r/amateurradio

My daughter (f17) is absolutely obsessed with weather and becoming a meteorologist. I want to get her a radio so she can listen to Skywarn directly. As a single dad with very little disposable income, what is the cheapest radio i can get that will allow her to listen in? I am aware that this is a shortwave radio and that she would need a license to talk on channel. I will be making sure she is very aware of that.

EDIT: Thanks for the information. I really appreciate it.

Where the antenna coax connects I did a loop. Looped maybe 3 times (LR400 flex) my Swr is between 1.4 and 1.6 on 2m/70cm should I take the loop out? Thank you

Just looking for some guidance or experience with running digital modes off-grid. Essentially what I’d like to do is build some sort of setup that could be 100% off-grid to use winlink, aprs, and possibly ft8 or some other digital mode to get communication in and out (I have zero experience with ft8 so I haven’t really looked into its usage much). Essentially this would be for redundancy of communication and a way to possibly receive and transmit information to family and others when phones aren’t available. Ideally this would also be able to use vhf/uhf or hf depending on the needs at the time, I’d be fine having to switch radios and connections if I don’t get a radio that’s capable of both.

Why am I not seeing spot reports in gridtracker2?

I have recently acquired an MFJ 993 antenna tuner. Works great. I have a vertical multibander that needs help - it doesn't resonate near where it should and I can't easily get at it to do anything physically to correct the problem. The tuner 'solves' this problem....

I am aware that the device doesn't actually do anything to the antenna - it just matches the impedance of the load/antenna so that my radio "sees" 50 ohms and is happy. What I'm looking for is a relationship between the actual SWR of the antenna and the efficiency of the whole system. i.e. if my radio has 100 watts output into an antenna with a (say) 10:1 SWR how many Watts actually get radiated? Is there a formula for this? Yielding a result in % or dB - either will do..

I'm assuming that an antenna carefully tuned to 1 : 1 at a certain frequency will put close to 100
% of the power sent to it. Increase the SWR and the efficiency goes down. But by how much?

Looking all over for the UT-220 module for a TM-741. It seems like I’m looking for a unicorn.

Looking for a bit of a sanity check on putting together a linear loaded doublet.

My plan is to put together about 70-90 ft of element, either 450 ohm window line, 300 ohm twin lead or just 3 conductor electrical wire. Is there a significant difference here between the three for this type of setup? Perhaps just the usual caveats about rain loss? I’d rather go with the latter two for weight but wasn’t sure if there’s any material difference here.

I figure since I’m feeding it with window line or twin lead into a balanced tuner the length of the antenna isn’t critical (and going this direction to lower losses and get multi band capabilities without fussing trying to get a match feeding it with coax), but open to feedback here.

The goal is to get something perhaps slightly more efficient on 80m than an 88’ doublet, and maybe a smaller variation for portable use. Not sure if the juice is worth the squeeze as well and I should just stick with a regular short doublet?

Hey everyone,

I am looking for ideas for a tilt-over system for the DX Commander Classic. I have one in my head, but I am not sure about it. It is more PVC-driven. But want to ask the community first for better ideas. My goal is to let the ground plate stay on the ground.

Hello everyone,

I have a general question about using internet only amateur radio applications while visiting the United States.

If a licensed amateur from another country uses only apps such as DroidStar and EchoLink over cellular data or local Wi-Fi, without transmitting on amateur radio frequencies, is that generally considered acceptable while in the US?

If so:

• Is it acceptable to connect to US EchoLink nodes or DMR networks while identifying with a foreign callsign?
• Is it also acceptable to connect back to repeaters or EchoLink nodes in the operator’s home country while physically located in the US?
• Are there any legal or practical considerations that I should be aware of?

Thanks in advance.

I’d appreciate any clarification. Thanks!

Hello

Got my license a few days ago and I'm looking for a radio.

I've had some suggestions such as Xiegu X6100 and FTX-1.

I don't know exactly what I want.

Basically I want to be able to transport it and have it as base station. I enjoy videos on YT with some SOTA and portable antennas and I'd like to have that option. It is a hobby and I'm not looking to be the very invested HAM. I like the company, telecommunications and learning things. The thing is that I'd like to avoid discontinued devices.

I saw some videos and people have mixed reviews. Comments say things that are missing, like bluetooth (50€) and gps (50€) which are purchased separately and some say negative things about the portability of the device.

Currently I have only handheld radios and haven't made my first QSO.

Currently Yaesu has a cashback offer so I could get the FTX-1 around 1100€.

What would you suggest?

I want to buy my first HF rig that can do SSB. (I have a 5W QRP labs kit that was super exciting to assemble, but learning CW is taking me a while) My primary plan is to do POTA/SOTA stuff with it so I need it to be portable. I've mostly been looking at the FT-857 (and to a lesser extent FT-891 and FT-897), but a bit hesitant to pull the trigger because of the high cost. The G90 feels like it could be a cheaper, smaller and lighter alternative. But it's only 20W. (The X6100 also caught my eye for similar reasons.)

I'm wondering what the practical difference is between a 100W rig and a 20W (or 10W) rig on SSB. I'm not really interested in contesting, so if nobody hears me on pile-ups that's fine. But I would like to be able to make contacts far away.

(If there are intermediate options you want to recommend, please go ahead. My main thing is I do not like touch screens.)

https://preview.redd.it/ntgx66aorcbh1.png?width=704&format=png&auto=webp&s=3f630245125d1edce4c1d3bc10755f442f843cf2

The World Wide Award thrills some, annoys others, and, for most, probably...meh. Just under 18 hours to go. S&P, S&P, S&P as fast as you can....

pse wish me gl.

BTW, was not sure if blurring the other hunter's calls was necessary, but there it is. If a mod would like to chime in for future reference, I'd be interested in what you have to say on the matter.

https://www.amazon.com/Generic-Interface-IC-706-IC-746-IC-R7100/dp/B00MQMG4VE Will a cable like this work or a CT-17 level converter is needed for log integration and remote control? Are there good options in Europe? What are your opinions?