hmm.   I have used the radio shack through glass antenna for several years.   two things...


LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION   ok, three things.

results will depend greatly on location and type of glass.


that being said.   I don't believe they last more than a year or two.   I've had great success, but recently I've noticed the SWR going up.  so time to get a new antenna for that radio.

zeb

hmm, I think this tends to be the one place that is most effected by location.

First of all I didn't say I don't want to talk when I say "monitoring."   But I don't want people to ask what I want. I say monitering when I turn on the radio just to let anyone who may have been calling me that I'm now on. I only do this when I turn the radio on after that I'll hear anyone calling me. But there have been countless times where I've said 'monitoring' and then someone comes on and says... "been trying to call you for the past couple hours."

this is the only intent of "monitoring."


I will look in the now your talking book, I think I bought it for my xyl before she took her test.

also in reference to just saying your call sign... many people would ask what you want. normally I say my call if I'm trying to hit a repeater, or if I'm wanting to jump into qso. other than that I mean what I say.

any reason you didn't include 6meters? techs have full privledges at 50mhz and I would think at that distance it would be fairly easy?

kd7evs

As some of you know I am writing a repeater guide. if you don't know this see the post entitled "guide to repeaters" if you have any suggestions for it please post them on that thread or e-mail me.

I have a question that stems from a couple comments I got through that thread. the comments were regarding one saying they are monitering, or listening.   here is what I said in reply

---
When I turn on a radio and tune to a repeater, after listening for a while and no activity or during a break in activity... I'll say "KD7EVS Monitoring." From my experience this is real common. However some hams expect someone to reply to them.

When I say that I'm listening or monitering I do not expect (and sometimes don't want anyone to reply - I'll explain in a sec.) The reason I say I'm monitoring is just that to let everyone know I'm on. I have no idea if people have been calling me, or if someone is looking for me, or if someone that needs help is on and been trying to raise someone. So "I'm monitering" if someone has specific traffic for me they are welcome to reply, if they want to ragchew, great. But I don't expect someone to reply. and when someone else says they are monitering I don't always reply, unless I have something to say to that person or if I'm up for a ragchew.

If I want someone to reply, say I need local info, or something else then I'll in plain english say so; i.e. " 'anyone on this repeater provide some information?, KD7EVS"

What I don't usually like is when I say I'm monitering and someone replies with "go ahead KD7EVS." I appreciate the helpful attitude, but I just said I was there, I didn't say I had something to say. I don't mind someone wanting to talk, but replying to a "listening" and expecting that I have something to say can be a bit akward.

any thoughts on this? also related to that I know in some areas calling CQ on a repeater is accepted. whereas some places it's very taboo. any thought's on that?
---

that was my reply but was on the second page and recieved little (none) feedback. so as I wrap this guide up and get ready to publish a rough draft to my website I would like your thoughts on these two related topics.    I would like to make sure my comments on these topics in my guide aren't off base.

as I mentioned I want this to be as helpful and acurate as possible, I have taken experiences from my travels to try and write a guide that's acurate for most of the country.

thanks for replys
zeb
kd7evs

www.zebthepilot.com

Thanks!   I knew I was asking the right people.     I have a laptop that I take everywhere, This will be perfect for me don't need a separate display, more wires and batteries.    although one of these days I'll probably wish I had gotten a regular GPS for hiking but doubt it'll be anytime soon. I'm pretty good with a compass and topo quad. most times I wouldn't mess with a GPS on an extended hike, I tend to be a minimalist. to many emergency supplies and radio equip to add a gps.

thanks again, I believe this is the item I'll be getting

zeb
kd7evs

I have a laptop running AGWPE for packet. it uses the soundcard interface I built, the serial port for PTT.    

Wanting to add APRS to my bag of tricks and don't want to spend the money of a 'real' GPS, would like one that's "faceless" and would plug into my laptop via USB.  and suggestions?    

I guess I could switch PTT to the parallel port freeing serial for GPS. and suggestions for fairly cheap faceless GPSes?

zeb

I do want to make one note. Someone mentioned this and I want to express my opinion and get feedback.

