Hello all,

Well, it's 4 weeks untill the local exam session! I'm not worried about passing tech at all; but I'm still doing a little studying as I haven't looked through the entire question pool yet; I also may go for a general while I'm there.

However, it's almost time for me to look in to getting a radio. I'm going to start out small and get a handheld; mostly because I would like to operate mobile at times (when I go on vacation and whatnot). Plus, it was the price of the older Baofengs at around $30 that was what pushed me in to getting serious about this hobby.

I asked around for some advice from other hams and several of them recommended the GT3 Mark II radio; saying the antenna included was much better than stock and that for the price it's a solid performing radio. However, I got to looking and found the newer GT3-TP Mark III for what I felt was a reasonable price; more than a $30 unit, but still within my budget.

The guys that recommended the GT3 Mark II told me that while 8 watts may be a "joke" on a handheld; that for the price I was looking at it wouldn't be a horrible buy. I'm really liking the specs I see, and it seems just as capable as any of the other handhelds I looked at.

So, what is this groups opinion on the this unit? The place I'm looking sells it with the standard accessories; plus a USB cable and the external mic/speaker. I know I'll need a USB cable for programming.

I've been hearing nothing but good reviews out of these cheap Baofengs for the last year. They're apparently even better with almost any external antenna.
You really can't laugh at them given the price.

Yeah...a lot of people have bashed them for being cheap; but I've also read some of the things people have said about the people bashing them...apparently there's an elistist attitude among a few hams the say way there is in audio; so some of the guys will poo-poo anything they don't own or is inherently cheap.

However, they've gotten great reviews and I've liked what I've read from people who own one. One guy claimed he got 40 miles on 8 watts with the included antenna; I'm not sure how much I want to believe that; but think it's entirely possible.

For $70, it's looking like a really good capable starter radio. I was shocked to find the antenna was flexible...dude bent it in a video and I actually cringed and was surpirsed to watch it flex back in to place.

I figured if I get one, I'll just construct a simple quarter-wave ground plane on a SO-239 like I did for my ADS-B antenna; get it as high as I can. Apparently the antenna uses SMA; and I've got some SMA adapters around from my SDR hardware.

apparently there's an elistist attitude among a few hams the say way there is in audio; so some of the guys will poo-poo anything they don't own or is inherently cheap.
That's the reason why I've never applied for a license: way too many senile farts trying to tell me how to do things and trying to sell me stuff they found in the trash for way too much.

That's the reason why I've never applied for a license: way too many senile farts trying to tell me how to do things and trying to sell me stuff they found in the trash for way too much.

Well...coming from the audio side of things; I'm already used to that. There's always someone telling you how you're doing it wrong, how they're doing it better, and "hey, i'll sell you this and it'll be the first thing you do right"

But, by far, that's not the mentality of a lot of ham's. So it's just a matter of shrugging it off; doing your research to find out what's a good deal...and don't try to let the crazies draw you in to their world.

Just ordered it this evening; just in time for it to sit around for close to 3 weeks till I'm legal. Oh well, at least I'll have it.

I'll sell ya my S-38 Hallicrafters for a MEASLY $500 smackers... Guaranteed to pick up Finland on a Clear Day..(grin)

Someone on ebay wants $750 for an old Icom u2AT 2M handie talkie. I have one, it's nice (the user interface is very easy), but it's worth more like $37.50 (1/20th as much, used).
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Icom-Micro-2AT/171658519368?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%2 6asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3D2d3ebcee45304671bff 3d8c994d2dca3%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26 sd%3D201295762506&rt=nc

Like I said. A mixed bag of nuts. :screwy:

Like I said. A mixed bag of nuts. :screwy:

Yeah, but I'm PROUD of it...

Like I said. A mixed bag of nuts. :screwy:

Like ANY hobby it has it's share of nuts....Infact any decent size cross-section of humanity, and we all have to deal with at least one such cross-section, is bound have some nuts mixed in...It is an occupational hazard of not being an extra terrestrial being on a different planet....

Aww, bein' the Class Clown, Nut, Foole, whatever, sure has made my life INTERESTING all these years... Got me OUT of almost as much TROUBLE as its got me INTO...

I have no interest in any of those cheap Chinese ham radios because their makers do not support the ham radio community (DXpeditions, convention booths/exhibits, etc.) the way other companies do.

