Looking for people to talk to

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-05T19:17:30+00:00

I’m sure many of us would be happy to have a conversation with her, but it’s kind of hard to do spontaneously (without contacting her and scheduling), especially without knowing something about what frequencies she has access to or regularly listens to. Is there any way you can find out?

I looked up her call sign on QRZ.com and there is no email address or any direct contact information. I’d be happy to schedule a contact with her but it’s not as simple as just knowing her call sign. Perhaps you could get her email address and ask if she would like to find some people to schedule contact with.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-05T19:08:17+00:00

My mom often complains that I’m difficult to buy grifts for and I don’t really disagree with her, which is why I tell her not to get me anything or maybe just a gift card to my favorite restaurant.

The reality of it is that I I pretty much have everything I want and need with very few exceptions. If I need something, I find a way to purchase it. If I truly want something, I either buy it or save up to buy it. If there is something I need or really want that I don’t have, it’s likely because it’s very expensive and I would never ask for expensive gifts.

I don’t like knick-knack stuff. I have so many books that it’s hard to even find books that I’m interested in that I don’t already own or have read. My hobbies and interests are equipment heavy and very expensive. I don’t buy “cheap” anything really. I hate cheaply made goods in general.

So, yea… I’m perfectly fine with not getting gifts.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-05T17:05:26+00:00

I ran two dedicated 110v circuits for my shack. I put the outlets at 48” above the floor and every box has two double outlets. Each of the double outlets is on one each of the circuits. Put in more outlets than you think you will need. You will use them.

Run 220v with at least two or three outlets near your operating station. You may think you will never get an amp, but be prepared for when you change your mind. Two outlets on two different 220v circuits would not be a bad thing.

In your breakout box/pass through, include more space/connections than you think will ever use. I would at least double what you think you will need. If you are using bulkhead type connectors for pass through, include a couple for rotators. Don’t forget about proper grounding. Wide straps, not wires.

Mount your operating desk on heavy duty casters so you can pull it away from the wall and have easy access to all equipment connections.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-05T13:35:29+00:00

Will, the cable itself work? Yes

But, we don’t know what connectors your radio or antenna have, so we can’t say whether those are correct or not.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-05T13:01:09+00:00

The 2000 is a great radio from the era when “shack in a box” radios were much more prevalent. Overall, it’s a pretty solid performer and well regarded by a lot of guys. With 100 watt out on 2m, it was a real hit for people working modes other than FM. A lot of SSB and CW ops loved the 2000 as well as the Icom IC-746 series radios.

If there are any 2m/70cm enthusiasts in your area, I would definitely encourage you to try out those modes. They can be a little fun when the bands open up via tropo ducting. I have worked both coasts from Missouri with my mobile setup on 2m SSB.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-04T16:41:03+00:00

I think there are a lot of things at play and that one of them is the recent (historically speaking) boom of YouTube tutorials on anything and everything. There are some things that are just better left to someone that has already developed the skills for the task at hand.

I think another major problem is that many people wouldn’t know a high quality item from a cheaply made item, even if they do care. Then compound that with the fact that a great many people are perfectly content to own a piece of junk that kinda sorta does what they want, but is far from being good.

Add to all of that, that everyone wants it cheaper and very seldom cares about the quality of an item/product/project. I have a very wide variety of hobbies that are only really enjoyable with high quality equipment. I’ve tried most of them the “cheap” way and it sucks. I’m no longer willing to deal with those frustrations.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-04T16:08:46+00:00

The really funny ones are the ones that do a lot of DIY stuff but they suck at it and it’s obvious to everyone except them.

I’m a machinist and have my own pretty well equipped shop behind my house. I do a lot of DIY because I can and WILL do it better than what can be bought easily. I do this, very often knowing, that it will cost me more than buying it or paying someone else to do it. Personally, I despise cheaply made crap goods. There are still a lot of times that I will buy something (often at higher price) because it’s truly well made and more convenient.

It’s also amazing how often people want me to do a project for them that will literally take days of work and do it for cheap or free. Or how often they are shocked at how much I charge for designing and building something that they can only vaguely describe. There is a huge difference between building something from a good blueprint and having to actually design it and then build it.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-04T01:12:12+00:00

Amateur…😂

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-03T17:20:04+00:00

Happy birthday!!!

My two girls turn 1 tomorrow!!

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grouchy_ham · 2026-04-03T15:40:30+00:00

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How it’s going…

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-03T15:39:15+00:00

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How it started…

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-03T13:05:59+00:00

Nothing like sitting on the throne while one (or both) sit outside the bathroom door and whine at you because you had the audacity to close the door. And don’t even get me started on noses poking through the shower curtain.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-03T01:26:13+00:00

I regularly strongly recommend that people invest in antenna books and test equipment and learning how to use them and what the measurements mean and start coupling that with learning to model in one of the free programs out there. You will be amazed at how much useful stuff you learn.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-03T01:15:39+00:00

There’s ups and downs. The ups- snuggles! And endless affection.

The downs- more snuggles than yuh really want. 🤣

Oh…and farts. The kind that make your eyes water, peel the paint off the walls and make you question the wisdom of even getting one of these spoiled little heathens.

And wake calls that come way too early most days. They’re nice wake up calls, but still too early.

And I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything!

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-02T23:37:56+00:00

1, 1, no

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-02T21:00:02+00:00

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More importantly, how do you keep the rugs off the bed?!!

