Who else thinks ham radio is annoying

Originally posted by schuyler

Originally posted by Rocketman7
What do you think of that setup? Just skip the Ham radio and let other people do that and listen in with the BC72XLT hand held scanner. It picks up ham radio.

Your assuming there will be something to listen to. Everyone has a different concept of what SHTF actually means.

Let me put it this way......

I am a card-carrying volunteer member of my local county's "disaster response team." I've been background checked and that little card with my picture on it will get me into the local CENCOM building during a disaster so that I can 'help coordinate' whatever the hell it is we're supposed to be doing.

Now, if there were a real disaster, a SHTF disaster that was widespread, I figure I won't be going to CENCOM. I figure I'll be home helping to protect my family. I'm guessing the cop that lives next door will be home, too, and that together we may be able to keep our act together. I'm not bugging out anywhere into unknown territory; I'm staying here.

You have to pick the equipment that will keep you as well informed as you want to be. Your list is an interesting one, but it is likely to be different than mine. If I live in Colorado, a marine radio is of little use to me. The HAM gear is set to an international standard and caopable of very long distances. It's an integral part, but not the only part of my approach.

Initially you were discussing how annoying it was. I think we'be both moved beyond that initial declaration to an understanding that a lot of this stuff, including HAM radio can prove very valuable.

Well I agree with you that communications is valuable in an emergency. Critical in fact. I am trying to avoid spending a thousand dollars only to find out I bought the wrong setup.

This is week two of me looking at this stuff in earnest and did you know that just today, I found out about APCO -25 and that a ham radio I would have bought last week, wouldn't even pick up local emergency activity.
The new system. And I only discovered that by looking at scanners. Ham radio told me nothing about APCO-25

And then I also fond out today about D-STAR that I was looking for that type of communications but I find out it is not robust enough to survive a disaster.

Well I read the book One Second After recently and I know what you mean about maybe people staying home to look after their own.

Now you probably spent years and years on ham radio and know all the stuff to do and can sort all that out.

For a novice like me, it probably isn't worth while because it just ends up being too confusing.

If you look at that Home Patrol One you are up and running right away with nothing except plug it in and enter your zip code. Plug and play.

Idiot proof. You know, picture me, in a car, at night, with the squelch squelching on my ham radio, shouting into the thing DO YOU COPY??? What button is it that makes this thing go dammit! right?
I would not know my cx from my px or even know where to start to find the police band that I can't receive anyway because it is now APCO-25

You know where I am at now because i have just kept at it. A 99 dollar high speed bridge for the home base that allows you to log on to your home computer within 40 km.
That Home Patrol One, so I know whats going on around me, you know, fire police rescue etc. With a push of the button, I can manage that. The hand held scanner for when I am running down the road and don't want to carry everything with me.

And some type of walkie talkies or mobile radios or something like maybe a couple Wouxuns but I just want them for walkie talkies basically. I am prepared to spend maybe 6 or 7 hundred dollars but I when I am done, I want it to do what it is supposed to do.
I think I am getting close now. Not just one radio. But several pieces of equipment.

So because you almost bought something without knowing what you were buying; it's"annoying"
Typical ATS thread...

Emergency(services) communications are usually VHF bands not HF (ham)... Because you don't want your local fire or police picked up 250 miles away walking all over another towns emergency communications net.

Originally posted by Freezer
reply to post by Rocketman7

 

When cellphones fail, ham radio will still work. It also offers the ability to talk to people around the world for free, without wires. But I guess since ham radios don't have a iphone surveillance cam, email, or tweeting ability not many are interested.

