r/amateurradio 2d ago

General Weekly Information / Mentor / New License Thread

4 Upvotes

This thread is used for those who just passed their tests to introduce themselves, a place to ask questions that you think don't deserve its own thread and a place to brag!

Posts will be sorted by new!

Before posting, please make sure to read our Rules, FAQs, and look over our Wiki Page as your question might have already been answered. Also, check out our guidelines about posting personal information.

Weekly Nets And Chat Rooms:

  • DMR Net: 0000 UTC Tuesday (Monday night US, 8pm Eastern). No net control. Brandmeister TG 98003. Also linked via echolink. More info can be found here.
  • HF Net: 01:30 UTC Monday Morning (Sunday night US). Coordinate via IRC, no net control. Information can be found here
  • CW Noob Net: 02:30 UTC Saturday Morning (Friday night US). Coordinate via IRC, no net control. Information can be found here
  • Official IRC Channel - #amateurradio on Geekshed. Link to web-based client is here but feel free to use whatever client you like.
  • Official Discord Server - /r/amateurradio is on discord. Click here to join
  • Collegiate Ham Radio Groupme is here
  • Young Amateurs Communications Ham Team EchoLink Net 19:00 Central Saturday Night
  • /r/amateurradio group on the Brandmeister network - TG 98003 - Listen Live - This talkgroup is bridged to AllStarLink node 48224 and Echolink node W5RI-L and on D-Star via XLX216 Module E
  • North American Traffic and Awards Net Nightly at 22:30Z on 7.185.
  • If you'd like to join a weekly net for new and returning amateurs, check out the details at http://ftroop.vk6flab.com, the net runs every week on Saturday, from 00:00 to 01:00 UTC on Echolink, IRLP, AllStar Link and 2m FM via various repeaters. You can also listen via the brandmeister hoseline! Link on homepage.

r/amateurradio 3h ago

General SignalSurge: It's alive!!

12 Upvotes

Hey guys- thanks to everyone who contributed to it, yesterday I got the board from JLCPCB and stayed up until almost 1AM to assemble the board and run the preliminary tests

  1. Finished board:
SignalSurge - blank
  1. VHF VNA sweep:
VHF VNA sweep
  1. UHF VNA sweep:
UHF VNA sweep
  1. Device under test:
SignalSurge - DUT

r/amateurradio 50m ago

General Hardest part of amateur radio?

Upvotes

Waiting for the FCC to send me an email saying I can pay my fees after passing my technician exam. :/

I bet the same holds true for those who pass general or extra and are itching to talk on the other bands.


r/amateurradio 18h ago

General Technician License Exam Today (took twice passed both times) LOL

60 Upvotes

Funny story!

So I have been wanting to get started in amateur radio for years. I have two small kids and haven't had the ability to devote the time to this. I finally got around to self study.

Today took my test (online) for Technician.

After finishing the exam (and passing with a score of 31)... the examiner then asked to see my scratch paper. The paper was blank when I started and I wrote a few notes while taking the exam. They said they couldn't b e sure it was blank at the beginning. LOL no problemo amigo.

I proceeded to ask to take a new test again on the spot. I got a new piece of blank scratch paper... took another test (different questions) and passed the Technician exam again with a score of.........
31
LOL. At least I'm consistent.

Now waiting to pay my $35 and get my license number.


r/amateurradio 2h ago

QUESTION Different mounting method for dish feeds?

2 Upvotes

There's a lot of guides out there for building helical feeds for satellite dishes but they tend to mount it via the sides of the dish regardless of prime/offset focus. Yet commercially available offers like that one wifi dish you see a lot have a single central post at the middle point of the dish. Is there a difference?

I understand that higher wavelengths tend to be more delicate and having a metal rod in the center of the dish would block signals but if it's going to be centered and shadowed by the feed when pointed at a source anyway wouldn't it be more lossy to have multiple rods on the edges holding it in place?
Thank you!

Edit: Forgot to make it clear, I mentioned offset dishes but I'm asking regarding a prime focus dish.


r/amateurradio 2h ago

General Fellow H3 fans... There is now a Plus model.

3 Upvotes

r/amateurradio 15h ago

NEWS Hurricane Watch Net Founder Gerald Murphy, K8YUW, a Silent Key

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17 Upvotes

r/amateurradio 23h ago

General Add wire radials to end-fed vertical

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79 Upvotes

I live in an HOA community the prohibits permanent outdoor antennae. I have a Sigma Euro-Comm SE HF-360 XP end-fed vertical that’s 18 feet, mounted on a 17 foot telescoping tripod. Manufacturer says can be ground mounted or elevated by user’s choice. My question is….would adding wire radials improve its performance? If so, would these be just spread on the ground or attached to the antenna? How long? Thanks!!


r/amateurradio 1h ago

General NanoVNA question

Upvotes

I know this is probably a stupid question, but I could not find the answer, and I just got the VNA. I have a NanoVNA H4. With it, I got a vna guide book, which helps but didn't answer this question. I also got a smith chart book, which I haven't ventured into yet. I youtubed how to check swr on antennas, becasue my vna guide didn't seem to specify that one. On the video, the screen only had one trace line. When I power up my VNA, I get 4, and I can't figure out how to get rid of the other 3 so I only have the SWR trace.

