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1500 questions
4
votes
1 answer

No stations on MW band at daytime

I have a portable radio which serves for FM / MW / SW bands. At nights I can listen to 4-6 international channels from different countries on MW. However, I am unable to tune them at daytime. Is it about my location as a result of earth's spin or…
Karel Capek
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4
votes
1 answer

why do some radios have two fuses in the power leads

On a number of fairly modern rigs I've seen that both power leads are fused: Why is this still so? Does this have something to do with some vehicles having a ground-positive system or is this simply a forgotten relic that needs to disappear as…
captcha
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4
votes
1 answer

Bonding of Coax shield to RF ground conductor for long ground runs?

My shack is on the second floor of my home, and I run a single operator, 2 radio contest setup. The two coax runs pass through the wall and drop down to an antenna switch approximately 15 feet from the radios. The ground system consists of multiple…
Hamsterdave
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4
votes
4 answers

Is it normal for mini shortwave radios to not have any reception in a major city?

I'm new to radios. Just bought the mini Eton which has FM/AM/SW and while FM & AM work I have never received a single station on SW1 (5.9 - 10 MHz) or SW2 (11.65 - 18 MHz). Is that normal? Will shortwave only work in Europe? I'm in Canada now. If…
verve
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4
votes
3 answers

How can one convert from Grid Square to Lat/Long?

Can someone explain how can get the Lat/Lon of a given Grid square? (the middle of the grid would be the best). I've looked at this (that does the "reverse"...from lat/lo to grid"): How can one convert from Lat/Long to Grid Square? But i need to do…
4
votes
3 answers

Is there a preferred order for learning Morse code using the Koch method?

The Koch method of learning Morse code is based on the idea that you learn characters at full speed, but a reduced set of characters that is expanded over time, instead of learning the full set of characters from the beginning at reduced speed and…
user
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4
votes
1 answer

How to calculate effective isotropic radiated power apply to lossy antennas

If a band allows one watt EIRP and I have an antenna that is 1% effective could I legally run 100 watts into the antenna because only one watt is radiated? If that same antenna also has a gain would I then have to include this as well in the…
Arthur
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4
votes
4 answers

CW "training" recordings

I'd like to get some recordings of typical receiver audio output of HF CW transmissions. I'd like to both train my mental copying capabilities and look into improved automatic (software) CW transcribers; hence, typical, humanly induced symbol rate…
Marcus Müller
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4
votes
1 answer

ADS-B for Trains?

Is there any kind of technology similar to ADS-B for trains? I'm aware of HOT/EOT/DPU messages, but as far as I can see these don't allow you to see its location. I'm specifically wondering about the location aspect. Would be particularly nice if I…
lightbord
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4
votes
1 answer

How can we determine what repeaters to use?

My wife and I are studying for our Technician class licenses. We are thinking about how we could communicate with each other while both of us are at work, she being in Oakland, CA and myself in Pleasant Hill, CA. with several hills and about 15 to…
Jonathan
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4
votes
2 answers

How do I evaluate the features and performance of radios?

A recent phenomena in amateur radio has been the influx of inexpensive handheld 2m/70cm radios from companies such as Baofeng. These claim to have the primary features like power output and frequency coverage that many other brands with a fraction…
W5VO
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4
votes
1 answer

Can one send data over Short-wave frequencies?

I have an inkling of an idea- a modem system communicating over Short-wave. I know that WiMAX already exists, but the difference is that, while WiMAX works on the Gigahertz frequencies, and most concepts for Ham Radio ones think Megahertz…
4
votes
3 answers

Convert maidenhead grid square to lat/long in Excel?

I have a list of maidenhead grid squares in an Excel sheet that I want to convert to latitude and longitude. I want to keep it as simple as possible. Does anyone know of a formula to convert from maidenhead to lat/long?
user6587
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4
votes
1 answer

What factors (out of operator control) can affect the range?

Some factors, such as the antenna type and power output can be easily adjusted by an operator to manipulate the range of a radio signal. However, others (such as the weather) are out of operator control. What such factors can affect the range of a…
berry120
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4
votes
7 answers

How do I separate dovetailed PowerPole housings?

Anderson PowerPole connector housings can be joined side-to-side using dovetail joints molded into the plastic to make a multi-conductor connector, as seen in the conventional amateur radio 12V power positive/negative configuration. How does one…
Kevin Reid AG6YO
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