You can use Chirp to download the repeaters and other commonly used frequencies on to the Baofeng. Chirp is free to use, just make sure that you get the $20 cable for your Baofeng on Amazon to avoid any issues with your connection and downloads.
HAM Tech Thread
- Thread starter Somebodyelse5
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I have this same antenna and initially mounted it in the same area on my 80 series. The coil grabbed too many branches and I had to relocate it to the mounting hole on my ARB bumper.
Somebodyelse5
16124-75030
- Thread starter
- #43
It definitely catches sometimes, but the mount I use allows the ant to rotate if it catches... only happened a few times (but I also don't see too much low branches out in the desert.)
Somebodyelse5
16124-75030
- Thread starter
- #44
Here's an example of what you can get from aprs.fi if you "track" a specific call sign. This is most of the outing from this weekend, notice that there were some pings that were unable to hit an igate and the pings themselves are not directly on the trail. This is due to the "ambiguity" that you can set with your beacons so that your exact location isn't being given away, you tell it how many decimal places off the back of your GPS coordinates to leave off.
You can also export the data into a csv (or google earth file format) to use however you'd like
You can also export the data into a csv (or google earth file format) to use however you'd like
TheGrrrrr
GOLD Star
What are you using to beacon, and what repeater were you hitting?
Somebodyelse5
16124-75030
- Thread starter
- #46
This is all within my Yaesu FTM-400, it has a GPS receiver and built in APRS function. It runs APRS beacons on the B-Band on 144.390
I was hitting igates all over the valley. If you go onto APRS.fi and hover over a beacon it will show you on the map where the igate you hit is
TheGrrrrr
GOLD Star
I‘m on Icom 5100 so hitting up dstar DPRS. I don’t understand it but was able to follow instructions well enough to make it work. Would be good to chat about how it all comes together at some point.
Somebodyelse5
16124-75030
- Thread starter
- #48
So, just did some quick reading and it seems that DPRS tags along with your digital signal, if you are using a D-Start enabled repeater you will also be sending your DPRS beacon. The tricky part becomes what that specific repeater does with your DRPS packets, it seems that it's up to the repeater owner and they don't all pass it to the internet.
I *think* if you had multiple folks on a run using DStar digital mode, you'd also be sending and receiving DPRS between the devices.. this way you can plot their location and you should be able to see their heading from your location. I know that Yeasu digital modes work this way, but none of the manufacturer's digital encryptions play nice together.
If you want to make use of the standard APRS like I was using (this also gives you the ability to use SMSGATE to send text messages over the cell network and to send messages to specific call signs) you could grab a TNC like a TinyTrak4. I know a lot of folks use those and love em.
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TheGrrrrr
GOLD Star
Maybe it would just be easier for me to switch to the Yaesu FTM-400XDR. Looks like Gigaparts has a refurbished one for $519. Anyone want to buy an ICOM 5100a?
Somebodyelse5
16124-75030
- Thread starter
- #50
man those got more expensive, I think I paid around $450 for my new one from HRO over in PHX.
The one feature you'll lose is the repeater look up that I think your 5100a has, but otherwise I think you'll like the ftm400 even more. it will plot altitude over time too, which i think is pretty neat
Somebodyelse5
16124-75030
- Thread starter
- #51
Interference - The Dark Magic
I sold my 100 series a few months ago and swapped over the FTM400 to my '97 FZJ80. Initially I set everything up the same, ie. Radio unit in the center console, faceplate next to the A Pillar, and antenna on a Massive Metal hood mount. After fiddling with the smaller center console and getting everything buttoned up, with the vehicle off, all seemed well... I did a few QC calls and hit my usual repeaters crystal clear.
Fast forward to the first drive, a few minutes down the road listening to the radio and I hear this horrific shreiking sound through the stereo speakers.... my automatic APRS beacon transmission was interfering with the stereo... and anytime I transmit with the stereo on, I get a similar horrible noise through the stereo.... not what you want to have happen post HAM radio install....
Now, I am no expert when it comes to this dark magic of interference tracing and troubleshooting, but I can at least tell you what worked for me in my situation, and what made no difference:
- Ultimate solution was to move the antenna. I used one of the Diamond Trunk mounts (Part Number: K412S) to move the antenna to drivers side rear hatch.
- Adding ferrite rings to the power and ground wires made no difference. I tried both near their terminations and close to the radio.
- Moving the ground and power wire routing made no difference, nor did moving the ground location.
