Radio communication as part of preparedness

[4191775]

2 meters eh, I'll be listening(Working on my license).

What time should I tune in and thanks for this thread.

Regards,

4191775

[pens87pgh]

I ended up caving and just bought an antenna. It'll get me on the air faster. Hopefully getting the cabling ran in the next few days in anticipation of the antenna arriving, then I'll be ready to go.

[Jason O]

'Still hoping we can all meet up soon on-the-air.

Agreed. I’ve got a decent location for 2M simplex here in SW PA.

If you fellas are interested in reliable, regional communications, your should be putting your efforts into 75 (80) meter HF. I’m on there often both from a base setup and on the road. It’s fun being able to pick up the microphone and call friends back in Pittsburgh when I’m in the truck around in Harrisburg, Philly, or anywhere else in a few hundred mile radius from home. I do this almost daily. Just yesterday I “phoned home” while driving around DC.

[Hoppy]

I ended up caving and just bought an antenna. It'll get me on the air faster. Hopefully getting the cabling ran in the next few days in anticipation of the antenna arriving, then I'll be ready to go.

What did you get for an antenna? Once you get the new radio and have an antenna with some power you should be able to do really well. We can try simplex and repeaters. Did you get a jumper for the handheld to use the new antenna? Even that will get you better TX/RX

Jason O and I have solid comms on 2 and 80 meters. We tried 10 but had a rough copy. We are 16 miles apart.

Also, I did order a cheap little dual band chinese radio for my truck. My Yaesu just won't fit, so this thing is tiny, supposed to be 25 watts.. I'll report back how it does.

[pens87pgh]

What did you get for an antenna? Once you get the new radio and have an antenna with some power you should be able to do really well. We can try simplex and repeaters. Did you get a jumper for the handheld to use the new antenna? Even that will get you better TX/RX

Jason O and I have solid comms on 2 and 80 meters. We tried 10 but had a rough copy. We are 16 miles apart.

Also, I did order a cheap little dual band chinese radio for my truck. My Yaesu just won't fit, so this thing is tiny, supposed to be 25 watts.. I'll report back how it does.

Ended up with a Diamond X50A - from what I've been able to find seems like a solid choice, and it will fit in the attic space. The radio I got actually came with a jumper I believe will fit my handheld, but haven't checked yet. Heading up to the attic to drill and start running cable as soon as the little one is up from her nap. Mast arrives tomorrow, I can bolt it to the floor and attach the antenna to it, which hopefully will arrive later in the week.

I have been monitoring the repeater in Wexford (147.240) and finally heard someone call out today - and then nothing after lol. I do hear a significant amount of people key up on it to test, as it responds with what sounds like CW (excuse my ignorance if I'm wrong lol) - so I know my handheld can definitely hit and receive from there. Looking forward to testing out simplex once the bigger rig is up and ready to go.

Edit: yes, the jumper fits the handheld.

[Gripsafety]

Nice, now let's see what they say.

ETA: My RG6 is QS.

It's not all that hard to make that work, depending on the antenna you want to use.

[Walleye Hunter]

It's not all that hard to make that work, depending on the antenna you want to use.

I am clueless. I am supposed to be getting a new hand held radio that has a lot of capabilities, most of which will be out of my league for now but I can grow into it. It's on backorder so I wait with my fingers crossed. I suppose I could do like was shown above and have a plate with a bunch of options in it but for now I'd just go with what could be made with what I have that would get me started.

[theshadow]

I am clueless. I am supposed to be getting a new hand held radio that has a lot of capabilities, most of which will be out of my league for now but I can grow into it. It's on backorder so I wait with my fingers crossed. I suppose I could do like was shown above and have a plate with a bunch of options in it but for now I'd just go with what could be made with what I have that would get me started.

As I tell people, the hardest part is getting started. Once you get on the air, then you start to learn.

[theshadow]

This is a good upcoming chance for us all to connect. the 30th and 31st is Winter Field day https://www.winterfieldday.com/ Tech class can link up with a local club and operate on the HF as part of the contest. I'll be at the Cornwall Ranger Station (CRS and LVSRA collaboration) sometime over the weekend.

[Hoppy]

I am clueless. I am supposed to be getting a new hand held radio that has a lot of capabilities, most of which will be out of my league for now but I can grow into it. It's on backorder so I wait with my fingers crossed. I suppose I could do like was shown above and have a plate with a bunch of options in it but for now I'd just go with what could be made with what I have that would get me started.

What all did you order? Did you pick up an so-239 chassis mount to build an antenna? Even if you didn’t you could probably scrounge enough stuff in the garage to build an antenna to try even if only on receive. Base it on ground plane or j pole. Watch a video or two and build a quick and dirty one. You could solder or nut and bolt/wire nuts. Then you just need a jumper from the radio. I think that was on the list of stuff I sent you. For coax, center is the driven element and the shield is the ground.