General Ham Radio – Page 4 – NT1K

I’ve gone Bat$#!t – Hello Moto(rola two-way)

In the past couple of weeks I picked up a couple commercial two-way radios. I’ve purchased a Motorola Maxtrac 300 (Mobile) and a XTS 3000 (Handheld).

I’ve been a fan of commercial radios since I got my hands on a HT1000 and beat it up pretty good. I’ve dropped it, thrown it, threw it into a puddle and who knows what else and they always worked out.

There are PROs and CONs about owning a commercial radio for Amateur use. One of the CONs is programing. Unlike amateur radios, the majority of commercial radios have to be programmed. With Motorola, depending on the situation, the software that is used to program these radios will end up costing as much as half (or more) of what you purchased the radio for. You could also have a local dealer program the radio. Another one of the CONs is the ability to change the frequency “On The Fly”. You can only change to a frequency (Channel) that is programmed into the radio.

One of the PROs are that you will get a radio that is built to public safety and/or military specifications. These radios can take a lot more abuse then it’s amateur counterpart. Another PRO is that these radios are built as “Part 90” (Public safety, Private business, municipal, etc) radios. That means you can use these radios in both the LMRS and Amateur frequency blocks. Your not allow to take a amateur radio and modify it to transmit in the LMRS. So if you have a job that uses radios in the LMRS blocks or you want a radio that can do both GMRS/UHF (Or MURS/VHF) then you will have a radio that will possibly cover all 3 possibilities.

This is the Maxtrac 300 I got on e-bay for around $100. It was being advertised as a 430-470mhz split which is rare but when I hooked it up to the computer, it was the 450-470mhz split.

Just a note for anyone that is looking to buy this or it’s GM300 brother on eBay. Make sure the auction has the Model number in it. For example, the model number D34MJA7JA5AK means that’s it’s a 10-25w (2nd Number[3]), UHF (3rd # [4]) Conventional (Numbers 4,5,6 and 7[MJA7]) 32 Channel (8th # [J]) A5 HEAD (9,10th #) Revision K (Last Digit).

So now you know your getting 10-25 watt 32 Channel UHF radio. However these types of radios have 2 splits per band. On Uhf you could get getting a 403-430 or 449-470 split. I’ve read that there is a 430-470 Split RF but I have yet to see it. The only ways to tell what split the radio is, by looking at the radio in the RSS (programing) software or actually opening up the radio to see what the part number is on the RF Board. So be careful if your looking for a Ham band Maxtrac.

This is my Motorola XTS 3000 UHF Handheld radio. I purchased this item because the “But It Now” price was just where I wanted it. Another reason is that it can decode/encode P25 Digital. Always wanted to mess around with it and now I have the chance. Only issue is that there is only two P25 systems for ham radio in the state of Massachusetts and they are both located out of range. If there is enough interest in the area, I would like to setup a repeater capable of P25. We’ll see…

Thanks for reading!

Tigertronics SingaLink USB

Recently I purchased a SignaLink USB from HRO in NH to replace my Rigblaster Nomic. The Reason for doing so is that the SignaLink has a built in sound card. That means only one connection to the computer is required. It also Isolates the soundcard so I do not have to adjust my computers sound card every time I want to use digital.

Price (@ HRO): $99
Platfrom Installed on: Windows 7
Radio Used On: Yaesu FT-950
Software Used With: Ham Radio Deluxe, WSJT

When purchasing the SignaLink you can either get one to adapt to your microphone jack or your data jack (If you have one). Since the FT-950 has a RTTY/PKT port on the rear of the rig, I purchased the SL-USB–6PM. The 6PM stands for “6 PIN MINI” which is what the RTTY/PKT Port uses (Similar to a Mouse/Keyboard cable).

The box comes with everything you need to get going. Included in the box was the SignaLink USB unit,6ft USB-A to USB-B cable (Similar to current USB Printer cable), 2Ft of Rj45 to 6 pin Mini din cable (From the Unit to the radio), 1ft Male to Male audio (stereo) patch cable, Jumper wires, Allen wrench, Software CD (Contains Jumper Diagrams and Various ham radio software) and Manuals.

The initial setup is very easy with the kit I purchased. Just plug the USB cable into SingaLink then into the computer, then plug the Data cable into the SignaLink’s RJ45 jack and plug the 6pin Mini Din into the rear (RTTY/PKT, DATA) Port of your radio. Depending on your Operating system. The system will automatically recognize the SignaLink and install the default drivers for the sound card that is in the SignaLink.

