Digital voice has been made available in some VHF/UHF Radios and I have noticed that there are some experiments being conducted on HF with Digital Voice.

I am trying to find out if there are any Kits available for the Vocoder technology that can be added on to existing equipment.  Anyone out there have any information?

Thanks,

Randy

Congratulations! and Welcome to the Hobby!!!!

Not knowing how familiar you are with Amateur radio (and your interests) or your budget constraints, it is hard to give you a difinitive answer. I did notice that you have a Technician license so your operating priviledges will be limited to 50MHZ and above until you upgrade (unless you have successfully completed the code test).

Most people start out on 2 Meter FM. This provides probably the least expensive equipment (compared to the other bands) and no matter where you go in the U.S. you will almost always be in range of a repeater. Beware of some 2 meter HT's. Some of these are designed for small size and features but have a very limited power output (i.e. 200mw). With one of these you may find it hard to be in range of a repeater unless you are in a well populated area.

If you have the money you may want to invest in a dual band rig.  2m/440 is probably the most common. There are even  quad band rigs now covering 6m/2m/220 and 440 or substitute one of the other for 1.2Ghz.

If you are more of a DX type of person then the equipment will become more expensive but probably the most popular band in this range is 50MHZ (6meter) followed by 2M and up. They are more expensive because they incorporate SSB Modulation.  This feature is more expensive to incorporate into a transceiver than FM and hence... a much higher cost.  You could probably pick a used piece of equipment at a reasonable cost.

Well... this is just a small blurb and there is a lot more to know... but I hope that this at least gives you an idea of where you would like to start.

Good Luck!

Randy

That is a good question Lloyd.  I would like to know the answer to that also.  The only thing that I can think of is the fact that Rechargable batteries have an output of about 1.2V instead of the normal 1.5V for AlKaline.  That is .3V per cell and if you have 4 Cells that would come out to 4.6V instead of 6V for the Akaline.

Normally HT's have a wide operating range.  I know that my HT comes with a Alkaline battery pack which will hold 6 cells (7.2 Volt Rechargable or 9 Volt Alkaline) and there are also 7.2 Volt Rechargable packs made for the HT.

So I will wait with you to hear the answer from someone else.  Nice Question!

Randy

When you say base loaded I am not sure if you are talking about a Base or Mobile antenna.  But one thing is for sure... you will need to increase the length of the radiating element. Being that it is a Base loaded type I can't say for sure how much as it would depend on how much loading was taking place... but it could be anywhere up to about 2 inches that you would need to increase the length to become resonant at 146 MHZ.

I am not saying that it will be impossible to tune... but you may have some difficulty... at the least.

Good Luck!

Randy

Sounds like a CB Callsign.  In the early 70's I was a licensed CB'er and had the callsign KHR1629.  It wasn't until the late 70's that the FCC removed the Callsign requirement.

Randy

Charleston Heights Amateur Operating Society that is in Orangeburg, SC.   Just wondered if the club still existed if anyone knows!

Randy

I studied Morse Code when I was a Radioman in the Navy. Most of the code that I copied was in the form of "5 letter Code Groups". I was able to achieve a rate of 30 WPM and that appeared to be the barrier for me. (I was required to copy/send 21/18 WPM) Please keep in mind that a Typewriter was used for recording and not a pencil.

Although I was never able to copy "Words", by copying individual characters I was able achieve modest code rates. Don't give up... with enough study and practice I am sure that it will come to you.

Randy

Darrin had a lot of good information and I would just like to add to it.

When you think of an individual Tube or Transistor Amplifier (which is what makes up a power amplifier) the operating class is determined by the amount of time that the Transistor or Tube is conducting. The point at which it stops conducting is called the Cutoff. If a devices conducts 100 percent of the time it is generally considered a Class "A" amplifier. An amplifying device that conducts 50 percent of the time would be a Class "B" amplifier... and so on.

One type of Linear Amplifier is a Class "B" Push-Pull amplifier. This type of amplifier combines 2 separate Tubes or Transitors. While one is conducting there other is not and vice versa.  This way you can get a linear (Class "A") output using two Class "B" devices.

The advantage of using Class "B" devices is that they are more efficient that Class "A" devices and require less power to provide a specified output power level. Class "C" amplifiers have the highest effenciency, however they suffer from distortion.

I hope that this helps a little more.

Randy

Usually power is rated in three different formats (Peak to Peak, RMS and Average).  Here are the formulas for coverting between the three:

Vp   = Vpp/2      = sqrt(2)*Vrms  = pi*Vav/2
     Vpp  = 2*Vp       = Vrms/sqrt(  = Vav/pi
     Vrms = Vp/sqrt(2) = 2*sqrt(2)*Vpp = pi*Vav/sqrt(
     Vav  = 2*Vp/pi    = Vpp/pi        = sqrt(*Vrms/pi

where Vp      = Peak voltage
      Vpp     = Peak-to-peak voltage
      Vrms    = rms voltage ("effective voltage")
      Vav     = average voltage
      pi      = approx. 3.14159...
      sqrt(2) = square root of 2 (approx. 1.41421...)
      sqrt( = square root of 2 (approx. 2.82843...) = 2*sqrt(2)

Generally I would suggest that you would use the RMS power rating if you are using an AM Carrier. This would come out to approx 176 Watts for your application.

Hope this helps.

Actually, My understanding is that Tropo "Ducting" and "Propagation Enhancement" on 2 meters are two different things. I have taken a look and found the following websites with some information on NDT (Non-Ducting Trop):
http://www.quercus.demon.co.uk/tropo.html

How do you tell if it is Ducting or not:
http://www.quercus.demon.co.uk/ducts.html

I am actually a little closer to the Pocono's in NW NJ and as I said... in the past 2 years I have not experienced any Tropo or Enhanced conditions on 2M FM.  Not to say it has not happened, however I was just looking to find more information on when I could possibly find some openings. I have my radio on every morning when I travel to work and on my way home also.  This is normally when I experienced it at my other locations in the past.

Thanks for all of your comments and I look forward to any more that you may have.

Randy

I have found working the Extended mode of Propagation on 2 Meter FM at the very least..."Intriguing". Being able to work repeaters over 150 miles away on a handheld with less than 1 watt and a stubby antenna is fascinating.

I have experienced this phenomenon while in South Carolina (fairly often) and while in Connecticut (Working stations into Canada and New Foundland). However, I have since moved to New Jersey (Northwest NJ) and have yet to experience this mode of propagation once. I always thought that this mode was influenced by weather events and noticed that it normally occurred in the early morning and in the late evening. Also it appears that there are seasonal variations (I believe that the best being in the spring and fall).

I am just asking for any additional information regarding this propagation mode and any experience that anyone else may have (especially for the NJ Area). Are there any methods that can be used to predict this type of event and are there any web sites out there that offer propagation information for this mode?

Thanks in advance,

Randy