31
votes
Accepted
Why does the audio on my FM transceiver cut out every 5.5 seconds?
It's a feature not a bug.
When turned on, the weather alert function checks the local NOAA station for its alert tone every 5 seconds for half a second... doing so takes over the receiver.
I'd turned ...
- 3,905
11
votes
Accepted
Why does "Ethics and Operating Procedures" suggest tuning on a dummy load?
The text you refer to seems to be (emphasis mine):
Sometimes before transmitting it is necessary to tune (adjust) the transmitter (or antenna tuner). Tuning should in the first instance be done on ...
- 24.4k
11
votes
Accepted
How does lowering the RF Gain help with SNR?
For an ideal, linear receiver, reducing the RF gain by 1 dB lowers signal and noise by 1 dB, so there would be no change in SNR.
However, receivers are not perfectly linear. This means that besides ...
- 51.6k
7
votes
Accepted
How do I set up my radio for an antenna tuner?
Your TS430S has a solid state final and no internal antenna tuner. As such it is designed to work into a 50 ohm load at all times. This means you can disregard this note in your antenna tuner manual.
...
- 18.5k
7
votes
Accepted
How can I be sure I'm actually hitting the repeater?
The simple answer is to transmit on the repeater's input frequency, saying something like " < your callsign > testing" and listen for the repeater's courtesy beep (assuming there is one) on its ...
- 1,035
5
votes
How is "clarifier" control helpful?
The clarifier is simply Yaesu's term for RIT (receiver incremental tuning) and XIT (transmitter incremental tuning), and can be used for either of those two adjustments, or turned off.
RIT keeps your ...
- 487
5
votes
APRS: what is with stations clustered in the middle of a lake?
Two relevant facts about APRS:
APRS stations are not obligated to get their location from GPS. And in practice, many fixed stations have manually entered locations.
It is possible to transmit an ...
- 24.4k
5
votes
Alinco DJ-500T handheld radio will not transmit, why?
This indicates that you are attempting to transmit out of band. This is typically a symptom of having the wrong offset (+/-) programmed for that channel.
If you visit the Alinco FAQ page you will ...
- 18.5k
5
votes
Accepted
How were 1920s hams able to measure megahertz frequency?
[Discovered this via a comment on another answer.]
According to their Wikipedia article:
Lecher lines were used as frequency measuring devices until frequency counters became available after World ...
- 7,269
5
votes
How were 1920s hams able to measure megahertz frequency?
The US National Bureau of Standards (NBS) had a system for basic measurement of frequencies as early as 1911. They used very basic calculations to determine the resonance of an LC circuit. The math ...
- 18.5k
5
votes
How Can I Remove a Password From a TYT MD-UV390 (Non-GPS)?
I contacted the seller and am still waiting on a satisfactory reply. HOWEVER, I did seem to find a workaround. Thanks for everyone's response!
Remove Password MD380/90
1. Go to folder the CPS is in (...
- 61
5
votes
Why does "Ethics and Operating Procedures" suggest tuning on a dummy load?
We use a non-radiating dummy load at first so that we minimize the chance of interfering with others.
When our tuning adjustments are as close as they can be using that, then we can switch over to ...
- 7,864
4
votes
Accepted
How Can I Remove a Password From a TYT MD-UV390 (Non-GPS)?
Contact the Seller for technical support. Explain that the unit is not working without a password and that this was not provided with the shipment.
If no further support is available then consider ...
4
votes
Alinco DJ-500T handheld radio will not transmit, why?
Glenn's answer here gave me the nudge I needed. Checking through parameters, I found #11 ... Offset ... 5.000 seemed default setting.
With Offset at 5.000 the transmitter was stopped because that ...
4
votes
Accepted
Am I calibrating my SWR meter, SWR-001, correctly?
The calibration procedure is only used for determining the SWR - the forward and reflected power reading are not impacted. If you change power levels or frequency, you need to perform the calibration ...
