Ham Radio

[Kiddo]

Any Amateur radio operators here on the forums?

I have my general class and travel with a Yaesu 891 using a SuperAntenna for my set up.

73 de
W3NRN

[rk911]

Although we're off the road now and selling 'Banana Boat III' my wife and I are both radio amateurs (Amateur Extra & General). We've had three MHs between 1986 and 2023 and have always had ham equipment (HF and VHF/UHF) in them.

[LAG18971]

Just in the process of putting in a Yaesu 991a and deciding on what type of antenna. Any thoughts.

[Parafango]

there are a few HAM's on the forum, but the Ham Thread doesn't seem to be too active.

Personally, I'm in a rebuilding phase. I had to take the room apart that was mostly electronics tinkering area and some Ham equip.

Rebuilding because the butternut vertical in the yard is WAY out of tune. I have a VHF antenna on the roof, but it also is not connected yet to the new to me Kenwood TS2000. I have a Yaesu 8800 in my truck, and usually listen to the 146.52 and local repeaters if I can find them and set them up without too much time Not looking at the road.

I think in the years of traveling, I've spoken to less than 5 HAM's on the .52 while traveling, the frequency has been rather quiet while headed to the Oregon coast from SW Idaho..

73's and stay healthy!

[rk911]

Originally Posted by Parafango

...I think in the years of traveling, I've spoken to less than 5 HAM's on the .52 while traveling, the frequency has been rather quiet while headed to the Oregon coast from SW Idaho..

73's and stay healthy!

that's been our experience as well. we also kept the CB on channel 13 and tried to make contact with any numbernof RVs on the shoulder of the road. Zero contact.

Back in the late 80's or early 90's we were in a campground in Custer SD. I checked into a 'County Hunter's" net on 40-meters...might've been the OMISS net. Almost instantly I became the object of a pileup. Custer County must've been a rare county as I spent the better part of an hour making and logging contacts. QSL cards were sent when we returned home.

[TXiceman]

When full time, I had a Yaesu FT857D with a Little Tarheel II screw driver on the truck. In the trailer I used a Kenwood TS480HX, LDG 200 Pro tuner, and an Alpha HD FMJ antenna.

I'll still take the Kenwood and Alpha for road trips in the smaller trailer.

The Kenwood is used with an EFHW wire at home.

Ken

[n2zon]

Have a 2m radio I've been meaning to install. Also have a Kenwood TS-50 with an AT-50 that I've operated in campgrounds, though not lately.

John

[Mr_Moustache]

I have an Icom IC-7300 at home with EFHW in the attic due to HOA. On the road I have a Yaesu FT5D that I seldom turn on. I guess I never really took to UHF/VHF. 73s.

Mike Savage (NC7I)

[BlauMax]

WA7WS here. I love to operate POTA using a FT-891 with and LDG tuner. Up until now I was using Shark hamsticks on a triple magmount along with a 2/440 antenna and sometimes 220.
However, I now have a high roof Sprinter and will have to figure an entire new game plan as the roof is WAY too high to change antennas for HF. Considering an ATAS antenna for HF.. or a vertical or a EFHW.

[Mark_K5LXP]

I too have embarked down the POTA road. I've always enjoyed working the SOTA guys and I consider every trip to a campground like a Field Day opportunity, so POTA checks the box for me. For a few decades now I've enjoyed HF mobile while travelling in the family car and thought maybe that would translate to an HF install in the RV but it just doesn't work out. Driving the RV demands constant attention and I just can't see myself working a CW pileup with a DX station running split, and I'm not one much to hang out on SSB ragchew nets. I do have a dual bander set up but even that gets limited use underway - it's just too hard to futz with it while I'm driving. My XYL is a ham and we use the V/U while stationary, as many places we camp has no cell service. So I can go out hiking or whatever and we have that option to communicate. I keep a portable HF setup in the RV all the time and will nearly always set it up once parked but I think that's going to be the extent of it for me.

Comment about 146.52, I've experienced what most hams observe with limited QSO's while driving cross country. A number of years ago now I tried something and it made a big difference - a voice beacon. I posted this description over on eHam, maybe it might inspire some RV folks who spend a bit of time driving cross country.


Many call 6.52 a "wasteland" and indeed on long trips I've taken I've heard nary a station over hours of monitoring and calling. It turns out though that many more may be listening but just like a open band with no one talking, no one knows anyone else is there.

Something I've done for the past few years now is run a "6.52 beacon" when I'm on a long trip. It amounts to an MP3 player connected to a baofeng HT with VOX enabled. The MP3 player plays a 20 second CQ followed by a couple minutes of silence, and plays the same file in a loop. The HT only transmits during the CQ so the net result is a 20 second CQ and a couple minutes of receive. In practice this has scared up a far greater number of contacts than monitoring/random calls ever have.

