You may not be a licenced ham Fred, but you have the spirit of Ham radio..Receiving any ham signals is completely legal and the way most of us with licences started. Excellent work on getting it all working.. Go get your foundation..You're ready...
Agreed, Fred grab you ticket, you have enough experience to do so, the world will open up to you even more, as will the never ending spends on kit :) 73 Colin G7KDM
Fred ,colin campbell : & Pete Jamieson: Agreed also, never looked at FT8, to any degree, Ironically, I know a lot more now thanks to Fred. If you got your first ticket it would be a boon to you in situations like this. Well Done 👍🏼Barnie M7PBX.
Fred, just take the amateur radio foundation exam, you no longer need to join a club or take a practical exam! I paid £7 for the exam magazine, studied that, then booked the £28 exam test, best of all the exam is done online like a zoom meeting! It's so easy.
Well done Fred 👍🏻 Finally got my A99 up. Made Scotland last night on approx 10W. SSB. Very satisfying. Your videos were what sparked my interest in 11m. Awesome.
Be careful, next thing you will take the two hours to read and learn enough to get your ticket? If you go for it,I have a nice Alinco device that would look good with your radios and I will send it to you to in turn tune antennas easier when you get started. Being a Ham never removes the forever fact you are a CBer, even if some think it does!!!
Be great to see you on FT8 Fred :) you can use JS8 Call as well for full text-based weak signal chat. I'm on 10W and as you say, get around the world on it (albeit on 40/15m) - what I think you can also do fred is 'spot' FT8 and upload to PSKReporter - amateur radio people appreciate the propergation reports, esp on 10m which will have similar propergation for CB. You dont need a call sign to report, same for WSPR, your helping amateurs, just put the correct maidenhead grid locator in.
Hi Fred - great work mate and kudos to you for persevering with this. We have all been there !! Many hours of struggling and learning pays off!. Thumbs up!!!
Try looking for FT4 signals. Half the speed at 7.5 seconds sent and received. Also JS8Call which is similar to FT8 but is more for text between users in a weak signal mode. But glad you are enjoying the decodes. Get a SWL call and you can send cards to them as you decode them. Will, 2E0WHN
Well done Fred. Excellent work with the 6900N. I never did get it to work with that rig and now use the 450D. As you've managed to decode FT8, you should also try and decide WSPR signals. CT3535 / M7
Hi Fred. Great video man. You got me back into radios again and took your advice on the SS6900N. Strange you should mention mate, but I am studying for the foundation licence now. It's all your fault....lol....Spot on.
Well done Fred!,part of the fun of the radio hobby be it cb or ham radio is experimenting! You should be able to pick up loads on 10m now as conditions have been great.I started off early 80s on 11m dxing and worked the world.I only moved to ham radio after a visit from the Dti as it was known back then! Whatever you do in the hobby have fun 👍
The hour information doesn't matter or make any difference, only the seconds need to be in sync. No need to worry about callsigns, it's pbicly available anyway which is what HAMs want and expect.
Next step: Install JS8Call (based on FT8) and you can get in contact with me on 27.245 MHz. The official freq. for JS8Call is 27.245 MHZ USB on 11m band. I have stations from 29 and 26 div. on JS8Call here in div. 13 everyday. With JS8Call you can chat, too. FT8 cannot chat. It's working with 4 Watts (or more). But I'm working with 4 Watts in USB everyday.
I will encourage you to contact RSGB and go do foundation license with 10 watts A99 Aerial then you can use Yeasu FT450 with FT8 Data Modes I did 30 years ago a local Radio encourage to get my Amateur Radio license please do not get wrong I am not anti-CB that is the I got into communications hobby
You may be interested in the website pskreporter.info. Go to the map page where you can select a band and digi mode, and you can see just how many are using these modes. They're great modes when band conditions make SSB difficult.
Hi Fred. Got an issue. I've not done anything to my ss9900 and my clarifier seems to have stopped working. Been told it can also be used as a kc shift, but as i said, not touched anything I don't know.
You could still try to connect the radio via speaker jack at the back of the radio to the mic in on the laptop. Then adjust the mic level down to suit in the sound card settings so the audio does not over drive. It will help to get a better decode of signals and you will not interfere with the signals with noise in the room and you also wont have to listen to the tones all the time. Also try activating the waterfall feature in the software then you will see the signals on the waterfall coming in. I use FT8 all the time here in New Zealand on the ham bands always active on basic dipole and vertical antennas....
Very good Fred. Glad to see your videos over here in the US. Went with wife to London 7 years ago this month on Virgin Atlantic. Very nice trip. Saw HRH Queen Elizabeth in her Rover at Buckingham Palace drive by! My wife and I too like reading about the Royal Family's goings on. Enjoyed the Pub in Earl's Court, near the tube. People were nice in the UK. Been back to London also in 1979 when your CB was developing as it was big in those days in the US. I had the call KBG7077 from 1962, for CB, when one had to be 18 to be licensed. Last CB call was KXR6485, which expired in 1985, when CB in the US became unlicensed. I was first licensed as a novice Amateur at 17, in 1962, as WV2ZPD, later as WA2ZPD, when I became a Technician Class, and General Class in 1979. I became an Advanced Class in 1994, which isn't given an longer, and finally Amateur Extra Class in 1995. I obtained the vanity Extra Class call letters, W2CH, in 1997, until now, 58 years later. My Elmer amateur is also still around, first as WA2USG, then WA1LKF, in Massachusetts, and N1MH, with the Extra Class, a few years ago. He does FT-8 often on HF. I started with Packet almost 40 years ago, and when Digital Modes were new, about 20 years ago, PSK-31, which was developed by a British Amateur, Peter Martinez. It's similar to operating FT-8, being weak signal, using low power levels too. Actually, I was born in Marylebone, London, in 1944, during the war, my parents went from the Continent to London in 1939, just before the war, and in 1949, we came to New York City on the Queen Mary. My Uncle was in London too and came to the US a bit after us. My Father and Uncle were sent to Canada to work there from 1940 to 1943, when they came back, my parents were married in London. We lived off Edgewere Road in Park West, near Marble Arch. The RAF Spitfire pilot after coming back from being a POW in Germany, Douglas Bader, was an apartment building neighbor when I was young there. Actually, Ancestry.com, shows my genetic background is 29%, British. Nice watching you again. Enjoy FT-8. Raymond Martin (Nahl), W2CH.
Born in London your a cockney me old mucker :-). Nice to hear about your trip over 7 years back. London has changed but there is still a lot of history to learn. I was also born in London but moved out to the sticks when i was 4. When i left school i went back and worked there for 5 years. Its way too busy in the big smoke these days.
1. I'm using an old 360FM/148GTL-DX to listen to FT8 2. Speaker out from rig into a mixer 3. CD/Tape out to line In on Computer 4. Dimensions4 5. WSJT-X Software Good time to do Foundation / Intermediate licence as available online with no practicals needed Fred... ;-)
