The Survival Podcast Forum
Survivalism & Self Sufficiency Topics => The HAM Radio Board => Topic started by: vulture774 on September 08, 2014, 02:50:51 PM
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I was looking for the official net and found that one hasn't been started.
So I've decided to start one and I'm looking for all of your suggestions.
I've worked up the following:
Net Time: Wednesdays @ 9pm EASTERN
Frequency: 7.242 LSB
Purpose: To Provide a weekly Net for TSP Hams to discuss Survival and Preparedness topics in the spirit of the TSP Community.
Sample Script:
This is amateur radio station <phonetic callsign>, my name is <name>,
and I am transmitting from <location>. I will be your Net Control
Station for this evening's TSP HAMS Net.
This is a directed, informal Net which meets every Sunday at
9pm Eastern Time on 7.242. The purpose of this net is to provide a weekly net for TSP HAMS to discuss survival and preparedness topics in the spirit of the TSP community.
At this time, I would like to thank Jack Spirko of The Survival Podcast and the TSP community for inspiring all who will listen to live a prepared life. Thanks.
<Pause 5sec.>
In order to check-in, simply give us your call sign when the Net Control Station asks for check-ins.
Now, At this time is there any EMERGENCY or PRIORITY traffic? If So Please call Now.
<Pause 10sec.> (Acknowledge any station, Suspend Net until Emergency/Priority is Clear)
No Traffic has been heard by Net Control; Are there any Relays of Emergency/Priority traffic? If So Call Now.
(Acknowledge any station, Suspend Net until Emergency/Priority is Clear, Designate the Relay Station )
No Relays heard by Net Control.
Are there any Station that would like to Check-In to the TSP HAMS Net? Please call now.
<Record Calls>
<Repeat until no calls heard>
<Begin Topic & Designate Station>
Wrap up:
The total number of check ins today were <number of people>.
Thank you for joining us this evening. I invite you to
join us again next week, at 9pm EASTERN on this frequency.
We now return this frequency back to normal Amateur Radio Use.
73 to everyone. This is <callsign> clear.
Thanks,
Tom D. (Vulture774)
KB3PKB
73 73
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Setup a Quick Wordpress Blog mainly for Net Reports. Thinking about adding Live Chat to the site.
http://tspnet.tomstopics.com (http://tspnet.tomstopics.com)
Really want to push this thing!
Tom D.
KB3PKB
73 73
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All looks good Tom...see ...there IS a net. I have a lot of medical this week as Drs think I am dieing from stage 4 cancer but will do what I can to be there.
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Good Luck Carl!
Hope to hear you Wednesday night.
Tom D.
KB3PKB
73 73
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Good Luck Carl!
Hope to hear you Wednesday night.
Tom D.
KB3PKB
73 73
Hey, you too...I hear these TSP guys can play rough.... ;D
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Net Time: Wednesdays @ 9pm EASTERN
Frequency: 7.242 LSB
I'll be there!
Any thoughts for a try at 20m?
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I'll be there!
Any thoughts for a try at 20m?
That should be about 8 PM CST then Alan...? Tom? pfsh pfsh ...test test
Sorry I was figuring out why everyone with a BOB was planing to walk and pull wagons to their BOL's and found out that it was EMP's fault for disabling everyone's vehicle ,even though it has never disabled a vehicle and in fact proven only to cause a re-boot situation in only a few autos tested.
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That should be about 8 PM CST then Alan...?
Yep, see hear you there.
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Unfortunately, I don't have 20m capability right now.
My homebrew Antenna Tuner is being retrofitted and I'm waiting on a switch.
I have 80/40/some15m
I think that at 9pm Eastern the only options would be 40m or 80m.
Maybe this net would work better on 80m but lets try one thing at a time for the Net.
How about we workout a sked for ragchew prior to the net. Might help lock down the frequency for the later Net?
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Unfortunately, I don't have 20m capability right now.
