Amateur radio (HAM)
- Thread starter QuantumLogic
- Start date
Congratulations you two from me too!
Some suggestions I listed earlier in this thread:
Additionally, you could subscribe to some emcomm mailing lists, check out some ham radio blogs (there are many excellent ones), maybe check out the winlink website and how all this works (important stuff from an emcomm perspective I think).
Good luck!
Hesper said:
Some suggestions I listed earlier in this thread:
luc said:
Additionally, you could subscribe to some emcomm mailing lists, check out some ham radio blogs (there are many excellent ones), maybe check out the winlink website and how all this works (important stuff from an emcomm perspective I think).
Good luck!
Thanks luc and LQB, I'm finding that the General Class studying is where most of this is finally making sense to me. We'll be experimenting with a rig soon, and all of these reading materials will be extremely helpful.
It sounds like there's about 200 HAMs in the area, with only about 12-24 are active. Well they can add two more now. Thanks for the assistance everyone!
It sounds like there's about 200 HAMs in the area, with only about 12-24 are active. Well they can add two more now. Thanks for the assistance everyone!
LQB said:
Got the General class license on Saturday, and now it's time for radio research and figuring out how to afford one. Thanks for all of the links, they've been pretty darn helpful. I've ordered SolderSmoke and I'm just listening in on the local HAM net because I obviously don't feel like a General yet.
Hesper said:
Good deal Hesper - congrats! A good HF rig is going to be more expensive and your best bet is to get a used rig from a HAM that is upgrading (much cheaper). The other issue is erecting a decent antenna, and your best bet here is probably a wire antenna in an inverted V configuration. If you listen in on some of the larger nets and contests, you will get a good idea of range and geometry to all the checkins you can hear since they usually report their locations.
Hesper said:
Congratulations!
As LQB said, a HF rig is more expensive, but there's a huge market for used gear. FWIW, I got the FT-817 and the FT-897, which both cost about 350-500 Euros used where I live. I started with the FT-817 and love it, it's so small that you can take it everywhere in it does absolutely everything! However, I soon learned that working SSB on 5W is darn hard, but at the same time provides good practice. The FT-897 makes 100W and is a very versatile radio I think and well suited for emcomm. Whatever your choice, I would recommend that you buy a very popular, wide-spread radio - there's tons of info available on the net for those, how to tweak/repair them and many well-tested accessories.
As for antennas, it obviously depends on your place/space, but generally I also would recommend a simple wire dipole. One of the best, easiest and most flexible solutions I think is to use ladder line/open wire feedline, a balanced antenna tuner (something like this: _http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-901B) and use the longest dipole wires for the dipole that your space will allow. That will give you access to the whole spectrum. And don't be too picky about the geometric form of the antenna - the dipole wires can be folded / zig-zagged etc., as long as they don't get too close to each other. As the saying goes, "antennas want to work" :)
Personally, I just bought 30m of "speaker wire" (15 Euros), separated the wires and put spacers between them for about 14m (this makes the open wire feedline) and used the rest of the wires as the dipole, so there's zero "construction" involved and the whole thing is just one piece. I put it in my attic and it performs very well - plus it's light-weight, I made another one that I use portable.
Congrats on everyone who's got their licenses! I recently got mine too. I decided to join a local HAM group a while back near where I live, as they were offering a study course at the end of which we could take the exam and get our basic license. Canada is a little different than the US as we have to do a 100 question multiple choice test, and if you score above 70 you pass with access to 30MHZ and above, and if you score above 80 (honours) they allow access to the HF bands. The other way is to take a morse code exam (if you passed with a 70) which would open the HF bands. They also put a limit on transmit power, and you can't use home made transmitters. The next qualification is the 'advanced'. If you get this you can build your own transmitters and operate at a higher transmit power. They are offering an advanced course next year but I'm on the fence about taking it. The first one was hard enough! I did pass with honours so the nice thing is I'm able to use the HF bands.
