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mwdan
Feb 7, 2004

Webbed Blobs
Is there a specific channel for this echolink net? I've only ever logged into echolink enabled repeaters, and not net only ones.

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sklnd
Nov 26, 2007

NOT A TRACTOR

Jedi425 posted:

Hmm. I'd have to install it so no wire showed at all (one of the reasons the HOA got called on me was apparently due to a loose wire hanging over the edge of the roof from a previous tenant's eff'd up satellite dish installation), and I'm not sure if I can manage that, but it's a start. Thanks for the tip, I'd heard of these things but never really gone looking. :)
After reading this I decided to bone up on the FCC's take on amateur radio versus HOAs. Turns out they don't give a poo poo!

http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/local/ccr.html#prb-1

This is one more reason to never buy a house that's deed restricted if possible. This HOA business really rubs me the wrong way, as people who have no investment in your property can dictate what you can and cannot do with it. :argh:

Also, this is kind of a fun read, if you like to read about neighbors being outright dicks to a guy because of his tower.
http://www.qsl.net/k3qk/mine.html

Paul MaudDib
May 3, 2006

TEAM NVIDIA:
FORUM POLICE
To any prospective hams out there, I have a warning and recommendations. Considering that the average age on this board is probably college kids, you will have problems with other hams, especially on HF bands. The assumption is that anyone under the age of 30 is simply using daddy's radio. I have several stories of this happening to me. The end result of this was that I became extremely frustrated and gave up on radio. The only times I operate these days are Sweepstakes.

The only ways I found to avoid this? Operate morse - They can't tell from the sound of your voice who you are. You might be a 50-year old, or a 15 year old. The other way is to only operate during sweepstakes. If you are another number on the logbook, they do not care.

The ironic thing is that half of the ham community is desperately trying to recruit new members; they fear the decline of amateur radio due to the introduction of cell phones and the internet. The other half is a real good ol' boys club.

I'm not trying to threadshit here. If you don't have this problem, power to you. I just wasted a lot of time and money getting General, buying a HF rig, setting antennas (G5RV up ~50ft), learning morse, and learning procedures, only to not find ANYONE willing to talk to me.

McRib Sandwich
Aug 4, 2006
I am a McRib Sandwich

Paul MaudDib posted:

To any prospective hams out there, I have a warning and recommendations. Considering that the average age on this board is probably college kids, you will have problems with other hams, especially on HF bands. The assumption is that anyone under the age of 30 is simply using daddy's radio. I have several stories of this happening to me. The end result of this was that I became extremely frustrated and gave up on radio. The only times I operate these days are Sweepstakes.

The only ways I found to avoid this? Operate morse - They can't tell from the sound of your voice who you are. You might be a 50-year old, or a 15 year old. The other way is to only operate during sweepstakes. If you are another number on the logbook, they do not care.

The ironic thing is that half of the ham community is desperately trying to recruit new members; they fear the decline of amateur radio due to the introduction of cell phones and the internet. The other half is a real good ol' boys club.

I'm not trying to threadshit here. If you don't have this problem, power to you. I just wasted a lot of time and money getting General, buying a HF rig, setting antennas (G5RV up ~50ft), learning morse, and learning procedures, only to not find ANYONE willing to talk to me.

Don't forget, though, that a corollary to some of the ageism in amateur radio means that any of the new or exciting methods and modes like digital voice, microwave experimentation, SDR stuff and exotic packet modes are like kryptonite to the old-timers; you're probably a lot more likely to find younger guys hamming it up with these technologies. That's actually why I suggest meeting and greeting your local college radio clubs too.

Jedi425
Dec 6, 2002

THOU ART THEE ART THOU STICK YOUR HAND IN THE TV DO IT DO IT DO IT

sklnd posted:

This is one more reason to never buy a house that's deed restricted if possible. This HOA business really rubs me the wrong way, as people who have no investment in your property can dictate what you can and cannot do with it. :argh:

Unfortunately I don't own, I rent, which limits me even further as I technically don't own the property at all. The landlord is totally awesome (he hates this HOA as much as I do), and would almost 100% certainly not give a flying gently caress what I put up as long as it's done safely, but I'm watched on at least two sides by angry old people who apparently live to call the HOA on other people.