My homebrew Antenna Tuner is being retrofitted and I'm waiting on a switch.
I have 80/40/some15m
I think that at 9pm Eastern the only options would be 40m or 80m.
Maybe this net would work better on 80m but lets try one thing at a time for the Net.
Yeah, 40m's probably best all-round for what we're trying. It's better than 20m at night, and without serious tower engineering 80m's going to be low and NVIS-ish. Cool, I'll try out both of my 40m's.
How about we workout a sked for ragchew prior to the net. Might help lock down the frequency for the later Net?
Sounds good. Say 20 minutes before the hour, or you guys want more?
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Sounds like a plan Tom, I'll try and make the net.
Patrick
KK4CGL
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Great Patrick! We need all the guys we can get.
Alan : 20 min. sounds fine to me. I'll probably be camping out there well ahead of time.....
Now I've got to think about a topic.....Hummm...Bunch o'hams, on frequency, uhhhhh. Antennas? :)
Kidding! Should be a simpler thing the first time out.......How about: Steals & Deals? Tell us about any good deals in preparedness, ham, or other related products or services?
Thanks guys this seems to be gaining speed.
Tom D.
KB3PKB
73 73
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Alan : 20 min. sounds fine to me. I'll probably be camping out there well ahead of time.....
Cool! I want to try out my two different 40m's, see which one'll reach out a little better.
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It looks as though I'll just miss this net tonight due to another obligation, but I'll hopefully catch you all some other time.
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Chat Room software installed:
http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com (http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com)
Hope it works for everyone. Please just use your Callsign & First name as the Nickname.
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On 7.242 and only hearing 7.240 at 20 over S-9 on 7.242
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Carl, can you get to the chat room?
http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com (http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com)
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Carl, we're up on 7270 to get out of the rag chews.
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:tinfoily: OK ,I found someone to talk to..I checked in,but had to fit QRM from 7.267.5 ...
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Too much QRM and some fading....I'm thinking about 60m.......5.357 is s3 and quiet here.
Need to make a dipole.
Thanks everybody for trying!
Lets try next week on 7.270, with 3.900 as fall back. Will that work?
Tom D.
KB3PKB
73 73
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Got through and talked with Carl pretty well, but 40m was kind of crowded and it was hard to find a good clear freq for everyone. 60m might work. Getting an antenna high enough in my yard to do anything more than NVIS will be a challenge, but I'll manage something (good old oak trees...).
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Got through and talked with Carl pretty well, but 40m was kind of crowded and it was hard to find a good clear freq for everyone. 60m might work. Getting an antenna high enough in my yard to do anything more than NVIS will be a challenge, but I'll manage something (good old oak trees...).
I got in an talked to Alan real good ,plus NON-TSP Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, and a VE in Manitoba (Canada) so conditions here were good but 40 meters was predictably busy.
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Alan if you can't get up high enough think inverted L.
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Alan if you can't get up high enough think inverted L.
How can he dig a hole that deep?
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Where there's a will there's probate.
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Just found this. Hope to chime in next week from the mobile.
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Just found this. Hope to chime in next week from the mobile.
That explains why you weren't here last night....
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I'm going to try to check in. My antenna is a random length wire with a 17 foot counter poise made from 24ga bell wire. See you in a few, maybe.
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Alright Guys,
Lets try this again for Wed. 9/17/14.
Frequency: 7.270 LSB
Time: 9pm Eastern
Please tryout the chat room: http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com (http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com)
The chat room was useful the last time around to get everyone to QSY as needed.
Hope to hear you all!
Tom D.
KB3PKB
73 73
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I'll try to make the net this week.
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Baring the unforeseen, I'm in too.
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Currently in progress 7.270 LSB
Seems we are having some success!
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Well the second attempt for a TSP Hams NET went rather well!
It was an informal ragchew and the Calls for CQ-TSP were very nice to hear!
We had 4 Participants last night, one station in Kansas was able to hear all of the others although there was some QRM.
