The 2 way Radio Thread.... - Page 1

Moose · 21 Jul 2013, 8:17 pm

Bangers wrote:
Moose wrote:I'm struggling with the idea of linking in morse or voice ID. The only reason I want to do it though is because without it I can't license it and eventually I want it all up and running legit + licensed with the ACMA. I've spent some time over the last few months trying to perfect antenna configs too (no way I can afford a duplexer for 750khz split but I'm not having a lot of luck with that (I need to get new antennas I think)
I'll get back to you regarding the best way to get an ID happening, One of the units I originally built from 3 Jaycar kits simply grafted into the audio lines between the two radio's (the one I built for a mate was actually running on a pair of 400's and went ok) BUT, there's a few cheaper and better ways of going about it in the form of simple kits from the US.

Regarding your antenna's, what antenna's are you trying to use - and how are they configured?

It's easy to avoid using a Diplexer, I'm guessing the problem you've encountered is probably intermod between the RX and TX, resulting in the repeater either staying keyed up or "chopping in and out" as it tries to stop transmitting?

The 400's are linked using the OPC617 serial cable, so I guess as long as you had the ID on a timer you could connect it into the TX radio through the serial cable. I hadnt thought about using Jaycar kits, and I havent really looked on ebay. I clearly need to do more research!

Re the antennas - I was using a Mobileone scanner antenna for RX (http://www.mobileone.com.au/antennas/br ... scatx.html) and a mobileone UFH 6dbi 2.5m away
Pic here http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/7182 ... 2at412.jpg

(that pole is 8m high and the white UHF base antenna is 2m long - bolted to my daughters cubby house)

The issue I have is obviously that the antennas need to be mounted vertically one on top of the other, I just need to do some testing in regards to spacing them.. I also think that I need to piss off the scanner antenna and get another UHF base antenna so I can use RG213 on it instead of the pissy 58 that comes with it

Its not that they stay keyed up, it works as it should - but you can definitely hear the static/noise from TX drowning out the RX. My set up works - but I know its not very effective and I want to make it better

Edit: Repeater pics:
Its not very neat but its all self contained in this weatherproof container.

Titan · 22 Jul 2013, 11:34 am

I just own a Uniden 40ch uhf hand held .5w unit

Would like a 1w unit someday if i have spare dosh. For now .5w will do.

Bangers · 23 Jul 2013, 10:20 pm

You've nailed it Moose, vertically stacked antenna's are the key... I'd suggest RX on top (a repeater should be able to receive at least as far as it can be heard), ideally at least 2m from tip of your lower antenna to base of the higher one, although success is possible with as little as half a metre depending on the reciever. Havn't got any pic's available of some of the different antenna configurations we used to run, but vertical antenna above folded dipoles always took the cake. The type of antenna really isn't critical at the end of the day...

That setup in the box is slick man, nothing wrong with that, you're well organized there and I can see a lot of thought has gone into your setup, I'm not that tidy!. And when I saw that I remember how we grafted in the home built ID unit (cost about $100), it was simply wired into a CAT5 style plug that was plugged into the mic socket of the transmitter, easy easy! Not a true repeater controller, but it spat out the ID every 5 mins as required, in saying that, I believe 400's can be programmed to time out....

Depending on your TX power, try a metre tip to base between antennas, close enough to directly vertically stacked, then go from there...

Cheers!

And, Titan, nothing wrong with a half watt, you're in the game, somebody will hear you mate, If I had any handheld's here, i'd send you a good one.

Bangers · 23 Jul 2013, 10:25 pm

Regarding coax, 213 should be fine for runs under 30m, we always used 450 or 550 Heliax, but that was simply because we were in the industry and had surplus cable and connectors that worked out cheaper than buying 213... Ask your tech's, they might be able to do you a good deal...

blakjak · 24 Jul 2013, 3:50 am

I have been using my trusty (imported) Icom IC-40s for a few years now, has never let me down, although the battery pack could be reconditioned.
I must admit that it's nowhere near as much fun since the Sydney metro cops switched to encrypted digital. I get the Hurstville repeater easily from Redfern.

Timon · 24 Jul 2013, 5:27 pm

Hey all

I have
3 xts3000's
2 Analog Sabers
1 Astro Saber
1 Wouxon duel band thingy
1 Maxon 800mhz radio for taking over radio links with (forget model number)
a bunch of old ex forestry philips vhf lowband portables
a Tait T700 vhf lowband ex National Parks
1 scout 100watt hf radio
a couple gm300 45watt uhf's
a gm950 uhf
a few M10 45watt UHF which i plan to use for repeaters at some stage
and whatever else is laying around in boxes that i forget about, lol

ALso, im now in Rural NSW have been for the past few years, cops out here have gone digital but are still not encrypted so that is good news.. so far!
some vhf lowband freqs still exist for the area i am in also and can receive them with the tait T700 with base antenna

Moose · 24 Jul 2013, 8:06 pm

Bangers wrote:You've nailed it Moose, vertically stacked antenna's are the key... I'd suggest RX on top (a repeater should be able to receive at least as far as it can be heard), ideally at least 2m from tip of your lower antenna to base of the higher one, although success is possible with as little as half a metre depending on the reciever. Havn't got any pic's available of some of the different antenna configurations we used to run, but vertical antenna above folded dipoles always took the cake. The type of antenna really isn't critical at the end of the day...

That setup in the box is slick man, nothing wrong with that, you're well organized there and I can see a lot of thought has gone into your setup, I'm not that tidy!. And when I saw that I remember how we grafted in the home built ID unit (cost about $100), it was simply wired into a CAT5 style plug that was plugged into the mic socket of the transmitter, easy easy! Not a true repeater controller, but it spat out the ID every 5 mins as required, in saying that, I believe 400's can be programmed to time out....

Depending on your TX power, try a metre tip to base between antennas, close enough to directly vertically stacked, then go from there...

Cheers!

I enquired about the cost of folded dipoles from a local guy in brisbane - $1300! I'd love to throw that kind of money at an antenna but the whole project cost me about that much :/

I'm curious about how you got your ID module working.. Of you have by links to the Jaycar parts you used or any schematics I'd be very grateful

I'm thinking of mounting both antennas on a j pole so they can be bolted exactly one on top of the other

Bangers · 24 Jul 2013, 9:32 pm

blakjak wrote:I have been using my trusty (imported) Icom IC-40s for a few years now, has never let me down, although the battery pack could be reconditioned.
I must admit that it's nowhere near as much fun since the Sydney metro cops switched to encrypted digital. I get the Hurstville repeater easily from Redfern.

With Icom's reputation, I expect that these would be a good radio, Didn't realize they made a dedicated CB handheld, I'm obviously a bit naieve

I read that these are capable of 20 extra channels, are these receive only channels or do they transmit as well?

Bangers · 24 Jul 2013, 9:48 pm

Timon wrote:Hey all

I have
3 xts3000's
2 Analog Sabers
1 Astro Saber
1 Wouxon duel band thingy
1 Maxon 800mhz radio for taking over radio links with (forget model number)
a bunch of old ex forestry philips vhf lowband portables
a Tait T700 vhf lowband ex National Parks
1 scout 100watt hf radio
a couple gm300 45watt uhf's
a gm950 uhf
a few M10 45watt UHF which i plan to use for repeaters at some stage
and whatever else is laying around in boxes that i forget about, lol

ALso, im now in Rural NSW have been for the past few years, cops out here have gone digital but are still not encrypted so that is good news.. so far!
some vhf lowband freqs still exist for the area i am in also and can receive them with the tait T700 with base antenna

Man, you've got some gear there, put's my collection here to shame, "he who dies with the most toys wins" Haha, The majority being commercial stuff, that's an awesome collection... Up until 2.5 years ago I used to listen to various regional Vic cops on several freq's about 163MHz (I think?) analogue, was always amusing on a Friday, Sat night, At that time it seemed that only the Melb and Geelong regions were encrypted. I recall being in southern NSW about 3 yrs ago listening to police on UHF, somewhere around 468MHz, maybe that's changed now...

I just thought! it would be nice to see some pic's from the top of that tower in your video!!

Bangers · 24 Jul 2013, 11:03 pm

[quote="Moose]I enquired about the cost of folded dipoles from a local guy in brisbane - $1300! I'd love to throw that kind of money at an antenna but the whole project cost me about that much :/

I'm curious about how you got your ID module working.. Of you have by links to the Jaycar parts you used or any schematics I'd be very grateful

I'm thinking of mounting both antennas on a j pole so they can be bolted exactly one on top of the other[/quote]

I'd work with what you've got for now, I couldn't justify spending that much either, check ebay though, there's a few on there from overseas, Polar Industries could probably do better than that too...

The ID module is a long story, I'd rather explain that one via PM some time soon.....

Timon · 25 Jul 2013, 2:34 pm

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... ink:top:en

Had these in my watch list for a long time, funny to see HK is making mobile radios now, we all know they had been making cheap portables for a long time though.

This one is the cheapest i can find, and still does 45Watts and covers 400-490mhz, not to bad!
still tempted to get one, i would like a new base radio heh

The gm300 im using atm modded to 40 ch's is just not cutting it

and you can't get anymore then 40 chs out of em

blakjak · 29 Jul 2013, 11:18 pm

Bangers wrote:With Icom's reputation, I expect that these would be a good radio, Didn't realize they made a dedicated CB handheld, I'm obviously a bit naieve I read that these are capable of 20 extra channels, are these receive only channels or do they transmit as well?

You can program it to TX & receive on all freqs between 410 & 490 Mhz, including the 468 (Sydney metro).
Does the job well, but it's quite chunky, wouldn't mind something smaller.

Spades · 30 Jul 2013, 9:35 pm

wait, ppl still use radios..

but, internet

blakjak · 31 Jul 2013, 6:50 pm

Spades wrote:wait, ppl still use radios..

but, internet

The internet is not ideal for instant comms, & it almost always doesn't work undergorund & many other places we explore.

Nick · 01 Aug 2013, 5:52 am

Spades wrote:wait, ppl still use radios..

but, internet

Ain't no 3G in mines. Or up towers. Or offshore. Or in the bush. Plus, if everyone splits off front he group, you'd have to call each person individually etc, and it turns a multi-car road trip into a CONVOY.