I have no interest in any of those cheap Chinese ham radios because their makers do not support the ham radio community (DXpeditions, convention booths/exhibits, etc.) the way other companies do.

I personally don't care for some of the companies that tend to use proprietary techonology. Look at D-Star, Icom owns that; the only radios that can contain D-Star technology are Icom radios. I fail to see how that's really supportive of ham radio; something I feel should be more open. Icom feels like the Apple of Ham radio....sure..they support the hobby...but they're acting like they're only doing so to get people to buy their radios and push their technology. I'd love to do D-Star stuff; but I'm not going to pay a ton of money for a radio because only one brand of radio does it.

There are other systems just as good as D-Star; but no ham wants to really support it. Sometimes I feel like they're basically all catering to the way ICom is pushing the hobby.

So, you've got your reasons for hating Baofeng; I've got my reasons for not considering purchasing from the other companies. I mean, if anything...Baofeng is at least putting radios on the market that are cheap enough to make people get in to the hobby...if I hadn't found cheap Baofeng radios...I wouldn't have considered even trying to get my license.

The other companies do it; only because people are paying the sometimes inflated prices for a radio. Maybe Baofeng just doesn't have the profit margin to do so because they're more worried about getting radios in to the hands of people.

I have a Bao Feng UV-82L and I like it. Not a bad little radio for $50. I'd love to have the standard HT's but they cost too much for a person of limited means such as myself. They are a pain in the butt to program manually though so I suggest triple checking your programming, I did because I almost fired up on a military frequency. That in mind, they are good radios it seems. They also double as a scanner too, although they are slow but if you just have that to lug around, it does the job.

I have a Bao Feng UV-82L and I like it. Not a bad little radio for $50. I'd love to have the standard HT's but they cost too much for a person of limited means such as myself. They are a pain in the butt to program manually though so I suggest triple checking your programming, I did because I almost fired up on a military frequency. That in mind, they are good radios it seems. They also double as a scanner too, although they are slow but if you just have that to lug around, it does the job.

I wonder why your new Baofeng HT is so difficult to program. It shouldn't be, unless it cannot be programmed without a computer. Yours sounds like that. I just looked at Baofeng's web site and found that the UX-82L can be programmed using a USB cable and any Windows computer, but I don't see why it is so difficult to program manually, or why it would or should be possible to transmit with the UX-82L on anything other than amateur frequencies; after all, most HTs are set up so they absolutely cannot transmit outside the amateur bands (VHF and UHF in the case of the UX-82 series).

That you almost transmitted on a military frequency with your UX-82L HT seems incredible. :scratch2: The microprocessor which controls the VFO in all modern HTs, as I said, is programmed to disable the transmit function on any frequency above or below the U. S. 2-meter and UHF amateur bands. Was your particular version of the UX-82L originally designed as an export model? This is the only way I can see this radio being able to transmit anywhere outside the U. S. ham bands.

BTW, it's good seeing your posts here on VK again. I wondered what happened to you since your last one, although I suppose with moving and all you were quite busy. I hope all is well with you and your two cats now, though.

73,

why it would or should be possible to transmit with the UX-82L on anything other than amateur frequencies; after all, most HTs are set up so they absolutely cannot transmit outside the amateur bands (VHF and UHF in the case of the UX-82 series).

That you almost transmitted on a military frequency with your UX-82L HT seems incredible. :scratch2: The microprocessor which controls the VFO in all modern HTs, as I said, is programmed to disable the transmit function on any frequency above or below the U. S. 2-meter and UHF amateur bands. Was your particular version of the UX-82L originally designed as an export model? This is the only way I can see this radio being able to transmit anywhere outside the U. S. ham bands.


From a review of a cheaper model (UV5) on Amazon:
This radio has international settings, meaning that the entire frequency range from 130-174mhz and from 400-480mhz is open to both TX and RX. This means you do need to be careful as a Ham license only allows you to TX on 2m from 144-148mhz and on 440 from 420-450mhz. The radio is not FCC certified to transmit on any of the Marine VHF, MURS, FRS/GMRS, or business radio or emergency services radio frequencies that lie in these frequency ranges and operating in those frequency ranges with this HT will expose you to FCC action.

