Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ham radio operators are saving Puerto Rico (2017)

edition.cnn.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 92 posts

Re: Ham radio operators are saving Puerto Rico (2017)

#61

Post by taborj »

twothamendment wrote: post #54
rhombocombus wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The nagoya flexible antennas dramatically improve the functionality of the Baofeng HTs (particularly in 70cm). I have had zero trouble with the four or so I have loaned out or otherwise lost. That's the real beauty there, if you lose one it is frustrating but ultimately trivial compared to a yaesu or something.

The nagoya is often recommended for beginners with Baofengs. I got when when I was starting out and it is better than the stock antenna, but you have to worry about who is selling "real" ones and who has fakes. Since then I've discovered these: https://signalstuff.com/product/super-elastic-signal-stick/ They are my go to antenna for HTs. I've never had one break, they perform great and they aren't too expensive. I lo…

Those are very similar to the Nagoya NA-717, which I have on my UV-82. I love how flexible it is; I never worry about it, and like you can bend it way over while stuffing it in the backpack.

Re: Ham radio operators are saving Puerto Rico (2017)

#62

Post by Stratoscope »

twothamendment wrote: post #54
rhombocombus wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The nagoya flexible antennas dramatically improve the functionality of the Baofeng HTs (particularly in 70cm). I have had zero trouble with the four or so I have loaned out or otherwise lost. That's the real beauty there, if you lose one it is frustrating but ultimately trivial compared to a yaesu or something.

The nagoya is often recommended for beginners with Baofengs. I got when when I was starting out and it is better than the stock antenna, but you have to worry about who is selling "real" ones and who has fakes. Since then I've discovered these: https://signalstuff.com/product/super-elastic-signal-stick/ They are my go to antenna for HTs. I've never had one break, they perform great and they aren't too expensive. I lo…

And closing the loop with some other comments in this thread, sales of the Super-Elastic Signal Stick help fund https://hamstudy.org/ which several people have highly recommended.

Re: Ham radio operators are saving Puerto Rico (2017)

#63

Post by jpmattia »

tomswartz07 wrote: post #55
jpmattia wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Look, a decent Yaesu costs 5x as much Old timer says: My Kenwood (3 tube final amp) cost about $700 in 1978, so I'm a little amazed at modern pricing. -- KA1BKM

Adjusted for inflation, that $700 in 1978 is $2,661.15 in 2018 money. The latest-and-greatest KENWOOD TS-990S is going for ~$7,979.95 (according to HRO)[1] I'd say you got a deal back in the day. :) [1] https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-011672

:) The TS-990S looks to be a smidgen better than my old Kenwood.

It took me a few minutes to remember: Mine was the TS 520, which listed at $600 according to eham. So even more of a bargain than I remember. (not like I paid for it. Thanks Dad. (But then again, it sent me down the giant rabbit hole of analog circuits and devices. Thanks for nothing Dad.) :)

https://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/5430

https://www.ebay.com/p/Kenwood-TS-520-Radio-Transceiver/1296...

Edit: Wow, just spent some time on the TS-990S site. The state of the art is really something to behold for someone who has not been very active in the past couple of decades.

Re: Ham radio operators are saving Puerto Rico (2017)

#64

Post by vitaflo »

dpeck wrote: post #51
chrissnell wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That story on Adam Curry's blog was not written by Curry himself, but by a Richard Dougherty (NS0S) of Kansas City. The Reddit story it linked to was deleted, so take this all with a grain of salt. That said, it doesn't surprise me in the least. There are a lot of wannabe-cop wannabe-military whackers in the amateur radio community, unfortunately. (NW5W here)

Its one of the things that has kept me away from amateur radion. I'm interested in decentralized/emergency communications and have a good understanding of RF, I've even picked up a couple of Baofeng handheld units to listen in on things and get more familiar with that part of the spectrum but the other people involved in the hobby aren't exactly the kind of folks I want to hang around enough to learn from.

I'm a ham and I agree with you but you're missing the fact that the people you may hear locally aren't indicative of the broader hobby. Yes there are a lot of grumpy old elitists chatting up the airwaves every day, but there are also people who rarely if ever talk but still do things with the hobby (like myself). There are so many sub-genres in the hobby that someone can always find something they enjoy.

If anything we need more people like you to get involved so we can have more diversity of thought.