The software and radio setup could be a little confusing to some people. But it’s similar to any other interface that is out in the market. The only thing is is really different is that you will now have TWO sound cards showing up on your computer (Your computers and the SignaLink). You will have to do some on software adjustments for the SignaLink sound card (Labeled “USB Audio Codec” or “USB Audio Device”) and you will have to modify your settings for each software that you use for communications. Tigertronics website provides a great amount of information on how to setup your SignaLink USB to your computer and will provide technical assistance over the phone\e-mail.

On the radio side with the FT-950 I went to menu # 51 (Data Out Lvl) and # 53 (Data V Gain) and changed the value to 90 to max out the levels. If I need to changed the RX and TX levels of the data port I can do so on the fly with the knobs on the SignaLink. I also changed FT-950 to display the ALC meter.

Now it’s time to pick a frequency and start doing some “Digital” Communications. I picked my favorite 14.070mhz. At this point I am adjusting the RX knob on the SignaLink to make sure I am not overdriving the DM-780 software. I keep my level around 40%. If you have the RX knob maxed out (turned fully clockwise) and you are getting less than 10% of audio then check the software settings on the “USB Audio Device” and the settings on your communications software (For example DM-780 has Attenuation level. That box should be turned off or at zero). If it’s still low then check your rigs Data Settings and max out the RX and TX gain

Once the RX is set, it’s time to start transmitting. Soon as you start transmitting adjust the TX knob so you see nothing on your ALC meter but the power is still at the level you set it at. The picture above shows that I set the power to 20 watts. in the PSK field you really do not need much power. I see a lot of people running high wattage which just makes it hard for others to communicate as they are causing QRM to stations near.

That’s It!

So far I am loving the SignaLink USB. My sound card is now free so that I can listen to music again. Windows OS sounds will no longer be transmitted (DING!), I no longer have to readjust my soundcard for digital. I can also use my microphone jack for it’s intended purpose; for plugging a microphone into. I can switch from digital to SSB in seconds! I wish I purchased one of these with the radio.

* – I am not tech support for the SignaLink, I just want to show how I went about putting it together. If you have issues please go to http://www.tigertronics.com

Up, Up and Away! (Diamond X510 Installed)

This weekend I worked up the courage and installed my Diamond X510 on my roof. It wasn’t easy due to the pitch of my roof and lack of any safety gear and also making sure the ladder was secured to the house. I don’t picture myself climbing up onto that roof again.

In the above picture I designed and fabricated my own mounting straps to mount the antenna to the cast iron vent pipe.

The support pipe is galvanized dipped and then powder coated white to survive the elements

Here are roof brackets just after being cut with the 4kw laser. Brackets are made of 14ga (0.074) Staintless
All the hardware used in the installation was made out of stainless. I didn’t want a nice trail of rust running down my roof.

Other than the anxiety of climbing onto my roof , It was fun. I couldn’t wait to get back into the house, run the RG213 through the wall and start transmitting.

Using Diamonds radiation pattern on the antenna I calculated the coverage of my antenna.

I think it calculated a little too much but it’s pretty close. From moving my antenna from 5ft off the ground to the top of my house using low loss cable and Type-N connectors, I see a major difference and wondered why I never bought a commercially built antenna. I notice that I can now hit stations further north from my QTH. before I couldn’t get past 10mi north. Now I can hit the W1UWS repeater on top of Mt. Ascutney in Ascutney VT (100mi north of my QTH) and I could now hit Mt. Graylock in N. Adams MA (60mi Northwest of my QTH) and many repeaters in the Berkshires. In the south direction I can now get repeaters in Litchfield and Hartford Counties in CT. Compared to the J-Poles I can now contact 40 additional 2m repeaters. So overall I am extremely pleased of the results.

Now to get the Butternut Installed.

W1AW

Since I live about a half hour away from W1AW and I was in the area I decided to stop and see what the ARRL headquarters looked like. Since it’s Saturday the place was pretty much closed. Wish I had the antenna farm that they on their front lawn. Someday I will have to go back when they are in operation.

New Radio (Hand Held) – Wouxun KG-UVD1P

Today I gave my self a Christmas present. Before this purchase I did not own a working VHF/UHF Radio. I have a Kenwood TH-78a that I love. It just needs a new battery pack to get me going. I went out following a snow storm and drove 40mi to Lentini Communcations in Berlin CT. which is my nearest “HAM” radio store and purchased the WOUXUN KG-UVD1P Dual Band (144/440) Transceiver. I was a bit skeptical about buying a Chinese branded ham radio that is not one of the big three (Yaesu, Kenwood and ICOM), but I figured the price is right ($130 w/ programing cable) and QST magazine gave it a good review.