Link to the Net Report:
http://tspnet.tomstopics.com/2014/09/tsp-hams-net-for-sept-17-2014/ (http://tspnet.tomstopics.com/2014/09/tsp-hams-net-for-sept-17-2014/)
Once we get the Time/Frequency figured out; We'll be able to formalize the Net a bit more.
I'd love to see a schedule of Net Control Ops and Topics but we need to be able to find a clear space for communications.
Thanks Everyone!
Tom D.
KB3PKB
73 73
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I am with you on this one! It is about timing for me. I will try to make them... I have been busy with the other Nets on AmRRON digital & voice.
Stay safe!
Well the second attempt for a TSP Hams NET went rather well!
It was an informal ragchew and the Calls for CQ-TSP were very nice to hear!
We had 4 Participants last night, one station in Kansas was able to hear all of the others although there was some QRM.
Link to the Net Report:
http://tspnet.tomstopics.com/2014/09/tsp-hams-net-for-sept-17-2014/ (http://tspnet.tomstopics.com/2014/09/tsp-hams-net-for-sept-17-2014/)
Once we get the Time/Frequency figured out; We'll be able to formalize the Net a bit more.
I'd love to see a schedule of Net Control Ops and Topics but we need to be able to find a clear space for communications.
Thanks Everyone!
Tom D.
KB3PKB
73 73
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Time for another try.
Come Check-In to the TSP Hams Net!
Wednesday 9/24 @ 9pm Eastern on 7.270 LSB
Chat Room: http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com (http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com)
Use your call as the nickname so we know who's who.
Hope to hear some more of you tonight!
Tom D.
KB3PKB
73 73
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Lets QSY the Net to 7.275 LSB It's much quieter
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Lets QSY the Net to 7.275 LSB It's much quieter
OK, see you in a bit.
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Not much luck. Could hear Vulture ~3x7 at best, some of the time. I think we were having an uphill fight this evening:
(http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/cc502/AlanGeorges/solarn0nbhphp.gif)
(prediction from the site http://www.hamqsl.com/solar.html )
I'll post some ruminations on antenna height, digital modes, etc. in a bit.
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Here's about the situation we had this evening:
(http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/cc502/AlanGeorges/ssb40_10.png)
In fact, it was probably a bit worse than this, based on the propagation forecast in the previous post.
A couple of notes on the modeling. It was done using voacap.com, which is at best very approximate and represents average conditions for a given month and time of day. Based on experience from last winter's attempts over at Prepared Ham, the model results are usually closer to actual performance if you reduce the input watts by a factor of 10. Most of us are running 100w barefoot rigs, so I input 10w; the model automatically knocks this down another 20%. It's not that critical. Most of us are also running fairly low dipoles or other kinds of wire antennas, so I put in 10m height on each end.
Vulture mentioned in the chat room that he'd modeled things at 20m antenna height as well. Here are the same results, but with the antennas jacked up to 20m height:
(http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/cc502/AlanGeorges/ssb40_20.png)
That's a good bit better! But 20m – i.e., 65ft – takes some significant engineering. Truth be known, my antenna "towers" are based on 20' lengths of PVC pipe, and that's only 6m high. But 10m is the minimum setting in voacap, so that's what I went with.
PSK31 can boost performance by about 26 dB, but you need to back off on the power about 4x from SSB because of the duty cycle, so call it 20 dB, making it about the equivalent of CW. Moving the antennas back down to 10m height and modeling that gives:
(http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums/cc502/AlanGeorges/digi40.png)
That's a bit better, kind of in the range we need. Here's last winter's thread on PSK31: http://thesurvivalpodcast.com/forum/index.php?topic=47785.0 For what it's worth, it doesn't take much hardware to do this.
I'm leaning toward trying a digital net, but I'm not sure how many people would be on board with it. That... and well, it's just more typing. It's good to hear voices directly. As tough as this is, I want to keep on trying SSB for a while. Maybe both? Maybe change the 1pm Sunday to PSK31? Thoughts?
