Need a little help with what meters generally are used & analog/DMR/P25/Dstar/GMRS etc.

[Cannonball305]

FYI- I have poked around this site and others and have had a few nice folks on this forum help a lot, but I'm still a little lost.

Quickly- I'm an old CB'er from late 70's, 80's and 90's and after blowing the dust off them realized that my old clan of local 11 meters are gone as is most general users. I do hear some big boys on Ch 6 and Ch 38 skipping, but that's kind of it. I'm looking to maybe expand but the more i learn, the more confused I'm getting.

What I'm looking for to help make decisions is what are all the various meters are used for?

Where would i find general chatting ( rag chewing ) the most? ie... where is everyone and what are they using the meters for?

1. what is 2M, 70cm, 10 M , 11M, 20 M, 6 M and on and on used for?????

2.. If i were interested in_______ then what meter and type of radio would i purchasing?

DX'ing
Emergency Operations ( RACES, CERT, ARES, SKYWARN etc. )
Meeting new local talk groups ( kinds like 11 meter CB chat ) . where are the watering holes?
Meeting long distance chats, beyond quick DXing exchange.
Where do you listen to the space station and/or astronomy radio

3. In addition, my other confusion is once i decide what i like to do, can someone explain where does DMR, P25,Dstar,YSF, GMRS and general meters 'all in one radio' like Yaesu 991A takes me? ie hw many different radio's and how many different antenna are we talking about?

I ask all this b/c i ran out and bought a Stryker 955 thinking that was all that HAM offered only to realize the ocean of option there. I enjoy the radio, but agin, other than skipping day with quick "waves" from far away I'm not seeing much. PS- i haven't put up the10 meter antenna yet, but have borrowed a buddy dual band radio 2M / 70 cm and just started listening. getting th eright antenna/s for all fo the above is really ... really difficult.

PS- there doesn't seem to be the store or fellow that could come over and set me up (for payment of course).

Thanks to all for any help.

 

[eaf1956]

You do realize that operation aka Transmitting on anything other than 11 meters requires a license. AS there are different classes of said licenses that would determine which Bands you are allowed to transmit on.

 

[KD9KSO]

20 meters has a lot of domestic and foreign DX voice. CW too. 40 meters is slightly more local but has it's share of DX as well.

You can buy EFLW and dipole antennas that cover multiple bands with the correct balun or unun. Many times, but not always an antenna tuner will be required for TX. It is not as critical for RX.

Your first step is to start studying for your Technician license to get you on the air.

 

[SA4MDN]

Think this guy needs to do a bit of reading up on amature radio and all that goes with it, when i first saw the title i thought he was asking about the meters in the radio and that made me think, what, might even be a wind-up, if not get yourself some books on amature radio,

 

[KD9KSO]

That would be my advice as well.

 

[Cannonball305]

You do realize that operation aka Transmitting on anything other than 11 meters requires a license. AS there are different classes of said licenses that would determine which Bands you are allowed to transmit on.

Yes. At this point i'm just listening on borrowed radio. Thanks for the advice though.

 

[AK9R]

Amateur radio frequency "bands" are often referred to by the wavelength of the frequency in meters. Wavelength of a radio wave in meters (m) is 300 divided by the frequency in megahertz (MHz). There may be some round-off involved, but this formula will get you in the ballpark.

2m band = 144 to 146 MHz
10m band = 28 to 29.7 MHz
40m band = 7 to 7.3 MHz

You can download a graphical representation of the amateur radio bands here: https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Regulatory/Band Chart/Band Chart 8_5 X 11 Color.pdf

 

[AB4BF]

FYI- I have poked around this site and others and have had a few nice folks on this forum help a lot, but I'm still a little lost.

Quickly- I'm an old CB'er from late 70's, 80's and 90's and after blowing the dust off them realized that my old clan of local 11 meters are gone as is most general users. I do hear some big boys on Ch 6 and Ch 38 skipping, but that's kind of it. I'm looking to maybe expand but the more i learn, the more confused I'm getting.

What I'm looking for to help make decisions is what are all the various meters are used for?

Where would i find general chatting ( rag chewing ) the most? ie... where is everyone and what are they using the meters for?

1. what is 2M, 70cm, 10 M , 11M, 20 M, 6 M and on and on used for?????

2.. If i were interested in_______ then what meter and type of radio would i purchasing?

DX'ing
Emergency Operations ( RACES, CERT, ARES, SKYWARN etc. )
Meeting new local talk groups ( kinds like 11 meter CB chat ) . where are the watering holes?
Meeting long distance chats, beyond quick DXing exchange.
Where do you listen to the space station and/or astronomy radio

3. In addition, my other confusion is once i decide what i like to do, can someone explain where does DMR, P25,Dstar,YSF, GMRS and general meters 'all in one radio' like Yaesu 991A takes me? ie hw many different radio's and how many different antenna are we talking about?

I ask all this b/c i ran out and bought a Stryker 955 thinking that was all that HAM offered only to realize the ocean of option there. I enjoy the radio, but agin, other than skipping day with quick "waves" from far away I'm not seeing much. PS- i haven't put up the10 meter antenna yet, but have borrowed a buddy dual band radio 2M / 70 cm and just started listening. getting th eright antenna/s for all fo the above is really ... really difficult.