I've thought about that too. I've actually been looking into going to a local meeting and getting more info. When I was in high school a friend's family was into the ham radio. I got to go with her one time to a small convention and it was a lot of fun. I think it would be a fun hobby but rather expensive.
However if the S does ever indeed HTF it seems like a good item to have on hand.

reply to post by Rocketman7


It's the same reason I bought a 4 track cassette player. Maybe it's for nostalgia, to bring us closer to a time in our lives that we really enjoyed. It doesn't matter how complicated or pointless something may seem, people still can find some kind of joy in using it. Thee phrase "one man's trash is another man's treasure" comes to mind.

reply to post by Rocketman7

The local ham club recently rebuilt the repeater improving range, adding an auto-patch so ham's can access the standard telephone network, speed dials to 911 and other emergency services, and a large battery backup capable of keeping the repeater online for a few days. If the power outage runs longer small generators can be brought in to keep the system operating. Here in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, cell phones are usually useless only a short distance outside our widely spaced towns. Just in the last 12 months, I have relayed three ham radio emergency calls to the local sheriff and fire crews; ham radio cut emergency services response time by at least 1 hour and possibly several hours.

If you clip that 2 meter radio to your belt you are correct, you can expect just a few miles of range. That's why ham's revert to "Statue of Liberty" mode with a detachable microphone and the radio high above your head. With this operating mode, I can routinely reach repeater services from 30 miles away on just a few watts. Using a 1 or 2 director yagi antenna with this same small radio allows me to cover the same 30 mile distance on just 0.3 watts. Using the dual band radio in my truck I can cross link between my hand held radio and the repeaters. For example, I use the 70 cm band to link the hand held and truck and the 2 meter band to link the truck to the repeater. This method allows me to obtain a rock solid, no noise, link between my hand held and the repeater while keeping battery drain low and usually avoiding the need for "Statue of Liberty" mode.

I use my ham radios for science, for emergencies, for family (everyone holds a license), and for the fun of contacting another operator half way around the world. Even with cell phones everywhere, I still marvel at chatting with someone from New Zealand using an IRLP (Internet Radio Linking Project) link as I ride my bicycle around town while everyone watches my GPS location change over the internet through ARPS (Automatic Packet Reporting System).

Best regards,
Z

reply to post by Rocketman7

reply to post by Rocketman7


That's a very nice scanner you chose. Like I said, those are in the $500 range. For the deluxe model of that scanner you'll pay $600. I plugged in my zip on the link you provided and instantly got my few frequencies, which are already in my $89 Bearcat (same company: Uniden)

The unit can pick up some Ham bands, but to do so you may have to mess with antennas. That little stick that comes with it is inadequate to cover the full range of frequencies. Also, you have no talk-back capability. You have a receive-only unit. That's just fine of that's what you want to do. Any Ham would consider that unit a very nice addition to his array of communications gear.

Originally posted by schuyler
reply to post by Rocketman7

 

That's a very nice scanner you chose. Like I said, those are in the $500 range. For the deluxe model of that scanner you'll pay $600. I plugged in my zip on the link you provided and instantly got my few frequencies, which are already in my $89 Bearcat (same company: Uniden)

The unit can pick up some Ham bands, but to do so you may have to mess with antennas. That little stick that comes with it is inadequate to cover the full range of frequencies. Also, you have no talk-back capability. You have a receive-only unit. That's just fine of that's what you want to do. Any Ham would consider that unit a very nice addition to his array of communications gear.

Well I guess I must be learning something because I ordered that Home Patrol 1 today, with a better antenna, a Diamond SRH789 HT ANT 95-1100 TELSCOPIC SMA for it, and I thought well what if TSHTF and I hear something and I do need to reply? So I bought a Wouxun KG-UVD1P/4 HT 2M/440 for 100 bucks with a few accessories, battery case for it to use triple A's, programming cable, and a better antenna for it a DIAMOND SRH77CA HT ANT 2M/440 SMA.

The funny thing about wouxun is they have a male sma so I needed a female sma antenna and they have that at Universal Radio where I bought everything, but I thought well I will just get the regular male sma antenna and a female female sma coupler this way I can use that antenna for other radios if I want.

So total cost $700 I didn't get the GPS for the Home Patrol yet because it was 30 bucks more than at Amazon, so I will just order that separately. The scanner and radio should here by next Thursday.

I will still get a couple of mobile radios on the family/GMRS band when I get the GPS plug in from Amazon, I will buy a couple of these as well and toss em in the bug out bag.

