Amateur (Ham) Radio BS and Callsign Thread!

I have my GMRS license.

I own a

$18 Baofeng UV5R BAOFENG UV-5R VHF/UHF Dual Band Radio 144-148MHz 420-450MHz Transceiver

Baofeng UV5R and have a non-type certified dash mount HAM that was just delivered today, actually.

I will give no further comments. And understand and cannot disagree with your thoughts about how a simple joe schmo setup with ONE radio is great to have.



When it comes to commercial purposes like logging trucks on MURS, group events like a sponsored trail ride or road race, etc. - the organizers will probably want to see your license and make sure it's all on the up and up. Otherwise, the biggest rule in the world (not just radios) is "don't be a dink" I can give the interpretation and help explain laws and what's allowed and not allowed in writing, that doesn't mean I'll be calling up FCC SWAT


'grats on the HAM! Sorry you had to pay I snuck in my vanity before the costs came in. Should have hammered down and gotten my Extra just because while it was free. Don't intend to do much more than tech, but hey, it was free.

 

Well, even if it isn't "free", it still isn't expensive. The license is still only 1.5

$40 UV-5R 8Watt Ham Radio Handheld Long Range UHF/VHF Radio with 2 Rechargeable Battery, Portable Radio for Adults with Earpiece, GV-771 Antenna, Programming Cable (3rd Gen)

UV-5R's in price and I think we all know that is cheap. $3.50/year is doable even for the fixed income types.

 

I know a lot of banks, and maybe insurance companies were still running a ton of 70s vintage COBOL rolling into Y2k, but those systems are running as terminal-mainframe systems (which are basically obsolete now anyway). As someone who was working in database coding in the 90's and learned some HTML in the early days of the web as well as at one point learning to write raw "postscript" code because of the cost of disc space at that time, the thing that stands out about the FCC site is that it would have been considered poorly designed when most sites were running HTML 1.0, and just because it's possible to muddle through using the thing doesn't mean "it works".

To get my GMRS license, I had to first set up a site login, then verify it (re-login to the home site) from an emailed link; that part is still fairly typical. Then I had to obtain a FCC ID, then "associate" it to my site account (for some reason this required another cycle to the home/login screen from within the active session), then find the appropriate license category (code "ZA" being so intuitive for GMRS, although the info page for GMRS on the FCC site said it was "ZE") with every use of the "back" button then requiring a re-login at the home screen (something commercial sites solved over a decade ago). All told, what should have been possible to complete in 20-30 minutes or less took multiple hours, partly because some of it was spread over a span of 15 months while I waited for the announced fee reduction to take effect but also because of the needlessly cumbersome system.

An intelligently designed system, and one based on a goal of increasing compliance, would have a sole-use site for processing the consumer-only, non-testing license that's "required" for use of a COTS radio; this would allow for the manufacturers to simply include the URL or even QR code in their manuals and anyone buying a GMRS system could get their license as easliy as registering for their warranty. There's no need to force everyone through the exact same system used by paid professionals at radio and TV broadcasting stations to maintain their commercial licensing. After decades of all the "off the shelf" systems being generally CB, FMRS, or 800Mhz (old cordless phone/baby monitor bands) and requiring no license for non-commercial use, the expectation that people buying something like a Midland GMRS unit wouldn't think there's also no required license to start using it once they get home.

My BaoFeng is 8W max, but has 2W and 5W modes. SinceI use it as a "backup" radio, the only time I'd be expecting to be using it for TX would be if I were off-roading in a remote area and had to leave the location of the vehicle in some kind of emergency situation.

The GMRS-only unit that I have doesn't access HAM bands, or even really allow access to the GMRS psectrom off the defined "channels" (unless you count listen-only on the NOAA channels, but there's no frequency-defined tuner inputs). The BaoFeng, being a "dual band" UHF/VHF is also tuneable to any frequency within either band with digital input down to 4 decimals, so it can reach the GMRS channels, but apparently isn't "approved" to use for transmission.

