these made, I'm going to repurpose the masts for 40m (with additional spacing) once my salt cedar tree is removed, as it's a giant weed way too close to my well. I'll also be putting up my hexbeam once I have the spare change for a 30-40' tower.

You're right, I could make that dipole into a 5 element fan, but since I have a 6 element hexbeam begging to be used I probably won't bother. Even if I don't ever use 12, 15, or 17.

>>2934773
nta but any multi band antenna will have more noise than a mono band version. You would pick multi banders as a compromise to having 1 feed point and tower. Higher band fan dipoles are kind of shit and known for being noisy. The arrl handbook spells this out pretty clearly.

So here's something I keep wondering about. Are there any antennas out there that will automatically adjust their length to achieve resonance? Even if I need to punch in the frequency I want, having it adjust for me would be amazing.

>>2934843
Yes, they are costly :
www.ultrabeam.it
I think there's another brand

>>2934843
sorry I think the original brand was this one :
https://consumer.steppir.com/about-steppir/steppir-antenna-design/

>>2934843
The problem is what to use as a very, very rollable reliable radiator, so they both use some kind of beryllium tape, would have thought a ruler meter would do the trick but maybe it's not good enough. Even so these antennas require a lot of maintenance

>>2934844
>>2934845
>>2934846
So they do exist. Very interesting. A shame it sounds like more trouble than it's worth.

>>2934847
Since the day I know they exist I am thinking about glass fiber poles and measuring tape and motor. Maybe for a vertical but then you need to adjust the radials

>>2934847
For something that swaps between like 10m and 15m, they're easy to make the the scale of size is pretty doable. I had an adjustable rotatable dipole, but I had to lower it and adjust by hand. I built it though. Measurements were marked on wire which spun on itself with fiberglass spreaders. You move the spreaders in and out to adjust the length. As the wire wraps back on itself, it creates a moving fold, which acts as an impedance and the signal takes the path of least resistance out of the resonant wire.

Commercially, you're better off buying a hexbeam. Yes it's a multi band beam and therefor noisier than a mono band setup, even an adjustable one, but because it has forward gain and front to back rejection, that more than makes up for it.

The guy I bought my CB from told me he hen you don’t have a bedliner (mine is plastic), your truck kind of acts like an extraction of the antenna. Will my bedliner interfere with the quality of my signal? Also, should my antenna mount directly touch metal?

>>2934851
Any good models that aren't targeting the price range of a retired hobbyist with piles of disposable income? I'll build one before I drop hundreds.

>>2934846
Seems pretty easy to make with a stepper motor, arduino and driver, PVC pipe, and an old tape measure or two. You’d pull the tape from the end by nylon cord with a pulley on the end of the boom, instead of driving the spool. Ideally you’d have some way to lock the tape in place so you don’t have to keep up the stepper stall torque, since the tape measure itself has that feature you can probably just actuate it with a servo. Seems like a 4 weekend project if you really go for it.

>>2931635 (OP)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faQg4STqa24

Who here is a hiker and activating parks and mountains? I feel he got the right arguments how to make it non-competitive for himself.

>>2934922
They're low volume antennas of course they'll be expensive. Just make it, it'll be a fun project. I've made mono banders.

Fellas, I mounted my cb bracket today. Now I’m curious what you think would be the best way to drill a hole through the cab of my truck to run the coax.
Should I drill through the floor in the back, or run it to the front and drill near the petals? idk.

something funky going on with the atmosphere recently?
last night i was picking up an FM station out of lexington, kentucky ~220 miles away

>>2934957
That's not exceptionally far, but here.
https://www.hamqsl.com/solar.html
You can track it yourself.

>>2934925
it seems the problem they ran into is that the coil of tape measure or other thing makes a good... coil, hence the beryllium copper whatever

>>2934928
I activated a natura 2000 zone near me it was fun, I must do that more often, the guys contacting me where nice and very happy as this flora fauna was never activated

>>2934919
Sorry, I only check in here every 2nd day or so.

>Will my bedliner interfere with the quality of my signal?
If it's non-conductive (plastic); No.

>should my antenna mount directly touch metal?
Yes, as the carbody acts like a counterpoise.

>would you happen to know what a good amp would be
For CB? Unfortunately I don't as i've never really looked into it in depth. I'm not an advocate of exceeding the legal limit but as a firm believer in having a clean signal i'd look for one that has good output filtering.

>or say how far I could reach out with one?
There's no definitive answer for that. It will depend on your antenna and propagation conditions at the time. It can be a crap shoot. As an example I have talked to Japan (a signal path of 7,200 km) on 28 MHz USB with 25 watts no problem, other times 100 watts with difficulty.

If you're really interested in DX you'll want a directional antenna to concentrate your signal in a particular direction. That usually means an elevated beam with a rotator. When mobile you may find signals are better in a certain direction in relation to your vehicle than others. A buddy had a pair of antennas, one on each sideview mirror, on his old Chev truck. He found he could rx & tx better to the front and back than he could from the sides. His signal pattern was basically a figure-8 with his signal concentrating front & back. If he heard a distant station he wanted to talk to he would pull into a parking lot and creep in a slow circle until the received signal peaked and then he'd stop and start communicating.

