HAMsters: "Just got licensed, now what?" (Radios / Skills / Articles)

[LongDuck]

If, like me, you got your HAMateur Technician license so you could communicate with other club members on the trail, you may be early on in your radio hobby. Most of us will use our new radios and license to tune into 146.460mhz (*unofficial CSC club frequency, simplex) and talk to our friends on trail runs. Great - that's a great first use for your effort to get licensed!

While you're just trying to get started, this can be the place to ask questions about radios, antennas, setup on your vehicle, and tuning the system to work well. We can also cover such topics as etiquette on the radio, proper use of frequency bands, and some of the capabilities available to us with just an entry level Technician license.

I'm not the most experienced or knowledgeable HAM station operator in the club, but I'll bet we have some great opinions based on experience that can help everyone. The only thing I'd ask, is that you spend a few minutes to hours Googling and researching the common HAM sites to gather some basic information so we can have a useful discussion.

With that, over to you...

Linking an article I wrote on antennas after the Canyonlands run: HAMsters: The Case for 1/4 Wave Vertical Antennas for Off-Road Comms.

Linking an article about HB2318 Anti-Texting Law Passage & HAM Radio use: AZ HB2318: Mobile Communications Law (*Anti-Texting)

A good frequency to test equipment for RECEIVE = 154.190mhz. You won't be able to transmit here, but it's the Phoenix Fire Dept dispatch frequency, so you can hear calls for service and it will verify receive function on your radio and antenna. (*sometimes, you just need to hear anything to know it's honked up correctly!)

 

[ARJMN]

@D_Web is a great resource for radio questions as well.

 

[DPA200]

i LOVE the title of this thread!

 

[Somebodyelse5]

@LongDuck thanks for the push to get the license process going, I've been wanting to do this for a very long time and am happy to finally get it done. Can we set up a weekly "net" so we can all get some practice talking and getting things set up? I'm sure we could hit a repeater and talk throughout the valley.

That said, I pulled the trigger on a radio yesterday, here is what I ordered:
- Yaesu FTM-400XDR per the recommendation of one of our test administrators and a lot of research. It's pricey but if you want a detachable faceplate, dual band with dedicated APRS, it seems to be the best bang for the buck. The ICOM headunits don't have APRS support.
- Diamond K412S rear hatch mount (It comes with 13ft of cable to an NMO mount, but I believe we need 20ft if you plan on mounting the head in the center console) I am planning on using this mount for the 100 on the hood though: Massive Metal Hood Mount
I also ordered a speaker and some RAM mount bits to mount the face plate. Currently thinking I will print a new mount with an additional hole for another ram ball under the existing one for the phone mount... or mount it to the ashtray... not sure yet.

 

[DPA200]

@TexAZ, I'm curious where you (or anybody else with a 200) mounted your radio.

 

[LongDuck]

If you want to listen in on a professional Net Control meeting, I recommend the West Valley Amateur Radio club, as they host daily nets at 9a, 8p, and usually a Newbie Net on one Friday a month at 8p which normally coincides with our monthly CSC meeting.

They're at 147.300mhz, positive offset of 600khz, and tone of 162.2Hz to talk on the Repeater. The machine is located on Del Web hospital, with good coverage all the way over to Scottsdale and down to about Goodyear.

Within the club, we can take a poll of which repeaters are common to all of us, and then see about getting on at the same time to chat. That's a good, no stress way to get on the air,

 

[Somebodyelse5]

If you want to listen in on a professional Net Control meeting, I recommend the West Valley Amateur Radio club, as they host daily nets at 9a, 8p, and usually a Newbie Net on one Friday a month at 8p which normally coincides with our monthly CSC meeting.

They're at 147.300mhz, positive offset of 600khz, and tone of 162.2Hz to talk on the Repeater. The machine is located on Del Web hospital, with good coverage all the way over to Scottsdale and down to about Goodyear.

Within the club, we can take a poll of which repeaters are common to all of us, and then see about getting on at the same time to chat. That's a good, no stress way to get on the air,

That sounds great. Right now I have my handheld Baofeng UV-5R... I will see if I can tune in tonight and listen.

