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First radio suggestions??
- Thread starter Michael J. Spangler
- Start date
Dude, they're on to you.
namedpipes
NES Member
This is THE answer for someone just starting out. LEARN on the throwaway equipment. You'll either find you want/need a pricier radio or thank your stars you didn't spend a grand, instead of $30. And as Uzi2 says, it's an awesome backup even when you DO have better equipment.
Obiden's swamp that put him in place will be banning this topic, for non off-shore use, so why waste your time and money?
www.bioprepper.com
Why Do Government Officials Want To Ban HAM Radio? It’s Already Begun In California - Bio Prepper
HAM Radio has been around since the very beginning of radio, back in the 1890s. A loose-knit, but globe-spanning group, they are brought together by their
www.bioprepper.com
NHCraigT
NES Member
Obiden's swamp that put him in place will be banning this topic, for non off-shore use, so why waste your time and money?
Why Do Government Officials Want To Ban HAM Radio? It’s Already Begun In California - Bio Prepper
HAM Radio has been around since the very beginning of radio, back in the 1890s. A loose-knit, but globe-spanning group, they are brought together by their
That's from Nov. 2019. That had to do with the State of CA wanting repeaters removed from public land.
Ham Radio Operators: California Wants Them Gone - Uncle Sam's Misguided Children
Cal Fire sent an email to Ham Radio operators, telling them to remove their repeaters from public lands or face extreme expenses.
www.unclesamsmisguidedchildren.com
California Declares Ham Radio Obsolete, Demands Repeater Infrastructure To Be Removed
Technocrats in California are driven to destroy infrastructure, culture and society in general. Killing the ubiquitous and immensely useful ham radio network used for hobby and emergency situations, is patently insane - unless you are a Technocrat
www.technocracy.news
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So I got my tech license in 2016. I have not really been on the air for anything to mention.
Because back then I spend all my money on guns and ammo I never really had enough discretionary income to dump on a good radio.
I too went the Baofeng route to start. I actually picked up two UV-5X3 radios. They were cheap enough, like $35.00 a piece at the time. I got the bigger batteries, the microphone attachment better antennas, had a hole drilled in the trunk of my car and permanently mounted an antenna and put a NAGOYA TB-320A Triple Band Mobile Antenna on the car.
And I would bounce a signal of the Norwood and Waltham repeaters. FYI - Norwood is the next town. But others would say I was inaudible.
When both of them worked I drove about a mile away and tried to connect with my wife at the house. The terrain was flat in that there were no hills or major obstacles in the way. Nothing...
Never had any luck with the Baofeng. Could be operator head space but I read the book, have the cables and did all the programming and still nothing.
I also have an NA-320A triple band flexible whip handheld antenna for it because I was planning to volunteer at the marathon...but that hasn't happened yet.
Anyway, the UV-5X3 that I was using in the car I happened to leave in the car on a hot day. It never worked after that. Something melted inside. I called the company. Just outside the warranty period but they said that was common. That was beyond disappointing.
I currently use the second radio in my truck with a Diamond MR77S Mag Mount Antenna. Not ready to drill any holes in the truck yet....lol. The radio is good for monitoring.
I also picked up an IC-7100, which at some point I plan to put in my truck, but instead put a nice Diamond X-300 vertical antenna on the side of my house.
I run the radio on an Alinco DM-330MV Power Supply.
I also have a RadioWavz DX80 OCF 1500w wire that I have yet to run due to space issues that I am currently trying to work out. I think it is 136' long. Someone else mentioned to me I do not necessarily need it in a straight line, thus the working it out part...lol
I run the radio on an Alinco DM-330MV Power Supply.
No issues with:
Paxton
Derry
Waltham
some repeater in Rhode Island (forgot the name of it but spoke to a nice guy there for a while)
And others.
I don't use any of this stuff very often.
Now after reading this thread I think I will attach the Baofeng to the house antenna and see what happens from there. I think I did it a long time ago but can't remember the results. Probably not impressive if I haven't done it since.
When you get your radios I'd be interested to hear how they work for you.
Because back then I spend all my money on guns and ammo I never really had enough discretionary income to dump on a good radio.
I too went the Baofeng route to start. I actually picked up two UV-5X3 radios. They were cheap enough, like $35.00 a piece at the time. I got the bigger batteries, the microphone attachment better antennas, had a hole drilled in the trunk of my car and permanently mounted an antenna and put a NAGOYA TB-320A Triple Band Mobile Antenna on the car.
And I would bounce a signal of the Norwood and Waltham repeaters. FYI - Norwood is the next town. But others would say I was inaudible.
When both of them worked I drove about a mile away and tried to connect with my wife at the house. The terrain was flat in that there were no hills or major obstacles in the way. Nothing...
Never had any luck with the Baofeng. Could be operator head space but I read the book, have the cables and did all the programming and still nothing.
I also have an NA-320A triple band flexible whip handheld antenna for it because I was planning to volunteer at the marathon...but that hasn't happened yet.
