Vent your spleen Ham radio

[StormShadow]

So yeah the forum is dead like many aspects in life.

The upper bands... so much has been said time and time before I know... and there has been a few pockets of hams that have tried to promote the upper bands that have fallen on deaf ears...

Do you want to see the VHF/UHF bands being taken back by ofcom?

Seriously people?

We are so privileged to have these bands but if nobody cares then so be it, if its what Hams want.

VHF/UHF mostly dead and its a shame. Many will say they have "moved to DMR" moved to DMR in what way? do you mean given up on RF radio? That is all DMR is... Voice over IP, go through the expense of a DMR hotspot just to use your DMR radios to transmit 10 meters into your hotspot? a bluethooth speaker can do the same dude, without the expense of the other crap just to use voice over IP.

I don't have nothing against DMR, in the sense of Digital Mobile Radio but the way its used in the amateur radio hobby is lazy, in the sense of "don't bother with true RF"

Yes people will say DMR is the modern way but why does it just revolve around "only the internet"?

What happened to simplex operations whether that be digital or analog modes?... I'm talking simplex here

Oh I do RF its called HF... I can work the world right out of the box with a long wire.... oh I can work the world with voice over IP...

Do we really need VHF/UHF anymore... should we just give it to the free banders to use, until ofcom reclaim it?

[109 Jim]

The problem with HF is , typical housing scheme , postage stamp garden , houses close together = Noise , young uns today are just not interested even on cb in my area there is 3 of us thats it , i tried to give my daughter a pmr handheld to talk to her mother , she said errr i have phone

[StormShadow]

The problem with HF is , typical housing scheme , postage stamp garden , houses close together = Noise , young uns today are just not interested even on cb in my area there is 3 of us thats it , i tried to give my daughter a pmr handheld to talk to her mother , she said errr i have phone

I guess its something you have to grow up on. Us oldies grew up with radio rather than smart phones and apps, so I imagine two way radio isn't really appealing to the younger generation unless your really into radio and the science of it.

Todays world with antenna restrictions many will be held back from a lot of radio enthusiasts from getting on air but the good thing there is VHF UHF which can bring enjoyment to many but its just wasted now among the amateur radio community we have today.

[Transwarp]

I guess its something you have to grow up on. Us oldies grew up with radio rather than smart phones and apps

How old are you? On the car thread you mentioned you're not that old?

[StormShadow]

I guess its something you have to grow up on. Us oldies grew up with radio rather than smart phones and apps

How old are you? On the car thread you mentioned you're not that old?

I am 40 years old, so not that old but no spring chicken either, still I'll always be the youngest at the Ham radio clubs.

[Antoni]

You ought to see the ages of radio rally punters. And the fair differences between them and the people behind the stands.

Behind them, it's the old farts like me running the interesting used engineering stuff, and the young ones behind the Chinese crap importers (Chinese radios excepted).

Really looking forward to the Lincoln Short Wave Club's rally near Gainsborough on the 25th Jan. Now there's a clue. Who refers to 'short-wave' these days?

Analogue V/UHF is not dead around here. Quiet but not dead.

Nobody on here mentions the microwave bands. It's not at all hard to make up a full duplex high quality audio radio link on there involving a broadcast FM radio at each end.

[StormShadow]

I did get into 3cm 10GHz ages ago but there wasn't anything going on so I didn't pursue it any further. The problem with those sorts of bands is that its hard to get on them due to nothing made for the band radio wise unlike VHF/UHF there are plenty of radios for it. 3cm's could have a lot of potential tho if only there was kit available for the band. A 3cm satellite repeater would be amazing.

[Antoni]

That's my point! It IS easy to get on there.
A gunn diode or similar oscillator and another diode as a mixer. Then an FM radio for IF demod and audio. The oscillators at each end being different by abt 100MHz to drop mixer products into Band 2 broadcast. That's it.
The very simple mixer can work both ways at the same time! Never done it but I'd like to, and I know a man who has...

[edit: - I think the Gunn diode might work as a mixer too, so just the one diode and you'd frequency modulate it for TX audio - which is simple to do]

[2nd edit: The wiki page on gunns
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunn_diode
even describes amateur use of them ¾down...]

[Transwarp]

I guess its something you have to grow up on. Us oldies grew up with radio rather than smart phones and apps

How old are you? On the car thread you mentioned you're not that old?

I am 40 years old, so not that old but no spring chicken either, still I'll always be the youngest at the Ham radio clubs.

The hobby is just that, and like any other hobby you get out of it what you put into it.

My partner is a craft person, she doesn't restrict herself to just making cards and paper based creations, she's turned her hand to toys, framing, model building, all using different materials and techniques, very impressive. Radio is no different in respect to self developing and learning new things.

If anybody just wants to buy a radio and talk and that's it then no point in passing an exam to do so, just use a CB or 446 and have done with it. Likewise if a person just wants to listen, buy a scanner instead.

Analogue, digital, morse code, packet, TV, internet linked, etc ect, it's all hobby communications, doesn't matter how busy or quiet certain areas of it are, the hobby has multiple things to try, experience, and learn about BUT ONLY if a person has the interest to do so and gets enjoyment from.

I'm strictly analogue, l don't do digital because I'm happy with my field of interest, that doesn't mean though l wouldn't change if l needed to. I also don't do HF, the reason for is because of the noise floor in my area, if l lived in the middle of nowhere though then I'd be back on HF. VHF & UHF serves me ok for my small interests because l have other hobbies besides radio.

I started out on CB - and respectfuly - before you was born, and got my ham licence over 20 years ago, and whilst I'm no technical person like other fellow radio hobbyists, l have a lot of experience in air time and use of equipment BUT it's all been just for personal enjoyment not achievement. When l was young l was never off CB, when l got my ticket same with ham radio for a couple of years. The novelty factor wears off, but I've always had a real interest in radio and it's never left me and I've pretty much always had a couple of radios and accessories for. Once a radio person always a radio person.

[StormShadow]

I got some more... people taking a long time to finish a sentence, long overs where they aren't saying anything.... finish your over already

Long pauses in between words.

Those on nets that don't leave a pause to give others a chance to break in... Yeah I've been listening for half an hour waiting to join.

Those who can't sort out there radios with there time out bleeping every 2 seconds.

Another one... they go really quiet, speak up lad I can't hear ya...

Well thats my 3 pence worth.

[StormShadow]

Well TG91 was different last night for a change.