speaking of ham radio stores,any idea if theres any around boston? might have to do some some research,there pretty rare around this side of the state.
They are not too common but some areas should have one nearby, i know here there is one in Toronto. Doing a quick search could not really find anything. And the one i could find looked quite far away.
Sgt.Mays on
Gaymer, Nerd and Fan of Freeman's Mind/Half-life/GTA/Red Vs Blue
Attended: East 14, 15 and West 16
Attending West 2019
Radio Shack. I know they've left their ham roots long ago but some do still have an ok selection of hobby electronics. There's one really close to the BCEC too so depending on what you're looking for it couldn't hurt to stop in.
ya some radio shacks have a decent selection for ham radio stuff.the one don the street from me has a little corner for cb/ham radio stuff,not much but they got antennas and miscellaneous radio stuff.
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Dreggor[E] PAX East PC Room DeputyRegistered Userregular
Yea they don't come cheap if you want a good dual band one, i got mine when i got my license back in 2010. Now i think sometimes clubs may loan radios to hams, maybe talk to a local club.
Gaymer, Nerd and Fan of Freeman's Mind/Half-life/GTA/Red Vs Blue
Attended: East 14, 15 and West 16
Attending West 2019
walmart has a real cheap 2 way radio set thats pretty cheap,its made by uniden.i got a pair myself and the range is actully pretty good inside a big convention center,i went to the big E today and was able to talk to people on the other side of the property without a problem.
I ask because I am considering picking up a IC-31D.. I have never really done anything with DSTAR, I have mainly worked a bit of HF digital modes.
I have an Icom IC91-AD, which has the DSTAR on it. Basically DSTAR is awesome if you have a very strong signal. Unfortunately kind of like cell phones, it's all or nothing, either it's really clear, or it cuts out and you sound like R2D2. The cool thing about it is that when you talk, other hams can read your callsign while your transmitting (if you programmed it into your radio). You can also get a dongle for your computer and talk to any internet enabled DSTAR repeater without a radio.
I had never thought about bringing my HT, but might have to if others are going to have theirs. Anyone have a preferred simplex frequency that I should look for?
2 meter is 144-148 mhz so anywhere in there that is not busy or a local rptr i would guess, or if you radios does 70cm that is 420-450mhz (too bad we could not use 133.7 Mhz but that is not in the band for us). If it is not posted and you just use your radios scan function you should be able to find a some of us talking.
Sgt.Mays on
Gaymer, Nerd and Fan of Freeman's Mind/Half-life/GTA/Red Vs Blue
Attended: East 14, 15 and West 16
Attending West 2019
i wish we could use a freq from metal gear solid but i belive those are in the 140.00 range.is anyone in the western mass area? or can hit the mount tom repeater?maybe we can get a little qso goin between now and pax.
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Kilonum[E]Somewhere near BostonRegistered Userregular
2 meter is 144-148 mhz so anywhere in there that is not busy or a local rptr i would guess, or if you radios does 70cm that is 420-450mhz (too bad we could not use 133.7 Mhz but that is not in the band for us). If it is not posted and you just use your radios scan function you should be able to find a some of us talking.
133.7MHz is in the Aircraft band but is not currently in use by any Boston ARTCC facility.
As long it is not super local and there is no strong repeater nearby, we should be fine. Also being indoors in a place that like will also make it harder to hit further away outdoor ones, here i have been able to hit repeaters that are far away with my 5 watt, but that was also the CN tower one witch is 1.815 feet/553 m in the air.
Sgt.Mays on
Gaymer, Nerd and Fan of Freeman's Mind/Half-life/GTA/Red Vs Blue
Attended: East 14, 15 and West 16
Attending West 2019
Last year 2 friends and myself did use 3 Baofeng UV5r, sometimes on GMRS channels and other times on my private business band Freq I have. in both instances we had 0 interference and could get each other anywhere in the building, not once did we see anyone with radios last year. I have sprint, my friends verizon, but signal was never the problem. it was the dreaded all circuits busy and the extreme poor data flow that had us concerned. The radios where a god send.
i actully might bring a long a few extra pairs of frs i got hangin around and see if anyone else wants to use a pair,of course ill have to get there name and stuff so i know i get them back or atleast compensated for them.
i really wish i wasnt saving up for pax,i had to pass up some really good deals at the flea market in ct few weeks ago and i just passed on a good deal on ebay,ugh.
i really wish i wasnt saving up for pax,i had to pass up some really good deals at the flea market in ct few weeks ago and i just passed on a good deal on ebay,ugh.
