Re: RE: packet radio
By: NuSkooler to Irish_Monk on Sat Aug 13 2022 10:20 am

This is something I've been interested in for a while as well, but haven't had the time to really dig in very much. LoRa also looks like it could be interesting as well -- anyone played with that?

I'm playing with it at the moment.

I have a couple of pycom devices, which I got connecting to a chirpstack server that I set up at home.

While I got the devices to send a small message (a few bytes) every minute (although some packets dont make it - not sure why), I cannot get it to transfer anymore than 50 bytes or so at a time.

I'm not sure what I'm doing, but its been interesting getting them going.


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then there's the group whose only interest is working satellites, mesh networks and the ghz range on up. some of them do more interesting things than the amateur extras do and continue to learn new things.

I'm having a blast as a Technician. I fully intend to upgrade to General, but I'm in no rush. Working sats is so darn cool and exciting. Have done plenty of 10 meter SSB and have worked some 6 meter stations across the country this summer. Even made my first CW contact after re-learning morse code. There's plenty to do as a Technician. Plenty of fun, for sure.

- Warson -

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I'm having a blast as a Technician. I fully intend to upgrade to
General, but I'm in no rush. Working sats is so darn cool and exciting. Have done plenty of 10 meter SSB and have worked some 6 meter stations across the country this summer. Even made my first CW contact after re-learning morse code. There's plenty to do as a Technician. Plenty of fun, for sure.

Got the book in yesterday. Reading thru it, not just studying answers to the questions. Luckily being a cable guy for 21 years, alot of it (sine waves, electrical theory) I have a really good knowledge of already. Take the test Sept. 1 for the technician license.

Is there a particular radio that you guys would recommend for someone just getting into this hobby? Brand, model, best place to purchase? Thanks for any info.

|10I|02rish_|10M|02onk

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Got the book in yesterday. Reading thru it, not just studying answers to the questions. Luckily being a cable guy for 21 years, alot of it (sine waves, electrical theory) I have a really good knowledge of already.
Take the test Sept. 1 for the technician license.

Sounds like you will rock the test. Good luck with it.

Is there a particular radio that you guys would recommend for someone
just getting into this hobby? Brand, model, best place to purchase?
Thanks for any info.

It really depends on what aspect of the hobby you would like to tackle first. Sorry for such a non-helpful answer. You mentioned an interest in packet radio and there are several radios that can help you tackle that. I seem to have drifted toward Yaesu radios, a few of which are packet ready. As far as places to purchase, I've ordered from DX Engineering and R&L Electronics pretty much exclusively during my 2nd stint as a Technician. Mainly because they are close to home with quick shipping (they are both in Ohio, as am I). I'm sure some of the much more experienced amateur operators could steer you in a good direction on first radio recommendations.

Again, good luck!

- Warson -

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Hi!

On 16/08/2022 10:51, Irish_Monk wrote:

Got the book in yesterday. Reading thru it, not just studying answers to the questions. Luckily being a cable guy for 21 years, alot of it (sine waves, electrical theory) I have a really good knowledge of already. Take the test Sept. 1 for the technician license.

Good luck with your exam, I'm sure you will ace it.

Is there a particular radio that you guys would recommend for someone just getting into this hobby? Brand, model, best place to purchase? Thanks for any info.

This will depend on a number of factors ranging from budget to
application. In all cases I would suggest that you keep to the KISS
principle, because if you get that one radio that can do it all (like
the Icom ID-52), you will end up forking out a pile of money. Not that
the ID-52 is not worth it, but while you are right at the start why not
get some "Lego blocks" instead of buying a Cadillac.

For packet, any decent HT would do. Since we are talking about things
like Raspberry Pi's, you can just as well get the equivalent in the HT
world - the Baofeng UV-5R or similar. Alternatively you can get it's
slightly more upmarket cousin, the Baofeng UV-82. These radios are all
approx $30 US each, and are excellent tools to experiment with due to
their low cost.

For general usage, you have even more choice. If you stay in the analog
world, anything from Baofeng, Retevis, TyT, Yaesu and a mountain of
other makes would probably do you fine. For general analog usage I got
myself a Retevis RA685, which is a fine little radio for around $50 or thereabouts (I bought it for £49 in the UK from Amazon). I also have a Baofeng UV-82 for general voice and packet use.

