Posted: 2/3/2010 1:35:10 PM EDT
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What does a ham radio actuall pick up. I want to listem to these and I dont want to get a scanner. I am going to find the next testing area and test to get my ham. this is from another thread, it sayd this is what gets picked up from ham radios. BTW I plan on getting the VX-8DR
All ham frequencies All shortwave frequencies (listen only, with emergency transmit) All CB frequencies (listen only, with emergency transmit of dubious success) Aviation band AM broadcast band FM broadcast band Analog TV band NOAA/All Hazards frequencies FRS/GMRS frequencies All unencrypted public safety frequencies and bands Most unencrypted government frequencies and bands Most unencrypted military frequencies and bands (not satellite or ELF or stuff, of course) Most unencrypted private frequencies and bands (again, not satellite or whatever) Ambulances Police Fire Snowplows Stormchasers/Skywarn/RACES storm spotting Taxi services Buses Tow trucks Unencrypted 900mhz cordless phones Space shuttle International Space Station Amateur radio satellites Unencrypted federal agencies Unencrypted Air Force One Railroad Marine (boats n stuff) Coast guard Limited CB Things you wouldn't get: Military and commercial satellite frequencies and bands Encrypted communications Cell phones A couple other odds and ends. |
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This is what I am looking at listening to, and I would like to have the ability to transmit.
All ham frequencies All shortwave frequencies (listen only, with emergency transmit) Aviation band (Optional) NOAA/All Hazards frequencies FRS/GMRS frequencies All unencrypted public safety frequencies and bands Most unencrypted government frequencies and bands Most unencrypted military frequencies and bands (not satellite or ELF or stuff, of course) Most unencrypted private frequencies and bands (again, not satellite or whatever) Ambulances Police Fire Stormchasers/Skywarn/RACES storm spotting Amateur radio satellites Unencrypted federal agencies Unencrypted Air Force One Railroad Marine (boats n stuff) Coast guard Limited CB would a ham pick most of it up if I had the Freqs? |
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cb- No
am/fm- depends on radio selected Analog TV- does this even exist anymore? Police/fire/ambulance- as long as its not trunked or digital or both All that other stuff- you would need to program the radio into selected memory bands to scan that stuff with any degree of accuracy and it all depends on what particular radio you get. They each do different bits of frequency bands. |
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That was my post.
The VX-8 is a quad band radio with wide RX, including broadcast AM and FM as well as shortwave. A couple limitations include tx range, tx power, and tx/rx modes. Most phone ham HF is in single sideband, which I don't think the VX-8 can even receive in. I'd also have to google its modded capabilities, to see what frequencies that opens up. It's an excellent radio, however, for vhf and uhf listening. No AM mode, so you won't be transmitting on aviation in emergencies, but you can listen. I don't believe it will pick up digital public safety transmissions, which is a potentially large problem if you're trying to replace a scanner. You would want to look into that. A digital scanner and a moddable HF rig supporting SSB and AM tx would round out your station very nicely. Note that the 8R requires an external battery case for high power TX from AA batteries; the internal case accessory only holds three such cells. Also remember that out of band transmissions are for dire emergencies ONLY. To figure out what you'll need, work down that list of bands, google each, and find out this info for each: 1. Frequency range 2. Mode 3. Whether it is digital or encrypted or some combination. Then, compare those to the specs of radios you're looking at. Compare factory as well as modded specs, since modded specs will tend to deteriorate in capability as they diverge from the factory specs. |
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Quoted:
This is what I am looking at listening to, and I would like to have the ability to transmit. All ham frequencies YES All shortwave frequencies (listen only, with emergency transmit) YES Aviation band (Optional) YES NOAA/All Hazards frequencies YES FRS/GMRS frequencies YES All unencrypted public safety frequencies and bands YES Most unencrypted government frequencies and bands YES Most unencrypted military frequencies and bands (not satellite or ELF or stuff, of course) YES Most unencrypted private frequencies and bands (again, not satellite or whatever) YES Ambulances YES Police YES Fire YES Stormchasers/Skywarn/RACES storm spotting YES Amateur radio satellites YES Unencrypted federal agencies YES Unencrypted Air Force One NO Railroad YES Marine (boats n stuff) YES Coast guard YES Limited CB YES would a ham pick most of it up if I had the Freqs? YES Consider most modern DC to daylight amateur radios will do a lot and covers a lot of freq's. My Kenwood TS-480 covers 500 kHz (30 kHz VFO) to 60 MHz alone. Now something like the Kenwood TS-2000 will cover 30 kHz-60 MHz plus 118-174, 220-512 MHz. The Yaesu FT-857D will cover 0.1-56, 76-108, 118-164 and 420-470 MHz . So that gives you an idea of what some of these rigs cover. Also some of you V/UHF rigs like the Yaesu FT-8800R covers 108-520 and 700-999 MHz (cellular blocked). So you just have to look at what the rigs cover and what you really want. |
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Cool ^
Just don't forget modes and mods. Step frequency can also be a bit of a struggle, but most decent radios support custom step increments, if you even want to bother at all rather than just range scanning. Incidentally, OP, note the scanning capabilities of radios. The VX-8 supports a very cool smart search scan that basically runs itself repeatedly until it fills a block of memory with detected transmission frequencies. Very handy for finding commonly used freqs. At the same time, remember that dedicated scanners have nice organizational technologies for ease of listening, and in many cases can hear digital transmissions, like your local pd's, that a ham radio cannot. Also, check out eham reviews for whatever you're looking at. |
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Universal Radio, HRO, and a couple other sites are the best ones.
