TexasCHLforum.com

Charles, I guess one day I'll have to upgrade to Extra. Just always told myself I wasn't going to do it till I could do the 20 WPM, even though its not required anymore.

So, I have ordered the Gordon West study guide and software package along with two Baofeng UV-5R radios (I figure an HT and mobile unit for both of my vehicles in the near future) and a programming cable for them. With these items I have committed myself to a technician license, and in all honesty I plan to shoot for general at the same time or shortly after.

G.A. Heath wrote: Tue Jun 19, 2018 9:55 am So, I have ordered the Gordon West study guide and software package along with two Baofeng UV-5R radios (I figure an HT and mobile unit for both of my vehicles in the near future) and a programming cable for them. With these items I have committed myself to a technician license, and in all honesty I plan to shoot for general at the same time or shortly after.

I just ordered it too.

Owens wrote: Tue Jun 19, 2018 9:30 am Charles, I guess one day I'll have to upgrade to Extra. Just always told myself I wasn't going to do it till I could do the 20 WPM, even though its not required anymore.

I barely, I mean barely, got 13 wpm to get my General and Advanced. 20 wpm was out of the question!

Chas.

G.A. Heath wrote: Tue Jun 19, 2018 9:55 am So, I have ordered the Gordon West study guide and software package along with two Baofeng UV-5R radios (I figure an HT and mobile unit for both of my vehicles in the near future) and a programming cable for them. With these items I have committed myself to a technician license, and in all honesty I plan to shoot for general at the same time or shortly after.

You'll be amazed how well an HT will work, IF you use an external antenna. There are various ways to mount a mobile antenna on a car that do not require drilling a hole. Mag-mounts are popular on cars and even at home. Put them on a cookie sheet or other large metal sheet for a ground plane and they turn an HT dummy load into a decent performing radio. You will need an adapter to connect the coax to the HT as HTs are too small to accept a PL-259 connector found on almost all mag-mount antennas.

For home use, you can also build your own antenna. Actually, you can build a mobile antenna also, but few folks do that.

Also, don't get a Baofeng microphone! That are horrible!! A Kenwood HT microphone works great, but they cost more than the Beofeng HT. You'll probably want an external mic when using it in the car, but if so, spend the money on the Kenwood.

Chas.

This one is for 70cm, but built for 2 meters I suspect it will work okay on 70 cm as well. I'm going to build one to test SWRs on 70 cm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpCnKSDiS0g

This is a dual band OSJ that can be bought for under $40 or built at home. It's a very rugged and inconspicuous antenna for home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A_iDpMJlnE

DIY dual band dipole antenna.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcO5WAiksNI

Mag-mount antenna for HT in a vehicle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rldERx33_fs

Certainly do it! It's a great hobby...

Speaking of... hope to work some of you this weekend during Field Day!

Charles L. Cotton wrote: Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:23 pm When bad weather does hit, I get more information from my ham radios than from TV or radio weather forecasts or reports.

Chas, do HAMs pick up NOAA frequencies or would I have to purchase a "police scanner" like this

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V91IN62/?c ... _lig_dp_it?

I'd like a scanner that can pick up NOAA, local police/fire/rescue frequencies, as well as HAM frequencies... also BTW when I was little my dad had a CB radio is that the same as a HAM radio?

Grundy1133 wrote: Tue Jun 19, 2018 3:45 pm

Charles L. Cotton wrote: Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:23 pm When bad weather does hit, I get more information from my ham radios than from TV or radio weather forecasts or reports.

Chas, do HAMs pick up NOAA frequencies or would I have to purchase a "police scanner" like this

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V91IN62/?c ... _lig_dp_it?

I'd like a scanner that can pick up NOAA, local police/fire/rescue frequencies, as well as HAM frequencies... also BTW when I was little my dad had a CB radio is that the same as a HAM radio?

I can pick up NOAA frequencies on my HT, as well as my mobile and base stations

http://weatherradios.com/stations-and-frequencies

Weather radio broadcasts in the United States (NOAA NWR) and Canada (Weatherradio Canada) occur on seven dedicated frequencies: 162.400, 162.425, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525, and 162.550 MHz.

Most VHF radios have the NOAA stations preconfigured. Some can be programmed in. Most Dual band radios can be programmed for the public service channels, but they are blocked for transmission. It is extremely unwise to transmit on these frequencies though.

Grundy1133 wrote: Tue Jun 19, 2018 3:45 pm

Charles L. Cotton wrote: Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:23 pm When bad weather does hit, I get more information from my ham radios than from TV or radio weather forecasts or reports.

Chas, do HAMs pick up NOAA frequencies or would I have to purchase a "police scanner" like this

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V91IN62/?c ... _lig_dp_it?

I'd like a scanner that can pick up NOAA, local police/fire/rescue frequencies, as well as HAM frequencies... also BTW when I was little my dad had a CB radio is that the same as a HAM radio?

A lot of the North Texas Police/Fire frequencies are now encrypted digital transmissions and you can’t hear them on a scanner.

gtolbert09 wrote: Tue Jun 19, 2018 7:52 pm

Grundy1133 wrote: Tue Jun 19, 2018 3:45 pm

Charles L. Cotton wrote: Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:23 pm When bad weather does hit, I get more information from my ham radios than from TV or radio weather forecasts or reports.

Chas, do HAMs pick up NOAA frequencies or would I have to purchase a "police scanner" like this

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V91IN62/?c ... _lig_dp_it?

I'd like a scanner that can pick up NOAA, local police/fire/rescue frequencies, as well as HAM frequencies... also BTW when I was little my dad had a CB radio is that the same as a HAM radio?