I won't have my mobile radio for at least two weeks (backordered) but I expect to have it installed and running by the next CSC meeting

 

[TexAZ]

@TexAZ, I'm curious where you (or anybody else with a 200) mounted your radio.

i'm still running a handheld transciever, cheapo baofeng. i bought a magnetic base with antenna cable and ran it from the rear of the roof inside the rear hatch and under the trim/seats. I set the unit in a Husky tool pouch velcro'd in front of the ashtray and hang the mic off the tablet mount.
Very low budget. but it works pretty well. at least it did until i painted the roof and the magnet doesn't stick well anymore.
in the 200, every truck i've seen with permanent mounting went with a detachable faceplate. the main unit will fit under the front seat.
makes wiring pretty straight forward.

 

[DPA200]

i'm still running a handheld transciever, cheapo baofeng. i bought a magnetic base with antenna cable and ran it from the rear of the roof inside the rear hatch and under the trim/seats. I set the unit in a Husky tool pouch velcro'd in front of the ashtray and hang the mic off the tablet mount.
Very low budget. but it works pretty well. at least it did until i painted the roof and the magnet doesn't stick well anymore.
in the 200, every truck i've seen with permanent mounting went with a detachable faceplate. the main unit will fit under the front seat.
makes wiring pretty straight forward.

Yeah i was looking this morning in the truck, i really don't see any alternate places to mount a radio with no detachable faceplate. thanks for weighing in

 

[Highway Romping]

Saw the title, I thought it was about Top Gear and/or Grand Tour.

 

[Somebodyelse5]

Saw the title, I thought it was about Top Gear and/or Grand Tour.

Nothing about a small man crashing cars in this thread

 

[DPA200]

If you want to listen in on a professional Net Control meeting, I recommend the West Valley Amateur Radio club, as they host daily nets at 9a, 8p, and usually a Newbie Net on one Friday a month at 8p which normally coincides with our monthly CSC meeting.

They're at 147.300mhz, positive offset of 600khz, and tone of 162.2Hz to talk on the Repeater. The machine is located on Del Web hospital, with good coverage all the way over to Scottsdale and down to about Goodyear.

Within the club, we can take a poll of which repeaters are common to all of us, and then see about getting on at the same time to chat. That's a good, no stress way to get on the air,

trying to listen in. I got the 147.300mhz part, and the positive offset of 600khz part......but how do i set the tone of 162.2Hz? I have the same little handheld Baofeng UV-5R that @Somebodyelse5 has.

 

[Somebodyelse5]

trying to listen in. I got the 147.300mhz part, and the positive offset of 600khz part......but how do i set the tone of 162.2Hz? I have the same little handheld Baofeng UV-5R that @Somebodyelse5 has.

Are you running chirp? Definitely the easier way to get all this stuff setup. You'll set the CTCSS to 162.2

I have the cable if you want to swing bye and drop all the repeaters in.

 

[DPA200]

Are you running chirp? Definitely the easier way to get all this stuff setup. You'll set the CTCSS to 162.2

I have the cable if you want to swing bye and drop all the repeaters in.

1st I’m hearing of Chirp. Looks cool though. Let me try to it set up manually for this one just to see if I can even hear anything from my area. We’re you able to get the net control meeting on your handheld? What area are you in?

 

[Somebodyelse5]

1st I’m hearing of Chirp. Looks cool though. Let me try to it set up manually for this one just to see if I can even hear anything from my area. We’re you able to get the net control meeting on your handheld? What area are you in?

I tried, but no luck. If you want to try to connect this evening let me know, I'm not positive my little radio is working as it should.

I am in Ahwatukee

 

[Somebodyelse5]

good list of local repeaters:

https://www.azfreqcoord.org/web/2m_SL.pdf

 

[DPA200]

I tried, but no luck. If you want to try to connect this evening let me know, I'm not positive my little radio is working as it should.

I am in Ahwatukee

Is this where i plug it in?

tep 6. optional - Enter the transmit CTCSS/DCS code.

• CTCSS - [MENU] 13 [MENU] [enter/choose code XXXX] [MENU] [EXIT]

i found this documentation with all the menu items

Baofeng Cheat Sheet - W7APK

 

[Somebodyelse5]

Is this where i plug it in?

tep 6. optional - Enter the transmit CTCSS/DCS code.

• CTCSS - [MENU] 13 [MENU] [enter/choose code XXXX] [MENU] [EXIT]

i found this documentation with all the menu items

Baofeng Cheat Sheet - W7APK

yup, plug it in there

 

[DPA200]

cool i'll try it at 8pm and see if i hear anything. I'm in Arcadia area Phoenix/Scottsdale border

 

[Somebodyelse5]

if you want to try straight band to band coms, let me know, I will also try to get in. I have had no luck the past few nights