Repeaters ( Ham) locations and coverage maps

[Paul]

Tried one of the Alinco range. DX something. 100k-1300Mhz. Bit fiddly and menu unfriendly.
Good for close range but better when plugged into a discone antenna although I needed a SMA adapter to Female BNC for the discone connector.
AM, NFM, WFM. No SSB, No clarifier and pure CW is hard to decode.
Battery pack didn't run out for the couple of hours I was playing with it BUT it was a battery pack.
So it has a mains charger. I don't like that in any gear.
Anything I can't jack an external power source into or use either AAA or AA rechargeables is not for me. After all no mains, a bespoke power pack, what can you do to keep it charged in the field?
Personal preference I suppose.

[The Local Ned]

(15 August 2012, 19:52)Paul Wrote: Tried one of the Alinco range. DX something. 100k-1300Mhz. Bit fiddly and menu unfriendly.
Good for close range but better when plugged into a discone antenna although I needed a SMA adapter to Female BNC for the discone connector.
AM, NFM, WFM. No SSB, No clarifier and pure CW is hard to decode.
Battery pack didn't run out for the couple of hours I was playing with it BUT it was a battery pack.
So it has a mains charger. I don't like that in any gear.
Anything I can't jack an external power source into or use either AAA or AA rechargeables is not for me. After all no mains, a bespoke power pack, what can you do to keep it charged in the field?
Personal preference I suppose.

Thanks mate - reason I took the alinco as example was that it could possibly be easy for a novice to scan and lock their preferred bands for listening into for info/intel.

CW at least , and perhaps too - SSB , I think would be more for advanced users , I'm thinking more along the lines of the average prepper who has a CB 27Mhz but maybe wants to listen in on local PMR users or similar , or can pick up HAMS too.

[Paul]

My PMR set of two cost £6 in the market.
As for receiving ham transmissions? I don't think the expense is justified.

Hams will graduate to the 40 fixed EURO CB frequencies eventually anyway because the world has a lot more CB'ers than hams. Besides it's easier in the long run.
Why do I think that?

Hams use all sorts of frequencies, all sorts of modulation, all sorts of gear.
They can dial up any frequency and apart from a few known calling frequencies use whatever they want. That's fine. Away they go. Bacon on bacon.

The rest of the Europe won't bother pratting round.
Europe has CB based on the US channeling i.e. CEPT. Hell the US still use CB. So effectively that's the whole of the northern hemisphere potentially on 40 channels. Easy

That means that Europe will probably settle on the internationally recognized calling channels of 9 for emergencies and 19 for contact. 2 channels.
Two main modes. FM / AM. Who cares what they use, a flick of a mode switch and voices appear.

Now what's easier?
Setting your ham set to cope with CEPT channels and talk to the US, Europe and us lovely chappies or pratting round via VHF/UHF repeaters and all that associated crap.

Whats easily available, easy to setup, and idiot proof? CB gear.
I rest my case.

Cheers Pal

[Lightspeed]

(15 August 2012, 19:20)The Local Ned Wrote: As regerds my devils advocate posting again - I wasn't aware of the fact that HAMS regularly trashed others equipment - I knew about the foxhunting side of things ( like hide and seek using radio broadcasts ) , but it gives them no rights to trash others equipment.

If it happened up here there would be a few HAM operators with broken fingers in a very short period of time - as well as a mysterious outbreak of HAM antennas being pulled down , cables cut and other slightly more shady happenings.

I must admit though - I've done it myself in the CB'ing days , users that would not move channel and were bleeding through , some who thought they were John Peel playing music...all of their cables received attention , and some of their antennas too....but these were anti-social a$$holes , not other users who weren't upsetting anyone or preventing others from using their radios.

Anyone setting up these repeaters will be liable for HAMS shopping them to Plod and Ofcom make no mistake , and secret codes - especially dtmf wont stay secret long I think too LS.

