INGO HAM Radio Club

[Lebowski]

You're probably thinking of the FT8CALL Facebook group ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/ft8call/ ). I'm an admin on that but didn't create it.

 

[Sailor]

Oh, cool I thought he did both. Shawn, Ken, John, and I have been testing stuff for about a year and this is the best to come down the pipe. I could not mod that group, I would ban people to quickly. Shawn had a great post clarifying its purpose and proper use.
I was saying we need to try 80m regionally here in IN but with the relays we don't have to do that.

 

[Lebowski]

Awesome! Yeah, the dude who created the group said he didn't want anything deleted or banned unless he decides... I just accept requests for joining really.

I'm excited for the future of FT8Call. I've already had a few great QSOs with it and it's helping me learn a lot too. I've always been interested in the ragchew modes on HF but found near to no activity at any of the pre-determined gathering places. I did make one FELD HELL QSO w/ KD1LDO (You read that right, check out his QRZ page...) and got probably the best QSL card I've ever received in the mail from him... And we had to coordinate a sked using the #RedditNET IRC channe. But aside from that, no real luck. I hear the announcement about the pre-release of FT8Call, install it, and even though it's brand new was able to find activity.

 

[Sailor]

Ver 5 has been working good for me was able to see myself on APRS.fi and he just changed it up, when you select a call sign it will automatically pre-pend the msg with your call.

 

[Lebowski]

Ver 5 has been working good for me was able to see myself on APRS.fi and he just changed it up, when you select a call sign it will automatically pre-pend the msg with your call.

Awesome. I remember testing the APRS function on the pre-release build with someone... Is it still AP:CALLSIGN:GRID:RS for the command or whatever?... That reminds me, I need to get my digipeter / I-Gate back up and running...

 

[Lebowski]

Moved my radio gear into a new room so took advantage of a clean, uncluttered table to take a photo. Not pictured is all my SDR junk or my Raspberry Pi digipeater / I-Gate for APRS. I got a MFJ window coax passthrough plate and it works great also.

 

[Sailor]

Right click allcall, select directed and then select grid. That's it. You will have to have at least a 6 digit grid in settings.

 

[Sailor]

Nice station, mine is in the basement, I am running the emcommII antenna out my attic at about 30 feet. Changed out that heavy element with some ultralight silky wire.

 

[Notalentbum]

Antenna wiring pre-planning.

We we are in the midst of rebuilding our house after a fire last November. I got to thinking that now would be the time to plan ahead for an antenna installation. Currently only have Tech license so just working with a dual band mobile unit but future plans include an HF rig.
Im still a rank beginner so not sure what type of cabling would be the best to install.
Suggestions?

Thanks, Matt

i guess I should mention, my shack will be in the basement and house will be a two story so probably 60’-80’ or so run of cable from bench to antenna on roof.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Antenna wiring pre-planning.

We we are in the midst of rebuilding our house after a fire last November. I got to thinking that now would be the time to plan ahead for an antenna installation. Currently only have Tech license so just working with a dual band mobile unit but future plans include an HF rig.
Im still a rank beginner so not sure what type of cabling would be the best to install.
Suggestions?

Thanks, Matt

i guess I should mention, my shack will be in the basement and house will be a two story so probably 60’-80’ or so run of cable from bench to antenna on roof.

Multiple runs of 50 ohm cable. At least RG-58. NOT RG-59, the cheap-ass CATV stuff you get at Lowes. 59 is 75 ohm. LMR-400 would be awesome, but for that short of a run, 58 should suffice.

And I say multiple runs because if you ever decide for something else, the work has already been done to pull it. When pulling cable the serious cost isnt the materials, but the installation. (labor, holes drilled, drywall patched, etc) For example, imagine trenching to your minibarn for cable. That 100' run cost about $25 for the cable, but $200 for the trencher, plus a day of work.

1 cable: $225
2 cables at once: $250
2 cables, a year apart: $450

 

[Sailor]

I have 3 runs to the attic, 1 vhf, one attic HF one scanner/or outside HF.

 

[Sailor]

Ver 6 of FT8call is testing well, but existing bug in all versions was found 6.1 to be released soon. I have my RPI 3 B+ running it headless to my phone or tablet. Going to have to update my comms class to include this even if its only for receive/data gathering.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Quick question... starting to study for my General. Going to cram sessions in Oct. So I guess it is time to start thinking about a HF rig. Any suggestions for something not super expensive and over the top?

 

[Sailor]

Start with how much you want to spend, and how you think you will be operating. Base/field

I have seen used Yaesu FT-891 radios for around $500 that is a lot of radio for that price. Filtering is great on it. And it is easy to take portable.

Icom 718's used around 350-450 for a base radio.

It's worse than black rifle disease though. You will need power supply, tuner, antenna's, coax.

 

[foszoe]

Icom 7000. A discontinued model but quite a feature set. E-bay.