It's probably a coincidence, but Ryan Reynolds and Rob McEheney just made my new GMRS sign fairly asy to remember since it starts with "WRXM". Being able to take that over and also use it on the HAM bands would simplify remembering for me.

 

I tested towards the end of their time slot so I missed out on taking the general for free- but I probably wouldn't have passed anyhow. I really do want to get my general though as a large part of me wanting to use HAM is not for 2m and 70cm for for HF.

Same, also waited for the GMRS price to come down, and oh boy is that site not intuitive. I strait up searched YouTube for a vid and thankfully there was one.

I have found that the antennas that come with 'the radio that shall not be mentioned' are not that broad in range, they perform really bad on GMRS (probably high SWR). In fact I just stopped receiving a friend even when he got up right next to me, I'm betting an internal circuit safety kicked in (some kind of overheat protection). There are some GMRS specific antennas for that radio that really help it reach out. Second thing my research and experience has found- lots of antennas on Amazon are fake, its better to buy from trusted radio websites to get the real deal that actually has dialed in SWRs and advertised gain. I'm a hypocrite, the TRAM I just bought is from Amazon, but I scoured the reviews to see that many found it to be genuine (they know the packaging nuances) and tested them on SWR meters. But for nagoyas and other more niche high quality antennas, I'd try to get them from reputable sites.

 

From what I understand is a 108" whip antenna has the widest band width. There biggest problem is when off roading. They really live up to their name's sake and are dangerous to spotters and by standers. A whip will still not cover 26.965 - 29.700Mhz.

Here is my solution that works pretty well. I can cover CB up to the N6LIZ & W6KRW 10M repeater. I center tuned the antenna to 28.400Mhz which is the center of 10M SSB.

This antenna
Amazon.com: Procomm QW45-B 4.5 ft. Quad Wound Antenna with Clear Black Gold Wire : Electronics
And this tuner for ICOMs
MFJ-939 Tuners GigaParts.com

 

When did you get it? Have you tested that it can actually TX on the GMRS frequencies? About this time last year, they implemented a software lock out that you could program the frequencies, you could even save and name them, you could press the button but nothing would come out.

It would be really irresponsible of me to tell you how to do a factory reset on those that have the software blocks so that you can TX on those frequencies still. Would be a damn shame. Anyway, if you have tested it and it works, cool. If you find out that it doesn't work, DON'T pm me since it would be really bad for me to respond with the unlock stuff. It would be proper that I wouldn't want to post it in this thread so a general google search wouldn't lead to this forum for anyone. But it would be REALLY bad if you PM'd me and I responded on it.

Eh, I had to click around a bit but I found it pretty easily.

The thing is 2m and 70cm is basically all I want out of HAM, I want to use it for off road. I had a thought/dream of using it for APRS, and maybe still may look at APRS/Sat stuff but that's pretty much it.

 

Haha, same! Got the Yaesu 300 largely for quality but also APRS, but have yet to figure it out. I want to get strong on APRS and my friends to get strong on it too.

shame if someone helped with radio mods ... too funny lol.

 

Dang man, I neither want to get into the huge/tall antenna game, nor the external tuner game...

Was hoping for some antenna magic like the various CompactTenna options
https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-016760

I guess like everything else, one has to pay to play- be it a sick ICOM setup, or a Yaesu 951 with their trick autotuning HF antenna, or what not.

I got a 3ft Firestik so I'm guessing I'll only have 11m or 10m, not a little of both. Glass half full perspective is at least the radio I got isn't old-school CB looking and is pretty compact for the power it outputs.

 

I haven't really tested them on TX, but they were sold as 2-way multiband. I bought one 5-6 years ago after seeing that the trail groups at "Rock Therapy" were running mixes of CB and HAM depending on what everyone had; I only had CB at that time, but I didn't see anyone checking licenses (trail groups were self-organized and they stayed at 5-6 trucks max on any particular run).

I bought a second one in a "kit" that came with 2 extended batteries and a charging cable, handset for lapel-mounting, and a programming cable/software, but doesn't seem to have come pre-programmed in any way.