>>2934515
Try CLR? It looks to me like the chrome is gone, you might want do what >2934738 suggests.

>>2934988
Talking to someone in the UK or even Japan would be the coolest thing ever. haha
Educate me a little on directional antennas. Cost, and such. Currently I have a whip, which to be honest I think is my best bet in terms of money and general use.
I’d like to talk to people far away, but when I’m on the interstate I’d also like to stay local. Directional antennas sound cool though.

>>2935002
Go get your license and take a course, it'll teach you antenna basics. Or read the arrl antenna handbook and start learning about erp and directivity. It's all there to spoon feed you mountains of information.

>>2935002
Also, the bands are favoring 20m - 80m day and night right now, with some propagation down to 15m. 10m (and by extension 11m cb) are in the down trend and probably won't see major propagation until fall. By 2027 both will be dead 90% of the year.

I need a longer power cable to run from my battery to my CB in my truck. Is there a maximum length I can have, or does it matter? Honestly, I think like 10 feet would be about what I need.
I’m not going to try going under carpet or plastic.

I thought I would email Cobra to ask if they had a PDF of the manual for my old Cobra 26 because I'm not too sure what delta tune does or why there's a blank spot between Channel I think 22 and 23, turns out Cobra has absolutely no information on this thing whatsoever.
Guess there's no point asking if they have a new TX meter I could buy...

>>2935025
>dood get your license!!
>dude license!
nigger, how about you just give him normal reading materials instead of forcing him into a government humiliation ritual?

>>2935070
Take a course and don't get licensed then? What, did you fail your test?

>>2935070
Also I told him the arrl antenna handbook has this all in it.

How do i jam the DEA bugs in my apartment

>>2935129
Don't do drugs. Your meth psychosis made them plant the bugs. They're willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars monitoring a person who sits inside posting on 4chan all day

>>2935070
I agree with the OM. He's the most knowledgeable in this thread about radio and electronics. Go study.

When wiring a CB radio to a vehicle, directly to the battery, when you splice in a fuse and one of those box things that help minimize interference, should you have both of those things closer to the battery, the radio, or does it matter?
I’m gonna go pick up some wire tomorrow, cause I need to extend the length of my power cable.
Also- does the power cable length matter?

>>2935146
Choke should be closer to the radio. Fuse doesn't matter. Shorter power cable is better, thicker power cable is better, but so long as it's rated for the amps and the voltage drop isn't much (use an online calculator if you're worried) it should be fine. Voltage drop isn't really an issue when you're sending a couple amps over a couple metres.

>>2935146
Fuse should be close to the battery. If there's a large enough fault (e.g. cable rubs through and shorts out) upstream of the fuse, you're going to have a bad day.

Any recommendations for diy 70cm+2m band antennas to mount on my house? How do people make whip antennas, and how do they support them? PVC pipe? There’s an old TV antenna that doesn’t get used mounted to a metal pole on the corner of my roof, but I don’t know if a metal pole is a better place to put an antenna compared to on the nearby wooden posts supporting a plastic roof over the deck. For now I’ll just be plugging it into my handheld radio, but down the line I may want to get something more powerful.

>>2934943
howitzer

>>2935047
>>2934483

>>2935070
>do all the work for me or I'll call you bad names

>>2935154
How is it going to be a bad day?
>>2935149
I’ve just been using those 12 gauge stranded wire as per the standard CB wire.
I’d use bigger if that would be better, but I feel like that’s a little over my head unless you have a simpler or better way to reccomend.
It’s a cobra 148 gtl btw if that helps.

>>2935201
>How is it going to be a bad day?
You set your vehicle on fire, animetard.

Did Japan on 20m and Cuba on 17m from Europe last evening with 20w, ft-818, chink amplifier, chink vertical like a jpc12, t'was a good day.

>>2935224
Nice! Sometimes it doesn't take much power to get the contact if you got the right antenna and good propagation.

>>2935224
I love 20 and 40m, take advantage while you can. I should do some sstv this weekend.

>buy uv-5r
>recieve pofung AR-5E
the chinks are fucking with me

>>2935272
>buy trash
>receive trash
>whine about trash
Problem?

>>2935224
wait, do I know the place?

>>2935312
nope that's not me, would be really fun to do portable with a bike though

>>2935313
It's fun, but you shouldn't ride like your life depends on it because the gear can break your back

>be me
>need wire for CB radio
>drive ~25 miles to Home Depot
>12 gauge stranded copper wire
>bingo
>on way home
>open wire
>it’s stiff and pops back into shape
>not floppy
>mfw I got the wrong wire
>mfw it would’ve been cheaper to just but 2 cb cables from the internet for 14 bucks

>>2935272
Does it have the same functionality? Knowing the chinks they probably renamed it because the FCC regulations only apply to the 'Baofeng UV-5R' so if they just change the labels to "Pofung AR-5E" they can just sell unrestricted devices again

>>2935421
probably just another rebadged uv-5r
but they should've picked better model name

>>2935421
>>2935458
IIRC, Pofung was another name they used in the past.