When I turn on a radio and tune to a repeater, after listening for a while and no activity or a break in activity... I'll say "KD7EVS Monitering," now from my experience this is real common. However some hams expect someone to reply to them. When I say that I'm listening or monitering I do not expect (and sometimes don't want anyone to reply - I'll explain in a sec.) The reason I say I'm monitering is just that to let everyone know I'm on. I have no idea if people have been calling me, or if someone is looking for me, or if someone that needs help is on and been trying to raise someone. So "I'm monitering"  if someone has specific traffic for me they are welcome to reply, if they want to ragchew, great. But I don't expect someone to reply. and when someone else says they are monitering I don't always reply, unless I have something to say to that person or if I'm up for a ragchew.

If I want someone to reply, say I need local info, or something else then I'll in plain english say so.i.e. "anyone on this repeater provide some information?, KD7EVS"

What I don't usually like is when I say I'm monitering and someone replies with "go ahead KD7EVS."   I appreciate the helpful attitude but I just said I was there. like I said I don't mind someone wanting to talk, but replying to a "listening" and expecting that I have something to say can be a bit akward.

any thoughts on this? also I know in some areas calling CQ on a repeater is accepted. whereas some places it's very taboo. any thought's on that?

zeb
kd7evs
zebthepilot.com

Thank you all for the comments so far. a couple of you did mention things that were on my list. others have reinforced some of my pet peeves.

Ya know kinda off the subject of repeater use but more toward function... I've always wondered why 90% of repeaters that require a CTCSS tone are on a 100 tone. Beyond that I wish more repeaters would encode a tone on transmit so we could use tone squelch on our end. I understand repeaters that don't have it, but I've run across several repeaters in my days that had the capability but it just wasn't turned on.

I'll keep checking back as I continue to put this together, I hope it does help.

73
KD7EVS

Greetings all!

After many years of listening to people on repeaters, both government systems and ham radio, I have decided to write a brief but detailed guide to using repeaters in this case ham repeaters but taking experiences from non ham repeater usage.

Although I have made several pages of notes over the last two months I would like to open my notebook to the users of this forum.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR.
I'm looking for your 'pet peeves' of ham repeater usage; also Looking for specific stories of where hams have interfered with communications because of something they have done (don't name names); looking for tips you'd like to pass on to others. Basicly anything that deals with repeater usage that you'd like to pass on.

I will post the document at my website http://www.zebthepilot.com it'll be free to redistribute in any way possible. Not that I could make money, but even if I could I want repeater usage to improve so feel free to post it on your site, e-mail it to friends and recommend it to others.

two of my biggest pet peeves are: 1) not listening for an active converstion, just turning the radio on and transmitting. 2) using the word 'break' to jump into an active QSO.

I will list call signs at the end of the document of those I have taken tips or parts of stories.

thanks in advance.
zeb palmer
KD7EVS

Oh I don't know...    well first let me say the reason I asked about sstv is because of the quality of irlp. you could easily put out the tuning ton for one to two seconds to bring up all the links before transmitting. also I wasn't thinking the HF type of SSTV there are "mid speed" scan modes.

that being said... to that one idiot that said: "you and your little buddies" I own two repeaters. one is used for emergency disaster operations. the other is a 40w 2m repeater with phone patch, emergency power, tone encode and decode.

now to everyone about that guy and others like him. As someone else said ham radio was built on experimentation.
grow up and act mature! you could have just as easily replied: "I'd get permission first to use it on someone elses repeater, that kind of use might not be good for a repeater"   that's the only thing useful you said. the rest you were just blabbering.

Another recent post I made got some bad replys... cause I used the word VHF in the same post as talking about HF... go figure. I was called a "fool"

Ham radio does have a problem. it tends to be the older people who were extra before the testing scheme changed. now I know some people who are so old they can barely move the CW key, but they experiment, they encourage it they promote ham radio and they are the poster "elmers" of ham radio.    then there are those of you who may not even be that old but think that anyone who transmits with anything less than an original extra ticket is hurting ham radio.

I'm taking my CW test this weekend. I've never had an HF radio... nor have I had the interest to use it. but recently I have. so I'm taking my test then I'm going to build a QRP CW rig for 40M.   Ham radio was also built by people homebrewing their radios... how many of you old farts that crticize me built your radio?

The Saving Grace?


