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UV-5R

Nice job! Hopefully a week from Sunday I'll hear you check in to the Danvers Sunday night net.

Jump right on the General and set a goal of having it in 2 weeks, or 1 month when the club gives the tests again. You have that studying boulder rolling well. If you let it stop it can be real tough to get it rolling again.
 
Exactly. An on air get together. There are all kinds, from friends informally chatting to equipment swap nets to very formal nets like the traffic net you mentioned.

Most nets are "directed nets" where one person called Net Control is in charge. Net Control makes the first call asking if the repeater is in use then makes an opening statement that he's starting the net, then he asks people to check in. People usually check in with their call sign, name and town. After check-ins Net Control will turn it over to the first person who checked in. That person usually just says hi and maybe takes a couple minutes to tell what they've been up to. Club members will often discuss club business, but for most people it's just an excuse to get on the air and say hi. Each person gets their turn in the order they checked in.

Most clubs have a weekly net. The NSRA has their weekly net on the Danvers repeater on Sunday at 8:00pm and the Gloucester club has theirs at 9:00. Listening to those two tonight will give you a good flavor. You don't have to be a member to check in to these club nets. Most clubs like the odd stranger checking in, and in general they like people checking in because sometimes net attendance is disappointingly small.

Once you see your call sign in the data base be sure to check into the next Danvers net. They would love to hear from someone that got licensed in one of their test sessions.
 
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I missed the Sunday nets but I listened the other night to the Eastern Massachusetts traffic net and there was no one checking in. When she says anyone with traffic to report, what does that mean? Is it automobile traffic or a general term for say anything on your mind?
 
"Traffic" is information traffic; a message that needs to get to someone. As far as I can tell, these Traffic Nets serve no immediate purpose. Anyone can get a message to anyone else with the phone or email. But, it's really good to have an established system of getting messages from here to there by radio, with operators that are well practiced at it. When the SHTF and normal communications go down for an extended period of time the Traffic Nets will get a lot of use.

I had forgotten that when you check in to many of the club nets, like NSRA or CAARA, you check in with call sign, name, town and "no traffic" unless you have a specific message for someone else on the net. People with traffic will often be the first ones to get the net handed to them, then they'll go down the rest of the check-ins in the order they checked in.

Is you call sign on the FCC's data base yet?????
 
[cheers]Whoo hooo! Licensed to push that little PTT button!

Time to check into some nets this weekend or reply so someone's random "W1XYZ, listening" on the repeater and have a chat.
 
cockpitbob said:
Most clubs have a weekly net. The NSRA has their weekly net on the Danvers repeater on Sunday at 8:00pm and the Gloucester club has theirs at 9:00.
Click to expand...

Danvers is 145.470 and Gloucester (isn't that Cape Ann ARA?) is 145.130?

How long do the nets last on Sunday nights? I'm usually in transit to Waltham on Sunday nights going down RT 3. Probably can't reach Gloucester (until I get the 2m rig installed in the "new" car, anyway) but I'd probably be able to hear Danvers on my Baofeng, I'd think.
 
dwarven1 said:
Danvers is 145.470 and Gloucester (isn't that Cape Ann ARA?) is 145.130?

How long do the nets last on Sunday nights? I'm usually in transit to Waltham on Sunday nights going down RT 3. Probably can't reach Gloucester (until I get the 2m rig installed in the "new" car, anyway) but I'd probably be able to hear Danvers on my Baofeng, I'd think.
Click to expand...
The Danvers net can go a full hour. One thing they do is play the ARRL's weekly news tape which runs about 15 minutes.

Yes, Glouster is CAARA 145.130. Their net usually goes 25-45 minutes depending on number of check-ins and chattyness.

If you turn your rig on late and miss the check-ins, don't worry about it. Later on they will call for late check-ins at least once.
 
cockpitbob said:
The Danvers net can go a full hour. One thing they do is play the ARRL's weekly news tape which runs about 15 minutes.

Yes, Glouster is CAARA 145.130. Their net usually goes 25-45 minutes depending on number of check-ins and chattyness.

If you turn your rig on late and miss the check-ins, don't worry about it. Later on they will call for late check-ins at least once.
Click to expand...

I'll have to give it a try.

And now that I have a "new" car maybe I can get off my lazy butt and install my Icom IC-208H. Just need to figure out where to mount the head... a 2006 Legacy doesn't exactly have a plethora of extra dashboard space! Maybe I'll stick the rig all the way in the back, which will give me a short run for the antenna cable.
 
Dwarven1, FWIW, when I mounted my FT-857 I used a gooseneck mic mount for the remote head. Scroll down to the "frequently bought together" and you'll see the round table mount. I used double-sticky tape to attach the remote head's mount to it. When the radio isn't in the car I just unscrew that from the gooseneck and shove the neck out of the way.
 
cockpitbob said:
Dwarven1, FWIW, when I mounted my FT-857 I used a gooseneck mic mount for the remote head. Scroll down to the "frequently bought together" and you'll see the round table mount. I used double-sticky tape to attach the remote head's mount to it. When the radio isn't in the car I just unscrew that from the gooseneck and shove the neck out of the way.
Click to expand...

you get two table mounts? One to stick to the dash and one to the remote?
 
dwarven1 said:
you get two table mounts? One to stick to the dash and one to the remote?
Click to expand...
Oh yeah, I forgot about the hard part. I couldn't find a right angle female mount so I made one. It's just a short piece of steel tube welded to a plate. I used JB Weld to stick the gooseneck's make threads in the pipe. I used stainless sheet metal screws to attach to the transmission hump. You could do the same without welding just by smashing the bottom end of the pipe flat and drilling mounting holes in it.

