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RadioPassive posted:Just put wheels on a yagi.
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Jun 18, 2020 21:31
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a tall bike cargo bike sounds like a disaster, a fun disaster but still
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Jun 18, 2020 22:19
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copen posted:
Ok just FYI none of those will fit the charger I brought up - it's slotted for the following models: CP150, CP200, CP200-XLS, CP200D, DEP 450, EP450, EP450S, PR400 I have mine filled with CP200d's thus you'll need to source replacement seats for the 6550s and the analog looking one (if they exist for this model gang charger) Sniep fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Jun 18, 2020 |
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Jun 18, 2020 22:26
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I got an Anytone 878 today. It’s been quite the learning experience. I watched all the “Bridgecom university” videos, which really ought to just be free. They claim it’s a “$97 value,” but it’s just regular youtube fare. I got it loaded with a local metro code plug and started to read the manual, but every time the radio sat untouched on the table for a few minutes, it started to siren. I’m not entirely sure if it was actually transmitting the siren or not. I spent the rest of the morning trying to sort that out, and I *think* it was because the codeplug had “working alone mode” enabled on random memories and the radio assumed I was dead when it stopped moving? I couldn’t figure out how to disable that in bulk, so I had to check all 500 entries in CPS. I’m actually impressed that I can hit a nearby DMR from inside my house, but I haven’t heard any activity. Parrot works, and people have just been kerchunking their calls onto my screen all day. Is that what I’m supposed to do? I’m not sure about the etiquette for calling up dynamic talkgroups, so I’m probably just going to wait till my MMDVM shows up from China.
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Jun 18, 2020 22:39
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Sniep posted:Ok just FYI none of those will fit the charger I brought up - it's slotted for the following models: Yeah they won't work. I don't think I can get seats for these 6000 series for that charger. But I can always get another bank charger lol. The analog lookin one is the 6350 which is just a 6550 with no screen. But I will probably buy a couple CP200d's as well  I made a discord since I don't think we have one. Anyone is welcome to join, may be a fun hangout and place to figure out DMR and or DStar GoonNet. https://discord.gg/ED67er
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Jun 18, 2020 22:42
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taqueso posted:a tall bike cargo bike sounds like a disaster, a fun disaster but still  if you throw the luggage low down it actually stabilizes the rest of the bike frame. i figure i can put a battery cage somewhere for downforce
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Jun 18, 2020 22:55
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i mean yes this is more easily and safely accomplished in a car but i’m not here for that i like wild ideas
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Jun 18, 2020 22:55
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Don't get me wrong, I fully support you and any I don't think I've ever actually fell off a tall bike, now that I think about it. It just often feels like you are going to.
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Jun 18, 2020 22:59
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copen posted:The analog lookin one is the 6350 which is just a 6550 with no screen. oh slick now i can see it, was hard to make out but nice haul! copen posted:I made a discord since I don't think we have one. Anyone is welcome to join, may be a fun hangout and place to figure out DMR and or DStar GoonNet. sure i'll drop by. BTW check your PMs
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Jun 18, 2020 23:01
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Trying to get this MMDVM thing to work with my RPi 3 has been hell. Maybe I just got a bad board? WHO KNOWS
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Jun 19, 2020 01:40
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eddiewalker posted:I got an Anytone 878 today. It’s been quite the learning experience. I watched all the “Bridgecom university” videos, which really ought to just be free. They claim it’s a “$97 value,” but it’s just regular youtube fare. If parrot works and you can see other people kerchunk then you're set up okay. How are you monitoring? A scanlist or digital monitoring? You can configure it to monitor any talkgroup and color code, then turn on digital monitoring 2 to listen on both timeslots. It won't catch any dynamic talkgroups that haven't been keyed up on.
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Jun 19, 2020 02:05
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I'm walking laps around my neighborhood right now, shocked at both how much range I'm getting off this cheap-rear end Pi hat and the amount of technical detail the redneck stereotype voice I'm hearing on Brandmeister 93 is going in to about cell tower operations.