This Ventenna thing looks pretty sweet, though. On closer examination, I wouldn't be able to do the stealthy install, though. It requires you to drill some holes in the vent tubing for the antenna wires, and since I don't really have an easy way to get at that tube, I'd have to run the wire down the side of the townhouse somehow.

What makes this so frustrating is there's a guy not two minutes from me outside the townhouse complex who has a big freaking tower up on his lawn. :(

Oh and I love that flagpole antenna, McRib, that's plan B since I'd have to put it down in the yard, it's way too big for the roof of this place. I'd rather have my antenna up where the local stray cats can't chew up the wiring or fry themselves on RF.

McRib Sandwich
Aug 4, 2006
I am a McRib Sandwich

Jedi425 posted:

Unfortunately I don't own, I rent, which limits me even further as I technically don't own the property at all. The landlord is totally awesome (he hates this HOA as much as I do), and would almost 100% certainly not give a flying gently caress what I put up as long as it's done safely, but I'm watched on at least two sides by angry old people who apparently live to call the HOA on other people.

This Ventenna thing looks pretty sweet, though. On closer examination, I wouldn't be able to do the stealthy install, though. It requires you to drill some holes in the vent tubing for the antenna wires, and since I don't really have an easy way to get at that tube, I'd have to run the wire down the side of the townhouse somehow.

What makes this so frustrating is there's a guy not two minutes from me outside the townhouse complex who has a big freaking tower up on his lawn. :(

Oh and I love that flagpole antenna, McRib, that's plan B since I'd have to put it down in the yard, it's way too big for the roof of this place. I'd rather have my antenna up where the local stray cats can't chew up the wiring or fry themselves on RF.

Your other option in this case is probably to scope out a nice, high-quality screwdriver antenna (High Sierra and Hi-Q come to mind) to put up in a clandestine location around your property. I just bought a High Sierra Sidekick, which is about 15" itself with a 3-foot whip on top. I haven't soldered on the antenna connector ends yet, but this thing is supposed to tune 6m to 80m continuous without breaking a sweat. Cap hat + an 8-foot whip will get you 160m too, but I don't have the space for that.

Anyway, one of those in the right place plus a little counterpoise, and you've got a nice little installation going. I got mine with a tripod (can't stick anything on the side of my apartment), can't wait to test it out. The other bonus is that the antenna is reasonable enough to run mobile once I pick up a car, though in all likelihood I would imagine running VHF/UHF before HF mobile.

McRib Sandwich
Aug 4, 2006
I am a McRib Sandwich
In other news, two old fogies just started talking about politics on 146.730 FM locally. :psyduck: Did I miss the amateur radio exam prerequisite where you have to be an old white conservative to get your ticket, or did they waive that when I took it?

blugu64
Jul 17, 2006

Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face?

McRib Sandwich posted:

In other news, two old fogies just started talking about politics on 146.730 FM locally. :psyduck: Did I miss the amateur radio exam prerequisite where you have to be an old white conservative to get your ticket, or did they waive that when I took it?

Say what you will, but I don't think I'll ever get tired of debating the merits of Delivery Hamburgers or which local fastfood joint has the best cheeseburgers with old drunks.

McRib Sandwich
Aug 4, 2006
I am a McRib Sandwich

blugu64 posted:

Say what you will, but I don't think I'll ever get tired of debating the merits of Delivery Hamburgers or which local fastfood joint has the best cheeseburgers with old drunks.