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Net Report at http://tspnet.tomstopics.com/2014/09/tsp-hams-net-for-sept-24-2014/ (http://tspnet.tomstopics.com/2014/09/tsp-hams-net-for-sept-24-2014/)
Tough night, but lets push ahead.
Alan: Digital sounds like its viable. PSK-31 I assume is the way to go. I'll need to construct an interface to my FT-747gx maybe resurrect an old PC.
I'm going to work on my antenna height/config. Squeeze some watts out of what I've got. :)
Thanks everyone for the attempts! We'll get this sooner or later!
Tom D.
KB3PKB
73 73
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Net Report at http://tspnet.tomstopics.com/2014/09/tsp-hams-net-for-sept-24-2014/ (http://tspnet.tomstopics.com/2014/09/tsp-hams-net-for-sept-24-2014/)
Tough night, but lets push ahead.
Alan: Digital sounds like its viable. PSK-31 I assume is the way to go. I'll need to construct an interface to my FT-747gx maybe resurrect an old PC.
I'm going to work on my antenna height/config. Squeeze some watts out of what I've got. :)
Thanks everyone for the attempts! We'll get this sooner or later!
Tom D.
KB3PKB
73 73
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COOL PSK give many times more effective a signal,,,in and out..It will be some time before I get to play again.
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What mode and frequency are we going to try tonight?
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Join the Survival Podcast Hams Radio Network tonight.
Let’s see who we can find On-Air.
Changing up the Frequency!!! 7.275 LSB.
Wednesday’s at 9pm Eastern on 7.275 Mhz LSB.
Log into the chat room to coordinate; just use your call as a nickname: http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com (http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com)
Tom D.
KB3PKB
73 73
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See Hear y'all in about an hour.
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NET REPORT: http://tspnet.tomstopics.com/2014/10/tsp-hams-net-for-oct-1-2014/ (http://tspnet.tomstopics.com/2014/10/tsp-hams-net-for-oct-1-2014/)
Band conditions on this fourth attempt for a weekly net are somewhat improved. Just not quite enough to run an effective net.
Participants: xxxxxx, KB3PKB, and KI4LZK (Momentarily)
Getting Better!
Alan, xxxxxx, is looking into possibly going digital with PSK-31 I assume.
Tom, KB3PKB, just ordered a Donner Interface and is going to work with Alan on setting up a digital net.
Hopefully, propagation will improve and the Net will go smoother!
Thanks to everyone for their participation!
73 73
KB3PKB
Tom D.
EDITED FOR PRIVACY
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MODERATOR NOTE:
Please don't post people's names and callsigns unless you have their clear permission to do so. Some of our members prefer to maintain OPSEC. Thanks!
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Oops! Sorry about that. I did a fast Copy & Paste and forgot to redact the calls.
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No sweat, Vult. Mr. Bill stepped in and zapped things out, and all is cool now.
It has just occurred to me that a combination of social obligations and business travel will have me off the air beginning next Wednesday through to the following Monday. I will however have the Tecsun 660 and iPhone along with me to 1-way copy any nets that may be going on, and I'll give signal reports.
And of course, I'll still try to call the Sunday net, er roundtable, um, alley cat convention.
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I'm Sorry Guys,
I have a prior commitment this evening, So I'll need to pass on the Phone Net this week.
Anyone want to grab the ball and try Net Control feel Free. There's a Net script in the download area at http://www.tspnet.tomstopics.com (http://www.tspnet.tomstopics.com)
And the chat is up and running : http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com (http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com)
I'm thinking we should convert this phone net to digital, So I think next week I'd like to give that a shot. Any comments on that are welcome.
Again, Sorry.
I'll be ready for next Week.
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i will try and pickup the net this evening. I think it would be fun to try the digital net.
