FM procedures: throwing out your sign

Okay, so you tune in to a repeater and nobody is talking. You have three choices: listen to that repeater, switch to another repeater, or throw out your sign on the repeater you are tuned in to. Only the third choice involves transmitting. 

The important thing here is that nobody is talking on the repeater. Nobody has control. You don't need to wait for someone to cede you control of the frequency. Maybe listen for a few seconds to be sure that you aren't interrupting, and then you can throw out your sign. 

Throwing out your sign says who you are and that you're willing to talk. If you're not willing to talk, then don't throw out your sign. There's no reason to let anyone know that you're just listening and unwilling to talk to anyone. If you want to talk someone specifically, then that's a different procedure that I'll get to in another post. 

There are a lot of different ways to throw out your sign, and none of them are wrong as long as they identify who you are and that you're willing to talk. It's common to mention if you are mobile or portable, but you don't have to. Bear in mind that this effort is your "introduction" to anyone else that is listening, and that your goal is to convey the information that they will need to establish contact with you -- if they choose to. 

Throwing out your sign can be as simple as just saying your callsign, or more elaborate. Here are a few examples: 

• "This is KD0YRD, mobile and listening." 
• "KD0YRD monitoring" 
• "KD0 Tango Lima Sierra mobile and monitoring" 
• "KD0UIH on the four-five. Anyone out there?" 
• "KE0NA mobile and standing by"
• "Kilo Echo Zero November Alpha monitoring" 
• "KD0UIH portable and listening. KD0UIH"

Okay, as you can see, the idea is to give your callsign in some way and let people know that you are available. Bear in mind that those other people probably aren't listening intently as you mention your callsign. It might take a second or two to grab their attention. This is why repeating your callsign at the end can be helpful, and why using phonetics ("Kilo Echo, etc.) is a good idea. Don't be surprised or offended if someone asks you to repeat your sign -- or only got a part of it. Work with them. Also keep in mind that people frequently are scanning several repeaters, and may have completely missed your callsign.

Personally, the method that I use (which doesn't make it superior in any way) is this: 
  "KD0TLS monitoring. Tango Lima Sierra" 
A lot of people completely miss the sign at the beginning, so adding phonetics at the end gives them something clear to grab a hold of. In the fourth example, the repeater frequency is mentioned ("the four-five" or .450). This is a nice touch for people scanning to let them know which machine you are on, or for those on a linked network. The longer that you take, the better the odds that people scanning will hear you. Still, you don't want to make the Gettysburg Address out of it. Here's an example of a thrown sign that's way too long:
  "This is KL0WN. Kilo Lima Zero Whiskey November mobile and monitoring on the three-seven-five. KL0WN in Annandale headed west. Anybody there? Kilo Lima Zero Whiskey November here and mobile". 

Throwing out your sign does not give you control of the repeater. Someone else can immediately throw out their sign, or call for someone else specifically. No one is required to respond to you in any way. You are merely announcing your presence. It is, of course, polite to "come back" when someone throws out their sign -- if only for the very reason that you would appreciate someone doing the same thing when you are the one throwing out your sign. Repeaters where people ignore thrown signs tend to be viewed as "dead", and fewer people congregate there. Remember that activity draws activity. 

Let's look at it from the other end. You are listening to a repeater, and someone throws out their sign. What do you do? You respond with their callsign and your own. 

Here's an example: 
"KD0YRD monitoring" 
" This is KE0NA mobile. I heard Yankee Romeo Delta. Come back with your sign, please." 

...or something like this: 
"This is KD0UIH mobile and listening" 
"KD0UIH, this is KD0TLS. The name here is Todd. Over to you, UIH" 

...or maybe this: 
"Kilo Echo Zero November Alpha mobile and standing by" 
"KE0NA from KD0YRD portable. Go ahead." 

Again, there's a lot of room here to improvise. You just have to meet the basic requirements of exchanging callsigns. 

Here's the important thing: by establishing contact, you are now in control of the repeater. You cede that control to the other person when you say things like "Go ahead", "over to you", or ask them to come back. You are now in a QSO (a conversation), and other people need the permission of one of the people involved to use the repeater. Until both of you "clear" (another post), people can't throw out their signs, make specific calls, or interject themselves into your conversation without permission. 

