really more of a ham question but... question for the Quad 5 guys and ham operators.

[tomwaters]

ok if you know my screen name you know I'm trying to learn this hobby and it's been a lot of work so far getting everything set up. (your also probably sick of me) but I really genuinely appreciate the help.
my base antenna is up and working well... no long distant contacts yet... ....on side band I get 20 to 25 miles away and have talked to a few locals..
I had my cobra 148GTL sitting on my desk in every house I've lived in for 33 years waiting for a house / and time to put up my base antenna. I figured I work out in my heated garage/warehouse every day and if the CB sat on my work bench I could listen and use it there.
well, that darn thing has been there for 3 months and it's ALWAYS in the way!
I lay a lot of work on my 6 foot bench and losing 15 or 16 inches really seemed to hinder my work.... so I thought I could hang it from the rafters or do something to get it off the bench.... I saw a guy that put a computer monitor arm on the side of his desk and mounted his radio on it... it was truly BRILLIANT.... but if I did ...how would I keep my big dosy watt meter... I need my little 50/75 watt amp I like having a SWR meter on top of my radio to check it every day..... all this takes up ROOM!.... so a couple guys REALLY love those Quad 5's (Slow mover PRCGUY) the more I read their posts about them, they really talked me into it... if I sold the Cobra 148 and the Amp I could mount one above my work bench.. that would give me my four watts and I could turn it up to 20 or 30 ( all I need to talk around to the surrounding towns on AM).. it would have a built in SWR meter that is easy to see ( the 148 was hard for me to see)... it shows watts so I don't need a SWR meter or a watt meter or an Amp...... so I bought the Quad 5
and mounted it to the side of my bench today.... it's going to take a LOT to get used to.... if I sit down in front of a CB I can do anything I need to do.... not this thing! I have not done the 11 meter conversion yet and want to make sure it works first... so it took a little just to figure how to turn it on ha ha.... then the squelch???? I turned it all the way down to 1 and got no static? so I had to adjust the RF gain and then only got static from SQC 01 to SQC 10... I know my antenna is not configured for this... I put it on A band and put it on Scan.... let it go for a few minutes and never heard a sole??? so I tried band B and then C... I never heard anyone then saw I was on FM!!!! DOG GONE IT! ...so I put it on AM and did the same thing..... from 9PM to 9:30PM I never heard a sole....
so is there a station that I can turn it onto that I have a good chance of hearing to see if it works???? I hate to void the warranty /return option until I know it's working... but right now it's not picking up anything.... my GTL on the same Antron 99 was unbelievable today!!!!! people from all across the country walking all over each other and they sounded like they were in the same room as me!!!! but these ham bands????? nothing????? also I get so little squelch I do wonder if it's working???? I read all the reviews on the Quad 5 and 90% are fantastic... but their are many that can't seem to get it to receive???
any help would be greatly appreciated.
my President Grant Export I always turn on 27.415 or 27.425 and always hear people.... 27.555 was always good too and then they go off to their own channel.... this thing goes from 28.000 to 29.000 but NO ONE IS ON IT????...
HELP

Hey there. I skimmed most all or this thread and noted good stuff and how good spirited everyone is towards one another.
10m is a Daytimw band. And unlike 11m, don’t set your squelch / RF gain as you normally would. Open it all the way and learn to work with the static. I’m not familiar with your rig but if you have NB, It’s not that effective usually. Or DNR. Or AGC. Leave everything wide open and off until you tune your ear to the 10m band.If the voice is robotic and high pitched, tune up to the next .000 and if it’s deep base-like, tune down. Most guys will operate on a .000 or a .500 freq. I am on the other side of the country from you. SW FLA 10m wakes up and becomes usable around 8-10am here in Florida. 28.300-28.500 USB is the Technician License portion of the band and where you will hear the most traffic. I use 10m right now and try to get a few contacts before I go to work. I can get a Switzerland, a S. Africa, Czech Republic region, Canada is easy. I hear and occasionally talk with France or Germany. The Caribbean is easy as well. My longest contact to date was 8,100 miles to New Zealand. (Atypical) 10m operators seeking certain DX follow the “Gray Line” so Europe is going to bed as we are waking up. Conditions are peaking at both ends. CA and FL sharw a Gray Line effect; guys on your end get up early to hit this direction as we are getting up. Some days I get CA all day long. Set your RF all the way open. Scan the range I have you. The full range of voice mode is larger, I can operate up to 29.7 Tune into 10m FM 29mhz and up you will hear repeaters. Download “Repearerbook” if you haven’t already and search for them. You will be shocked at which ones you might hear.