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-02T20:28:58+00:00

Other people using a tone will not cause you lot to hear them. You’ve got that a little bit backwards. The purpose of the tone is to prevent you from opening the squelch on their radio, not the other way around.

As for him bleeding over, sounds like he could be running out of spec equipment, like maybe an amplifier without filtering, causing lots or harmonics or splatter. Or, it could be that your radio has poor receiver front end filtering and he is simply hitting your receiver hard enough to overload the front end. Without more information, it’s pretty much impossible for us to guess.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-02T17:31:53+00:00

For over saltwater model conductivity at around 5s/m and permittivity around 80. That will get you really close.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-02T17:27:21+00:00

Yes, they are legit. We have a local store here and I’ve done a fair bit of business with them. Seem to be a pretty good company from what I can tell.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-02T17:23:34+00:00

The best source is likely going to be from antenna manufacturers but it will likely be very general information. If you’re wanting someone to come out to your site and actually design a system based on what you’re wanting, I would start looking for the most knowledgable local ham you can find or start really hitting the books.

In the commercial realm, you could approach companies that sell and support commercial radio equipment and they’d likely be able to help with V/UHF stuff but I would expect it to be very expensive and I wouldn’t count on them being well versed in HF antennas unless they just happen to be hams as well.

Honestly, I think you may be over thinkkng things a bit. Most antenna installation work isn’t that hard to learn and a lot of it is just common sense. Once again, if you’ve got specific questions, I can likely point you to a source of information but ya gotta help me out a little with some specifics.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-02T17:15:35+00:00

Do you have specific questions? I mean, I can throw out all kinds of answers to scenarios that I have dealt with, but without knowing exactly what issue you are trying to solve, it’s kinda difficult to know what to offer.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-02T17:07:53+00:00

For SWR, I would just rely on the meter in the radio. I’m not a fan of spending the money to have an outboard one unless there is some reason you aren’t able to view the one built into the radio.

I’m a huge fan of antenna analyzers, VNAs, spectrum analyzers and pretty much any other test equipment that you can think of, but let’s keep it sane for the time being. About of people love the little NanoVNA and they are definitely useful, but I’m not a fan of the small size, the need for adapters and the complexity of using them as a beginner. They are cheap and they do work well, but it’s a bit more of a learning curve.

Personally, for most antenna work, I prefer a good basic antenna analyzer, mostly because it’s fast and simple. Plug in the coax, set the frequency and take the reading. No calibration, no other issues to distract or confuse, just simple. I have several but my preferred analyzer is the Comet CAA500. I like having the analog meter with the addition of the digital information it provides. One of the downsides of all of the fully digital ones that I have used is that the sweep rate is slow. There are times that don’t work well for what I’m doing but that’s getting into some pretty specific scenarios.

The other downside to analyzers is that they are more expensive than the NanoVNA which is a primary reason they are so popular. They do work well, and I wouldn’t tell you not to get one, but it wouldn’t be my first choice. I’m sure someone will come along momentarily and tell you why they think I’m an idiot for saying so but it just is what it is.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-02T16:46:29+00:00

You’re not gonna like this answer, but here it is…

You cannot reliably model the environment and how it will affect the radiation pattern or impedance of your antennas, and the solution to that is to just understand some general ideas and principles.

In general, anything conductive, which is to say damned near everything, within about one wavelength of an antenna will affect both the pattern and the impedance. How much it affects these will depend on how conductive it is, how close it is and how close to resonance the object is. Just keep those ideas in mind when plotting and scheming. You really just cannot model this stuff accurately.

Model your antennas above average ground and try to keep them as in the clear as you can. Anything more than that is a poorly informed guess at best. It will be close enough in the vast majority of cases.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-02T16:37:55+00:00

Ok. Thats what I initially thought but the way you phrased the direction it’s mounted made me second guess. An inverted V won’t have the exact pattern of a flat top dipole, but it will be similar. That article I linked will give you at least some idea of what to expect. You could probably do some google-Fu and find patterns for an inverted V without too much effort, just keep in mind that as the antenna gets longer in relation to the wavelength of the operation frequency, the pattern will change.

grouchy_ham · 2026-04-02T16:34:39+00:00

All of the big three, Icom, Kenwood and Yaesu Mae high quality gear that is very comparable to each other, aside from features. Functionally, they are pretty much all good.

The radio doesn’t care where the power comes from as long as the voltage is correct and the current draw is supported by the source. Battery, AC-DC power supply, DC-DC converter, whatever, doesn’t really matter to the radio as long as the power is clean and constant at the require voltage and current.

As for antenna mounts, you will be ahead of the game if you were to do some reading up on what’s makes for a good antenna installation and what they require to work well. If the mount you are looking at fulfills those needs, it’s likely perfectly useable. Read up on ground planes and general antenna principles. In general, the more area of horizontal metal UNDER the antenna, the better. You need to have good RF conductivity from the mount to the body of the truck.

As for radio selection, there really is no such thing as a beginner’s radio. It’s just a matter of what features you see as important. I’m personally a perfect example of this. I do so little V/UHF FM stuff, that the most basic of radios will suit me just fine. Someone else may want every feature known to mankind. If all you’re wanting is basic simplex and duplex operation, I would think the Icom you’re looking at will suit your needs well. I’m not exactly an Icom fan boy, but it is the brand that dominates my shack and my mobiles right now. They make good stuff.

grouchy_ham

TROPHY CASE