I just found the FCC ID for the model and the listing page. It doesn't mention anything about GMRS specifically, but it is "approved" for frequency bands 136.0-174.0 and 400-480 MHz, which includes the entire GMRS band

https://fcc.report/FCC-ID/2AUZJCNTEN-5RPRO

 

Unfortunately, there are no free lunches electrically. Ether radiate most the power with a properly tuned antenna, turn what power that is not radiated into heat with a tuner or kill the finals of the amplified with too much VSWR. Short antennas generally perform worse than longer.

 

Is there a power supply in the cab to tap into for a radio? I know for best performance we want to run direct wires to the battery (cuts out noise and interference) but looking for a safe and easy path at the sacrifice of sound quality.

 

After playing around with the radiated power calculator on the ARRL and experiencing the metal components on my Baofeng getting hot (not warm, hot) after transmitting for a bit, I’m more careful about exposing my brain to radiation. HTs place the antenna pretty close to the noggin. I’d wonder if the superfluous emissions are higher on the bands that aren’t what the radio was intended for.

 

Got my license through CalPoli online.

 

FCC Is Finally Going After CB, GMRS, and Ham Radio Lawbreakers! FCC Is Finally Issuing Fines Again

 

I wonder if Philip J. Beaudet of Burney CA has anything to do with the Delta GMRS repeater, which has been getting dicked with ever since I started to use it.

The delta repeater is like the only good GMRS repeater in the SoCal area. Good meaning it has HUGE range.

For those reading the title of the vid and thinking they are coming down hard- no, they are not. This is the FCC doing like the minimal of minimalist of their job. That youtube guy bought a Kraken and basically did the FCC's job for them at tracking down the addresses of people messing with the repeater. He even had HRCC (Ham Radio Crash Course) collaboration vids on how to track down those derps.

If you are pumping 50-100 watts out of your CB radio, don't fear, they are not coming after you unless you are using it to be a total jack-ass, over, and over, and over.

 

Simplest in-cab power supply I know is to tap the fuse block with an add-a-fuse. I don't know if it helped any ultimately, but I wired a 0.0002F capacitor across the power line I ran to the CB in my Tacoma (in-dash installed a Cobra 18) to try to keep the 12-13v feed power as steady as possible. Main result I've seen is that the LED in the switch I added into that line stays on for a few seconds after I shut off the engine while the light discharges the capacitor; probably a good idea to put a high-ohm resistor in parallel with the capacitor if you're running directly off the fuse block so you're not leaving it energized when the vehicle is off.

So far, I've been running my GMRS unit off the 12V socket adapter, and haven't looked into hard-wiring the power into the vehicle yet, but I'll likely do the same with that one

 

When I put a radio in my '22, I ran the power (+ to the battery, and - to the chassis ground right there next to the battery) and coax (hole is large enough for a

$43 PL259 USA Made PL-259 Improved Double Shielded RG-58u for FireStik Antenna K-8A 18-Foot Single CB/Ham Coax Cable

PL259 to fit through) through the AC drain grommet. Everything fit just fine. I knew I wouldn't have that truck long, so it wasn't meant to be a permanent install but if I'm being honest, if I didn't have to take it out when my '23 showed up I'd have likely left it that way. For a while at least lol. Had the radio mounted on the passenger side. All very temporary, but it worked well.

 

That's what I keep telling people...
The key to all of your problems is the ignition key. Don't start and there won't be .
Basically don't give them a reason to look under the hood. Behave like a normal civilized individual who knows how to eat with a knife and fork and use a napkin, and there won't be a reason to raise the ire of the WTFCC.

 

Yeah - sounds like people playing with repeaters, being dinks, doing some stupid stuff, attracting attention.

They aren't sending storm troopers out to the woods to smash some badfangs

I will disagree. Simplest power supply is the trailer brake controller. You can get a harness for about 20$, and just tap into the 12V line. I make ZERO claims about being clean power...... I had a CB tapped into it, and that RX'd fine, but TX wasn't so good.

 

I would not have expected TX to be any different. Interesting and good to know.