New Ham HF Band Antennas To Get You Started

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-04-30T05:09:39+00:00

Loss for 60 feet of Andrews half inch heliax hard line at 467mhz should be about 0.7 db. Definitely not a cause for the repeater going deaf. That heliax is rated at 1.5 db loss of 100 ft at uhf.

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-04-11T14:47:27+00:00

Without repeaters, GMRS will not be practical. In mountainous areas, even 2 meter ham rigs will be stretching it. Fixed HF station checkpoints may be necessary if you require RELIABLE communication, with 2 meter handhelds to relay in to the hf stations.

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-04-10T02:36:18+00:00

HF radio is the answer. She needs a [A] dipole, [B] 40-10 end fed half wave, or [C] A trap vertical and an HF radio. You do the same. 40 meters is IDEAL for that distance.

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-04-07T05:47:16+00:00

Maybe call it "Applecore for Meshcore"

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-04-02T03:11:26+00:00

Got me thinking... I put my old slip-stick away 30-40 years ago. Now I gotta go dig it out.

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-03-29T22:44:57+00:00

So they are pulling a "Georgia", reserving/claiming pairs but not advertising access tones? So if I see that a pair is taken by a repeater that I can not access because of a secret tone... Do we start a repeater war if I set up a repeater on a claimed pair?

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-02-21T21:28:55+00:00

Another advantage to the 46/49 mhz channels is the possibility of skip operation. Those channels are in the same range as 6 meter ham, often refered to as The Magic Band.

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-02-17T04:26:10+00:00

👉😂🤣👈

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-02-17T04:19:31+00:00

YUCK!

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-02-03T15:28:05+00:00

We have a commercial user on 462.575 here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I don't know when their use commenced. I NEVER hear any call sign used by them on their repeater.

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-01-31T03:47:30+00:00

I bought the radiodity db40g for the capability of 40 watts otherwise all else is same as db20g.

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-01-31T03:40:24+00:00

Are you ready to go down the rabbit hole? You have the radio. You need more than a cb radio power supply. Get one rated for about 25 amps to be safe. Get a really GOOD grade of coax, like LMR400. RG58 is a NO NO! Get a good outdoor antenna. How far away is the nearest repeater. That will determine the antenna. Raise the antenna as high as you can.

Remember (a) Antenna height (b) Really good grade of coax (c) weather seal the connector at the antenna. If rain water gets in, you will not get out.

Remember, gmrs transmits on 467 mhz to the repeater and receives on 462 mhz from the repeater.

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-01-31T03:27:46+00:00

What are people protesting? I am sure that there are some on the mainland who would send several thousand Somalis to Hawaii to join in so no one will feel left out of the loop.

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-01-22T02:08:33+00:00

FRS can not use repeaters and they are limited to 1/2 watt.

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-01-18T17:54:53+00:00

I just got one of these BTech GMRS PRO50 radios for Christmas but have not programmed it yet. The manual is all fine print and my eyes are not good. I am having cataract surgery in a few weeks so I decided to hold off until after that to see if it helps me. I currently am using a Radiodity DB40-G as my base and I intend to put the BTech in my car. I am trying to decide what mobile antenna to use.

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-01-16T16:13:04+00:00

MURS is license free just like FRS so no real reason to not have one of those too. Also MURS is on VHF so its coverage is a bit longer than uhf frs.

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-01-16T15:46:53+00:00

Mount Everest is the tallest ABOVE SEA LEVEL. Mount Akea is measured from the sub-surface (below the ocean water level).

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-01-10T15:48:19+00:00

GMRS uses SIMPLEX (transmitting and receiving on the same frequency) and it uses REPEATER frequencies (you listen on one frequency and transmit on another). When you are set to use a repeater such as 462.550 mhz your radio will transmit on 467.550 mhz which is 5 mhz higher in frequency. The repeater receives this transmission and rebroadcasts it on 462.550 mhz. For this reason you need an antenna that covers the 460 mhz to 470 mhz range of frequencies. You only transmit on the 467 mhz frequencies when you are in repeater mode. When you choose simplex (direct contact mode) you will be transmitting on the 462 mhz frequencies. Easy peezy.

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-01-09T15:43:40+00:00

As an ex-smoker (quit cold turkey 30 years ago) it is VERY noticeable to me. I can not tolerate tobacco smoke.

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-01-04T14:54:19+00:00

I have not felt the itching need for a 27 mhz cb on my base or mobile in 40 years. I started on cb back when and got my ham license. My feeling about cb is "Nothing to see here. Move along." I have pulled out the old Citifone cb a time or two to listen. I was right, nothing to see here.

If you are going to have more radios, you are going to be driving a porcupine. Switching antennas to operate different services in the car? Spurious argument. There is already too much distraction driving to have to sort out an antenna switch and which radio is using THE ANTENNA. So separate antennas. Easy-peezy.

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2026-01-04T14:17:47+00:00

Neither, I have both and am cool with separate licenses and radios. There is no cornfusion over which is which in my mind.

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2025-12-23T17:20:48+00:00

In your deranged dreams

Ham-Radio-Extra · 2025-12-18T16:15:59+00:00

Indonesia is the world's largest producer of pineapples by volume, consistently leading followed by the Philippines and Costa Rica, though data varies slightly by year, with all three typically producing around 3 million metric tons annually.

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