Just wanted to say hello and introduce myself

jslatten · May 12, 2016

Hi everyone,
My name is Justin and I'm from the San Diego area. I've had an interest in ham/amateur radio/satellites/etc. since I was a young child. A bit more grown up now and being in the computer field I actually worked for one of the leading Internet satellite companies, Hughes Net, for a period of time and got to play around (aka work. lol) with some 2 to 6+ meter Satellites, GPS, etc. Recently, I've had my interest rekindled one day reading about some hacks using some cheap RTL radio dongles to do all sorts of neat things. Since then I have acquired a few pieces of RF equipment:

1 NooElec RTL-SDR Nano 2+ Dongle
1 HackRF one
1 Baofeng UV-5R Transceiver Radio (136-174M, 400-520M)

Currently, I'm using a relatively cheap outdoor TV antenna along with some powered inline RF amplifiers for both my OTA TV and Radio setup. For computer software I run a Linux desktop loaded with the typical SDR apps like rtl-sdr, gqrx, dsd, gnuradio. Although I haven't dived too deep into gnuradio-companion yet to develop my own flows, but I'm starting to learn a bit and understand it better by the day.

I'm really interested in getting my amateur radio technician license to begin with and wanted to see if anyone has any suggestions or good advice. This site appears to have a ton of information and I'm going to enjoy reading, learning, and talking with many of you.

Justin
No call sign yet. lol.

N2AL · May 12, 2016

jslatten said:
Hi everyone,

My name is Justin and I'm from the San Diego area. I've had an interest in ham/amateur radio/satellites/etc. since I was a young child. A bit more grown up now and being in the computer field I actually worked for one of the leading Internet satellite companies, Hughes Net, for a period of time and got to play around (aka work. lol) with some 2 to 6+ meter Satellites, GPS, etc. Recently, I've had my interest rekindled one day reading about some hacks using some cheap RTL radio dongles to do all sorts of neat things. Since then I have acquired a few pieces of RF equipment:

1 NooElec RTL-SDR Nano 2+ Dongle

1 HackRF one

1 Baofeng UV-5R Transceiver Radio (136-174M, 400-520M)

Currently, I'm using a relatively cheap outdoor TV antenna along with some powered inline RF amplifiers for both my OTA TV and Radio setup. For computer software I run a Linux desktop loaded with the typical SDR apps like rtl-sdr, gqrx, dsd, gnuradio. Although I haven't dived too deep into gnuradio-companion yet to develop my own flows, but I'm starting to learn a bit and understand it better by the day.

I'm really interested in getting my amateur radio technician license to begin with and wanted to see if anyone has any suggestions or good advice. This site appears to have a ton of information and I'm going to enjoy reading, learning, and talking with many of you.

Justin

No call sign yet. lol.

Good evening Justin! I understand your interest in satellites, and a side note I am a Hughes Net subscriber... Not by choice though, but because it is the only ISP available. But let's not let that get us down ha ha.

I recommend The Ham Whisperer on YouTube. He goes over each test question bank for the Technician; General; and Amateur Extra class licenses. It's very great to follow along and I learned everything needed for the test in less than one week. You can find more information at www.n4awl.com/links where I have posted information for The Ham Whisperer.

I am more of an HF fan myself, but a few friends of mine have made contacts using satellites. That is something I need to do so I can grab some harder countries, such as India for example.

I know that you run Linux as you stated -I use Mac with Windows BootCamp and VMware. It works out great, it's the best of both worlds. Mac OS because it is so much more reliable, and Windows because a lot of software is not available for Mac.

Welcome to the hobby, Justin! I look forward to working you sometime. God bless you and 73.

Andrew | N4AWL
www.n4awl.com

jslatten · May 12, 2016

Thanks for the warm welcome. My other question is I have yet to find any good software for trunking systems on Linux. I've heard of Unitrunker for Windows and attempted to get it running in a VM with not very good results, but would prefer a Linux program if possible. Does anyone have any suggestions?

thinder · May 12, 2016

Welcome

Welcome to RR Justin!! Thank You for sending all that sunshine and warm weather up here to the pacific northwest....

Weaksignal · May 12, 2016

Welcome to the forum, Justin... Enjoy the hobby.

K4EET · May 13, 2016

Hello Justin and welcome to Radio Reference. You've come to the right place because somebody has an answer to any question imaginable. Just be patient. You might re-post your Linux question in a thread by itself because, I for one, scan the subjects instead of reading thousands of posts daily. Be specific in the subject and make sure it is posted in the appropriate forum.

BTW, double posting is NOT permitted but I'm sure the mods will let this slide since you are new. Keep the thread postings to the point so that the subject can be specific.

Other than that, sit back and enjoy. Great place around here and if you have any specific questions on getting your Tech ham license, be sure to post a specific subject matter and thread.

73, Dave K4EET

jslatten · May 13, 2016

K4EET said:
Hello Justin and welcome to Radio Reference. You've come to the right place because somebody has an answer to any question imaginable. Just be patient. You might re-post your Linux question in a thread by itself because, I for one, scan the subjects instead of reading thousands of posts daily. Be specific in the subject and make sure it is posted in the appropriate forum.