There are over 1000 reviews of this radio on Amazon... I suspect that many of these HTs are not being used legally. One reviewer mentions buying a "six pack" (under 100$ for 6!) of these HTs for his 3 kids and 3 of their friends to use for play. :(
Another reviewer mentions buying several for his family so they could keep in touch aboard a large cruse ship, and also while several were onshore in various foreign countries.
Apparently the latest models sold here are programmed to transmit only on the VHF/UHF "Ham" bands, but these are easily "unlocked" opening up the possibility of illegal/nefarious uses.

jr

The Baofeng is a very good radio for the price. Make sure you get a good programing cable there are a bunch of them with bogus chips in them. Don't get the real cheap ones it is a crap shoot to find out if they will work. The radio is a booger to program DO NOT USE THE SUPPLIED SOFTWARE throw the CD in the trash. Instead you can use the freeware called CHIRP, http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home or better yet RT Systems software https://www.rtsystemsinc.com/default.asp RT System is $49 dollars and it includes a good programing cable for the BaoFeng.. Both use online repeater data bases for frequencies, or the excellent ARRL TravelPlus for Repeaters. With CHIRP, or better yet RT systems software programing a BaoFeng a piece of cake. You can go to 409 Shop in Hong Kong they have all of the assessors for the radios. The speaker/mic for this radio costs $8.00 dollars each and I am here to tell you they are as tough as nails. http://www.409shop.com/ Great place to deal with and their turn around time is very fast. Incidentally the BaoFeng uses the same speaker - microphone as Kenwood HT's.

Oh and I almost forgot get the Nagoya NA-771 antenna is makes all the difference in the world in terms of range. This antenna is a dead ringer for the Comet SMA24J but $10 dollars cheaper. The Nagoya is available from Amazon

The BaoFeng HT's are used by the Chinese Police which explains the LED flash light and the siren, which, if you will, is an electronic police whistle.

VK member Brandon (lnx64), KM4GGU, near Orlando, recently ordered a Baofeng HT, and probably has it by now. I'm looking forward to reading his review of this transceiver, as I know nothing about it except what I read here about it.

I did not realize that many of these HTs are being used illegally, or that they are in fact used by the Chinese police. For that matter, I did not realize until I read one of the responses to a previous post that these radios can operate across 136-170 MHz or even higher, and must be programmed for the U. S. amateur frequencies.
The procedure used to unlock the tuning ranges (to allow unlimited TX and RX across the entire 136-170 MHz and UHF ranges) should not, IMO, be made public; the radios sold in this country should be set up for TX/RX in the U.S. amateur bands only.

I personally have stayed with the established brands of amateur radio gear (Yaesu, Heathkit, Icom, et al.) all my years in the hobby (been licensed since 1972). I have both a Yaesu FT-207R 3-watt HT and an Icom IC-T22A, which can put out as much as five watts when powered by a 13-volt battery pack; however, my own IC-T22a came with a battery case that holds only four AA-size rechargeable batteries, so I'm not putting much more than a watt and a half into the 3/8-wave telescoping 2m antenna I'm using with the radio. (I have several rubber-duckie 2m antennas, but they are stored somewhere where I can't find them; just as well, I guess). The antenna works well with the local 2m repeater, which is about five miles or so from here. Unfortunately, that repeater is tone-activated (due to a repeater near here on the same frequencies, and one in Detroit on those frequencies as well), so the only way I can get into it is with the Icom HT; the Yaesu doesn't have the subaudible tone generator, so I can only use it with "open" repeaters, that is, systems that do not use tones. When I lived in the Cleveland suburbs, there were any number of repeaters I could get into with a 3-watt handheld and an indoor antenna; where I live now, 35 miles east of downtown, the local 147.81-21 repeater is the only one I can count on getting into reliably with my Icom 1.5-watt rig. I live in an apartment building, so outdoor amateur antennas of any sort are out of the question.

BTW, I wonder why the software CD that ships with these Baofeng HTs should not be used for initial programming. Is there some danger of corrupting the memories or the HT's own microprocessor if that CD is used for initial setup? :scratch2: The HT itself ships with a USB cable for programming with a Windows computer, so it should not be necessary to use any aftermarket cables for this purpose. The manual programming procedure, as I found out while watching a video of same on YouTube shortly before starting to write this, doesn't seem any more complicated than that for most other HTs. If anything, the programming should be easier with the Baofeng HTs, since they are set up to confirm every step of the procedure. For those steps which are not confirmed by audible means, a message will appear on the LCD frequency display if, for example, you try to program a favorite repeater frequency pair into a memory channel that is already populated (the letters CH, followed by a dash and the memory channel number; for vacant memory channels, the memory channel number itself will appear).