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Jun 19, 2020 03:38
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Those tall bikes are pretty bad rear end. Sadly, I'm old, and this is more my speed  https://imgur.com/a/Y0Ks2cu From this guy's ham page (Hello 1990s!) https://sites.google.com/site/w3ffhomepage/
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Jun 19, 2020 11:57
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The Hambulance posted:Those tall bikes are pretty bad rear end. Sadly, I'm old, and this is more my speed lol the trailer amp is a nice touch
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Jun 19, 2020 16:47
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Half an hour calling CQ from a decently-open park in Edinburgh has convinced me that analogue VHF/UHF is dead over here. Everyone up here is all DMR and it doesn’t interest me at all, so I won’t be buying any kit for it. Anyone else despairing in the U.K. at all? Did I get back into all of this at the worst time? Last year I did SOTA and there are some local folk listening for that, but that’s few and far between. Maybe 4:30pm on a work day is the worst day to try, I could try one evening I guess.
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Jun 19, 2020 17:28
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thehustler posted:Half an hour calling CQ from a decently-open park in Edinburgh has convinced me that analogue VHF/UHF is dead over here. Everyone up here is all DMR and it doesn’t interest me at all, so I won’t be buying any kit for it. Lol yeah dude you won't get anyone anywhere at that time. You wanna check early morning and evenings between 6 and 9 pm local.
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Jun 19, 2020 18:04
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Good job it’s summer! I’ll head out Sunday evening and see what happens. Edit: To be fair the DMR repeaters up here are busy at all times of the day thehustler fucked around with this message at 19:38 on Jun 19, 2020 |
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Jun 19, 2020 18:47
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I’m in Scotland and I sometimes stick my radio on scan as I drive about and I haven’t caught much at all. I have regularly picked up some old guys chatting on a repeater in the Perth area 10-11am, but not much else. It’s a possibility fake Baofeng UV-5R with slightly better antenna so maybe a “proper” radio would pick up more. I just got it as a cheap kickabout to see if I fancied getting into it properly, and see what I could pick up. EDIT: That repeater might have been GD3PR I think? stump fucked around with this message at 00:08 on Jun 20, 2020 |
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Jun 20, 2020 00:01
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GB3PR, but yep. Can’t hit that unless I go up on one of Edinburgh’s hills. GB3FF in Kelty isn’t bad but is offline right now. They were putting it back up but lockdown hit. You get a lot of mobile trucker and delivery driver types on Scottish 2M repeaters I’ve noticed. But apart from SOTA there’s no simplex at all really.
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Jun 20, 2020 08:26
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Passed the technician exam with a 100%. Probably could have studied for the general and taken that at the same time, but I hadn't even started it yet so declined to take it. They said I should probably have my call sign by Wednesday or Thursday. I'm gonna get a BTECH DMR-6X2 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076H96BDC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_.aJ7EbKXDQSEP Which is the exact same hardware as an Anytone 868, but with different firmware and it includes some nice extra goodies like an extra battery and belt clip. This firmware also supports it acting as a repeater, and it can load Anytone code plugs onto it (though the reverse doesn't work, you can't load BTECH code plugs onto an Anytone, due to the extra features this one has)
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Jun 20, 2020 16:58
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Nitrousoxide posted:Passed the technician exam with a 100%. Probably could have studied for the general and taken that at the same time, but I hadn't even started it yet so declined to take it. They said I should probably have my call sign by Wednesday or Thursday. Congrats! There’s a lot of decent repeaters in the area, as well as two that are hooked into a WAN system. I’ve heard people from Georgia and Maine on the UPenn one.
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Jun 20, 2020 19:37
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I built a 6m antenna this weekend using these plans http://www.pa3hcm.nl/?p=312 Construction  Set it up against my garden bed using a Chain Link fence top rail I had. This is just temporary to test and tune it. I will be mounting it to the mast in the background at some point. Testing this close to all this galvanized fence wire may not have been the best move.  SWR Readings. around 1swr at 50.490MHz. I want to mostly use this for now on digital modes. So the bottom portion of the band is what I am most concerned with. Hopefully get to hook it up to the radio soon and try it out. Was a fun project though! copen fucked around with this message at 21:48 on Jun 21, 2020 |
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Jun 21, 2020 21:43
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This hobby might be a problem. I've had my license for less than 2 weeks, and I've already gotten 2 radios, built a hamclock, ordered a rtl-sdr, and the mmdvm hat for a pistar hotspot. Someone tell me not to keep looking at ads-b tracking.
