Band conditions

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Project idea

Here is my thought...

1.  Take the TYT TH-9000 I have and add a DE-9 port to it as detailed here.
2.  Add an Orange Pi Plus ($30)
3.  Add a DV3000 from Northwest Digital ($99)
4.  And a URI adapter ($69)

In order to create an analog radio that transmits on D-Star, much like this

Ham gear and cost

Ham radio is not the cheapest hobby in the world.  But it doesn't have to be outrageously expensive either.  Transceivers run from $25 Baofengs,  to $7,000+ Kenwoods or Flex radios.   I don't presume to know a whole lot about anything just yet, so I will just share my experiences and observations.

First off, I don't have a whole lot of disposable income to devote to this hobby, so I'm trying to make my money go as far as possible.  As I said in the last post I started off with a Baofeng handheld radio.  It has done me well and I still use it all the time.  I did add a better whip antenna to which I also added a tiger tail counterpoise.  With 4-5 watts I have no problems hitting repeaters 20 miles away and getting acceptable signal reports.  The antenna cost almost as much as the radio.  And from what I've picked up this isn't a bad ratio to keep in mind, the antenna is often more important or at least as important as the radio itself.  On the down side of this radio, I do have to be careful where I'm standing and how I hold it in order to keep an optimal signal going out.  So, while this is a great radio, it isn't the be all end all of my ham equipment. (radio + extra battery + antenna = $50)

Next on my list was to get a better antenna.  I live in an apartment and so large outdoor antennas are out.  After much research I decided the best option was to get a ladder line slim-jim antenna.  I chose the one made by N9TAX and sold on eBay with the additional 16' of coax.  I have spent so far.  The antenna works great and it is dual band (2m, 70cm) so at the moment it can work on any of my radios.  SWR is between 1-2 between the full range of these bands.  (antenna = $28)

Then I decided that a mobile radio would be a good base station or home radio for me.  Living at one end of the San Fernando Valley I can only reach repeaters 25 miles away max due to being, well, in a valley.  After hunting on swap.qth.com, eham.net, and everywhere else I could I picked up a 2 meter radio off of eBay.
The radio is an older Alinco DR-1200t.  The guy I bought it from had cleaned it up and replaced the burned out front panel lights.  I got this radio cheap, but... then I started to learn how easy it is to sink a lot of money into this hobby without noticing it.  The DR-1200t came without a microphone as it was sold as a packet radio.  So I needed a hand mic.  Then I also needed a power supply.  Oh, yeah, at the same time was having issues with the slim-jim antenna, so I needed an SWR meter to figure that out (turned out to be a bad adapter, not the antenna).  About this point I'm thinking...What have I got myself into?  Well, I managed to get a great deal on an 11A power supply off eBay.  But, had to bite the bullet and pay full retail for the mic and the SWR meter.

I figure the SWR meter will be with me for a long time so not a problem.. oh, yeah, had to pick up a multimeter as well.  But, for all that I was up and running with a solid 2 meter rig that got great signal reports and, a piece of equipment that I can later re-purpose as a digital packet radio for APRS or something, who knows. (Radio $50 + Power supply $25 + Hand Mic $40 + SWR meter $50 = $175)

Then I realized that most of the people I wanted to tals to, and most of the "action" in my area was on UHF.  Dang it! So, I began searching for a 70cm rig, or a dual band rig.  [rant] Why are dual band radios twice as expensive as single band?[/rant].  With patience and diligent searching I found a TYT TH-9000 440mhz radio.  This one had been used for GMRS(on high power 65 watts, WTH?) and the previous owner cut the power cord down to about 4 inches (why?).  But it came with everything and a programming cable, so not a bad trade off.  I got it all programmed with Chirp and it is working great.  Currently I have to swap the antenna and the power supply from one radio to the other, but it's not really a problem yet. (radio $55 + Chirp $0 = $55)

So, at the end of the day I have spent $308.  I have a hand held and two mobile radios and a few pieces of equipment that I will use for a while no matter what I do with my license.  It's near impossible to find a top 3 dual band radio for what I've spent so far, and you would still need to add a power supply and antenna.  From what I have been told and seen for myself the HF gear runs about the same.  The HF buy-in seems to be about $400 for a decent rig.  Going digital has about the same entry price tag, maybe a little less or more.  Now I have to decide which direction I want to go since I have both options available.

What I have learned is that you don't have to spend a lot of money.  In order to save money, be smart and do your research.  Talk to local hams and listen to their advice.  Then make the decision that makes sense to you.

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Amatuer Radio, getting started

I have recently gotten into Ham radio and thought I'd write about some of my experiences as I go.  I've had an interest in amatuer radio since I was young.  I even tried to get my license when I was 11 or 12.  I just couldn't get the Morse code, no matter how hard I tried.  So I moved on and years passed.  I recently started working with the California State Military Reserve(link) and, since their mission is to assist Civil authorities in time of emergency or disaster, they encourage members to get their amatuer license.

This started me looking around and doing research into all things related to ham radio.  I got frustrated waiting for the Guard to organize a class, so I started studying on my own.  I used the Android Ham Test Prep app,  and the free Technician Class study guide (yes Free) by KB6NU. Between these two resources and Google I was able to get ready for my Technician license  exam in about 2 months.  At some point I realized that I just needed to learn to beat the test and worry about understanding everything later.  As it turns out that's probably the best thing you can do.  Until you get your license and get on the air you really won't be able to understand fully what all in involved.  The test is only 35 questions and only took a few minutes to get through.  You can find local testing locations at the arrl website.


While studying for my exam I picked up a radio for the ham bands.  I think every new or prospective ham operator buys a Baofeng HT (Handy-talky... ham-speak for walky-talky).  I picked up the UV-B5 model for about $30.  I later picked up a hand mike and a Diamond 1/4 wave whip antenna.  I used this to monitor nets (scheduled groups) a couple nights a week in order to get a feel for how the language worked and what the correct operating procedures sounded like in action.  This also gave me some practical experience with programming offsets and looking up band plans.  I still use this radio a good bit for amatuer radio and with the Guard.  Certainly not the best hand held radio ever made, but, it is functional and with the larger antenna I have no problem talking on repeaters 18-19 miles away here in the San Fernando Valley.  There are lots of versions of these Chinese radios out there and there isn't a huge difference between them under the shell.  Even though I have almost outgrown this radio, it's still handy and you can't beat the price.


There are lots of good resources out there, almost too many sometimes.  I found that just getting on the air and asking questions is a great way to get over fear of talking and to get people to talk about their hobby.  Everyone I've talked with has been more than willing to give advice or point me to additional resources.  I've also learned a lot from listening to podcasts.  The Fo Time podcast has been very helpful.  Cale, the host is very down to earth and he has guests that cover a wide range of topics.  There is also a community of listeners growing on the Facebook group.

That's probably enough for now.  Next post I'll talk about equipment and the cost of being a ham radio operator.

73 N6MRW - Mark