I also wonder, due to the very low selling price of the Baofeng HTs, what the procedure is if the rig breaks down and must be sent back to the factory. Does Baofeng have service centers here in the United States, or is it necessary to send the radio back to the company's headquarters in China to get warranty service? I looked at Baofeng's web site and saw, if I remember correctly, an address in Washington state, near Seattle, to which the radio may be sent if warranty repairs are required. :scratch2:

You don't need the software CD for setting up the radio it works out of the box and it is possible to enter frequencies into one manually but it is a total PIA to do it that way. The Software it comes with does not reside on the radio but on your computer it is a complete dog it is very unintuitive, once you use what follows you will know this. CHIRP (freeware remember) and RT Communications use spread sheets for frequency entry. You can manually enter things in but using the before mentioned software with online D bases, makes it so much easier, trust me. If you get the ARRL TravelPlus CD it is downright sweet. With it you bring up an interactive map you highlight an area and click it that brings up all of the repeaters in the area you have highlighted and a second click loads all of them into a spread sheet. When you have that then using CHIRP, or RT Communications you import this spread sheet, there you can edit it, set scanning parameters, tones, and priority when you are done using the docking cable you load it into the BaoFeng; done. My UV-5R is totally unlocked it came that way, I tell people who worry about this is don't. Once the radio is programed you really don't need to touch anything it has enough memory channels to cover just about every repeater in a given area and thanks to the above software can be changed quickly if you moving through another area. The bottom line is if the frequency is not legal for you to transmit on then don't, illegal use; just let the FCC worry about that. As for warranty service, in the first place I have never heard of anyone having any operational trouble with any BaoFeng but the bottom line if it fails dump it in the trash and get another one, if it cost several hundred dollars yes get it fixed but less the $50 dollars, in some cases less the $40 dollars it is not worth the trouble. If you get it from Amazon if it fails with in their return window they will replace it, or credit your account with a refund. I checked around and Amazon has the BaoFengs for as cheap as you are going to find them. Getting into repeaters I have a dual band Comet mobile antenna on my truck using and SMA to PO-239 adapter I can easily get into repeaters full quiet more then 50 miles away.

CHIRP works on just about every platform and OS. It is free give it a try. The interface on RT Communications is very smooth and as I said come with a good docking cable for whatever radio you have, if you need one.

While looking at the reviews of the Baofeng UV-5R and the UV-82L HTs on Amazon last night (and there were quite a few), I came across one review that said the transmit audio was "too loud" at the receiving end of the QSO, as if the deviation was set too high. Normally, a signal that loud would chop right out of the repeater if it was overdeviating by any great amount (I've heard a few such overdeviated signals, but never anything that actually was so severely overdeviated that it sounded overly choppy or even unreadable). Have any of you with Baofeng HTs had similar experiences with this, and if so, how did you handle it? Does the HT have any kind of variable control to set maximum deviation, or is it set at the factory by a fixed resistor? As cheap a price as the Baofeng handhelds go for, I wouldn't be surprised if the deviation was in fact set at a fixed value that could only be changed by physically replacing a resistor on the radio's PC board.

However, in the same review, I read that Baofeng handhelds are built rather solidly, like professional radios used by police departments and such. The battery charger, however, is not built quite that well; in fact, one person said the charger was "crap", while the radio itself works very well. Seems that at least one of those chargers developed a problem that caused the LED status indicators to flash on and off at random. The charger itself, according to one review, was very simple; open the case and you will find only one IC, a couple of LEDs, and the usual switch to shut off the charger when the HT was removed from the charging well. With the chargers that had blinking LEDs, my best guess would be something went haywire with that IC, which could very easily result in either no charge or the charger severely overcharging the battery.

