On HF, 7232 KHz and VHF 145.190 MHz Mt Mitchell repeater. Audio link on broadcastify under 145.350 they're running traffic in and out.

The entire area is a disaster with no power nor cell service.

Just made my first SSTV QSO. I was surprised at how quickly the other guy was able to customize an image with a signal report, my call, Time, etc. how do people generally do that?

K was using QSSTV on Linux

Hi,

Today I tried POTA from Germany on 10m with a vertical antenna (MC-750). The activation was unsuccessful, but I managed to get 2 QSOs. One to France and one to Russia (2600 km). Using a Icom IC-705 with 5W.

So, the antenna kind of works.

However, I tried to get picked up by the reverse beacon network using CW and RTTY. I tried numerous times, but I never got picked up.

Any idea why?

The app description makes it sound like using the ‘Study’ mode is where you learn the subject matter. So far all it’s done for me is vomit up questions over and over. It hasn’t once explained WHY the right answer is actually right. Am I missing something?

Howdy,

My great uncle was cleaning out the house where I grew up and where my father passed away last year. In the house he found and gave to me a Uniden Bearcat BCD996P2 digital trunking scanner. I've wanted a trunker for years since most things in West Virginia are seemingly on the WV-SIRN statewide trunked system and I don't want to use an app on my phone. We didn't own a scanner this nice and the only thing that makes sense is that my father purchased this unit shortly before his death, either to use for himself or to give to me.

Anyways, I read through parts of the manual last night and I have a question; the unit has the sleve that screws onto it from the back, but it doesn't have any legs/feet etc on it, something that seems like it might screw in from the side. I'm blind and so I can't see any pictures online but I doubt it's supposed to sit on a table in its current state since the manual mentions installation of feet and since the speaker is on the bottom and firing directly into my windowsill. Anybody have thoughts or suggestions for mounting this thing in some kind of a base so I can actually understand what's being said?

~ Xander, KE8YQQ

It seems that I can't get QSOs on 80m using FT8, or other modes, despite hearing many other amateurs just fine. Even on higher bands I often get much lower signal reports than I give. Quite often 10 dB lower or so, sometimes even 20 dB lower.

My antenna is very far from optimal for 80m so maybe that's why? But wait! Antenna properties should be exactly same on receiving and transmitting. So if I can hear people well they should be able to hear me as well, right?

The only remaining explanations I can think of:

1. Other people are using high power so I can hear them even with my poor antenna, but they can't hear me. But I think it's unlikely that everyone would use big amps for FT8. Im using 50 to 100 watts.

2. My rig has an exceptionally good receiver so it can pick up signals from my poor antenna. I have IC-746, it's decent but I don't think it's special.

3. All others have lots of QRM around their stations and I don't so I can hear weaker signals than they do. But I don't think that my location is especially noise free.

Any ideas? :o

Hello all. I live in western NC. This storm has made me want to jump into amateur radio. What’s the best way to go from novice to pro?

NMO antenna mounts are new to me. I’m researching how I’m going to install a mobile setup for a Bronco 6G. I’ve got ditch lights and am hoping to mount an antenna on one of those brackets. I will be working 2m, 70cm and GMRS. Ideally, I should have 3 different antennas swapping out for whichever band I am using at a given moment, correct (if only 1 antenna mount)? Or 3 separately mounted antennas for 3 different radios if I wanted to use them all simultaneously (rare for me). I know people use 1 antenna for all sometimes, but, if I go the NMO route, any issues with just swapping out the antennas from the base repeatedly? I’m trying to “minimize my antenna footprint” somewhat. I’m open to suggestions / advice. Maybe I just end up with 3-4 antennas on the rear instead after all. Thanks.

I found a couple of Icom IC-S16 VHF radios at a flea market for a pittance, and as a radio amateur, I had to buy them out of curiosity, especially since the big and mighty google can't find any information about it.

Is it a rarer radio version or what might be the reason that nothing about it can be found anywhere, I looked through all possible radio-related websites and even Icom's page doesn't say anything about it.

I haven't had time to examine them better yet, but the purpose would be to photograph it and send the pictures and the information on the label to the "RigPix" site if there is interest in adding something about it, although the knowledge is incomplete, and disassemble it if there is any information from the circuit boards on how to set the frequency to it (and possibly took photos of circuit boards as well if even the previously mentioned page is interested in such).

The radios only have RX&TX LEDs, volume & squelch knobs and PTT on the outside of the body, one has a small LCD screen under the removable cover, which the other does not have (even though it is the same model according to the label), at the bottom (which remains under the battery pack) there are 7 DIP switches with which the radio's settings is set.

The type label doesn't say much:

• Icom VHF Transceiver IC-S16
• Mfg By Icom Incorporated
• Godgand AV Televerket Sweden
• NO.RL 2167/88
• ICOM INC - Made in Japan

Icom IC-S16 all side photos

This weekend is CQ WW RTTY and I operated for hours yesterday, great conditions, lots of intercontinental QSOs. I tend to run and I had big pileups, it was like shooting fish in a barrel, or at least what I imagine shooting fish in a barrel would be like (I've never done it)

Carrying on today and it's crap. The sun's farted, the Kp index is up to 3.3 (and it appears to be rising) and I'm struggling with every QSO.

