The Gun Counter

Between getting married, selling one house, and buying another, I haven't pulled out that Yaesu VX-5 that Chris sold me in a loooong while. Well, today I made contact with two repeaters, from inside my house, using just the h/t and a standard Diamond antenna. Both repeaters were between 40 and 50 miles away. Oh, and we live in a valley. Not bad.

Not bad at all. There was a time in the police business when I spent the better part of the day trying to hit a repeater, and in my last assignment, I couldn't hit a repeater from inside my assigned building, because it was built in 1926 from concrete, plaster and 6" limestone blocks.

Yessir, if you can hit a repeater, you can talk to the world.

Fine Business!

73

Some SoCal repeaters have a pretty good reach.
Just wrapping up the weekend camped out near Williams, Az and the hamfest. Successful balloon launch, burst over 85,000 ft and payload recovered.

I need to get me into the local club. I have way too much interest in this.

workinwifdakids wrote:I have way too much interest in this.

There's no such thing.

ETA: In a similar vein, I had a weekend to myself recently. I went to a park and:
I set up a solar panel into a charge controller into an old car battery.
Had some battery clips that I put some Anderson Power Poles on.
Clipped the charge controller outlet to the battery posts with the clips
Plugged in my Yaesu FT-897D.
Threw a rope over a tree limb and pulled up a mini G5RV.
Plugged in a RigAnalyzer AA-170 to find out what bands it was resonant on.
Failed to write those down.
Hooked up the antenna and listened in on some nets.

It was the first time I'd been able to get out and get that antenna up. Lots of wires around my yard and nothing good to hang it from.

It's good to get out and play.

It's 6:30 AM.

I haven't slept well.

I've been shooting for nearly 60 years, and tinkering with computers for nearly 50.

And for the life of me, I have no idea what is being discussed here.

Curious, but not a clue.

Bob K wrote:And for the life of me, I have no idea what is being discussed here.

Curious, but not a clue.

I believe it's ham radio. Hope you sleep better knowing that.

Weetabix wrote:

workinwifdakids wrote:I have way too much interest in this.

There's no such thing.

ETA: In a similar vein, I had a weekend to myself recently. I went to a park and:
I set up a solar panel into a charge controller into an old car battery.
Had some battery clips that I put some Anderson Power Poles on.
Clipped the charge controller outlet to the battery posts with the clips
Plugged in my Yaesu FT-897D.
Threw a rope over a tree limb and pulled up a mini G5RV.
Plugged in a RigAnalyzer AA-170 to find out what bands it was resonant on.
Failed to write those down.
Hooked up the antenna and listened in on some nets.

It was the first time I'd been able to get out and get that antenna up. Lots of wires around my yard and nothing good to hang it from.

It's good to get out and play.

That sounds like my Amateur Field-day experience! I used a 100-watt panel, 30-amp charge controller, and a big trolling-motor battery to power my Icom IC-735. The antenna was a Hustler five-band-trapped vertical with three 25-foot radials. There was also an MFJ 3-kilowatt antenna coupler involved. The vertical loaded up best on 40-meters and there were contacts with all of the bordering states plus Florida, Texas, Oregon, Virginia, and Montana. Fun!