A lot of the North Texas Police/Fire frequencies are now encrypted digital transmissions and you can’t hear them on a scanner.

well on broadcastify there are tons and tons of police/fire frequencies being uploaded and broadcast... the only reason id rather have an actual scanner is in case my internet goes out or cell service goes out, cause a few times when power had gone out in the entire town the local feed here was down because the person who was uploading it to the broadcastify servers apparently lost power too.

gtolbert09 wrote: Tue Jun 19, 2018 7:52 pm

Grundy1133 wrote: Tue Jun 19, 2018 3:45 pm

Charles L. Cotton wrote: Sun Jun 17, 2018 2:23 pm When bad weather does hit, I get more information from my ham radios than from TV or radio weather forecasts or reports.

Chas, do HAMs pick up NOAA frequencies or would I have to purchase a "police scanner" like this

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V91IN62/?c ... _lig_dp_it?

I'd like a scanner that can pick up NOAA, local police/fire/rescue frequencies, as well as HAM frequencies... also BTW when I was little my dad had a CB radio is that the same as a HAM radio?

A lot of the North Texas Police/Fire frequencies are now encrypted digital transmissions and you can’t hear them on a scanner.

digital transmissions on scanners
Our (Austin area) local Depts went to P25 digital, (Phase 1) I have about 25 useless old analog scanners but they can still be used for other projects soldering to IF or mixer etc after learning Electronics a bit)

Broadcastify no longer transmits our area since they went digital ... no one in the area connects to broadcastify that has a radio like mine, and I choose not to broadcastify it for several reasons, including my Internet bandwidth etc

P25 phase 1 system
http://support.uniden.com/scanners/

you actually can hear them if you have the right equipment, but you need to purchase a license for the technology (pretty cheap $25 or so)
The BCD436HP and BCD536HP are pretty "upgradable" by Flashing (programming) as updates come out (When I first bought the Sacanners, you couldn't hear until you bought the Licenses and Flash/upgrade the programming ... pretty simple)

Base http://www.scannermaster.com/Uniden_Bea ... 501854.htm
Handheld http://www.scannermaster.com/Uniden_Bea ... 501853.htm

I upgraded mine myself after purchasing the licenses, but you can get it pre-installed by buying licenses at time of purchase
DMR Upgrade is for the areas using DMR Digital. See here for further information
DMR is popular on some ham repeaters,, not all ham radios do DMR, some do

ProVoice Update is for the areas using ProVoice Digital. See here for further information

NXDN Upgrade (ONLY Available on BCD436/536HP and SDS100) is for the areas using NXDN Digital. See here for further information.
[Please NOTE: NXDN favorites programming isn't available at this time.]
.

Do it yourself (Depending what digital modes are in your area

http://info.uniden.com/twiki/bin/view/U ... dioUpgrade
http://info.uniden.com/UnidenMan4/ProVoice

I do have a shed full of old Analog radios ... I use the BCD536HP as a scanner (base or mobile) with my Ham frequencies programmed in as well as local police/fire/rescue frequencies (I need to program in our CERT frequencies, I will do that soon, but our CERT team only has been activated a few times' always possible with wildfires/tornadoes etc here though, and recently pointed out when a gasoline truck overturned all the various chemical trucks on hiway 281))


bcd536hp firmware
https://www.google.com/search?q=bcd536h ... fox-b-1-ab

bcd536hp software
https://www.google.com/search?client=fi ... wqqY5UtIK8




Oh I almost forgot

Uniden updates the frequency database every Monday and you can download the update database FREE weekly over the Internet directly to your radio through the Sentinal Software

Also update your firmware here http://info.uniden.com/twiki/bin/view/U ... nerManuals
BCD536HP
http://info.uniden.com/twiki/bin/view/U ... wareUpdate
and
digital upgrades for BCD536HP
http://info.uniden.com/twiki/bin/view/U ... 4/BCD536HP

(There are lots of places to buy the scanners, prices vary quite a bit)
I have no affiliation with any scanner sales people or any brands
I got all the gadgets, the GPS dongle so it scans by location (Nice if using as a mobile I guess, for Base I just entered my Zip code and # miles radius i want), the WI-FI dongle for connection to my home network (bcd536hp only) ...etc etc
=============

NOAA frequencies
Go to Walgreens, get a Midland Weather Radio that will sound an alarm by County, enter your county code and nearby counties codes so you can get early warnings
Mine was $29.00 works on battery after electricity goes off, they have others with hand cranks etc
https://midlandusa.com/product-category/weather/

The Gordon West book and software came in today while the radios came in yesterday. I also have the Dan Romanchik Study Guide (PDF format) downloaded. With that said I have downloaded, compiled, and run CHIRP (I am an old school Linux user, yes I know about the packet radio drivers in the Linux kernel) to program the radios as police scanners for the time being. At the moment I am listening to the audio CD that was inside the Gordon West book and will boot my desktop into Windows shortly to install the software.

Quick update. Been studying, Electrical principals and Electrical Components are my sticking point. This is material I used to know very well (over 20 years ago) but haven't used since so my rusty memory causes me to recognize the material but not process it. 2 weeks and I plan to test. I would likely pass if I were to find a test and take it today, but I am one of those I feel I must go in knowing I have it down prior to testing.

For the record I am using the Gordon West Book and Software along with the Ham Test Prep(New) Android app.

I went and tested with the intention of leaving with the knowledge that once my license shows up in the database that I would be a technician, things did not go as planned because my CSCE shows I passed Technician and General. Thanks to everyone here, especially Charles L. Cotton, for the input, advice, and encouragement. Now I have to order another Gordon West book and start studying for Extra...