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I am on 7.275 now, not hearing any checkins.
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I work up from my nap, read Toms post and assumed that the new was pretty much a no go and went back to bed.
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So... are we on for tomorrow evening?
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I will be around. We are trying a PSK31 net correct?
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I will be around. We are trying a PSK31 net correct?
Yeah, let's do PSK31. 7080 sounds relatively clear at the moment, so let's try for that.
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Ok, called for 5 min. All quiet on the HF front.
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QSY to 14.080
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Well, it worked on 7.080, but I can't hear anything on 14.080. Back to 7080? Will be standing by there.
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I can never make this one because of church...
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Join the Survival Podcast Hams Digital Radio Network tonight.
Let’s see who we can find On-Air.
PSK-31 Changing up the Frequency & Time!!! 7.080 USB +1700 @ 8pm Eastern
Wednesday’s at 8pm Eastern on 7.080 Mhz USB +1700 .
Log into the chat room to coordinate; just use your call as a nickname: http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com (http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com)
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Ah, we tried. Mega-noise levels, dunno where from. Next week!
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Yes next week. Sooner or later we'll get this licked!
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I'll be in next week as well. Has psk31 been more successful at getting people together or do we just have a lot of digital fans on here?
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I'll be in next week as well. Has psk31 been more successful at getting people together or do we just have a lot of digital fans on here?
PSK31 so far has been a lot more robust than voice. Last night, with S9 noise in my area, there was no way voice could've even been detected. At least a little of Vult's signal managed to come through on PSK. It's definitely a reliability thing, I'd way rather talk on the radio than type.
See you next week NR5P!
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I will get on this net one day gents...like when I get an HF Rig. ;D
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I've been a ham for about 14 years. Just last week I tried psk31. I'm very impressed. I've been able to copy 100 percent signals that I don't think I could have copied on cw because becausi couldn't really hear it. It Went from being something I could care less about to loving it in about a minute. Trying to build a round table with people from all over I can see the advantage.
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To copy ghost signals from PSK 31 is just way cool.
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31 Hz bandwidth will do that for you.
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Are we on for tomorrow?
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Join the Survival Podcast Hams Digital Radio Network tonight.
Let’s see who we can find On-Air.
PSK-31 7.080 USB +1700 @ 9pm Eastern
Wednesday’s at 9pm Eastern on 7.080 Mhz USB +1700 .
Log into the chat room to coordinate; just use your call as a nickname: http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com (http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com)
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A few after-action notes on tonights... net? Well almost net, more of a round table.
Vulture, cellblock776, NR5P, and I all made it, so we had 4. (remember, unless someone says it's ok to use their call on the forum, keep it to forum names; thanks.)
Three of us could hear each other, but only NR5P could hear Cellblock. But then we were on 40m, could've probably made that short trip to him from MS on 80m just fine.
Signals came booming in the 400 to 1000 mile range with BPSK31 on 40m. Vulture suggested switching to QPSK, which has error correction, but my little iPhone app doesn't have that so we stuck to BPSK. Worked fine anyway on BPSK31.
7.065 USB, down in the data sub-band, was pretty clear. We originally were trying 7.080 but there was some QRM there, and thing were busy and a little splattered on 7.070, but 7.065 was unused and clear. I suggest we start from there next week.
So... we got some signals through. It was a little hectic, evolved into a sort of round-table, and it mostly worked!
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Sounds like things are coming along great ,wish I was able to take part....several weeks to go.
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Sounds like things are coming along great ,wish I was able to take part....several weeks to go.
We'll be here. Also Carl, PM me anytime you want to do some SSB conversation, whenever you're up to it.
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Is it Wednesday again already? We doing this?
Join the Survival Podcast Hams Digital Radio Network tonight.
Let’s see who we can find On-Air.
PSK-31 7.080 USB +1700 @ 9pm Eastern
Wednesday’s at 9pm Eastern on 7.080 Mhz USB +1700 .
