Amateur Radio

[Wheeler]

Making progress on hamstudy; I'm showing 100% complete through the Technician question bank and an aptitude score of 81%. We have a few hams in our local emergency team so I will get with them on test site options.

I noticed Morse isn't required any more, but being a nerd, I downloaded a Morse chart and am going to start memorizing it for fun (and maybe CW use down the road).

The radio is working out pretty well. I am in 100% listen only, obviously, not being licensed yet. I setup the CHIRP software this morning, as it was fairly straightforward, and uploaded/downloaded a few frequency set *.CSV files to/from the radio. The one right now I have loaded is all the 2m/70cm stations near me (34275) within 25 miles.

I ordered a spare 2100 mAh battery to have on hand, a longer Nagoya NA-771 antenna to try, and a hand-held mic. Cheaper than ammo lol.

I did have a question; relative to carry. The radio came with a belt clip, which is fine. What I was wondering, since I'll be part of a CERT team which presumably will have/use these types of radios or similar, are there any good options you'd suggest for this? In this weekend's training class I took, the firefighters that came to give us a demo all had VHF/UHF radios on this over-the-shoulder strap/harness, with a hand held mic clipped on their chest. The radio sat on their hip in a carrier. I've looked on Amazon and can't quite locate something equivalent (might be missing it) for civilian use. I'll keep trying and post back if I find something.

My FP-8HF came with an earpiece/PTT mix that works pretty good. I’m underwhelmed with the belt clip but a small radio pouch would be a viable option.

[TQP]

Making progress on hamstudy; I'm showing 100% complete through the Technician question bank and an aptitude score of 81%. We have a few hams in our local emergency team so I will get with them on test site options.

I noticed Morse isn't required any more, but being a nerd, I downloaded a Morse chart and am going to start memorizing it for fun (and maybe CW use down the road).

The radio is working out pretty well. I am in 100% listen only, obviously, not being licensed yet. I setup the CHIRP software this morning, as it was fairly straightforward, and uploaded/downloaded a few frequency set *.CSV files to/from the radio. The one right now I have loaded is all the 2m/70cm stations near me (34275) within 25 miles.

I ordered a spare 2100 mAh battery to have on hand, a longer Nagoya NA-771 antenna to try, and a hand-held mic. Cheaper than ammo lol.

I did have a question; relative to carry. The radio came with a belt clip, which is fine. What I was wondering, since I'll be part of a CERT team which presumably will have/use these types of radios or similar, are there any good options you'd suggest for this? In this weekend's training class I took, the firefighters that came to give us a demo all had VHF/UHF radios on this over-the-shoulder strap/harness, with a hand held mic clipped on their chest. The radio sat on their hip in a carrier. I've looked on Amazon and can't quite locate something equivalent (might be missing it) for civilian use. I'll keep trying and post back if I find something.

The straps are pretty convenient, but for something as small as my baofeng I'll just clip it on my belt. If you're looking for it to be more secure/protected you can use a pouch. Fun fact: my VX5R is currently in an old pouch that I used to use for my Nextel ( sometimes being a packrat has it's advantages).

My radio strap was made by a guy I work with, but some of my coworkers have straps from here:

https://www.bostonleather.com/products/firefighting/

Note that the strap and holster are sold separately. I did a quick look and I think some of those might fit a Baofeng with a big battery.

Also check https://www.thefirestore.com/Radio-Straps-and-Accessories for other options. I didn't check amazon, but if you search it for firefighter's radio strap you will probably come up with something.

[RoyGBiv]

On the Ham License front, I’m making my way through Hamstudy at the Technician level at about 30 minutes a day pace with the flash cards. Going to take a few practice tests then look for a test site near me.

Appreciate the info, for sure.

Another FWIW.... When I took the test, the group that administered it gave you 2 chances to pass. If you passed on the first try, you could take a shot at the General test (or AE of you pass General on first try). I missed on the General by 1-2 questions. Had I known that I could take both the same sitting, I would have studied more of the General test questions in advance.

I noticed Morse isn't required any more, but being a nerd, I downloaded a Morse chart and am going to start memorizing it for fun (and maybe CW use down the road).

NERD! (JK!)

The radio is working out pretty well. I am in 100% listen only, obviously, not being licensed yet. I setup the CHIRP software this morning, as it was fairly straightforward, and uploaded/downloaded a few frequency set *.CSV files to/from the radio. The one right now I have loaded is all the 2m/70cm stations near me (34275) within 25 miles.

