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Chance favors only
the prepared mind.
Picture of Dad250
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Best of luck with your exam- .

Tri Bander presents a bit of a problem - the 991 has two antenna connections and splits them from uhf.vhf and hf which include 60 mhz. So perhaps a simple uhf/vhf and a wire or another antenna for 60mhz ? Also consider a simple 20 meter dipole when you make General

Take a look at the Powerwerx 30 amp ps. I've used mine over a year and its unbeatable for size, weight and its RF quiet. Priced less then Alinco https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-010662

As to the extras you are thinking of - The radio has a built in SWR metering circuit and internal tuner.

Very nice feature is direct access to WiresX which is Yaesu Radio Over IP ( ROIP ) you can work hams from all over the world using a local node/room.

You can check out our club website and how we have our two Fusion Repeaters set up. www.w2zq.com 73


SIG P229 9mm
Springfield Armory XD-9 9mm

AUT PAX, AUT BELLUM

SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM
 
Posts: 550 | Registered: January 05, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
I believe in the
principle of
Due Process
Picture of JALLEN
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Dad250:
Best of luck with your exam- .

Tri Bander presents a bit of a problem - the 991 has two antenna connections and splits them from uhf.vhf and hf which include 60 mhz. So perhaps a simple uhf/vhf and a wire or another antenna for 60mhz ? Also consider a simple 20 meter dipole when you make General

Take a look at the Powerwerx 30 amp ps. I've used mine over a year and its unbeatable for size, weight and its RF quiet. Priced less then Alinco https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-010662

As to the extras you are thinking of - The radio has a built in SWR metering circuit and internal tuner.

Very nice feature is direct access to WiresX which is Yaesu Radio Over IP ( ROIP ) you can work hams from all over the world using a local node/room.

You can check out our club website and how we have our two Fusion Repeaters set up. www.w2zq.com 73


I agree on the Powerwerx supply, but I think he wants to have the meters for voltage and current.

There is not doubt that an antenna analyzer is a handy bit of gear, but probably not essential if one is using store bought antennas. The built in SWR metering will suffice.

One thing to know is that anomalies in SWR, like high SWR all over the bands, no apparent resonance, likely means defective coax, bad connectors, etc. Upwards of 90% of those situations I have encountered were traced to these coax faults, most of the time the results of having Mr. Stupid do the soldering of the connectors.

You should either buy coax assemblies already finished, or the tools to do a proper job, and watch the numerous techniques videos now online. It’s not THAT difficult but does require a certain quality level or much misery, fesr, and cursing often results.




Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown
 
Posts: 48369 | Location: Texas hill country | Registered: July 04, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Political Cynic
Picture of nhtagmember
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something often overlooked but makes a huge difference is grounding

make sure you have a good ground - not just the third wire on a 3-pronged plug.

Go to Lowes of Home Despot and get one of their grounding rods and take the time to drive it in the ground - makes a huge difference in operations



[B] Against ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC


 
Posts: 53086 | Location: Tucson Arizona | Registered: January 16, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
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You did mention lightning protection, right? An antenna on the roof in my neck of the woods is just a lightning rod! So roof mount to upstairs window feedthrough??? I’m not sure what the right answer is, but doing nothing probably isn’t it. A V/UHF antenna in your attic might do just as good as on the roof.
 
Posts: 3953 | Location: UNK | Registered: October 04, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Told cops where to go for over 29 years…
Picture of 911Boss
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by JALLEN:

...If you still want the 991A, the duo bander goes in the truck. Otherwise, you can get a more modest radio, simpler to operate. You may only cry once, as you say, but you may sob every time you turn that complicated radio on, trying to figure out all the button mashing to get what you want.

Moreover, with the kind and quality of antenna you are talking about, you won’t be able to tell the difference between the top of the line and the lesser radio. Neither is particularly disadvantageous maintenance wise.




I am not too worried about the radio complexity. I am a tech geek and enjoy the complicated. Between the Dispatch radios, Computer dispatch software, and other various computer systems at work as well as being capable with both Windows and Mac OS, the techie in me is very attracted to the 991A. I was also considering the Icom IC-7300 which is HF and 50mhz many similar features and similar price range but since I expect to mostly use vhf/uhf, it made sense to go with the 991A.

I realize the antenna is limiting at this point, but with retirement on the horizon in 5-7 years and a move out of state I figure once settled in our final home it will be time to go with the big ears.


quote:
Originally posted by nhtagmember:

...the gear is what you make of it but think about where you might want to be in say 5 years, and buy some gear up front that may be overkill today but just what you need in a few years because you don't need to buy a new box and abandon another



That is my thought with going big on the radio. Overkill at this point, should not be the choke point in the future though.



quote:
Originally posted by Dad250:
Best of luck with your exam- .