I also wonder why Baofeng, in the instruction manual for the UX-5R (and probably the newer UV-82L as well), which I downloaded and studied last night, states that only battery packs approved for use in their own handhelds may be used with these radios. Are the Baofeng lithium-ion battery packs that much different from packs using rechargeable AA cells (such as the pack in my Yaesu FT-207R) that the use of a garden-variety battery pack could actually damage or even destroy a Baofeng radio? After all, a battery pack is a battery pack, is it not? :scratch2: Seems to me the Baofeng LiIon packs must have special circuitry built in to them to prevent overcharging, or there could be some other feature that makes standard battery packs unsuitable for use with these rigs. Is there some other major difference between these packs and ordinary rechargeable ones?

If the answer is yes, I can see why Baofeng warns against using other types of rechargeable packs, but if the answer is no, I would conclude that there may be no danger whatsoever in using other types of packs with Baofeng radios; the company simply may not want people to use off-brand batteries in these radios, even if the battery pack is the same voltage and current rating (to say nothing of the same size) as the LiIon pack originally supplied with the HT.

Does the HT have any kind of variable control to set maximum deviation, or is it set at the factory by a fixed resistor? As cheap a price as the Baofeng handhelds go for, I wouldn't be surprised if the deviation was in fact set at a fixed value that could only be changed by physically replacing a resistor on the radio's PC board.

The deviation can be set using menu item 5...
http://www.miklor.com/uv5r/UV5R-MenuDef.php
From a very informative site:
http://miklor.com/

Are the Baofeng lithium-ion battery packs that much different from packs using rechargeable AA cells (such as the pack in my Yaesu FT-207R) that the use of a garden-variety battery pack could actually damage or even destroy a Baofeng radio? After all, a battery pack is a battery pack, is it not? :scratch2:


I suspect that the packs from other radios would not fit the BaoFeng HTs... Why bother, the BaoFeng battery packs are a real bargain! I suspect that a Icom or Yaesu pack might cost as much or more than the whole BaoFeng radio. :scratch2:

Not affiliated with BaoFeng or Miklor,
jr

I'd love to have the standard HT's but they cost too much for a person of limited means such as myself. They are a pain in the butt to program manually though so I suggest triple checking your programming, I did because I almost fired up on a military frequency.

I wonder why your new Baofeng HT is so difficult to program. It shouldn't be, unless it cannot be programmed without a computer. Yours sounds like that. I just looked at Baofeng's web site and found that the UX-82L can be programmed using a USB cable and any Windows computer, but I don't see why it is so difficult to program manually, or why it would or should be possible to transmit with the UX-82L on anything other than amateur frequencies; after all, most HTs are set up so they absolutely cannot transmit outside the amateur bands (VHF and UHF in the case of the UX-82 series).

Well, for starters; when I got mine it wasn't set to the proper 70cm band; only had 430 - 440 programmed in to it.

As far as programming, Baofeng apparently has a habit of using confusing/obfuscated firmware and not documenting changes; so programs like CHIRP sometimes won't work with it. Combine this with the fact that Baofeng doesn't have software for all the radios. It's like they don't have GT-3TP software; at all; no Baofeng distributor lists it...that's because it's actually made for Sainsonic by Baofeng.

The disc that came with it didn't seem to have the right software for it; which I found from youtube that the UV5R software will work for SOME stuff; you can program the frequency ranges; in fact about the only feature that doesn't work with the UV-5R software is the memory power output; as the software only has "lo/high" and doesn't know about lo/hi/medium.

As I said, mine wasn't opened for the US 70cm band all the way; so I had to go in and change the frequencies. On the VHF side; you can set the range you want; but you can't lock out transmit...so it's entirely too easy to go outside the 2m band and transmit. On the UHF side, you can lock out transmit above 480mhz; but that's it. So it was easy to go down in to FRS/GMRS and get on those frequencies.

Mine came with a disc; but the only useful thing on that disc was the Win7 driver for the USB cable (it's a usb-serial bridge); and I could have pulled the UV7 software off it. However, the instructions I found said to use the UV5R software, as it was 64-bit and would program most of the radio without issue. I did get Chirp working using the BF-F8HP driver; and I thnink the BF-F8HP is basically a slightly different GT3-TP (both are 8 watts and have the same features).


There are over 1000 reviews of this radio on Amazon... I suspect that many of these HTs are not being used legally.

Nope. A lot of preppers have bought these radios; and many of them are anti-government so they refuse to accept the FCC regulations concerning this.