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Jun 22, 2020 03:32
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I decided to listen in my town's VHF net. I figured I should listen to one in full to see how it's run before trying to participate in the future.  Heard a surprising number of people check in including some from nearby towns, and pretty much everyone who wasn't mobile had solid audio quality. Heard the net operator say in response to someone, "It's good to hear from the clan again." (This is a rural southern town, so immediate red flags in my brain where that was not spelled with a 'c'.) Light bulb moment realizing that was in reference to a family with several hams sharing a single radio and not...bad things.
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Jun 23, 2020 01:33
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oh man nets where the spouse and maybe a kid check in are SUPER wholesome. families that ham together fight over radios together
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Jun 23, 2020 01:58
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Jonny 290 posted:oh man nets where the spouse and maybe a kid check in are SUPER wholesome. families that ham together fight over radios together Is this a local thing? Once in a great while I’ll hear a kid, or pretty sure a grand kid. But never a family. Pretty sweet if it happens. I’ve tried to nudge my wife into just a tech license, not happening. I did get us a GMRS license, so something.
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Jun 23, 2020 07:54
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Is it possible to make a loading coil for 160 meters using a 130" whip? Is it advisable, or is it dumb?
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Jun 23, 2020 14:05
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How active is the NTS system actually? One of my co-workers (who is a HAM) would get a massive kick out of getting a radiogram from me (also a HAM). We're in the same local jurisdiction, though, and there doesn't seem to be an active section net in my area. I don't have anything that can transmit on HF to reach the area nets, anyway. How could I get a radiogram delivered to him?
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Jun 23, 2020 20:06
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CaladSigilon posted:How active is the NTS system actually? One of my co-workers (who is a HAM) would get a massive kick out of getting a radiogram from me (also a HAM). We're in the same local jurisdiction, though, and there doesn't seem to be an active section net in my area. I don't have anything that can transmit on HF to reach the area nets, anyway. How could I get a radiogram delivered to him? ask LOREN N1IQI lmao real talk, i mean, next to no traffic actually gets passed on it beside spam - but you should still be able to reach the system without HF, most local nets are on VHF/UHF repeaters and maybe you can find a net nearby that you can connect into like a link system or maybe there's a digital option? Idk, kind of hard to do the research without knowing your location but i can't believe there's no NTS net reachable at all
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Jun 23, 2020 22:27
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A while back the thread was discussing SGC tuners, I just packed up an SG-230 and an SG-211 for shipment after repair. Both were DOA when I got them. The SG-230 is based on a 68HC11 MCU, fortunately the only damage was the RF rectifier diodes in the detector system. Since they shorted the MCU never detected the RF and didn't do anything. Pretty neat kit over all. Seems fairly well assembled. The SG-211 isn't quite as nice inside, but it's not an outdoor rated unit either. There was some pretty ugly factory rework done to replace a little 1.8V LDO used as a reference to (presumably) measure the battery voltage. Seems like the regulator they designed for wasn't available and they modded in a new one with a different pinout. Diodes weren't blown, but the MCU seemed to be messed up and didn't do anything even though it was getting all the required signals (looking at the oscillator pins, it started up and ran for a little while without doing anything). I was able to dump the code using an old PICKit 3 I had laying around, amazingly the code was apparently intact (despite looking a little weird in the hex view), and there was no code protection active. New MCU + reprogramming and it lit back up. I guess I was lucky it was the PIC that had failed instead of the 6811, at least I have tooling for the PIC.
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Jun 23, 2020 22:38
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copen posted:I made a discord since I don't think we have one. Anyone is welcome to join, may be a fun hangout and place to figure out DMR and or DStar GoonNet. We're using the Brandmeister network since it seems to be the most popular network in America at least (DMR-MARC seems like it may be more popular in EU) and is widely available on public repeaters as well as being preprogrammed in to pretty much any DV hotspot. Their process is for us to use a member's DMR ID as a temporary talkgroup ID for at least 60 days to prove we'll actually use it, then we can apply to be allocated an official one. As a result we're using my ID, so if you have a DMR setup and either a hotspot or a local repeater that connects to Brandmeister you can join us on talkgroup 3163563. We made contact on it last night and like a lot of things relating to DMR it was easier than the information online made it sound like it would be. tl;dr: Goon DMR on Brandmeister TG 3163563
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Jun 24, 2020 14:42
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wolrah posted:Just an update on this, copen and I were playing around yesterday and started the process of setting up a private talkgroup for us to use. Thanks for setting this up! Any chance I could get a fresh Discord invite?