Of course the US is all over the place. Some days I have certain mid-west states for a week. I always have the Eastern seaboard and New England.

At night and/or with a specific antenna we do Ground Wave propagation which is very close contacts. 11n actually behaves very different than 10 does and in a way that it’s more consistent 24hrs a day.
I am NOT running a crazy station. I do have the rig ranked #3 on the Sherwood report of the best rigs you can get right now (Yaesu FTdx10) But all of that is subjective. I run 100w and occasionally, will make a great contact with only 5 watts! I have to re-tune the antenna frequently and when I go into tuning mode on the radio I drop to 5 watts. Then I’ll forget to go back up to 100w. Oops. And my antenna is a home brew ground vertical that is essentially a closet-rod (two piece extendable) and some wire. And I work the world. I’m am not a pro.

All hams will tell you 2 things, the ANTENNA is the most important piece of your equipment. And ALL antennas are Compromised Antennas.
I have a great radio, a crap antenna, and a lot of fun disproving it all.

I hope this has been helpful. KE4RXM Ham WROY767. GMRS. I don’t have an 11m setup right now. Manu of my GMRS friends run 1 all the time. I have a ton of radios people keep giving me but havent gone through them all to see what works. And I too had the Radio Shack 216 handheld CB and mic!

 

[paulears]

Why not buy a cheap Chinese signal generator? It would make a good piece of test gear so you could compare your different radios. It will give you a baseline.

the thing with the hams of course is that they pick bands to use that are open. I doubt anyone would choose 10m at certain times because it’s just groundwave, so the CB folk with dedicated antennas do better than a multi band antenna that is often a bit rubbish on 10m. I left my analyser with a freeze trace mode looking at both CB and 10m yesterday for 20 hours, connected to a multi and antenna on the office. Nothing. Not a signal on either band. If it was a radio, I’d think it faulty!

 

[niceguy71]

Hey there. I skimmed most all or this thread and noted good stuff and how good spirited everyone is towards one another.
10m is a Daytimw band. And unlike 11m, don’t set your squelch / RF gain as you normally would. Open it all the way and learn to work with the static. I’m not familiar with your rig but if you have NB, It’s not that effective usually. Or DNR. Or AGC. Leave everything wide open and off until you tune your ear to the 10m band.If the voice is robotic and high pitched, tune up to the next .000 and if it’s deep base-like, tune down. Most guys will operate on a .000 or a .500 freq. I am on the other side of the country from you. SW FLA 10m wakes up and becomes usable around 8-10am here in Florida. 28.300-28.500 USB is the Technician License portion of the band and where you will hear the most traffic. I use 10m right now and try to get a few contacts before I go to work. I can get a Switzerland, a S. Africa, Czech Republic region, Canada is easy. I hear and occasionally talk with France or Germany. The Caribbean is easy as well. My longest contact to date was 8,100 miles to New Zealand. (Atypical) 10m operators seeking certain DX follow the “Gray Line” so Europe is going to bed as we are waking up. Conditions are peaking at both ends. CA and FL sharw a Gray Line effect; guys on your end get up early to hit this direction as we are getting up. Some days I get CA all day long. Set your RF all the way open. Scan the range I have you. The full range of voice mode is larger, I can operate up to 29.7 Tune into 10m FM 29mhz and up you will hear repeaters. Download “Repearerbook” if you haven’t already and search for them. You will be shocked at which ones you might hear.

Of course the US is all over the place. Some days I have certain mid-west states for a week. I always have the Eastern seaboard and New England.