Anyway, the UV-5X3 that I was using in the car I happened to leave in the car on a hot day. It never worked after that. Something melted inside. I called the company. Just outside the warranty period but they said that was common. That was beyond disappointing.
I currently use the second radio in my truck with a Diamond MR77S Mag Mount Antenna. Not ready to drill any holes in the truck yet....lol. The radio is good for monitoring.
I also picked up an IC-7100, which at some point I plan to put in my truck, but instead put a nice Diamond X-300 vertical antenna on the side of my house.
I run the radio on an Alinco DM-330MV Power Supply.
I also have a RadioWavz DX80 OCF 1500w wire that I have yet to run due to space issues that I am currently trying to work out. I think it is 136' long. Someone else mentioned to me I do not necessarily need it in a straight line, thus the working it out part...lol
I run the radio on an Alinco DM-330MV Power Supply.
No issues with:
Paxton
Derry
Waltham
some repeater in Rhode Island (forgot the name of it but spoke to a nice guy there for a while)
And others.
I don't use any of this stuff very often.
Now after reading this thread I think I will attach the Baofeng to the house antenna and see what happens from there. I think I did it a long time ago but can't remember the results. Probably not impressive if I haven't done it since.
When you get your radios I'd be interested to hear how they work for you.
(Unless you live way in the upper reaches of the valley, somewhere west of Brattleboro),
you should do what it takes to get hooked up with the Nashua Area Radio Society -
at least for licensing classes and other introductory stuff. They live for that.
XLNT.
Someone at NARS will have lived the hell that is your life (as a Baofeng owner),
and can advise on it.
Plenty of advisors on NES too.
I just thought you were looking for a clubload of Elmers...
I have a baofeng, runs fine. Hits the boston repeater from 2 miles away no problem. But if I was buying a new HT/VHF/UHF I'd go alinco or yaseu. Alinco has a real nice dual band out right now with a remote head I want for my truck
NHCraigT
NES Member
I broke out my old Wouxun kg uv3d Friday and hit the Derry NH repeater from Lowell I thought that was pretty good and I'm sure that's a good ten miles.
Repeaters can have really good receive antennas.
(I hope I remember this right).
I once heard some of the techno-trustees for CMARA's W1BIM/R/2m/FM
Paxton repeater talking about how it had much better ears than you'd think.
The transmit power was deliberately not cranked as high as it could be.
Now part of that decision can be dictated
by the repeater's coordination permission
(so many watts ERP at so many feet Above Ground Level at lat/long),
to avoid stepping on neighboring machines. And like all repeaters,
over the years W1BIM has had its ups and downs with antenna or feed line troubles -
you can't just jump on a tower and start wrenching or metering.
But IIRC the trustees liked that random mobile stations would hear the repeater
transmitter getting ragged, and think, "oops, I must be on the edge of the
coverage, I wouldn't want to sound like crap - I'd better sign off until the commute home'.
Not to keep the machine underutilized or anything. But to incentivize people
to get off before the machine actually couldn't hear them clearly. Because...
You can't tell how crappy your signal is - just everyone else's.
And plenty of people won't tell you that you're so far away
that you sound like crap - even though people can't really make out
what you're saying. Or it'll take them a few minutes to work up to it.
But if the repeater signal gets hard for operators to hear
right before the fringes, it dissuades people from using it
all the way out to the point where they're annoying to work.
No one begrudges you making a test call from a challenging place.
I once worked Paxton mobile from the top of the Charter Oak Bridge in Hartford.
You can get surprisingly good results.
(I hope I remember this right).
I once heard some of the techno-trustees for CMARA's W1BIM/R/2m/FM
Paxton repeater talking about how it had much better ears than you'd think.
The transmit power was deliberately not cranked as high as it could be.
Now part of that decision can be dictated
by the repeater's coordination permission
(so many watts ERP at so many feet Above Ground Level at lat/long),
to avoid stepping on neighboring machines. And like all repeaters,
over the years W1BIM has had its ups and downs with antenna or feed line troubles -
you can't just jump on a tower and start wrenching or metering.
But IIRC the trustees liked that random mobile stations would hear the repeater
transmitter getting ragged, and think, "oops, I must be on the edge of the
coverage, I wouldn't want to sound like crap - I'd better sign off until the commute home'.
Not to keep the machine underutilized or anything. But to incentivize people
to get off before the machine actually couldn't hear them clearly. Because...
You can't tell how crappy your signal is - just everyone else's.
And plenty of people won't tell you that you're so far away
that you sound like crap - even though people can't really make out
what you're saying. Or it'll take them a few minutes to work up to it.
But if the repeater signal gets hard for operators to hear
right before the fringes, it dissuades people from using it
all the way out to the point where they're annoying to work.
No one begrudges you making a test call from a challenging place.
I once worked Paxton mobile from the top of the Charter Oak Bridge in Hartford.
You can get surprisingly good results.
