Amateur Radio (HAM), Trail Coms, and Navigation Resources (1 Viewer)

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Also worth noting, even though I took precautions with the 2m like running power straight to the battery on a heavy twisted pair, and routed the coax away from everything else where possible, I have to turn the stereo off before transmitting. I get a loud buzz when I key up, no matter what volume setting on the crap aftermarket stereo. Doesn't matter what input the stereo is set to either. I never got around to troubleshooting it. You may need to experiment with routing, buy extra wire.
 
Tony_Farson said:
Thanks Greg! What about ground plane? The 2M Firestik antennas require one.
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Since this is connected to the the body (fender or hood depending) could you not run a separate grounding wire from the bracket to the body? Or wouldn't the bracket act as a grounding source? Still not the best at understanding electrical.
 
DesertLake said:
On my XJ I mounted the 2m antenna right above the dome light. That really was ideal, the one time I needed it I contacted my destination at the Cow Canyon trailhead from the crest above Gabbs. On my 80
both CB and 2m will eventually be on the front bumper, which is less than ideal but also less likely to scrape off. I tried mounting to the roof rack but it's just too tall for the trails around here.

Side note - when I tuned my replacement CB antenna last week, which is in the typical rear quarter location, the best SWR I could get was 2 with the antenna not moving. When I bounced the antenna so it sprung back and forth the SWR needle bounced from about 1.8 to near 3. In other words you don't want your ground plane to be vertical and next to the antenna.
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I swap out my quad band antenna on the 100 with a short 2M antenna on the trail. It's basically a NMO rubber duckie, works great at the short range typical of trail runs.
 
gregnash said:
Since this is connected to the the body (fender or hood depending) could you not run a separate grounding wire from the bracket to the body? Or wouldn't the bracket act as a grounding source? Still not the best at understanding electrical.
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A ground plane provides a "reflector" which improves the antenna performance. (Very oversimplified explanation)
 
So this mornings trail run started with a little issue on @Mc Orange Crush radio and got me thinking. I told him I’d sift thru my stuff at home and see if I had the appropriate programming stuff for an Icom radio. Turns out, sadly I do not.
I have the cables and software for my Yaesu style radios as well as the Baofeng/Rugged Radios chineseium radios. I have a comprehensive list of all the channels used in desert racing as well as KOH.
If anyone needs their yaesu or Baofeng Ham programmed with channels, I'm happy to help.

Perhaps we should host a ham setup and tuning session prior to the next club run. I'm happy to host, as I have most all of the install equipment and stuff here at my place.

Your thoughts, @Tony_Farson ?
 
reklund5 said:
Perhaps we should host a ham setup and tuning session prior to the next club run. I'm happy to host, as I have most all of the install equipment and stuff here at my place.
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I like it! Maybe we could do a club meeting and communications training/programming session?
 
reklund5 said:
I think we could work that out!
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Our next meeting is on October 8. Based on the amount of bugs at the lake, we will likely not have it there and we are in limbo atm. Is the 8th too soon for you to make arrangements? Let's talk on FB. :)
 
I found this info today and thought I'd share...


Black Rock Amateur Radio Association
  • UHF Repeater and EchoLink Node 7238 (W7BRD-R)
    • 440.175 MHz (+), PL 100.0
    • With 911 phonepatch for emergency calls from the Black Rock desert
    • Please note that EchoLink Node 7238 (W7BRD-R) supports only inbound connections. That is, people outside the Black Rock desert can connect to node 7238/W7BRD-R and talk with folks in the desert ... but if you're in the desert, you have no way of making a connection to an external EchoLink node. Sadly, this is just a technical limtiation of the way we have the node set up.
  • APRS Digipeaters GERLCH and RAZOR
    • 144.39 MHz simplex
    • Gatewayed to the Internet (APRS-IS)
 

Attachments

  • SNARS Repeaters.pdf
    163.5 KB · Views: 97
FYI,
SNARS is holding a HAM license exam day in Reno on 2/20. It costs $15 to get your Technicians license. I know this was a subject of interest at the last meeting. I’ll be there with a few other friends who are trying to get their licenses as well. I’m going to try and get my General license (the next step up the nerd-ladder) so I’ll be hitting the books too.
 
Will I will borrow the General license book from you if possible!
And Lee, I guess I will be signing up for the class as well!
 
lelandEOD said:
Did you sign up, Greg? The training coordinator told me seats were filling fast due to Covid space limitations.
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Yup just did... When I had looked previously there was no signup. Glad I saw you mention this...
So dumb question... The book that Will let me borrow is for the GENERAL license test... but I didn't realize that until last night, as I had my licenses mixed up (thought it was General, Technician then higher). Is that gonna cause issue or should I be ok?
 
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