my call sign at aol.com if you want to talk or do something: yospos radio thread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > YOSPOS > my call sign at aol.com if you want to talk or do something: yospos radio thread

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PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

i read the whole thing and ur the best jonny

# ¿ Feb 21, 2014 20:20

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# ¿ Apr 18, 2024 17:44

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

kinda unrelated but if i want to be able to charge my radio/phone/whatever in an extended outage is a 12v deep cycle marine battery in the garage plugged up to a battery tender gonna suit my needs? do i need more than alligator clips to connect to my inverter or is there a better (and safe enough for an ihpone) way to do DC charging w/o involving inverters?

# ¿ Feb 21, 2014 21:46

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

Mr. Nice! posted:

this thread loving owns

# ¿ Feb 22, 2014 01:48

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

longview posted:

The cheapest way to get a scanner up and running is to get a USB TV tuner dongle on eBay and install some custom drivers with a program called Zadig. Basically the TV tuners for DVB have a programmable mixer and a reasonably fast ADC chip that can digitize and transfer about 2 MHz of spectrum anywhere between 25-1700 MHz or so, once it's in software doing things like decoding AM, FM, SSB and digital modes is actually pretty simple. More expensive cards connect via PCI-e and can do huge frequency spans at a time and even come with transmitters that are also software defined so any modulation form can be implemented.

Here's a screenshot I just took using a �10 dongle connected to a discone scanner antenna:

It shows the spectrum at the top and a waterfall (spectrum vs. time and amplitude as colour), the signals there are the local police/medical TETRA channels which are all encrypted, in the waterfall you can see the signal sometimes stops transmitting for a fraction of a second, that's because of the time division multiplexing, the client radios transmit in those time slots, so there can be multiple radios using the same channel without interference.

Here's a test I just did on 70cm transmitting some DTMF tones:

With a plugin it can be set up as a very good scanner, since it can immediately tune any channel within the 2 MHz, the entire european 2m band can be scanned at the same time and air-band with a just a few re-tunings.
SDR# only does one decoder at a time, but there's nothing stopping the software from decoding every valid signal in the 2 MHz band and playing it at the same time either, except that it would be impossible to listen to.

Another use I've found is adjusting deviation on microphones, and in fault finding since it's possible to pick up the local oscillator from a running radio directly and check it for stability, work out what frequency is tuned if the IF frequency is known and so on.

Fun fact: the local oscillator leakage can be severe enough in cheap radios that you can pick it up pretty far away, this is how the mythical TV-license van could detect a running TV by pointing a directional antenna at the aerial.

E: here's a SDR# detecting my old base station LO

In the waterfall you can see me changing frequencies by fiddling with the knobs, the 127 MHz signal is unrelated.

i bought 2 of these on ebay last night ftw

# ¿ Feb 22, 2014 17:28

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

I think my next question is if i should put an antenna in my rented 2 story house attic or do a bucket+painters pole thing or use a tree. ive got a bunch of rly tall pines but no way to get up them. my house is kinda on the side of a steep hill. wiring would be about the same either way, i have a poe cat5e coming out one of the eaves and into a downstairs window for my AP in the attic

also is there good antenna 101 reading materials?

# ¿ Feb 22, 2014 17:34

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

Jonny 290 posted:

just get the UV5RA if you are wanting to keep it cheaper, or get the GT3 if you want a better display and can spend a few more bucks

if you buy the uv-5ra ull likely get the uv-5rax+ which is fine it's the same radio w/ newest firmware

def get the USB cable also

# ¿ Feb 23, 2014 17:05

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

Phobeste posted:

the ceo where i work just told all of us that if we get a ham license he'll buy our first radios (presumably handy talkies), should i go for it?

depends on how nice of a HT i'd imagine

# ¿ Feb 23, 2014 17:09

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

Jonny 290 posted:

in about two hours we're going to go out and see if we can pick up Saudisat SO-50

im sure this isn't gonna work but im gonna tune in to this freq on this ht and try to hear u jonny

# ¿ Feb 23, 2014 20:56

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

holy poo poo i think it worked. turned sql down to 0 and walked around the yard like an idiot

# ¿ Feb 23, 2014 21:22

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-2cA9E2yjk

# ¿ Feb 23, 2014 21:45

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

that image stabilization or whatever that is is gonna make me sick lol sry ab that

# ¿ Feb 23, 2014 21:46

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

Cold on a Cob posted:

i barely know what's going on in this thread but anyway

same

# ¿ Feb 24, 2014 01:26

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

Fax Sender posted:

i need to go get my ham license.

