Do you have a 'repeater' guide for the area?
Yes, and I can easily hear local repeaters on 2m and 70cm, but it's a special event if they transmit anything other than their idents.
Depends on whether there is 6m activity in the area.
Good point, I'll have to see what I can find out.
Otherwise, I'd opt for one of the 10m rigs with AM,
SSB,CW,FM capability (HR2510s sell for $75 and up,
have 25 watts of power and cover 26MHz to 30MHz).
I don't have HF privilage, hopefully this year I'll make time to
learn CW and reach the blistering speed of 5WPM <grin>
Seriously though, I'd like to wrap my head around the relevent regulations and sit the General exam.
In today's congestion you might want a rig that had
sub audible tones as well.
I'd welcome some congestion, at least it would be radio traffic! =o)
If at some point I move to a larger city I might find more activity.
Sadly a beam is out of the question at my present location. I can't
afford a base station either. I was pleasantly surprised to find
brand new 6m HTs for around $100 in one of the catalogues I was sent.
I'm rather taken with the Yaesu VX-110 or VX-150 actually, at least
from what I've seen and read so far - they're both 2m though.
Will you be coming through (past?) Charleston, IL? =o)
Hello!
DO> ...last time I drove through Illinois I was following
> I90 from the west coast to the east.
I'll have to dig out a map, see where that goes.
DO> I found my dual band FM rig (an old Kenwood TW4000A to
> be fairly adequate for mobile communications.
Were its two bands 2m and 70cm?
DO> In today's congestion you might want a rig that hadat
> sub audible tones as well.
I'd welcome some congestion, at least it would be radio traffic! =o) If
some point I move to a larger city I might find more activity.a
DO> But 6M would be a good alternate choice, especially
> if you can afford a base station with SSB and a good
> beam antenna...
Sadly a beam is out of the question at my present location. I can't afford
base station either. I was pleasantly surprised to find brand new 6m HTsfor
around $100 in one of the catalogues I was sent. I'm rather taken with the Yaesu VX-110 or VX-150 actually, at least from what I've seen and read sofar -
they're both 2m though.
FM repeaters are not really good DX devices and FM
simplex, while it works still eats a bit of bandwidth
and is not that good for weak signal work.
I agree entirely.
My folks live up North of you in Freeport.
I think I've spoken to a ham in Freeport, but that was via the
Internet, not over the air.
That's not to say there aren't any HAMs in the area,
just that they're probably busy with life.
That's probably the case, QRZ.com threw up a fair old list of hams in
my town. I've even met some of them, but for the most part 2m and
70cm are pretty silent.
I didn't have any 2m transmitter at the time, just a
scanner.
That's my situation now. I think I've picked out a 2m HT, but it's
not like there's anyone to talk to if I buy the thing! =o(
I'll be visiting there again this spring, and I plan
on taking a 2m walkie talkie this time.
Will you be coming through (past?) Charleston, IL? =o)
6m is sporadically used around the country. Not very
popular, somewhat like 220Mhz...
Understood, thanks for the info.
I haven't looked at license privileges lately, but I
was under the impression that Tech's were allowed to
use voice on 10m...
Probably once we pass the 5WPM Morse test.
... Real radios glow in the dark!
You'd best read my web site before I demolish it. It can be found
at...
http://grex.cyberspace.org/~ball/
Hello Dave!
DO> ...I still use it. GaAsFET preamps on each band.
Is low noise the primary benefit of that?
DO> 2M is generally more populated with repeaters than anyreceiver
> of the other bands.
I returned this evening from Chicago. Naturally I took my scanning
with me. I heard a few people on 2m repeaters. I think I've heard one conversation on our local 70cm repeater, but I've only heard a handful on2m so
that may not mean much. Is 2m an older band than 70cm, generally or interms
of repeaters?
There are FM repeaters on 10m. During a skip cycle,
it's not unheard of to use them, even though they're a
thousand miles from nowhere...
I think /I'm/ a thousand miles from nowhere! <g> I didn't mean to
suggest that FM repeaters /shouldn't/ be used for DX, but I wouldn't
want to have to rely on them.
I think CW (and perhaps SSB) is probably better suited to DX.
Of course, there are satellite FM repeaters that have quite a broad footprint, but they're a special case ;o)
Hello Andy.
24 Jan 01 13:44, you wrote to Dave Oldridge:
FM repeaters are not really good DX devices and FM
simplex, while it works still eats a bit of bandwidth
and is not that good for weak signal work.
I agree entirely.
There are FM repeaters on 10m. During a skip cycle, it's not unheard of
to use them, even though they're a thousand miles from nowhere...
FM repeaters are not really good DX devices and FM
simplex, while it works still eats a bit of bandwidth
and is not that good for weak signal work.
I agree entirely.
There are FM repeaters on 10m. During a skip cycle, it's not
unheard of to use them, even though they're a thousand miles from
nowhere...
That's true, but in my experience, there are just too few frequencies
to make 10M a useful repeater band during openings.
Locally, they're fine, though, having good coverage.
Hello DAVE.
29 Jan 01 14:38, you wrote to me:
FM repeaters are not really good DX devices and FM
simplex, while it works still eats a bit of bandwidth
and is not that good for weak signal work.
I agree entirely.
There are FM repeaters on 10m. During a skip cycle, it's not
unheard of to use them, even though they're a thousand miles from
nowhere...
That's true, but in my experience, there are just too few frequencies to make 10M a useful repeater band during openings.
I wasn't advocating using them for anything useful in terms of communications that might require a schedule. I think it's kind of neat
to find one and talk to somebody who's locally using a remote base to connect to the repeater with; say a walkie talkie on 2m, 220 or 440...
Locally, they're fine, though, having good coverage.
We've got a few around here; even have some on 6m.
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