Log into the chat room to coordinate; just use your call as a nickname: http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com (http://chat.tspnet.tomstopics.com)
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I'm going to try to be on. I hit a wild hog this morning with my car so I'm looking at a parts car. Should be back in time though
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Still trying to figure out what went wrong with my interface...I may not be able to make it by tonight but I'll try!
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Why not it's Wednesday so there's nothing on TV even more then most nights. Grin
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OK, I'm in. ;D
ps: Oooh, ooh, frequency: 7065 was pretty good last week. 7080 had some FSK guys playing around, 7070 was way crowded and splatterey. How about 7065 to start?
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7080 + 1700 it is.
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Just had a good conversation we had coms for almost 30 min. 73
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Just had a good conversation we had coms for almost 30 min. 73
That was pretty cool. Had 3 total tonight, but one guy had to bail early. Band faded toward the end a bit, but it worked well enough. 73!
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Anyone want to try a contact Thursday night? 40 or 80 meter voice?
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Anyone want to try a contact Thursday night? 40 or 80 meter voice?
Still in hospital,wish I could be there with you folks....
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Sorry Folks, my interface is still out of order....Anyone want to run the net feel free. The chat is always up....
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I was wanting to try voice LSB
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Been away for awhile, is this net still happening or faded away?
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Been away for awhile, is this net still happening or faded away?
We tried, but it's hard bringing in everyone together on one band, because everybody's at different ranges. Also, most of us were using 100w barefoot radios and antennas optimized for regional comms. That doesn't help either. FWIW, we tried the same thing with the crew over at the Prepared Ham site, and had much the same result.
(Before any prospective hams think that this is in any way saying that ham radio can't get through, well, no. It's just that bands have to be carefully chosen for ranges with these portable rigs, and that getting a widely scattered group all talking on the same band at once is extremely difficult.)
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Dang! :tinfoily:
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Dang! :tinfoily:
Well *we* could get through just fine on 40m, at least once the worms stopped wiggling all over your ultra-stealth antenna. ::) It's just that we both had to tune to 20m to get SCW in on the conversation, but skipped right over each other, then it all turned into a sort of demented relay exercise after that. Did we ever get Smurf in on any of this?
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Well *we* could get through just fine on 40m, at least once the worms stopped wiggling all over your ultra-stealth antenna. ::) It's just that we both had to tune to 20m to get SCW in on the conversation, but skipped right over each other, then it all turned into a sort of demented relay exercise after that. Did we ever get Smurf in on any of this?
Smurf was not antenna capable then but you bring up an important fact that different frequencies 'bounce' back to earth at different distances
as the reflectivity of the "F" layer varies and as frequency changes,,,THE HIGHER THE FREQUENCY,THE LONGER THE HOP. 40 ,60,and 80 meters
are shorter range bands while bands like 10 and 20 meters take a shallow angle to reflect and so we get insight as to why 'takeoff' angle is so important to a DX'er.
Note that this is due to reflectivity AND take off angle of antenna design and often antenna height above ground. A vertical antenna gives best angle for distance
while low to earth and a dipole/inverted "V" provides LOCAL (to 500 miles) when low to earth and better distance when 1/4 wavelength above earth or more.
For NVIS the LOW to earth dipole with it's center lower than it's ends by a few feet actually provides much higher vertical signal than a truly horizontal dipole ,this helps
to explain why Hams have so many antennas in the air.Antennas and propagation are the Hams best friends or worst enemies ...you can't fight nature ,
but learn to take advantage of her and Ham becomes FUN rather than frustration.
SMURF should be in range of BOTH of us on 20 meters ,on a good propagation day...but rarely lower frequencies.
Above is my over-simplification of a very complex problem ...Ham's were gifted with the HF bands due to their inconsistency. My 2 cents.
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So are yall doing a net on 40m anymore? If so when and where??
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So are yall doing a net on 40m anymore? If so when and where??
