Hi there,
Just getting started in Ham radio and have a Yaesu 8900 w/Comet UHV4 antenna on the way that I plan to mount in the 80. I haven't decided on a mount yet, I'm thinking either the Diamond K400 that so many others swear by or maybe a magnetic.
A couple questions for you Elmers out there...
1)I'm down in Mexico and am off to Africa next. Since I haven't had any luck finding VEC's down here to test me, how do I get licensed? I'm consistently scoring in the mid 90's on the Eham.net exams and feel like I could even get my General but just can't take the test. Legally, I'm sure the answer is I MUST be licensed, but practically, I doubt the FCC is going to make the trip to Mexico or Africa to come and get me. If they do, hopefully they'll bring the test and materials with them
2) My plan with the 8900 is to pick up another base station, a couple handhelds, and with the cross repeater feature, basically cover the city. My thinking is that my wife at the house can transmit with the other base station on frequency 1 to the 8900 (in my work parking lot), which will then act as a repeater and transmit on freq 2 to my HT (inside the building). Once I hear her, I'll switch over to Freq 1, transmit to the 8900 which will retransmit of Freq 2, and hopefully reach back to the house. Since the city we're headed too is about 100 square miles and my house will be up on a hill, we'll hopefully have full coverage of the city. I could also use the 8900 to go just one way, from my HT to the truck and from the truck to the house. When she responds, she can talk back on the HT original freq so I won't need to switch with the handheld. In this config, I could get a Yeasu 7800 or 8800 and be good to go.
When she's away from the house and in the 80, I was thinking about connecting an APRS tracker to the 8900 so I can monitor where she's at via a scanner plugged into my laptop.
3) What's a good affordable HT that will work with this plan? I'd like to keep it budget since I'm already jumping into pricey waters with the 8900, but don't want to sacrifice quality or future expansion either.
4) Any huge holes in my plan?
Thanks in advance y'all!
Just getting started in Ham radio and have a Yaesu 8900 w/Comet UHV4 antenna on the way that I plan to mount in the 80. I haven't decided on a mount yet, I'm thinking either the Diamond K400 that so many others swear by or maybe a magnetic.
A couple questions for you Elmers out there...
1)I'm down in Mexico and am off to Africa next. Since I haven't had any luck finding VEC's down here to test me, how do I get licensed? I'm consistently scoring in the mid 90's on the Eham.net exams and feel like I could even get my General but just can't take the test. Legally, I'm sure the answer is I MUST be licensed, but practically, I doubt the FCC is going to make the trip to Mexico or Africa to come and get me. If they do, hopefully they'll bring the test and materials with them
2) My plan with the 8900 is to pick up another base station, a couple handhelds, and with the cross repeater feature, basically cover the city. My thinking is that my wife at the house can transmit with the other base station on frequency 1 to the 8900 (in my work parking lot), which will then act as a repeater and transmit on freq 2 to my HT (inside the building). Once I hear her, I'll switch over to Freq 1, transmit to the 8900 which will retransmit of Freq 2, and hopefully reach back to the house. Since the city we're headed too is about 100 square miles and my house will be up on a hill, we'll hopefully have full coverage of the city. I could also use the 8900 to go just one way, from my HT to the truck and from the truck to the house. When she responds, she can talk back on the HT original freq so I won't need to switch with the handheld. In this config, I could get a Yeasu 7800 or 8800 and be good to go.
When she's away from the house and in the 80, I was thinking about connecting an APRS tracker to the 8900 so I can monitor where she's at via a scanner plugged into my laptop.
3) What's a good affordable HT that will work with this plan? I'd like to keep it budget since I'm already jumping into pricey waters with the 8900, but don't want to sacrifice quality or future expansion either.
4) Any huge holes in my plan?
Thanks in advance y'all!
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