When I was a kid in the '70's I was into CB radio's before they became popular (that "rubber ducky" movie killed it) and my understanding was that you had to study for a long time and know not just the rules but the radios inside out, as in repair, building, etc. When did they relax the rules or create this other category? Or did it always exist?
HAM Cheap Little ONe
- Thread starter retrofive
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CB was always no license. It used to be that the novice license was only for CW (Morse code) and you needed a general or higher ticket for voice on AM, FM and SSB. That changed when they introduced the technician license for 2M and 70 cm.
And thankfully keeping the hobby alive...granted cw will get through when nothing else, but with the generations coming up, dedicating and putting forth the effort to learn and operate in cw Is a deal breaker in many cases...
I would never have put the time in to learn CW. I'm glad there are people who know that mode and work HF though, because it could save my ass someday.
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Got my radio yesterday, digging it so far!
Problem with the programming with chirp on my Mac though, what a pain in the butt!
After 4 or so hours last night, I got it to download from the radio, and then 4 reboots later I got it to upload. Thought I had it figured out but tonight its a different story. No comms with the radio. Then i get the cannot open port message. There has got to be a better way to do this, any help out there?
Thanks
Daisy
Problem with the programming with chirp on my Mac though, what a pain in the butt!
After 4 or so hours last night, I got it to download from the radio, and then 4 reboots later I got it to upload. Thought I had it figured out but tonight its a different story. No comms with the radio. Then i get the cannot open port message. There has got to be a better way to do this, any help out there?
Thanks
Daisy
Might have to have someone else program it!
Seems like it should easily work on all platforms. Chirp has info for windows, Mac, Linux and so on. Wonder if I'm screwing it up somehow?
Daisy
Unless the code was written by an Apple certified developer it's a crap shoot if it will work or not. Even if it works sometimes it may not work reliably.
Funny thing is that it is supposed to work just fine!
Ill keep at it and figure it out, gotta be a way...
Daisy
Ill keep at it and figure it out, gotta be a way...
Daisy
Actually not true. I had a CB license in the 70's. Nobody bothered to get them and the requirement was eventually lifted.
FROM FCC.GOV
"The interest in CB radios peaked in the 1970s and up until 1983 the FCC required an individual license to operate a CB device."
Back to the Baofeng... I have one. It's not nearly as well constructed as my Yaesu hand helds but for $40 it's expendable. The programming is difficult with out software/cable. There is no external DC port for power or charging (must use the base charger) No instruction manual for operation is included.
There is a dummy battery with a lighter plug attached to run it in your vehicle.
I have a 75w inverter that I plug my base charger in when I'm with my truck. The battery lasts a good long day anyway.
I have not yet been able to program it using CHIRP.
Mine wont connect to radio 99% of the time.
Was able to connect last night after 3 reboots of my Mac, download from the radio and update what I wanted to. After that, I couldnt get it to connect to do the upload!
Good tip though, I will make sure to off-tune for up/download
Daisy
Sure there is a battery eliminator for the radio but I tend to like to hardwire my power plus you are not recharging a battery with it.
Of course simulating house power and running the charging base is possible with an inverter however not everyone has an inverter and managing the wall wart and base in the truck seems annoying. If it works for you great but I wasn't thrilled with the lack of power port.
The battery does last all day which is great.... for day one.
I was able to use Chirp to program after acquiring the correct Prolific drivers for the cable I bought.
6dB is rated against "typical stock HT antennas" , that's marketing doublespeak.
One re-seller advertizes 2.15dBi for the 70cm band, they are silent on the 2M gain.
http://universal-radio.com/catalog/ht/57135547.html
Keep in mind that gain for any antenna is not true gain in that no antenna radiates more energy than you put in.
Antenna gain is usually given as either dBi or dBd, the radiated power compared to an ideal isotropic or dipole antenna respectively.
Are you serious?
This radio costs $35 and you're complaining about the lack of a power port? Really??