Ham Radio People Metro ATL

[Wheeler]

I agree with Electra_glide_ryder . Learning to work the repeaters is a good way to get some solid practice without the headaches of HF. Using a HT is not quite as limiting as you might think. A good antenna will amaze you at how far out you can send and receive.

If you’re thinking of a base station I’d take a hard look at the Icom IC-705. It’s one of the newer versions of a “shack in a box” and has quite a bit of capability, including firmware updates and bluetooth connectivity.

 

[Leveraction44]

None of that is “wrong”. Amateur radio has endless possibilities, some depend on the grid, some do not. Most VHF repeaters are not grid dependent. Backup generators for them are common. Hams using backup power is also normal. That’s part of it - being able to communicate during a SHTF scenario - weather emergencies, zombies, whatever. My advice (what worked for me) is contact your local club, talk to those members and get a feel for all that is available. I am fortunate to live in an area with a club that is very active. We do various things to practice our radio skills often. A handheld that will hit your local repeater would be a great start. Listen to others, you will learn a lot about what this is all about. An HF rig will give you access to long distance contacts, but may be useless for short range. PM me if you would like to talk about it.

I would guess that many repeaters don't have a backup power system. Those that do probably wouldn't last more than a couple of days unless you could resupply it with fuel. I know none of that first hand. It is just a guess on my part and wouldn't be the first time I had a swing and a miss.

I do like your idea about a local club and maybe starting with a handheld while I gained some experience and learned more of the intricacies. Thanks for the ideas.

 

[Klif]

Actually an HF radio puts out a ground wave that will travel at least a few miles. When in Crete I could detach my antenna and hook up the dummy load and be able to talk on SSB to guys 3 to 5 miles down the road.

We also had local nets on 40 meters (using a half wave dipole) and I talked to a variety of people, one about a half mile from the house and others 15 to 20 miles away and another that was in Athens so HF can still do close by comms. Don't X it out as not usable for short distances.

 

[Wheeler]

Actually an HF radio puts out a ground wave that will travel at least a few miles. When in Crete I could detach my antenna and hook up the dummy load and be able to talk on SSB to guys 3 to 5 miles down the road.
We also had local nets on 40 meters (using a half wave dipole) and I talked to a variety of people, one about a half mile from the house and others 15 to 20 miles away and another that was in Athens so HF can still do close by comms. Don't X it out as not usable for short distances.

6M FTW

 

[mountainmoped]

I use a home made NVIS antenna about 5 feet off the ground on 40 meters to communicate out to about 500 miles, Antenna cost was about two dollars for the coax connector. The wire for the NVIS dipole was found at a garage sale for 50cents.

 

[Old_School]

I use a home made NVIS antenna about 5 feet off the ground on 40 meters to communicate out to about 500 miles, Antenna cost was about two dollars for the coax connector. The wire for the NVIS dipole was found at a garage sale for 50cents.

I've done that before. Actually cut a piece of wire to be resonant as a 1/4 wave on 40m and put a terminal on the end so I could attach it to the hamstick mount on my truck. When camping, I'd stretch it straight out to a tree and use it as a quick and dirty NVIS. Could work several hundred miles most evenings.

Sent from my SM-G781U1 using Tapatalk

 

[mountainmoped]

NVIS antennas are sometimes called cloud warmers as most of the signal goes up at a high angle and comes down at a high angle, covering a relatively small area around the transmitter. It is often used for emergency communications when repeater coverage isn't available. Angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence.

 

[Electra_glide_ryder]

I’ve not had much luck with NVIS. Our club has a monthly 10 meter net. I can talk with a couple of stations within a few miles of me, but never been able to communicate with net control which is about 12 miles away. I can’t hear them, they can’t hear me. I’ve tried my 10 meter half wave dipole at multiple heights with similar results. Even dropped it all the way to the ground once. I’m not disputing the usage, just I don’t seem to be very good at it. I mostly use HF as long range, VHF for short range - both through a repeater and simplex. I have an 80 watt 2 meter rig that can work simplex stations about 25 miles away.

 

[Wheeler]

I’ve not had much luck with NVIS. Our club has a monthly 10 meter net. I can talk with a couple of stations within a few miles of me, but never been able to communicate with net control which is about 12 miles away. I can’t hear them, they can’t hear me. I’ve tried my 10 meter half wave dipole at multiple heights with similar results. Even dropped it all the way to the ground once. I’m not disputing the usage, just I don’t seem to be very good at it. I mostly use HF as long range, VHF for short range - both through a repeater and simplex. I have an 80 watt 2 meter rig that can work simplex stations about 25 miles away.

There is an entirely different set of math to calculate how to properly deploy a NVIS antenna. NVIS is really more suitable for regional comms than local as best I understand it. You might have better luck setting up your dipole as an Inverted V for comms at 10 miles.

 

[mountainmoped]

Most of time 10 meters is above the MUF so with an NVIS just radiates out into space without reflecting back to Earth. 40 or 75 meters are where NVIS works well.