Yea that sucks, prices on radios tend to never really do down that much at all not sure about the radio conventions (Hamvention in Dayton Ohio is one) you may be able to snag a deal at one of those.
Gaymer, Nerd and Fan of Freeman's Mind/Half-life/GTA/Red Vs Blue
Attended: East 14, 15 and West 16
Attending West 2019
Just jumping into this thread now. Some local perspective. Repeater access from the BCEC is...spotty. If you have 900 equipment you'll be able to hit the MMRA 900 repeater down on the waterfront. The Boston .23 repeater is iffy. You'd have to have power and a GOOD antenna/be near the exterior of the building. Best bet for repeater access OUTSIDE of BCEC would maybe be the Clay Center 146.985 machine. Has great coverage over all the Boston area and gets used frequently for wide area public service (think Boston Marathon).
I'll be bringing my VX-7 with a diamond rubber duck and probably an earpiece PTT.
Do we maybe want to do a Ham meetup at some point during the weekend? Trade QSL cards if we have them perhaps?
Ahh yes, the fabled Candy Store. I will warn you that if you choose to go up pre/post PAX, they're likely to be stripped bare. It's the week before the Boston Marathon and all the local hams (myself included) are going to raid the place for gear prior to working the event.
pax is only a week away woohoo,i think im goin to bring a small cone antenna with me and set it up at the hotel,my rubberducky has been acting up and doesn't get the range is use to.
If I really wanted to lug it around, I have a vertical di-pole that I can weave through my backpack/a vest, but I'm going to probably hold off on that this year.
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They are not too common but some areas should have one nearby, i know here there is one in Toronto. Doing a quick search could not really find anything. And the one i could find looked quite far away.
Attended: East 14, 15 and West 16
Attending West 2019
PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy
PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy
The ICOM 80AD is the one i use.
Attended: East 14, 15 and West 16
Attending West 2019
PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy
Attended: East 14, 15 and West 16
Attending West 2019
I have an Icom IC91-AD, which has the DSTAR on it. Basically DSTAR is awesome if you have a very strong signal. Unfortunately kind of like cell phones, it's all or nothing, either it's really clear, or it cuts out and you sound like R2D2. The cool thing about it is that when you talk, other hams can read your callsign while your transmitting (if you programmed it into your radio). You can also get a dongle for your computer and talk to any internet enabled DSTAR repeater without a radio.
I had never thought about bringing my HT, but might have to if others are going to have theirs. Anyone have a preferred simplex frequency that I should look for?
Attended: East 14, 15 and West 16
Attending West 2019
133.7MHz is in the Aircraft band but is not currently in use by any Boston ARTCC facility.
Attended: East 14, 15 and West 16
Attending West 2019
Attended: East 14, 15 and West 16
Attending West 2019
Yea that sucks, prices on radios tend to never really do down that much at all not sure about the radio conventions (Hamvention in Dayton Ohio is one) you may be able to snag a deal at one of those.
Attended: East 14, 15 and West 16
Attending West 2019
I'll be bringing my VX-7 with a diamond rubber duck and probably an earpiece PTT.
Do we maybe want to do a Ham meetup at some point during the weekend? Trade QSL cards if we have them perhaps?
de KB1QKF
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3DS Friend Code: 3926-5491-9247
Personally i do not have any QSL cards at the moment, maybe before i go i will make a few if i can.
Attended: East 14, 15 and West 16
Attending West 2019
Ahh yes, the fabled Candy Store. I will warn you that if you choose to go up pre/post PAX, they're likely to be stripped bare. It's the week before the Boston Marathon and all the local hams (myself included) are going to raid the place for gear prior to working the event.
Twitter
3DS Friend Code: 3926-5491-9247
Twitter
3DS Friend Code: 3926-5491-9247
~KC1BDE