At night and/or with a specific antenna we do Ground Wave propagation which is very close contacts. 11n actually behaves very different than 10 does and in a way that it’s more consistent 24hrs a day.
I am NOT running a crazy station. I do have the rig ranked #3 on the Sherwood report of the best rigs you can get right now (Yaesu FTdx10) But all of that is subjective. I run 100w and occasionally, will make a great contact with only 5 watts! I have to re-tune the antenna frequently and when I go into tuning mode on the radio I drop to 5 watts. Then I’ll forget to go back up to 100w. Oops. And my antenna is a home brew ground vertical that is essentially a closet-rod (two piece extendable) and some wire. And I work the world. I’m am not a pro.

All hams will tell you 2 things, the ANTENNA is the most important piece of your equipment. And ALL antennas are Compromised Antennas.
I have a great radio, a crap antenna, and a lot of fun disproving it all.

I hope this has been helpful. KE4RXM Ham WROY767. GMRS. I don’t have an 11m setup right now. Manu of my GMRS friends run 1 all the time. I have a ton of radios people keep giving me but havent gone through them all to see what works. And I too had the Radio Shack 216 handheld CB and mic!

Great info. I believe you were right about the other half of the world sleeping when I was trying to find someone on 10 M ... I tried it the next morning and heard a few people. Once I knew the radio worked I did the 11 M conv. And wow people on every channel!!!! The radio is fantastic I have talked all over with it and the new noise reduction is why it was so quiet. Very little to no static even turning the squelch down.
I'll put your great info to good use Tom thank you

 

[niceguy71]

Why not buy a cheap Chinese signal generator? It would make a good piece of test gear so you could compare your different radios. It will give you a baseline.

the thing with the hams of course is that they pick bands to use that are open. I doubt anyone would choose 10m at certain times because it’s just groundwave, so the CB folk with dedicated antennas do better than a multi band antenna that is often a bit rubbish on 10m. I left my analyser with a freeze trace mode looking at both CB and 10m yesterday for 20 hours, connected to a multi and antenna on the office. Nothing. Not a signal on either band. If it was a radio, I’d think it faulty!

I saw a signal generator in a you tube video . It just made a steady tone so ( maybe it was a tone generator) but I thought it was a great piece of test equipment. . But I have yet to find one for sale???? Not sure what to call it.... But it is on my wish list

 

[paulears]

Have a look at this kind of thing??
0.5MHz-470MHz RF Signal Generator High Accuracy Tester Analog Digital CTCSS Function For FM Radio Walkie-talkie Debugging Tools 68 sold￡52.74￡105.47￡3 off every ￡15-50%Free shipping over ￡8 · 7-day deliveryShop1102978158 StoreSee preview

 

[K5MPH]

28.400 ssb is the 10 meter calling Freq.........

 

[krokus]

@niceguy71 Any updates?

 

[niceguy71]

@niceguy71 Any updates?

no real updates ... the Anytone 5555N II is working fantastic!! I just bought another one to replace the CB in my pick-up truck.

 

[slowmover]

no real updates ... the Anytone 5555N II is working fantastic!! I just bought another one to replace the CB in my pick-up truck.

Am parked rural for the night on the Great Plains.

SQ to wide-open, and RF Gain to max. I know I’ll hear some others during awake moments till dawn . . far FAR away on the major U.S. Highway I’m parked beside.

Listening to a couple guys talk 20-30/miles as they approach then recede is common.

Past dawn I’ll have to increase SQ to (8) or greater, and dial back RFG about a quarter-turn to alleviate if heavy Skip intrudes (those days it’s worst during the last couple hours of daylight).

Anytone AT5555-N2 is high performance.
(RadioOddity QT60).


.

 

[mm]

