What Is This And Can I Listen To It?

Status
Not open for further replies.

FighterPilot

Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2006
Messages
37
Location
Northern Ontario
After reading an article in the local paper about HAM radio, and how a group of enthusiasts are trying to revive it in the area. I came across the freqs they are apparently using.
http://ve3fyn.ca/aarc/
I entered them in my BC246T and not long after heard something on 144.39. However it was nothing I could understand and was rather Buzzes etc. Can anyone help me to possibly listen to this?

Thanks
Cal
 

Eznuff575

Member
Joined
May 28, 2006
Messages
152
Location
Akron, Ohio
I am a licensed HAM in Sarasota, Fl and I also hear this. I believe that it has to do with satellites. I don't think there anr any voice comms on this freq.


Doug
KI4RHU
Sarasota,Fl
 

n211cr

Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2004
Messages
189
Location
Owosso or East Lansing, Michigan
144.39 is a national frequency used for aprs, a data communication network most commonly used with gps to plot other amateurs and send messages, weather reports etc. You could listen to it but not without some proper equipment to decode it, or going the round about way and viewing everything as it makes its way onto the net.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Position_Reporting_System
 

mancow

Member
Database Admin
Joined
Feb 19, 2003
Messages
6,908
Location
N.E. Kansas
144.390 is a digirepeater frequency. It's AX25 packet protocol digital data. You can get things called TNCs to decode it. There are probably a few soundcard programs than can do it too.

Think of it as wireless email on ham radio.
 

FighterPilot

Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2006
Messages
37
Location
Northern Ontario
Thanks for the quick replies. I'm wondering if these HAM guys are even transmitting around here. What about the 147.120 thats listed on the site, is it another national freq used for something?

Thanks Again
Cal
 

jonny290

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2006
Messages
687
Location
Denver, CO
144.39 is the north american APRS frequency.

You can hook a cable up from your scanner's headphone jack to your sound card's LINE IN jack and use 'sound card packet' software to decode and play with this stuff.

Be forewarned, APRS is little more than an automated digital position reporting system, so if you're not interested in what comes down to "I'm over here" data, it will be boring.

HOWEVER, packet radio is awesome - for less than $5 I built a cable and have been talking to local hams via 2m packet lately, and am going to set up a full blown packet node this weekend.

google for 'sound card packet' and 'packet aprs' for more info.

147.120 looks to be a standard repeater, listen for conversations. Licensed hams can also use the Echolink node number (246697) to talk on this repeater from anywhere in the world via the Internet.
 

FighterPilot

Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2006
Messages
37
Location
Northern Ontario
Yeah the APRS doesn't really appeal to me. I was hoping to hear some HAM complain to the world about his problems :p I'm mainly into scanning aviation and the police. I'm considering getting into ACARS but it sounds like too much work :p

Thanks again everyone
Cal
 

kb2vxa

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Messages
6,100
Location
Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.
Hi FP and all,

If all you want to do is listen to some ham complain you're really barking up the wrong tree here! The guys on the repeater have better things to do so if you want to listen to regional chit chat and the occasional computer jockey using Echolink VoIP to get on the air without having his own radio listen to the 147.120 FM repeater.

Now how do you know APRS doesn't appeal to you until you find out what it is?

"You can hook a cable up from your scanner's headphone jack to your sound card's LINE IN jack and use 'sound card packet' software to decode and play with this stuff."

That is MOST incorrect, you can read the beacons but that's about it, for APRS operation you need APRS software just to monitor what's going on out there. It's a very popular mode, more popular than standard packet which should tell you there's much more than "I'm over here" which BTW he never mentioned is a location data map much like Map Quest with a lot more stars, some of them moving.

"HOWEVER, packet radio is awesome - for less than $5 I built a cable and have been talking to local hams via 2m packet lately, and am going to set up a full blown packet node this weekend."

Jonny, you're going to need a LOT more than some $5 cable to set up an operate a packet BBS/node, a LOT more. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts you want to be a land line lid with a useless packet to Internet gateway which BTW went out of style years ago because nobody uses them and they sat there taking up spectrum that could have been put to better use in a very crowded 2M band.