PS- there doesn't seem to be the store or fellow that could come over and set me up (for payment of course).

Thanks to all for any help.

When I started, I got "Ham Radio for Dummies" by Ward Silver. This is the latest edition on Amazon.

Amazon.com

The earlier editions helped me immensely! 73, Good Luck and most of all - Have Fun!

 

[k6cpo]

When I started, I got "Ham Radio for Dummies" by Ward Silver. This is the latest edition on Amazon.

Amazon.com

The earlier editions helped me immensely! 73, Good Luck and most of all - Have Fun!

Yes! This is also how I started out. I heartily recommend it for the ham radio beginner.

 

[Cannonball305]

When I started, I got "Ham Radio for Dummies" by Ward Silver. This is the latest edition on Amazon.

Amazon.com

The earlier editions helped me immensely! 73, Good Luck and most of all - Have Fun!

Thanks for the tip. I just downloaded the book.

 

[KC5AKB]

Looks like you’re off to a good start. Some very knowledgeable folks on here. Lots of great info and advice in the old posts.
Welcome to the fun.

 

[W4AXW]

www.arrl.org/band-plan

Shows what modes and what portions of the different bands are used for.

7 3

 

[nokones]

What? I never heard of a meter measuring whats but I have heard of meters measuring RF watts. Some of them are in-line RF Watt Meters with slugs (elements) like the Bird 43 for an example and some without slugs like the Telewave 4310 for another example. Then there are the cheap Chinese junk meters which you should avoid if all possible if you want some accuracy longer than after a couple uses that are sold by a non-radio electronics supplier and commerce reseller.

 

[KD7RJC]

I guess to throw-in my own $0.02...

The FCC defines particular types of "radio services". GMRS, FRS, CB, MURS, Marine, Aviation, Amateur (ham) are among the various services. Each service has various rules written governing its use and the sorts of equipment permitted.

Amateur Radio Service ('ham radio') is the least-restricted of the services, but in exchange requires passing tests to get an initial license, and to upgrade to increased privileges. But in exchange we are allowed to experiment, including using equipment bearing no type-certification of any sort so long as it is used to transmit on the frequencies that are defined in the service.

If you get licensed you'll start out as a Technician. This grants you privileges in the amateur bands (frequency groups) that are most generally good for local to regional communication, plus one band and a tiny slice of another band that are good for longer distance.

Other services like GMRS don't require tests, but still require obtaining licenses.

If you follow the letter of the rules, radios are only type-accepted for particular services. A GMRS radio is for GMRS and no non-GMRS radios are supposed to operate on GMRS frequencies. Same goes for CB, MURS, aviation, marine, etc. Some who are licensed on several services might choose to operate their radios on other services anyway. They technically aren't supposed to do that.

It is legal to modify any radio to operate on the amateur bands, provided that you're licensed for ham radio. If this is done then the radio isn't supposed to be used on the original service it was type-accepted for anymore. Again, some will do this and still use it for its original purpose anyway even if they're not supposed to.

A repeater is a radio that receives on one frequency and turns around and transmits what it is receiving on another frequency. These are popular where they can be set up high in the air like on mountains or buildings, because then low powered radios can communicate through the repeater to other operators that they wouldn't be able to reach directly ("on simplex").

I'm a Technician, lowest class of amateur license. I mostly operate on local repeaters, predominately in the 70cm band, frequencies around 440MHz. This is the most popular band where I live. The other popular band for Technicians is 2m, or around 146MHz. There are some repeaters here too.

Repeaters may be used to rag-chew with other hams, or for more organized discussions called "nets" where a 'control operator' will act as a moderator to the discussion. These are often topical, with specific subject matter focus, and sometimes the whole repeater may be focused on that subject.


there's a WHOLE LOT more, it would be hard to be sufficiently thorough in a single post.

 

[10-43]

Trying to explain Amateur Radio takes a lot of time. There is quite a bit to it. Probably way more than you can imagine. A lot of experimentation in amateur radio over the past 100 + years has lead to much of radio technology over the years, besides it being a hobby.

Below may be a good start. Notice the FAQs at the bottom of this web page.

What is Ham Radio

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the national association for amateur radio, connecting hams around the U.S. with news, information and resources.

www.arrl.org

Ham Radio History

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the national association for amateur radio, connecting hams around the U.S. with news, information and resources.

www.arrl.org

 

[ArloG]

I'm really surprised nobody has mentioned websdr. It gives you a chance to scan the various amateur bands using other's radios.
Coming from years of being a cb-er (not me). Or as my buddy says, Cuh-Buh. If you tune into a nightly network you'll firstly find everyone is mature and fairly well behaved. No chirps, echoes. over modulated garbage the truck stop sells to make you the big man on 11 meters. Or 27 MHz,
Yeah. Explaining amateur radio is difficult. You earn different privileges. Nothing is given to you. There are rules to follow. Not so many that the fun is taken away. They actually make it more fun and interesting. And you probably never hear anyone chomping on gizzards, spittin' in a mic. headed across I-10. Search for and try websdr and scan the bands. Google amateur bands and tune into them. LSB, below 14 MHz. USB, above. Unless it's utility or military broadcasts.