There's another 150 bucks. But at least I figure I got something for the money.
Good scanner that has trunking and APCO and is easy to use, a popular almost disposable VHF/UHF Wouxun to learn on, two good antennas for them, and a couple good waterproof walkie talkies.

Anything else you think would be an essential that I might need?

Originally posted by DrZrD
reply to post by Rocketman7

 

The local ham club recently rebuilt the repeater improving range, adding an auto-patch so ham's can access the standard telephone network, speed dials to 911 and other emergency services, and a large battery backup capable of keeping the repeater online for a few days. If the power outage runs longer small generators can be brought in to keep the system operating. Here in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, cell phones are usually useless only a short distance outside our widely spaced towns. Just in the last 12 months, I have relayed three ham radio emergency calls to the local sheriff and fire crews; ham radio cut emergency services response time by at least 1 hour and possibly several hours.

If you clip that 2 meter radio to your belt you are correct, you can expect just a few miles of range. That's why ham's revert to "Statue of Liberty" mode with a detachable microphone and the radio high above your head. With this operating mode, I can routinely reach repeater services from 30 miles away on just a few watts. Using a 1 or 2 director yagi antenna with this same small radio allows me to cover the same 30 mile distance on just 0.3 watts. Using the dual band radio in my truck I can cross link between my hand held radio and the repeaters. For example, I use the 70 cm band to link the hand held and truck and the 2 meter band to link the truck to the repeater. This method allows me to obtain a rock solid, no noise, link between my hand held and the repeater while keeping battery drain low and usually avoiding the need for "Statue of Liberty" mode.

I use my ham radios for science, for emergencies, for family (everyone holds a license), and for the fun of contacting another operator half way around the world. Even with cell phones everywhere, I still marvel at chatting with someone from New Zealand using an IRLP (Internet Radio Linking Project) link as I ride my bicycle around town while everyone watches my GPS location change over the internet through ARPS (Automatic Packet Reporting System).

Best regards,
Z

edit on 10/15/2011 by DrZrD because: corrected spelling/grammar

Thats interesting. There's a lot you can do to maximize distance and minimize power consumption by the sounds of it.

You know that even in the worst case scenario, in a city, if TSHTF there are so many cars, there will be so many batteries.and they will have power and be charged by running the motor, and ham radio will always be there I am sure. And if they can't get a generator to work for a repeater, well someone will put it in a camper or get some solar panels or wind power or something since that form of communication will be important to get real news as opposed to for consumption stories to keep the people from panicking. Nothing like getting the news from close to the source if you can get it.

Well its a new hobby for me, and I have a long way to go, but at least with the scanner I only have to listen.
Thats easy to do.

Ham radio is great! An interesting hobby that can be enjoyed for a surprisingly little amount of cash.

As for static and so on, that's all part of the charm and almost "romance" of radio.

When I was growing up I was always of a slightly nerdy nature, and one of my favourite toys was an old shortwave radio. I used to spend hours with my headphones on, the room lit by the illumination of this little valve set, tuning around listening to all these exotic broadcast stations. The whines, static crashes and squeals in the background just added to the atmosphere of it all. Then, I leaned how to make a better antenna. Go to the library, get some books out on the subject and then learn I can receive a lot more, more effectively just by stringing up some wire in the branches of the trees outside. Then, I got a better radio with a BFO for SSB reception and I would hear these people on certain parts of the bands talking to each other.. Magical. And so on.

Part of the charm of radio, for me, is the magic of it. You hang your wire up, no need for fancy expensive towers, beams and so on, and out of thin air, you receive signals from all over the globe. With phones, internet and so on, I can *see* the wires. It's all very clever, but it's not magic the way a piece of wire in the garden is...

If the atmosphere is playing along too, you can make distant contacts with a surprisingly little amount of power. Work the world on a couple of watts on HF, which is the mode I prefer. Playing with repeaters on VHF/UHF FM is a bit boring for me. VHF SSB is more fascinating, and again surprising distances can be had with a horizontally aligned antenna, which only needs to be small for VHF.. I've got a home-made 3 ele beam that sits on a broom pole. Works a treat, as does my 100ft doublet for HF in the garden. All for the price of a length of wire. The fibreglass pole that props up the centre was the most expensive part of that, at £20...