Today we got to hang out with some guys from our local group at the club's radio station. They have a really nice setup there, and one fellow there was showing me how to operate the radio they had setup for HF. There was actually a contest of sorts going on in Europe, and we were picking up conversations all over the world, from Spain to Africa, even Australia! I didn't realize how well propagation on the 20m worked. It did get me thinking, that if you have a good directional antenna setup for the HF bands, communication between Europe and NA can be done fairly consistently. For some reason I always thought it was a random thing and you were lucky to make contact with people overseas. At the club they had a Yagi configured for 10, 20 and 40m bands and we did get clear reception to Mexico and southern US when pointed in that direction too. So we can chat to you guys down there here in Canada! Anyway, there's so many things to learn about amateur radio I'm just scratching the surface - really exciting stuff! I got myself a little handheld for now. Next step is a better antenna :P
The guys at the club are kind enough to also let us use the equipment once we get a little more familiar with operating, so perhaps sometime we can pick a freq and time and try contacting each other on HF :D.
Today we got to hang out with some guys from our local group at the club's radio station. They have a really nice setup there, and one fellow there was showing me how to operate the radio they had setup for HF. There was actually a contest of sorts going on in Europe, and we were picking up conversations all over the world, from Spain to Africa, even Australia! I didn't realize how well propagation on the 20m worked. It did get me thinking, that if you have a good directional antenna setup for the HF bands, communication between Europe and NA can be done fairly consistently. For some reason I always thought it was a random thing and you were lucky to make contact with people overseas. At the club they had a Yagi configured for 10, 20 and 40m bands and we did get clear reception to Mexico and southern US when pointed in that direction too. So we can chat to you guys down there here in Canada! Anyway, there's so many things to learn about amateur radio I'm just scratching the surface - really exciting stuff! I got myself a little handheld for now. Next step is a better antenna :P
The guys at the club are kind enough to also let us use the equipment once we get a little more familiar with operating, so perhaps sometime we can pick a freq and time and try contacting each other on HF :D.
fabric said:
Congrats to you fabric! - well done. The Canada HAM process is a bit different. I hear lots of Canadian folk on the HF bands.
Unfortunately good HF work tends to go in the direction of large antennas, high power TX, and expensive gear - unless you go for the code (narrowband). But just a few days ago I could hear a fellow on 20M @ TX=1 watt! My own antenna is a LNR End-fed wire quad bander (10/15/20/40M) tied off to a tree at about 35 feet - a simple/cheap, and easy to deploy antenna. My max TX=100W.
Your local VHF/UHF repeaters should greatly extend your local range. And, yes, those HT rubber duck antennas are terrible. A good roll-up antenna for your HT will make it feel like a base/mobile. I assume the 2M/70cm HAM bands are the same as US. If they are, I recommend Ed Fong's dual-bander. You can also connect the HT to a mobile dual-bander mag mount on the car for very good performance.
You can go to http://bandconditions.com/ for real-time HF band propagation conditions.
For HAM radio, the learning is really in the doing. That's great that you can use the HAM club gear. And yes, we'll set up a time and try some Comms.
Again, congrats!!
LQB said:
Thanks for the link, very handy! I think that is one of the things that appeal to me. With a little bit of creative antenna work and a decent transceiver, I think one can get decent HF done without having to drop down 5k on a rig, though it is tempting ;). I'll look into the Ed Fong stuff - right now I'm looking to see if I can build me a little J-pole. Seen some links where you can put one together for under $20 and they work well. I can't really hit any repeaters with the dinky antenna that comes with my HT lol. And being in the city I don't think the neighbours will like the site of a 40ft vertical antenna 'structure' sticking out of the backyard
fabric said:Thanks for the link, very handy! I think that is one of the things that appeal to me. With a little bit of creative antenna work and a decent transceiver, I think one can get decent HF done without having to drop down 5k on a rig, though it is tempting ;). I'll look into the Ed Fong stuff - right now I'm looking to see if I can build me a little J-pole. Seen some links where you can put one together for under $20 and they work well. I can't really hit any repeaters with the dinky antenna that comes with my HT lol. And being in the city I don't think the neighbours will like the site of a 40ft vertical antenna 'structure' sticking out of the backyard
Yes, build your own J-pole - the antenna principles are the same regardless of band - and you'll learn a lot. See if you can borrow an SWR meter from one of the club members.
