Ham Radio Fishing Net

[tacklejunkie]

No fishing network because your internet is down?
spend a lot of time off grid, beyond range of cell reception?
Then you need HAM radio!
https://youtu.be/fLM8vIBaSHs

[tacklejunkie]

Ps I paid $26 for that radio from amazon.
you need to be licensed to transmit but it’s perfectly legal to receive without a license.
Im going in tomorrow in Boise to take my ham technician test. Wish me luck!

here is the catch..

if you are in a life and death emergency, you no longer need a license to transmit with the radio and are allowed to call for help.

so,
for $26 you can get emergency contact radio to use when there is no cellphone reception.
everyone is doing it!

it also doubles as NOAA weather and FM radio in case of emergency. I’ve tested them outside cell reception many times.

[tacklejunkie]

Considering all the big tech censorship, who knows if they turn off your phone because they don’t like what you said. Make sure you can communicate in other ways. ��
this is still a freedom of speech country as far as I’m concerned. They might boot you off private platforms, but don’t let it hold you back.

[tacklejunkie]

One more tip:

this is not a CB radio. You cannot talk to cB radios with this baofeng $26 radio. It does not tune in AM cb bands. Only FM Ham and Radio. It has two ham bands. 2meter and 70cm. Sometimes when you go off roading you will see the trails marked with a CB channel for communicating on that trail. This radio won’t do that. You will need a second CB radio to do this.
the difference is CB has only 40 channels, runs on am and doesn’t require a license but can only go a couple miles.

ham radio requires a license or two, has tons and tons of channels, uses FM and a few more modes, and can’t talk to walkie talkies or GMRS or CB legally. If you dial in a repeater, you can potentially talk world wide with a handset. CB is not this way.

ham would be better in off grid or life or death emergency. Cb is better for off road and trucking, talking to other members of some sort of fleet. Etc.

cb radio is not quite what it used to be, these days. Lol
ham is where it’s at!

25 years ago before the prevalence of cellphones, I watched a Ham contact Australia from his garage in Simi Valley, California.

who needs an IPhone? Not HAMs. Yes they even have GPS and APRS for location and tracking. No quite google maps.. but you get the idea.

[tacklejunkie]

Passed the Technician test today! Just waiting for my Ham call sign from the FCC and then I can talk on ham radio.
now to study for the advanced licenses

[tacklejunkie]

Ok folks you seen we can converse fishing with ham radio.
now it’s time to save your life with it.

HT’s (handy talkie) aka “walkie talkie” size ham radios are only good for so much power and distance. In a city, that may be fine. But when you be out in the woods not giving a F like honey badger, you’re going to need a little more juice! Catch my drift boat?

so we stuffed 50w into the whip and went 30mi into the woods to see if we can save face.

here, we unbox the high power.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWhMNSisiAk

and here we get it installed and prepped up, ready for use.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2gplfLwHP0&t=312s

next episode:
to be continued.
saving face. Making contacts and not dying in (the middle of) the forest.

spoiler alert:
yes, it would save your life outside of cellphone reception where I go fishing and camping. There is no monthly subscription or data plan. Buy once cry once and done. You definitely do not need satellite if you can understand ham, as ham can talk to satellites.

[etucker1959]

Ps I paid $26 for that radio from amazon.
you need to be licensed to transmit but it’s perfectly legal to receive without a license.
Im going in tomorrow in Boise to take my ham technician test. Wish me luck!

here is the catch..

if you are in a life and death emergency, you no longer need a license to transmit with the radio and are allowed to call for help.

so,
for $26 you can get emergency contact radio to use when there is no cellphone reception.
everyone is doing it!

it also doubles as NOAA weather and FM radio in case of emergency. I’ve tested them outside cell reception many times.

Is running out of Minnows in a hot Crappie bite considered a Life or Death event? Lol

Just kidding of course!!!

By the way, I do have an extra class Ham Radio License. AA6 ET. I haven't used it in years, good to know it has some value in fishing!

[Althea Hamby]

Ok folks you seen we can converse fishing with ham radio.
now it’s time to save your life with it.

HT’s (handy talkie) aka “walkie talkie” size ham radios are only good for so much power and distance. In a city, that may be fine. But when you be out in the woods not giving a F like honey badger, you’re going to need a little more juice! Catch my drift boat?

so we stuffed 50w into the whip and went 30mi into the woods to see if we can save face.

here, we unbox the high power.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWhMNSisiAk

and here we get it installed and prepped up, ready for use.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2gplfLwHP0&t=312s

next episode:
to be continued.
saving face. Making contacts and not dying in (the middle of) the forest.

spoiler alert:
yes, it would save your life outside of cellphone reception where I go fishing and camping. There is no monthly subscription or data plan. Buy once cry once and done. You definitely do not need satellite if you can understand ham, as ham can talk to satellites.

That's cool. Looking forward to more of your videos using this.

[tacklejunkie]

Just took video of myself making a 31 mile contact from Tillamook to Deer island. On VHF.
My broadband is too slow, here. I'm in the middle of the woods without a booster.
I'll load the video later.

If I move a little to the left or the right, I lose cell reception. But I don't lose radio contact. In this location.

