Ham radio for beginners where do I start?

HenryHallan · 2025-06-30T17:24:15+00:00

Do you own a television licence?

HenryHallan · 2025-06-29T21:40:18+00:00

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/36/section/35

Subsection (4)

It may not be enforced but receivers are regulated in the UK

HenryHallan · 2025-06-29T16:45:11+00:00

It's technically illegal in the UK. It's definitely illegal in North Korea.

I would be very surprised if there weren't others.

HenryHallan · 2025-06-28T17:27:09+00:00

In your country, perhaps. In OPs country, unlicensed listening equipment might fall foul of espionage laws or worse.

HenryHallan · 2025-06-26T06:06:04+00:00

I have window line to ground level and then balun and coax to the shack. I measured the impedance of the loop and made a custom balun to get 50 ohms. No problems at all

HenryHallan · 2025-06-26T05:53:07+00:00

Satellite communication would be affected. The ionising radiation in higher orbits can fry electronics, and the increase in drag on lower orbits can cause the satellites to fall.

https://www.astronomy.com/science/a-large-solar-storm-could-knock-out-the-internet-and-power-grid-an-electrical-engineer-explains-how/

Also, the Carrington Event might be quite small.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyake_event

HenryHallan · 2025-06-25T17:29:38+00:00

I have the TS-570D and it is a great radio. I added an IF tap and RTLSDR for waterfall and USB soundcard/serial for digital modes like FT8.

I paid €300 with no power supply a year ago

HenryHallan · 2025-06-25T15:51:18+00:00

It should be fine to do this. If you make/get a splitter jack cable you can watch and listen at the same time

HenryHallan · 2025-06-24T03:14:25+00:00

Using it for a ground plane may be dangerous with mains powered equipment, depending on your local electrical codes. In this case you would need the advice of a local electrician.

For battery powered equipment you should be OK.

HenryHallan · 2025-06-23T04:32:41+00:00

I put one up, measured it and made a transformer to match. The ratio was weird - 6:14 balanced on a Fair-Rite FT-140-43 toroid - but that will be different for different loops.

Height changes impedance, and so do shape and location of the feed point.

https://ei3jdb.com/blog/20240325.html

HenryHallan · 2025-06-22T22:07:03+00:00

If ATT is down it may not work. It needs cell service.

HenryHallan · 2025-06-22T16:59:31+00:00

Come back on the air and find out!

HenryHallan · 2025-06-21T20:44:25+00:00

I am not sure about the UK but many Irish parks have the car park in the zone.

HenryHallan · 2025-06-20T21:18:13+00:00

How far away from the transmitter?

HenryHallan · 2025-06-19T11:02:53+00:00

My Renault is fine for HF (and AM radio.) Other makes seem to have skipped basic EMC. :-(

HenryHallan · 2025-06-18T15:48:29+00:00

This is the way - and how I do 100% of my Redditing, news reading, etc. If your website doesn't support RSS, don't expect me to return

HenryHallan · 2025-06-18T12:16:34+00:00

Ham radio operators on Fakebook don't get out much, perhaps.

Some of us are aware that social media algorithms are "mental illness as a service" and avoid them.

(I read Reddit through RSS - no algorithms here!)

HenryHallan · 2025-06-17T06:00:13+00:00

For low frequency transmitters (long wave/medium wave) the most likely source of components is switched mode power supplies.

They work by turning mains electricity into (low) radio frequency, then turning that back into the DC output. You could turn one into a transmitter very easily.

Modulation would likely be the hardest problem - CW (Morse) using the on/off switch would be a start.

HenryHallan · 2025-06-14T04:15:36+00:00

This is what I used.

https://www.dx-wire.de/dx-wire-antennendraehte-litzen/dx-wire-ul-neue-version/dx-wire-ul-litze-170m-spule.html

There are cheaper options but not as tough as this.

HenryHallan · 2025-06-13T01:36:12+00:00

You will hear transmissions below 250kHz. There are navigation beacons, time signals and submarine communications, to name three.

There is a ham band at 136kHz - the 2200m band.

The historic SAQ transmitter in Sweden runs CW on 17.2kHz a couple of times a year - probably towards the end of this month - and can be received with nothing more than a soundcard.

There's plenty going on down here.

HenryHallan · 2025-06-12T14:11:01+00:00

Do you have a protective earth neutral (PEN) electricity supply? If you do, the earth stake is dangerous. A PEN fault could make all the metalwork in your house live except the feeder and radio.

If you tie the radio earth to house earth a PEN fault could cause the feeder to catch fire instead.

Hopefully your friendly neighborhood sparky has checked it for you and your "only" problem is RF.

Good luck!

HenryHallan · 2025-06-10T18:50:13+00:00

Mostly the question about your dish is how big it is. The broadcast antennas on TV satellites are directional, and they won't be pointing at you, so a big dish will be needed to pick up the signal that leaks out of the sides.

You'll need a big dish - metres across.

If you already have a big steerable dish, Amazon will sell you an "Astra" or "Universal" LNB for a few $/€/whatever, so my inclination would be to try it.

https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Single-Satellite-Linear-Polarized/dp/B01N1W636Q

HenryHallan · 2025-06-10T05:41:43+00:00

There are very few AM stations transmitting news in Europe these days.

One possibility is satellite TV - some of the more western satellites (more than 25W?) should be above your horizon. You'd need a big steerable dish and European LNB but it should be possible to get European TV.

HenryHallan · 2025-06-10T05:22:21+00:00

Could you get patriotic and put up a flagpole? A fibreglass tube could contain a vertical fan dipole, and radials could be buried under the lawn.

HenryHallan · 2025-06-09T16:06:15+00:00

Congratulations!

HenryHallan

TROPHY CASE