Sunday, May 25, 2014
Two meter radio
Been hunting pretty intently on craigslist for a radio and ran across a yard sale ad that mentioned "ham radio electronics" so I emailed and the lady had a Yaesu radio which was top of the line in 2006 or so. It is a little beat up on the outside, but it came with a case so that fixes that. :) It is a quad band so it covers 2 meter, 1.25 meter, 70 cm and 6 meters. Works really well. It included an external hand mike also. The lady must have been desperate for cash because she let me have it for $40. Crazy!! This was probably a $500 radio in 2006. Being a quad band it is a little more complicated to figure out all the menus and how to navigate the settings, but I'm getting there. There have been a lot of instructions online that have helped. I was able to key up 4 different repeaters in Madison this evening. First time I've done that since the good old days at Dove Hill Rd. It's too bad that there is no 2 meter repeater here in Edgerton. There is a 70cm repeater here that I have heard the local hams yakking on, but it is locked down to random users. I emailed the operator to see what it takes to get privileges so I guess we'll see about that. I'm wondering what sort of antenna I am going to need to try to hit some more distant 2 meter repeaters. I'm wondering if height is all I need or if I will need a directional antenna.
12 comments:
Hey Justin, I'm sure the answer is probably in that General Class book you have. I seem to remember almost the whole thing was about antenna theory. The little antenna I got and put on the roof at Dove Hill Road did really reach out there. As I remember it was made out of a short section of PVC pipe and about 3 pieces of copper electrical wire.
Yep...I remember it didn't look like much, but you were the envy of several on the bands for how many repeaters that you could hit. Did you make that antenna or did you get it from someone?
By the way...I got the answer on getting privileges on the local 70 cm repeater. $50 for a year. Not too thrilled about that. Part of the joy of this whole thing is not having to pay for the communications. I understand that there are costs associated with running a repeater and that those costs ought to be shared by the users, but I think I am going to try a simple dipole from my roof and see how that does first. Online reading seems to indicate that I could expect 30 to 50 miles from that (all dependent upon terrain and objects blocking the signal path of course). If I can get 30 miles or better, I should be able to hit some of the Madison repeaters from here at home and probably several elsewhere.
Can't wait to get there in July and spend some time with you and your family. Should be a good time.
Made my first contact since the old days! Was on WPS campus in Madison on foot and talked with a guy who was in his truck and had just pulled into his driveway 14 miles away. Cool!
I didn't make that antenna. One of the instructors from our class made it for me and Pop drove me over there to get it. He gave me some other stuff as well but I don't remember what it was. 30 miles should be no problem. I used to be able to hit the repeater in Warrenton crystal clear and that was at least 30 miles away.
According to the internet, as the crow flies it is 24.8 to the center of Warrenton from our old digs, but I'm sure you are right about 30 miles being no issue. I wish I wasn't so queasy with heights. I took an old dish off the roof yesterday and am thinking about using the existing mount to support maybe a 10 foot or so pole. My legs feel like jello the entire time. It actually starts before I even put a foot on the ladder. Thinking about it makes me all wobbly.
Check this out:
http://w6nbc.com/articles/20xx-dishslot.pdf
That's wild. Doesn't seem like a slot (absence of metal) should work anywhere similar to a wire. That would be easier, but the dish is not mounted high enough on my roof to clear all of the roof. I'm not sure I want to try mounting the satellite dish on a pole. I've got the dish out at the curb for pick up right now and I almost considered bringing it back to the house, but I think I'll stick with the dipole idea. Thanks for sharing, though. It was interesting reading.
This looks good:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Meter-VHF-J-Pole-Base-Antenna-Heavy-Duty-amateur-ham-radio-scanner-144-148Mhz-/121060052442?pt=US_Radio_Comm_Antennas&hash=item1c2fbdcdda
Or this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VHF-142-148-MHz-2000-watts-professional-Linear-amplifier-brand-new-/221060222006?pt=US_Ham_Radio_Amplifiers&hash=item3378374c36
oh yeah...haha and look, less than 3 grand. What a deal !!
Seriously, though...the jpole does look like a good deal. Probably couldn't make it for much less than that.
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