ok if you know my screen name you know I'm trying to learn this hobby and it's been a lot of work so far getting everything set up. (your also probably sick of me) but I really genuinely appreciate the help.
my base antenna is up and working well... no long distant contacts yet... ....on side band I get 20 to 25 miles away and have talked to a few locals..
I had my cobra 148GTL sitting on my desk in every house I've lived in for 33 years waiting for a house / and time to put up my base antenna. I figured I work out in my heated garage/warehouse every day and if the CB sat on my work bench I could listen and use it there.
well, that darn thing has been there for 3 months and it's ALWAYS in the way!
I lay a lot of work on my 6 foot bench and losing 15 or 16 inches really seemed to hinder my work.... so I thought I could hang it from the rafters or do something to get it off the bench.... I saw a guy that put a computer monitor arm on the side of his desk and mounted his radio on it... it was truly BRILLIANT.... but if I did ...how would I keep my big dosy watt meter... I need my little 50/75 watt amp I like having a SWR meter on top of my radio to check it every day..... all this takes up ROOM!.... so a couple guys REALLY love those Quad 5's (Slow mover PRCGUY) the more I read their posts about them, they really talked me into it... if I sold the Cobra 148 and the Amp I could mount one above my work bench.. that would give me my four watts and I could turn it up to 20 or 30 ( all I need to talk around to the surrounding towns on AM).. it would have a built in SWR meter that is easy to see ( the 148 was hard for me to see)... it shows watts so I don't need a SWR meter or a watt meter or an Amp...... so I bought the Quad 5
and mounted it to the side of my bench today.... it's going to take a LOT to get used to.... if I sit down in front of a CB I can do anything I need to do.... not this thing! I have not done the 11 meter conversion yet and want to make sure it works first... so it took a little just to figure how to turn it on ha ha.... then the squelch???? I turned it all the way down to 1 and got no static? so I had to adjust the RF gain and then only got static from SQC 01 to SQC 10... I know my antenna is not configured for this... I put it on A band and put it on Scan.... let it go for a few minutes and never heard a sole??? so I tried band B and then C... I never heard anyone then saw I was on FM!!!! DOG GONE IT! ...so I put it on AM and did the same thing..... from 9PM to 9:30PM I never heard a sole....
so is there a station that I can turn it onto that I have a good chance of hearing to see if it works???? I hate to void the warranty /return option until I know it's working... but right now it's not picking up anything.... my GTL on the same Antron 99 was unbelievable today!!!!! people from all across the country walking all over each other and they sounded like they were in the same room as me!!!! but these ham bands????? nothing????? also I get so little squelch I do wonder if it's working???? I read all the reviews on the Quad 5 and 90% are fantastic... but their are many that can't seem to get it to receive???
any help would be greatly appreciated.
my President Grant Export I always turn on 27.415 or 27.425 and always hear people.... 27.555 was always good too and then they go off to their own channel.... this thing goes from 28.000 to 29.000 but NO ONE IS ON IT????...
HELP

Yes depending on where you are, you can go to the ham band that covers 28.425 MHz in USB mode and set the Quad 5's receiver gain to maximum, no adjustable attenuation on and listen for KC4TVZ, Ie >>>kilo charlie Four tango Victor zulu, This ham is like a voice beacon and during daylight hours he is on calling CQ CQ until you will want to stick a pair of knitting needles in your ears.

On the FM portion of 10 meters set your radio to FM mode with max gain also (no receiver attenuation on) and tune to 29.640 MHz and open set the squelch right at the threshold where it just closes and listen for the VE3MMX repeater in Ontario, this repeater is on daily.

 

[niceguy71]

Yes depending on where you are, you can go to the ham band that covers 28.425 MHz in USB mode and set the Quad 5's receiver gain to maximum, no adjustable attenuation on and listen for KC4TVZ, Ie >>>kilo charlie Four tango Victor zulu, This ham is like a voice beacon and during daylight hours he is on calling CQ CQ until you will want to stick a pair of knitting needles in your ears.

On the FM portion of 10 meters set your radio to FM mode with max gain also (no receiver attenuation on) and tune to 29.640 MHz and open set the squelch right at the threshold where it just closes and listen for the VE3MMX repeater in Ontario, this repeater is on daily.

thanks MM
once I knew the radio was working, I did the 11 meter conv. and that's all I ever turn on now.... it's funny the night I hooked it up I tried every 10 meter channel I could, to see if the radio was receiving... I got nothing for a half hour.... now that I have the cb band I always hear someone!

 

[DeeEx]

thanks MM
once I knew the radio was working, I did the 11 meter conv. and that's all I ever turn on now.... it's funny the night I hooked it up I tried every 10 meter channel I could, to see if the radio was receiving... I got nothing for a half hour.... now that I have the cb band I always hear someone!

…or leave it on 27.025 during daylight hours, shouldn’t take long to hear something!