One thing we've all seemingly shunted aside - if most of our comms are with CB , PMR - why not just adopt whatever standard you will use - either/or , and use a WIDEBAND SCANNER for the rest ? some of the modern scanners have huge range of bands and freqs to scan...for example - A BOL has a local personal comms system of 4W powered PMRs , with a homebase PMR external antenna , adequate for their 5 to 10 mile needs ? They have a wideband ALINCO scanner that can scan CB, HAM , PMR , MARINE , AIR and other freqs , as well as commercial radio broadcasts too. Anyone talking about anything near or far might be intercepted by a scanner such as this - it negates the need for 2 comms systems entirely , only those with a need to contact further afield would require something else.

Discuss please - maybe LS or Paul have knowledge of these ALINCO scanners - everything I've read about them is positive.

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Alinco Scanner

Thanks for this TLN

Re Hams trashing other's equipment that is operating outside of ham bands, quite simply this is criminal damage. Hams are not empowered to enforce band usage. This all sounds similar to the bad days of wannabe official type hams forcing the hand of local plod to attemt to drive out CB activity back in the late 70s. I had more than a few run ins with this type of person and dispise them to this day.

I can understand Hams gettng upset if stations are causing interference that is genuinely disrupting their operations. But the biggest culprit in this respect today comes from devices sold by BT. Paul's local heros ought to direct their attention toward BT if they want to make a real difference.

The idea of each of us setting up radio comms that meet our personal requirements, but having ability to monitor other frequencies, is sound. I'm using a little Yaesu VX-3r for precisely this purpose. I have memories set up for CB 27/11 calling channel, all PMR446 channels, MARINE , AIR and a number of other HF VHF and UHF channels that I like to monitor. Scanning the whole bank that interests me as a prepper takes less than 3 seconds. The radio is also able to transmit on VHF and UHF. I find this to be a very good solution that is easily carried with me in my EDC, and is compatible with power packs that I keep in reserve for my other equipment.
http://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=Dis...E1F02500D9

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(15 August 2012, 19:52)Paul Wrote: Tried one of the Alinco range. DX something. 100k-1300Mhz. Bit fiddly and menu unfriendly.
Good for close range but better when plugged into a discone antenna although I needed a SMA adapter to Female BNC for the discone connector.
AM, NFM, WFM. No SSB, No clarifier and pure CW is hard to decode.
Battery pack didn't run out for the couple of hours I was playing with it BUT it was a battery pack.
So it has a mains charger. I don't like that in any gear.
Anything I can't jack an external power source into or use either AAA or AA rechargeables is not for me. After all no mains, a bespoke power pack, what can you do to keep it charged in the field?
Personal preference I suppose.

Good points re power packs, and antenna adaptors Paul.

The VX3r I mentioned has both AA and 12v power options.

Antenna connection is dependent of what you have available. Its usually a good idea to have an adaptor to atleast BNC so that patch leads can be easily made up to meet needs.

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Paul,

Thanks for your last comments, I pretty much agree with you on everything there, with one disagreement

"Whats easily available, easy to setup, and idiot proof? CB gear."

No, PMR is the truely idiot proof solution, next easiest is CB, and a most complex is Ham/NVIS equipment.

In addition, in the same order cost is lowest on PMR, medium on CB and most expensive on Ham/NVIS

[Paul]

True regarding using PMR but it's not got any useful range. You also can't easily skip UHF.

I'm lucky where I live. It's flat here.
I just hope the scientists have got it wrong else I'm swimming soon.
Line of sight? 3 miles, yet my little PMR sets carry only a mile on a good day, 1/2 a mile in the rain.

CB, 100% coverage out to 5 miles 24/7, usually much much more.
All thanks to my covert inverted V house aerial.
I'd love to mount a 1/2 or 5/8 wave pole on the roof but covert wins every time for me.
If I did that though you'd definitely hear me from your distant BOL LS!

So I'm able to speak afar. Europe no problem. Birmingham , London occasionally (no great loss there). No repeaters, nothing silly, just good cheap gear and a decent aerial.