What's a nice unit and really capable antenna I can put in my car to listen to truckers? I'm fine paying for something nicer, buy once cry once kind of guy. I'm not interested in talking on it yet, just listening but eventually talking when I learn all the rules would be cool

I hear 3/4 monopoles have subpar emission patterns, so unless there’s a better dual-band 70cm/2m antenna length I’m thinking of making a diplexer. Any recommendations? These coax-based diplexers look nice and simple.

>>2935502
>cb
>rules
Not only are there almost no rules, but the rules that do exist are almost never enforced.

>>2935507
What is your goal? What's this for? A monopole is not a dual band antenna. Just get a Diamond X50A or similar chink built dual band antenna, they all work about the same.

>>2932555
>Ch6 is known as the Super Bowl.
I can be in the most obscure little places with no cell service and still catch the faint ramblings of some old fart on Channel 6

>>2935614
>some old fart on Channel 6
they aren't old farts anon, most of them are of a more swarthy complexion.

Guys, I hate to keep asking so many questions, but I’ve been stressing myself out these past couple of days looking for the right wire to extend my cb power cable.
Basically I wanna mount my radio to my dash, and the cable isn’t long enough. I read online and I think someone here said it- but if you’re gonna run a longer wire it’s better to have a thicker gauge wire.
I’m guessing it’s gonna be at least 10ft. So that being said, would I be better off to to like a 10 or 12 gauge wire, or would it be better to just use the stock 14 or 16 gauge power cables? Either way, I’m gonna have to cut and splice.
I’m going to Dairy Queen now. Gonna get a s’mores milk shake, anons.

>>2935681
>cb
Shit is operating at less than 50w use whatever the fuck you want.

>>2935681
>>2935683
I recommend metal twist ties and paper clips

>>2935060
I've been searching for a Cobra 26 manual ever since you mentioned it back in the last thread. So far nothing.

'Delta Tune' is like an IF-shift or 'Clarifier'. It's found on crystal controlled radios like yours. It basically allows fine tuning your receive frequency if the person you are listening to is slightly off frequency. In most cases you keep the knob centered. If you're experiencing some interference on the channel above you, you can try turning the knob down (to the left) to reduce the interference. Hopefully you can still make out the station you are listening to and not be too far off frequency. Of course, interference from channel below you would turn the knob up (to the right).

As for a replacement S-meter, you are probably going to have to keep an eye out for a donor radio of similar vintage to get a replacement. It's quite possible you don't need to look for one from a Cobra 26, one from another model could work. Is it possible for you to briefly apply 1 or 2 VDC to your meter? If you see deflection then it's possible your S-meter is fine and there is a circuit failure on the board.

That blank spot on the channel selector; IRC you could install a crystal for special channels. CB channel spacing is regularly spaced except for a slight jump between 22 & 23. Before CB radio was expanded from 23 channels to 40 channels in 1977, the "hidden" channels 27.235 MHz and 27.245 MHz were often designated 22A and 22B. Some CB users modified radios to access these two additional channels in the blank space between channel 22 and 23.

>>2935681
>at least 10 ft wire run
So the round-trip for the current is about 20ft. Your SSB radio will pull about 2.2 amps. An 18g wire 20 ft long can handle 5 amps @ 12 VDC. You are going to be fine. You can go to 16g if you want to. Really, anything more would be a waste of money.

>>2935765
>Some CB users modified radios to access these two additional channels in the blank space between channel 22 and 23.
How did they access two different channels with only one slot on the dial, just swapping out the crystal?
>'Delta Tune' is like an IF-shift or 'Clarifier'.
Aha, I was guessing as much, but good to have confirmation!
>Is it possible for you to briefly apply 1 or 2 VDC to your meter?
I don't know how I would do that, I did manage to crack it open just enough to stick something pointy in there and wiggle the needle, because I thought it was perhaps stuck, and while the needle appears to move freely, it just doesn't move on its own...
I can't help but notice that the Cobra 29 has a very similar looking meter, I do wonder if I would be able to swap it for one of those.
>So far nothing.
Nothing here either, especially not the actual real-life paper manual, sadly.
Of course I don't even know where the antenna is that originally got used with this thing, there IS an antenna in that cabinet but it's missing the actual antenna and it has a completely different coax connection.

>>2935605
>What is your goal
Having a well-matched 70cm antenna close to a well-matched 2m antenna without having to worry about running two coax lines up to the roof. And also to get some preliminary experience making antennas and RF circuits, getting some use out of my NanoVNA.

what do I buy if I want to sit at my desk and pick up as much chatter as possible from truckers to air traffic and weird shit from distant places if possible? I'm about 3-4 miles from a busy highway and 20miles from an airport if that matters.