I will admit, I did slightly break some regulation by testing the radio on an FRS channel using 1 watt of power in to a dummy-load to minimize any kind of stray emission; I only did this because I wanted to make sure the radio itself was fully functional within my return period. I also did it at around 2am when the possibility of anyone on FRS or GMRS would be nil..and did in fact listen for a good half hour to make sure no one was on it. But, again, it was 2am; I probably made a total of 10 seconds of emission at low power in to a resistor; even the FRS walkie-talkie couldn't pick it up across the room.

You can go to 409 Shop in Hong Kong they have all of the assessors for the radios. The speaker/mic for this radio costs $8.00 dollars each and I am here to tell you they are as tough as nails.

Mine was garbage; extremely low audio pickup and muffled sound. I even tried running it in to a good microphone mixer and found the quality was just garbage. Mine came with the radio...and unless I take it apart and modify it; it will likely never see any use. I also got the cable with my radio (the seller had multiple options and I chose the one with the mic/speaker and cable).


The procedure used to unlock the tuning ranges (to allow unlimited TX and RX across the entire 136-170 MHz and UHF ranges) should not, IMO, be made public; the radios sold in this country should be set up for TX/RX in the U.S. amateur bands only.

BTW, I wonder why the software CD that ships with these Baofeng HTs should not be used for initial programming. Is there some danger of corrupting the memories or the HT's own microprocessor if that CD is used for initial setup? :scratch2: The HT itself ships with a USB cable for programming with a Windows computer, so it should not be necessary to use any aftermarket cables for this purpose.

I don't think they make "export" models other than pre-programming frequencies. Mine shipped out of NJ; but it was not set for the US ham frequencies; as I said...it was set up for I think Region 1 (430 - 440). Being a DSP radio, it's easy to make one version and just software lock things. So, in that case....the radios are made for the worldwide market and it's kind of a thing of you may need to set it up for what you want to do.

I don't completely agree with the "you're not supposed to transmit so let's just block that programming feature right now"...because things just don't work that way. If it did; it wouldn't be legal for me to own the radio rigs I do since I'm not licensed...but it's only illegal for me to transmit...no law against reception or owning it. It's up to the indvidual as to if they comply with the law or not. As it is, I love the fact I've got extended VHF range...I can punch up and hear NOAA...yes, you have to be careful not to key it up.


The procedure isn't even secret or anything; it's right in the software. The instructions only tell you how to get through that lousy chinese software. You click on this "other" screen and it's right there, plain as day. They did this because of the fact it'd be too difficult to keep the radio's organized by area.

That's the biggest issue with the Baofeng software; it's largely Chinese and, as I mentioned...there are a lot of radios to which they don't make software for. It does have some idiotsynchries that make it a bit difficult to use. I don't know if all the HT's ship with cables; I've seen some that don't and some that do. The seller I got mine from had packages with the cable and without.

Getting into repeaters I have a dual band Comet mobile antenna on my truck using and SMA to PO-239 adapter I can easily get into repeaters full quiet more then 50 miles away.

CHIRP works on just about every platform and OS. It is free give it a try. The interface on RT Communications is very smooth and as I said come with a good docking cable for whatever radio you have, if you need one.

I think you mean SO-239. One of the reasons I was attracted to his radio was the SMA connector on the antenna. I've been doing a lot of SDR stuff and use a number of SMA connectors for it; and it just so happened that I (for some reason) picked up a SMA to SO-239 at radioshack when I was clearing out the shelves...I actually built an ADS-B antenna so I'd have an excuse to use it. Now that I've got a HT with that connector; it'll be no issue to adapt to a real antenna.

CHIRP is great, but it's iffy on the Baofengs. Sometimes they work; sometimes they don't. Part of the problem is they're not well documented..and models don't always work. Chirp doesn't support the "GT3-TP"...but it does the very similar BF-F8HP. Even with the Baofeng software I had to use a model not for my radio.

Does the HT have any kind of variable control to set maximum deviation, or is it set at the factory by a fixed resistor? As cheap a price as the Baofeng handhelds go for, I wouldn't be surprised if the deviation was in fact set at a fixed value that could only be changed by physically replacing a resistor on the radio's PC board.


According to my manual; the radio has two emission modes: 16KΦF3E and 11KΦF3E, the maximum deviation is pre-set to 5khz for wide and 2.5khz for narrow.