SAM_1493_zpsbhoyoodr.jpg





You might be entertained by my mic holder. I couldn't find a place I liked so I took a pice of ABS plastic, cut it into an X shape, pop-riveted the mic clip to it, then heated it with my heat gun and formed it around the low-range stick. It's held in place with a zip-tie.
SAM_1495_zpsktyyop9b.jpg
 
cockpitbob said:
Oh yeah, I forgot about the hard part. I couldn't find a right angle female mount so I made one. It's just a short piece of steel tube welded to a plate. I used JB Weld to stick the gooseneck's make threads in the pipe. I used stainless sheet metal screws to attach to the transmission hump. You could do the same without welding just by smashing the bottom end of the pipe flat and drilling mounting holes in it.

You might be entertained by my mic holder. I couldn't find a place I liked so I took a pice of ABS plastic, cut it into an X shape, pop-riveted the mic clip to it, then heated it with my heat gun and formed it around the low-range stick.]
Click to expand...

Ahh... I see now. Mounting shouldn't be a problem. Thanks.
 
i recently purchased a UV-82, an older (or possibly fake) nagoya 771 antenna and USB programming cable. i was able to use CHIRP to program the unit to the local scanner frequencies, using radioreference.com. i also learned about P25 and realized (after the fact) that majority of PDs in the area use that for communications, which the UV-x series can not decode.

i also programmed local repeaters using (repeaterbook.com). i've heard some digital communications; no voice. i understand the repeater's function but don't really understand its usage. i was hoping to get-it by seeing it in action.

i do not have my license and have set the duplex to off per channel and have disabled UHF/VHF TX in Other Settings. i do not have interest in transmitting yet.

i am somewhat familiar with radios and signals but would like to learn more. i pursued license-related books and classes, but they are mostly cram-courses with the pure intention of passing the exam. i found myself not interested in that style of learning.

i think it would be nice to spend time with a ham radio operator to learn more, but i have not been able to find any thru the local group of people that i know.

i live in southern NH area. what do you guys suggest as a next step?
anyone here open to answering questions?
 
There are some opinions on the testing here: http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/threads/280135-Technician-class-is-useless

I'd be willing to bet that your local ham radio club (probably the group that operates your local repeater) has someone who would love to talk your ear off. My experience with hams is that it's harder to get them to stop talking about it than to start.

My local repeater also has a Newcomer's Roundtable that I have listened to and for some reason not participated in. You might have one nearby that you can listen to and see what people are talking about.

My opinion: just cram for the test and learn from doing.
 
You could go a whole life and not know everything there is to know in the ham radio hobby. It's 99 hobbies in one. So don't worry about how much you know before you get your ticket. Cram and pass the test, but be sure to know the rules well enough to stay out of trouble. If you stick with the hobby everything else will come with time.
 
Cram, get the license, learn enough to talk on air, then learn the important stuff from those you meet. Maybe join a club near you. Delaying the license to learn the material they test is not worth it. The meat of the hobby is outside the test.
 
just to follow up in case someone else shares similar interests:
i ended up getting an RTL-SDR device. i found this a much better route for the time being because:

  1. no interest in transmission
  2. cost effective ($12)
  3. visual, which suits me because i can practically see rather than conceptualize radio signals
  4. expanded capability (decoding digital signals such as P25, stereo FM + RBDS decoding, ADS-B, ...)
  5. easier UI


SDR is software-defined radio. RTL is the particular chipset made by realtek. it may not be considered HAM radio; well, maybe canadian-HAM. i think it's a much better starting tool.

the kit i got cost < $12 and came with the USB dongle and a dinky antenna that has surprisingly worked well. i've been able to decode non-encrypted P25 signals -- something the UV-5R clearly lacks. i can also see the frequency spectrogram, rather than blindly program/tune & scan with the UV-5R.

if anyone is interested to know more, i can post a dedicated thread with details.
 
I was watching a documentary on the Kurdish Peshmerga fighting to take back the Sinjar area from Isis and some of the Peshmerga were using UV-5R's.
 
namedpipes said:
The Baofeng can talk FRS and GMRS frequencies, which you don't need a license to use (if that is a worry for you)

Chirp can import them.

*** ETA But turns out is not certified (and is therefore illegal) on FRS and GMRS.
Click to expand...

My question is - how can one get caught then, short of standing in front of someone who sees that you are using a HAM transceiver and transmuting on FRS, if we're out in the woods and using the FRS frequencies, what can go wrong (ha ha, I know, but that's the best wording I could come up with).


(For the record, I purchased a Baofeng F9V2+ and studying for the exam, but in case we go out camping, it would be nice to have these two devices with us, rather than pay more to buy two FRS or CB radios).
 
One problem could be, seeing that they are not certified, how clean the transmission would be. If you transmit and send out spurious frequencies / interference. Someone listening may take notice and report it. The other thing is, I believe there is a license requirement for GMRS, not for FRS. Lastly, it's an integrity thing, HAMs typically police themselves. Some do more policing then others. YMMV
 
Thanks, got it.

One more slightly different question - I want to connect to one of my local repeaters to just listen in (I know I can't transmit not being licensed). Am I allowed to that ?

Also, being near Acton, any helpful details as for where to connect and the technical details ? - I know of the lists and websites, etc, however I prefer not to spend the time just sitting there wondering "is this a dead channel or should I wait for another 5 minutes".
 
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If you mean tune to a particular repeater frequency, yes you can. Usually when someone says connect, they are talking about some kind of linking repeater systems and that you can not do. I am not familiar with that Acton repeater, but I looked on NE Repeaters and it seems that Acton changed to DMR, which is a digital mode, that you would need a different transceiver to hear.
 

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