Wheee... I'm on 147.090 now, listening to some other old guy talk slower than I can tap out Morse (mind you I barely passed 5 WPM for my General). Talking about old transatlantic cables, and now magazines and airmail. :wtc: I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

nmfree
Aug 15, 2001

The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006
Just a quick note- I linked to L.B. Cebik's antenna page on the last page of this thread; unfortunately, he became a SK last week. It's worth reading through the ARRL obituary page. :smith:


mwdan posted:

Is there a specific channel for this echolink net? I've only ever logged into echolink enabled repeaters, and not net only ones.
When I looked around the other day "WMPORN" looked like a good conference candidate.

Paul MaudDib posted:

To any prospective hams out there, I have a warning and recommendations.
Honestly, you shouldn't let a few cranks drive you out of a hobby that you otherwise enjoy; I've found that digital modes and bands like 30 Meters generally are much more laid back and the ops are more interested in just talking to you (about the usual stuff, of course, the weather, your rig, etc.) than in engaging in a pissing contest.

Jedi425 posted:

Unfortunately I don't own, I rent, which limits me even further as I technically don't own the property at all. The landlord is totally awesome (he hates this HOA as much as I do), and would almost 100% certainly not give a flying gently caress what I put up as long as it's done safely, but I'm watched on at least two sides by angry old people who apparently live to call the HOA on other people.

To channel Gunnery Sergeant Highway, improvise, adapt, and overcome. Are you living in a house? Or in half a duplex? If you have access to the attic, you have a place to put antennas. Sure, it's not up as high as one would like to see, but a smaller, lower, less efficient antenna is still better than none at all.

Jedi425 posted:

Oh and I love that flagpole antenna, McRib, that's plan B since I'd have to put it down in the yard, it's way too big for the roof of this place. I'd rather have my antenna up where the local stray cats can't chew up the wiring or fry themselves on RF.
Another flagpole solution is to get an aluminum flagpole planted in the ground, bury some radials and the feedline into the house, and hide your connections in a small box at ground level (or in some PVC buried a few inches deep). Again, not the best solution, but one that has been used by many hams and one that is better than being completely QRT.

McRib Sandwich posted:

In other news, two old fogies just started talking about politics on 146.730 FM locally. :psyduck: Did I miss the amateur radio exam prerequisite where you have to be an old white conservative to get your ticket, or did they waive that when I took it?
It's in the same part of the rules as where it says that all Amateur communications must end with "God bless".

Jedi425
Dec 6, 2002

THOU ART THEE ART THOU STICK YOUR HAND IN THE TV DO IT DO IT DO IT

nmfree posted:

To channel Gunnery Sergeant Highway, improvise, adapt, and overcome. Are you living in a house? Or in half a duplex? If you have access to the attic, you have a place to put antennas. Sure, it's not up as high as one would like to see, but a smaller, lower, less efficient antenna is still better than none at all.

Another flagpole solution is to get an aluminum flagpole planted in the ground, bury some radials and the feedline into the house, and hide your connections in a small box at ground level (or in some PVC buried a few inches deep). Again, not the best solution, but one that has been used by many hams and one that is better than being completely QRT.

It's a townhouse, and I don't appear to have attic access at all, though I'll look around some more soon. I really like the idea of the Ventenna the more I look at it, because it offers me a couple of options for mounting; either on the roof over the vent pipe, or on top of the storage unit next to my parking space (camouflaged as a regular vent). In both cases, the problem then becomes getting the wire in the house, which I may yet be able to pull off by using one of the existing cables that run into the house. (The TV cable appears to emerge from deep in the earth out front and run into our house. Cox Cable apparently outsources to Fraggle Rock or something.)

nmfree
Aug 15, 2001

The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Jedi425 posted:

In both cases, the problem then becomes getting the wire in the house, which I may yet be able to pull off by using one of the existing cables that run into the house. (The TV cable appears to emerge from deep in the earth out front and run into our house. Cox Cable apparently outsources to Fraggle Rock or something.)
It's not a good idea to use CATV cable because 1)it's a different impedance and will make a bad situation worse and 2) the first time you key up you'll fry every TV, VCR, DVR, etc. on your local circuit. Even if there's a connector at the far end you can tap into, the cable company will probably frown on you "hijacking" their connection.