Just pre-empting discussion about digital modes, ease yourself into that
later on when you have read up more about it, and also asked more
questions about it. There are loads of really knowledgeable people here,
so don't be shy to flood us with questions.


Cheerio,
Jan (dotslash/M7HNK)

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Totally agree about starting off with a cheapie radio, except not the UV-5R. I personally have not gotten mine to work with any TNC setup. The UV-6R, yes. The UV-82, yes. Pretty much every other radio than the UV-5R. I've tried with two of them.

For TNCs, the Mobilinkd bluetooth/usb TNC is pretty awesome.

If you can find a PI-TNC (or is it TNC-PI?), those are pretty cool, too.

Not sure if there's anything else modern. You can sometimes find older TNCs on eBay.

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Hi phigan,

I knew that mentioning the UV-5R was going to be a bit contraversial! :-) I might have been lucky, but the ones I had to play with worked flawlessly. My UV-82 even better, it turned out to be my most reliable HT. Of course I had to replace the standard antenna with a Nagoya type, but since I have done that it performs really well. Not sure how it will compare against a Yaesu over long distance, but for short-haul packet it works extremely well. It's worth the $5-$10 extra over the UV-5R. I acknowledge that the UV-5R is technically a bit junky, but I cannot help having a soft spot for it (probably due to it being my first radio ever).

Regarding a TNC, I have never played with a hardware TNC before. The Mobilinkd looks awesome, and I would love to give it a try. It's just a tad too pricey for me at the moment. The setup I use is a Sabrent USB sound card, combined with the Direwolf software TNC on a Raspberry Pi. It's not without issues, but it seems to work well once you have managed to tweak your audio levels properly.

73,
Jan (M7HNK)

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world - the Baofeng UV-5R or similar. Alternatively you can get it's

I understood there was a lot of contreversy around the UV-5R but I did pick on up. For 20bucs delivered to the door you cant beat it. Even if its just to get something in my hands to understand what Im learning. But I will definitely check out those other ones also. Thank you very much!@!

|10I|02rish_|10M|02onk

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On 08-23-22 17:19, Irish_Monk wrote to dotslash <=-

world - the Baofeng UV-5R or similar. Alternatively you can get it's

I understood there was a lot of contreversy around the UV-5R but I did pick on up. For 20bucs delivered to the door you cant beat it. Even if
its just to get something in my hands to understand what Im learning.
But I will definitely check out those other ones also. Thank you very much!@!

Also a good "sacrificial radio" - if you accidentally kill it hacking or dropping it in water, etc, you haven't lost too much money. :)


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On 27/08/2022 11:49, Vk3jed wrote:

Also a good "sacrificial radio" - if you accidentally kill it hacking or dropping it in water, etc, you haven't lost too much money. :)

Absolutely right, and it's also the radio that will most likely make it
into a Hollywood block-buster! :-D Next time you see a dramatic action
scene that involves "walkie-talkies" in some form, more often than not
you'll see a UV-5R in some form (Ham or GMRS, probably the GMRS version).

73,
Jan (M7HNK)

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On 08-27-22 10:13, dotslash wrote to All <=-

Absolutely right, and it's also the radio that will most likely make it into a Hollywood block-buster! :-D Next time you see a dramatic action scene that involves "walkie-talkies" in some form, more often than not you'll see a UV-5R in some form (Ham or GMRS, probably the GMRS
version).

Yeah they're turning up everywhere. :) Wonder if some importer will ever get one type approved for UHF CB, they cartainly have the capabilities to run there. :)


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Re: Re: packet radio
By: Vk3jed to Irish_Monk on Sat Aug 27 2022 10:49:00

Also a good "sacrificial radio" - if you accidentally kill it hacking or dropping it in water, etc, you haven't lost too much money. :)

I'm in no way against buying cheap radios.. There was a UV-6R on Amazon for $28 which at the time was even cheaper than the UV-5R could be found for. They were EXCELLENT cheap radios. Much better receiver than the 5R, much louder speaker, everything. Not sure what happened, but you can't get those anymore.