>>2935824
p25 compatible scanner programmed via proscan for your area, coupled with an external discone antenna mounted at least 20 feet high.

So I tried my external SWR meter for the Cobra 148 gtl, and I think it’s busted.
If it helps, I do have a 102” whip if that helps.
Idk.

>>2935826
tyty anon

Is 360 Budweiser like a cb celebrity or something?

>>2935378

Absolutely Insanity to buy Solid CU 12g wire.

>>2935853

Which is Busted? The Inline SWR meter or the onboard SWR Meter.

102" whip should get flat swr with the potbelly Spring, the true Resonant Length for 27.185 is 109", personally my Whip is extended with a Spring, six inch Riser and two 1.5 inch risers cause of my antennas position on the Mobile.

I suggest Visiting K0BG's website

Captcha KGSW4G

>>2935944
I have a barrel type spring.
How do I tell if I have a flat SWR?
And the Inline SWR is busted.

>>2935947

Without a Nano VNA or inline meter. no way to do anything. But if ya did, you can Start at Channel 1 and chart the SWR. Then just go through each Channel and chart then compare.

>>2935971
>Without a Nano VNA or inline meter. no way to do anything.
I might perhaps possibly show my age here but I distinctly remember using 0B2 valves...

>>2931635 (OP)
>screwing around looking for satellites on 137.1Mhz ish
>wait a minute this can't be it
>some weird ultra clear FM looking signal on 135
>no fucking wayy that is a super clear maybe some other satellite? Even sort of looks like HRPT with the reflections
>some retards talking about the weather
>ahhh must be ATC talking about the weather on the approach
>WAIT A SECOND SEEMS A BIT TOO CLEAR AND NOT MONOTONE ENOUGH TO BE ATC

BANG IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AERONAUTICAL MOBILE BAND LMAOOO

>>2936024
South america or eastern asia ?
what antenna did you use ? I thought these cold war satellite (UFO fleet ?) were a bit weak

>>2936024
>>2936030 here, sorry I was thinking of the ones around 250 MHz
https://www.satellitenwelt.de/uhfmilsat.htm#UFO

It would be strange to have ones in the middle of the aviation band ?

>>2936030
>>2936031
My bad I should have made it clearer. It was local hams. I'm pretty sure I even recognized exactly who it was by voice and callsign. And they were definitely not talking in an amateur band. I think it was a misconfigured repeater or something

>>2936036
oh ok, I hope these guys don't do that on purpose, if there's one band that is a big nono for pirates it's the aviation one

>>2935944
>Absolutely Insanity to buy Solid CU 12g wire.
>I use #12 solid for 1KW AM and 1.5KW pep

Yeah it should be enough for a 6w cb radio right?

>>2935774
>How did they access two different channels with only one slot on the dial, just swapping out the crystal?
If I remember correctly that's exactly how they did it. They chose one or the other frequency and put the pair of crystals in.

>>2935060
Okay, i've been looking into old CB magazines but earliest is 1977 which misses your Cobra 26 which I have read came out prior to that. I found an old forum entry that says these are rare. They are essentially a stripped down Cobra 29A so that it could be sold for less. It appears to have been a doomed model, a 23 channel radio with bad timing. Introduced when the 40-channel expansion was announced. Discontinued almost immediately. There is also mention this was the father to the Cobra 21x models.

>>2932891
Piss poor take. You shouldn't have any say about other people's houses like they shouldn't have any say about yours. Don't like it? Move.

>>2932891
We found the guy with the limpest wrist!

>>2936218
>There is also mention this was the father to the Cobra 21x models.
I figured as much, it certainly resembles them. I quite like how unique it is, it really fits with my van because it is also one of a kind!
>>2936186
Nice! Of course, I've been driving around with the radio on Channel 19 and it's not heard much of anything, so I really doubt 22A or 22b are going to have any use...

>>2932891
>jew detected

>>2936256
Yeah those 2 extra channels were for those that sought a "private" channel as not everyone had access to them.

Ch 6 and 11 used to be old calling channels. You can also try listening to ch 14. A lot of the cheap kids "walki-talkies" used ch 14. 14 is where I had most of my casual contacts but my channel selection was limited as I only had a 6-channel RS handheld unit.

I bought a used swr and I think it’s busted. The needle isn’t moving at all.

>>2936360
is there a CALibrate knob or switch ? Some need to be calibrated to show proper SWR

>>2936162
It's Fine for Mobile Use but that's the Caveat, Mobile Use. The Vehicle moves and runs and gets hot and what not, solid CU is fine for Stationary stations but mobile Installations Should be THHN Stranded 12, Solid has the chance of cracking and then causing Arcing via high Resistance and in a Mobile, that's more likely to happen.

Source: personal Experience

>>2936343
Also I Have my 102" whip on the bumper so my radiation Pattern is like the last Pic.

I'm looking to get a Stryker or Connex Radio and blast 100 Watts so maybe the RP won't matter too much?