Tri Bander presents a bit of a problem - the 991 has two antenna connections and splits them from uhf.vhf and hf which include 60 mhz. So perhaps a simple uhf/vhf and a wire or another antenna for 60mhz ? Also consider a simple 20 meter dipole when you make General

Take a look at the Powerwerx 30 amp ps. I've used mine over a year and its unbeatable for size, weight and its RF quiet. Priced less then Alinco https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-010662

As to the extras you are thinking of - The radio has a built in SWR metering circuit and internal tuner.

Very nice feature is direct access to WiresX which is Yaesu Radio Over IP ( ROIP ) you can work hams from all over the world using a local node/room.

You can check out our club website and how we have our two Fusion Repeaters set up. www.w2zq.com 73



Will definitely check your site. As for the SWR, I will be putting an antenna on the truck to use with my handheld, so will be good for that and they aren’t too expensive so would like to have one on hand.

My understanding is there are antenna duplexers(?) that will take a single antenna and split for the two inputs. Still need to look into that more. Worst case, I simply swap the connector when I want to do the HF. It will be the less used part and wouldn’t need the vhf/uhf while playing with the lower frees.


As for computer/digital stuff I am very interested but down the road a little once I am comfortable with the “basics”



quote:
Originally posted by JALLEN:
I agree on the Powerwerx supply, but I think he wants to have the meters for voltage and current.

There is not doubt that an antenna analyzer is a handy bit of gear, but probably not essential if one is using store bought antennas. The built in SWR metering will suffice.

One thing to know is that anomalies in SWR, like high SWR all over the bands, no apparent resonance, likely means defective coax, bad connectors, etc. Upwards of 90% of those situations I have encountered were traced to these coax faults, most of the time the results of having Mr. Stupid do the soldering of the connectors.

You should either buy coax assemblies already finished, or the tools to do a proper job, and watch the numerous techniques videos now online. It’s not THAT difficult but does require a certain quality level or much misery, fesr, and cursing often results.



Yes, I like the idea of the readout and I prefer digital over analog. I imagine down the road I’ll need to get a second (or third) PS, so maybe go with something different for number 2.

Ha, ha! When I was in the Marines in the component repair shop (removing/replacing discreet components in avionics gear, circuit board repair, wire harness/cable assemblies) doing cables was my least liked thing. Hands aren’t as steady as they used to be and eyes aren’t as sharp. Don’t have the quality soldering gear available so premade custom cables are definitely the way to go and worth the cost!

My military A-school knowledge is starting to come back as I study the General question pool, have a good amount of radio theory and such so I know connections and cables are the first thing to rule out any time there is a inconsistent or odd problem that changes or can’t be duplicated. Back in the day we called those issues “FM” for “fucking magic”... Wink


quote:
Originally posted by nhtagmember:
something often overlooked but makes a huge difference is grounding

make sure you have a good ground - not just the third wire on a 3-pronged plug.

Go to Lowes of Home Despot and get one of their grounding rods and take the time to drive it in the ground - makes a huge difference in operations



Picked up an 8-foot ground rod and bare copper wire for grounding at Home Depot yesterday. Not looking forward to driving it into the fill dirt that is likely riddled with rocks to try and get through. My greatest fear at this point is several attempts at driving it in only to get stopped with 1-2 feet left and have to pull out and start over.

Planning to go the first 4’ or so with a huge breaker/pry bar I have to lessen the chance of bending the rod trying to get it in.


quote:
Originally posted by Jimineer:
You did mention lightning protection, right? An antenna on the roof in my neck of the woods is just a lightning rod! So roof mount to upstairs window feedthrough??? I’m not sure what the right answer is, but doing nothing probably isn’t it. A V/UHF antenna in your attic might do just as good as on the roof.


Still looking into that, not sure what the solution is at this point. Luckily we don’t have a lot of lightining in this area, mostly winter/spring with storms that come through.



Appreciate all the info folks! The General outlook made a big jump over the weekend. Last 4 test exams have been over 80% so definitely looking up. Test day is Sat 5/26, hoping to have equip in place and set up so the day my license is listed I can go on the air and tell a bunch a folks who probably won’t care Wink






What part of "...Shall not be infringed" don't you understand???


 
Posts: 10920 | Location: Western WA state for just a few more years... | Registered: February 17, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Now Serving 7.62
Picture of 10X-Shooter
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quote:
Originally posted by OKCGene:
Sounds pretty good, but there is a long time truism in ham radio: spend the money on your antenna system.

A really good antenna system need not be expensive at all, and will make a cheap radio sound GOOD.

A really good high dollar radio will sound like crap on a cheap antenna system.

