New to radio/forum

[Mazda256]

Hello all, new to radio, just beginning. Always liked tinkering with radios and figured be fun to learn and do.
In the beginning stages of learning the material for the license test, and bought a handheld triband radio from a Amazon. A mirkit/baofeng unit. (Also have a triband antenna and usb cable incoming. As for the radio yes it’s a baofeng, but figured I’d rather learn the basics, and fiddle with a $30 cheapie at first before migrating up to say a Icom or Yaesu. So $30 bucks if I Bork something not as much of a loss. Currently don’t have any plans to go beyond handheld, nor set up a elaborate base station with a antenna array. I do intend to eventually get all 3 licenses however. Soooo most likely will be spending some time poking around the forums and rooting out info to prepare for the exams and such. Tinker with stations and frequencies to listen in, sometimes it’s fun to just scan and listen to what’s out there. So yeah another case of me just diving headfirst into something 😅
I do have a immediate question until my tri band antenna arrives. The baofeng came with two antennas, with different noted frequency ranges on them. Is there damage risk if day I float to a frequency outside of said installed antenna’s range? Or is it just signal would go wonky?

 

[mmckenna]

I do have a immediate question until my tri band antenna arrives. The baofeng came with two antennas, with different noted frequency ranges on them. Is there damage risk if day I float to a frequency outside of said installed antenna’s range? Or is it just signal would go wonky?

Since you won't be transmitting until you get your license, there's no damage that will happen from just receiving.

When you do get your amateur radio license, you'll want to use the correct antenna that covers the bands you plan on using.

 

[Rt169Radio]

Welcome to the Ham Radio hobby and the Radio Reference forums.

 

[Mazda256]

One thing I’ve discovered that is true, baofeng’s manuals leave much to be desired. Thing looks like it has tons of ability tho.

 

[mmckenna]

One thing I’ve discovered that is true, baofeng’s manuals leave much to be desired. Thing looks like it has tons of ability tho.

They do, however keep in mind that they are not legal to use on many of the radio services. People often ignore that because they do not understand the reasons behind the FCC rules/type certification process. And the Chinese don't really give a flip what sort of issues they cause in the USA.

 

[Mazda256]

They do, however keep in mind that they are not legal to use on many of the radio services. People often ignore that because they do not understand the reasons behind the FCC rules/type certification process. And the Chinese don't really give a flip what sort of issues they cause in the USA.

Well right now just listening. Listening to police/fire/ems dispatch. Through scan found a ham channel that had some activity.
Then there’s this frequency spectrum. From 472.36-472.60 there’s this weird noise on it, strong signal, but to me sounds like an engine, like an underwater engine running. Constant and perfectly clear. Some frequencies in that range are a little sharper pitch, but strangest sound I’ve ever heard on a radio.
Other activities involve my lurking on CB channels on my handheld cb. Some freaky things on some of those channels around here. So much fun hahahahaha oh one thing I wish the baofeng did have was a squeltch dial like the cb, vs the 0-9 step type.

 

[mmckenna]

Then there’s this frequency spectrum. From 472.36-472.60 there’s this weird noise on it, strong signal, but to me sounds like an engine, like an underwater engine running. Constant and perfectly clear. Some frequencies in that range are a little sharper pitch, but strangest sound I’ve ever heard on a radio.

That would be a digital trunked system control channel if it is continuous. Your radio will not decode digital nor will it work with trunked system.

Other activities involve my lurking on CB channels on my handheld cb. Some freaky things on some of those channels around here. So much fun hahahahaha oh one thing I wish the baofeng did have was a squeltch dial like the cb, vs the 0-9 step type.

Yeah, CB often is a weird sorta place.

The Baofeng is modeled after a commercial radio, and commercial radios usually use coded squelch systems, so adjustment of the squelch is not necessary.

When you get your ham license, get one of the decent ham radios, and they'll have that.

 

[nd5y]

From 472.36-472.60 there’s this weird noise on it, strong signal, but to me sounds like an engine, like an underwater engine running. Constant and perfectly clear. Some frequencies in that range are a little sharper pitch, but strangest sound I’ve ever heard on a radio.

472 MHz is the low end of the UHF TV band in most places.
Unless you are located in one of the metro areas listed here then there won't be any trunked systems in that range. If the noise covers a whole range of frequencies (472.36-472.60) then it's not a trunking control channel.

 

[ladn]

Through scan found a ham channel that had some activity.

Welcome to RR and ham radio!
You might want to look at Repeater Book (repeaterbook.com) along with the resources here on RadioReference to locate more (potentially) active ham frequencies for your area.

If there's a ham radio club close to you, consider checking them out online or attending a meeting. You should also check out Dave Casler's, KE0OG, YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@davecasler). Dave has a series of Technician class training videos along with a diverse selection of other videos on ham radio related subjects.

 

[mmckenna]

472 MHz is the low end of the UHF TV band in most places.
Unless you are located in one of the metro areas listed here then there won't be any trunked systems in that range. If the noise covers a whole range of frequencies (472.36-472.60) then it's not a trunking control channel.

That's a good point, didn't consider that. I live in an area where we are on the fringes between an old Channel 14 TV station and some T-Band users.

 

[Mazda256]

More I play around with the mk3x the more I like it. Turned the voice prompt off, just a bit too much. Got the abbree triband antenna, thing weighs more than the radio, glad I didn’t get the 42 inch. Might look at the extended battery, not only for more runtime(which so far I havnt needed to charge it after the initial. So props to that) but also counter weight the antenna lol. Plus provide a larger grip. A nicer, better radio (looking at a couple Yaesu, icom, and a kenwood.) will come after I’m licensed. So far just for listening and learning the cheapo baofeng works perfectly because it isn’t junk but also not a bank buster, if it goes belly up in a year, or two not a big deal. It’s too bad can’t find a handheld that does all the bands, aviation, cb, ham, low frequency up to ultra. But I guess that wouldn’t work well in a handheld.
Looking through the material radio is def more complex than I realized.

 

[k7ng]

Hi Mazda256, I hope you'll have a long and exciting ham radio hobby.

Even though the cheap Chinese radios (hereafter called CCRs) hear stuff, they aren't the greatest as scanners. You'll want to figure out how NOT to receive things that are not interesting or are annoying. Depending on where you are (and I mean, not just what city/state you're in, but your actual location) a lot of high level signals can cause all kinds of garbage to be received that isn't really there, and the CCR's are generally worse in that regard. You'll eventually learn why this crud appears, but for now let's just accept it as a possibility.

You've probably learned what kinds of radio services inhabit what frequency bands by now, and if you haven't, the RadioReference database is good to orient you as to what you might hear in your area. Program specific frequencies into your radio rather than search at random, if you haven't done that already.

There are radios that will receive 'everything', but the more frequency coverage you want, the more it costs. There is remarkable technology available for very little price (called SDR) but you might want someone locally to walk you into and through that and other radio technology. Mental overload can happen!

Back to the ham radio aspect of your OP, you can investigate the radio clubs in your area via the arrl.org website, and likely find a lot of help getting yourself oriented in ham radio and probably most other aspects of the radio hobby as well. Diving in all by yourself, and trying to make sense of ALL the stuff could be an exercise in frustration. Anyone can learn the hobby if they want to, but it's still best to have help here and there.

I taught my son Ham Radio, and all he knew about to begin with, was motorcycles and girls. Well, motorcycles. He's clever enough to know how little he really knows about women, though he does have a strong interest in them.

Good luck & stop by often.