FuzzyBuddha
Dec 7, 2003

McRib Sandwich posted:

Wheee... I'm on 147.090 now, listening to some other old guy talk slower than I can tap out Morse (mind you I barely passed 5 WPM for my General). Talking about old transatlantic cables, and now magazines and airmail. :wtc: I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

Heh, at least you get conversations. About the only time I hear any activity on 2 meters around here is when we've had an earthquake. Then it goes crazy for an hour until the Ham that works at the geophysical institute gets on to let everyone know how big it was. Then it goes silent again. :(

ValhallaSmith
Aug 16, 2005
I was reading the SoftRock40 list yesterday and they were talking about http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ .

Its actually pretty neat, its an SDR radio listening on the 40 and 80 meter bands.

nmfree
Aug 15, 2001

The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006
Double post, nothing to see here! :derp:

blugu64
Jul 17, 2006

Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face?

ValhallaSmith posted:

I was reading the SoftRock40 list yesterday and they were talking about http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ .

Its actually pretty neat, its an SDR radio listening on the 40 and 80 meter bands.

This is very cool.

EDIT:This is the coolest thing I've seen this week by far.

EDIT2: IIRC they're sold out of all the SoftRock kits, sadly.

blugu64 fucked around with this message at 23:33 on Apr 23, 2008

ValhallaSmith
Aug 16, 2005

blugu64 posted:

EDIT2: IIRC they're sold out of all the SoftRock kits, sadly.

No the softrock is still around. Its at version 8.x and is still being developed for. You just have to email the original creator and he will send you a kit. Just sign up for the softrock list at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/softrock40/ . The RXTX version is around 30$ and the lite version (RX only) is about 10. They are available in version from 160m to 15m.

Blacksmith
Dec 3, 2004

Ex-Operator for USCG NMN chiming in, if you want to know anything about disaster response and such and how we use the HF band for it let me know. I'll be keeping an eye on the thread for questions.

Jedi425
Dec 6, 2002

THOU ART THEE ART THOU STICK YOUR HAND IN THE TV DO IT DO IT DO IT

nmfree posted:

It's not a good idea to use CATV cable because 1)it's a different impedance and will make a bad situation worse and 2) the first time you key up you'll fry every TV, VCR, DVR, etc. on your local circuit. Even if there's a connector at the far end you can tap into, the cable company will probably frown on you "hijacking" their connection.

Nono, I meant to use it as a way to run my own antenna cable into the house, not to steal their cable to use for it. I'm not quite silly enough to use a cable TV wire for my radio. Not yet, anyway. I figure I can maybe enlarge the hole a little and just run in alongside the TV cable and save myself a world of trouble, if I put the antenna out near where that cable goes in.

Jedi425 fucked around with this message at 02:13 on Apr 24, 2008

SheriffHippo
Jul 18, 2002
FREE HAM RADIO EQUIPMENT

My father passed away one month ago. He was an avid ham radio hobbyist. We are not sure what to do with all of his equipment. We also don't know if it is desirable to anyone, or should just be recycled.

Does anyone have any interest in free equipment? Local pick up would be best for the heavier items, but things could be mailed, at cost of shipping. We are in Dallas, TX.

Pictures: (Click for big)
















Box of assorted cables, etc.


There are three of these walkie-talkies, as well as a recharger for their batteries.

Giant antenna.



Made from a kit. Possibly 30 years old.

SheriffHippo fucked around with this message at 03:24 on Apr 24, 2008

mwdan
Feb 7, 2004

Webbed Blobs
I'm sorry for your loss, but I'd sure be willing to take that stuff off your hands, if the shipping costs wouldn't be too high. If you could let me know what it would cost to ship the lot of it to zip 56721, i'd appreciate it.