BTW, double posting is NOT permitted but I'm sure the mods will let this slide since you are new. Keep the thread postings to the point so that the subject can be specific.

Other than that, sit back and enjoy. Great place around here and if you have any specific questions on getting your Tech ham license, be sure to post a specific subject matter and thread.

73, Dave K4EET

Thanks K4EET....I'll be sure to start a new thread in the proper forum with my questions.

Justin

KA2ZEY · May 13, 2016

Hi Justin, welcome to the hobby. I've been a ham for 20 years (active and inactive). Because I've lived in apartments in big cities, I've always been a portable qrper either on balconies or parks nearby. Really fun when you start making contacts. I also have really got into SDR in the past 5 years and decided to take the Linux plunge and learn command line and starting to learn some Gnuradio Companion. Also a big scanner enthusiast and love listening to the action that is NYC. Have gotten into listening to and decoding more exotic things like ADS-B, AIS, GSM analysis, and would like to try some satellite stuff.

No HF ham rigs at the moment but have owned KX3, Ten Tec Jupiter, KX1, FT-817, K2, Alinco DX-70,
,
Icom IC-31a
BCD436XT
RTL-SDR.com R280T
AIRSPY R2
HACKRF
ADS-B FILTER
LNA4ALL AMP

SDR#
DSDPlus
PWD
VIRTUAL RADAR
SHIP PLOTTER
GQRX

etc, etc

Enjoy! BTW, if you do get your license, check out D-Star. You can talk to people all around the world using the network. Really fun.

K5MPH · May 13, 2016

Welcome to the Hobby Justin,you going to find a hole lot of info here and make a lot of friends along the way good luck.....

DickH · May 13, 2016

Hi Justin. Welcome to RR.
Here are some links to practice exams. I used them before getting my license in March (KI7CHF) and they were very helpful.
Re. your Baofeng UV-5, in addition to Ham freqs. you can use it to monitor non-trunked Public Safety systems in your area. If you use the CHIRP program, you can disable the transmitter for individual channels so you don't accidentally transmit on those freqs.
I have a Baofeng UV-82 and up here in the Portland area I can copy fire depts. 30 or so miles away.

Links to practice exams.eHam.net Ham Radio Practice Exams
AA9PW FCC Exam Practice » Technician
https://hamexam.org/

Link to the RR database. San Diego County, California (CA) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

K5MPH · May 14, 2016

DickH said:
Hi Justin. Welcome to RR.
Here are some links to practice exams. I used them before getting my license in March (KI7CHF) and they were very helpful.
Re. your Baofeng UV-5, in addition to Ham freqs. you can use it to monitor non-trunked Public Safety systems in your area. If you use the CHIRP program, you can disable the transmitter for individual channels so you don't accidentally transmit on those freqs.
I have a Baofeng UV-82 and up here in the Portland area I can copy fire depts. 30 or so miles away.

Links to practice exams.eHam.net Ham Radio Practice Exams
AA9PW FCC Exam Practice » Technician
https://hamexam.org/

Link to the RR database. San Diego County, California (CA) Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

Thanks DickH for those links i sent them to a friend of mine here local where i live he wants to study for his ham Lic,by the way great photos on your web site......

DickH · May 14, 2016

kb5zcs said:
Thanks DickH for those links i sent them to a friend of mine here local where i live he wants to study for his ham Lic,by the way great photos on your web site......

Thanks and good luck to your friend.

jslatten · May 15, 2016

KA2ZEY said:
Hi Justin, welcome to the hobby. I've been a ham for 20 years (active and inactive). Because I've lived in apartments in big cities, I've always been a portable qrper either on balconies or parks nearby. Really fun when you start making contacts. I also have really got into SDR in the past 5 years and decided to take the Linux plunge and learn command line and starting to learn some Gnuradio Companion. Also a big scanner enthusiast and love listening to the action that is NYC. Have gotten into listening to and decoding more exotic things like ADS-B, AIS, GSM analysis, and would like to try some satellite stuff.

No HF ham rigs at the moment but have owned KX3, Ten Tec Jupiter, KX1, FT-817, K2, Alinco DX-70,
,
Icom IC-31a
BCD436XT
RTL-SDR.com R280T
AIRSPY R2
HACKRF
ADS-B FILTER
LNA4ALL AMP

SDR#
DSDPlus
PWD
VIRTUAL RADAR
SHIP PLOTTER
GQRX

etc, etc

Enjoy! BTW, if you do get your license, check out D-Star. You can talk to people all around the world using the network. Really fun.

I actually already found one DSTAR frequency in my area so far. It was fun listening to the guys discuss proper DSTAR etiquette. lol. I'm going to start prepping for the exam. There seems to be a club in San Diego that does an entire prep class every Saturday and you take the test at the end of the day for no charge.

Just wanted to say hello and introduce myself

jslatten

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N2AL

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jslatten

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thinder

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Weaksignal

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K4EET

Chaplain

jslatten

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KA2ZEY

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K5MPH

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DickH

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K5MPH

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DickH

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jslatten

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