>>2936343
Nice to know my antenna mount is "very bad" lol

I'll have to try driving around listening to Channel 14 sometime...
It just makes me a little sad that I've been driving around with a radio set to Channel 19 for over a month basically and I've only caught chatter from truckers one time, and it was on the stupid little handheld CB in the Equinox rather than the actual radios in my own cars!
And the town I live in as well as the one I drive to for groceries and such are very close to the highway, so I would imagine I'd catch at least something, but I guess not.

ah fuck i was trying to solder the uv-k6 modchip and i lost that one sand-grain resistor that you have to solder a jumper to
pic related
does anyone have any hints at how to figure out what value it should be so i can bodge a tht resistor in its place?
the nearby transistors are likely a 2SC4226 RF NPN transistor at the lower-left, and a DTA114 digital PNP transistor (built in resistors) upper right. i'm pretty sure the digital transistor gates power to the RF amplifying transistor via the missing resistor, maybe stopping it from trying to amplify a signal while it's transmitting? it's jumpered off to the modchip as a reset line. hope that means a big tht resistor won't be an issue.

or does anyone here feel like measuring their resistor for me?

>>2936362
It’s a cobra 148 gtl.
It does have a CAL, and SWR knob.

Just bought a new house with a short property line. Too small for a G5RV and since it's a corner lot, dealing with power lines on 2 sides.

Any suggestions for antennas from 80 to 10?

>>2936400
oh, now pin 6 of the removed FM chip is reading continuity to ground. I'm getting tempted to buy another radio
why is there a schematic for the uv plus model but not the k5/6 model on the fccid site?

>>2933482
topkek that is perfect but it makes sense for sure and the government can't just do that.

>>2934478
Scrap. There are some DIY antenna designs that use it.

>>2932891
>muh HOA
kill yourself, boomer NPC

>finally picking up some transmissions on my CB
>it's just a bunch of people yelling over each other in spanish

>>2936447
Dimensions of property? Can you zigzag?

https://udel.edu/~mm/ham/randomWire/indexOld.html

>>2936447
80 may be realistically out of reach, but 40-10 dipoles or fan dipoles in an inverted v configuration work.

>>2936447
Verticals? Hustler 5BTV or a Cushcraft version.

>>2936588
>80 may be realistically out of reach
Tell that to my ATU.

>66ft efhw
>use ATU
>can now do 80m

>>2936599
>66ft efhw
>use ATU
>can now do 80m
>useless for dx
>most people in net can barely hear you
>audio quality sounds like shit and you can barely pull medium strength signals out of the noise

I can hook my ATU to a chainlink fence, I can hook that bad bitch up to a 20m dipole and transmit on 160m. That doesn't make it a usable antenna.

>>2936600
>useless for dx
Don't care for dxing

>most people in net can barely hear you
Get good reports on the Early Bird net.

>audio quality sounds like shit and you can barely pull medium strength signals out of the noise
Check your hearing.

>can hook my ATU to a chainlink fence...and transmit on 160m
Did it for CQ160. I did fine.

All you need is 100watts and a wire. The ATU will take care of the rest.

>>2936602
>Don't care for dxing
Because you can't.
>Get good reports on the Early Bird net.
From the 5 people that can hear you with 100w fed into a wire I'm sure.
>Did it for CQ160. I did fine.
No you didn't but that's okay.
>All you need is 100watts and a wire. The ATU will take care of the rest.
This is supreme misconception from idiot techs that have never used anything other than random wire lengths and cry that the bands are dead. If you ever threw up a resonant wire at over a half wavelength above ground you'd realize pretty instantly, and severely, how dogshit a non resonant wire sounds.

If you're just doing ft8 to the americas it's fine. If you want a truly capable antenna on 80m, you must realize how dogshit a 40m efhw is. It's the equivalent of me running a 10m dipole on 20m and just letting the tuner do the work. It's not going to work well at all.

>>2936570
I’ve heard the Spanish guy on channel 9 before too.
Try tuning into channel 6. That has the most chatter in my area.
Maybe someday I’ll hear you on the waves. I’m waiting on my SWR meter to get here so I can tune mine and don’t fry my radio.

>be me
>buy CB from guy
>find out he loves CB’s- it’s a hobby for him
>ask why CB’s and not HAM or HF
>says CB is basically “good ole boys”, and HAM is more “wine sipping proper guys” or something along those lines
Is this copium or the truth?
I have a CB and I do find it fun and cool for a few reasons.
>no need of license
>laid back, and kinda chaotic
>useful for croosing down the interstate
However, I do like the idea of extended range, and being opened up to way more channels on HF.
Am I missing anything, or is this just another one of my fantasies?

>>2936609
>Is this copium
Well considering I just listened to a conversation about someone's urethra dilation for a kidney stone on 20m, yeah probably.

