It was so incredibly cool watching the SWR lows move into the bands as I progressively trimmed off 6" at a time. Traces are initial and final. Using ARRL 40M end-fed half-wave kit and NanoVNA.

Seems like it can do 10 meter as is and could be modified for 12 meter when I get my General. Thoughts?

Technician class and a Foxtrot November Golf.

I have a few HTs and am making some contacts via repeaters. I want to get more than a few miles away, so I'm thinking about HF. Is someone willing to DM with me? Warning, I'm new to the hobby, so i don't want to invest too much until I know i enjoy it. I'm not being cheap. I know me.

Hello everyone! In the summer of 2025 I'm going on a roadtrip with a friend, each of us will have our own car. The idea of is inspired inspired by Top Gear / Grand Tour where they communicate with eachother through some form of radio. We were thinking of doing the same, but we have no knowledge of radios whatsoever. I was hoping to get some advice on what we should do!

We're not looking to build some comms-device into our car, but something like a walkie talkie maybe the ones that cops use where they have a microphone device on a wire; something small we can clamp to our clothes. Our budget for comms is around 100 euro if that's an acceptable price for a radio.. I don't really know. Hope you guys can help me out on this one!

Hello all,

I have no idea how to work these things for the job site. I set all radios (both models) to the same channel and code. Still nothing. The two will NOT talk to eachother. Figured I’d come to the experts.

I saw the programmed channels are different frequencies.

Am I able to change these to get these two to talk to eachother?

We dished out 3k for these radios and might have to return them. All info is appreciated!

I'm new to digital modes and just began using WSPR and FT8. On WSPR I often run across irregular call signs. Today ran across 196FHO off coast of Africa. Or 166FWU in the middle of Greenland. Where can I find more info about these call signs or ID's?

My school has recently upgraded to a new set of walkie talkies but given that our old ones still work great we would like to be able to use both brands. We have a whole bunch of Retevis RT15's and the new Midland X-TRA TALK LXT600's. When set to the same channel we cannot hear each other. I have figured out how to put the Midland on OF mode but no clue how to do it on the Retevis RT15's. Any help would be greatly appreciated (sorry I am not even sure if they are HAM radios) 👍🏻

I would like for people here to answer any or all of these questions, based on their personal experiences/feelings:

1. What is one of neatest things you’ve done with radios?

2. Have you ever applied your radio skills to help accomplish a goal/help someone (aside from making contacts at long distances)?

3. What is one of the most novel use cases or solutions you’ve implemented using radios?

4. If you had global rights to any use any 12.5khz bandwidth frequency in whatever ways you wanted—which band/frequency would you choose, why, and how would you use it?

Can someone point me to a decent quality RG8X cable to make my own runs that won't break the bank? Also looking for decent PL-259 connectors. I see many on Amazon but then I hear Amazon cable is crap. Is it ALL crap?

Finally tracked down a copy of this gem, soon I can program my Motorola Sabers

Come say hi tonight!! Starts at 2155 Central or 0355 UTC!! https://youtube.com/live/1gVTAO7cS9g

Anyone know if any of these relatively inexpensive (sub-$150 USD) 4G POC radios powered by Android are DMR capable, like with Peanut, Droidstar, or some other similar app? I see many use Zello, but I, for one, do not. Just curious if they might be worth looking at. Thanks in advance!

Hi there! Is it possible to call a phone using a radio? I’m aware that RoIP is a thing however it seems like just radio to radio. I’ve read many wiki pages and they all say that VoIP and RoIP is similar.

Thank you!!

I recently got a Baofeng 5RX https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3T9Q4MD just to dip my toes in and listen to some FM radio and NOAA.

It came with 3 different antennas, a long flexible one, a medium one about 7-8 inches and a short stubby one about 2 inches long.

When trying to listen to my local NOAA station (162.400 MHz) inside, the long and medium antennas pick up the signal but are choppy and cut out. The short stubby antenna picks it up crystal clear. Outside they all pick it up well.

I would think for a signal in that range a longer antenna would pick up the signal better. Am I just totally off base, or is it possible that the 2 longer antennas are complete junk and the stubby antenna is just slightly less junk. I mean these things were like $40 for 2 when I bought them. Oddly they can pick up signal from my FRS (462.575 MHz) with the longer antennas at a decent range. If my question is dumb and I should feel bad about myself just let me know and I'll delete the post, thanks!

