Friday, December 2, 2011
Everything happens at once
OK, none of these things are vitally important in the scheme of things, but yesterday, three Amateur Radio events occurred that I will note here. First, the FCC posted my General license. Second, I received my Amateur Extra manual in the mail (OK, FedEX... give me a break!). Third, I attended the Cary ARC Holiday dinner. Oh yeah... Fourth, I got one of the door prizes at the dinner... a $25 gift certificate from the ARRL store. Admittedly, there were 6 prizes and only 17 people to divide them among, so the odds were pretty decent. Would have been nice to get the $50 gift certificate, but the club picked up the dinner tab, so what do I have to complain about?
Monday, November 21, 2011
Finally Got The HT Programmed
After MUCH fiddling around, I finally figured out how to reliably program my HT. Evidently, I had correctly installed the drivers, and just needed to use the correct software the correct way. The correct software is of course KG-UV Commander, which is what everyone has told me all along. The correct way is to launch the program, plug the patch cord into the PC, plug the other end into the radio, turn the radio on, and then perform a sync (download seems to work best, and is safest). Then, I make any changes to the frequency list, and finally upload the result. Worked several times running... and didn't work if I did it it some other order. Fine now, with 53 VHF and UHF channels programmed by name. Of course, with that many, I'll need to print out a list of what's what beyond the 3-5 that I will commonly use.
At the JARSfest
This is just one quick shot at the JARSfest, to give you a taste of what was going on. This room represents about 75% of the inside vendors. Outside, there were probably 100 guys selling equipment off of their tailgates. You can barely see it unless you blow the picture up, but the club I will probably be affiliating myself with, Cary Amateur Radio Club, has a table visible at the far left corner... You can see the yellow Cary ARC banner above the table.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
JARSfest
This morning, I drove down to Benson, NC to attend JARSfest 2011. Lots of junk^h^h^h^hstuff offered along with a few jems... not that I was in any position to buy anything. I brought along $40 to spend. I used $14 to take the General test... (yes, I passed), and $3 to buy a little connector to allow me to attach my HT to the magnetic antenna for the truck. Plenty left for coffee and breakfast, but not so much for radio equipment. I did see a few rigs for decent prices ($300 & $450), and maybe in the spring I'll be able to afford one.
I also spoke with a couple of guys who knew something about my model of radio. I had one offer to help program it, but with some clues from what these guys said, I was able to puzzle out how to use the programming software. Kind of quirky... it would work then not work, and then later it worked again. I'll have to wait until tonight's net to see if I did it correctly.
I also spoke with a couple of guys who knew something about my model of radio. I had one offer to help program it, but with some clues from what these guys said, I was able to puzzle out how to use the programming software. Kind of quirky... it would work then not work, and then later it worked again. I'll have to wait until tonight's net to see if I did it correctly.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
SW Wake ARC
Monday night (10/7), I took the time to drive down to visit the South Wake Amateur Radio Club at their monthly meeting. Nice folks, and an interesting presentation on APRS (GPS over Ham Radio). Unfortunately, this one is just a little far to drive, and I don't think I'll be making a habit out of it. For now, I'll just stick with Cary ARC and RARS (the big one in Raleigh). I can't make the meetings in Raleigh very often, since their meeting is on Tuesday, and that's Bran's boy scout night.
Friday, November 4, 2011
On the Air!
Ok, through a little bit of trial and error, I actually checked into the Southwest Wake ARC Rag Chew tonight on the 145.21 repeater. Busy session, with several dozen calls checking in. I had to try three times before I got a call in, tweaking my settings each time, until I finally discovered which one of the parameters was the TONE required (82.5) to trigger the repeater. Of course, now that I know, I'll be able to get right on next time.
No, my problems are not over. I still haven't figured out how to set the channels by name, or program in more than one at a time. But I'm getting there. Hope to actually be able to talk intelligently to someone with the same radio next time I get to a meeting.
No, my problems are not over. I still haven't figured out how to set the channels by name, or program in more than one at a time. But I'm getting there. Hope to actually be able to talk intelligently to someone with the same radio next time I get to a meeting.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Programmed... I think
Ok, the WOUXON UVD1P (made in China) seems to be a nice little piece of hardware, but I have to say that the software and documentation SUX!
After downloading the installer from the WOUXON website (I downloaded EVERYTHING that might be related to my radio), I finally figured out what had to be the appropriate software. It looks like when they made the micro-CD that was packaged with the PC connecter cord, they included the driver installers, but didn't bother to include the actual software. In case anyone is trying to puzzle it out, the appropriate file is KG-UVD1P V2.11. This is an executable, and doesn't need to be installed.
Once I hooked up the radio to the PC using the connector cord, I launched the program. VERY poorly implemented GUI. Toolbar didn't have tooltips, and the icons were small (16x16) and not especially informative. The menu bar was slightly better, but only slightly. The help file wasn't that great, and didn't correspond with labels in the program all that well. The two critical buttons were upload and download, and of course these were the least clear icons.
The main window of the radio programming software was a spreadsheet format table, with columns labeled along the top, and numbered down the left side. I finally figured out that the numbers were channel numbers. RxFreq and TxFreq turned out to be Receive and Send Frequencies, which is kind of weird because when programming the radio by hand (as I noted, this was a pain), you set the Send frequency, and then an offset, up or down for the Receive. I guess the way this tool does it is better. The remaining columns provide other settings, not all of which I've figured out. One I especially WANT to figure out but haven't is the one that sends a repeater a tone.
