INGO HAM Radio Club

[Notalentbum]

My mobile is a kenwood tmv71a and my HT is a yaesu ft 70 d. I have stumbled across a couple of nets in the past and was not really sure what they were about. I probably just need to participate in one of the clubs.


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Most of the nets are a semi-formal way of saying hi and verify your radios are working okay. Several nets are topic specific like Skywarn. Easiest to find an active repeater you can reach clearly and listen, learn and talk when you have something to add.

Matt

 

[Notalentbum]

I have the same FT-70. Not sure if you can reach it but there is a Fusion repeater on the east side that I get on occasionally. There you get worldwide comms. Kinda cool to be having a 4 way conversation with people in the U.K., Brazil and Japan!

 

[blackenedman]

Just a brief bump. Received a lot of good local intel via 2m last night during the storm in my area. I've only been equipped with ht, but decided today to go ahead and purchase a 2m mobile for home/vehicle use. Looking forward to being able to extend my reach a little.

 

[abraham743]

Just a brief bump. Received a lot of good local intel via 2m last night during the storm in my area. I've only been equipped with ht, but decided today to go ahead and purchase a 2m mobile for home/vehicle use. Looking forward to being able to extend my reach a little.

Same here for last night. It was great getting real time info as the storm moved across the state.


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[Sailor]

I have a receive problem on VHF I need help with.

Radio FT-857D, with an RF concepts 170w amp if needed.
Antenna Diamond X30 roof mounted 2 story house.
LMR-400 and Jetstream JT20115f Coax.

So I live SW Fort Wayne and used to be able to hit the Plymouth repeater pretty easy with 5-10 watts.
Tested the other day and I can not hear at full power. My buddy in Valpo says he can hear me fine.

I pulled the antenna off the roof and took it apart. Zero signs of water intrusion, all the solder joints look good. Cut off 5 feet of coax and put on another connector.
Tested again. Same. Switched coax runs, same. Hooked my buddies FT-991 to it same.
Tried my attic mounted discone antenna same. Stood on my second floor with a yagi pointed that direction with an HT attached, same.

My buddy is 50 miles to the repeater, I am about 40 he states its working great for him.

Any thoughts?

 

[Notalentbum]

I have a receive problem on VHF I need help with.

Radio FT-857D, with an RF concepts 170w amp if needed.
Antenna Diamond X30 roof mounted 2 story house.
LMR-400 and Jetstream JT20115f Coax.

So I live SW Fort Wayne and used to be able to hit the Plymouth repeater pretty easy with 5-10 watts.
Tested the other day and I can not hear at full power. My buddy in Valpo says he can hear me fine.

I pulled the antenna off the roof and took it apart. Zero signs of water intrusion, all the solder joints look good. Cut off 5 feet of coax and put on another connector.
Tested again. Same. Switched coax runs, same. Hooked my buddies FT-991 to it same.
Tried my attic mounted discone antenna same. Stood on my second floor with a yagi pointed that direction with an HT attached, same.

My buddy is 50 miles to the repeater, I am about 40 he states its working great for him.

Any thoughts?

Power levels have nothing to do with reception, only transmission. Can you hear any other repeaters or stations? Could be a problem in the receive portion of your radio.

Matt

 

[Sailor]

Yeah, I am hearing local FW and Auburn fine.

I put my simplex repeater on the experimental portion of 2m and will be range testing when I get time.

 

[jsx1043]

Quick question for the comms group - does anyone have a pair of Motorola DTR550/650 radios I could T&E?

 

[Cameramonkey]

Just a brief bump. Received a lot of good local intel via 2m last night during the storm in my area. I've only been equipped with ht, but decided today to go ahead and purchase a 2m mobile for home/vehicle use. Looking forward to being able to extend my reach a little.

Dont forget a rooftop antenna. Height and a REAL antenna will help tremendously. on my HT I can only hear the repeater in the house if I am in the kitchen or on my elevated back deck on the side of the house the repeater is on. Inside its virtually useless and ground level on the other side of my house is marginally better.

I've got a relatively inexpensive Diamond X50A and even my 5w HT reaches across town.

 

[blackenedman]

Dont forget a rooftop antenna. Height and a REAL antenna will help tremendously. on my HT I can only hear the repeater in the house if I am in the kitchen or on my elevated back deck on the side of the house the repeater is on. Inside its virtually useless and ground level on the other side of my house is marginally better.