When it comes to a finely tuned dual-bander (2M/70cm), Ed's antennas can't be beat - he even tunes the home base antennas inside Sched 20 PVC pipe for max performance. Ed is a Univ Prof and his students build/tune the antennas and get the profit. I buy the roll-ups and home base antennas from Ed in bulk ($25) and re-sell them locally (at cost) to HAMs. Everyone has been very pleased with these.
HAMs that are very serious about conducting Nets and doing worldwide comms can easily drop $15K on tower/antennas alone.
Do join in with the VHF/UHF nets in your area and check-in with them regularly - your HT should do fine with a decent antenna.
Congratulations, fabric!
Well, I think HF work doesn't really depend on the rig, every rig will work nicely, new or old (unless broken or very old). You will only need all the bells and whistles that come with the expensive transceivers if you want to participate in contests or other situations where there are a lot of strong stations around and you want to talk to very distant, weak stations (you need sophisticated filters and a very good receiver for this). Other than that, a basic trx such as the FT897 will do the trick and has built in VHF/UHF as well. Though I admit that these shiny transceivers with all those knobs are tempting indeed ;)
I think the most important parameters for HF work are band conditions, your antenna and the power you are using (in that order). There is a great e-book called "ARRL's Small Antennas for Small Spaces" (_http://www.amazon.com/ARRLs-Small-Antennas-Spaces-English-ebook/dp/B013COTZE2) which contains some good ideas for HF antennas in restricted environments.
I attached two graphs to this post that I found very helpful, both from the book "Minimum QRP: Doing more with under five watt amateur radio". The first is about band conditions - you can see the different areas of coverage (ground wave + sky wave) for the different bands (lower, medium and higher HF) under different sunspot conditions. The white represents the coverage.
The second graph is about the diminishing returns that come from using more power, based on practical experience by the author. It also reflects my own experience. Basically, the sweet spot seems to be around 20W for SSB and 5W for CW. Often, even less is sufficient. Everything that goes beyond this will give you a slight edge under difficult conditions, which can make the difference between establishing contact and failing to do so. Nothing more, nothing less.
Speaking of CW, I learned the code so that now I'm able to use it at low to medium speeds, and I found learning it to be a great exercise in willpower and concentration. It took me about a month of learning 10-20 min every day. The important thing is to really do it every day during the learning phase.
BTW, I agree re: the J-Pole - I built a portable 70cm version based on the plans that LQB shared earlier in this thread, works like a charm - thanks!
Good luck!
fabric said:Thanks for the link, very handy! I think that is one of the things that appeal to me. With a little bit of creative antenna work and a decent transceiver, I think one can get decent HF done without having to drop down 5k on a rig, though it is tempting ;). I'll look into the Ed Fong stuff - right now I'm looking to see if I can build me a little J-pole. Seen some links where you can put one together for under $20 and they work well. I can't really hit any repeaters with the dinky antenna that comes with my HT lol. And being in the city I don't think the neighbours will like the site of a 40ft vertical antenna 'structure' sticking out of the backyard
Well, I think HF work doesn't really depend on the rig, every rig will work nicely, new or old (unless broken or very old). You will only need all the bells and whistles that come with the expensive transceivers if you want to participate in contests or other situations where there are a lot of strong stations around and you want to talk to very distant, weak stations (you need sophisticated filters and a very good receiver for this). Other than that, a basic trx such as the FT897 will do the trick and has built in VHF/UHF as well. Though I admit that these shiny transceivers with all those knobs are tempting indeed ;)
I think the most important parameters for HF work are band conditions, your antenna and the power you are using (in that order). There is a great e-book called "ARRL's Small Antennas for Small Spaces" (_http://www.amazon.com/ARRLs-Small-Antennas-Spaces-English-ebook/dp/B013COTZE2) which contains some good ideas for HF antennas in restricted environments.
I attached two graphs to this post that I found very helpful, both from the book "Minimum QRP: Doing more with under five watt amateur radio". The first is about band conditions - you can see the different areas of coverage (ground wave + sky wave) for the different bands (lower, medium and higher HF) under different sunspot conditions. The white represents the coverage.