# ¿ Feb 24, 2014 07:23

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

here's some guys using d-star on win95

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8dUJp0rc0g

# ¿ Feb 24, 2014 19:31

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

ur not allowed to send encrypted files over ham freqs tho right?

# ¿ Feb 24, 2014 19:37

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

longview posted:

or running an amateur radio wifi link.

thats kinda where i was going w/ this....

also if u use a repeater to make a voip call and the person u call starts speaking obscenities

# ¿ Feb 24, 2014 19:57

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

longview posted:

almost a 100% chance that running a 1500W 2.4GHz link and taking out wifi for the surrounding county will get you into some kind of trouble, european limit is 300W on VHF and up but anything above ~1W will take out wifi over a pretty large area

another fun use of ham radio is keying up a 70cm HT and taking out OTA TV for everyone nearby using indoor antennas

doing this may be legal but it's a good way to make enemies

there was a case here in norway last year where a guy got the authorities to confiscate his neighbors plasma TV because it interfered with his HF rig, this wasn't exactly good for PR but a lot of hams I talked to said it was a good thing
going around acting like we own the radio waves and causing problems for normal people is a good way to lose frequencies, a large continuous span like the 70cm band is worth a lot of money on the free market

i guess im not good at this nomenclature thing. i was thinking of using ham freqs as like a P2P 'WAN' connection that u'd hook up to a wifi router on ur camping trip then VHF or w/e back to wherever u have an internet uplink

also jonny how common are the white vans? like... have i likely seen one in the past 6 months and not known it? gov't plates or just whatever plates?

# ¿ Feb 24, 2014 21:20

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

goog says the white vans are limo tint green suburbans lol

# ¿ Feb 24, 2014 21:29

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

Jonny 290 posted:

Coming back to this - didnt forget about you.

I don't really know! But last night I got so deep in the satellite books that I taught myself what Lagrangian points are and now I want to join AMSAT (the amateur radio satellite org) and hook them up with some 2.0 millionaires who want to get press. They need like 5 million bucks to launch Phase 3E (the next wave of high orbit satellite) and its been just loving sitting in project hell for literally ten years now. thing is huge, will require a big rocket and a boost up to a big orbit

of course any 2.0 millionaire is going to not be altruistic at all so it won't work. sorry we're not going to put streaming ads or your companys name on it

Anyways i'm going to see if anybody is doing amateur radioastronomy stuff. As long as you can get some sort of receiver set up for the proper frequencies theres no reason you cant point an old TVRO dish at the sky and see what you hear

if you can somehow insert the words 'augmented reality' in there i could prob help u out on that funding

# ¿ Feb 24, 2014 22:14

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

my .01% cousin or w/e that's running for texas house has a older bro that constantly posts venturebeat articles about augmented reality and google glass and owners manuals for ur car that are on ur phone.

i dont think that would work tho so sorry for the derail

# ¿ Feb 24, 2014 22:21

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

consistently acing first half of tech exam.

to do:
memorize approximate band --> freqs
memorize all formulas
learn schematics

practice a lil dB math (haven't done calculus since B Cal 2 my soph year of college, ugh)

idk if im gonna have time to get comfortable w/ general much less extra before monday. we will see i guess, no harm in taking it either way i suppose.

# ¿ Feb 25, 2014 00:09

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

thanks, ur like my e-elmer

# ¿ Feb 25, 2014 00:24

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

are QSL cards dead or are they still A Thing? they seem kinda cool

# ¿ Feb 25, 2014 00:54

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

heres what seems to be a pretty good study website, i like that it tracks progress on each subelement so u know what to work on:

https://hamstudy.org

gonna finish up technician tmw and then rest of the week is gonna be general. i think extra is way too lofty @ this point maybe ill get it later.

# ¿ Feb 25, 2014 09:13

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

Jonny 290 posted:

i dont want to come across as seeming that i'm advocating pirate activity, im just laying down the truths. i respect (only the) amateur radio division of the FCC, and appreciate the fact that I have such a nice license to play with my beloved radio toys. That being said, some of the laws are stupid and pointless

i don't wanna make this thread LFy at all but there's this thing the FCC is doing w/ news organizations thats in the news and its just like :psyduck:

go do ur job and manage spectrum and fining NBC or whoever for nip slips what the gently caress are you even doing?

# ¿ Feb 25, 2014 16:56

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

Shaggar posted:

i think it would just be kind of interesting to play w/ radio gear to send digital signals for funsies. getting licensed sounds like a pain tho.

technician is pretty EZPZ if u like went to college or w/e and had to learn how to study. it's mostly 'u can't transmit music unless it's incidental to authorized retransmission from ISS' and poo poo like that.