I've got a relatively inexpensive Diamond X50A and even my 5w HT reaches across town.

All good points. I always appreciate helpful info, thanks!

With my ht, I've used a signal stick, or an N9TAX roll-up. Have pretty decent coverage, for what I'm working with, with repeaters fairly close to my location.

I ordered a Kenwood TM-281, with a Diamond MR-77. I realize its not the best antenna, but currently being out of work, it looked like it would provide multiple uses for me, at a decent price point. Once I can get back to work, I can work on a better antenna, and a better permanent location for it.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Just a brief bump. Received a lot of good local intel via 2m last night during the storm in my area. I've only been equipped with ht, but decided today to go ahead and purchase a 2m mobile for home/vehicle use. Looking forward to being able to extend my reach a little.

All good points. I always appreciate helpful info, thanks!

With my ht, I've used a signal stick, or an N9TAX roll-up. Have pretty decent coverage, for what I'm working with, with repeaters fairly close to my location.

I ordered a Kenwood TM-281, with a Diamond MR-77. I realize its not the best antenna, but currently being out of work, it looked like it would provide multiple uses for me, at a decent price point. Once I can get back to work, I can work on a better antenna, and a better permanent location for it.

I hear ya. I took a healthy (temporary) pay/hours cut. I realized during the storms last night I needed a second antenna so I could run 2 radios during weather nets in case I needed to be a liason. I bought a Nagoya NMO-72 and a cheap ground plane mount. That little thing up 20' in the air on my roof should be enough to hit the repeaters. I'll just pull the mobile out of my car when needed since its not permanently mounted.

As long as its up and you have a ground plane for it (a cheap piece of sheet metal like a jelly roll pan would work... just dont let the wife know) and you are outdoors and up, you'll be fine. These are also really good for getting the cable out of the house.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075TK89VZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And these to better secure it to the wall
https://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Large-Di...lcAAOxyRHdR3ql7:sc:USPSFirstClass!46218!US!-1

And this to weatherproof where the bulkhead comes out of the wall
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UPANU2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[blackenedman]

I hear ya. I took a healthy (temporary) pay/hours cut. I realized during the storms last night I needed a second antenna so I could run 2 radios during weather nets in case I needed to be a liason.

Working in the entertainment industry, we were some of the first ones to be out of work. I've been home/out of work since March 9th. Slowly adding to my comms plan over time.

The ht and the mobile will at least give me a couple of options for base/mobile operations. HT does pretty good for portable, the mobile unit can be moved from home to vehicle fairly easily. Better antennas/mounts will certainly be the next purchases, once feasible.

Thanks for the info on the outdoor mounting solutions. I can temporarily get the mag-mount outdoors, and it should at least be functional. Should be delivered Monday, looking forward to getting it setup and on the air.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Working in the entertainment industry, we were some of the first ones to be out of work. I've been home/out of work since March 9th. Slowly adding to my comms plan over time.

The ht and the mobile will at least give me a couple of options for base/mobile operations. HT does pretty good for portable, the mobile unit can be moved from home to vehicle fairly easily. Better antennas/mounts will certainly be the next purchases, once feasible.

Thanks for the info on the outdoor mounting solutions. I can temporarily get the mag-mount outdoors, and it should at least be functional. Should be delivered Monday, looking forward to getting it setup and on the air.

And I might have some spare coax if you need it. (and are in Indy)

 

[foszoe]

Transmit using your HT on the repeaters receive frequency (No offset on the HT) does your 857D pick it up? do you have attenuation turned on?

Only odd part is that the 991 could not hear either. If you are transmitting to the repeater and your buddy is hearing you then I wouldn't think its a coax or antenna problem as you can usually hear from farther away then you can transmit especially at 5-10 watts.

I have a receive problem on VHF I need help with.

Radio FT-857D, with an RF concepts 170w amp if needed.
Antenna Diamond X30 roof mounted 2 story house.
LMR-400 and Jetstream JT20115f Coax.

So I live SW Fort Wayne and used to be able to hit the Plymouth repeater pretty easy with 5-10 watts.
Tested the other day and I can not hear at full power. My buddy in Valpo says he can hear me fine.

