i am a new ham i have had my license for about 4 monthes and love it
my call sign is KK4ZVP im in the florida area living in martin county
if any one is around my area you should call me on the raido
getting use to using my radio and am very much looking to upgrade to a D star radio and also already ready to upgrade my license, and one day would love to get a moon bounce rig

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■ Synchronet ■ oldschool - oldscol.dyndns.org

Re: ham radio
By: Drdarkness to All on Mon Jul 14 2014 03:12:00

radio and also already ready to upgrade my license, and one day would love t

o

get a moon bounce rig

A 'moon bounce' rig? How many watts do those have to fire off with, and what kind of an antenna? I've heard vaguely of them a long time ago, but really do not remember much about them...


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■ Synchronet ■ Tinfoil Tetrahedron BBS telnet or ssh: tinfoil.synchro.net

A 'moon bounce' rig? How many watts do those have to fire off with,
and what kind of an antenna? I've heard vaguely of them a long time ago, but really do not remember much about them...

What's crazy is the moon does not bounce signals well, so the returned signal is like -250dBm. You need a really awesome antenna (directional) with a preamp to really make things work.

Knight

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Re: Re: ham radio
By: Knight to Khelair on Tue Oct 21 2014 15:12:27

What's crazy is the moon does not bounce signals well, so the returned signa is like -250dBm. You need a really awesome antenna (directional) with a prea to really make things work.

I have really got to get myself a cheap HAM setup so that I can
finally start learning about this stuff the right way. :|

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■ Synchronet ■ Tinfoil Tetrahedron BBS telnet or ssh -p 2222 to tinfoil.synchro.net

Re: Re: ham radio
By: Knight to Khelair on Tue Oct 21 2014 15:12:27

What's crazy is the moon does not bounce signals well, so the returned signa is like -250dBm. You need a really awesome antenna (directional)

wi

a prea to really make things work.

I have really got to get myself a cheap HAM setup so that I can finally start learning about this stuff the right way. :|

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■ Synchronet ■ Tinfoil Tetrahedron BBS telnet or ssh -p 2222 to tinfoil.synchro.net

It's a great hobby, but cheap isn't often a part of it, LOL! Sometimes you'll find some great deals, though.
KB9SNL

**********************
* Tim Wray, Sysop *
* Backwood Realm BBS *
* Bedford, Indiana *
* bwrbbs.dddns.net *
**********************

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■ Synchronet ■ The Backwood Realm BBS - bwrbbs.ddns.net - The heart of Southern Indiana

Re: Re: ham radio
By: Khelair to Knight on Fri Oct 24 2014 06:35 pm

What's crazy is the moon does not bounce signals well, so the returned signa is like -250dBm. You need a really awesome antenna (directional) with a prea to really make things work.

I have really got to get myself a cheap HAM setup so that I can
finally start learning about this stuff the right way. :|

I highly recommend you go get your license immediately. A couple days of serious studying and you will land the Technician's no problem. And learning about radio is fun anyway, so it's not like cramming for a subject you don't even like.

Then, pick up a $30 BaoFeng UV-5R handheld transceiver. You won't win any praise or win any hearts with the gear, but at least you can be active. They hit local repeaters with little issue. In most cases it sounds clear and works just fine. Keep in mind it's just entry level, and plan to get a better rig.

Then, ICOM ID-7100 is a really nice (and easy to use) 2m/440/HF desktop/mobile radio to start getting you into the core of the hobby. You can feed it separate
2m/440 and HF antennas, so in a pinch you can use a magmount 2m/440 antenna until you find the antenna you want for HF and where to put it. It has a USB connector for control by a PC (including audio passthrough), but it doesn't have any kind of digital mode over the USB that I can see.

Later you can upgrade to a nice desktop should you stay interested in the hobby.

Knight

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Re: Re: ham radio
By: Tim Wray to Khelair on Mon Oct 27 2014 09:10:55

It's a great hobby, but cheap isn't often a part of it, LOL! Sometimes you'l

l

find some great deals, though.

Let me know if you hear of any. ;) I don't have any friends into this right now, I'm kind of struggling to find good resources other than standard search engines on getting equipped here.