Let's make this painfully clear. If there is a conversation (QSO) in progress, you must wait until it's finished before you can use the repeater. This includes throwing out your sign.

There are ways to interrupt, but it's generally considered rude, and nobody is obligated to allow you to break in. If there's an emergency, that's a different story.  

In summary, you can throw out your sign on a repeater if there is no "traffic". You can respond to a thrown sign, and establish a QSO. You can listen without notifying anyone of your presence. You can throw out your sign as often as you like, if no one else has control of the repeater. 

One more thing: you don't need to inform anyone listening if you give up and are switching to another repeater or shutting down altogether when you are done throwing out your sign. If you are making a specific call, that's another matter.

FM procedures and etiquette : a preface

I've been desperately trying to get any of our guest writers to tackle this topic for several months now, but to no avail. So I'll start the metaphorical ball rolling here, and add on a few segments with the hope that someone else will pick it up. 

Consider this, then, a preface for the effort. Radio procedures and etiquette are not nearly as transparent and obvious as long-time hams seem to believe they are, and newly-licensed operators can create friction by not following the 'rules'. On a practical level, it's more of an ignition point for the volatile vapours that comprise some personalities, but taking away that trigger neutralises a common pretext for blowing up at new hams. 

In point of fact, little of what makes up radio procedures are actually rules. Beyond the requirements to identify your transmissions, the rest is more of a social convention (i.e. manners) that have evolved. Just as there is no law requiring a handshake when you meet new people, if you choose to flap your arms and caw like a crow instead, you have set yourself up for many awkward encounters. 

Beyond establishing yourself as someone "in the know", using proper radio procedures

• makes clear who is in control of the frequency at any given moment
• avoids interruptions, confusion, and potential conflict 
• makes it clear who is available for contacts and when to initiate contact

I'm going to restrict myself to FM procedures here, because that's what most new operators will be using and because the basic concepts are the same on HF. 

Repeaters (and simplex channels) are shared resources, and radio procedures establish a framework to share those resources. Common sense, courtesy, and a spirit of co-operation also play a part in the context of what is acceptable. Whenever more than one person is on a repeater, someone has control over the channel, and the other people wait to have that control ceded to them. This is kind of like the Native concept of a "talking stick", which is handed to another to allow them permission to speak. This is more than an exercise in courtesy on a repeater, as two people really can't talk at once. 

Radio procedures also apply even if you aren't using a radio -- like EchoLink, as an example. Even if a repeater appears to be dead, someone may be listening. Your use of proper procedures makes you more approachable, in that case. 

While I will be laying out a basic framework, be aware that there is "room to improvise" and have your own style, while remaining within the boundaries of the procedures. This is why it's important to understand the reasons behind a particular procedure, and not just parrot words. As with most things in amateur radio, if you do something different than someone else, there will those that deem you to be "doing it wrong". That doesn't necessarily mean that you are, really, doing it wrong.

If you mess up and someone gets annoyed, politely explain that this is new to you and that you appreciate constructive criticism. Don't get intimidated. You are most likely dealing with a jerk, and they would have found something else to pick at if your procedures were flawless.

KC0VRV: Setting up an RX-Only APRS I-Gate

This is a guest post by KC0VRV (Matt) who operates a receive-only APRS gateway. I asked him to write up a "how-to" article that would allow others to do the same thing, and he did a really fine job of it. Anyone with an old analogue scanner, an old PC, and some kind of internet connection can create a gateway -- just follow Matt's instructions. Thanks, Matt!
 - KD0TLS (Todd)

Loose notes 10/22/14

 I guess that I now need to delete this post, too. Not sure how Big Experts on Reddit can "read" a Desperate Cry for Help in this post, but that's why they are so 'smart', I guess. If it continues past this month, I'll take it down. Can't have nothin' nice... 

My new UHF / GMRS antenna

  I got a new antenna, and it's "different". No, it's not some cheap Chinese antenna that's deceptively marketed and doesn't work. It's the Italian-made Sirio GP 430 UHF antenna that I bought from DNJ Radio. It's a lot like a beer can with three radials sticking out of the bottom, and an SO-239 on the bottom. A tube is supposed to go in the bottom and allow you to mount it to a mast, but that mount is out-of-stock at the moment. So I set it up on a table on my balcony and tried it out like you see below.

  I got this antenna because I was tired of switching between my UHF (440 MHz) ham antenna and my GMRS antenna while using my UHF TYT TH-9000. As you can see from the label, this antenna covers both.

Okay, if you can't read it, it says 380 - 480 MHz. That's pretty wide-band, and it's possible because of the large OD of the radiating element. It's a 1/4-wave folded dipole, which means "unity gain". But the idea of "gain" from vertical antennae is sort of deceptive to begin with. The angled radials help to keep the angle of radiation lower than what I get from my 1/4-wave whip mag-mounted on the balcony's steel cap. 

I didn't get it for "gain", anyway. Aside from allowing 440 and GMRS operation with the same antenna, I was looking for a ground-plane antenna. My other gambles on UHF ground-planes have been disappointing, and the balcony's steel cap is not an ideal ground for a mag-mounted whip. I'd expect "gain" over my dual-band mobile whips just by virtue of having the ground radials. And it looks as if that steel cap will be gone next year when they renovate the balconies, so I need a real ground solution.

The other reason that I got this antenna was for stealth. I live in a condo, and antennae aren't really allowed. Much of what comprises the concept of stealth is merely placing antennae in plain sight, while making them appear (to a non-ham) as something other than an antenna. For example, a length of PVC pipe conceals a roll-up J-pole. Most hams would immediately recognise this as an antenna if it were mounted on a condo balcony. Non-hams just see a piece of PVC pipe, which isn't against the HOA regulations. Horizontally-strung wires, with the tell-tale centre conductor and coax running out, are a dead give-away, on the other hand. You could put an upside-down flower pot over a mag-mounted 1/4-wave UHF whip on your steel patio table. Nobody would think twice about it, except perhaps to think that you're slightly untidy. With this UHF antenna, all that I need to do is conceal the radials -- perhaps with cloth or nylon to make it look like an umbrella. Sure, it would look a bit stupid...but it wouldn't look like an antenna to a non-ham. That stupid-looking umbrella-thing opens up all of the 440 MHz repeaters to me, plus GMRS, and nobody's going to know but me. 

View from the bottom

The SWR was virtually flat on both UHF and GMRS just setting it on the balcony table. Setting it on the floor inside, or on top of a metal rack outside, produced higher mismatches but not high enough to warrant concern. Once it's mounted on a piece of PVC or wooden dowel, I expect that SWR won't be an issue. 

Just because it tunes up, that doesn't means that it performs well, though. I set it near the window in my home office, and the received signals from repeaters were generally lower using the GP 430 than using a Browning BR-180 dual-band mag-mounted on top of an old stereo receiver. But I don't plan on using it indoors. 

Sirio makes another UHF / GMRS antenna that has more gain, is cheaper, but is not quite as stealthy.

VHF DMR coming to the metro

At yesterday's MRC (MN Repeater Council) meeting, an issue was on the agenda that usually doesn't come up. There was a two-metre repeater frequency pair that a club in Dakota County had given up, and was available to be re-assigned. This is pretty rare, as all of the slots for VHF repeaters are tenaciously held on to, and even death isn't necessarily sufficient grounds to lose a slot. There is a waiting list for frequency pairs, and the first guy in line passed on the available slot because he wanted something in the 145 MHz range. 

And so the slot went to K0LAV (Paul E.), the guy behind at least a dozen MN repeaters including the 146.850 multi-receive repeater. I spoke with him on the air (444.800+) last night while I tested a new UHF antenna, and congratulated him on getting the VHF frequency pair. 