The second graph is about the diminishing returns that come from using more power, based on practical experience by the author. It also reflects my own experience. Basically, the sweet spot seems to be around 20W for SSB and 5W for CW. Often, even less is sufficient. Everything that goes beyond this will give you a slight edge under difficult conditions, which can make the difference between establishing contact and failing to do so. Nothing more, nothing less.
Speaking of CW, I learned the code so that now I'm able to use it at low to medium speeds, and I found learning it to be a great exercise in willpower and concentration. It took me about a month of learning 10-20 min every day. The important thing is to really do it every day during the learning phase.
BTW, I agree re: the J-Pole - I built a portable 70cm version based on the plans that LQB shared earlier in this thread, works like a charm - thanks!
Good luck!
Attachments
Just wanted to share a few things for those interested:
1) Solar/emergency power: For anyone wondering about the differences between various battery types, solar panels, chargers etc. (not just hams!), I found this presentation to be excellent - it really sums up everything one needs to know about the topic in a practical way:
2) Digital communication / DMR: There are now cheap (but excellent) radios available from China to use on the DMR network. The TYT MD-380 goes for around 100 Euros, the waterproof version TYT MD-390 for around 150. (They are also sold under the Tytera and Retevis brands.)
DMR is an interesting technology - it's a digital voice protocol (like GSM), and hams have built quite an extensive network around it. All the repeaters are connected to the internet, which makes worldwide communication and text messaging possible. Obviously, this system won't work if there's a nation-wide internet blackout, but I think this technology could be very handy if the mobile/land line networks stop working locally because of a natural disaster and/or overload of the network. If you carry one of these handhelds with you, you can talk to the world as long as you can reach a repeater with internet access. You can even send short E-Mails.
The most interesting of the three DMR networks available is probably the Brandmeister network, which was developed by a Russian guy (who also speaks German fluently) and is further developed in a German-Russian-Dutch collaboration. It is decentralized, connects to various other amateur networks, is very advanced technically and fast growing.
This is the network's web site: _https://brandmeister.network
Here you can find out about the basic concepts/technologies: _https://brandmeister.network/?page=news&post=4
There's a presentation about it here (half German, half English): _https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiMvVuzv6AU
1) Solar/emergency power: For anyone wondering about the differences between various battery types, solar panels, chargers etc. (not just hams!), I found this presentation to be excellent - it really sums up everything one needs to know about the topic in a practical way:
2) Digital communication / DMR: There are now cheap (but excellent) radios available from China to use on the DMR network. The TYT MD-380 goes for around 100 Euros, the waterproof version TYT MD-390 for around 150. (They are also sold under the Tytera and Retevis brands.)
DMR is an interesting technology - it's a digital voice protocol (like GSM), and hams have built quite an extensive network around it. All the repeaters are connected to the internet, which makes worldwide communication and text messaging possible. Obviously, this system won't work if there's a nation-wide internet blackout, but I think this technology could be very handy if the mobile/land line networks stop working locally because of a natural disaster and/or overload of the network. If you carry one of these handhelds with you, you can talk to the world as long as you can reach a repeater with internet access. You can even send short E-Mails.
The most interesting of the three DMR networks available is probably the Brandmeister network, which was developed by a Russian guy (who also speaks German fluently) and is further developed in a German-Russian-Dutch collaboration. It is decentralized, connects to various other amateur networks, is very advanced technically and fast growing.
This is the network's web site: _https://brandmeister.network
Here you can find out about the basic concepts/technologies: _https://brandmeister.network/?page=news&post=4
There's a presentation about it here (half German, half English): _https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiMvVuzv6AU
Found this video the other day:
I think it's an interesting presentation - it gives insights into how FEMA works, how they approach things etc., and a perspective on disaster management beyond 'personal survival'. It may or may not be relevant, but I think it's an interesting bit of information. Plus, I think this guy (FEMA Chief Technology Officer) is rather smart (and a real nerd!).
The video should start at 10:21 automatically:
I think it's an interesting presentation - it gives insights into how FEMA works, how they approach things etc., and a perspective on disaster management beyond 'personal survival'. It may or may not be relevant, but I think it's an interesting bit of information. Plus, I think this guy (FEMA Chief Technology Officer) is rather smart (and a real nerd!).
The video should start at 10:21 automatically:
