durable AM/FM radio

[oj88]

I agree with bro.SIRbossR,- that is a real cool gadger bro.oj88... I remember having a shortwave radio receiver some years ago and I found it surreal listening to foreign broadcasts midnight/early morning when the conditions are suitable .... And then the HF/(VHF) Amateur Days (DU1-IJA),- talking to fellow enthusiasts as far as Australia, and Russia....

BTT: I just remembered that I have an Aiwa Clock Radio.... "Big drain" on the battery though, because the display is LED...

Me too. Back when I was a kid, I remember my dad listening to the Voice of America on SW. That was in the late 70's or early 80's. Of course, I didn't understand the whole concept then. For all I knew, there was only AM and FM... and (sorry for the lack of tact. I was young then), AM was for yayas and drivers. :D

But then, I got into the 2m ham band during the late 80's up to about the mid-90's. I had a 70-ft Ringo Ranger II antenna that I used to make contact with a Baguio City resident without a repeater. I was saving up to add a pair of 9-element Yagi antennas with an azimuth rotor but something came up which I'll mention below.

I went by DY1-NYT... a made-up call sign since I didn't have an NTC license. The irony however is that, I passed the Class-C licensure exam twice (2 years apart) but never really got around to go through with the application.

But then, typhoon Rosing came along and broke my mast including the antenna. Sold all my gear and got off the scene and shifted to a different hobby... BBS'ing. :D

Sir, where did you buy the Tecsun radio? Does it have its own antenna?

i'm looking to buy the Eton FRX3, very versatile in terms of power sources. Ganda rin ng presyo :p

Apparently me gateway na pala between HAM radio and internet? Very cool ^_^ LINK

Not sure how active the local HAM/CB radio groups are, but it seems the ones in the US went into high gear when hurricane Katrina hit.

It was a spur of the moment. Bought it online last September. It has a built-in telescopic antenna as well as an attachable 'longwire' antenna (included) that you can hang outside the window or clip-on to drapes and curtains.

The FRX3 seems like a nice radio. But do read the online reviews first. For example, some claim that mobile phone charging (if that's important to you) doesn't work quite well.

Interest in ham radio has sharply declined mainly due to the internet. But during the aftermath of Yolanda, I was able to catch ham chatter on 7095 and 7151 kHz working on relief operations. That was during the time when cell sites were still down and landlines were essentially non-existent.

HAM Radio should be taking off nowadays, because everyone's gone CableTV...

Nuong wala pang CableTV,- kapag nag-press kami ng PTT ng setup ng tropa namin (at hindi properly naka-tono ang antenna niya),- burado ang lahat ng reception ng TV broadcast channels sa local area nila... :hysterical:

Yeah. A badly tuned antenna produces a lot of spurious emissions. For that, I took great lengths to keep my SWR down. At 145 MHz, my SWR is at 1:1.1

oj88: how much did it cost you?

A little over US$100 plus shipping. Costed me roughly Php5k, landed.

[CVT]

Ang ganda noh, Bro. CVT?

oj88: how much did it cost you?

Agree bro.,- nanginginig na ako,- Parang gusto ko ng isa..

Me too. Back when I was a kid, I remember my dad listening to the Voice of America on SW. That was in the late 70's or early 80's. Of course, I didn't understand the whole concept then. For all I knew, there was only AM and FM... and (sorry for the lack of tact. I was young then), AM was for yayas and drivers. :D

But then, I got into the 2m ham band during the late 80's up to about the mid-90's. I had a 70-ft Ringo Ranger II antenna that I used to make contact with a Baguio City resident without a repeater. I was saving up to add a pair of 9-element Yagi antennas with an azimuth rotor but something came up which I'll mention below.

For that, I took great lengths to keep my SWR down. At 145 MHz, my SWR is at 1:1.1

We practically have the same 2m ham band setup bro.,- my beloved omni Ringo Ranger and the directional Yagi-Uda....

Oh man,- and you have an SWR Meter..... Cool!

(Mobile) Phone-patch was "cool... cool... cool"

Parang gusto ko na ulit mag-setup at makipag-eye-ball... :hysterical:

73s and Good Tidings, bros!


“Familiarity breeds awe”
23.9K:thud:

[oj88]

We practically have the same 2m ham band setup bro.,- my beloved omni Ringo Ranger and the directional Yagi-Uda....

Oh man,- and you have an SWR Meter..... Cool!