Jose Pointero
Feb 16, 2004

We're not just doing this for money. We're doing it for a SHITLOAD of money!

.

Jose Pointero fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Aug 28, 2019

blugu64
Jul 17, 2006

Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face?

SheriffHippo posted:

FREE HAM RADIO EQUIPMENT



I too am sorry for you loss. If nobody else wants it, I could really use that antenna tuner, and I'd like that 2m Satellite radio. However if you'd decided to sell rather then give it away or others really want/need it it's cool. I'm in dallas so shipping wouldn't be a problem.

EDIT:
If you happend to have his call please post it as there is a small chance I knew (of) him, depending on how active he was.

EDIT2:
Actually if you'd like to get your license I'd be more then happy to help you set any of that in your place and get you licensed. It'd be awesome to have another local dallas guy on the air.

blugu64 fucked around with this message at 05:07 on Apr 24, 2008

sklnd
Nov 26, 2007

NOT A TRACTOR

SheriffHippo posted:

terrible news

That's terrible! I hope you and your family are doing okay.

I'll be willing to take some of it off your hands. I'm in western Plano so local pickup isn't a problem.

Edit: blugu's 2nd edit is the best suggestion

sklnd fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Apr 24, 2008

Paul MaudDib
May 3, 2006

TEAM NVIDIA:
FORUM POLICE

SheriffHippo posted:

FREE HAM RADIO EQUIPMENT

I have a TS-820S that is identical to that one. It's the rig I use contesting (which I honestly really enjoy). Mine is pretty well dying. The 28.5 setting causes the radio to go blank and refuse to transmit, and it usually refuses to work at all for the first hour until it's properly warmed up. The frequency counter just displays all zeros. I have to "help it along" with an incandescent lamp.

If you decide to get rid of that stuff please let me know. At the least it's spares for mine, but I might well be able to turn mine into spares for that one. If not, I'd be glad to help you with anything you have questions on. It's a rig with vacuum tube finals, which, while not the simplest to operate, are more durable than transistor based radios. Plus if you gently caress up, you're out two $100 tubes instead of a $700 radio.

McRib Sandwich posted:

Don't forget, though, that a corollary to some of the ageism in amateur radio means that any of the new or exciting methods and modes like digital voice, microwave experimentation, SDR stuff and exotic packet modes are like kryptonite to the old-timers; you're probably a lot more likely to find younger guys hamming it up with these technologies. That's actually why I suggest meeting and greeting your local college radio clubs too.

Honestly I was interested in packet and FSK. The problem is that I have no idea where to start. I need an interface for my radio, but I don't know anyone who makes them for a TS-820S, or the Yaesu 2m mobile I have. Is it even possible to get them running, and if so, who makes the best interfaces?

ValhallaSmith posted:

No the softrock is still around. Its at version 8.x and is still being developed for. You just have to email the original creator and he will send you a kit. Just sign up for the softrock list at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/softrock40/ . The RXTX version is around 30$ and the lite version (RX only) is about 10. They are available in version from 160m to 15m.

This is excellent news. I am really interested in SDR and I was in fact planning to do a capstone for Computer Science in one of the SDR algorithms, before I transferred colleges. But without the college to buy me a nice SDR, I couldn't find any SoftRocks anymore and the only other one I can find is the USRP, which, while it looks very nice, is out of my price range for the moment. Thank you very much for this little tidbit! :)

nmfree
Aug 15, 2001

The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

SheriffHippo posted:

FREE HAM RADIO EQUIPMENT
I think you might be surprised at how much some of that stuff is worth on eBay, although the vultures already circling probably gives you an idea.

