Quick question. I just got the Bao Feng FH-8. Took me several days to figure out how to program it, but I don't believe it is transmitting. I can't get anyone to respond. Can you help?
First try to hit a repeater. Find the closest repeater to you via RepeaterBook.com and program the offset and tone squelch (this info on Repeaterbook.com). Many repeaters will auto-respond with a beep, CW callsign, or even current weather. If you're still not making contact, try adding a "rat tail" counterpoise to the radio. Get outside and to high ground for better propagation. And last but not least, build yourself a better antenna, like the one KB9VBR built in his 1/4 wave 2m ground plane video. I too started on a Baofeng. One thing I will say about them is that they don't receive particularly well (so that may be the problem - people may be responding, but you can't hear them. This is unlikely though). Hope this helps. 73.
@@DovidStern Thank you sir. So hard to get anyone to reply, even on youtube, especially to a newbie. I appreciate your help. I did get one person who said same thing basically. I was transmitting directly on repeater freq. He knew because he was literally less than 2 blocks away. He helped also. Still a lot to learn here, but at least I'm going in the right direction.
For voice alert, are there any for the channel itself? For example, when you pick up the mic and call out to the person who's beacon you just heard, don't you have to have a 100Hz tone set for the channel itself? Or is all of that set on the APRS settings? I think that I understand the VA APRS settings, but I am unclear about the voice side on calling on 144.39. Thanks. 73. de Dave, AE7TD
On the Yaesu FTM-400 you set the tone for voice alert on the APRS settings menu. You don't set it on the memory channel settings. This way the radio will transmit APRS without the tone and voice with the tone.
If you are buying a commercially produced antenna, you most likely won't need an analyzer. They're best for building antennas a first setting them up. You will need a tuner, though, for this type of antenna. If your rig has a built in tuner, You can use that as most end-fed antennas usually present an SWR of 3:1 or less. Otherwise you will need an external wide-range tuner to effectively use the antenna.
Hi Michael, I will be looking forward to the two way APRS i-gate setup. I have a couple of Baofeng radios that I would love to use. I was going to use a scanner but I don't want to cripple the APRS system. I have been using the FTM-400XDR in my pickup. I have APRS turned on. I am amazed by how far away reports come. I asked the question in an email to you. Do these popups come from that far away or from digipeaters. Thanks Kevin KE0UXC
Yes, i got your email. Sorry I didn't get back to you as we were traveling last weekend. The distant packets are most likely coming through a digipeater. Most likely what is happening is that packet has a long unproto path of more than three hops, so it shows up over a very wide area. If you go into the station list on the radio, you can select the packet and then view the raw data to see how many digipeaters carried the signal.
@@KB9VBRAntennas I am presently crippling the APRS system. I would like to be able to do a two-way igate but not looking in the right place to get this done. I saw the video on Ham Nation to do the igate with a scanner and the free windows software APRSIS32 and the AGW Packet Engine. There must be a way to hook a cheap Baofeng UV5R or a used 2M mobile radio up to this same software as I see it has the capability to transmit also. There must be someone who is making a cable to work with a certain radio. Looking forward to a video on this as our area is void of any nearby APRS digipeaters. Thanks Kevin KE0UXC
Bret, I realize that you are an amateur operator, however Garmin makes a Rino series GMRS radio that intermittently sends a burst of your GPS position to a moving map on a matching Garmin Rino radio. This might be a better alternative for hunting. Caution the newer models are quite expensive. Used Garmin Rino 120s or 530s are a bargain on eBay. You might want to check out Xiaomi mijia models which are much less expensive ($ 40.00) each which can be programmed to amateur frequencies. They send your gps position on a map through an app on your smart phone.
Thanks for going over voice alert. It is definitely a underutilized feature.
Quick question. I just got the Bao Feng FH-8. Took me several days to figure out how to program it, but I don't believe it is transmitting. I can't get anyone to respond. Can you help?
First try to hit a repeater. Find the closest repeater to you via RepeaterBook.com and program the offset and tone squelch (this info on Repeaterbook.com). Many repeaters will auto-respond with a beep, CW callsign, or even current weather. If you're still not making contact, try adding a "rat tail" counterpoise to the radio. Get outside and to high ground for better propagation. And last but not least, build yourself a better antenna, like the one KB9VBR built in his 1/4 wave 2m ground plane video.
I too started on a Baofeng. One thing I will say about them is that they don't receive particularly well (so that may be the problem - people may be responding, but you can't hear them. This is unlikely though).
Hope this helps. 73.
@@DovidStern Thank you sir. So hard to get anyone to reply, even on youtube, especially to a newbie. I appreciate your help. I did get one person who said same thing basically. I was transmitting directly on repeater freq. He knew because he was literally less than 2 blocks away. He helped also. Still a lot to learn here, but at least I'm going in the right direction.
Thank you for another great video.
For voice alert, are there any for the channel itself? For example, when you pick up the mic and call out to the person who's beacon you just heard, don't you have to have a 100Hz tone set for the channel itself? Or is all of that set on the APRS settings? I think that I understand the VA APRS settings, but I am unclear about the voice side on calling on 144.39. Thanks. 73. de Dave, AE7TD
On the Yaesu FTM-400 you set the tone for voice alert on the APRS settings menu. You don't set it on the memory channel settings. This way the radio will transmit APRS without the tone and voice with the tone.
Do I need an antenna analyzer for an end fed dipole? Do I need a antenna tuner? (HF)
If you are buying a commercially produced antenna, you most likely won't need an analyzer. They're best for building antennas a first setting them up. You will need a tuner, though, for this type of antenna. If your rig has a built in tuner, You can use that as most end-fed antennas usually present an SWR of 3:1 or less. Otherwise you will need an external wide-range tuner to effectively use the antenna.
Hi Michael, I will be looking forward to the two way APRS i-gate setup. I have a couple of Baofeng radios that I would love to use. I was going to use a scanner but I don't want to cripple the APRS system. I have been using the FTM-400XDR in my pickup. I have APRS turned on. I am amazed by how far away reports come. I asked the question in an email to you. Do these popups come from that far away or from digipeaters.
Thanks
Kevin
KE0UXC
Or is that a 2M commercial radio in your surprise box that you are going to turn into a two-way i-gate?
Yes, i got your email. Sorry I didn't get back to you as we were traveling last weekend. The distant packets are most likely coming through a digipeater. Most likely what is happening is that packet has a long unproto path of more than three hops, so it shows up over a very wide area. If you go into the station list on the radio, you can select the packet and then view the raw data to see how many digipeaters carried the signal.
@@KB9VBRAntennas I am presently crippling the APRS system. I would like to be able to do a two-way igate but not looking in the right place to get this done. I saw the video on Ham Nation to do the igate with a scanner and the free windows software APRSIS32 and the AGW Packet Engine. There must be a way to hook a cheap Baofeng UV5R or a used 2M mobile radio up to this same software as I see it has the capability to transmit also. There must be someone who is making a cable to work with a certain radio. Looking forward to a video on this as our area is void of any nearby APRS digipeaters.
Thanks
Kevin
KE0UXC
Long live the FTM 400
Bret, I realize that you are an amateur operator, however Garmin makes a Rino series GMRS radio that intermittently sends a burst of your GPS position to a moving map on a matching Garmin Rino radio. This might be a better alternative for hunting. Caution the newer models are quite expensive. Used Garmin Rino 120s or 530s are a bargain on eBay. You might want to check out Xiaomi mijia models which are much less expensive ($ 40.00) each which can be programmed to amateur frequencies. They send your gps position on a map through an app on your smart phone.