Guys can any of you please advise me on a couple of questions pertaining to amatuer (ham) radio.
(1) is there a type of licence I can apply for that does NOT require me to learn morse?, IE a Ham Light licence.
(2) what is the best frequency band for Uk operations
(3) What Transcievers do you reccomend
Read Lightspeeds aticle on the main site. It has a lot of info in and answers your questions.
Hi NR,
I've posted comments nest to your questions below:
Regards
Lightspeed
(15 January 2012, 22:24)NorthernRaider Wrote: [ -> ]Guys can any of you please advise me on a couple of questions pertaining to amatuer (ham) radio.
(1) is there a type of licence I can apply for that does NOT require me to learn morse?, IE a Ham Light licence.
There is no longer any need to learn morse for any level of UK Amateur radio operating license. You have to take the license examinations in order. Foundation license first, then Intermediate and then Advanced. As noted in the article the Foundation license is pretty much all you'll need for prepping purposes, but the higher levels may be attractive to you as your knowlege developes.
Foundation license examnation is dead easy, it consists of simple practicals, a session called morse appreciation ( which requires no pre-preparation) and a multiple choice test ( 20 mins maximum). Training courses are available at local Ham radio clubs, all are well organized and have pass rates in the 90%+ range.
(2) what is the best frequency band for Uk operations.
The article discusses many options.Close range PMR446?, medium range VHF? and longer range HF, particularly 7Mhz and 14 Mhz. Maybe we should open a separate thead to discuss these further???
(3) What Transcievers do you reccomend
Ditto point 2.
Thanks guys, tis appreciated.
What I want is a two way radio doofah (transciever?) hands held that will reach out 25 miles without a repeater, preferably not requiring a licence, multiple channels , and if santa was granting wishes that allowed to to monitor other channels as well like 27 FM CB and 27 AM CB. These poxy little half a watt hand sets are as much use as a trade unionist in a brothel. If or when the cell phone system failes after TSHTF I want to be able to contact my family members who will be up to 20 miles away maximum.
Is such a thing in existance.
You're right NR 05w isn't going to get you the 20 mile range that you're looking for. Not unless can get your transmitter and antenna very high above the ground that is.
70cm repeaters can be reliably accessed from 15 to 20miles away using 0.5w provided there is a clearish line of sight between repeater and transmitter, so its not just the power that is the issue.
I'm hard pressed to think of any license free hand held radio that will reliably perform this task fron a normal ground level operating position using its stock antenna.
A line of sight calculator indicates that both transmitter and receiving antenna need to be at least 50ft above ground level to have any hope of achieving contact. see
http://www.vwlowen.co.uk/java/horizon.htm
Maybe someone else can suggest something?
There are some fanatical PMR446 operators who are achieving longer range contacts with their standard radios.
Look at the DX and DX weekend section of the web site
http://www.delboys446.co.uk/
Looks like this is going to be jsut the two of us discussing here NR!!!!
Thinking back, I played a lot with 27Mhz CB back in the day, but realistic range was 3 to 5 miles in an urban environment, and because of interference levels often not even able to reach full line of sight even from hill tops. Obviously that frequency is pretty good for very long distance contacts when the ionosphere co-operates, but 5mile to 30 mile range was often only achievable by using high power and or big antennas.
For your 20mile comms needs I reckon that you will be best off using 2m VHF equipment. Probably a better antenna than is installed on any hand held device will be needed.
I use several low powered VHF radios with home-made antennas mounted on a glass fiber fishing pole and can fairly reliably get 20 to 30 mile range from this arrangement. The UK amateur radio Backpacker competition results demonstrate what is possible with such portable stations using just 2.5w to 3w. Section 3b of the following link describes verified contacts between 200 and 750Km (120 miles to 50miles)
http://www.rsgbcc.org/vhf/results/11/144backpack3.html
Likewise, VHF ( and UHF) fm gear running through a vehicle mounted high gain antenna can achieve reliable 20 - 30 mile range with 5 to 10 watt transmitters. This may also be an option for you. (you can connect the output from hand held radios to the vehicle mounted antenna)
In both cases range is dependent mainly on elevation and the absence of major obstacles between the sending and receiving station.
Your enthusiasm and interest in radio makes me think that you’d easily pass the Foundation Ham license examination. With the M6 call sign that that will give you, you will be able to experiment to find what will work best in your specific geographic location. If you’re willing to invest in a radio such as a Yaesu FT 817ND it will afford you an excellent broadband receiver plus transmit capability from 1.8Mhz to UHF, all in one small hand portable box that is the size of a small paperback book. (An alternative low cost VHF radio that regularly performs well in long distance trials is the Yaesu FT 290R…… they are now elderly but very robust. I have one that is now more than 30years old and still going strong)
Good luck
Thanks light speed, will you please forgive me if my replies are infrequent and slow, I truly have a terrible almost dyslexia type condition when it comes to radio systems etc, I'm downloading your stuff and very slowly trying to grasp it, I ASSURE you its not going to waste.
NR
A couple of range extending tips from the www.
1. Tricks and tips for optimizing range: Short Motorola promotional video good description of the big advantage of elevation vs the much smaller difference, range wise between 0.5w and 5w transmission power. see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ysscm-lapQ
2. A good low cost home made VHF antenna solution that will improve range and focus of transmit / receive pattern. This antenna works well on SSB and FM. If using a fishing pole to support it, the boom can be drilled at the balance point, with two pairs of holes offset by 90 degrees and of appropriate diameters to allow the antenna to be slipped onto the pole itself in either vertical or horizontal polarization. (important to use a Glass Fiber pole, Carbon Fiber poles are conductive and not suitable for this antenna) see
http://mw0idx.co.uk/idx3elementyagi.html
If you had ever seen me weild a 4 w soldering iron you would not post technical articles, I can cut through inch thick plate steel in a millisecond I'm that bad at electronics.
NR
Ha ha! You'll not find many new Foundation licence holders wielding soldering irons these days!
Give the license a try, you'll be surprised how easy it is!
Gotta go, I've spent too much time on here today.