I pulled the antenna off the roof and took it apart. Zero signs of water intrusion, all the solder joints look good. Cut off 5 feet of coax and put on another connector.
Tested again. Same. Switched coax runs, same. Hooked my buddies FT-991 to it same.
Tried my attic mounted discone antenna same. Stood on my second floor with a yagi pointed that direction with an HT attached, same.

My buddy is 50 miles to the repeater, I am about 40 he states its working great for him.

Any thoughts?

 

[Cameramonkey]

Transmit using your HT on the repeaters receive frequency (No offset on the HT) does your 857D pick it up? do you have attenuation turned on?

Only odd part is that the 991 could not hear either. If you are transmitting to the repeater and your buddy is hearing you then I wouldn't think its a coax or antenna problem as you can usually hear from farther away then you can transmit especially at 5-10 watts.

Check your tone. Could the repeater have added/changed tones?

 

[fullmetaljesus]

Quick question.

I'll be installing a new ham radio in my second car. Id like to not use a mag mount antenna. My second car is a second cop car so it's got spots on the trunk to mount an antenna. Any recommendations on antenna and mount?

It will be for a 2m radio.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Quick question.

I'll be installing a new ham radio in my second car. Id like to not use a mag mount antenna. My second car is a second cop car so it's got spots on the trunk to mount an antenna. Any recommendations on antenna and mount?

It will be for a 2m radio.

I assume it has a NMO mount? If so, in a week or two (thanks to the CV19 delays of non essential goods) I should have one of these on hand. I'll let you know how it works. In theory if there are still NMO mounts on the deck you could reuse.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0744QPSG8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Ndavid45]

I feel like I'm about to jump in way over my head here but I'm looking at getting into radio. A few things first.
1. I no nothing about radio beyond my sons spiderman walkie talkies.
2. I do know that to transmit a license is needed
3. Working on a budget and would definitely prefer to start with a mobile set up.
What radio setup would be you all recommend if I only wanted to invest 100 dollars to get started. Wanting to get one in my hands and be able to listen on and get familiar with the radio as I study for the test. I am definitely not an electronics minded person. What sources do you all view as reliable information to help someone get started with the basics? Subscribing to this thread and going to try to read it from the beginning over time but alot of it is like a foreign language so far.
If it's better, do not hesitate to PM me instead of responding here. Thankyou ingo

 

[fullmetaljesus]

I assume it has a NMO mount? If so, in a week or two (thanks to the CV19 delays of non essential goods) I should have one of these on hand. I'll let you know how it works. In theory if there are still NMO mounts on the deck you could reuse.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0744QPSG8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My trunk lid has little plastic caps that cover the holes from previous antennas.

Something like you posted would be handy if I could get the other bit as well.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

I feel like I'm about to jump in way over my head here but I'm looking at getting into radio. A few things first.
1. I no nothing about radio beyond my sons spiderman walkie talkies.
2. I do know that to transmit a license is needed
3. Working on a budget and would definitely prefer to start with a mobile set up.
What radio setup would be you all recommend if I only wanted to invest 100 dollars to get started. Wanting to get one in my hands and be able to listen on and get familiar with the radio as I study for the test. I am definitely not an electronics minded person. What sources do you all view as reliable information to help someone get started with the basics? Subscribing to this thread and going to try to read it from the beginning over time but alot of it is like a foreign language so far.
If it's better, do not hesitate to PM me instead of responding here. Thankyou ingo

Ok friend, here's some options. $100 Will give you a little wiggle room.

1. Jump on hamstudy.org. this will be your bread and butter.

2. download the "no nonsense guide" for the tech lic. It may be a bit outdated but most of the info is still relevant.

3. Find Dave cassler (the OG) on YouTube.

4. I have two radio suggestions. Baofeng radios are solid first radios. Pick one and have at it. But make sure you get the programming cable it will save you from wanting to use the radio as a clay pigeon. Now if you want to go a bit nicer. Yaesu has a radio that was made to kill the baofeng. Yaesu FT-4XR is the modle number. I have not bought one yet but I'm eager to get my hands on one. I have a diff yaesu radio and love it. Total work hourse. Again get the programming cable and software,makes life easy.

Both of the radios I suggested are 2m radios, which means they operate on the 2meter band. This is a very active band in Indy. There's a great repeater full of kind folks. 146.7 I believe.

If you come up with any more questions please feel free to reach out.