If you want to do it RIGHT check out the radio network, arrange radio links and forwarding partners, learn how to use Flex and FBB, and become a sysop supporting the mode that's dying in your neck of the woods due to Internet incursion. Now if you want to do us a REAL service set up an HF Pactor link to North America and the world. An HF/VHF/UHF node would put RADIO back in Amateur Radio, we're not too fond of Amateur Internet operators.

If anyone is interested I may be found at;
KB2VXA@NJ2AR.#CNJ.NJ.USA.NOAM
Just don't think that's some weird e-mail address, here in the Northeast Flex Net (NEBBS) we do it with radio.
 

w0fg

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2005
Messages
460
Location
Decorah, IA
If you want to learn more about APRS, I'd recommend the following sites:
http://www.aprs.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Position_Reporting_System
http://www.hulleng.karoo.net/g0vrm/
http://www.apritch.myby.co.uk/uiview.htm

With UI-View installed on your computer you can watch APRS activity throughout the world without even having a radio connected. All you need is internet access.

In most parts of the country, AX25 packet bulletin boards are nearly extinct, but packet activity in the form of APRS and DX-Clusters are alive and growing in popularity. Kenwood makes a superb radio the TM-D700A which has a built-in packet TNC and needs only the addition of a GPS to be APRS ready. It also makes a great mobile scanner, particularly for aircraft, as it has an excellent AM receiver section.
 

masssheltie

Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
2
FighterPilot said:
After reading an article in the local paper about HAM radio, and how a group of enthusiasts are trying to revive it in the area. I came across the freqs they are apparently using.
http://ve3fyn.ca/aarc/
I entered them in my BC246T and not long after heard something on 144.39. However it was nothing I could understand and was rather Buzzes etc. Can anyone help me to possibly listen to this?

Thanks
Cal


There are a bunch of VHF / VHF FM ham radio bands that will generate the kind of traffic in which you're interested.

The most popular VHF band (which will give you the best opportunity to hear conversations) is the 2 meter FM band (which spans from 144.0 to 148.0 mhz). Voice conversations are usually found between 145.0 and 145.5 and 146.6 and 147.5. The band plan is more complex than this, but this should at least get you started. 99.9% of the communications that you'll hear will be the outputs from repeaters, so reception should be pretty decent. You didn't give your location, so I can't recommend specific repeaters that you should program into your scanner.

The other bands include 10 m FM (29.5 - 29.7 mhz), the 6m FM band (50.0 - 54.0 mhz), 220 mhz (222.0 - 224.0 mhz) and the 440 band (440.0 - 449.9 mhz). Best time to listen is during commuting drive time (6 - 9 AM and 5 - 7 PM), when most hams are talking while driving to and from work.

If you're really interested in monitoring this band, go to www.arrl.org, and do some exploring there. Buy a copy of the ARRL repeater directory. This inexpensive book lists all of the repeaters in the US and Canada (and other places as well), as well as detailed band plan info on what kinds of stations can be heard on what frequencies.

**********************************************
The ARRL Repeater Directory (Pocket-Sized Edition)
-- 2006-2007 Edition
(Size 3.25 x 5.25 inches)

Choose this pocket-sized book, or the NEW Desktop Edition...or BOTH! Includes 20,389 listings for VHF/UHF repeaters across the US and Canada.

New Features!
# IRLP, WIRES-II, and Echolink (Internet linked) nodes
# Emergency Message Handling procedures
# Transceiver Memory Log

Includes:
# Repeater operating practices, repeater lingo and hints for newly licensed hams
# Frequency Coordinator contact information
# Using CTCSS tones and Digital Coded Squelch (DCS)
# VHF/UHF Band Plans and 2-meter channel-spacing map
# IRLP (Internet linked) nodes
# Tips for handling interference

Also Available:
The ARRL Repeater Directory (Desktop Edition)
TravelPlus for Repeaters

Pocket-sized book (3.25 x 5.25 inches). Thirty-fifth edition, © 2006, The American Radio Relay League, Inc.

(ISBN: 0-87259-958-2) #9582 -- $10.95

**************************************

If you're tuned in at the right time and place, you can even listen to the astronauts on the space shuttle talking on ham radio to other licensed operators. Better yet, why not look into getting licensed? Hams are a great bunch of people, and are usually welcoming of newcomers who have interest in the hobby.