Dreadfully frustrating. But I love it!

I am from Asheville, but now a resident in Charlotte. WNC and East Tennessee has no power, internet, phone service, or gas. Let’s take a minute to appreciate the Mt. Mitchell repeater and the group that owns it. It is the only form of communication for the area. We have heard from Florida all the way to Minnesota, checking in and requesting updates. We will start back up at 9am tomorrow with welfare checks etc. please tune in for the “etc” it’s on a case by case bases. Yall stay safe out there, and be advised the repeater is available to stream during this event, online @ https://www.broadcastify.com/webPlayer/43107 I know there’s not a lot of specific information on what’s going on, on TV or online, but you’ll be able to get these specifics at this repeater.

I recently updated my Mac mini to the latest release, Sequoia. I am now having difficulty getting GridTracker to listen to WSJTX. If you're not familiar with this, WSJTX sends messages to GridTracker. It uses something called UDP. I know WSJTX is sending information out, because there's a utility on MacOS which monitors this (called nc). It used to work but now I am only able to get this to work if I start GridTracker from a terminal window. Is it just me or are there others out there with similar situation?

As we were without power and water for over 24 hours, cell towers were going off line. I always thought that they had a 3 day stand alone shelf life.

Turns out that it's closer to 24 hours than 72.

My neighbors decided it was a good idea to have a fire to burn debris. I'm always happy to light off a bonfire as I am a raging pyro, but knowing that the fire department didn't have working fire hydrants kinda torqued me. People are stupid, I get it, but not even being able to call for help if your porch caught on fire is just pants on head stupid.

I was getting updates from the VP of our electric company by local repeater that is located at the company's HQ. This info was being disseminated to my neighbors. It was not lost on me how being the RTO is valued in an information blackout. Turned my neighbors onto the HAM path in the process.

Showed one how offsets work, and worked a few station who were passing on local conditions, such as traffic, gas stations opened and the like.

I took my Extra exam today and passed! What a relief! I have a Master’s degree, and I was more stressed before this test than any other in recent memory. No clue why. Anyways, I’m very relieved and excited to get those few extra kHz and a new, and hopefully better, call sign (my current call is very annoying).

I think my next step is to dive in to start learning CW! Any tips regarding study, practice, or initial gear would be more than welcome! I already have an HF setup that I primary use for SSB and minimal FT8 but have no experience with CW.

Cheers to everyone on this sub!

Hello everyone, I’m new to the ham radio scene and have mounted a uv5r in my rig with a comet ca-2x4sr. This is the mount I made for it(ignore the washer, it was for mock up only.) I used it raw steel for a few days and it worked pretty good, but after painting it to prevent rust, I went on a trip and listened to my local national weather frequency. While moving the radio cuts in and out constantly. When coming to a stop sound is restored though not super crisp. Coming back into my home town, it no longer cuts while moving. Any ideas what this could be? Does this antenna need grounded somehow? Not sure how I’d do that without the mount rusting out.

Is there a hardware difference between these radios or is it just firmware? I'm having a surprisingly difficult time finding a clear answer to this question. The only apparent feature difference is airband AM receive, although the published literature is so inconsistent maybe there are other differences. At the end of the day, I don't think airband receive capability is worth $85, but I'd like know if they are the same radio.

Good evening!

I'm not sure if you've seen the devastaing destruction that happened in Western NC. People are trapped without a way to call for help b/c power is almost completely out & most cell towers are down. Reports say the services can't access many people for a wellness check due to flooding and trees/powerlines down. My folks are in their 80s. Today is my Dad's 85 birthday. Before the storm hit, he said he didn't get the generator working in time.

Using RadioQTH.net I found a few ham operators in walking distance of their house. Would anyone be willing and able to help me contact them in the morning to see if they would be willing to check on Mom & Dad?

TYIA!!!

Hello all,

I hope this is an appropriate question for this sub, but my dad is new into ham radio and his birthday is coming up soon and wanted to get him something.

I was wondering what would be a good gift for someone new into ham radio (besides the radio). He has a basic setup now but wanted to get him something to make it more professional. I work as an RF engineer so I have some ideas like a spectrum analyzer and antenna’s, but not sure if there is something maybe less obvious to someone outside the hobby.

Any recommendations help, thank you!

I just bought 2 of these with the pvc mounts. I’m trying to get the top of the antenna up 18-23’. I made a pvc base and used vertical 3/4” pvc but it’s simply too flimsy. I tried adding 1 3/8” top rail galvanized metal fence pipe but it’s too heavy for my diy pvc base.

I have a couple nice manfrotto camera tripods and I’d like to try to secure either the 1 3/8” metal fence pipe or pvc pipe or a combination of both to my tripod. Obviously I wouldn’t run the metal pipe all the way up. I’d have probably 6-8’ of just pvc so the metal won’t interfere with the signal.

