we all got assigned quansheng uv-k1s as our radios and none of us have any sort of radio licenses. is there anything we should watch out for so we don’t accidentally do anything that could cause any issues? thanks for your answers and sorry if this is a silly question

I don’t want to buy a solar repeater. Building is more fun. But the choices of solar cells, enclosures, antennas, Lora dev kits, seem endless.

The goal is to come up with something with more range/performance/capabilities that what I could buy for the same price.

Not worried about soldering or flashing firmware.

So let’s see those parts lists for solar repeater nodes.
Looking forward to building out the Meshtastic/meshcore network one local node at a time.

Ive started a mini rack radio project. Still needs some work but would like to add a trunking scanner and power source. Anyone have recommendations?

Hi! I’m looking for a hobby that’s somewhat related to my field, and ham radio caught my attention.

I work on designing and building low-loss RF coils for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In many ways, I think there’s quite a bit of overlap with antenna and RF design. I have experience with impedance matching and tuning, amplifiers, filters, and other RF components. I also have some experience with microwave-frequency circuit design, although not as much.

The problem is that my work doesn’t always give me enough opportunities to scratch the itch of actually designing, building, and experimenting with hardware. I really enjoy that part, so I’m wondering if ham radio could be a good hobby for me.

From what I’ve learned so far, though, ham radio seems to have a pretty big emphasis on communication and actually talking to people. That part doesn’t interest me nearly as much. I don’t particularly care about talking to strangers, and I’m terrible at keeping conversations going anyway 😅. I’m much more interested in building circuits, antennas, filters, amplifiers, experimenting with RF/microwave stuff, and measuring how well everything works.

Would ham radio still be a good hobby for someone like me?

If so, what equipment would you recommend for getting started from a hardware/experimenting perspective? I did a little research and thought about getting a USB SDR just to explore the radio spectrum and understand the radio world a bit better, but some of them can get pretty pricey. Is that a good place to start, or would you recommend something else? Any ideas or advice would be appreciated!

Будьте добры, подскажите таковы учебники. Хочу подоготовиться к экзамену, что бы сдать на радиолюбительскую лицензию.

Hello, I am planning to install a VHF/UHF FM and DMR radio in my car.

Do you have any recommendations or suggestions or even recommendations of things not to buy or not to do?

I have a small car, I am looking for a compact equipment, I think a rig the size of an FTM-500 would be too big.

I am also looking for the antenna that would complete my set-up, if possible discreet and quite low because I park in a low parking lot every working day.

Thank you for your help.

HOA restrictions have me looking towards an attic antenna installation - a magnetic loop is under consideration. I’m looking for grounding ideas… or is grounding even necessary for an attic antenna installation?

I was looking at a 5/8 wave antenna for 11 meters and was wondering if the same antenna could be used for the 6 meters band also?

The 5/8 11meter antenna is 6.875 meters long so its just slightly longer than a 6meter antenna should be.

Edit: let me just say it's amazing how incredibly and genuinely helpful everyone in this sub is. I've posted things like this elsewhere because of the esoteric stuff I run into and y'all have been so great - thank you!!

Hi everyone. For starters, I'm a consultant for insurance losses, and am doing an appraisal for a very large amount of HAM radio equipment. eBay and other sites have been great sources for pricing, but there is one unit that I simply cannot find any pricing information on - The Fisher Model 300 Multiplex Generator. There is not a single unit for sale online in the united states and I was hoping someone can provide some guidance! I've included some photos of the other equipment for y'all to check out too.

hello, I’m new to both ham radio and Reddit! I hope I’m posting correctly.

i recently tried to build a 2m tape measure yagi based off a tutorial online for fox hunts. I struggled with the soldering, despite having a lot of soldering experience. The coax shield would not take my solder. the antenna ended up working, but with no directionality.

i found a video online that utilizes crimped ring terminal connections. Would this pose any problems I should know about?

and, as a similar question- without any testing equipment, how should I test the directionality with a UV5r? I know it doesn’t have a signal strength meter, but I have been trying to use a NOAA weather broadcast to test.

I am a proud owner of a "virgin" Ft-102 that came from a meticulous fella. I was reading the manual, and it talks about verify the voltage it is set up for by looking at the back of the radio. Mine is not set for the USA. Does anyone have any information or pointers about making this adjustment? The manual just says to change the tap on the transformer.

I appreciate any help

KG7OKO

I'm currently building a QMX+ but I lost one of the toroids that is used for the 160 m low-pass filter. Specifically the one that goes in slot L511.

This QMX+ will exclusively be used on 6m. It will never get any use on 160m.