Quick question... starting to study for my General. Going to cram sessions in Oct. So I guess it is time to start thinking about a HF rig. Any suggestions for something not super expensive and over the top?

 

[AngryRooster]

Testing for Extra this morning. Not hopeful though. I forgot the test was this weekend. Started cramming at the beginning of the week but got busy a couple of days and couldn't do anything with it. Only about half way through the material. Practice scores are all over the place.

Still going to try it out. I needed to get over to the club and find out about membership anyway.


EDIT:
Didn't pass, didn't expect to actually. I did get to talk with some of the members and a couple of people on the board though. Got information on the club and picked up an application. New book should be here on Monday. A couple more weeks of study and I'll give it another shot at a different location. The next local test isn't until mid November. I can't keep up the practice everyday until then, my brain will fry. If I quit for a while then I'll forget things.

 

[GLOCKMAN23C]

I just ordered an upgrade from my Baofeng's. A new Yaseu FT-70DR. Maybe I'll be on the air a bit more...

 

[AngryRooster]

I just ordered an upgrade from my Baofeng's. A new Yaseu FT-70DR. Maybe I'll be on the air a bit more...

How do you like it so far? You did get the instant rebate correct?

That's on my short list, probably by the end of the month. Right now my EDC radio is a UV-82. Seems like the best thing for the money and disposable if it gets lost, stolen or broken. Cheap accessories. The other EDC is a Yaesu VX-3. Love the little radio but at 1.5 watts it's limited, especially with a small antenna. The FT-70 will replace them.

Next after that is the Yaesu FTM-100DR for the truck, and a better antenna for the house. Right now it's a Fong 2/440 about 30' up. Planning on replacing it with a Diamond or Comet 2/220/440 at the tip of the antenna, around 45-50'. Hopefully it lets me get out farther. I have a friend in Kokomo that I've been trying to talk into getting his ticket. Right now Kokomo can be hit/miss.

I wish I would have put better thought into the radios I bought after I got my ticket several years ago. I bought a Yaesu 8800 for the truck. Thought it would be better than the 7900. Nope. The 8800 is a fine radio, and I like the dual radio aspect of it, but it sucks for a mobile. The only thing that lights up is the screen, no buttons, so you can't see what you are doing. The mic is the same way, it's lit but it's dark red and you can't really see anything, no detail. The radio is now mounted under the table right next to my chair, still dark and hard to see but better than in a vehicle at night.

The next radio I got was for a mobile box. A Yaesu 2900. It's lit better and I like it, even though it doesn't get used much. It's mounted in a Plano box with various cables to power it, a SLA battery, N9TAX antenna, and several other things. It's only been used a few times. I thought about putting it in the vehicle, but I want dual band there, it doesn't have a removable face and I don't have anyplace to mount the entire thing. I'm not going to tear up my 4Runner just to have it in there. My wife goes with me most places so I can't mount it on the passenger side either.

If I had it to do over again I would have chosen differently. Next spring maybe I'll get a HF system set up, it's not in the cards this year unless I find a screaming deal.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

That's a pretty rad and fairly priced yaesu. I wish there was an affordable HT that was around 10 w vs the typical 5

 

[AngryRooster]

That's a pretty rad and fairly priced yaesu. I wish there was an affordable HT that was around 10 w vs the typical 5

There are a couple of them out there. Mostly Chinese radios. Found this one.
https://smile.amazon.com/TYT-Cross-..._rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=JEBQYRCGXNFAXJ9Q9XG7

Problem is they are not as well built as the premium radios. The actual power is usually less than what they say it is. The one above is $100, it would be much better to get the FT-70 that can also do digital for $50 more. The Yaesu will last much longer and be much higher quality. Both transmit & receive will be better. The problem with these radios is they are too close to the lower end of the premium brands as far as price. The cheap Chinese radios have their place, and I have several. Every one of them was under $50. That's cheap enough where you don't lose much if anything happens to them. They're great to learn with or as loaner radios, car radios, etc. I have a Baofeng GT-3 that I use for satellites. It has enough programing that I can have several in the menu and is cheap enough that I can have a dedicated radio for it. Once you reach the $90 and up mark then it's usually better to get something a little better built.

Also, if your looking for a little more wattage in a HT then check out the Baofeng UV-827W at R&L. It has 7 watts of power for $35. The 8 watt on Amazon is $63. BAOFENG UV827W



Either way you go, the antenna will make more of a difference than the extra couple of watts. Grab a Diamond or Comet 8" for general use and a SignalStick for when you need to reach out a bit more. I'm in Randolph county and the closest repeater is about 10 miles away. I can hit it (and many more) with any of my HT's, even the VX-3 with a 2.5" antenna. When I'm out then I'm closer to any of the repeaters than I am when I'm at home. If the little VX-3 had 3-5 watts of power then I would never need another radio, I'd have a dozen of them.