The slot is the 147.990 / 147.390 pair at the top of the two-metre band, where he will put a VHF DMR repeater on the air using a CTCSS tone of 98.5 Hz. He's in a bit of quandary over whether to make it a hybrid (both analogue and digital) or a digital-only repeater. I'd like to throw the question out to the community and find out if there's enough interest to support a VHF digital-only repeater. The issues, as I understand them, are as follows:

• A hybrid repeater won't have any internet link to other Talk Groups, due to the restrictions of DMR MARC. Imagine D-Star without reflectors. That's what the hybrid option would be like. A digital-only repeater would be able to be linked to the rest of the world, and also to the UHF DMR repeater in St. Paul.
• A digital-only repeater won't have the use of the remote receive site in Columbia Heights. Instead, it will just operate from Paul's site in White Bear Lake. This could potentially limit coverage, and leave out operators in the west and south-west. The bigger problem, in Paul's mind, is that there isn't enough interest in VHF DMR to justify a digital-only option. 

So why not weigh in the issue? Let K0LAV (Paul) know if you have interest in VHF DMR. You can find him on the 146.850, the 444.800, or you can find his email address on his QRZ page. It's unusual for repeater owners to solicit input from the community, though I wish it was done more often.
 
To me, it seems that there are already plenty of voice two-metre repeaters in the metro -- perhaps too many for the finite number of hams -- with excellent coverage options and features (cross-band linking, EchoLink, WIRES, IRLP). I'm sceptical that a hybrid repeater would draw significant numbers of analogue users on VHF to a new repeater. The TCFMC's hybrid "dot one" is almost all analogue users, because their user base was established on analogue. It wasn't a case of new people streaming in to talk to C4FM operators. 

  For a lot of operators, one of the more compelling reasons to move to digital is the ability to insulate yourself from the "common hams". Elitism is rampant in the hobby, to the point where long-time hams have been immersed in it for so long that they no longer notice it, as one does not notice the air that they breathe. Making the 147.390+ (98.5 PL) repeater a dual-mode affair would undermine the elitist appeal of a DMR repeater. The majority of digital repeaters are on UHF, which so many hams spurn outright on the basis of some mysterious principle that I fail to grasp. This repeater would be on two metres, which is what serious people use. And it would use DMR, which is what serious professional and commercial operators use. 

We just hit the trifecta here. 

There are, of course, other reasons to embrace digital FM modes. There is no noise, your narrow-band signal can be heard by repeaters further away, and you have access to the entire world through internet-connected Talk Groups. Battery life also improves. 

There are the usual Motorola and Hytera radio options, and they are expensive but well-made. Connect Systems in CA makes a VHF HT (the CS701). Connect Systems gives hams a steep discount, and you can get the CS701 for $180 (excluding cable, speaker mic, and shipping). The order form is here. You don't have to fill out the credit card information, as they will call you when everything is ready. There are Chinese knock-offs of Motorola mobiles out there, too. 

Last, but not least, on the list of reasons for the 147.390 to go digital-only would be that it could link to the only other DMR repeater in the State -- the UHF 442.425 machine in St. Paul. It would be nothing more complex than having a MN Talk Group, and VHF operators could just as easily isolate themselves from the UHF operators if they wished. But there is no good reason in my mind to duplicate the UHF/VHF gulf on DMR that we already find on analogue in the metro. The HandiHam network is the only cross-band repeater option, and others seem to have deliberately avoided following this example -- even though there are UHF slots still available. 

DMR offers Minnesota a chance for a fresh start, free of the distinctions of decades past that are no longer relevant moving forward. In contrast to most of our neighbours, who have state-wide linked repeater networks, digital could finally be the state-wide solution that we've studiously avoided for so long.

Ham radio on the ice

  One of the things that I really enjoyed in the few months after I got my licence was portable operation. You can generally set up antennae in parks (though I've run into some law-enforcement personnel who would disagree), but that gets more uncomfortable here in MN during the winter. For those living in antenna-restricted situations, this is the best opportunity to work HF or set up more-conspicuous antennae.

  One of my solutions was operating out on the lake in winter.