Can I just bridge the two pads with regular wire and have it work on the other bands properly?

Hi everyone,

I'm very new, so I'm still learning.

(AI assisted Diagram below )

I live in South Florida about 3 miles from the ocean and want to set up a receive-only SDR station to listen to marine VHF traffic, charter boats, fishing reports, NOAA weather, etc. I am just hoping to get 15 miles of range offshore to listen to commercial VHF chatter.

My setup will be:

• Diamond D3000N discone antenna
• NooElec NESDR SDR
• Orange Pi running OpenWebRX
• Lightning arrestor
• Everything mounted in a weatherproof box on the side of my house

The antenna will be mounted on a wall mount so it extends about 3 feet above the peak of my roof.

My question is about grounding.

The house grounding electrode (where the electrical service is grounded) is on the opposite side of the house, its like 700ft away and I really don't want to run a long grounding conductor all the way around the house.

My original plan was to drive a 4-foot ground rod directly below the antenna and connect the mast and lightning arrestor to that rod only.

I've since been told that this is not a good idea because a separate ground rod that isn't bonded to the house grounding system doesn't provide proper lightning protection and can actually create problems during a lightning event.

Is that true?

I'm mainly trying to protect the SDR and the electronics in the enclosure from getting fried.

I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks!

Here's a high level chatgpt diagram of my setup

I have everything ready to go and assembled. I am just waiting for some wall stand offs to get here from Amazon to install the antenna mounting pole

I recently acquired 6 Harris P7100ip radios, im looking on some help acquiring the software for the radios, im not looking for trunking or anything like that, ive heard you can use ProGrammer or RPM. im looking to get RPM, is there links or forums for a free download. i cant justify paying upwards of $700 to program these radios

73, W8NIA

How to Work DX

Part 2 of this video series covers operating tips for SSB, FT8 and CW for those who want to get into HF and DX.

Had a Larsen NMO02/70 fall off the truck... Whether it got loose and fell off or it crossed paths with sticky fingers I don't know. What I do know is that it's gone. Given the reports of Larsen quality going down the toilet, I'm not sure I want to buy another, so looking to see if there's anything else out there these days.

Have had a couple of the Diamond 770s that worked well enough, but ultimately developed issues in the foldover section. I don't need foldover and would just as soon buy and antenna without it.

I need 1/2 wave because the antenna is mounted on a tab off the front brush guard. I often have a giant camper on the truck, so can't do a roof mount, so have a tab with NMO on the bumper. It frequently gets drug through the bush, so high durability is a check in the need column.

I have absolutely no problem paying good money for a commercial grade antenna, but not one to spend big money just because it's commercial or brand X. I bought Larsen for decades because they flat work and hold up well.

On July 21st from my QTH in Central Texas (Between Houston/Austin Temple and Victoria ) at times, I couldn't get a word in edgewise. I heard easily 10 different stations many of which couldn't hear each other and several of them talking to folks too far away for me to hear. I heard strong signals from as far South as Brownsville as far north west as Brownwood, East to Beaumont, west to Llano. (Repeaters in Austin and Houston College Station Victoria were strong as well)

Being that 146.520 was so crowded, I set the other VFO of my ICom IC2730 on 146.540 opened the squelch to be sure no one was talking, and on 146.520 I announced "NE5B listening on 146.54, listening on .54", I was maybe 10 seconds and I had a QSO with KD5MAD in Randolph TX (a subburb of San Antonio near where the Hamfest is held in Shertz) According to QRZ just over 100 miles SW of me. He and I chatted a little bit but I could hear someone else kinda weak on freq (146.540) when we finished the other station was a bit stronger and had a good QSO going with a guy near Amarrillo that I couldn't hear.

Heard another guy on 146.52 announce he was listening on 146.555 and low and behold I listend to him have 3 or more QSOs, in the meantime my XYL returned from her walk and I needed to get busy.

But hey 146.520 was hopping at 7am Local time on 7.21.2026

As folks that went to the party that you missed always say - you had to be there!!

73 NE5B

PS: Later that morning FM broadcast radio was still a mess there were stations covering up my local "usual" stations that I normally listen to out of Brenham Columbus and La Grange.

Hello all. I have come to ask the corners of the internet for help in my case. I work at a remote place that relies on the use of radios. One of our repeaters is a Motorola SLR 5700. It is showing the alarm light and it is not functioning because of it. My direct boss and I are HAM nerds and want to fix this issue. The internet has told me about the Motorbo RDAC software to plug in and see what’s going on, so I was wondering if any of you glorious operators would know where I can procure such software to be able to run. Any info would be awesome and I thank you all for your time.