There's probably quotes I intended to respond to...but didn't. Either way, I think I'm gonna be pretty happy with this radio; even more so when I start buying more antennas to stick on it (mine shipped with the Sainsonic INF-641). It's not the end-all to end-all; I know that. Still, for what I paid it feels like a very solidly built radio. I will probably upgrade/replace it in a year; but it'll likely still be around as that "cheap beater" I carry around that I care less about if it gets broken.

I do now have a Kenwood TR-7950 with KPS-12 power supply sittin in the shack as well as a TR-7400a that's supposed to be on the way. Now I get to put antennas on my car!

I wonder why your new Baofeng HT is so difficult to program. It shouldn't be, unless it cannot be programmed without a computer. Yours sounds like that. I just looked at Baofeng's web site and found that the UX-82L can be programmed using a USB cable and any Windows computer, but I don't see why it is so difficult to program manually, or why it would or should be possible to transmit with the UX-82L on anything other than amateur frequencies; after all, most HTs are set up so they absolutely cannot transmit outside the amateur bands (VHF and UHF in the case of the UX-82 series).

That you almost transmitted on a military frequency with your UX-82L HT seems incredible. :scratch2: The microprocessor which controls the VFO in all modern HTs, as I said, is programmed to disable the transmit function on any frequency above or below the U. S. 2-meter and UHF amateur bands. Was your particular version of the UX-82L originally designed as an export model? This is the only way I can see this radio being able to transmit anywhere outside the U. S. ham bands.

BTW, it's good seeing your posts here on VK again. I wondered what happened to you since your last one, although I suppose with moving and all you were quite busy. I hope all is well with you and your two cats now, though.

73,

I know mine can transmit anywhere from 136 - 175 and 400 to 520 Mc. Of course I only use it for amateur radio and eventually I'll get the cable and CHIRP software. BTW, it would make a good marine radio if you go out on the rivers but would not use it on the FMRS, barring emergencies, since it is not FCC approved. It is a shame people just buy them and transmit anywhere, that makes us look all bad.

A little nip and tuck here financially but we are doing well otherwise.

Now that VK is back working after a slight outage...and I've had a chance to study my exams...I figure I'd give you guys a bit of an update.

Last weekend I got more serious about finishing looking through the tech questions; even though I was scoring high 30's; and I'm now scoring usually perfect or a 34. So I decided to start doing the general questions...I figured I had a little more than a week and I might stand a chance of passing it.

Well, two evenings later I had apparently gone through the entire general question pool. I took my first test after looking at 30% of the questions, passed with a 29. Finished the question pools, next test was a 34. I haven't aced a general...but I'm consistently scoring 33 or 34 right.

The Kenwood 7400a showed up from kind soul who sent it to me; he also sent the mounting bracket for the 7950. So, I've got two mobile/base 2M rigs to get tone boards for. I've already found a couple of encoders I'm looking at...mostly this one that seems to be based on a PIC chip that has a display and the ability to flip through tones...rather than the com-spec one that doesn't. https://www.tindie.com/products/isp51/ctcss-encoder-kit-crystal-controlled-with-digit-led-display-47-tones-/

The guy also sent me a CW key and a code practice oscillator unit. I adjusted the key so it felt great and threw some new caps in that old tubed piece of equipment and it works well...very slow on warm-up due to series filaments on no power transformer...but it's not a huge shock hazard and...well..it produces a tone. So, soon as I get exams out of the way, I can start focusing on learning CW.

I got pictures of everything too: http://imgur.com/a/sAYow

The exam is the 31st...7pm. 4 more days!

Congratulations on your progress and your new to your radios, both new and used.

I have had a number of 7950s back in the day and they worked very well. The only thing I ran into is issues with printed circuit board connection failures due to the heat produced by the final RF power amplifier section, simple fix.

If you are not already doing this, spend some time listening to you local repeaters. This will help you understand the sometimes arcane operating practices employed by some. :D:D:D


And by all means continue your study for the higher classes of license.

My first rig was a DIY single tube CW power oscillator transmitter (with all of it's inherent instability:D:D:D) and a DIY receiver.

Your CW key is what is known as a J-38. There are special events set up on the HF bands for the use of a straight key as they are known. Then there are mechanical keys known as bugs, that will make and complete a series of dits and dahs. The next step is what is called an electronic keyer, that forms the dits and dahs electronically and may even contain character memory.