Once the lakes freeze over, you have a big expanse of unobstructed flat terrain available that no HOA has a claim to. Inside of Minneapolis proper, you can't set up a permanent (overnight) fish-house, but you can use a portable (tent-like) option and a heater. Assuming that can auger a hole in the ice, a pole can be frozen in to the ice, along with a ground (the lake) connected to your radio. You can string up a dipole about as far as you want, though height is the real limitation. Otherwise outside of the city limits, you can attach a mast to a sturdier fish-house. Maybe you could use a tree on shore for an end-fed sloper, or set up a ground-plane antenna. If the ice is thick enough, your vehicle could be your 'fish-house' and you could set up a lot of different HF situations using vehicle DC power and the support of the vehicle for antennae. Cars aren't allowed on the urban lakes, of course, but the suburbs are a different story.

  For satellite work, too, lakes offer big areas with much less obstruction on the horizons. While they aren't generally high ground, lakes offer space free of  metallic objects and structures that affect SWR, and they offer an ideal RF ground.

  As a Minnesotan, it's always fascinated me how frozen lakes are kind of free temporary property. You can go out on any public lake and set up a house rent-free and tax-free. Of course, you need to get (and post) a licence for anything set up overnight. This is just to tie someone's name to the fish-house, in case somebody set up a meth lab inside or something. But otherwise, you can spend as much time in that structure as you want, as long as the ice can support it. That's obviously why they aren't allowed in the city proper. People would be living in them. Not living large, but living rent-free.

But the lake offers space to run dipoles or set up tall masts. As long as you have power -- from a generator, battery, or vehicle -- you can set up in the middle of nowhere away from QRM or go over to Medicine Lake in Plymouth (as I did) and set up an NVIS antenna for 40M CW. With a heater in a portable shelter, you can sit around in a sweatshirt, comfortable and dry -- while a snowstorm rages around you -- and "play radio" in the solitude and quiet of a winter evening. The best part is that you can set up in a shallow area away from other people fishing and not bother them.

  You aren't required to fish while in a fish-house, but it would be a good idea to have a fishing licence to avoid conflict with any authorities you may encounter. They may be sceptical that you're out on Mille Lacs looking for DX and not muskies.

  Keep the ice in mind if you have limits to your antenna situation.

Loose notes 10/18/14

Just a few short items worthy of mention, but not enough to justify a separate post:

• I'm not sure what's going on with the new HandiHam 444.925+ (114.8 PL) repeater, which is ostensibly in Chaska. Over the past two weeks, it's become difficult for me to reach and its signal is much weaker. Maybe it's finally been moved to its intended home at the Bloomington airport, or it might just be "struggling". 
• The Gopher Radio Club's APRS gateway (W0YC-10) is back on the air and looks to be stable! It's now contributing to the local VHF propagation reporting, which is nice because it has such a high antenna. Others, such as KD0KYA, K0JDD, KC0VRV, and N0FKB really stepped up to the plate and filled in the gap while W0YC-10 was down. Thanks to Ryan for replacing the router and network interface, which also restored EchoLink on the UHF 444.425 repeater. 
• Rumour has it that KA0KMJ (John) has picked up a Yaesu Fusion C4FM repeater and plans to put it on the air. I'd guess that it will be operating on UHF, and probably connected to the internet through Yaesu's WIRES protocol at some point. EDIT: John seems annoyed that I was unaware of this development, and has 'pointed out' that the System Fusion repeater has operational for a week -- or, as he put it, "a WEEK!". 
• K0LAV (Paul) has obtained a VHF DMR repeater and is looking to put it on the air! That would be the second DMR repeater in MN, and one of the few on the two-metre band in the country. Since all of the VHF frequency pairs are taken in the metro area, he'd have to operate on the SNP (Shared Non-Protected) slot, which could create problems with other analogue machines on the SNP frequency. Hopefully, the MRC (MN Repeater Council) will sort this all out at their meeting today. 
• Thinking about setting up a hobby repeater to tinker around with? That's great! But you need to get it co-ordinated with the MRC instead of operating on simplex channels. You can set it up on the SNP channel with a minimum of paperwork -- much less than you would need for a non-SNP repeater -- and make it official and legal pretty easily. Just contact someone at the MRC and ask about setting up an SNP machine.    