As for the equipment, the stuff I have was not needlessly expensive, and I'm all kitted out for mobile ops cheaply. All you need is wire for a reasonably effective antenna, one of my piecs of kit, an Icom 703 is made for low power consumption and ease of use including a built in ATU so you can get away with an unforgiving antenna setup. It all fits neatly into a rucksack if need be or just in the glovebox of the car with a small mount on the back should I want to play radio whist travelling.

Ramble, ramble ramble.. Horses for courses obviously but for me, at least, I find it a fascinating, fun, enjoyable and nicely harmless hobby.

Originally posted by Lozzo
As for static and so on, that's all part of the charm and almost "romance" of radio.
Ramble, ramble ramble.. Horses for courses obviously but for me, at least, I find it a fascinating, fun, enjoyable and nicely harmless hobby.

I have a Grundig shortwave portable. I am old enough to remember when radios were made of wood too.

With tubes in them. I remember when FM broadcasting came in. Then in stereo! But static was ever present and you never heard the static. When digital music came in, with MP3s that was incredible, no static.

The only thing prior to that I heard clearly was in the library at school one time they had an expensive record player with an expensive set of headphones, and I played Simon and Garfunkel's Sounds of Silence and reached Nirvana. The sound, was right, inside my head! And crystal clear! I have never forgotten it.

Country music for some reason always came in clear on the AM band. My dad always had it on in the car. It was almost a form of punishment when on the new FM stations, they were playing Led Zeppelin.

But you know as I grew older, through the years, whenever there was a power outage, I would take the portable radio, and listen in to old radio stations, and Frank Sinatra, who would have been someone my dad might have listened to, became one of my favorite musical artists, just because of the magic, of something different, during a power outage, and that _feeling that something is different.

The Grundig has a 50 foot wire antenna. I think the only thing now worth listening to on Shortwave is the BBC.
The signal comes and goes.

Another nostalgia for me was whenever I went on a road trip, I tried to pick up the California weirdo stations.

They always had the strangest stations. And played the most bizarre music. And if I couldn't get that, then 50's music. But now that MP3s have become so mainstream and my library is so large, it is all the same. I have heard every song I ever knew a thousand times, and every top 100 since 1950 a thousand times etc.

So now its a scanner I am going to get. I ordered the Home Patrol 1 yesterday. And I did break down and get a Wouxun hand held ham radio too for 100 bucks because I was thinking if I am listening to the scanner when TSHTF and I hear one of my family members on there looking for me, and I couldn't reply?

That would be maddening. That would be like the time I went to San Diego with my best friend in the car, lost him at the bar, I went to the car fell asleep, he went to a party and forgot which bar it was when he woke up. Which was probably in a ditch somewhere so I sat in that parking lot for 3 days and the police were no help in locating him, so I took one last drive down mainstreet and headed back to Canada as I was almost out of money and as I drove down mainstreet, he was there behind the car, running and waving, and shouting and I never heard him.

I should have said annoying instead of maddening.

But yeah that was a road trip. I wasn't worried about him because he had all the money. He had won big in Reno.

We were in the casinos and he was drunk out of his mind, making $100 bets and BLACKJACK! He could not lose. And he was being so obnoxious the pit bosses were following him around angry but couldn't throw out a guy who was winning and making a scene for the enjoyment of others. Then he started to lose, and so I talked him into leaving the tables and going to get something to eat.
He ordered a steak and face planted in it, and I carried him practically to the car and left town. Otherwise he would have lost his winnings to be sure.
He ended up in Mexico with the clap, and gave his last hundred to a cab driver, and got change for a 10.
And didn't know until it was too late.

He phoned home and got a bus ticket and somehow made it to Montreal. We lived in Calgary at the time.

Yeah, those were the days.