Suggest you talk with your local CERT. Whoever can talk about the channel list they post on the website. It's very likely that thought went into making this list. Frequently used stations. Other stations important in a wider emergency, etc. I would wager that loading that list will cover 99% of your needs... and not waste channel spaces.

Also.... it will be a HUGE time saver when you are out with CERT... When someone says "we'll be communicating on 444.600, channel 5", it HUGELY faster to find channel 5 when you are using the same channel load as everyone else, than it will be to find which channel you programmed for the 444.600 repeater. Maybe that's channel 92 on your radio? Are you going to scroll through every pre programmed channel until you find it, or pull out your paper list? Big waste of time. Don't be THAT guy.

I did have a question; relative to carry. The radio came with a belt clip, which is fine. What I was wondering, since I'll be part of a CERT team which presumably will have/use these types of radios or similar, are there any good options you'd suggest for this? In this weekend's training class I took, the firefighters that came to give us a demo all had VHF/UHF radios on this over-the-shoulder strap/harness, with a hand held mic clipped on their chest. The radio sat on their hip in a carrier. I've looked on Amazon and can't quite locate something equivalent (might be missing it) for civilian use. I'll keep trying and post back if I find something.

When your CERT is out doing CERT stuff, it's very likely that you'll be wearing a hi-viz safety vest..... ??
I prefer to just drop my radio into a vest pocket and clip my external mic somewhere convenient. I rarely use the belt clip.
Also, I often find myself carrying a City (trunked) radio to be able to cross communicate with ham folks and City EM (Incident Command). That thing is BIG and requires belt space. Or... Amazon LINK.

[2xAGM114]

I've looked on Amazon and can't quite locate something equivalent (might be missing it) for civilian use. I'll keep trying and post back if I find something.

I have this mounted on my backpack shoulder strap:

https://www.amazon.com/M1SURPLUS-Tac...1N33E4VF&psc=1

[RJ]

Another FWIW.... When I took the test, the group that administered it gave you 2 chances to pass. If you passed on the first try, you could take a shot at the General test (or AE of you pass General on first try). I missed on the General by 1-2 questions. Had I known that I could take both the same sitting, I would have studied more of the General test questions in advance.




NERD! (JK!)



Suggest you talk with your local CERT. Whoever can talk about the channel list they post on the website. It's very likely that thought went into making this list. Frequently used stations. Other stations important in a wider emergency, etc. I would wager that loading that list will cover 99% of your needs... and not waste channel spaces.

Also.... it will be a HUGE time saver when you are out with CERT... When someone says "we'll be communicating on 444.600, channel 5", it HUGELY faster to find channel 5 when you are using the same channel load as everyone else, than it will be to find which channel you programmed for the 444.600 repeater. Maybe that's channel 92 on your radio? Are you going to scroll through every pre programmed channel until you find it, or pull out your paper list? Big waste of time. Don't be THAT guy.


When your CERT is out doing CERT stuff, it's very likely that you'll be wearing a hi-viz safety vest..... ??
I prefer to just drop my radio into a vest pocket and clip my external mic somewhere convenient. I rarely use the belt clip.
Also, I often find myself carrying a City (trunked) radio to be able to cross communicate with ham folks and City EM (Incident Command). That thing is BIG and requires belt space. Or... Amazon LINK.

Thanks again...Our CERT Team is having a drill on 3/16. I volunteered to help set up the radios. Now that I passed the training, I am also supposed to be issued one of our community hand-helds, which I am presuming will be already set up for the net(s) we use locally.

To practice, I used the SRQ ARES Frequency list to set up a custom channel mix on the Baofeng, so far so good. I am still a little unclear on the use of Tone/NAC settings. The CHIRP software has two options, one is "tone" and one is "TSQL" which I interpret as being on the R or TX sides for tone squelch. I entered all the repeater freqs from SRQ ARES and setup the tones, but so far haven't caught a lot of traffic to see if this works or not. I expect to get more familiar with this as time goes by. (I know the radio works because I can hear if I transmit from my Motorola FRS radio into the Baogeng channel set to monitor my FRS band I use for the RV comms).

I'm going to start carrying the radio in the truck, so now I'm mag mount antennas and radio mounts for inside the cab. I saw this setup, but it might not be adequate for my needs, any thoughts?



Heh. Sorry, could not resist. I think I'm going to send that to my wife and freak her out.