Of course, I didn't get all this set up last night until after the time people were supposed to be using the nets. Since I wanted to listen to things a while before transmitting, I'll be listening again tonight. Hopefully I've got it set up right.
After downloading the installer from the WOUXON website (I downloaded EVERYTHING that might be related to my radio), I finally figured out what had to be the appropriate software. It looks like when they made the micro-CD that was packaged with the PC connecter cord, they included the driver installers, but didn't bother to include the actual software. In case anyone is trying to puzzle it out, the appropriate file is KG-UVD1P V2.11. This is an executable, and doesn't need to be installed.
Once I hooked up the radio to the PC using the connector cord, I launched the program. VERY poorly implemented GUI. Toolbar didn't have tooltips, and the icons were small (16x16) and not especially informative. The menu bar was slightly better, but only slightly. The help file wasn't that great, and didn't correspond with labels in the program all that well. The two critical buttons were upload and download, and of course these were the least clear icons.
The main window of the radio programming software was a spreadsheet format table, with columns labeled along the top, and numbered down the left side. I finally figured out that the numbers were channel numbers. RxFreq and TxFreq turned out to be Receive and Send Frequencies, which is kind of weird because when programming the radio by hand (as I noted, this was a pain), you set the Send frequency, and then an offset, up or down for the Receive. I guess the way this tool does it is better. The remaining columns provide other settings, not all of which I've figured out. One I especially WANT to figure out but haven't is the one that sends a repeater a tone.
Of course, I didn't get all this set up last night until after the time people were supposed to be using the nets. Since I wanted to listen to things a while before transmitting, I'll be listening again tonight. Hopefully I've got it set up right.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Busy Busy...
Yesterday, FedEx delivered my new radio. It is a WOUXON UVD1P hand held. Made in China, of course, but it looks like an adequate piece of equipment. My biggest issue so far is that the instruction manual was obviously written by someone who had English as a second (or third) language. The programming software included with the synching cable was incomplete, and while I was able to download more from the WOUXON website, I haven't had a chance to install and test it. Hopefully I can get it up and running in the next few days, since programming using the radio keypad looks to be difficult at best.
Last night, I also was able to attend the RARS general meeting in east Raleigh. I don't expect to be able to do this often, since Tuesday is the normal meeting day for my son's Boy Scout troop, and I usually take him. But since he wasn't feeling well last night, I jumped at the opportunity. Big club. Lots of Hams to talk to, including discussion regarding my new toy.. I was able to test out my radio a little bit, but programming is still going to be a pain.
Last night, I also was able to attend the RARS general meeting in east Raleigh. I don't expect to be able to do this often, since Tuesday is the normal meeting day for my son's Boy Scout troop, and I usually take him. But since he wasn't feeling well last night, I jumped at the opportunity. Big club. Lots of Hams to talk to, including discussion regarding my new toy.. I was able to test out my radio a little bit, but programming is still going to be a pain.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Ordered My First Radio
Yesterday, I attended a meeting of the Cary Amateur Radio Club, and I
spoke with some of the other HAMS regarding a good starter radio. One
of them showed me his radio (only slightly ahead of me in experience),
so this morning, I ordered my first rig from CheapHam.com,
including a Wouxun Dual Band HT (2M/70cm), an external mag mount
antenna, a car plug, a USB computer cable, and an external hand mike.
Looking forward to getting it in a week or so.
Welcome to Amateur Radio!
When I was a kid, my grandfather was a HAM, or Amateur Radio operator. I
remember the work bench full of radio equipment that he was always
fiddling with, and how he would call to far away people, sometimes in
Morse code, more often with voice.
A few years later, as a teenager, I had an opportunity to study for the Novice HAM. The only problem was that I just couldn't manage to code sufficiently fast to pass the test.
Fast forward forty years. I noticed an ad for the first level HAM class right up the street from my work. It turns out that in 2007, all requirements for Morse code were dropped by the FCC. I decided to take it, took it, and passed the test. Welcome to me as a HAM operator, call sign KK4ETS. Technician license.
No, don't try calling me on the radio just yet. Those things are expensive, and I probably won't be able to scrounge the money for one before Christmas (and probably not until spring). Meanwhile, I'm studying for the next level, the General license. I can take that in the spring at the local HAMfest. I am also planning on joining at least one local Amateur Radio Club (ARC) to get the feel of things.
A few years later, as a teenager, I had an opportunity to study for the Novice HAM. The only problem was that I just couldn't manage to code sufficiently fast to pass the test.
Fast forward forty years. I noticed an ad for the first level HAM class right up the street from my work. It turns out that in 2007, all requirements for Morse code were dropped by the FCC. I decided to take it, took it, and passed the test. Welcome to me as a HAM operator, call sign KK4ETS. Technician license.
No, don't try calling me on the radio just yet. Those things are expensive, and I probably won't be able to scrounge the money for one before Christmas (and probably not until spring). Meanwhile, I'm studying for the next level, the General license. I can take that in the spring at the local HAMfest. I am also planning on joining at least one local Amateur Radio Club (ARC) to get the feel of things.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)