Radios are better and cheaper than they've ever been.

Stay away from any radio made in China. Junk, out of band spurious emissions, little to no support, etc. Stuck with Icom, Kenwood and Yaesu.

And by cheap, I don't necessarily mean $$$. Many hams work the world with dipoles, even home made ones. I do. Get the most height you can. Don't skimp, buy quality coax, connectors, grounding, lightning protection, things of this nature.

Go to QRZ.com and peruse the Forum sections, especially the Technical sections, on a regular basis, people are quite helpful there. There is at least one of our esteemed SigForum members who posts there regularly. He's good.

Besides QRZ, eHam.net is good, and of course ARRL.org

Good luck to you. de N5...


Good advice here. I use an Icon 7200 which has 10m and 6m for your Tech License. I also use a Yaesu FT-60R handheld (have some Baofengs UV5R’s but use the Yaesu handheld all the time. I use a LDG AT 600 Pro Supertuner and mostly dipole type antennas for the Icom and I’ve enjoyed 10M HF DX. I have a couple of roll up Ed Fong J Pole antennas for VHF use that rock. Carry one in a kit with some 550 cord. The other I encapsulated in a PVC tube to mount and use at home. It’s been a great setup. Have contacts on 10M from Europe to Canada to the southern tip of South America to the west coast of the US. Dragging my feet on my General and will probably get on it this summer.
 
Posts: 6005 | Location: TN | Registered: February 12, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Staring back
from the abyss
Picture of Gustofer
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by 911Boss:
Picked up an 8-foot ground rod and bare copper wire for grounding at Home Depot yesterday. Not looking forward to driving it into the fill dirt that is likely riddled with rocks to try and get through. My greatest fear at this point is several attempts at driving it in only to get stopped with 1-2 feet left and have to pull out and start over.

Why not just go down a foot or two and run it out horizontally? Heck of a lot easier than trying to drive a rod vertically eight feet down, especially if you have rocky ground like I do.


________________________________________________________
"Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton.
 
Posts: 19975 | Location: Montana | Registered: November 01, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of grumpy1
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Personally I rather have separate HF and VHF/UHF radios. Often the all in one boxes don't give you the ability to use HF and VHF/UHF at the same time and the dedicated HF radios typically have better HF receivers.

I just have a mobile dual band VHF/UHF in my shack with dual VFOs that can monitor both UHF and VHF FM at the same time. While all mode is nice with VHF/UHF I have found SSB to be dead almost all the time other than a few contests and you really need horizontal rotatable beam to take advantage of SSB. 6 meters is a joke around here and I rarely check it anymore.

The Icom 7300 looks very interesting to me as an HF radio that shows great performance being SDR at a reasonable price and it includes a built in antenna tuner which is very convenient when using just the 100 watt radio internal transmitter.

Here is a website that does comparative testing on HF radios receiver performance. Radios are ranked by dynamic range narrow spaced.

http://www.sherweng.com/table.html

It is always fun shopping for new ham gear but something I have not done in a long time.
 
Posts: 9730 | Location: Northern Illinois | Registered: March 20, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Told cops where to go for over 29 years…
Picture of 911Boss
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Gustofer:
quote:
Originally posted by 911Boss:
Picked up an 8-foot ground rod and bare copper wire for grounding at Home Depot yesterday. Not looking forward to driving it into the fill dirt that is likely riddled with rocks to try and get through. My greatest fear at this point is several attempts at driving it in only to get stopped with 1-2 feet left and have to pull out and start over.

Why not just go down a foot or two and run it out horizontally? Heck of a lot easier than trying to drive a rod vertically eight feet down, especially if you have rocky ground like I do.



Hmm, never even thought about that. After reviewing codes and such, I’ll consider it plan “B” seems it is only supposed to be done that way in areas of “Bedrock”.






What part of "...Shall not be infringed" don't you understand???


 
Posts: 10920 | Location: Western WA state for just a few more years... | Registered: February 17, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Staring back
from the abyss
Picture of Gustofer
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I never realized that you could do it either until I was running power out to my shop from the house. I discovered that that is how they grounded my house given how rocky my ground is.

When I was putting up electric fencing around my beehives a couple years ago I spent the better part of a day trying desperately to sink a grounding rod straight down before giving up and putting in a five-wire system. I've been debating changing it to a horizontal ground since I realized that you could do that. My little orange backhoe would make short work of that job.


________________________________________________________
"Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton.
 
Posts: 19975 | Location: Montana | Registered: November 01, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
I believe in the
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This is what I had to do here on the Rock Ranch.