The theory is this. When you're mobile your simplex line of sight might be 5 miles. If you're driving 70 miles an hour you'll cover this distance in under 5 minutes. You could drive into and out of the range of other stations countless times and neither of you knew it, because no one is transmitting. With the "CQ beacon" you're transmitting a call within every line of sight "window". You also increase the odds of catching someone who just turned a radio on. If I hear a call come back I turn off the HT and return the call using my mobile rig with more power and better antenna to maximize the range.

The duty cycle is such that on low power (all you need) the HT runs all day on a single battery and my MP3 player will play over 24 hours, so it becomes a simple toss in the car addition to deploy. It has given me a "new" thing to do while operating mobile on long trips and is a lot of fun to make contacts this way.

Addendum - this is an ideal 2M simplex method for an RV. It's hands free, you just listen for anyone returning your call. You can also put a sign on the back of your RV with your callsign and "monitoring 6.52".

Mark K5LXP
Albuquerque, NM

[BlauMax]

Great thought on the beacon. Not sure I'm smart enough to figure how to make that work.. Here in the Treasure Valley of southern Idaho.. we have a ton of activity on .52 Some on 70cm. We've even started a 1.25 net on Wed evenings.. FCC loves to sell band space.. so, we are doing what we can to preserve the 220 band from being sold off for commercial use.

Yep, I've been a ham since 1957 and love chasing DX.. now, POTA has totally renewed my love for ham radio.. the only actual mobile I do is on 2/440 simplex... seldom on the repeaters. POTA for the reasons you mention. I usually do a stop at numerous 'parks' during my travels. Given time, I would have stopped many times during this trip to TX and back.. but, I removed all the gear from the truck because I was going to trade it in on the Sprinter. Now the 'fun' begins.. outfitting the van for both, travel, comfort, and hobby time

[Mark_K5LXP]

This is really no different than a voice keyer on an HF rig, but it uses an MP3 player in place of a spendy keyer. I'd draw a diagram of the beacon but all you'd see is 2 boxes with a single wire between. The baofeng is a UV5R, I have like 6 or 8 of them. One of the menu items is VOX, that gets turned on. The MP3 player is one I got years ago at a grocery store I think for less than $10, looks like a thumb drive and runs on an AAA battery. Many sub $10 ones on amazon or whatever you may already have (Sansa clip, apple shuffle, etc) will work. A 1/8" stereo to 1/8" stereo audio jumper connects the MP3 player headphone jack to the UV5R mic connector. MP3 player volume sets the mic drive level. That's the hardware setup. I created the CQ file using Audacity but you could make one with any audio recorder. For the length of the file (~3 minutes) it will be a small file in any audio format. ~20 seconds or so of "CQ CQ CQ here is W1XYZ calling and standing by" then 2 minutes 40 seconds of silence. Put the file into the player, set the player to play in continuous loop mode and off it goes. A few times I've set this up to call CQ for me during Field Day, and it makes a handy announcement loop for QST's folks can listen to at hamfests or other ham gatherings. Makes me wonder why something this useful can't already be built into radios.

Mark K5LXP
Albuquerque, NM

[BlauMax]

Thanks again.. I can picture part of it.. but, my tired old brain can't see the rest. Hate to admit it.. but, at nearly 84.. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer any longer. I've become an appliance user... How do you, or do you, interrupt the Baofang if/when you get a call back? Also, is the 'fang lockable so it is on continuous transmit until you get a reply? Then do you typically use the 'fang as your means of comm or do you have a separate higher powered 2m rig for that?

Looks worth pursuing..
Bill, WA7WS
Meridian, ID

[Mr_Moustache]

Originally Posted by BlauMax

WA7WS here. I love to operate POTA using a FT-891 with and LDG tuner. Up until now I was using Shark hamsticks on a triple magmount along with a 2/440 antenna and sometimes 220.
However, I now have a high roof Sprinter and will have to figure an entire new game plan as the roof is WAY too high to change antennas for HF. Considering an ATAS antenna for HF.. or a vertical or a EFHW.

I now have the FT-891 in the MH and really enjoy activating parks while camping. The XTenna EFHW works great with a telescoping pole but isn't always the most convenient. I think the ATAS would be a great solution for you and would make more bands avalable too. It would be great to pull in to a park and be activating it within minutes, even in poor weather conditions, from the comfort of your Sprinter. That is one reason I am considering a Tarheel screwdriver antenna for my truck (which we tow behind the MH.)

Good luck with your decision.

Mike Savage NC7I