Amateur Radio FAQ

[K31]

Can't believe I just saw this thread.

My FT-7800 is currently down for the count. With only a basic HT I'm not getting out much currently.

Radio was fine a couple weeks ago, then the battery in my truck died. (I was 20 miles from home and at a gas station, so I let them handle the replacement - something I don't typically do.) Anyway, just plugged the face plate in for the first time since the other day, and nothing

I checked the leads to the battery in the engine compartment and they look good. I can't get to the actual radio w/o pulling the seat, though, and its been too cold for me to want to go out and mess with it. Likely be a few weeks before I can look into it. I'm hoping it's one of the line fuses or something simple and there was no damage to the radio internals.

I had the battery replaced in my truck and I couldn't watch them do it. I gave the guy instructions about my radio's power lead terminals on the nuts that clamp the truck's power to the battery terminals. After the replacement and several other things were done, I drove it home without thinking about turning on the radio. When I did it was dead. I opened the hood, everything looked right. After many minutes of troubleshooting I came to the conclusion it had to be the battery connection. I looked again, fiddled with the terminals and found the guy hadn't re-tightened the nut clamping the negative battery terminal even close to complete. I was surprised the truck would even start. I tightened everything myself, then it all worked again.

 

[TopBanana]

My father was a ham for ~40 years (KA3HMS) with his extra license and unfortunately went Silent Key in March of 2013. He really enjoyed DX'ing, doing "DXpeditions" while traveling working for the Govt, and spoke with my Grandfather in IL almost daily when he was around. Fun hobby that I wish I had the time to get into myself.

 

[K31]

My father was a ham for ~40 years (KA3HMS) with his extra license and unfortunately went Silent Key in March of 2013. He really enjoyed DX'ing, doing "DXpeditions" while traveling working for the Govt, and spoke with my Grandfather in IL almost daily when he was around. Fun hobby that I wish I had the time to get into myself.

Welcome.

Sorry for your loss.

The hobby really doesn't take any more time than you wish to put into it.

Please consider posting a hello in the Introductions forum.

 

[jpo183]

reread your tech manual.

People express opinions all the time, but the spirit of the hobby isn't to just talk and not care if people are listening.

Out of curiosity, and all legalities aside, what frequency would you be doing this on? 10m?

Not sure yet I am still deciding if I want to do this or not? Probably 2M

"Broadcasting" is not legal on ham bands.

Broadcasting being one way transmission.

Ham is for two way communications only.

Not to say that some people have not spent some time expounding their views, but always in a "conversation" with others.

So as long as I let an interjection come in (kind of like a round table) then I am good to go?

SO let me ask this let say I set up the "Talk A lot Communication transmission " and I make it clear what is being done and ask all "questions" to come in on Freq XXXX in which they would then be patched into the "conversation"

Would this work?

 

[K31]

First, broadcasting is defined by Part 97 as: "Transmissions intended for reception by the general public, either direct or relayed. "

There are some forms of one-way transmissions allowed and being done weekly, on amateur bands. The one that comes to mind uses the exception for the transmission of "bulletins".

Although it doesn't say so Part 97, I assume this means bulletins for amateur radio or one of the other exceptions such as emergencies, weather conditions, etc.

It also plainly says that the exceptions are not for those uses that could easily be accomplished by other services.

There are plenty of round tables going on at all times on amateur bands. A round table typically does not have a coordinator. The ones that do have a coordinator are directed nets and the coordinator is the "net control". There are frequently topics for such nets.

If by 2M you mean that you are going to use a local 2M repeater then "talking alot" by one individual is going to be an issue since most repeaters have a timer to prevent one person from monopolizing the repeater for more than a few minutes.

I strongly suggest also that you get permission from the repeater's owners before using it for a net.

Also, "patched into" is a worrisome phrase because that implies third-party communication and/or indirect transmission which brings other rules to bear depending on what you have in mind.

 

[Pinecone]

Just hook up with a few friends and converse about things.

You will run into people giving you a hard time setting up something like you are suggesting.

 

[gamer_jim]

Well shoot. Tried my friend's HT the other day and it no worky. Going to try the cigarette lighter power source, hopefully it's just the battery is bad.

 

[K31]

Just Added a New Help Site to the FAQ

New (to me anyway) help site:

http://www.radioqrv.com/index.html

There are study tools, practice tests, informational videos, cheat sheets (for band plans, morse code and more, not for the tests). Nicely done.

I did have the Extra Class test crap out on me when I tried it but the Technician worked fine for me.

 

[bkraft]

Not sure yet I am still deciding if I want to do this or not? Probably 2M



So as long as I let an interjection come in (kind of like a round table) then I am good to go?

SO let me ask this let say I set up the "Talk A lot Communication transmission " and I make it clear what is being done and ask all "questions" to come in on Freq XXXX in which they would then be patched into the "conversation"

Would this work?

Your best bet is to listen in on a few of the area repeaters, then join in on the conversation and see if anyone is interested in discussing your topic. You can't use your license for broadcasting, so you cannot monopolize a frequency. Likewise, you'll probably be hitting an area repeater to do this and most repeaters have around a 3 minute timeout to prevent people from monopolizing them.

Chances are, if you made a transmission implying that you were going to be monopolizing a freq and asking people to use another freq to trans questions on, you'll have a lot of HAMs telling you that you can't do that....

 

[bkraft]

Well shoot. Tried my friend's HT the other day and it no worky. Going to try the cigarette lighter power source, hopefully it's just the battery is bad.

If you are going to use a HT for your primary, I'd recommend using a car kit with a roof mounted antenna, or, at the very least, replace the factory antenna on your HT with a better one. Not sure how close you'll be to a repeater, but chances are, you'll have trouble transmitting a good clear signal on an HT with just the basic antenna.

 

[Pinecone]

Also, if you are going to use your HT as a primary rig, a small amplifier is a good idea.

You can run the HT at a lower power, and boost it with the amp.

I have one made from a kit from - http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/

IIRC< it does 30 watts out with a 5 watt input. So with my HT set to 1 watt, it put out something like 8 watts.

 

[Tac]

On my way now to take my Tech test. Wish me luck.

 

[K31]

On my way now to take my Tech test. Wish me luck.

Good luck.

 

[Tac]

I passed. Barely but I passed haha. Saw a few questions I hadn't seen before so reading up on what I glossed over. Became pretty lax when I passed all 4 practice tests without problem. Still, not so bad!

 

[chale127]

I passed. Barely but I passed haha. Saw a few questions I hadn't seen before so reading up on what I glossed over. Became pretty lax when I passed all 4 practice tests without problem. Still, not so bad!

Welcome to your new pocket emptying hobby! Lol

 

[K31]

I passed. Barely but I passed haha. Saw a few questions I hadn't seen before so reading up on what I glossed over. Became pretty lax when I passed all 4 practice tests without problem. Still, not so bad!

Congratulations.

One of the practice test sites (QRZ.com?) recommends that you study until you can consistently get in the 80% range on the practice tests.

 

[gamer_jim]

Congrats.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[awptickes]

Woo.

 

[chale127]

What Cable is that? an LMR400/RG8 equivalent or something?

 

[Half-cocked]

Attn Hams:

I have a 50' long roll of RG-8 coax cable with PL-259 connectors on both ends.

I inherited it in a collection of stuff that my dad left. He used it for SW or scanner listening, or some such.

Does anyone know what this is worth? Anybody want to buy it?