My point was that there are better things than the 5R for same/similar price. UV-82(hp) is definitely worth a couple bucks more.
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On 08-29-22 16:07, Phigan wrote to Vk3jed <=-

Re: Re: packet radio
By: Vk3jed to Irish_Monk on Sat Aug 27 2022 10:49:00

Also a good "sacrificial radio" - if you accidentally kill it hacking or dropping it in water, etc, you haven't lost too much money. :)

I'm in no way against buying cheap radios.. There was a UV-6R on Amazon for $28 which at the time was even cheaper than the UV-5R could be
found for. They were EXCELLENT cheap radios. Much better receiver than
the 5R, much louder speaker, everything. Not sure what happened, but
you can't get those anymore.

The 6R certainly sounds like a good bang for the buck radio. Touting Amazon doesn't work for me, I find them frustrating, as many items don't ship here. I've tended to use eBay for such purchases.

My point was that there are better things than the 5R for same/similar price. UV-82(hp) is definitely worth a couple bucks more.

Yeah, they do make some reasonable radios for a great price.


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On 29/08/2022 18:00, Vk3jed wrote:

On 08-27-22 10:13, dotslash wrote to All <=-

Yeah they're turning up everywhere. :) Wonder if some importer will ever get one type approved for UHF CB, they cartainly have the capabilities to run there. :)

I forgot that you have UHF CB in Oz. That is actually so cool! It would
have been excellent if we could harmonize the used spectrum over the
world, but 400-500 MHz is a busy place. Here in the UK 476-477 MHz (AU
CB) is used for maritime radio, so no chance for us chewing off that
spectrum for public use.

The closest we have would be PMR446, but the bandwidth is very narrow
between 446.0-446.2 MHz for narrow-band FM use. This include analog (16 channels only) and digital (32 channels), both business (high powered up
to 5w) and private (max 500mw). You'll find baby monitors (illegal!) and blister-pack radio toys (possibly legal) also on this frequency range,
so in cities this can be a cacophony. The only CB we have here is on 11-meters, which now at least have wide-band FM as a mode in addition to
AM and SSB.

I hope you in Australia use that bandwidth for UHF CB for all it is
worth, so that there is no chance of it being withdrawn from public use!
Big business have been chipping away at the spectrum over here in Europe
for decades now, so we don't have what we used to have even as recently
as 10 years ago.

73,
Jan (M7HNK)

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On 30 Aug 2022, dotslash said the following...

I forgot that you have UHF CB in Oz. That is actually so cool! It would have been excellent if we could harmonize the used spectrum over the

You used to have an UHF allocation for CB. 934MHz. I always wanted one but could never afford it. Probably a good thing, growing up in rural Scotland. There probably would have been no one to talk to on 934 :)

-=Pepper=-

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On 08-30-22 08:31, dotslash wrote to All <=-

On 29/08/2022 18:00, Vk3jed wrote:

On 08-27-22 10:13, dotslash wrote to All <=-

Yeah they're turning up everywhere. :) Wonder if some importer will ever

et

one type approved for UHF CB, they cartainly have the capabilities to run there. :)

I forgot that you have UHF CB in Oz. That is actually so cool! It would have been excellent if we could harmonize the used spectrum over the world, but 400-500 MHz is a busy place. Here in the UK 476-477 MHz (AU
CB) is used for maritime radio, so no chance for us chewing off that spectrum for public use.

Yeah would be nice, but as you say, not gonna happen.

The closest we have would be PMR446, but the bandwidth is very narrow between 446.0-446.2 MHz for narrow-band FM use. This include analog (16 channels only) and digital (32 channels), both business (high powered

That spectrum is still a ham band here (and locally a well used ATV repeater).

up to 5w) and private (max 500mw). You'll find baby monitors (illegal!) and blister-pack radio toys (possibly legal) also on this frequency
range, so in cities this can be a cacophony. The only CB we have here
is on 11-meters, which now at least have wide-band FM as a mode in addition to AM and SSB.

We don't have FM on 11m yet, but with the US adopting FM, it may become an addition here one day.

I hope you in Australia use that bandwidth for UHF CB for all it is
worth, so that there is no chance of it being withdrawn from public
use! Big business have been chipping away at the spectrum over here in Europe for decades now, so we don't have what we used to have even as recently as 10 years ago.