Any ideas how I could mount 1 3/8” galvanized metal pipe or 3/4” or larger pvc to a tripod made for cameras?

The entire point of this is to be able to have a fairly portable antenna which could get up to around 20’ off the ground.

Thanks in advance!

Hi All, I have a 2024 Rav4 Prime (plug in hybrid) and am experiencing RFI. It's frustrating as my 2017 Chevy Volt and all other EVs I've had dating back to 2011 have had no RFI issues.

Setup:

Yaesu FT857d

Comet 680 (half wave) dual band antenna mounted to glass using Diamond HRKS mount

Positive power wire to battery and negative to chassis ground

Remote mount head

Symptoms:

2m noise, varies by frequency. One Most frequencies no more than S2, but some up to S4. Some frequencies exhibit a gradual building of noise from S0 to S2 over a few second, back to S0, then rising again.

Changing headlight settings, including on/off changes the noise

Changing HVAC fan speed changes the noise

Turning steering wheel back and forth changes the noise

Troubleshooting:

I have tried powering the radio directly from a 12v battery and it didn't help (noise not entering through power cables)

I've also tried winding the coax through a toroid and it didn't help

Anyone else experience this issue? Any other suggestions?

Thank you.

I'm brand new to the ham radio world , and I'd like to build a Yagi antenna for my handheld 2m/70cm FM transceiver.

If I mess anything up or build the antenna improperly, is there any safety risk or damage to the radio (transmitting and receiving), or is the only risk not getting any gain? The technician exam included a lot of stuff about safety and damage regarding things like standing wave ratio (I used ham radio prep which let me pass with a 35/35 but didn't really explain things beyond the FCC questions). Does this stuff apply to me if I'm just removing the rubber ducky antenna and connecting the Yagi with coaxial cable?

Overall is this something that some newly licensed, inexperienced high school kid can do without accidentally damaging my radio or myself.

On a side note, does the ARRL antenna book (with the help of the internet) have all the information I need for building this, including the fundamental information like how a Yagi works and things like how long the driven element/reflectors/etc need to be based on the frequency I'm using?

Hello, I am experimenting with my UV-5R and running into an issue

I am programming the radio via CHIRP, and loading frequencies directly from Radio Reference through CHIRP > Source

It tells me that some frequencies are not compatible with my radio, which is understandable. Digital signals, etc. But the rest of the channels are already configured with Tone settings, squelch, offset, etc

However, most of the signals I can actually receive in my area, are received by the radio, but without sound. The radio receives a signal with plenty of reception, but no sound what-so-ever

So my question is, is my radio compatible with the channels listed below? What would be the reason I cannot hear what is being transmitted? I am just trying to learn about all this stuff. Thank you all so much!

Problem Frequencies:

408.0000 | DTCS 071 | Polarity NN | Offset 9.0000 | Mode NFM

When scanning, it nearly always picks up this signal when it gets around to it. But there is just no sound at all. No digital noise, no beeping, nothing. And I would just love to know why :)

Seems every manufacturer, from the "big three" down to the Chinese cheapies offer programming software only in windows versions. Yes, I know there's CHIRP, which works with many radios, but not the one I need (TYT md-2017) or for that matter, I'm not noticing any DMR radios supported by CHIRP.

Just a rant, I'm sure posting on Reddit won't make any difference.

I'm trying to improve my mobile setup. I usually use ham sticks but the performance has been disappointing. I figured I'd try to use the whip from my Chelegance MC-750 so I bought the thread adapters (https://chelegance.com/products/2pcs-cntou-3-8-24-m10-antenna-adaptors/) required to go from M10 to 3/8-24 and then to SO-239 to fit on my magmount. The goal is to use the setup for POTA when the park doesn't make it easy to setup outside the car or when the weather doesn't permit it.

When I use the MC-750 on the ground with the tripod and counterpoise wires I easily get nearly 1:1 SWR and the "width" of the low SWR is pretty wide, I don't have adjust the whip much when moving from the SSB to CW portion of a band. When the whip is on my car, however, it takes a lot more effort to get the SWR right and I can never get it as low as I'd like.

So a few questions:

1. Would a better "connection" between the car and the magmount improve things? I know they make magmounts that have three magnets, which I'm guessing would increase the surface area.
2. Would a ferrite choke on the coax near the radio improve things?

Any other suggestions to improve things is appreciated.

https://preview.redd.it/wdgszan6ymrd1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=600ae225e8e7d03e2079d65e0e4c744ae93821a9

https://preview.redd.it/fbfai2qbymrd1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fee8a4dbb7e5eff7cce7719453ee277b1868a434

https://preview.redd.it/iqbvvtnazmrd1.jpg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bd0686ef31d76d8b53b1ee0a855e7c81f827a93d

Ive spent over 24 hours trying to contact some folks to no avail. I tried a bunch of virtual ham radios, as I live in NY currently. Im really worried. I have located several licensed operators in their neighborhood with the call sign and all.... anyone around willing to reach out?