K0LAV: Primer on local digital ham radio

 This is a post written by K0LAV (Paul), who is a local expert on commercial and amateur radio systems. He has graciously written this summary of digital amateur (FM) modes to clarify matters for prospective local operators. 

Types of Digital radios that can or are being used with Amateur Radio

D-Star - (Digital Smart Technology for Amateur Radio). An amateur radio digital radio system (designed by the Japan Amateur Radio League) first introduced by ICOM in 2004. D-Star uses the GMSK transmission medium. D-Star provides both digital voice and high speed data modes. These systems can be IP linked for world- wide coverage. Currently there are at least 20 D-Star digital voice repeaters operating in Minnesota. There are 5 digital high-speed data stations operating in the Twin Cities. The voice repeaters are IP linked to a statewide “reflector” (master computer system) for operating statewide nets. A world wide IP linking system also exists that can be accessed by the Minnesota D-Star repeaters by connecting to other “reflectors” throughout the world.

Suppliers of D-Star equipment – ICOM, Kenwood has re-labeled some D-Star compatible radios but they have not been sold in the USA.

DMR - (Digital Mobile Radio) A dual time slot TDMA radio system designed for small business use that provides 2 independent talk channels within a 12.5 Khz radio channel. The Motorola TRBO DMR repeaters can be IP linked for additional coverage. 100s of world-wide IP linked TRBO amateur radio repeater systems currently are in operation, Twin Cities access to the world-wide DMR network is just being added. 

Suppliers of DMR equipment – Motorola, Vertex/Standard, Hytera, Tait and Supura.

P-25 -(APCO Project 25) uses a modulation process called QPSK. P-25 is familiar in Minnesota as the ARMER 800 Mhz trunked public service radio system. Phase I P-25 uses C4FM (FDMA) modulation and provides one 12.5 Khz bandwidth signal per channel. The newer Phase II P-25 provides for two signals in a 12.5 khz radio channel using CQPSK (TDMA) and will replace Phase I in the future. Phase I and Phase II P-25 equipment is not compatible. There is one amateur radio P-25 repeater (using P-25 Phase 1) operating on the amateur radio frequencies in Mpls. 

Suppliers of P-25 equipment – Motorola, Icom, Daniels Electronics, Tait and EF Johnson. 

Yaesu - C4FM (Compatible 4 level Frequency Modulation). This system provides one 12.5 Khz wide signal (FMDA) and is very similar to P25 Phase I but with Yaesu’s special features added. Yaseu first announced this product in October of 2013. 

Supplier of Yaesu equipment – Yaesu. 

NOTES: 1) All of the above digital modes use the same proprietary DVSI “AMBE” vocoder to
encode/decode the speech to digital data.
2) GMSK (Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying) provides efficient use of spectrum
3) CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) is a spread spectrum multiple access technique.
4) FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access) gives users an individual allocation of one or several frequency bands or channels
5) TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) uses multiple time slots to provide two 6.25 Khz signals per radio channel.

Prepared by K0LAV Rev 10/12/14

The beefier BaoFeng is back!

  As I mentioned before, BaoFeng has a new, higher-powered HT available.
Since that initial post, it was pulled off the shelves over a defect. But it's back on the market again.

On Amazon for $63, same as before.

Listed at 8W RF output, it's been tested at 7.4W on two metres and 6.0W on UHF.
Used as an HT, I'm not sure that the additional power is that big of a deal. As Dutch ham radio blogger PD0AC (Hans) notes on a different 10W HT:

Personally I don’t find anything above 5 Watts output very useful, as range depends more on antenna quality and terrain than raw power. Pumping out 10 Watts close to your face might not be smart either.

   And I'd agree with that, as far as using the BF-F8HP as an HT with a stock duck. There might be marginal situations where a few extra watts makes the difference between scratchy and being clear, but I think that it's fairly common for new hams to get an inflated idea of how well the HT/stock duck application performs. This is one way that more 'experienced' hams use to pressure these new hams into spending more money, along with a generous helping of sheer disdain.

