Stupid Things Heard On Ham Radio.

[pkveazey]

I hear stupid comments all the time on HAM radio. They are offered up pretty much in the same vane as some of the You Tube experts. You know, self proclaimed know it all's. Yesterday I heard a Nimrod telling a newbie all about antennas. He was telling this fellow how HF communication is done using Horizontally polarized and antennas and VHF and UHF used Vertically polarized antennas. Well, he was half right but his reasoning was all wrong. What this moron didn't know was that a lot of Hams use vertical polarization for world wide communications because it works better because it is omnidirectional and low angle of radiation. What restricts vertical polarization on HF is when you get below 40 meters and it is very difficult to make a 62 foot vertical quarterwave for 80 meters and a 125 foot vertical quarterwave for 160 meters. Horizontal antennas are a hell of lot more convenient. I personally use a 250 foot horizontal wire dipole, a 80 meter vertical Hamstick, and 10 meter vertical Hamstick on HF. Once the signal bounces off the Ionosphere, it doesn't matter which way it went up there. The polarization when it comes down can be anybody's guess. It could come down as Vertical, Horizontal, or (insert whatever made up polarization you want). For local communications, polarization becomes very critical. Hmmmmmm.... I wonder why he didn't have a reason for VHF and UHF usually being Vertical. I guess if rubbed his 3 brain cells together he would have realized that Vertical is the common choice because we want to talk to mobiles and base stations. Its pretty rare to see a 2 meter horizontal dipole on a car roof. OK, that's enough of a rant for today.

[Kbop]

Yep!

[JohnyMac]

 . They are out there.

They being all knowing on many subjects.

[Jackalope]

   I realized a while ago that the older that I get, the less that I actually know.  So, I try to learn every day.

[JoJo]

I realized a while ago that the older that I get, the less that I actually know.

 When you get my age you realize how stupid you really are. Cass in point; bought my wife our first smart phone, no directions, couldn't figure out how to make a call, ended up going to Walmart wireless and the good man there showed us.
 Now it's my turn because my Boafeng just came in. Can't open it until my birthday, it's a gift. More fun to come.   

[Jackalope]

   Jojo, there are videos on youtube for the Baofengs.  The videos might help you get acquainted with the radio.  Also, did you get a programming cable with the radio? The programming cable really speeds up the programming process, especially if you use the free programming software called Chirp.

[bennington.camper]

. They are out there.

They being all knowing on many subjects.

Facebook is filled with them as well

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk

[JohnyMac]

Oh yeah BC, FB is the worse! 

[JoJo]

   Jojo, there are videos on youtube for the Baofengs.  The videos might help you get acquainted with the radio.  Also, did you get a programming cable with the radio? The programming cable really speeds up the programming process, especially if you use the free programming software called Chirp.

No there isn't any cable in the box.

[JohnyMac]

Typically unless the description says, "interface cable included" you have to buy one separately.

If you want the interface cable, go back to Amazon and put into the description "Baofeng (Model Number) interface cable" and the correct one for your radio will pop up.

No worries, you can still program the radio by hand.

Your mission if you chose to accept is put in the following freq.' into your HT:

1) Georgetown 145.310 Mhz,
2) Smyrna       146.655 Mhz,
3) Wilmington  146.730 Mhz,
4) Newark       146.700 Mhz, and
5) Seaford       146.715 Mhz.

Once that is done, then scan those five repeaters to see which one (s) work at your AO.

I forgot which Baofeng you have but if you are having a hard time using the Chinese translated into English directions let me know. I know of a site written by Americans.

Good luck and welcome to the world of ham radio in the 2meter/440 cm bands. 

[pkveazey]

Uh Oh...... Y'all mentioned the Bao Feng Handie-Talkies. Now I have to stick my 2 cents worth in. The programming cable for the UV5R series can run from about $5 to about $20, depending on who you buy it from. I've got about 10 of them and they all work. Here comes the rub. That damn driver can make you crazy. Once you get the driver to work so the computer recognizes the radio, you're home free. If you get the cable and it doesn't seem to work, there is nothing wrong with the cable. Just keep trying whatever it takes to make the CHIRP or factory program work and all will be well with the world. I have both, the factory program and the CHIRP Program. CHIRP is way better but the factory program makes it a little bit easier to tell the radio what frequency limits you want on both VHF and UHF. If you want, you can program the frequency limits to only operate inside the Ham bands or you can program it to cover just about everything. I personally programmed all of mine to cover everything that the radio is capable of just in case the SHTF. Using CHIRP, you can lock out the transmit on individual frequencies that you don't want to accidentally transmit on(in the OFFSET column just select OFF).

[JoJo]

 I was watching a video on how to program it and it doesn't seem that hard. If I get the cable with the program what do I still have to do to be able to use everything it's designed for?

[Jackalope]

   Get your amateur radio license!  Using the Chirp program, with the appropriate cable makes it relatively easy to program the radio.  Just program in the frequencies you wish to use and you should be good to go.  Having your amateur license will allow you to use more of the radio's capabilities. 

[JohnyMac]

It took me awhile to be successful using the cable and CHIRP. Being the kind of 'A' personality that I am I contacted BaoFeng in China via the interwiz.

I will not bore the reader with the dozen or so exchanges I had with the tech's in the Orient, however we figured out the reason my computer would not talk to my radio was because I was using Windows 10. I tried Windows 8 and that did not work. When I used Windows 7 it worked. XP worked too. I have a few laptops laying around that I have purchased or that people have given me over the years.

Just curious, has anybody else experienced a similar challenge.

[pkveazey]

I started out using XP when I got my first BaoFeng and the driver was too new and I had to download an older driver to make it work. My new Computer is Windows 10 and I had to load the old driver into Windows 10 to make it work. CHIRP claims that you don't have to load an old driver anymore. BULL$%#T. I still had to use the old driver even when I loaded the Latest Daily Build. Occasionally, I still have problems and have to reload the older driver to make it recognize my radios.

[JoJo]

@JohnyMac

I forgot which Baofeng you have but if you are having a hard time using the Chinese translated into English directions let me know. I know of a site written by Americans.

Please that would be very helpful. I have the UV-5R

[JohnyMac]

Click here JoJo.

If that doesn't help drop me another post.