>11m cb
>10/11m bands are on the way down due to the current position in the solar cycle
>will be dead in the next 2 years entirely

>15-80m
>considerable propagation all year around
>even if cb comes back so does 10m
>slow scan television
>ft8
>data modes
>cw
>phone
>varac and ham radio email
>awards, contests, and challenges as far as the eye can see
>memes

CB is playing with walkie talkies in your car. Yeah you can get some great propagation, but it's going to be wavering for the next few months. You have so much more range on ham bands, from access to 900mhz to amazing shortwave propagation.

>>2936612
Man, I should get a shortwave for my truck/house.

Whats the point of buying over a 100w radio if I can just buy an amp?

>>2936607
>Because you can't.
The same efhw thrown from my balcony that's really high up. Done it. Dx from here in America to Italy. Landlord seethed when I lived still lived there. Next.

>From the 5 people that can hear you with 100w fed into a wire I'm sure.
Nope. I talk on 80m on the norm. Btw, I don't want to hear about your colonoscopy. Hearing grumpy old hams embarrassing themselves is funny.

>No you didn't but that's okay.
Yep. I could have got out my 135ft efhw, but it was during the month long blizzard, so no thanks. Next.

>This is supreme misconception from idiot techs that have never used anything other than random wire lengths and cry that the bands are dead.
Never complained.

>the rest
Don't care. I can hear them, they can hear me.

>>2936635
Nothing. An amp will be far cheaper than a ftdx101mp or other >100w radio.

>>2936638
>The same efhw thrown from my balcony that's really high up. Done it. Dx from here in America to Italy.
Cute. I've dxed america to Africa by hooking my atu to a 34' mast on 10m. Doesn't make it a good antenna and that's a one off situation.
>colonoscopy
Ain't me
>135' efhw
Are all your antennas efhws? No wonder you think grabbing a contact in Italy is something mentionable. Let me guess, IK4LZH or another mega station?
>don't care about dx
>mentions a single dx contact

>I hear them, they hear me
That's how propagation usually works correct. Imagine hearing an additional 100s of stations, and them hearing you, because you used a resonant antenna instead of a ground warmer.

I'm not going to pretend it's a bad thing to throw up a wire and make contacts, it isn't if you're mobile or compromised. But you are definitely using a compromised antenna, and you will be disappointed with the results, as you certainly know based on your posts.

Anyone have some cool antenna designs that someone can make with wire other than dipoles?

>>2936652
10m is something I haven't tried since I'm a night person due to being a midnight shifter. If I'm on, I'm on 40m or 80m. That station wasn't it. I know it from when I used to be into FT8 which got extremely boring quickly. I haven't tried any others because I just don't really care.

>Are all your antennas efhws?
For now, yes. I used to have a OCFD which worked great, but it got brought down from a major storm a year ago, and I just haven't found the motivation to put it back up. So, I just stuck with the efhws since they're easy to string up. It was up in 10 minutes. Compared to finding a new tree to put it in, getting the ladder out, climbing the tree, find out how I'm going to spread out the wires without it being a tripping hazard, redig up the coax, redig putting the coax down, etc. The efhw I have up how, I can just hang it from the rafter. Though I do think I should get the 135ft one out to use instead. Thanks for motivating me on that one.

>Imagine hearing an additional 100s of stations, and them hearing you, because you used a resonant antenna instead of a ground warmer.
I did have an actual 40m dipole at one time just as an experiment when I was at work and nothing was going on. You are right that it being an actual resonant antenna is better (i managed to cut it once and the swr was 1.5, lucky me!). I won't deny that. It is heavily compromised and efhws are extremely noisy. However, it works for me.

>>2936658
Verticals. You have one up really high, then at the bottom, a lot of radials to act as the ground plane. You also do full waves. If you want a DIY challenge, magloops. I never tried one, since the many dipole variations works for me. If you want a directional one: hexbeams. And there's also cobwebs. ARRL handbook has a lot of different designs outside of magloops and dipoles.

>>2936658
You can make most dipole antennas, including inverted Vs and other configurations, into reversable yagis by adding a relay. Way #1 is to make the director switchable between a director and reflector by adding a relay that shortens or lengthens the resonance of the parasitic element. Way #2 is to swap between driven elements, isolating the twin, so that the other element is parasitic.
https://moxonantennaproject.net/w8egb/w8egb_reverse.htm

>>2932524
>>2932354
>>2932471
holy shit, i'm a canadian ham and haven't heard of this guy - what a rabbit hole

>>2936400
Bump
Does anyone have a K5/K6 handheld radio they can open up and measure that resistor?

There's nothing like finally tuning into channel 19 to hear some of guy say WHY DONT YOU PUT SOME COCOA BUTTER ON YOUR BUSSY

Is there a difference between a “ham”, “HF”, and “all mode/band” transceivers?

I won a new opex box 2 pack of baofengs on ebay. They were listed as uv5g plus but are actually 5rm. are these better or worse or similar than the uv5g plus? Googling only seems to come up with the uv5rm and idk if that's a different model or not. I only paid 38 bucks all in and they came with all original accessories including upgraded antennas so I can't get too bent out of shape if they happen to be worse than advertised, but I would still like to know what I'm in for.

