The Uncertain Future of Ham Radio

[madlabs]

Jeff, you can make lots of contacts with an in house antenna with low power. A simple loops or dipole will do. You won't be a contest master but you can have some fun for sure. It doesn't sound like computers are your thing but some of the new digital modes work well on very low power.

E.M., you could have most digital modes working in a couple of hours. With a semi-modern rig it would be pretty easy. Do you have anything other than the Heathkits? At least around here it looks like it will be a while before licensing resumes. But you could get all prepped for the test.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by madlabs

E.M., you could have most digital modes working in a couple of hours. With a semi-modern rig it would be pretty easy. Do you have anything other than the Heathkits? At least around here it looks like it will be a while before licensing resumes. But you could get all prepped for the test.

Below 2m only the Heathkits. 2m and up I've got a ITC multi-2000 and a Midland 13-510 which are both ancient and of course a UV-5R...I haven't put much money into the this. I also rarely do SS repairs so I won't buy a cheap fixer upper SS rig as I know I'll never feel like fixing it. I prefer tube gear wherever possible as I know if it breaks I will bother to fix it eventually.

[mr_rye89]

Been meaning to get a General license. I have a UV-5R that I use for FRS and to listen to 2M, but I want a tubed HF rig or maybe one of those Kenwood hybrids.

[Jeffhs]

I have an Icom IC-T22AT handheld and also a Baofeng UV-5R-Plus HT (the model which superseded the original UV-5R) which at least keep me active on the local ham club's 2m repeater. I cannot presently use the UV-5R+ as I cannot seem to be able to set the repeater offset for the local repeater (147.81-21); that is, I know the offset is +600, but the manual is not clear at all as to how to set it. The UV-5R+ instruction manual is very poorly written, probably par for the course since that HT is made in China.

BTW, I am still trying, with no luck yet, to set the password which would allow me to use my Echolink software with the local repeater. This password is the only thing standing between me and a fully operational Echolink system, as I had for quite a while until the computer broke down last month; the person who repaired it erased everything on my hard drive including, yup, you guessed it, the Echolink software I had installed months earlier. I would much rather use that with my computer than my Icom HT, as the latter's audio output is extremely low unless I use an external headset-microphone. If I must use that from now on, I will (it works very well, as the repeater is only about two miles from me), but if there is any other way I can set up the Echolink software to work with the computer as I once had, I would much rather take that route.

Thanks much and 73.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

I have an Icom IC-T22AT handheld and also a Baofeng UV-5R-Plus HT (the model which superseded the original UV-5R) which at least keep me active on the local ham club's 2m repeater. I cannot presently use the UV-5R+ as I cannot seem to be able to set the repeater offset for the local repeater (147.81-21); that is, I know the offset is +600, but the manual is not clear at all as to how to set it. The UV-5R+ instruction manual is very poorly written, probably par for the course since that HT is made in China.

You might have better luck using these re-written instructions:

https://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_ProgMem.php

73, jr

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

You might have better luck using these re-written instructions:

https://www.miklor.com/COM/UV_ProgMem.php

73, jr

Thanks much for that info. I'm sure it will help me quite a bit with setting the transmit offset for local repeaters (where I live, about 30 miles from Cleveland, there is only one local machine, about two miles or so from me, which I can use with a handheld--especially a 1.5-watt rig like my Baofeng UV5R+). As I said in my first post, I could not set the repeater offset on my Baofeng HT because the original instructions are about as clear as muddy water (!), but the rewritten Miklor instructions make a lot more sense; hopefully, I can go ahead, set up the radio for the local machine and be done with it. After 48 years in ham radio (got my first license at the age of 16 in 1972), this Baofeng HT is a real challenge for me (I never had a Chinese HT before this one; my other two HTs were made in Japan and have very understandable instruction manuals, although I cannot use one of the HTs [the Yaesu FT-207R] because the local repeater has 110.9Hz tone access, which that handheld does not support), but I'm sure with these revised programming instructions I can get this Baofeng rig working as intended.