[HeavyDuty]

Thanks again...Our CERT Team is having a drill on 3/16. I volunteered to help set up the radios. Now that I passed the training, I am also supposed to be issued one of our community hand-helds, which I am presuming will be already set up for the net(s) we use locally.

To practice, I used the SRQ ARES Frequency list to set up a custom channel mix on the Baofeng, so far so good. I am still a little unclear on the use of Tone/NAC settings. The CHIRP software has two options, one is "tone" and one is "TSQL" which I interpret as being on the R or TX sides for tone squelch. I entered all the repeater freqs from SRQ ARES and setup the tones, but so far haven't caught a lot of traffic to see if this works or not. I expect to get more familiar with this as time goes by. (I know the radio works because I can hear if I transmit from my Motorola FRS radio into the Baogeng channel set to monitor my FRS band I use for the RV comms).

I'm going to start carrying the radio in the truck, so now I'm mag mount antennas and radio mounts for inside the cab. I saw this setup, but it might not be adequate for my needs, any thoughts?



Heh. Sorry, could not resist. I think I'm going to send that to my wife and freak her out.

Jeebus, flashback to Hamsexy.com.

[RoyGBiv]

issued one of our community hand-helds,

Do you know what kind of radio this is? Will you be able to communicate to local PD and Fire on it?
The cost of the radios used here make them a shared resource. Too expensive to issue one to everyone.
Also.... lots of HAM people like to hear themselves talk on the radio. Not a good idea to give those folks the ability to talk on the PD/Fire channels.

"tone" and one is "TSQL"

https://www.twowayradioforum.com/t/tone-or-tsql/7198

[peterb]

Also.... lots of HAM people like to hear themselves talk on the radio.

Well, it’s one of those rare cases where talking about the hobby actually is the same as doing the hobby. They talk to people on the radio abut talking to people on the radio. ;-)

[RJ]

Jeebus, flashback to Hamsexy.com.

I think I found my new Avatar.

Do you know what kind of radio this is? Will you be able to communicate to local PD and Fire on it?

1) Not yet, and 2) I seriously doubt it; at least, not at my CERT level (Operations Section participant/gopher).

Thanks for the info on the tone/SQL. Channels set up to use CSQ R/T come through ok when keyed, both ways, which makes sense. But the repeater freqs indicate NAC tones (100, 82.5, etc.), so I wasn't 100% sure what to put in that CHIRP column. I will keep tinkering with it; setting up a *.img file with different channel loads seems to be easy/straightforward.

EDIT: Looks like it should be Tone; I just copied a two way conversation taking place on the local SAR-11 channel 442.4(+) 82.5, so it looks like to unlock Squelch for the channels with tones I have to set it up this way:



There is a local SRQ ARES drill coming up in March on the 146.73(-)/100 repeater that I plan to monitor. And they have monthly meetings at the local Red Cross building so more than likely I'll find out more soon.

[RoyGBiv]

Thanks for the info on the tone/SQL. Channels set up to use CSQ R/T come through ok when keyed, both ways, which makes sense. But the repeater freqs indicate NAC tones (100, 82.5, etc.), so I wasn't 100% sure what to put in that CHIRP column. I will keep tinkering with it; setting up a *.img file with different channel loads seems to be easy/straightforward.

EDIT: Looks like it should be Tone; I just copied a two way conversation taking place on the local SAR-11 channel 442.4(+) 82.5, so it looks like to unlock Squelch for the channels with tones I have to set it up this way:



There is a local SRQ ARES drill coming up in March on the 146.73(-)/100 repeater that I plan to monitor. And they have monthly meetings at the local Red Cross building so more than likely I'll find out more soon.

Here's a more nuanced discussion...
https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/1321-tone-versus-t-sql/

Quoting Hans... about half way down the page...

The tone is the "squelch code" your radio is sending out. T Sql is "squelch code" your radio is listening for. If your radio doesn't send out the correct "squelch code", the receiving radio will not play the audio through the speaker.

Simplex, radio to radio, the transmitting radio would send out a tone while the PTT button is pressed and this would tell the T Sql receiving radio to open the speaker. This is useful in an environment with some considerable radio noise on the frequency where constantly adjusting the squelch knob would be a real pain.

In the case of two repeaters near enough to each other to interfere, a different tone sent out by the respective repeaters means that the user can select which repeater will open their speaker. We have two repeaters here, in two different cities, but they are close enough to be heard between the towers. When we want to use the northern repeater, we use T Sql set to the tone that the northern repeater is putting out. Likewise if we want to use the southern repeater.