>>2936782
>ham
Allows transmit on the frequencies allocated to hams. Can work other frequencies if you do a MARS mod (e.g. modded my FT-5D to transmit on GMRS and MURS).

>HF
High frequency. 30Mhz and below. Many times, if the rig can do HF, they'll add the 6m band as well.

>all mode
Can do all the modes like FM, AM, SSB, CW, etc.

>band
Can transmit on any of the amateur bands the radio supports. Most all-bands will go 160m to 70cm.

>>2936788
I don’t know what any of this means, but I want something like CB but more.

>>2931635 (OP)
I know it's legal or broadcast music on AM radio if it's under a certain amount of power. And I'm happy with that.
But what's the cheapest antenna and AM broadcaster hardware to do it with? All the hardware I see is like hundreds of dollars and aimed at professional licensed AM radio. Can it be done with a raspberry Pi or something?

>>2936812
What are you wanting to broadcast? Also that’s an interesting question.

>>2936816
Hobby AM stuff that is low power enough to not need a license usually does hyper local stuff. I have several text based news and weather feeds I could make some text to speech software read all day. The news stations on FM and AM around me suck ass. I can make a TTS read the news and weather and ferry conditions and highway conditions, now I want to broadcast it to the town around me on AM.
But all the AM equipment is hundreds of dollars and aimed at REAL stations and not small unlicensed stations. So I'm asking what to buy.

>>2936812
I would like to broadcast music from the second floor of my house in such a way that I can listen to it out in the yard or while working on one of my cars or just anywhere in the house but it looks like the only way to do that is with an expensive FM transmitter meant for drive-in theaters or something

>>2936817
There's ample, ready made low power FM transmitters (88.0 to 108.0 mHz) that will give you a few blocks range that just plug into the headphone jack of your radio or computer. Better quality.

Or just buy a $40 Bluetooth speaker puck for your Spotify station.

>>2936818
>broadcast music from the second floor of my house ... out in the yard

outdoor bluetooth speakers would fit the bill
but if range is too short, i'd use walkie talkies to extend the range
many bluetooth speakers feature an audio-in jack

>>2936845
nta, but there’s just something about actual radio..

>>2936782
Ham bands are allocated across a huge span of frequencies, pic. related.

The HF band is formally 3 - 30 MHz but for historical reasons it extends down to 1.5 MHz. Below that you have MF, LF, VLF etc.

>>2936791
You can use a web receiver to listen in, legally and for free.
http://rx.linkfanel.net/

>>2936851
You mean analog radio. Bluetooth is very real radio, but it acts more like a digital serial port. Guessing you're looking for that crispy analog sound. Do keep your power fairly low. I'm pretty sure there are rules about music, but the rules on radio are rather long and convoluted, so I forgot the specifics.

>>2936845
Am the anon, radio is a billion times easier to deal with than bluetooth. I have little radios all over my house, I'm not buying 20 Bluetooth speakers that I will have to simultaneously keep charged and just the thought of trying to disconnect my phone from one of them to place down through the other is already giving me a headache!

>be me tonight on interstate
>turn on CB for first time on interstate
>dead waves except for some faint voices every now and again on channel 6
>highly disappointed
Well I guess it’s time to sell the CB and get an HF radio. Then again it is like 2:30am

>>2937230

Propagation Dies at Night time for 11 Meters

80 and 40 Meters would be what you'd want at night, but in the Day those bands also rely on the E Layer of the atmosphere to disappear

>>2937230
I'm picturing hundreds of users silently listening to their radios, bitching that no one is on. :-D

>>2937338
NTA but I should start just commenting on every truck I pass and see how long it takes one of them to respond

ham radio is dead

>>2937368
Someone fell for the efhw meme and doesn't have a good antenna. You mean to tell me an antenna that needs a 49:1 transformer isn't a great antenna? Word?

>>2937268
When you guys say 40 or 80m like what does that mean?
Here’s my deal- I’d like to talk and for the most part listen to people talk. CB is cool, but unfortunately a lot more dead than I thought.
So the way I understand it is HF and ham are basically the same thing. I know 11m is CB.
What band do people mostly talk on? Is there a radio that covers all of the “m” bands? I just want to listen to/talk on what most people use.
I don’t know how all this stuff works.
>>2937338
Honestly, CB cant be that dead.
>>2937344
maybe that’s the issue. We just don’t reach out. lol

>>2937421
>When you guys say 40 or 80m like what does that mean?
That is the wavelength of the signals. Frequency in MHz is 300 divided by wavelength in m.
>Here’s my deal- I’d like to talk and for the most part listen to people talk. CB is cool, but unfortunately a lot more dead than I thought.
>So the way I understand it is HF and ham are basically the same thing. I know 11m is CB.
There is overlap in interest, like being social. Ham has a far wider spectrum available and also do electronics and fancy antennas.
>What band do people mostly talk on? Is there a radio that covers all of the “m” bands? I just want to listen to/talk on what most people use.
SR (software defined radios) give you access to huge bands, typically with waterfall displays that let you quickly find people. Most modern HF ham rigs are able to receive the entire HF band (often with 50 MHz and 70 Mhz) but the transmitter is usually locked down to ham bands only. Military HF rigs can transmit and receive across the entire HF band.
>I don’t know how all this stuff works.
That is why the FAQ was made.