Jose Pointero posted:

Thanks for the linkage, I'll probably try building one this weekend. As for Echolink, I don't have a mic on the computer I use in the living room. I don't really know much about Echolink anyway, would we be using a repeater somewhere or is it just a web server?
A little from column "A", a little from column "B". I don't know where you are exactly (i.e. I'm too lazy to figure it out), but many people have spare VHF radios hooked up to a spare computer and running the Echolink server software so others can talk into the system over the radio. If you search on their webpage you might be able to find someone near you that you can talk in to. For a net, we'd connect to a conference, which is sort of like IRC over a repeater network (kind of).

Paul MaudDib posted:

Honestly I was interested in packet and FSK. The problem is that I have no idea where to start. I need an interface for my radio, but I don't know anyone who makes them for a TS-820S, or the Yaesu 2m mobile I have. Is it even possible to get them running, and if so, who makes the best interfaces?
Rigblasters are the "best" (read: most expensive), but I use the RASCAL interface (TS-820 version linked). Chances are, if more than 5 units of a particular radio were produced, there's a RASCAL for it.

McRib Sandwich
Aug 4, 2006
I am a McRib Sandwich
Updated the OP with the link that ValhallaSmith provided to that awesome web-controlled SDR project.

Did we agree on a time and place for the SA EchoLink net yet? I've never used it before, but if someone provides the details on how to connect to it, I'll add that to the OP too.

McRib Sandwich
Aug 4, 2006
I am a McRib Sandwich

blugu64 posted:

EDIT2:
Actually if you'd like to get your license I'd be more then happy to help you set any of that in your place and get you licensed. It'd be awesome to have another local dallas guy on the air.

Thirded, I think it would be great to see that equipment stay in the family by way of him becoming a ham himself! (sorry to disappoint those of you that wanted the equipment...)

blugu64
Jul 17, 2006

Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face?

McRib Sandwich posted:

Thirded, I think it would be great to see that equipment stay in the family by way of him becoming a ham himself! (sorry to disappoint those of you that wanted the equipment...)

Seriously, my username at gmail.com. I'll be out of town this weekend (Camping yay!), and I'll be in Omaha the latter half of next week; outside that we could have you setup and running almost anytime, and get you some basic tech level study guide. (mind posting those pdfs sklnd?). You'll be up and running by this time next month.

However if you really really arn't interested, you might ask around in the family if there is any interest, because it's really not hard at all to get licensed, and it'd be a shame to just give all that away. Seriously, sell it on ebay or qrz.com and buy yourself an xbox or new TV (or savings account) if you're really just going to throw it away.

Back on topic, I'm still working on my APRS post, as well, I can't find my copy of windows to run the setup/configuration program on. I'm also working on building a dipole for 10 meters for the trip, wish me luck!



Also nmfree mind shooting me an email? (address username @gmail.com).

sklnd
Nov 26, 2007

NOT A TRACTOR

mas posted:

Might check out this guy's study guides he put together. http://kb6nu.com/tech-manual/

I did a shitload of practice exams on eham.net for a week straight to prep for the test.

I'd like to go for my General in the near future too, need some gear first though.

^this (from the shortwave thread)

The Tech guide is quite nice.

Dolemite
Jun 30, 2005
On the subject of websites with good study guides, a guy I work with pointed me to http://www.hamelmer.com

I've been on-and-off reading the technician study guide and it's pretty good. I've been using it to regularly pass several of the QRZ.com practice exams.

After finals week (last one is tomorrow WOOOO!) is over, I plan to really sit down with the study guide and take the tech exam. I kinda have to, not only because I really want to get licensed and play around with radio, but because the same guy at work is basically pushing me to get licensed so he can basically use me to help test out his crazy radio setups! :D

Now I need to get back to studying. Between this thread and the technician study guide on hamelmer, I can't sit still and study this boring database system analysis garbage for my class's final! :(

McRib Sandwich
Aug 4, 2006
I am a McRib Sandwich

sklnd posted:

study guide

Dolemite posted:

study guide

Added these to the OP under test practice. Let me know if I missed any others.

Global688
Dec 28, 2006
Whoa forgot to reply. Anyways the LF stuff has to do with subs and thats all im gonna say about that.

