r/HamRadio

In india

So far I just have a handheld transceiver, a Wouxun KG-UV9D which was given to me as a gift. I'd like to get an actual base station and was looking for tips on what would be a good one to get started with that isn't too expensive. I'm disabled and don't have a large budget.

I was attempting to do a POTA activity last night in a south eastern area of Turkey. I hoped on 40m and found it to be absolutely dominated by what sounded like Russian operators, stations playing music, and what sounded like people reading news? Maybe? Across rhe entire band. I regret not getting a photo of the waterfall display because it was really quite impressive. Is this usual? Or was something going on?

Like, furrealz, I don't care about every new app that comes out that has some vague connection to ham radio. Maybe we need a hamradiosoftware sub. What do my fellow nerds think?

Hey everyone, I'm a rising college freshman on the east coast getting into HF with a Hermes Lite 2. I don't have my license yet so this is receive-only for now, but I'm building with transmitting in mind for when I do get licensed.

I'm planning to build a half-wave dipole for the 20m band as my first antenna and set it up as an inverted V in my backyard. Problem is my yard is small and sloped. I know the general advice is to keep the angle at 90 degrees or wider, but realistically how narrow can I go before performance falls off noticeably? What's the minimum horizontal spread between the two ends that you'd consider usable?

Planning to run FT8 at 5 watts once I'm licensed. For now just want to listen and learn.

This is my first antenna build so if there's something simpler or better suited for a small sloped yard on 20m I'm totally open to suggestions. Thanks!

I'm located in KSA and I have tried to get a HAM license but I'd have to travel to the country's capital and stay there for few days which is not possible for me. I have been wanting to get FCC license for a while by now and I have spoken with HAM radio operators and read though laws and seems like if I happen to have a foreign callsign I can legally use/operate ham radio. But my question is from what I can find FCC doesn't seem to have reciprocal laws with KSA I meant its not there in their list of countries.Would it cause problem from FCC side cuz from my country side its a total OK.

Edit: forgot to add Ik few folks in sates and I can use their mailing adress and give the examination online.

I'm brand new to ham radio. I'm going to get my license (I think). What is the best, most powerful, portable radio you can get (and by portable, I mean you can throw it in a backpack)? I spend a lot of time in the California deserts and mountains.

I'm just getting into the hobby - trying to connect to a repeater in Jersey City or lower Manhattan with an HT, and I can't seem to find any activity. I've tried a few of the repeaters listed in repeater book and the NYrepeaters website. Is there a specific time with more activity, and/or any repeater in particular I should try to focus on first?

OK, I bought an old Icom radio from my inlaws neighbors, as he's getting rid of stuff that he doesn't use.

I have the manual, but I'm having trouble entering in anything other than UHF 44?.???

It transmits and receives just fine on 446.250, but I can't change it to any of the FRS channels.

And forget about VHF.

Anyone remember how to use one of these old things? The build quality is great, but I'd like it to be more useful to me.

Last question: can I program with CHIRP? I'm guessing no, but thought I'd ask

As I study for my Technician license, I'm also dreaming about how I'll set up radios/antennas as I climb the ham ladder. I am renting in an HOA, and I do a few long driving trips each month, so I'll probably spend the majority of my ham time in the car.

While daydreaming about this, where are some good places/who are some good people to look to for sturdy, clean, practical (hatchback access, quick removal for parking garages, won't get ripped off in the car wash, controls within easy reach while driving, etc.).

My daughter has Pinterest boards for her interests. Maybe I should look there? :-)

Can't wait to talk/chat with mobile users about their experiences setting up their vehicles!

I just started studying for my Technician license, and I'm reading a lot of posts about ham radio. There are a lot of comments and statements (mostly related to the bands I'll have access to with my Technician license) about unlicensed users.

Is this a serious issue? What makes it a serious issue (other than the penalties in the regulations)? Are there governments in countries where certain agencies monitor the airwaves and locate unlicensed users? How would one ham know that a broadcaster is not licensed?

As I write this, I'm thinking, "Oh, great, this smacks of 'I'm asking for a friend.'" So let me be clear that I'm asking this question out of curiosity and a desire to learn. I do NOT have any equipment that I am using illegally. Really!

Ever ended up with a POCSAG pager that has only a partial RIC on the sticker and, if you are lucky, a vague rumour about where it might be tuned? I had one of those charming little problems and did not particularly fancy building yet another programming interface just to ask the thing what it already knows. So I wrote pocsag-probe.

It throws messages through a HackRF or rpitx, sweeps frequencies, walks RIC ranges, reads candidate RICs from a file, and expands partial patterns like 0118 or 3xx21x into valid POCSAG addresses. The point is not elegance. The point is to automate the dull detective work until the pager finally admits what it is listening for. It's not really a prober, it's a bruteforcer. It works. Eventually.

I am from a country where amateur radio doesn't exist, although there is an amateur radio society there, but it seems that the society is ineffective.

Anyway, I live in a different country and I tried to get a call sign from this country, but the laws in this country prevent non-citizens from obtaining a call sign and a permit to purchase equipment and transmit unless I have a call sign from a different country, then they allow me to do so.

So, is there a way to get a call sign by any means from one of the societies in one of the countries via Internet ( online ) without visiting the society?

I asked someone in one of the countries and he told me I could visit them then take a exam, and i call sign from them but its hard for me to travel

Just what the title said.

Im in range of all of them. Farthest one being 8 miles away from me.

I scanned all 5 for a week straight whenever I had th time. And nobody is on them.

There’s even a GMRS repeater that not even little Timmy with a walkie talkie is on.

I’m kinda mad now that I’ve been studying for my technician license. Just 1 week wasted of studying.

I kinda of feel like HAM in my area is dying.

Im planning on buying an icom 7300 for my first hf ham radio and dont know what antenna power supply and coax cable to buy im studying my license also any good YouTube videos would you recommend to actually use a radio also I live in south Charlotte if that helps