# ¿ Feb 25, 2014 17:08

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

Jonny 290 posted:

The only easier federal exam i have ever seen is the certification to handle R12 refrigerant and it's an online test and you pay $20 once and can retake for free and they give you the answer key

*vents a bunch of refrigerant into environment*

oh sorry it was leaking!!!

# ¿ Feb 25, 2014 17:10

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

speaking of exams i'm moving my focus now to the general exam. extra gonna have to wait

# ¿ Feb 25, 2014 17:11

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

Jonny 290 posted:

think fixed point to point

is this why my radio thinks someone's transmitting on the FD freq when i drive over an overpass that's line of sight to a water tower w/ antennas on it? it's the same spot

# ¿ Feb 25, 2014 17:49

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

makes sense. wife said that the county EMA guy at safety training was asking if there were any hams and she said nobody raised their hand lol. i know there's at least one guy we work w/ who does so maybe he'll be in my session this afternoon

# ¿ Feb 25, 2014 18:19

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

local WX radio station is down. wonder if its maintenance or if its jsut broken

# ¿ Feb 25, 2014 19:59

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

ya i started lookin on CL and theres a couple

http://jonesboro.craigslist.org/ele/4328244532.html

# ¿ Feb 26, 2014 04:01

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

Tangra posted:

122 buck on Ebay

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_kw=Tektronix+2247A+Oscilloscope

goddam CL rapists

ya but theres another day left in that auction

# ¿ Feb 26, 2014 04:05

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

I have this baseball card that's worth $10,000 cause someone on ebay has one for sale for that much

# ¿ Feb 26, 2014 04:05

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

transfatphobic posted:

if i buy that cheap handset you mentioned in the cj thread what can i do with it?

the one that whoever the gently caress bought

its me, im the whoever the gently caress.

ive listened to cops, firefighters, skywarn, hams on the local repeater, weather radio and also the one FM repeater still in space. im rly excited about my 2 rtlsdr dongles gonna try to listen to local pd who are digital only (if not encrypted ofc).

it doesn't do any hf stuff or like aviation freqs but it should suit my needs quite well as just a fukken around toy/emergency radio.

i saw a state trooper tahoe w/ a bunch of antennas on top and now i wnana find an old suburban interceptor that doesn't have a plastic back seat. prob gonna be hard tho cause everythings tahoes and lol who buys a tahoe instead of a suburban?

e:

hot

PuTTY riot fucked around with this message at 22:10 on Feb 26, 2014

# ¿ Feb 26, 2014 22:07

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

maniacdevnull posted:

gm, ick

my dad had a chevy citation and it was such a terrible car that not only did he swear off gm forever but 10 year old me swore them off for life also
a product so bad that people avoid your brand years before they could even use your product at all

their trucks have always been pretty good. we had a 99 suburban that was a huge POS but the rest of them (yeah we went thru like 5, lol) were all rly good. my '01 is running just fine w/ 149k on the clock

# ¿ Feb 26, 2014 22:28

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

spankmeister posted:

the google map plugin isn't working but here's a live chart of overhead planes:

i think i'm at the limits of my setup SNR wise because i'm missing data but the standard whip antenna that comes with it has worked so far. it's inside on my desk and i've made no effort on placement or w/e.

are these commercial only or could i get the private jets that fly in here to the uni's airport?

# ¿ Feb 26, 2014 22:32

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

makes sense. cool. this thread owns, gonna click the 5 button again just because.

# ¿ Feb 26, 2014 22:34

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

ya the 99 was just a lemon or something, rear axle replaced under warranty, maybe the transmission too??? idk, the earlier ones and the newer ones were all better, just that year.

hey question for ppl who buy lots of slowboat poo poo from china: if china post tracking says 'despatch from sorting center SHENZHEN' is it on the boat now? and how long does it usually take to get across the pacific + thru customs?

# ¿ Feb 26, 2014 22:40

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# ¿ Apr 18, 2024 17:44

PuTTY riot: Nov 16, 2002

Jonny 290 posted:

I'll never change my callsign or get another new one voluntarily. It's awful to send in CW, difficult to understand over voice so I always have to use phonetics, but it's mine.

i rly hope i dont get a lovely one cause i kinda feel the same way about it tbh. even if im kz5zzz idgaf

e: creepin on ur ULS jonny, u dont even get anything on there saying u took the test w/ cw? thats lame. also what's the 'group' thing under the operator class?

PuTTY riot fucked around with this message at 15:55 on Feb 27, 2014

# ¿ Feb 27, 2014 15:51

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > YOSPOS > my call sign at aol.com if you want to talk or do something: yospos radio thread

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