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M7PNI - Foundation Passed (3 replies and 3 comments)
Welcome to the Hobby and congrats on passing foundation
you heading to intermediate level soon?
entry level HF have a look at the xiegu G90 (HF 160m-10m, 20w, all mode) about £400 new or Xiegu X6100 (HF 160m to 10m +6m 10w on PSU,5w on internal battery, all mode) about £600 new
both have good Built-in ATU that tune virtually anything, both are capable of digital modes (x6100 builtin USB sound card and CAT control)
the other option for listening is the SDRPlay RSP1a (1KHz - 3GHz continuous coverage) HW designed and S/W written by UK hams
for the baofeng, use a base antenna something like a Diamond X200 with RG213 coax down to the Baofeng you should be able to get a good distance, TX on the baofeng defaults to Narrow FM and you will get complaints of low audio, set it to normal FM and much better
73
Peter
M0PWX
(not Pete M0PSX who runs this site)
Thanks Pete I was looking at both although they seem to have issues with overheating, reported on several reviews. I would like to get into HF, as I got into this also using SDRPlay (use mainly for Inmarsat SAT ACARS), also use a Malahit DSP2 and IC-R75 amongst others.
Hi M7PNI,
Congrats, passed mine last Sunday.
I have for now got myself a Quanseng & a Baofeng, and learned how to program them, and managed to get into my local repeater, although i have yet to make contact with anyone, I'm going to listen for a while to get the correct etiquette, I don't really want to make a fool of myself :-)
Like you I'm eventually going for HF, from some conversations going around on various forums, there seems to be more going on, and of course longer distance contacts.
Regards
Steve
M7FNZ
(73)
All that I've ever done on analogue voice repeaters is call "G0WZA listening ". Do not call CQ through a repeater.
Digital voice operating practices are set largely by what is normal for the talkgroup/reflector you are accessing through the repeater, though I would not worry about this yet as the radios you have are analogue only.
there is traffic on HF 24/7,
the difference is due to the number of bands, but you need to understand how the different bands respond as the time of day changes
2m and 70cm are pretty much unaffected by time of day and seasons
HF bands on the other hand interact with the D,E and F layers in the ionosphere which changes with radiation from the sun and depending on the time of day / season as the MUF (Max usable Freq) and LUF (Lowest Usable Freq) changes.
as a very rough idea both MUF / LUF increase as the sun rise and decreases as the sun sets
the other thing is digital modes on HF with a reasonable antenna you can get worldwide with less then 50w, i am currently using my Xiegu G90 (max 20w) i am getting to US, Canada, EU, some of the closer asian countries
digital modes on VHF / UHF and a diamond X300 whitestick at 30w (FT991a) i can make most of wales, down to cornwall, up to nottingham in the UK as well as france, germany, belgium, netherlands
get a genuine RTL-SDR dongle (see Buy RTL-SDR Dongles (RTL2832U) ) or something like SDRPlay RSP1a and start to listen so as to get an idea of what you can hear and start to understand the bands
Agreed to all and aware of the variances on HF between night and day (plus lower frequencies at night, higher during the day etc). See my response to Pete above. Am limited in terms of an HF antenna and use a Wellbrook for HF reception, what would you recommend for HF transmission?
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Passed and thanks to Pete and co for the course; natural evolution for me as I principally monitor ATC on VHF/UHF and HF, selection of radios ranging from SONYs, Sangeans , TECSUNs, UNIDENs to ICOMs, ALINCOs, amongst others.
Happened upon Baofengs really from an airband perspective , was somewhat disappointed with their ability (or not) to modulate AM, have a few and landed on my favorite a RADTEL RT490.
Stared at these radios on my desk and through - why not; Ive now programmed my Baofengs and RADTEL with CHIRP for Calling freqs, local repeaters (not so local) etc so hopeful.
I do intend to look at entry radio for 20m or 10m band, just waiting to get my first response now.