What's your general QTH? I'm in CN87
What modes are you setup to work?
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What's your general QTH? I'm in CN87
What modes are you setup to work?
I'm new to the whole ham thing. I haven't started studying or tested yet. My team does however have a coms guy attached to us. I was going to have him get on there so i could listen in. He is not on the forum yet, but im working on him. Our teams primarily operate on digital 800's. There is a team dedicated to backing up those radios in case of some type of outage. We call them the bacon team because they are all hams now but they mostly use UHF and VHF. General public service stuff, he assures me. So to finally answer your question, i have no idea. I know that he said he got on and couldn't find yall but that's the extent of my coms knowledge.
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I'm new to the whole ham thing. I haven't started studying or tested yet. My team does however have a coms guy attached to us. I was going to have him get on there so i could listen in. He is not on the forum yet, but im working on him. Our teams primarily operate on digital 800's. There is a team dedicated to backing up those radios in case of some type of outage. We call them the bacon team because they are all hams now but they mostly use UHF and VHF. General public service stuff, he assures me. So to finally answer your question, i have no idea. I know that he said he got on and couldn't find yall but that's the extent of my coms knowledge.
QTH is hamspeak for location.
CN87 is a grid square in western WA.
When hams exchange, it's customary to indicate their respective grids, so each can assess how their station is performing (look mom, I'm taking to Ireland!).
Make sure anyone monitoring understands this: https://www.qrz.com/gridmapper
If there's a major calamity, understanding WHERE operators are physically located could be valuable intel.
So if your comms people are located someplace in propagation range from me, we can work out a band that's playing well.
e.g. HF is like surfing. Not all bands are always behaving nicely. Some of it's seasonal, some prefer day or night.
Suppose you were in Colorado or Arizona, I'd suggest 20 meter band during day time, and 40 meters after dark. If you are further east, I may need to improve my station setup.
Currently the sunspot cycle is approaching a decades long LOW, which is working against us. All things equal, the lower frequencies will work better than the higher ones. And you're radio geeks probably know that local frequencies require BIGGER antennas, which is logistically complex in many cases.
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good info SMURF
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We don't use the location grid since we really only work in our service area. Thanks for the map! That is great and i will be passing it along to the team. We cover most of central Arkansas. I know my guys only have the first level (or lowest i know know the terminology yet) for the ham stuff. Like i said, im wanting to start into ham stuff but because the company will just attach a coms guy (or gal) to me, it's hard for me to get them to pay for all the equipment for me. I'm working on it though.
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Thanks for that link Smurf. I hadn't noticed it on the qrz site until you pointed it out. Darned useful. Just used it to scope out other hams near the BOL.
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We don't use the location grid since we really only work in our service area. Thanks for the map! That is great and i will be passing it along to the team. We cover most of central Arkansas. I know my guys only have the first level (or lowest i know know the terminology yet) for the ham stuff. Like i said, im wanting to start into ham stuff but because the company will just attach a coms guy (or gal) to me, it's hard for me to get them to pay for all the equipment for me. I'm working on it though.
Today there are only 3 amateur radio license classes (I've oversimplified the abilties below):
technician - VHF/UHF local line of sight. A few small portions+modes of HF
general - tech + most of the HF
extra - bragging rights + a few extra parts of HF bands
Technician class gear *can* be dirt cheap. I'm sure you've run into these chinese handi-talkies that run $25 or so.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2OKwt79-Cd0/VYBRRW0mZ7I/AAAAAAAAALA/Y1y24tYSHkg/s1600/BF-F8.jpg)
I won't debate the merits of gear here, but anyone can get started at least. Like guns or any other gear, there are benefits to investing a bit more if you have the means.
One last comment about the ham community - of all the hobbies and social circles I've participated in, none has had as much generosity as ham radio. I have had experienced operators GIFT me radios and other gear. I've in turn started doing the same as I am able. There's a very strong sense of empowering the next generation and paying it forward.