I sold my 100 series a few months ago and swapped over the FTM400 to my '97 FZJ80. Initially I set everything up the same, ie. Radio unit in the center console, faceplate next to the A Pillar, and antenna on a Massive Metal hood mount. After fiddling with the smaller center console and getting everything buttoned up, with the vehicle off, all seemed well... I did a few QC calls and hit my usual repeaters crystal clear.
Fast forward to the first drive, a few minutes down the road listening to the radio and I hear this horrific shreiking sound through the stereo speakers.... my automatic APRS beacon transmission was interfering with the stereo... and anytime I transmit with the stereo on, I get a similar horrible noise through the stereo.... not what you want to have happen post HAM radio install....
Now, I am no expert when it comes to this dark magic of interference tracing and troubleshooting, but I can at least tell you what worked for me in my situation, and what made no difference:
- Ultimate solution was to move the antenna. I used one of the Diamond Trunk mounts (Part Number: K412S) to move the antenna to drivers side rear hatch.
- Adding ferrite rings to the power and ground wires made no difference. I tried both near their terminations and close to the radio.
- Moving the ground and power wire routing made no difference, nor did moving the ground location.
The antenna location tends to be the first thing I mess with, since it follows the inverse-square law regarding energy and distance from other EM radiators and receivers. Like you, I use ferrite cores (*or just several loops of excess coax feed line, zip tied together) to remove feed line shield interference, but I think as long as it's grounded theough your radio, it makes little difference. Same for power and ground leads; as long as you're not tapping off of the alternator for your positive, you should be fine.
Glad you found the solution, and like anything HAM, the experimentation and application of scientific method always wins. Nice work, and good to see you last Friday night, too.
Glad you found the solution, and like anything HAM, the experimentation and application of scientific method always wins. Nice work, and good to see you last Friday night, too.
Dimples
I owe my soul to the TRD store.
What was your SWR measurement pre antenna move?
TheGrrrrr
GOLD Star
I just played around with SMSGATE and it's pretty rad. Worked flawlessly from my FTM400. Sent the message, received an acknowledgment, received the message on my phone, replied to the message from my phone and received the reply on the FTM400. Definitely going to dig into the aliases and commands. Very cool stuff, but I'm the idiot for taking so long to check it out.
Thomas any experience with powering a Yaesu Mobile off a Jackery for use in the backcountry? Don’t want to go thru all the BS of wiring into my 4Runners battery. My plan is to use the mobile at camp with a ground mounted antenna. 50W will be way better than my Yeasu FT60R handhelds 5W. Just wondering what you think. Thanks again bud.
TheGrrrrr
GOLD Star
You may have issues when transmitting on full power. I used my Icom 5100 hooked up to a Suoki G500 (similar to Jackery), connected via 12v cigarette plug and the connection was fused at 10amps. It would trip every time I tried to TX on full power. RX and all other functions worked fine. When I lowered the TX power it worked. Must have just been enough of a spike to trip the 10a circuit breaker.
I can't imagine an HT drawing that kind of current, as it has an onboard battery which serves as a spike buffer (*the 12v connection charges the onboard battery, not the amplifier). On a mobile unit, if it's transmitting at 40+ Watts, it's drawing Amps - remember the eagle, the rabbit, and the Indian? You may not have much luck driving a mobile base station for long off of a battery pack due to this; listen for hours, but transmit, and it's going to flag.
What I have noticed about the battery storage packs is that the charging circuits can cause interference on radios, so if you're going to hook up an mobile station to it, remove any charging cords to avoid this. Additionally, the longer your feedline between the radio and the antenna, the more transmit power will drop. Keep the feedline short to maximize what little power you have when mobile.
I've had really good luck making QRP-milliwatt transmissions just using the low power (1 watt) setting on an HT, and it doesn't take much transmit power to send a signal over long distances with good antennas on both ends. Trying to drive power through poor antennas is certain to drain batteries.
What I have noticed about the battery storage packs is that the charging circuits can cause interference on radios, so if you're going to hook up an mobile station to it, remove any charging cords to avoid this. Additionally, the longer your feedline between the radio and the antenna, the more transmit power will drop. Keep the feedline short to maximize what little power you have when mobile.
I've had really good luck making QRP-milliwatt transmissions just using the low power (1 watt) setting on an HT, and it doesn't take much transmit power to send a signal over long distances with good antennas on both ends. Trying to drive power through poor antennas is certain to drain batteries.
Somebodyelse5
16124-75030
- Thread starter
- #58
A neat portable mobile rig setup:
javelinadave
GOLD Star
HRO has the FTM-6000R on sale this weekend for $199. That’s 33% off!
Somebodyelse5
16124-75030
- Thread starter
- #60
I am seriously considering picking it up