I just put some of the QSL cards I received recently online. All these cards arrived by email.
I haven't scanned the one I got by snail mail.
https://bsdworld.org/qsl_cards/

Recently licensed. Haven't even turned on a radio yet.

I expect to sit for the General later this week

As I was studying I began to wonder if there is an inherent stratification of people based on the licenses they hold? Once a Ham has access to bands that are license specific does that end up meaning that technicians talk to technicians, Gens to Gens etc?

And if so, does the pool get smaller as the license level goes up?

Or, do the Extra bands not get much use because there just aren't that many Hams there?

Forgive these questions if there is a simple answer that I wasn't able to tease our of past posts.

Two friends and now a new co-worker. “I got a radio for when it all goes to hell, I won’t need a license to transmit then”. To which I reply “true, but it’s a little more complicated than you might think. There’s offsets and tones and you have to know where to listen in the first place.” And so on and so forth. How have yall dealt with these folks and how have you been able to bring them over to an actual meeting or license ? Just looking for some advice because I want them to really learn some stuff. They also all seem to think a handheld is enough for global comms. No matter what I try to explain or show them, they aren’t biting.

I just got a Comet GP3 antenna. How would it perform if I mounted it to the side of my house but with the top of the antenna below the gutter-line instead of above? It is a lot less BS without having to go through getting the King's permission.

Also - The antenna is listed as a 6' antenna with a length of 5'11". However, from the tip of the mast to the bottom of the SO-239 connector it is only 63". Is this a problem?

https://www.gigaparts.com/comet-antennas-gp-3.html

I've been thinking a bit lately about the feasibility of building a balloon based "satellite" similar to a weather balloon, that would go up above a certain spot and then hold it's position there both vertically and over the ground.

This way you could create statewide repeater systems that could hover in place 100,000ft up and then come down every week or two to be serviced and maintained.

The biggest question is if it's viable to use propeller technology to keep a balloon in place. I've heard conflicting info about the wind speeds up in the stratosphere, and the air density might just be too low for a conventional "motor and propeller" approach to position holding.

My initial idea is to create a balloon suspended craft with several quadcopter motors for altitude and position holding. Could have large solar panels for energy, with a very low powered amateur crossband or monoband repeater contained within. Would go up and hold it's position for a week or two before automatically coming back down (via ballast or letting gas out) to a rough area where it would regularly be recovered, refilled, maintenance, and sent back up.

Some cellular service providers have already done theoretical designs on craft like this, so it's not a totally unthinkable concept.

So assuming money was no object, what would some of the biggest challenges be and what would the solutions be to created a geostationary stratospheric satellite amateur radio repeater? And no, I am not asking about the legality. This is all assuming all permits/legal filings were done properly (which there isn't any for anything under 12lbs).

A couple may remember when I considered modifying my inverted vee for better omnidirectional abilities. My biggest problem with it was nearby metal roofs were throwing off the SWR. Even the tuner struggled on some bands. I just took it down today. I'm going to reuse the materials, instead, to create a 1/4 wave vertical antenna for 40 and 20 meters. Due to structure issues, I'm going to place the base 10' off the ground. It will be mounted on the end of one of the buildings with a metal roof. I figured, if i can't lose the metal roofs, i might as well use them. I'll be shielding to the 12x16 roof, with a radial going around the perimeter for 40 meters and another going down the ridge for 20m. I'll also be using the metal mast as a radial. If i need more, there's another building of about the same size with a roof I can also use by running wire to it and doing the same thing. The simulations look good, with a typical pattern and an swr well under 2 (really about 1.2 on both bands)...though there's no real good way to compensate for the metal roof that i'm aware of. Of course, real world is going to be different, but at least I know it's doable. The mast is made of steel, while the wire is 12 AWG. The balun will have cuts for both 20 and 40 meters coming off the positive side, when the shield going, again, to the mast, roof, radials and a ground rod going 8 feet deep into red clay soil. I'll separate the wires up the mast by about 6" with supports. No coils or traps, trying to keep this as budget friendly as possible, while reusing material. Will still be using my ATU. Just wanted to get feedback on this plan and see if anyone has tried, or seen anyone try this type of setup. Tried Google, but it mostly just tries to sell me antennas these days. This is just a basic drawing of the concept, unscaled...it does not include the extra radials.

https://preview.redd.it/75m7358lwi7e1.png?width=966&format=png&auto=webp&s=8024433a646c9447e0f2d1e1971210e5323f7ce6