Chris
 

kingpin

Trailer Park Supervisor
Joined
Mar 2, 2004
Messages
428
Location
Seattle, WA
FighterPilot said:
Yeah the APRS doesn't really appeal to me. I was hoping to hear some HAM complain to the world about his problems :p I'm mainly into scanning aviation and the police. I'm considering getting into ACARS but it sounds like too much work :p

Thanks again everyone
Cal

ACARS is easy. You just need a scanner, audio patch cable, and the decoding software is out there on the web. To get the BEST results, you will need to install a discriminator tap in your scanner (easy to do) but I've had it work ok without it.
 

ka3jjz

Wiki Admin Emeritus
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Messages
25,793
Location
Bowie, Md.
There's yet another urban myth - to decode ACARS, a discriminator tap is not the way to go. That's because it's not involved in AM mode reception. A good shielded connection to a speaker out, earphone or similar will do nicely. I've heard of people using a discrim tap, but I think you'd find that it's probably due to signal leakage, rather than the discriminator working in the AM mode. 73s Mike
 

jonny290

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2006
Messages
687
Location
Denver, CO
Jonny, you're going to need a LOT more than some $5 cable to set up an operate a packet BBS/node, a LOT more. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts you want to be a land line lid with a useless packet to Internet gateway which BTW went out of style years ago because nobody uses them and they sat there taking up spectrum that could have been put to better use in a very crowded 2M band.

I don't know if we've ever spoken, but you need to learn to watch your mouth a bit.


Read my posts. I've done nothing but offer up information, post documentation on my projects, and advise people on how to get involved for low monetary investment.

I don't want to hook amateur radio to the Internet, I want to keep them separate. THAT'S why I invested the money into a dedicated 2 meter radio and antenna outside my house, so I could get onto the airwaves digitally without using Echolink garbage. It all leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and I long for the old school packet network, instead of a pile of jerkoffs with TM700's playing ping-pong comprising "the network".

Also, regarding the 2m usage - we have two dead repeaters on our area and we don't even run our packet endpoints on 145.01. There is zero congestion in my area, population ~200k in a 30 mile radius.

I respect your experience but dislike your attitude, and find it unfortunate that you and I share an emissions mode.
 

grem467

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
884
Location
Houston, TX
kb2vxa said:
Hi FP and all,

If all you want to do is listen to some ham complain you're really barking up the wrong tree here! The guys on the repeater have better things to do so if you want to listen to regional chit chat and the occasional computer jockey using Echolink VoIP to get on the air without having his own radio listen to the 147.120 FM repeater.

Now how do you know APRS doesn't appeal to you until you find out what it is?

"You can hook a cable up from your scanner's headphone jack to your sound card's LINE IN jack and use 'sound card packet' software to decode and play with this stuff."

That is MOST incorrect, you can read the beacons but that's about it, for APRS operation you need APRS software just to monitor what's going on out there. It's a very popular mode, more popular than standard packet which should tell you there's much more than "I'm over here" which BTW he never mentioned is a location data map much like Map Quest with a lot more stars, some of them moving.

"HOWEVER, packet radio is awesome - for less than $5 I built a cable and have been talking to local hams via 2m packet lately, and am going to set up a full blown packet node this weekend."

Jonny, you're going to need a LOT more than some $5 cable to set up an operate a packet BBS/node, a LOT more. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts you want to be a land line lid with a useless packet to Internet gateway which BTW went out of style years ago because nobody uses them and they sat there taking up spectrum that could have been put to better use in a very crowded 2M band.

If you want to do it RIGHT check out the radio network, arrange radio links and forwarding partners, learn how to use Flex and FBB, and become a sysop supporting the mode that's dying in your neck of the woods due to Internet incursion. Now if you want to do us a REAL service set up an HF Pactor link to North America and the world. An HF/VHF/UHF node would put RADIO back in Amateur Radio, we're not too fond of Amateur Internet operators.

If anyone is interested I may be found at;
KB2VXA@NJ2AR.#CNJ.NJ.USA.NOAM
Just don't think that's some weird e-mail address, here in the Northeast Flex Net (NEBBS) we do it with radio.

why did you have to sound like a know it all dick? geez
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top