>>2937421
>Honestly, CB cant be that dead.
It probably isn't. But there have been times where I put a call out on a dead band and suddenly get responses. I regularly put out calls on simplex frequencies at the top of the hour while travelling.

However, CB is not one of my priorities. If 10 is open i'm paying more attention there. My last CB QSO was winter 1990 while driving through the Canadian Rockies in the middle of winter very late one night on my way to Calgary, Alta. I was following a pair of semi's in my old Toyota Celica and had my 6 channel portable CB handheld with me. They were chatting on 19. I heard them talking about me wondering why I wasn't passing them when I surprised them with a reply that I was in no hurry and would rather let them plow a way thru the snow. Had a very casual chat about random things for about 2 hours.

I still monitor the official channels. The only activity i've heard this year was a beeping noise on 27.115.5 MHz in AM mode. Never heard it before or since. I checked online receivers out to 1,000 km and they heard nothing. I'm still investigating it.

>>2937421

>CB Dead

No

Put up a 40m inv v. Apex 30'. Now I have a 10m, 20m, and 40m solution. And 15m but it'll be a shit 15m antenna.

>>2936831
I know, but the AM part 15 legal stations are cool and with the same wattage AM gets more range in rural areas.

>>2936851
>there’s just something about actual radio

yeah! commercials
makes me wanna smash the radio after just 30 minutes
at least satellite radio is mostly commercial free, and it can be had for free if you know the trick

>>2937613
I'm currently listening to chinese firedrake jammers. Get on my level, perfect morning vibe for my coffee. Maybe I'll switch to radio havana in a few minutes.

>>2937657
>radio havana
How are the transmitting when they can't keep the power on and now begging for food.

>>2937800
The propaganda machine cannot be stopped.

>>2937589
Yeah, I realized it was probably just because it was so late at night in my area.

Does anyone use SSB on CB anymore?

>>2931635 (OP)
I want to set aside time to hyper-focus on and grind out some level of ham licensure. I functionally have no prior knowledge. How many hours of HamStudy.org is it likely to take me to grind through each level? Is there a better study method?

>>2938430
You can probably learn the important parts and temporarily memorise the rest in 20 hours or so. Where I live there’s just one class of license that’s equivalent to a general license in the USA, and the local community college runs a single weekend ham cram course that basically everyone passes at the end of.

Online tools can be handy if you learn that way, if not they’re still ok for memorising. I just read our study guide and did a dozen computer-generated test exams, going back to read the guide for the questions I got wrong each time. But the course was useful for teaching me the intuition behind the answers, as opposed to just memorising the answers.

>>2938289
Absolutely
>>2938430
Took me a Week Grinding Ham radio Prep Practice Tests per Liscene

>>2936400
Ok I bought another one, with the mod presoldered this time, measured the resistor, and found it was 100 ohms. I also ordered an SMD codebook of 0402s at the same time, and soldered it in with unreasonable ease. Pretty sure I'd damaged the old resistor before I lost it because one pad was simply not sticking, compared to how easy the new resistor was.

The online flash tools wouldn't work for me, and I was afraid I'd bricked the radio because it wouldn't boot, but now I've got it working using the manufacturer's flash tool .exe via Wine. Besides having to remap a serial port it was seamless. But then I flashed on the Egzumer firmware without knowing it isn't designed with the SI5732 in mind. I should just use the CEC firmware, but I found this neat Chinese one called LoseHu, which can measure doppler shifts to up to 40 satellites. I assume that means GPS or something similar, and that it can figure out your coordinates, which I thought sounded really cool. But then the online firmware builder tool says it can only enable the SI4732 radio, or enable the doppler satellite stuff, not both at once. Maybe it's firmware space issues, this firmware already stores some shit on the expanded EEPROM. Also the user interface for the SI4732 receiver is completely different to the CEC firmware's interface on the radio I bought, so I'll probably just flash that on and be done with it.

Anyhow, now this sucker can make outgoing and incoming calls! Well I guess I can't make incoming calls. I mean I can call myself on my other radio, but then I'm just talking to myself on two radios. Look it was totally worth it.

>>2939438
ah shit and the one i soldered has worse snr than the premade one with the shittier internal pcb somehow, maybe i should have shorted out that ceramic cap as that one youtuber suggested

I have a 102” whip. I was trying to tune my SWR earlier, and channel 1 is reading 2.0 and ch 40 is about 1.5
I also have a barrel spring. How am I supposed to fix my SWR?

>>2939599
>>2939599

MIGRATE NOW PLEASE

>>2938448
>>2938997
Thanks. I should be able to set aside a week or two within the next few months. I'll be back in the thread once I have cause to start acquiring and tinkering with equipment.