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Jun 24, 2020 15:10
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wolrah posted:Just an update on this, copen and I were playing around yesterday and started the process of setting up a private talkgroup for us to use. Can you connect to any brandmeister talkgroup from any brandmeister connected repeater? There's a Brandmeister repeater near me, but the repeaterbook entry for it lists a discrete set of talkgroups, some of which are "full time" and some of which are PTT. I assume that means the repeater will broadcast anything from the "full time" talkgroup, even if no one nearby has keyed up recently on it? And that it'll only broadcast the PTT ones if someone key's up? What about talkgroups that aren't listed? https://www.repeaterbook.com/repeaters/details.php?state_id=42&ID=283
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Jun 24, 2020 15:46
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Here is a new link for Discord that doesn't expire, If you are reading this in the future. https://discord.gg/R46wYGB Please join us, has been a pretty active chat and fun. Lurkers welcome
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Jun 24, 2020 16:06
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Sniep posted:DMR is 70cm unless you're in specific regions of bordering Canada etc. where 70cm is restricted for gov use, which is very small areas. I have a 144mhz DMR radio (a moto cp200d VHF) and i think i've used it... exactly 0 times lol
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Jun 24, 2020 23:43
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Nitrousoxide posted:Can you connect to any brandmeister talkgroup from any brandmeister connected repeater? There's a Brandmeister repeater near me, but the repeaterbook entry for it lists a discrete set of talkgroups, some of which are "full time" and some of which are PTT. Static talkgroups will always come through if the channel is open, dynamic talkgroups will be connected to if someone on the repeater keys up on that group and will remain connected either for a period of time or until someone starts using a different TG, depending on how that particular repeater is set up. Pi-Star defaults to the latter mode, but a lot of public repeaters seem to prefer a timeout. As a general rule if a repeater is connected to a single network you should be able to connect to any talkgroup on that network unless it's been explicitly filtered. If a repeater is connected to multiple networks then it gets tricky and will depend on the specific configuration of that repeater.
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Jun 25, 2020 15:02
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I have two antenna questions someone in here might have insight on: #1 I recently got a Signalink USB and a NanoVNA. I'm still reading the documentation for the Signalink, but there's a section that says "CAUTION – Before proceeding, be sure that your radio is connected to a low SWR antenna or dummy load." Any suggestions for what constitutes "low" for this application? The best antenna I've got at the moment is a DBJ-2 and the NanoVNA showed a SWR max at around 2.15 in the 2m band. I'm completely new to digital modes and mostly want to make sure I'm not going to fry anything. #2 I'm in an area where being able to listen to the Hurricane Watch Net might yield useful info if there's a local power or internet outage, but I'm too far inland to have useful weather info to share (and am not set up for HF transmission). I've got a decent SDR with an upconverter that should have no trouble picking up the 14.325 MHz (USB)and 7.268 MHz (LSB) transmissions if I have a suitable antenna. Any suggestions for good DIY or not-super-spendy commercially produced RX antennas that are indoor friendly that will do a decent job on those portions of the 40m and 20m bands? Most of the stuff I've seen specifically designed for indoor use are pricey RX/TX antennas, and I'd prefer to hold off on that until I've actually got an HF radio and know what else I want to do with it.
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Jun 28, 2020 01:55
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you can try one of the mla-30 loop designs (available on ebay) but i'll be honest, prepare for some disappointment trying to run any sort of antenna indoors. It might work but no guarantees. also, what is your intent with a signalink on 2 meters? It's not like it won't work, but except for packet radio, nobody really does digital stuff on 2m until you get into pricey ssb radio and big yagi territory.
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Jun 28, 2020 19:46
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Jonny 290 posted:you can try one of the mla-30 loop designs (available on ebay) but i'll be honest, prepare for some disappointment trying to run any sort of antenna indoors. It might work but no guarantees. The MLA-30 Loop looks like exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. Thanks. The only thing I was finding was the Magnetic Alpha Loop that's like $500. I've got a couple ideas for the Signalink on 2M, but I'm up for hearing why any/all of them are foolish. HF gear is definitely in my future (I've got General already and will eventually go for Extra) but it's not practical until I buy a house and that's been put on hold, unfortunately.
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Jun 28, 2020 21:12
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Any suggestions for an inexpensive iambic key (kit form is fine, maybe even preferred). I'm starting to learn CW, and the QRPguys kit ($15) has been discontinued.
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Jun 28, 2020 23:33
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