Recent content by Dave_W6DPS

They save space, and also have an "omni-ish" pattern. A straight dipole has nulls off the ends of the wires that are problematic for mobile use, along with being too long to be practical for mobile use. Of course, the gain is negative when compared to the main lobes on a dipole. Omni...

Yeah the Pineaple Express is a strange VHF phenom. I have been in San Clemente and Dana Point with simplex 2 meters running in from Hawaii. I once was successful in keying up a repeater on Diamondhead and was on for about 8 minutes. Just with a regular mobile mag-mount and a 5 watt HT!

You can get some pretty long links, though probably not to Europe. I regularly see stations 100+ miles away in the Sierras pick me up when I am in the San Joaquin Valley. In fact, in the big valley and around the LA/Orange/San Berdo/Riverside metro area I reduce to 1 watt of output power and...

My first HT around 1984 (and first radio without any tubes) was an Icom IC-2A, which I later added a PL board to and still use occasionally for APRS. Then in 1992 a Radio Shack HTX-202, still used occasionaly for APRS or FMSats. Yaesu FT-430, no longer working. Alinco DJ-280TH, 220 HT...

Yes, it looks real. I recently bought a mobile Comet dual bad antenna from HRO Anaheim and the packaging was very similar. Same colors and fonts... You didn't think Comet was American made, did you? If the instructions appear to be translated into English by someone who doesn't quite...

To me the general test seemed very similar to the Technician test. The Extra test definately had more technical questions and required more study. If you take the practice tests and do well, it doesn't hurt anything to go straight to Extra. You can learn as you go no matter what class...

Yo9u might think aboput a J-pole: http://www.w5fc.org/files/how-to/j-pole/MENTORFEST_ANTENNA.pdf Or a simple ground plane: http://www.northcountryradio.com/PDFs/groundplane.pdf For easy directional antennas here is what I use: W6DPS Or any of the various commercial equivalents...

Two questions: 1. Does your internal tuner say it is getting a match? 2. What do you hear? If the match seems okay and you can hear decent signals, then you are probably fine. If you can't get a good match then RFgrounding may be one of the issues you have to work through. I would...

I haven't used an IC78, but I have a 718 that I got specifically for portable operations, like Field Day. For an entry level/second radio on HF, it is a great choice. Really nothing wrong with it as a main HF rig, other than the number of knobs and no XIT... Shop around online and you can...

This sounds like fun. My mobile antenna is tuned to 28.360, where our local club has a net. Maybe I'll go to my favorite hilltop to see who I can contact. Of course it covers the CW and PSK31 frequencies pretty well, too. 10 Meters may pop open, so it could be great Saturday or Sunday...

That is always a good way to go when you are starting out. Plenty of old hands to tell you their experience in the area, not to mention show you the toys they use. It usually isn't hard to findthe local expert(s) on what ever you are trying to do. Also things you may not have thought about...

Unfortunately it is still a niche hobby. In SOCAL where we have a couple bazillion people and probably 20,000 hams, we only have about three actual ham radio stores. I have had goodluck with Hamradio Outlet, both in person and online. Ham Radio Outlet - World's Largest Supplier of Amateur...

The cross-band-repeat function on a dual-band isn't that useful, in my opinion. They mostly all have it, but it only really allows you to have your own local repeater to use with HTs. it doesn't let you use your HT to access a repeater through your mobile. Nothing wrong with getting a...

For most hams, it is a simple answer: BOTH! As for which to get first, it depends on who you talk to. On the air, that is. If you are looking for a very versatle radio for mostly local communications and repeaters, then VHF/UHF works and is often less expensive. You can get a Wouxun...

Both of those HTs will receive the public service UHF bands--neither has trunking, so that may be an issue. Both can also have memories set up for split-band operation, like for FM Satellites. The VX-6R includes low power operation on the 222MHz band--a definate asset if you have repeaters...