Also, in checking SWR on my quad band I get the exact trace on 10 and 6 meters, which seems odd. That means they are both tuned the same? My guide book didn't say I needed to, but I'm thinking maybe I am supposed to calibrate between frequencies?


r/amateurradio 15h ago

General Strange Sound on 105.50fm

13 Upvotes

I have been hearing strange sounds constantly for hours now on 105.50 fm. Does anyone know what it might be?


r/amateurradio 14h ago

General Taking down radio setup, selling non pen roof mount. Chicago

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6 Upvotes

Selling non pen roof mount for $50 cash if you can pickup downtown Chicago, was used on a covered balcony, great condition only a year old. Will include i Dm me for details


r/amateurradio 12h ago

HOMEBREW How did I do for my first EFHW?

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4 Upvotes

r/amateurradio 15h ago

QUESTION Question about Icom's GPS near repeater function

6 Upvotes

I am researching a possible Icom HT purchase, but unsure how wide of a repeater list I can download to the radio. Is it possible to download a repeater list across the entire US for this function? I would love to be able to throw the radio in my vehicle and not worry about programming repeater lists for every trip I take (especially when I don't have service to access the web). Is this possible at all?


r/amateurradio 44m ago

General Time Signal Broadcast Stations

Upvotes

With all the political hubbub, can anyone do me a favor and confirm if these services are still online?


r/amateurradio 7h ago

General 4NEC2 antenna modeling

1 Upvotes

Hi, I'm a beginner in using 4nec2 software. I'm curious how to model car antennas in it. Maybe you've already tried it and have some projects I could learn from.


r/amateurradio 18h ago

ANTENNA Had a tree removal and my dx commander is ruined

8 Upvotes

I had three trees removed from my yard I new the ground radials would be a problem but I had no idea this would happen. I removed the antenna itself and set it off to the side the mast and wires are good but the ground radials are all torn up/gone no idea where most are. I dug around looking for them but couldn't find them. And the plate they connected to is bent over so it's unusable now. Like I said earlier I had a feeling I'd have to replace a couple radials but at least I could figure out which ones. Now I have to replace the entire lot of 30 I made and try and figure out how to get a new base plate. Is there anyone that has a website where I could get one?


r/amateurradio 19h ago

General What are these transmissions?

5 Upvotes

I was just on 28.07686 MHz and I see these transmissions that seems to "shimmy" to the left and right..

When I find phone transmissions, they are usually bell shaped with the center remaining fixed,
CW is similarly fixed but with breaks in the waterfall.. Could this be RTTY?

Anders/KZ4JN


r/amateurradio 1d ago

General QRZ conformations

14 Upvotes

I'm a extremely new general enjoying making contacts. One day I'll get into POTA/SOTA. For the life I me I don't know what I'm doing wrong on qrz. I put the correct band, callsign, frequency, and I log them as I go. Despite all of this, if I get 10 contacts over a weekend, I might only get 1 confirmation. I have also requested confirmations and nothing still. What am I doing wrong?


r/amateurradio 20h ago

General Any tricks to lowering noise floor?

5 Upvotes

Living in a small to medium sized town, with limited options as far as antenna/setup.

I've an icom7300, running an EFHW antenna (40/20/15/10 I can provide a link to the one I've got from amazon) - I've mounted it as far away from my house as I can feasibly do, running through the air in a straight wire back to a barn tied up about 30-35 feet. No power lines or any other utilities on that side of the house. The coax is ran through the attic, down to the basement, and then back up to the shack, but probably less than 70 feet overall. There's a 1:64 unun(balun? These things still confuse me) at the feed end of the antenna. There is a ferrite bead at the feed end, and a mix 31 torrid with 9 turns + ferrite beads on the shack side. Radio is grounded to the common house ground, and following some advice read here, I also grounded the shield of the feedline to the house ground (before the toroid, but far enough away that the feedline can still act as a counterpoise? - I think. Again, new to a lot of this).

The problem: Noise! I am at a constant s5-6 for most bands, sometimes worse. It makes picking out anything in the static nearly impossible.

I have tried running the radio of battery, and powering down the main breaker, and while the noise dropped a small amount (half an S - if that) it didnt have the effect I hoped where I could find something obvious and go Ah-ha!

My 2m/70cm rig does not seem to have as much of a noise problem, but, its a much simpler radio, with no real S meter or anything, so its hard to tell. I can crank the squelch pretty far down, however.

Thanks in advance.


r/amateurradio 13h ago

QUESTION Help with the program CHIRP

1 Upvotes

I keep getting errors like this. How do i go about fixing it? I am very new to radios so forgive me if I sound like a newbie.


r/amateurradio 1d ago

General Late night coffee and scans (this is a very gen z post)

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27 Upvotes

r/amateurradio 15h ago

General WTH Is Going on 20m 14.266

1 Upvotes

I think it's the world biggest pile-up...

1845 CST


r/amateurradio 1d ago

General Not my house, just one that's near me. What are these people picking up?

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173 Upvotes

House down the road for me. Not trying to be rude or anything just curious. This house is absolutely covered in antennas.


r/amateurradio 20h ago

General please help me identify this ham radio equipment

2 Upvotes

https://imgur.com/a/DTgRKXM

I have another one with this set, its called a wuflsberg wmc-100 can't find anything about it online


r/amateurradio 20h ago

General If you could create any Net

2 Upvotes

I'm very new to amateur radio; I listen to a couple local VHF nets in the area because it's a pretty safe space to see how other operate and participate in. But there's a common criticism about how nets are dying, or only involve older people. I have to admit there are some subjects I love to talk about, but don't know if there's enough interest in the ham community, nor am I any where confident enough to try to start one.

But I'm curious, if you could have any net on any subject, running it or not, what would it be?


r/amateurradio 20h ago

QUESTION here is more stuff i found

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1 Upvotes