The code requires 8’ rod 3’ down, I was told. I hired a recent arrival from down south, young and strong and eager. He worked with demo hammers, all sorts of digging tools, for 2 1/2 days until we had a pit down 3’, about 6-8” wide. I put the rod in there bonded to no. 4 or so wire and covered it up. It cost $450, and the young fellow no longer returns my phone calls.




Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown
 
Posts: 48369 | Location: Texas hill country | Registered: July 04, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Told cops where to go for over 29 years…
Picture of 911Boss
posted Hide Post
My studying and practice tests are going well. I am consistently acing the Technician practice tests and consitinently hitting 85% or more on the General practice tests, even aced one of them and hit the 93% point on a couple others.

I'm confident I will pass both, how well just has to do with luck of the draw on which questions I get. I test a week from tomorrow and should be "official" sometime the first week of June depending on how fast the VEC's and FCC do their thing.


With my imminent status on the horizon I went ahead and jumped in hard with both feet! I placed my order early yesterday morning from Ham Radio Outlet (www.hamradio.com) they seemed to beat everyone else's prices and have free UPS (not sure if ground or 3-day) on orders over $99 - Yeah, it was WAAAYYYYY over $99 Wink...

Being in Seattle, and with everything in stock in their Portland store, the UPS man just dropped it all off, so was essentially next day at no extra charge.


While I appreciate all the input and well wishes, I went with my original plan. Good info and some things I hadn't thought about, but other than maybe spending too much money sounds like there was no worries or bad reviews on any of my gear picks. I will definitely have a bit of a learning curve, but that is part of the excitement for me.



My original budget was $2000, and I went just a skosh over, here is the list...


Radio:
-Yaesu FT-991A Transciever w/programming software and cable - MF/HF/VHF/UHF
-Yaesu MD100-A8X Desk Mic
-Alinco DM-340T Power Supply

Antenna:
-Comet GP-15 tri-band antenna (6m/2m/70cm)
-Under eave antenna mount (Amazon)
-Comet CF-706A Duplexer to split 6m from antenna to HF feed on radio
-50' Coax

Total startup - $1796 - Cool! under budget

BUT WAIT - THERE'S MORE!...Evidently there is some big annual Ham thing going on right now, so there are a bunch of special deals on gear so I decided to go ahead and grab a "real" handheld radio to replace my BaoFeng cheapo SHTF radio (look for a Karma coming soon....) and picked up a Yaesu FT-2DR HT as well. It is Yaesu's top of the line HT with all the System Fusion bells and whistles, figured go big or go home.

Finally, one thing that was a constant complaint across pretty much all the radios regardless of model or manufacturer is that the manuals suck. Given the complexity of those two rigs (more of that Ham lingo Wink ), I decided to get the "Nifty" guides for both, adding another $48 to the tally.


When all was said and done, less than 10% over budget. I can live with that, the P365 will just have to wait a little longer (not like they are available anywhere anyway...)


I imagine this will be another expensive hobby/endeavor like guns and cameras. Gotta keep chasing that "high" of something new occasionally.



This may be my last update in this thread. If you are interested, look for a new thread once I pass. I'll let every one know how I did and post pics of my "Shack" once it is all set up.


Thanks all for the input and being my "virtual" Elmer's!






What part of "...Shall not be infringed" don't you understand???


 
Posts: 10920 | Location: Western WA state for just a few more years... | Registered: February 17, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Delusions of Adequacy
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quote:
I test a week from tomorrow and should be "official" sometime the first week of June depending on how fast the VEC's and FCC do their thing.

FCC seems to be an agency that for the most part actually works. They had my call posted to the website three days after I tested.




I have my own style of humor. I call it Snarkasm.
 
Posts: 17944 | Location: Virginia | Registered: June 02, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
I believe in the
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Picture of JALLEN
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Here are a couple of web sites with info you might find interesting.

https://www.ke6mt.us/2018/05/h...rp-labs-and-qrpguys/

http://qrpschool.com

https://www.hamradioqrp.com

Today I received the news that a fellow north of San Antonio has been selected to the QRP Hall of Fame, Bob Rosier, K4OCE, whose accomplishments include confirmed contact with all but a dozen or so countries on the countries list using 5 watts or less, and ~270 or so on 1 watt of transmitter power!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: JALLEN,




Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown
 
Posts: 48369 | Location: Texas hill country | Registered: July 04, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Told cops where to go for over 29 years…
Picture of 911Boss
posted Hide Post
Heading out in couple hours to take the test....






What part of "...Shall not be infringed" don't you understand???


 
Posts: 10920 | Location: Western WA state for just a few more years... | Registered: February 17, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
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I like your gear purchase. You did’t mess around...

I’m still/only using a VX-6R HT. Might head to https://www.seapac.org next weekend for ideas.

Good luck with your tests.
 
Posts: 607 | Location: Washington State | Registered: November 04, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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