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Pay it forward goes full circle. :clap:
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Pay it forward goes full circle. :clap:
May all our blessings collect interest :)
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So I'm guessing that the net failed? If anyone has other prepper nets they know of I'd like to check them out.
Too bad, would have been cool.
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Pick a day of the week and time of day and maybe we can organize it again.
The last one was mostly for Alan and myself to test 40 meters reliability from N louisiana to gulf coast of Mississippi and it worked 90% of the time.
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So I'm guessing that the net failed? If anyone has other prepper nets they know of I'd like to check them out.
Yeah, pretty much. We hashed around the reasons for this on this same thread last September (flip back a page, to here (http://thesurvivalpodcast.com/forum/index.php?topic=51531.msg693011#msg693011)). Easy to talk to Carl from here on the Gulf on 40m, easy to talk to SCW up in SC on 20m, etc., but hard to get everyone in all at once. Almost like you'd need multiple radios doing different bands at several sites to make it work.
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Why not setup a 20m/40m net or are they so few hams on here to make it worth it? Say checkins for 30_min on both?
I guess we would need a roster and QTH to make it worth the effort first. I've yet to catch an AMRRON net though so I guess organizing is the hardest part.
I'm in if anyone wants to do the work :)
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The problem that many appear to not understand is that unless you operate NVIS (Near Vertical Incidence Skywave) that you are
pretty much just tossing your signal to the wind and by chance it will land somewhere as the reflective properties of the ionosphere
are only partially predictable as to DAYTIME USE 40 meters through 6 meters with higher frequencies reflective on rare occasion and
40 through 17 meters reasonably reliable to somewhere and 160-80-60-40 meters often open at night to someplace .
HF or shortwave Ham bands do indeed enable one to talk a long ways ,at times,but you really are not in control of where
you can be heard and generally only NVIS allows HF to work in the 50 to 600 mile doughnut around you with the zone from 400
to 12,000 miles being the 'normal' propagation.
So to be successful, an HF net need participation of a large number of Hams and multiple regional net control stations to take
check ins and info to relay back to the primary net control station. The original net was just ALAN and myself doing antenna tests
on 40 and 20 meters for short (40 meters) and Long (20 meters) testing and we had any who wanted to check is as HAMS
as the only indicator of our affiliation was the check in call of CQ TSP followed by station ID callsign and only discussion was
of signal strength and antenna/radio etc...no real prep was discussed on air ,only typical Ham talk.
With small numbers of check ins we would have to have EACH STATION give the CQ TSP call and record the Ham call of each station he heard
then report to primary control those station he heard ...on air or by email etc with total results to be posted on TSP FORUM once combined
and this way each participant gets an idea of his stations capability.
So,who wants to try?
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Sounds like a plan. I'm CN83 and have 160M-10M but only 5W at the moment.
Wed-Fri would be optimal. I'll monitor the thread for further developments.
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I will wait to see any other interest though can soon make attempts even for just a few listening...it could grow.
From EM32 North West Louisiana...probably 20 meters in afternoon would be best for you.
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So,who wants to try?
I'd definitely be interested in a Net. Either 40M or 75M early evening (2230Z or 2300Z) would probably be best. As the solar output goes down, the lower HF bands are 'going long' earlier in the evening, which makes NVIS on 40 and 75 more difficult.
I'm on one [regional] net that has already decided to go to 160M because 80M is losing NVIS reliability too early to support the net at our usual time (choice was to run the net earlier or change bands - no one wanted the net to be an hour earlier).
Cheers
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Today there are only 3 amateur radio license classes (I've oversimplified the abilties below):
Thanks for the info! I've been gone for a bit but im back. aslo i tossed you a karma but the great post.
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Thanks for the info! I've been gone for a bit but im back. aslo i tossed you a karma but the great post.
Here's the Start Here page from my HR podcast...let us know how we can help!
http://hamradio360.com/index.php/start-here/