20
votes
Are Baofeng radios illegal in the U.S?
The ARRL runs a booth at Dayton Hamvention since 2012 where people can submit their HTs to be tested for spectral purity. Over the years 2016-2019, 100% of the Alinco, Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu HTs ...
- 11.8k
18
votes
Accepted
Are Baofeng radios illegal in the U.S?
They are legal to use, but only on the amateur bands. (Of course, you'll need to get a license first).
There was a lot of debate on whether they were legal, but the FCC finally stated that they were. ...
- 7,864
13
votes
Accepted
What is the appropriate length of an antenna for a handheld on 2 meters?
These antennas don't always contain a simple straight length of conductor, but rather usually have coils of wire inside, so the actual physical length doesn't mean that much. They are designed so that ...
- 3,665
12
votes
Were there any 6m handhelds produced ever?
The Yaesu VX-5R had/has 50-54 MHz FM, 5 watts. Nice compact little radio!
The VX-7 and VX-8 can also transmit 5 watts FM on 6 m, and 1 watt AM. None of the 3 will transmit SSB.
It had a little ...
- 10.5k
11
votes
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How to do APRS in real wilderness?
So you want to broadcast your location using backpack-portable equipment from deep in a narrow valley hundreds of miles from civilization. I'll assume that you would also like the ability to get a ...
- 9,162
9
votes
In-house repeater?
The simplest way of accomplishing your goal doesn't require a conventional and expensive repeater system. It's completely passive (no electronics needed).
Put a Yagi on your roof pointed at the ...
- 7,864
6
votes
Are there hand held radios for both Amateur and CB?
No, there are not, because it is not legal to have a radio that can transmit in both CB and amateur radio bands.
To be legal, CB radios must be part 95 type accepted. The FCC prohibits a device to ...
- 5,691
5
votes
Accepted
How to read ID-51A GPS logger data
This is standard NMEA data format. The GPS is configured to provide the following NMEA strings:
GPGGA, Essential fix data, time, location, quality of fix, altitude
GPGSA, Dilution of precision and ...
- 12.1k
5
votes
Accepted
Radio manufactured in United States
Motorola is a US-based manufacturer that makes handheld VHF/UHF transceivers, but they are intended for business and/or government use. Many models can be programmed for amateur frequencies though; ...
- 9,162
5
votes
Bf-f8hp radios and no idea what I'm doing
From what I can tell, the BF-F8HP is very similar to the UV-5R. These links may help answer your question.
licensing a group of BaoFeng BF-888S
Can a Baofeng UV-5R+ be used on FRS, GMRS, and MURS?
On ...
- 7,864
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
Accepted
is KPA100 a good amplifier for Yaesu Vx-8Dr
and welcome to ham.stackexchange.com! Sorry, but the Elecraft KPA100 won't work at all with the Yaesu VX-8DR. The VX-8DR is a handheld that runs on the 6m/2m/1.25m/70cm bands; the KPA100 works on ...
- 9,162
5
votes
Accepted
What are the practical differences between the different voice modes (and why aren't there any SSB Handheld Transceivers (HT's))?
SSB phone requires good frequency stability to be intelligible. Anything over 10Hz of frequency difference between transmitter and receiver and the signal starts to sound funny; beyond 50-70 Hz of ...
- 11.8k
5
votes
Accepted
Sharing radios with other people
Hams communicate with each other on behalf of other people.
An amateur radio operator license is required for someone to act as control operator for an amateur radio station. A non-licensed person ...
- 351
5
votes
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Increase transmit and receive frequency of handheld transceiver
Yes. You're looking for a transverter that will take RF from one source (your radio) and treat it as if it were an IF stage into another system. Here is an example.
Obviously, you'll need to take care ...
- 3,905
5
votes
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How can an HT antenna be half wave?
Judging by looks, it's a half-wave element with an autotransformer at the base. Nagoya says the antenna is 15.3 inches in length. Taking measurements from a photo, the bottom 2 inches is in that fat ...
- 11.8k
4
votes
Squelch never seems to "open the gate" on Wouxun KG-UV9D
I'm not familiar with the exact behavior of that model of radio (and the manual was not very helpful), but a possible explanation in general is that you have CTCSS/DCS squelch enabled, and the ...
- 24.4k
4
votes
Personal communication device during blackout
Given your criteria of Handheld transmitters with a 30-50km range, it would be difficult to do so reliably in a city environment. Here's why:
Lots of buildings are going to obstruct your signal and ...
4
votes
How to do APRS in real wilderness?
Apart from matured and highly reliable commercial satellite-based services, WSPR can be another 'DIY/experimental' alternative for broadcasting your location from wilderness. See examples for balloon, ...
- 562
4
votes
Radio manufactured in United States
Are there any USA handheld ham radio manufacturers?
Sure, I found the below link by simply searching using my favourite search engine.
You may consider RELM Wireless
[Edit 15-Jan-2021]
It seems that ...
- 2,137
4
votes
Accepted
Yaesu FT-60 Battery Life
The FT-60 manual says the battery pack is a NiMH pack ("FNB-83 (7.2 V, 1400 mAh)"); so, as we usually use 1.2V as the nominal voltage of a single NiMH cell, a pack of 6 cells in series.
You'd usually ...
- 15.5k
4
votes
Distance of Received Signals
The earlier iterations of the Chinese radios had their issues. This has gotten notably better in the last year or two but people largely dismiss minor issues since they are so inexpensive. So it could ...
- 18.5k
4
votes
Why are 2m and 70cm the common frequencies on HTs?
History and tradition are good choices of words, yes. Historically, they have been the most popular bands for mobile work; the antennas are small enough for a vehicle and many repeaters have been ...
- 7,864
4
votes
Accepted
Why are 2m and 70cm the common frequencies on HTs?
Worthy of mention is that 432MHz is a harmonic of 144MHz, meaning that the antenna can be much simpler; if it's (electrically) an odd number of half-waves on 2m, it's also an odd number of half-waves ...
- 4,539
4
votes
Were there any 6m handhelds produced ever?
Wouxun KG-UV7 is available in
2M/70cm (UHF 420-450 MHz)
2M/1.25M (220 MHz) and
2M/6M (50-54 MHz) frequency ranges.
- 41
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
How to use HT microphone with two jacks (Kenwood connector) as a substitue for KX-3 microphone?
The Elecraft rigs have flexible interfaces for alternate microphone settings. However, there is only the single TRRS plug for a Microphone on the KX3. You should be able to wire up your own ...
- 2,988
4
votes
Are Baofeng radios illegal in the U.S?
Since one aspect of amateur radio is "home brew" ... anything that transmits a "suitable signal" in an amateur band operated by a licensed amateur radio operator, is legal. The key part of the "...
- 51
4
votes
Dual Rubber Ducky antennas
Theoretically yes, if you carefully control the lengths of the cables and the placement of the antennas. This is called a phased array.
However, you would get a far better improvement in range by ...
- 51.6k
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