Amateur Radio activity?

[Guns&Hoses]

Has anyone either purchased or played with the new Baofeng DM-32UV?  I would like to hear some feedback on the radio before I buy a pair.


https://www.baofengradio.com/products/dm-32uv

I'd bought the Bao UV-5R awhile back. Seems nice. I did buy an upgraded antenna and also a 'battery pack' that would use 2AA batteries.

Never did get the license as just too busy. All I played around with was basic functions although it capable of a whole lot more.

This is supposed to be a great resource for Baofeng radios:

https://brushbeater.store/collections/the-guerrillas-guide%E2%84%A2

The Baofeng UV 5R is the gateway drug!!

[scuzzy]

If you're interested in getting your technician license or upgrading to general or extra, Hamstudy.org offers FREE test prep that is excellent, and a means to actually take your test over a zoom call. I used it to upgrade to general, highly recommend!

Zoom? Heck I didn't know that. One of the hold-ups was the drive to the nearest city which isn't close by.

[LadyRimfire]

If you're interested in getting your technician license or upgrading to general or extra, Hamstudy.org offers FREE test prep that is excellent, and a means to actually take your test over a zoom call. I used it to upgrade to general, highly recommend!

Thank you for sharing!

[Burnett]

I used hamtestonline.com to study for both tech and general; paid version to get all the bells and whistles.
I thought it was really quite easy.
If you do it, study up for both tech and general and if you pass the tech, you get to try the general at no extra cost that day. Actually, if you pass that, you can also try the extra, again, at not extra cost.
With hamtestonline, I was able to get a 34/35 and a 35/35; don't remember which was which. I tried the extra and got like 27/50. 

[AdmiralKirk]

Best I can do is GMRS and Restricted Radiotelephone license for pilots...

[Cannibal]

KD2ZVV

Great skill to have, though I must admit, I'm not on the net much.

[Mike AKA Bandaid]

When I got my license, back in the day, we had to learn morse code. I passed it fast enough for all the license. Eventually worked hard and got my amateur extra... what I have found is this: if you are not interested in contesting or making contacts around the world, there is really no need for the general or extra class.  The basic technician class will be more than enough. It's not hard. If you spend just ONE WEEKEND, and actually really study, you will pass with no problem. All the questions that they could ask are available. You can literally just study the questions and then pass. I prefer to understand the material. however, a lot of understanding also comes AFTER you are licensed, and are actually doing it. So, don't fret! Get that ticket, check in on the local repeater, and start making new Appleseed Riflemen and women!

[mmirate]

Pedantry: I believe Extra and General can also be useful for regional contacts as well, not just around the world, thanks to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_vertical_incidence_skywave.

[Mike AKA Bandaid]

Pedantry: I believe Extra and General can also be useful for regional contacts as well, not just around the world, thanks to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_vertical_incidence_skywave.

Yes, they can... 

[Guns&Hoses]

Are y'all active on any HF nets? 40m or 75m in particular?

[Thaddeus]

Our local CERT group is big into GMRS because it is supported by our county emergency management service. Individuals are experimenting with mesh networks (Meshtastic) because they are totally encrypted, which any licensed FM cannot be.

[mmirate]

BLUF: Meshtastic's encryption makes it a good fit for natural disasters but its general nature makes it a poor fit for unnatural disasters.

Thanks to directional antennas, any radio transmission is a beacon pointing to the transmitter.

One countermeasure to direction-finding is the near-vertical-incidence skywave that I mentioned a few posts ago. The signal will bounce off the ionosphere and travel back downwards at a near-vertical angle. But if there is not any hill or other terrain between your transmitter and the direction-finder then the direction-finder still wins. Direction-finders may be airborne. All of this was learned well during the Vietnam War.

The only other countermeasure to direction-finding is to transmit only very rarely, very unpredictably (in both time and space) and with the minimum power required to contact the other party.

Any automated message-passing network, including Meshtastic, will tend to transmit frequently and regularly in order to search for peers and for messages to pass.

[Guns&Hoses]

https://www.qrz.com/db/W4OVT

[Mike AKA Bandaid]

https://www.qrz.com/db/W4OVT

Just saw this! Adding it to my calendar! Thank you!

[Guns&Hoses]

A reminder that this weekend is the K4B special event station commemorating the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, part of the year long Chasing Cornwallis event!  https://www.history.radio/

[Guns&Hoses]

A reminder that this weekend is the K4B special event station commemorating the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, part of the year long Chasing Cornwallis event!  https://www.history.radio/

On a personal note, passed my extra licensing exam this past weekend! de W5IED

[Rattlehead]

A reminder that this weekend is the K4B special event station commemorating the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, part of the year long Chasing Cornwallis event!  https://www.history.radio/

On a personal note, passed my extra licensing exam this past weekend! de W5IED

Congrats and well done.

[Mike AKA Bandaid]

On a personal note, passed my extra licensing exam this past weekend! de W5IED

Congrats on that upgrade! That is a tough test!