- 18.5k
4
votes
Accepted
Baofeng BF-888s radios don't talk to Baofeng BF-888s+ radios
Unfortunately, you fell into one of the traps of the Chinese radios! You can't really assume what frequencies are they programmed with.
Basically, the radios are designed to be programmed with a ...
- 2,873
4
votes
Accepted
Is it safe to run two barefoot rigs on one antenna with an AB switch?
S9 corresponds to 50 microvolts or -73 dBm. Thus S9+40 is -33 dBm. In theory, since it's much less then 20dBm your 7300 should be fine. HOWEVER I believe that +40 is just a maximum level your ...
4
votes
What does a receiver's noise reduction function do?
What does this noise reduction do?
That should depend on the device.
Generally, it's to be assumed that it applies (analog and/or digital) signal processing to improve the perceived Signal-to-Noise ...
- 15.5k
3
votes
Yaesu FTDX-1200 how to load band stack register
The Triple Band Stack will simply remember (store) the last frequency entered or tuned for that band and stack position. Try this:
pick a band - 40 meters - by pressing [7.0]
Tune to a frequency
...
3
votes
What's the difference between the normal and S-meter squelch in IC-2730?
https://www.gpscentral.ca/manuals/Icom_IC-R8600_ENG_Manual.pdf
Page 21 explains the difference between regular squelch and s-meter squelch on any Icom radio.
Noise squelch
The Noise Squelch allows ...
- 31
3
votes
Accepted
Receiving commercial / public-safety on a general-coverage HAM transceiver
Regarding your original question, according to page 5-6 of the IC-7100 Advanced Instructions document, to receive "narrow" FM of 2.5 kHz deviation, select FILTER2 or FILTER3.
- 9,162
3
votes
Accepted
Spectrum Analyzer: using "Max hold" for peak detection of a burst signal
It is important to understand that the SA takes some finite time to sweep (calculate the FFT buckets) for the frequency range in question. It is quite possible with a short duration signal that the ...
- 18.5k
3
votes
What is "Busy Channel Lockout"? Why do I want to control this feature?
In my experience, the Busy Channel Lockout or Busy Channel is the name for a feature which is completely different from what Cranky Emu describes.
The Busy Channel Lockout prevents transmission on a ...
- 2,873
3
votes
Tuning to Aviation Band on Kenwood D-710G?
First of all, only Band A (left side) can be tuned to the aviation band; if you try to use Band B it will not work. Press the left "BAND SEL" button (volume knob). Then you should be able to use the ...
- 24.4k
3
votes
Accepted
How do I set the "tone" in my new BaoFeng BF-F8HP?
See Appendix B of the User Manual. BaoFeng calls these "CTCSS" tones, more recently referred to as "PL" tones. Page 67 of the manual describes Menu 13, which allows you to set the value of the sub-...
- 7,818
3
votes
Brand new BaoFeng BF-F8HP -- how to save settings in a channel memory?
If you insist on manually programming the radio, this 10-minute YouTube video should help. The programming description begins about 4:20 into the video, but I recommend watching the introductory ...
- 7,818
3
votes
How do blind hams operate?
I'll answer the first part of your question, Ronald.
I once witnessed a blind ham (WD8PIC) operate. His solid-state transceiver had a speech synthesizer that audibly spoke the frequency when the ...
- 7,864
3
votes
How do I trigger hotkeys on AnyTone 878UV?
Just starting out here I currently don't have the rep-points to upvote his post, but I think that N3CAN is exactly correct. Regrettably the so called HotKeys on the Anytone 878 and 578 just seem to be ...
- 141
2
votes
Help with ZaStone D900
To answer each point in turn:
DMR radios are different from "normal" ham radio equipment in that it uses a digital voice encoder/decoder rather than the more traditional FM analog voice mode that you'...
- 121
2
votes
Why does "Ethics and Operating Procedures" suggest tuning on a dummy load?
There are two ways the text could be interpreted:
First tune to a dummy load. Then, switch to the antenna and tune again.
First tune your transmitter for a 50 ohm load, using a dummy load. Then tune ...
- 51.6k
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