Plus there is the vehicle issue.
Use a pmr set in a car and most of your power is used up heating the cabin. I say that because most pmr has a rubber duck aerial. It's only the enthusiasts that jack an external aerial into their gear.
CB, designed from the get go to work mobile.
Time tested, rugged, transportable, and above all INTERNATIONAL!

[Lightspeed]

(15 August 2012, 20:26)The Local Ned Wrote:

(15 August 2012, 19:52)Paul Wrote: Tried one of the Alinco range. DX something. 100k-1300Mhz. Bit fiddly and menu unfriendly.
Good for close range but better when plugged into a discone antenna although I needed a SMA adapter to Female BNC for the discone connector.
AM, NFM, WFM. No SSB, No clarifier and pure CW is hard to decode.
Battery pack didn't run out for the couple of hours I was playing with it BUT it was a battery pack.
So it has a mains charger. I don't like that in any gear.
Anything I can't jack an external power source into or use either AAA or AA rechargeables is not for me. After all no mains, a bespoke power pack, what can you do to keep it charged in the field?
Personal preference I suppose.

Thanks mate - reason I took the alinco as example was that it could possibly be easy for a novice to scan and lock their preferred bands for listening into for info/intel.

CW at least , and perhaps too - SSB , I think would be more for advanced users , I'm thinking more along the lines of the average prepper who has a CB 27Mhz but maybe wants to listen in on local PMR users or similar , or can pick up HAMS too.

Hi TLN

The Kenwood th7e handheld is an even better solution as it is UHF/VHF with the same wideband receive HF to airband capability of the little Yaesu I use..... BUT it also has SSB receive capability which is a big advantage.

NR might like the fact that its a 5w radio and can be modded by removing a couple of component to allow wideband UHF and VHF transmit

http://www.kenwood.com/i/products/info/a...thf7e.html

[Paul]

That model has got some good press. Good reviews.

As for modifying it? As always I caution folk. Get caught = bye bye gear and the option of a hefty fine.

BUT, for the interested, here is a link to a site showing precisely what you SHOULDN'T DO.

http://www.kb2ljj.com/data/kenwood/TH-F7.htm

[Lightspeed]

(16 August 2012, 11:42)Paul Wrote: That model has got some good press. Good reviews.

As for modifying it? As always I caution folk. Get caught = bye bye gear and the option of a hefty fine.

BUT, for the interested, here is a link to a site showing precisely what you SHOULDN'T DO.

http://www.kb2ljj.com/data/kenwood/TH-F7.htm

Only a problem if you get caught USING it on a frequency that it or you shouldn't be on

[The Local Ned]

Thanks guys - as I've said before - I know exactly what I need and want - others may not , and they may be looking into a wideband scanner as a halfway house solution - i.e not wanting to meddle in anything other than CB , but with a desire to receive PMR and other broadcasts in other bands. I will be buying a couple of baofeng 888s as personal comms , and later on a uv-5r as a makeshift prtable/base solution.

I quickly made a wee DOC to give an idea what I mean , please dont knock it - it was done in under 10 mins LoL.

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(16 August 2012, 17:45)The Local Ned Wrote: Thanks guys - as I've said before - I know exactly what I need and want - others may not , and they may be looking into a wideband scanner as a halfway house solution - i.e not wanting to meddle in anything other than CB , but with a desire to receive PMR and other broadcasts in other bands. I will be buying a couple of baofeng 888s as personal comms , and later on a uv-5r as a makeshift prtable/base solution.

I quickly made a wee DOC to give an idea what I mean , please dont knock it - it was done in under 10 mins LoL.

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Just had a look at that kenwood - excellent piece of kit there , only downside I see would be relying on it too much - killing it would lose your comms and your mobile scanning capabilities in the one go ?

[Paul]

Lovely clear bit of work TLN.
Easy to follow.
Thanks for that.