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■ Synchronet ■ Tinfoil Tetrahedron BBS telnet or ssh -p 2222 to tinfoil.synchro.net

Re: Re: ham radio
By: Knight to Khelair on Tue Oct 28 2014 03:32 pm

Then, pick up a $30 BaoFeng UV-5R handheld transceiver. You won't win any praise or win any hearts with the gear, but at least you can be active.

Then, ICOM ID-7100 is a really nice (and easy to use) 2m/440/HF desktop/mobile radio to start getting you into the core of the hobby.

Quite a jump, from $30 to $1200. Is there a de facto $150-$200 rig?

I bought a BaoFeng, am studying for my license now.

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Re: Re: ham radio
By: Knight to Khelair on Tue Oct 28 2014 03:32 pm

Then, pick up a $30 BaoFeng UV-5R handheld transceiver. You won't

win a

praise or win any hearts with the gear, but at least you can be

active.

Then, ICOM ID-7100 is a really nice (and easy to use) 2m/440/HF desktop/mobile radio to start getting you into the core of the

hobby.

Quite a jump, from $30 to $1200. Is there a de facto $150-$200 rig?

I bought a BaoFeng, am studying for my license now.

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■ Synchronet ■ realitycheckBBS -- http://realitycheckBBS.org

There are many $150-200 radios, the Baofengs were a nice suprise recently when I jumped back into the hobby, 99% of HT's are more than $100 minimum.

I paid $150 for an Icom IC-2100h mobile (mobiles are often used as bases with an adequate DC power supply), with 55 watts of output ability some years ago, and there are many other models of radio out there at a similar cost. When you get into dual band mobiles (2 meter/70 centimeter), the
price starts to creep up, I gave about $300 (I think) for an Icom IC-208h with is dual band and my favorite rig for mobile operation 10 years
running.

When you get into HF mobiles, the price skyrockets a bit more. Just depends what direction you hope to go in the hobby. Of course, to do much with HF, best to have at least a General ticket.

I think Yaesu, Kenwood, and Alinco mobile offerings at times can be more affordable than Icom, and there are some "off" brands that come in that range as well, I'm sure.

Some places to look around:
http://www.hamradio.com
http://www.hamstation.com/
http://aesham.com/

Amazon has some ham gear too here and there.

QRZ.com has a section on their forum where used gear is often peddled. I enjoy browsing it to see what's floating around out there: http://forums.qrz.com/forumdisplay.php?7-Ham-Radio-Gear-For-Sale

Congrats on your Baofeng. Hard to program (I bought the cable), but once setup, it works as well as any "main brand" HT.

73 de KB9SNL

**********************
* Tim Wray, Sysop *
* Backwood Realm BBS *
* Bedford, Indiana *
* bwrbbs.dddns.net *
**********************

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■ Synchronet ■ The Backwood Realm BBS - bwrbbs.ddns.net - The heart of Southern Indiana

Re: Re: ham radio
By: Tim Wray to Khelair on Mon Oct 27 2014 09:10:55

It's a great hobby, but cheap isn't often a part of it, LOL!

Sometimes

you'l

l

find some great deals, though.

Let me know if you hear of any. ;) I don't have any friends into

this

right now, I'm kind of struggling to find good resources other than

standard

search engines on getting equipped here.

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■ Synchronet ■ Tinfoil Tetrahedron BBS telnet or ssh -p 2222 to tinfoil.synchro.net

Sometimes, I've found good deals here: http://forums.qrz.com/forumdisplay.php?7-Ham-Radio-Gear-For-Sale

The Baofeng UV5 family of really cheap HT's is not bad, and you can't beat the price for getting started: http://www.amazon.com/Baofeng-UV5R-136-174-400-480-Dual- Band/dp/B007H4VT7A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414594397&sr=8- 1&keywords=baofeng+uv5r

Let me know if you need any information, I'd be glad to help.

73 de KB9SNL

**********************
* Tim Wray, Sysop *
* Backwood Realm BBS *
* Bedford, Indiana *
* bwrbbs.dddns.net *
**********************

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■ Synchronet ■ The Backwood Realm BBS - bwrbbs.ddns.net - The heart of Southern Indiana

Re: Re: ham radio
By: Poindexter Fortran to Knight on Wed Oct 29 2014 12:40 am

Quite a jump, from $30 to $1200. Is there a de facto $150-$200 rig?

