Most Popular
1500 questions
5
votes
1 answer
What is band stacking?
What is a band stacking register and/or band stacking buttons on a transceiver? And why would this be useful to an amateur radio operator?
Is using "band stacking" a current operating technique, or are there more modern operating methods? (such as…
hotpaw2
- 13,316
- 6
- 45
- 76
5
votes
1 answer
How to compute the required length and turns for an air-cored antenna
I'm experimenting with RF reception in the 433MHz band and have made the most simple "whip" monopole antenna with 17.6 centimeters of wire.
Out of curiosity, I tried various designs for the antenna among which the one described in the step by step…
OBones
- 153
- 3
5
votes
1 answer
Failing to detect Hydrogen line with 105cm dish
I've seen many examples of roughly 1 metre sized dishes being used w H+ sawbird and an SDR to detect and analyze Hydrogen line signal, and have been trying myself but can't seem to get anything beyond maybe a small whiff. I'm using a 105cm satellite…
Jack_SH
- 51
- 2
5
votes
3 answers
Consistency of Morse Code/CW sending speed
How important is it to maintain a consistent Morse Code WPM keying speed when transmitting CW? I occasionally hear operators slow way down when sending RST and location info, and then later identifying at double speed from the rest of the QSO. Is…
hotpaw2
- 13,316
- 6
- 45
- 76
5
votes
2 answers
What are the EXACT rules about FCC vanity call sign assignments?
I'm a US extra class, but a little late to the party, so to get a short 1x2 I have to fight it out at the vanity call sign fair. I thought I understood the rules, but apparently I don't.
The only chance we have to get a concise 1x2 call sign (or by…
Gunther Schadow
- 405
- 4
- 11
5
votes
1 answer
How to choose a coaxial cable
How do you know which coaxial cable to choose for your application?
For instance;
I require a cable that has a 50ohm impedance, an operating frequency of 2.4GHz, length of 100mm, and needs to be semi rigid to support the elements of the antenna I…
Ben
- 347
- 2
- 7
5
votes
3 answers
What do you call antenna that combines multiple Hustler resonators (using a VP-1) above a shared mast?
I know that a Hustler MO-3 54" mast with something like a RM-20S resonator on top is officially an example of a center-loaded quarter-wave vertical...
... but Hustler also allows you to mount multiple resonators (say, a RM20 or RM20S + RM30 + RM40…
Bitbang3r
- 401
- 2
- 8
5
votes
1 answer
can the adhesive used in thru-glass antenna couplers be replaced?
I recently bought a pair of self-adhesive thru-glass antenna couplers for my mobile radios and erred in mounting both of them, which required me to peel them off the side window glass in my minivan. The doublestick tape compound used on them…
niels nielsen
- 937
- 5
- 13
5
votes
2 answers
Receiving the ISS SSTV: dipole antenna configuration and orientation
In short
I am trying to receive SSTV Images from the ISS (145.8Mhz) and I all have is a simple "bunny ears" dipole antenna.
In what configuration (straight, vee shaped, upside down vee, ...) and orientation should I place the antenna to optimize…
Steven
- 205
- 1
- 6
5
votes
2 answers
What are the steps to become an amateur operator in Canada?
A little background. My uncle devoted part of his late life to ham radio, he had his callsign and would go install/fix radio systems all the time,travel across the country and would teach newcomers and lived the ham radio way and I'm thinking of…
marc-andre benoit
- 153
- 2
5
votes
3 answers
SDR: How are I and Q determined from the incoming signal in quadrature sampling on the receiver side?
I'm new to digital radios and signal processing, so I apologize if this question is trivial but I haven't been able to find an answer here or by googling. Also, some terminology might be off, please feel free to refer me to correct sources or to…
Steven
- 205
- 1
- 6
5
votes
2 answers
Calculating satellite passes without an internet tracker?
Situation:
You want to know when a satellite will pass in order to receive an image transmission or to work an amateur satellite. However, you cannot access internet for whatever reason, and therefore can't simply look up a pass prediction chart or…
Galaxy
- 199
- 13
5
votes
2 answers
Adding and subtracting dB/dBm/dBi values
I've got a question and any clarification on that would be greatly appreciated.
For calculating the pathloss in wireless communication we usually use the following formula:
PL = pathloss (in dB) + shadow fading (in dB) + antenna gain (in dBi) +…
susan
- 53
- 1
- 1
- 3
5
votes
5 answers
How can a tuner pick up a specific frequency?
The point I'm confused about is the antenna. Depending on the environment, there are tons of different frequencies passing through you (FM, AM, 4G, SAT, etc). The electrons in the wire will move as the radio frequencies pass by. One wave will move…
Derpy
- 95
- 7
5
votes
0 answers
What is an expected IF level of SA612?
I tried to use SA612 as a frequency mixer. Since it's a Gilbert cell, it has a high input impedance. Thus I added a pair of transformers as "Experimental Methods in RF Design" book suggests:
The mixer seems to work:
Here I'm using 15 Mhz 12 dBm LO…
Aleksander Alekseev - R2AUK
- 4,272
- 15
- 52