(Mobile) Phone-patch was "cool... cool... cool"

Parang gusto ko na ulit mag-setup at makipag-eye-ball... :hysterical:

73s and Good Tidings, bros!

Oh I never had a Yagi. I was planning to but I never got the chance.

Also, the SWR meter, I just borrowed it from a fellow ham. :D

But shortwave is a whole new animal. I mean, 2-meter/VHF antennas are tiny compared to ones tuned for HF. Since I've read this thread and took out my receiver, I've started figuring out how to fit a longwire antenna (more than a hundred feet long) inside a small patch of yard space. So I'm also looking at loop antennas and such.

[CVT]

Oh I never had a Yagi. I was planning to but I never got the chance.

Also, the SWR meter, I just borrowed it from a fellow ham. :D

But shortwave is a whole new animal. I mean, 2-meter/VHF antennas are tiny compared to ones tuned for HF. Since I've read this thread and took out my receiver, I've started figuring out how to fit a longwire antenna (more than a hundred feet long) inside a small patch of yard space. So I'm also looking at loop antennas and such.

Precisely the reason why the 2m band became very popular for enthusiasts,- the shorter(smaller) antenna requirement (fraction/factor of the wavelength).... Line of sight though. So, height is might!

Checked last night,- and I still have my 45W Icon Mobile base, my 5W Icon Portable, my mobile antenna (without the base, sadly)... I remember somebody "borrowed" my HF equipment/setup...


“Familiarity breeds awe”
23.9K:thud:

[oj88]

Precisely the reason why the 2m band became very popular for enthusiasts,- the shorter(smaller) antenna requirement (fraction/factor of the wavelength).... Line of sight though. So, height is might!

Checked last night,- and I still have my 45W Icon Mobile base, my 5W Icon Portable, my mobile antenna (without the base, sadly)... I remember somebody "borrowed" my HF equipment/setup...

You probably meant Icom. Still, lucky you.

It's just sad I already got rid of all my 2m gear; Icom IC-02AT, Daiwa 5W-in to 80W-out linear amplifier, a *forgot the brand* 13.8V/30A regulated power supply. In my dad's car was an Icom IC-28H with a Larsen 5/8-wave 'whip' on a mag-mount.

All gone.

Any who... was still playing with the thing last night and figured out what the frequency NAIA ATC uses for flights on approach. Caught a comm from Delta 473 coming in from Tokyo. Most are incomprehensible and I can only get snippets about heading and/or altitude info. Can't hear any comm from the tower... I need a better VHF antenna for line-of-sight.

Wow, I can't remember how much fun it was the last time. Can't believe I kept this radio boxed up all those months.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uleczMUljk

[CVT]

^^^ Tama ka riyan, bro,- Icom nga... Now, what was I thinking?...

And yes, I have the 02AT for my portable and 28H for the mobile base... Used to have a Yaesu base and a Kenwood portable, but again, they were "borrowed" and never returned.....

I think nasa ibang pre-determined channel and transmit ng tower kaya hindi mo marinig siya. Or full-duplex na? Maybe bro.SIRbossR can confirm.... However, I am suprised that the aircraft comm was still not scrambled or something.... Dapat talaga they are using the better and more recent technology of spread spectrum or frequency hopping so that no one can monitor even half of the conversation.....


“The measure of a man is what he does with power”
23.9K:thud:

[oj88]

^^^ Tama ka riyan, bro,- Icom nga... Now, what was I thinking?...

And yes, I have the 02AT for my portable and 28H for the mobile base... Used to have a Yaesu base and a Kenwood portable, but again, they were "borrowed" and never returned.....

I think nasa ibang pre-determined channel and transmit ng tower kaya hindi mo marinig siya. Or full-duplex na? Maybe bro.SIRbossR can confirm.... However, I am suprised that the aircraft comm was still not scrambled or something.... Dapat talaga they are using the better and more recent technology of spread spectrum or frequency hopping so that no one can monitor even half of the conversation.....

Nope, been reading that they're not using any sort of frequency offset. When I brought along my receiver to my office in Makati yesterday, I can hear the tower comms. clearly, being nearer to NAIA. Along with it, I can also hear the other frequencies (ground, clearance, etc.)

Not sure also why the ATC comms are 'clear speech'. All I know is, it has been on VHF-AM (not FM) for the longest time. They're probably keeping it because it will be very expensive to adopt a new radio system. I would imagine that all aircraft and airports, big or small, including everybody that uses the system in the whole world would have to replace their comms equipment.