The SHF and EHF I deal with is only satcomm stuff.

On a plus note if the airmen pisses me off enough I can aim a dish at the flight deck and put out a 250w pencil beam of LASER DOOM! But I'm not that mean and don't feel like spending time in the brig.

Wicaeed
Feb 8, 2005
Heya fellow ARRL goons, KF6DQQ checkin in here. Haven't talked over the ham bands in goddamn ages, who makes relaiable handheld 2m/440cm dualbanders now? Icon still a good brand?

McRib Sandwich
Aug 4, 2006
I am a McRib Sandwich

Wicaeed posted:

Heya fellow ARRL goons, KF6DQQ checkin in here. Haven't talked over the ham bands in goddamn ages, who makes relaiable handheld 2m/440cm dualbanders now? Icon still a good brand?

Icom, Yaesu, and Kenwood are the go-to brands for the most part. Alinco has some models out there, but they are not as popular stateside, and a number of them fill a niche (like ultraportable shirt-pocket 0.5-watt HTs). eham.net has tons of reviews on each of their current models, if you're looking to get back into VHF portable.

Motorola just bought an 80% stake in Vertex Standard (Yaesu's parent company), so it could be some interesting times for them in the coming months/years. I just hope the price on accessories doesn't get more ridiculous than it already is for their handhelds. That said, I love my VX-7R.

nmfree
Aug 15, 2001

The Greater Goon: Breaking Hearts and Chains since 2006

Global688 posted:

Whoa forgot to reply. Anyways the LF stuff has to do with subs and thats all im gonna say about that.
Do surface ships monitor/decode VLF stuff?

McRib Sandwich posted:

Did we agree on a time and place for the SA EchoLink net yet? I've never used it before, but if someone provides the details on how to connect to it, I'll add that to the OP too.
Why don't we (for now) say Wednesday 0100 UTC (8 P.M. Central Time), conference chat TBA? Note that I have no experience running a net, so for the first time it might helpful to have someone who has done it before in charge. It doesn't have to be a formal net, though, we can just roundtable too.

thehustler
Apr 17, 2004

I am very curious about this little crescendo
There's a VLF submarine station near me, HMS Inskip it used to be called, but nowadays they have a new government agency that handles that, so it's called DCSA Inskip (this is North-West England)

I saw some nice sites that talk about scanning VLF stuff, and they have some nice plots of the waveforms and whatnot.

Paul MaudDib
May 3, 2006

TEAM NVIDIA:
FORUM POLICE
gently caress; q!=e

Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at 22:47 on Apr 25, 2008

Paul MaudDib
May 3, 2006

TEAM NVIDIA:
FORUM POLICE
I just did it twice. I am a meathead.

Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at 22:53 on Apr 25, 2008

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Paul MaudDib
May 3, 2006

TEAM NVIDIA:
FORUM POLICE

Dolemite posted:

I've been on-and-off reading the technician study guide and it's pretty good. I've been using it to regularly pass several of the QRZ.com practice exams.

Be careful with the QRZ exams. On my general I got to the point where I could pass with an 90-95% (I do not know why they expect you to memorize the frequency charts; just print them off) and on the real thing I saw a bunch of questions I hadn't seen on QRZ. I ended up passing at about 80% but it was scary for a bit. Could just be random luck, but make sure you're studying off the questions directly too, occasionally.

SheriffHippo posted:

FREE HAM RADIO EQUIPMENT

Go for it, dude. I can get spares on ebay if I really need them, and if you're into it, keeping the equipment in the family is something I heartily endorse. Tuning up a tube rig takes less than thirty seconds once you're used to it. If you've got any questions on that rig, I may or not be able to help you, but I can try. v:)v

McRib Sandwich posted:

That said, I love my VX-7R.
Oh god yes. My dad owns a VX-5R and I had some good times going mobile with that. They are the king of the HT world in my opinion. You get what you pay for.

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