Thanks again and 73,

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Thanks much for that info. I'm sure it will help me quite a bit with setting the transmit offset for local repeaters (where I live, about 30 miles from Cleveland, there is only one local machine, about two miles or so from me, which I can use with a handheld--especially a 1.5-watt rig like my Baofeng UV5R+). As I said in my first post, I could not set the repeater offset on my Baofeng HT because the original instructions are about as clear as muddy water (!), but the rewritten Miklor instructions make a lot more sense; hopefully, I can go ahead, set up the radio for the local machine and be done with it. After 48 years in ham radio (got my first license at the age of 16 in 1972), this Baofeng HT is a real challenge for me (I never had a Chinese HT before this one; my other two HTs were made in Japan and have very understandable instruction manuals, although I cannot use one of the HTs [the Yaesu FT-207R] because the local repeater has 110.9Hz tone access, which that handheld does not support), but I'm sure with these revised programming instructions I can get this Baofeng rig working as intended.

Thanks again and 73,

Update: I finally managed to set the repeater offset to +600kHz on my Baofeng UV-5R+ HT. It works--almost, as I can access the local repeater, but not very well. That is, I can access the machine from my home (about two miles away), but the two hams to whom I spoke last night have told me, while I am getting into the machine OK, my signal into the repeater is very noisy and scratchy, using the Baofeng UV-5R+; however, my Icom IC-T22A hits the machine just fine and the signal is 100 percent readable, so that will be the rig I will use from now on. There must be something about those Baofeng rigs the local repeater doesn't like, or perhaps the rig just doesn't have enough TX signal output to reach the machine solidly; I'm thinking the latter may well be the problem. However, I was informed by the amateur I spoke with last night that I might have better luck reaching the LCARA repeater if I would use the club's 440-MHz machine; I haven't tried that yet, but it's worth a shot. Perhaps that repeater is located geographically closer to me, or it may have a better antenna system (higher, more elements, etc.) than the 2m machine. I will just have to try it one of these days.

Oh well. I'm not licked yet. I have successfully checked into my club's 2m net via Echolink, so that will be the method I use to check into the net from now on. I can do so online with my computer (if I can ever find the correct password for the Qtel software), with my Icom HT, my Amazon Fire tablet, or my smartphone. I realize full well this will not be "real" ham radio, but from what I have read in this thread, I guess that is where the hobby is headed in the Internet age. I have tried several times tonight to find someone to talk with on the local repeater using my Icom HT, but received no replies, just a short "beep" followed by the squelch tail, which lets the operator know he or she is at least hitting the machine; this reinforces what I just said after having read the thread I just mentioned.

73,

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by mr_rye89

Been meaning to get a General license. I have a UV-5R that I use for FRS and to listen to 2M, but I want a tubed HF rig or maybe one of those Kenwood hybrids.

By all means do get a General ticket. It will allow you more privileges than a Technician or Novice ham license. If you presently have a Technician license, you have all privileges from 50 MHz up, including HF CW on the Novice segments of 80 through ten meters; however, the General license will allow you to operate on more segments of the amateur bands, and with more modes (the Technician ticket only allows CW on the Novice segments of 80 through ten meters, as I mentioned, but the General will open up more privileges on all HF and, of course, VHF and UHF amateur bands).

You can use the 2m repeaters with your UV-5R, as the Technician amateur license (and all other licenses above it) allows privileges from 50 MHz and up; this, of course, includes 2 meters. I have a UV-5R+ (the newest model) which I would use on the 2m repeater in my area, but I cannot seem to set the repeater offset because the instruction manual is very, very poorly written (this handheld is made in China). In the meantime, I will use my Icom IC-T22A 1.5-watt handheld with the local repeater, which is operated by a radio club of which I have been a member since 1987.

73,