I think U-R has the VX-8 for about 380. But remember, do your homework first. Look at the specs, the modes, and the mods. You need to understand that a ham radio is, at best, only a poor substitute for a scanner when it comes to scanning, and that no ham radio is a jack of all trades. Also, you should check your hometown forum regarding local public safety frequencies, to find out whether they're digital or encrypted or clear. Websites like radio-reference can point you in the right direction, but might be out of date. |
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Looking at the specs, I'd get the 8R rather than the 8DR. That's just me, though. |
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I have a yaseau 840 with a continuous VFO from 100hz all the way to 30mhz, and that is an old used radio. That covers all the HF bands, shortwave, AM Broadcast, and CB. And it can be modified to transmit out of band. Its just one jumper. I have one myself. Really good SSB and just OK on AM transmit. |
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Looking at the specs, I'd get the 8R rather than the 8DR. That's just me, though. I have the 8r, the 8dr does not justify the extra $100 to me. |
| I keep finding the vx-8 and websites saying that there will be a program update to it can accept aprs. I keep reading the website. I guess its everything I am looking for. I am looking for something thats compatible with the emergency management freq's and very small in size. |
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Again, I think the VX-8R lacks SSB, so its HF reception capability is very limited. Nearly all ham HF transmissions are in SSB (upper or lower depending on band). As a VHF/UHF radio, though, it seems fine. Won't transmit nearly as well as a cheap mobile radio, but I won't beat that dead horse.
Have you found info on modding it? |
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I keep finding the vx-8 and websites saying that there will be a program update to it can accept aprs. I keep reading the website. I guess its everything I am looking for. I am looking for something thats compatible with the emergency management freq's and very small in size. From everything I've read in your prior posts over the course of the year and your 2 current threads, you need a scanner, not a ham radio. For the money you'll spend on that VX-8DR or whatever, you could get a nice scanner and pay someone to program it for you. Don't buy a ham radio if you're just looking to monitor everybody and their brother. Wrong tool for the job. You mentioned transmitting. Ham radios transmit on ham radio frequencies. They can be modified to transmit elsewhere but 1) it's not legal except life and death and 2) what person is actually authorized to transmit on that massive list? Anyone with authorization to transmit on all those .gov frequencies will likely also be issued equipment to do so, with the exception of maybe volunteer fire. |
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I am planning on getting a ham radio because I am going to join a local CERT team I will get my Ham license as soon as I get time off, and I would like to get into Ham. Skip CERT, look at ARES, SkyWarn, RACES, or SATERN. These are the extra specks on the VX-8DR over the VX-8R ( I would go with the 8r, as its $100 cheaper, and I do not find the updates valuable. The VX-8r does APRS just like the 8DR,just not as many memories for messages and such) VX8DR Key APRS® Additional Features
Smart Beaconing Function : When using APRS® for position tracking, the beacon timing is automatically adjusted to your traveling speed and location to plot a smoother trace to match your position and movement on a map. The number of Station List memories has increased from 40 to 50. The number of APRS Message memories has increased from 20 to 30. DIGI-PATH route indication function: The APRS® Packet data includes Digipeater routing info. Heads up compass display to the GPS Screen: Your traveling is always toward the top of the display. The message received LED flashing rate is selectable. The number of DIGI-PATH route settings is increased from 1 to 7. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I am planning on getting a ham radio because I am going to join a local CERT team I will get my Ham license as soon as I get time off, and I would like to get into Ham. Skip CERT, look at ARES, SkyWarn, RACES, or SATERN. These are the extra specks on the VX-8DR over the VX-8R ( I would go with the 8r, as its $100 cheaper, and I do not find the updates valuable. The VX-8r does APRS just like the 8DR,just not as many memories for messages and such) VX8DR Key APRS® Additional Features
Smart Beaconing Function : When using APRS® for position tracking, the beacon timing is automatically adjusted to your traveling speed and location to plot a smoother trace to match your position and movement on a map. The number of Station List memories has increased from 40 to 50. The number of APRS Message memories has increased from 20 to 30. DIGI-PATH route indication function: The APRS® Packet data includes Digipeater routing info. Heads up compass display to the GPS Screen: Your traveling is always toward the top of the display. The message received LED flashing rate is selectable. The number of DIGI-PATH route settings is increased from 1 to 7. I am but I have to start somewhere. |
| CERT is next to useless. its really not worth the time or energy. it gives you very little training and nothing near what you need if you really want to do something. if your interested in disaster relief then you should become a voly fire fighter/EMT. thats the only way you will get the right training. |