There is light at the end of the tunned for ham radio. Since most of the old farts that complain about us not being "real" hams are indeed old.  They will die sooner than us. I will hate to see some of of the true elmers go. I really will the "real" elmers are the reason ham radio is still growing. but the old farts that gripe and complain will die eventually and those of us who know what it was like to be called "little buddies" will shape ham radio into what it should be... a great equalizer, a place where everyone who takes the time to pass a basic test will be welcome a place to learn radio and to be encouraged to continue learning radio. A place where a tech ham on the 2m repeater is a friend in the eyes of (then) us old fellows down on HF still pounding the brass.     We can tell them about the elmers before us and we can tell them about the OFs to keep them from being future OFs. we can tell them about the day we took the CW test and were so happy we passed we couldn't build that HF CW rig fast enough.

There is light at the end of the tunnel.

I want to thank those Elmers that got me into radio and will be among the first CW contacts I make.

Thanks to all "REAL" Elmers.

Just throwing a question out for thought and comment.  hopefully won't stir up any debates about IRLP in the process.

I've gone from voice only to voice and CW, SSTV, packet, psk and APRS in the past month or two.  and well I still don't quite know all I should know about using packet. (as I'm sure some local hams might mention)

I had a thought.  I know some people have been doing SSTV (and other VHF alternate modes) over VHF FM simplex but I've never heard anyone do it on secondary repeaters, or linked systems.  My thought was IRLP. where non-primary repeaters or simplex radios were linked to IRLP. Has anyone used IRLP or other linked radios for scheduled SSTV or PSK etc...   Just wondering, and trying to figure ways to use my VHF radios more while I wait on my first HF radio (from small wonders lab) and the 5WPM test.  

thanks for any thoughts or info.


P.S. Don't reply with all the ways you could send pictures over the internet without a radio. I'm asking a question not saying anything about IRLP internet radio or such. The opinons expressed here are not those... oh wait there aren't any. hi hi

Well I think eham shouldn't allow me to make a post between 2am and 6am.    I did figure out how to trigger the transmit. I had just seen a post somewhere else that said some stuff and made me think twice.   but the interfaces for this radio are the same as a couple other radios. and a check of those radios shows that grounding the ptt pin is all that's needed.    which is indeed what I suspected earlier but because of a post on another forum I was confused.


now I'm in search of a connecter to wire up.

thanks
zeb
kd7evs

So I'm finally going with modes other than voice and cw.

I built a soundcard interface for my VX-1R to use with AGW compatible programs. as well as MMSSTV etc...

it works!

well I need to upgrade from the VX-1r to my mobile. (which is currently inside on a PS)

the radio is the infamous ADI AR-147+  a few of you have seen my other posts and while alot of people have had trouble with this rig I've had minimal problems.

I want to build an interface for the ar147 it has an 8pin mic connector. and I can manage the audio connections but I need help with the PTT. on the vx-1r both the audio and ptt are on the same line.

what I need to know is how to trigger the PTT on the ar147. I can make the iterface work I just need to know what the radio looks for to transmit.

any help would be great.

zeb
kd7evs
 

Just DON'T FORGET TO PUT THE SCREW-ON SHELL ON THE COAX BEFORE SOLDERING THE CENTER ASSEMBLY ON!!!
-oh and pointing the right direction too

I can't count the number of times I took my time to do a good job and solder the center and braid then went to plug the connector into the antenna/tuner/radio and went to pull up the screw on shell and realize that the shell is laying on the workbench.

we all have done it. also it's a good idea to test the connector for a short. just take an ohm meter and test for conductivity from the center conductor to the outside.   it should be an open circut there should be no conductivity.      radios usually don't like it when you transmit into a connector that has a little piece of braid stuck between outside and center.

Zeb
kd7evs

Ok so I'm new to non-voice ham radio communication... taking CW test in a week and a half and will be on 40M CW soon. Other than that I'm wanting to expand my horizions in the VHF area. I'm wanting to get into packet/psk31.   I've got all the programs on my computer to do soundcard to radio, just waiting on a connector to finish off the interface to my radios.   what I'm wanting to find out is this... action in the VHF band what transmission is it? FM? SSB?
As of right now all my VHF radios are FM I don't (yet) have ssb on VHF so am I in the dark till I have SSB?

Any info/advice would be great

73
kd7evs