Yep, definitely, but it's also a jump from HT to mobile/desktop. The 7100 is the size of a mobile, but the power of a desktop, so I refer to it as a mobile/desktop.

There are plenty of mobiles that make a nice step up from HTs. In fact, I've been eying the Yeasu FT-817 because a lot of people like to use it, it has an internal rechargable battery, and still does HT. It makes a great field radio. There are plenty of radios that are better than it, but the battery option is nice enough to make it attractive.

The other problem is that you won't find anything other than HTs for the $150-200 price range. In which case, why upgrade from the BaoFeng? I'd think you'd want a nicer HT than what $150-200 buys you (either single band, or multi-band from another chinese manufacturer like Wouxon), such as the ID-51A (another radio I have) which does dual reception nicely, GPS, D-Star, etc.

At some point you need a mobile/desktop if you are going to take the hobby seriously (or if you want to do HF).

I bought a BaoFeng, am studying for my license now.

Wait, I beat you to a license? Last year you were studying and going to get your license. I got mine June this year.

Knight

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Re: Re: ham radio
By: Knight to Poindexter Fortran on Wed Oct 29 2014 02:37 pm

Wait, I beat you to a license? Last year you were studying and going to get your license. I got mine June this year.

yeah, totally dropped the ball. Planned to go test out, had a family conflict, and never rescheduled.

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Re: Re: ham radio
By: Poindexter Fortran to Knight on Wed Oct 29 2014 06:27 pm

yeah, totally dropped the ball. Planned to go test out, had a family conflict, and never rescheduled.

I completely get that. It happened to me too. I keep missing Pacificon because of that.

Knight

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Re: Re: ham radio
By: Knight to Khelair on Tue Oct 28 2014 15:32:59

I highly recommend you go get your license immediately. A couple days of serious studying and you will land the Technician's no problem. And learning about radio is fun anyway, so it's not like cramming for a subject you don't even like.

From what I've seen about the test, I've only got a wee bit of studying to
do as far as standards and SOPs, then a tiny brush up on physics & electronics, and I should be good as far as that. :) The wonderful HAM Test door option certainly is helpful. ;)

Then, pick up a $30 BaoFeng UV-5R handheld transceiver. You won't win any praise or win any hearts with the gear, but at least you can be active. They hit local repeaters with little issue. In most cases it sounds clear and works just fine. Keep in mind it's just entry level, and plan to get a better rig.

Dude, thank you so very much. That's precisely the kind of setup I'm looking for at this point. Seriously, I've been homeless multiple times in the past couple of year; sounds like this is the kind of entry point I can handle at this particular juncture.

Then, ICOM ID-7100 is a really nice (and easy to use) 2m/440/HF desktop/mobile radio to start getting you into the core of the hobby. You can feed it separate 2m/440 and HF antennas, so in a pinch you can use a magmount 2m/440 antenna until you find the antenna you want for HF and where to put it. It has a USB connector for control by a PC (including audio passthrough), but it doesn't have any kind of digital mode over the USB that I can see.

I shall research the hell out of it; this is a little bit in the future for what I'm working with right now, anyway. ;)

Later you can upgrade to a nice desktop should you stay interested in the hobby.

TY, muchas gracias, and danke shoen; I was really hoping to strike upon a personal recommendation.

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Re: Re: ham radio
By: Tim Wray to Khelair on Wed Oct 29 2014 10:54:14

Sometimes, I've found good deals here: http://forums.qrz.com/forumdisplay.php?7-Ham-Radio-Gear-For-Sale

A tab shall be opened in your honor, good sir.

The Baofeng UV5 family of really cheap HT's is not bad, and you can't beat the price for getting started:

This middle stepping stone looks to be something pretty useful for me. Unless I managed to hop right into devops/sysadmin here soon... Then maybe I'll have money for the better toys real quick.

Let me know if you need any information, I'd be glad to help.

Much appreciated and I may well take you up on that. :)

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