I've seen talk about hams on here before so figured someone could help. I'm having trouble finding any signals so I already ordered the na-771 antenna upgrade, why what I'm really interested is how to set up my own that I can run up a 50ft tree. I'd like it to be DIY and cheap as possible.
Yeah, if you two just picked a frequency and tested how far it will go, the limit is line-of-sight. The signal won't make it over the horizon. Hills, buildings, trees, ect.. all cause interference and weaken the signal. 2 miles sounds about as far as I would expect that radio to work. Once you get a radio that is capable of HF, you can bounce your signal off the atmosphere and the ground to reach much further distances.
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However, this is also why we have repeaters setup in high places around town. You can check https://repeaterbook.com/repeaters/index.php?state_id=none for any repeaters in your area. Tune to these frequencies and you can listen. If you want to talk (once you have your license), you will need to set the CTCSS (PL) tone and get acknowledged by the repeater.
Also check out https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/ which will show you commercial entities assigned frequencies in your area. Some of them (like police and fire) are trunked so you will only hear digital garbage, but give it a shot and see what you can find.
rectangle 0 points 2.5 years ago
Yeah, if you two just picked a frequency and tested how far it will go, the limit is line-of-sight. The signal won't make it over the horizon. Hills, buildings, trees, ect.. all cause interference and weaken the signal. 2 miles sounds about as far as I would expect that radio to work. Once you get a radio that is capable of HF, you can bounce your signal off the atmosphere and the ground to reach much further distances.
--
However, this is also why we have repeaters setup in high places around town. You can check https://repeaterbook.com/repeaters/index.php?state_id=none for any repeaters in your area. Tune to these frequencies and you can listen. If you want to talk (once you have your license), you will need to set the CTCSS (PL) tone and get acknowledged by the repeater.
Also check out https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/ which will show you commercial entities assigned frequencies in your area. Some of them (like police and fire) are trunked so you will only hear digital garbage, but give it a shot and see what you can find.