First impression was not bad. The box looks nice and everything was neatly packaged. If I were to be over critical, I would say that the programing/usb driver CD’s should be regular sized instead of the Mini-CD that was given to me. I like that the battery is fully charged and it includes a drop in charger which I think should be a standard with any handheld that is purchased. The manual just gives the basics and has a lot of engrish so for those who depend on reading a manual rather than trial and error to operate a radio will find it a tad difficult to follow. You can also tell the radio is designed for general public use and not for amateur radio but that doesn’t phase me considering I’ve owned Motorola radios which I think they are harder to program.
After attaching the battery pack and the antenna, I powered on the unit to hear a voice speaking to me. It took me around 5min to look around, input a frequency, input a tone, set the offset, assign a offset and start talking on a repeater 50 Miles away. I wasn’t crystal clear but I can hear the other station and the other station could make me out.

I am going to start off with the cons

CONS
– Antenna connection is reversed (SMA FEMALE ON THE ANTENNA, SMA MALE ON THE RADIO)
– Not true Dual VFO. You can monitor two freq’s but locks out the other on activity.
– Hard to program through keypad
– S-Meter doesn’t seem accurate. I was barley getting a repeater and the S-Meter was showing full bars
– Can’t program both side keys

PROS
– PRICE PRICE PRICE!!! $130.00 US for everything
– Desktop Charger!
– Great receive
– Great Transmit
– Long lasting battery (7.4v 1300 mAh Li-Ion)
– Decent Size (2-1/4″ Wide X 4-1/8″ Tall X 1-1/2″ Thick)

As of right now I would recommend this to anyone. However I strongly suggest if you purchase this radio to also get the programing cable and software (you can download the software from their website) .

FELD HELL – I Love It!

While crusing around the 40M band I heard a digital signal on 7.071Mhz. The signal didn’t sound familar to me so I had to flip through a bunch of modes to find that I stumbled upon a Feld Hell Net. I decided to monitor and after 10 min or so I tossed my call into the mix. The NCS (Net Control Station) was Lou (W8LEW) from MI That acknowledged me.
I posted a screen shot below

As you can see in the Waterfall I confused it for a PSK Signal. But when I put the headphones on I knew it wasn’t. You can also see a snippit of the convo I had with W8LEW. The white part is me and the gray part is W8LEW. There were a couple of other people in the net and overall I had a great time. Props to the people at the FELD HELL CLUB. I suggest if your into Digital modes that you should try this if you haven’t

My FT-950

Ain’t it a thing of beauty? heh…

Before I upgraded to general I purchased an FT-857D. I was planning on putting it in my truck but I ended up using it in the house since it was my only HF rig. I wanted a bigger system so I could put the 857D mobile and I ended up getting a Kenwood TS-430s. After making the impulse purchase I realized that the TS-430S is not suited for digital. I kept using the FT-857D as a home unit and then I decided to sell everything for a new HF base that could handle digital. I was debating between the Kenwood TS-2000 or the Yaesu FT-950. For reasons which are unknown I ended up getting the FT-950. I am loosing VHF and UHF by getting the FT-950 But I think I made a wise purchase. So far I am loving this rig, it’s taking some getting used to but it’s amazing how a couple of adjustments makes a someone who I can barely hear sound like S9.

8/10/10 Contacts

I didn’t feel like using the radio. The office on TBS has episodes that i’ve seen many times so I ended up turning on the rig. 20m seemed dead so I went to 40m where there was a lot of PSK activity.

Start calling CQ with BPSK63 and AB4RT (Bob) replyied. Call was familar and he just realized that he contacted me the night before. It was strange because HRD did not pick up on the logged call. After that VE3SWS (Jay, ON) contacted me and told me that I was his first digital contact. I like seeing people get into digital. More for me to make contacts with so we rag chewed a bit and moved to a different frequency where we tried different modes out. Found out that Oliva is REALLY SLOW with a wide bandwidth. Too me it would seem great for low power long distance communication. Not for making quick QSO’s. Had a great time.

Thanks

8/9/10 Contacts

I decided to do some digital work tonight. I started off on 20m (14.070.00Mhz) with some PSK 31.
I’ve managed to contact KE5PYF (David) and IV3GOW (Ervin, Italy) at about 21:30 the band started to die and I decided to go to 40m (7.035.00). PSK on that freqency was packed! Lots of people working. I managed to work on PSK63 CO3CJ (Juan, Cuba), M3XGV/P (Mike, England), PY2CX (Mauricio, Sao Paulo Brazil), WA3SMN (Ben, PA) and LU1BR (Luis, Argentina). I tried to make contact and exchanged with SE6Y (Rolf, Sweden). I Hope I did because I never made a contact with Sweden.

After a bunch of CQ’s with PSK63 with No luck I called it quits for the night. The band was still busy and their were a lot of PSK31 Activity. I just didn’t want to take part. PSk63 is great for fast quick contacts, However its hard to make out when there is QRM.