  When I got my licence, I had a monoband (UHF) PuXing PX-777 that put out a real 3.4W. It worked fine for me, because I didn't use it as an HT with a stock duck. Instead, I connected it to an exterior mobile antenna with a magnetic mount on my balcony. I also used it in my car with a mag-mount whip. Certainly, there were repeaters that I couldn't reach well with this arrangement, but I could reach several and I had a great time being on the air - even though I was limited to UHF. Of course, I ran into dozens of old farts telling me that I was "doing it wrong", and recommending various $200-$300 'solutions'. Fortunately, I ignored them. Prices have gone down dramatically since these wondrous 'experts' snarled their words of expensive wisdom at me.

  Just two years ago, that UHF PX-777 cost me $75. All told, including the antenna, coax, and other accessories, I got on the air for under $150. Now, of course, you can get a lot more for your money. Instead of a monoband putting out 3.4W, a new ham could get the new BaoFeng and be on both bands with almost twice the power. The thing is, you have to use your imagination and a little ingenuity to make these inexpensive solutions work. That seems to be something that the 'experienced' hams have completely forgotten how to do. If the only tool in your tool box is a wallet, then you've lost sight of the thrill of improvisation.

The point here is that the BF-F8HP has potential to be used in other ways besides the traditional HT/stock duck application.

The new BF-F8HP is the final incarnation of the UV-5RE line. I'm sure that there will be more new models from BaoFeng (or PoFung), but they'll likely have different firmware and probably won't be compatible with the current accessories. I'd anticipate things like proprietary connectors and new battery terminal locations. While it was marketing genius for BaoFeng to piggy-back on the Kenwood scheme, it allowed others to sell the accessories (antennae, speaker mics, cases, batteries, battery eliminators, etc), and thus piggy-back off of BaoFeng.

Despite all of the 'experts' constipated prophecies, these Chinese HTs have mostly held up pretty well. All of my PuXing HTs still work great, as does my UV-5RB. They may not last thirty years, but who really cares? As the BF-F8HP demonstrates, the radio market is constantly evolving. In five years, DMR might be "where it's at", and the $300 HT that some 'expert' told me to buy will be as obsolete as my $75 monoband Chinese HT.
Nobody ever seems to remember how these same 'experts' predicted anarchy when the Chinese HTs hit the market, nor how they also predicted that amateur radio would become "like CB" when the code requirement was dropped. And these very same out-of-touch bozos are currently pointing at the licensing numbers and patting themselves on the back. That should tell you something right there.

Loose notes 10/10/14

•   I came across an interesting post on a Dutch ham radio blog. It seems that Alinco has turned over "development and production" to AnyTone in China. Who isn't making their radios in China now? 
• A Dutch ham, PD5HP (Henk), sent me the pin-out for the Leixen VV-898 VHF/UHF radio. I'm looking into some way to use the radio for packet/APRS, and the only way in is through the mic. I'm not sure what "RXD" is, but I'll throw this out for anyone else interested in experimenting with these somewhat-nifty 10W dual-band rigs.  EDIT: I found out that "RXD" is the pin for the programming data.
• 
•  KE0NA (Dave) has completed the first instalment of his instructions for turning the TYT TH-9000 into a repeater. He has plenty of photos for every step, and anybody should be able to duplicate his efforts. You could whip up a UHF repeater fairly easily with these instructions, so watch for that first introductory post any day now. 
• Also from that same Dutch ham radio blog, it seems there's a new 10W HT emerging. The 10W Baofeng BF-F8HP that I wrote about previously was pulled off the market somewhat mysteriously. This is an alternative, though Topsung is hardly a familiar brand and might not be compatible with BaoFeng accessories. 
• Other radios on the horizon are the dual-band Lisheng UT880 for $150 (plus shipping). It's a full-powered (50W) FM rig with all of the standard features, but it has a front-panel speaker (like the Kenwood TH-271). Or there's the Lisheng UT858 monoband for the same price, with detachable face. Also, the TYT-TH9000 monobands are dropping in price. The latest price point is around $120 (plus shipping). I've also noticed a few radios in development, such as the GM160, that use MDC1200. What else? PuXing has a new DMR HT on the way. So does Lisheng.