We'll all be laughing and speaking in Half Duplex when the apocalypse comes!

If anyone is interested in getting their Amateur Radio License, let me know, I'll happily point you in the right direction, Standard License is easy, and it'll do great things for your sex life

Plus, with advanced, you can transmit @ 1kw. If that doesn't get the ladies, I don't know what will.

I've got a s*** ton of gear, most of it Motorola professional stuff, bits of P25 gear & some SDN, I can't find any photos right now, but for my exploring setup, it's all cheap Chinese stuff, and I love it:

So if you're like Spades is now, thinking "wow, I totally need to get my amateur radio on, who needs mobile phones!" here's the setup I've got for exploring:
2x Baofeng UV-5R (~$50 + Stupid large antenna)
My radio, "Dual Watch" so I can listen to the security company that guards the place we're exploring & listen & transmit on the channel we all use. (PM me if you want the frequencies used by security companies, as far as I've discovered they all transmit in the clear)
5x Baofeng BF-888 S ($19 each, delivered, with stealthy headset) - Used by everyone else, as they're simple, tough, and have a really nice clip.

AdHoc · 01 Aug 2013, 6:04 am

Guys, radios can and will save your lives while exploring, don't underestimate their usefulness.

I normally use a set with a friend when parking my van near an urbex location so I don't get it bogged (again)

Moose · 01 Aug 2013, 12:17 pm

Re taking them exploring;
I take my icom which has 80 CB + all local police + ses + local fire for transmitting on listening to
my vertex VHF marine radio

Definitely overkill, but if it saves my life one day, then I'm all for it

Moose · 01 Aug 2013, 12:19 pm

Nick wrote:
Spades wrote:wait, ppl still use radios..
I've got a s*** ton of gear, most of it Motorola professional stuff, bits of P25 gear

Are you loaded?

My employer just bought several hundred APX6000's at about $5k a pop with accessories

Nick · 01 Aug 2013, 7:10 pm

Moose wrote:
Nick wrote:
Spades wrote:wait, ppl still use radios..
I've got a s*** ton of gear, most of it Motorola professional stuff, bits of P25 gear
Are you loaded?

My employer just bought several hundred APX6000's at about $5k a pop with accessories

Ouch, mine are mostly handhelds, probably about 20 Motarola handhelds and 3-5 P25 XTS handhelds, though they don't see much use,

They're all (Excluding the Baofengs) second hand, and purchased in bulk lots from people who don't know how to program them & therefore consider them useless when their license runs out.

Bangers · 02 Aug 2013, 7:35 pm

I'm not really a fan of taking radio's exploring, i'm mostly active with infiltration and topside stuff, and, by Murphy's law - it would be just my luck that the one time that thing would actually make noise is while i'm trying to hide from coppers or something...

I must admit though, I always like to have a UHF with a good antenna and a linear on long and remote drives and 4wd'ing, if I do get into the s*** out there I want to be sure that someone can hopefully hear me on one of the channels. X2 on the great for convoys bit also!

In the rural areas someone asking for genuine help would be taken far more seriously than someone in say Melb or Syd area due to the amount of radio idiots in some major capital cities...

Hadn't actually thought about listening in to security companies and so on, makes good sense though, can hear stuff like that on the home radio's but those little dual band handhelds like the Baofengs are pretty good these days for the few bucks they cost...

Timon · 21 Jan 2016, 3:47 pm

work in progress

http://imgur.com/a/iPw1t

Legacy · 22 Jan 2016, 12:41 am

Nick wrote:
Spades wrote:wait, ppl still use radios..

but, internet
Ain't no 3G in mines. Or up towers. Or offshore. Or in the bush. Plus, if everyone splits off front he group, you'd have to call each person individually etc, and it turns a multi-car road trip into a CONVOY.

We'll all be laughing and speaking in Half Duplex when the apocalypse comes!

We have actually been quite surprised how far offshore we can get internet...
Been out fishing with others around FADs multiple times and managed to dig up enough signal for one of the guys to place bets on TAB, and for me to retrieve waypoints from various websites..

But it does make a difference where you are - out from gong seems pretty good, but out from port hacking and northwards sucked..
(FAD distance from shore varies too)..

Bangers · 28 Aug 2016, 3:33 pm

This is my latest experimental construction.

It's a UHF CB repeater, currently on test before proper assembly ready for sale or site.

These MX800 radio's are almost bullet proof and made in Australia for Aussie conditions. Programming and set up is easy, in my opinion these are the ultimate unit for a CB or Amateur repeater. Thought I'd just show ya's anyways and try keep the thread alive...

Dynamite · 28 Aug 2016, 8:20 pm

I wish somebody would set up something like this in Brisbane with ctcss enabled!
We only have one decent repeater on ch7 and its a total s*** show. Mean lookin rig man

Nick · 29 Aug 2016, 12:55 pm

@Bangers - Be keeping the EIRP of that CB repeater at under the legislated 5w?

I've been meaning to build a battery powered full duplex repeater for ages, did you make your own duplexer?