Good luck with the tests.

Congratulations on your progress and your new to your radios, both new and used.

I have had a number of 7950s back in the day and they worked very well. The only thing I ran into is issues with printed circuit board connection failures due to the heat produced by the final RF power amplifier section, simple fix.

If you are not already doing this, spend some time listening to you local repeaters. This will help you understand the sometimes arcane operating practices employed by some. :D:D:D


And by all means continue your study for the higher classes of license.

My first rig was a DIY single tube CW power oscillator transmitter (with all of it's inherent instability:D:D:D) and a DIY receiver.

Your CW key is what is known as a J-38. There are special events set up on the HF bands for the use of a straight key as they are known. Then there are mechanical keys known as bugs, that will make and complete a series of dits and dahs. The next step is what is called an electronic keyer, that forms the dits and dahs electronically and may even contain character memory.



Good luck with the tests.

I pulled the 7950 apart and checked that; read about that issue elsewhere; this one didn't appear to have any issues.

I've kept my Baofeng on the local repeater; but I've only ever heard anything during nets. I'm not sure if they just don't get used much. Plus the reception is pretty lousy indoors and my computer equipment produces noise that's above squelch level. I'll ask some of the club members when the best time is to listen to the repeaters; I'm pretty confident someone will help me out there.

My first DIY rig will likely be a QRP rig of some sort.

It's not a true J-38, best I can tell it's the Japanese "JJ-38". I took it off the base to verify and saw "Japan" stamped on the bottom of it; so it's one of the straight keys RadioShack apparently sold in the 70s. This one has been slightly modiified; the key was bent a little to make it lowerto the table and someone very carefully notched out for the bottom piece of clear plastic.

I actually sat and looked up the different types of keys and paddles about two months ago because I was curious as to just what the difference was. A straight key made sense, but the paddles didn't. They still don't make a lot of sense...and I have no clue if I'll ever use one. But, a lot of guys apparently said the same thing, then after getting proficient with code they were able to swap.

If I completely wanted to cheat; I could use a PC to generate and decode CW.

Most repeater activity on weekdays is during morning and afternoon rush hour, as this is when most hams are in their cars going to and from work. I don't know how popular mobile 2 meter FM is these days, given all the computer-operated stuff in most cars (fuel injection, antilock braking systems, etc.) and the potential for a high-power signal from a mobile 2-meter radio interfering with it.

Keep your HT on the local repeater (and the transmitter output at the absolute minimum necessary to reach the repeater) and just listen until you hear someone put out a call ("This is KA#--- listening"). This call indicates that the person originating it is looking for someone to talk to on the repeater. If you want to find someone to chat with, all you have to do is announce your call sign ("KA#--- listening"). If you do not hear a response, you can repeat your call, but don't do it more than twice or, at most, three times; to repeat the call endlessly is considered rude and annoying on 2m repeaters, and is an all-too-easy way to make yourself very unpopular with local amateurs.

Two-meter repeaters are equipped with timers that will shut down the repeater transmitter after a set length of time, usually three minutes, with or without audio. However, good practice dictates that transmissions be kept as short as possible on repeaters; this ordinarily means well under three minutes.

No one likes to hear someone gabbing away until the repeater "times out". I am a member of a radio club near here that operates a repeater on 147.81-21 (+600 kHz transmit offset). They do not like the idea of anyone, even club members (!), monopolizing the repeater until it times out. I once belonged to a repeater club in the Cleveland area which used to say "If you want to hear yourself talk, use a tape recorder, not an FM rig".

Finally, amateur repeaters are operated by radio clubs whose members support the repeater by annual donations. Ideally, you should join the club that operates the repeater you use the most; "freeloading", that is, the ill-advised practice of local amateurs using a repeater without supporting the club that sponsors it, is not appreciated on most repeaters.

Welcome to 2-meter amateur FM. I have been licensed since 1972 and on 2m FM since 1976; I've enjoyed every minute of it, although I had to give up my traditional amateur station 15 years ago when I moved to an apartment. However, I am still semi-active on the local 2m repeater and on Echolink (an amateur radio linking application using VoIP--voice over Internet protocol), so I'm still getting some use out of my license, which I recently renewed for another ten years.

73,