The Hype of Vertical Antenna "Gain"

  One of the things that makes me roll my eyes in on-the-air discussions is the subject of the "gain" of vertical antennae. The conventional wisdom is that you want the highest gain possible, but this is a fallacy.

  Vertical antennae are omnidirectional. It's not like a vertical Yagi or log periodic that concentrates your signal in a particular direction. Whatever "gain" you get from a vertical antennae comes from the angle of radiation (often called "tilt" or "take off angle"). The angle of radiation also changes with the height the antenna is mounted, and the quality of the ground plane. A lower or higher angle of radiation can be good or bad, depending on your situation.

  A 1/4-wave whip on your car is going to have a higher angle of radiation -- about 45 degrees. But the 1/4-wave "unity gain" (insert scoff here) also has the widest lobes. This means that the difference between the "gain" at 45 degrees "tilt" and the gain at 15 degrees "tilt" isn't nearly as pronounced as what you would find at those same angles with a 5/8-wave whip -- all other factors being equal.

  The 5/8-wave whip gives you a lower angle of radiation -- about 15 degrees, if you have a ground-plane. You can get that angle lower if you want to drive around with an 5/8-wave antenna mounted 70 feet or so above your car. But that "gain" is concentrated in a much narrower angular range. Generally speaking, the higher that any antenna is mounted, the lower the angle of radiation.

  A lower angle of radiation is not always better, though. If you're in a valley and the repeater is high up on a hill, the 1/4-wave is the better choice. On flat terrain, the 5/8-wave is superior -- again, all other factors being equal.

The quality of the ground-plane is an additional factor. In a mobile situation, your car's body is the ground-plane, and it creates (or tries to create) an identical antenna of the same wavelength, only beneath the "real" antenna. The reason that you see 1/4-wave ground-plane antennae with the radials sloping downward at a 45-degree angle is that this tends to lower the angle of radiation. If you try to pull this trick off with a 5/8-wave antenna, you should use sloping 5/8 radials. In a mobile situation, you aren't using radials at all, though. If your antenna isn't mounted on the roof, there might not even be 5/8-wavelength between the feed-point and ground to construct an electrically and magnetically sound imaginary lower portion.

  On UHF mobile applications especially, much of the perceived "gain" of a 5/8 whip comes by virtue of the fact that the antenna is simply higher than a 1/4-wave whip. Altitude is the trump card on UHF, as the band is much more line-of-sight. But a 1/4-wave, with it's wider lobes, can offer more potential to bounce off electrically-reflective tall buildings and such at UHF frequencies, and thus extend your range in ways that a 5/8-wave can't.

  It's complicated subject, but this idea that a 5/8-wave whip has more "gain" and makes your signal stronger in every case is hype. This also neglects the idea of the use of a phasing coil to create "1/4-wave over 1/4-wave" or "5/8-over 5/8" whips. For example, the Browning BR-180 is a 5/8-over 5/8 UHF mobile whip. An arrangement like this generally lowers the angle of radiation significantly more than a straight whip, but the lobes are even narrower. As your "gain" is now compressed into a tight band, any movement of the antenna creates stronger "flutter" than you would see in a standard whip. The 1/4-wave also has much less "flutter", because of its wider lobes. It also is shorter, and thus generally more rigid.

  More "gain" can easily make your radio more susceptible to "intermod", too. Even though the 'experts' - who merely parrot "conventional wisdom" - have been told by their Wise Elders that a 5/8-wave is the hands-down superior antenna (more GAIN!), it's more complicated than that. If you are out in the suburban or exurban reaches trying to get into a repeater in town, a 5/8-wave would probably be your best choice. If you are driving around inside Minneapolis proper and talking on the .850, though, a 1/4-wave whip would be the superior antenna.

  Repeaters often use stacked verticals to get a negative angle of radiation (i.e. point the signal back at the ground). A 5/8-wave antenna on a tall building is a disaster, because the signal will still be pointing up into the sky.

  Again, vertical antennae don't concentrate your transmitted signal in any particular horizontal direction, unless you have multiple antennae in a collinear arrangement on your vehicle or something like a vertical multi-element Yagi at home. Whatever 'gain' you get from a simple whip is concentrated at an angle into the sky.