Oh, UHF CB is well used. In fact, the ACMA increased the number of channels from 40 to 80 in 2011 (by reducing spacing from 25 kHz to 12.5 kHz), to increase the capacity of the service.


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On 08-14-22 16:44, Irish_Monk wrote to Vk3jed <=-

Good luck with the study, and if you have any questions, just ask.

I just ordered (and it should be here by 9pm tmrw) "AARL Ham Radio
License Manual 5th Edition" Would this all I need to study? Says it
also has all the questions and answers that will be on the tests so it knows what to prepare you for. Im just trying for the Technician
Amateur license for now.

A US based ham would be able to give you more accurate guidance, but I think this sounds like a good start.


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On 01 Sep 2022, Vk3jed said the following...

On 08-14-22 16:44, Irish_Monk wrote to Vk3jed <=-

I just ordered (and it should be here by 9pm tmrw) "AARL Ham Radio License Manual 5th Edition" Would this all I need to study? Says it

Yes, that's all you need for the Tech exam. There's also lots of free websites and apps that can drill you with the test pool.
Hamexam.org pops to mind, but there are others. It's a set pool of questions, so if you can pass the practice exams with no issues.... you can pass the real one.
Then just find a local club or hamfest and go take the test.
BTW, some ham clubs offer classes that include the test at the end of the class.

-=Pepper=-

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Yes, that's all you need for the Tech exam. There's also lots of free websites and apps that can drill you with the test pool.
Hamexam.org pops to mind, but there are others. It's a set pool of questions, so if you can pass the practice exams with no issues.... you can pass the real one.
Then just find a local club or hamfest and go take the test.
BTW, some ham clubs offer classes that include the test at the end of the class.

Thank you for the response. Yeah, I feel I have been doing very well on all the practice tests. Ill keep studying. Just need to find an exam thats close by and not 2 hours away. It will happen soon though Im sure!!

|10I|02rish_|10M|02onk

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On 09-10-22 11:26, Pepper wrote to Vk3jed <=-

Yes, that's all you need for the Tech exam. There's also lots of free websites and apps that can drill you with the test pool.
Hamexam.org pops to mind, but there are others. It's a set pool of questions, so if you can pass the practice exams with no issues.... you can pass the real one.

Need to direct that to the OP. :)


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Thank you for the response. Yeah, I feel I have been doing very well on all the practice tests. Ill keep studying. Just need to find an exam
thats close by and not 2 hours away. It will happen soon though Im sure!!

Good luck! I'm sure you will pass the tech exam without issue. You might want to see if you can pass the general as well, just for the heck of it.

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On 10 Sep 2022, Irish_Monk said the following...

Thank you for the response. Yeah, I feel I have been doing very well on all the practice tests. Ill keep studying. Just need to find an exam
thats close by and not 2 hours away. It will happen soon though Im sure!!

Let us know how you make out!

-=Pepper=-

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On 12 Sep 2022, Vk3jed said the following...

Need to direct that to the OP. :)

oops .. apparently not paying attention :)

-=Pepper=-

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On 09-22-22 22:23, Pepper wrote to Vk3jed <=-

On 12 Sep 2022, Vk3jed said the following...

Need to direct that to the OP. :)

oops .. apparently not paying attention :)

LOL that'll do it. :D


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Im looking at getting my technician cert to pursue packet radio/sdr - anyone play around there at all?

spcmn!



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Re: packet radio
By: spaceman to All on Fri Jan 06 2023 09:16 am

Im looking at getting my technician cert to pursue packet radio/sdr - anyone play around there at all?

Any particular aspects of packet radio and SDR appealing?

You may find this project of interest...

http://tarpn.net/t/nino-tnc/nino-tnc.html

Mewcenary.
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Yeah - the ability to run tcp/ip over freely available airwave, enabling remote rural comms.


On 01/07/2023 6:42 pm Mewcenary said...

Any particular aspects of packet radio and SDR appealing?

Cool thanks Ill check it out!


On 01/07/2023 6:42 pm Mewcenary said...

http://tarpn.net/t/nino-tnc/nino-tnc.html

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