Re: Ham radio operators are saving Puerto Rico (2017)

#66

Post by masukomi »

twothamendment wrote: post #49
Ao7bei3s wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look, a decent Yaesu costs 5x as much, and the Baofeng fully fulfills the role I recommended it for - which is to get a beginner started quickly. The entire point was that you don't need to take part in the pay to win game. Noone said Baofengs are high-quality devices. But that's kind of the point, and it is easily good enough to get onto a local relay to get some easy satisfaction and practice the non-technical aspe…

> Besides, what's so interesting about 70cm/2m handhelds that makes getting an expensive one worth it anyway? APRS, GPS. I love my Kenwood TH-D74 for hiking around. Before I had it I used a Baofeng UV-82 with a http://www.mobilinkd.com/ TNC paired to my phone with Bluetooth. Smart phones suck up battery, so it is a lot nicer to have APRS all in one unit that doesn't depend on a smart phone. Does everyone need the bel…

I upgraded to the Kenwood TH-D74 from the Baofeng for the simple reason that i wanted the ability to actually specify a frequency that i hadn't pre-programmed when out in the field. Doing that on a baofeng is nigh-impossible. the APRS, GPS, and D-Star are just icing on the cake.

the Baofengs are cheap but absolutely suck when it comes to usability. With the Kenwood i can deploy to help our local CERT team, and not worry if they say "oh we changed the band plan... use this frequency" With the baofeng it was... "um... er.... well that sucks..."

Admittedly the Kenwood doesn't have a beginner friendly price but I don't know of any handheld that lets you type in a random frequency without wanting to kill yourself that IS cheap. I'd love to hear about it if anyone knows of one.

Re: Ham radio operators are saving Puerto Rico (2017)

#67

Post by niij »

taborj wrote: post #59
DamnYuppie wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please note the channels you pick up on the Baofeng are VHF which are generally very close. As such the quality of the conversations will vary greatly from region to region. Overall the HAM community is like any other in that it is varied and diverse. To truly enjoy HAM radio you will need to get a general license so you can get on 80,40, 15, and 10 meter bands. You will then get to find people all over the world, of…

Except on 7.255Mhz. Stay away from those lids

As a non-ham can you explain 7.255Mhz? I saw some youtube recordings of 7.255Mhz and it seemed like wacky people talking. What is the reason that frequency has a bad reputation?

Re: Ham radio operators are saving Puerto Rico (2017)

#68

Post by masukomi »

vitaflo wrote: post #64
dpeck wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its one of the things that has kept me away from amateur radion. I'm interested in decentralized/emergency communications and have a good understanding of RF, I've even picked up a couple of Baofeng handheld units to listen in on things and get more familiar with that part of the spectrum but the other people involved in the hobby aren't exactly the kind of folks I want to hang around enough to learn from.

I'm a ham and I agree with you but you're missing the fact that the people you may hear locally aren't indicative of the broader hobby. Yes there are a lot of grumpy old elitists chatting up the airwaves every day, but there are also people who rarely if ever talk but still do things with the hobby (like myself). There are so many sub-genres in the hobby that someone can always find something they enjoy. If anything…

Yes. That ^^^

I rarely talk on mine, and the folks who are really into it aren't generally the type i'd want to hang with, but i want to be of service to my community in an emergency, and i want to be able to communicate with others in an emergency for purely selfish reasons.

also, it's kinda cool to be in a strange area, start talking, and find locals who can point you to a good place to eat, or spend the night, or whatever. ;)

Re: Ham radio operators are saving Puerto Rico (2017)

#69

Post by masukomi »

Dowwie wrote: post #65

Whatever happened to mesh networking?

pretty sure the main problem is distance on the frequencies and power ratings that are available to unlicensed users. Hams can use more power (because in theory we know how to do it without cooking nearby people) and we can transmit on wavelengths with greater potential for travel. https://disaster.radio is one of the groups trying to address similar problems via unlicensed mesh networks but the problem they (and others) have is that you just need a boatload of nodes to get the signal across any distance.

You can't roll that out in an emergency, and it's a logistical nightmare to buy, setup, power, and maintain enough of them that in an emergency (including power outage) there will be enough of them to get the message from the people in need to the people who can do something about it.

Re: Ham radio operators are saving Puerto Rico (2017)

#70

Post by Tunecrew »

chrissnell wrote: post #32
Tunecrew wrote: post #23

Apparently this exercise was not quite what it was made out to be: http://adam.curry.com/html/PleasecancelyourARRL-1508324966.h... http://www.kb6nu.com/weighing-puerto-rico/ (FCC Amateur Extra class here)

That story on Adam Curry's blog was not written by Curry himself, but by a Richard Dougherty (NS0S) of Kansas City. The Reddit story it linked to was deleted, so take this all with a grain of salt. That said, it doesn't surprise me in the least. There are a lot of wannabe-cop wannabe-military whackers in the amateur radio community, unfortunately. (NW5W here)

I read the original post on reddit before it was deleted and it was quite damning
Post reply on HN