I used the FTM-400XDR waterfall display to locate a "repeater" that was hosting a "net". Then listened for a while. The repeaters are programmed to rattle off their PL tone once every half hour or so. I picked up the PL tone ( a code that opens audio connection on that frequency), entered it into my transceiver and shouted out my "call sign" when they asked for "mobile stations" to check in to "the net". (my FTM-400XDR is installed into my truck, and therefore, considered a "mobile station")

When I get to a town, I'll leach some internet off a public building and load the video. :LOL:

There is a way around EVERYTHING.
I learned that you can even do email and texting with HAM radio. I don't know if this can be done outside cell reception, but I may find out soon.

I have also read the second level HAM testing book and have been studying for the higher (2nd) level ham license. So it may seem that I'll throw some crazy azzed high power HF radio in my truck along with the VHF and UHF radios and be able to talk to people in different countries, while hidden in ravines in the trees in the middle of the forest. Assuming, the solar conditions are correct, of course!
HF = High Frequency 3-30mhz - long distance contacts - lets go global!
VHF = Very High Frequency 30-300mhz - 2 meter wavelength travels farther than UHF but doesn't fit through as tight of spaces - good for open valleys and mountain peaks
UHF = Ultra High Frequency 300mhz- 3ghz - shorter distance smaller wavelengths, fit good through smaller openings like trees and windows etc - good in city scape
(this why your 4G and 5G phone suck in the middle of nowhere but good in the city near repeaters AKA cell towers)
Shorter wavelengths fizzle out faster and you need more repeaters. But better reception around home.

Hang in there, I'll post more as it comes. as much as I want to be a ham guru.. I just got my license two weeks ago. :LOL:

I've come to learn that you'd sound like a total idiot talking on a radio without learning the things they require to obtain the license. It would be like driving down the road without ever reading the drivers manual.
I sure wish they'd do that for the internet!

I think I kinda feel driven to do this for yet another friend I had, once upon a time, that passed away. Who was really into ham radio. RIP David.
History repeats itself. Ham has seem a resurgence since CoronaChan began. He's be rolling in his grave.

It's definitely proven itself to me in short order. Never knew I would be a radio station.

[tacklejunkie]

I've come to understand that on HF bands, "20 meters" is a wavelength that is usually open in most solar conditions.
(read as.. long distance contacts any time)
I'll need a half-wavelength antenna to fit on my truck.
that means I need a 10 meter long antenna on my truck. 10 meters is roughly 30 feet or so.
To do this, you need to coil or "load" the antennas.

You'll also need to consider that your HF radio does other bands. This means you either need different antennae, or one antenna that can adjust itself, mechanically, to match the lengths of antennae used for the various bands.

In other words, there may end up being some giant mechanical rotating dildo looking antenna contraption hanging off my truck in the not so distant future. :LOL:
This should be good!

[tacklejunkie]

31 mile contact from Tillamook State Forest to Deer Island, Oregon. Caused by me signing into a net found on a waterfall.
https://youtu.be/IFDyLnwpRIo

As long as my truck is mobile, or I can remove the radio from the truck and drag it half way up a hill, I can probably make contacts 50 miles away on a regular basis, no issues. I’d imagine if I was atop somewhere like Mt Hood, I could probably pull 60-75 mile contacts.

the trick is, you gotta be mostly line of sight. This means, when the international space station flies overhead, you can also contact them! Might be handy to know, during an emergency.

next time, I’ll try going back into a canyon where I catch donkey fish under some trees and behind some granite and see how I do when I’m buried.

this will be really interesting! I still don’t have a high frequency radio. Just VHF and UHF. Line of sight.

when I go to high frequency (HF), the radio signals are bounced off layers of the atmosphere called the ionosphere, and reflected back down to earth. You can jump up to 2500 miles with this type of communication,, and then skip it back and fourth between the earth surface and ionosphere. Traversing continents, to hear your own voice echo Back to you as it circles the earth!

but we aren’t there yet. Let’s see if I can make a contact when buried on VHF and UHF, next.

[tacklejunkie]

I am, however, ready to take the next level test. Once I can find a sanctioned event. Scoring up in the 90’s on the “General Exam” just about every attempt. Soon we may be dipping toes into HF.
53191

[tacklejunkie]

Can you imagine?

”mayday mayday this is Kilo Juliette 7 Whiskey Zulu Tango Over!”

“Yes uhhhm, Casey? Right? This is the ISS we were just passing by and figured we’d respond to your mayday, what seems to be the issue?!”

”yeah I blew a tire while catching donkeys in the snow. Can you phone the sherrif and send my coordinates? Thanks!”

[FISHISH]

Can you imagine?

”mayday mayday this is Kilo Juliette 7 Whiskey Zulu Tango Over!”

“Yes uhhhm, Casey? Right? This is the ISS we were just passing by and figured we’d respond to your mayday, what seems to be the issue?!”

”yeah I blew a tire while catching donkeys in the snow. Can you phone the sherrif and send my coordinates? Thanks!”

"Ok, firing Retro-thrusters and dropping outta orbit"

[tacklejunkie]

Aright!
just about ACED the General Ham license test just now. Only missed one question of 35.
I’m now legal to use High Frequencies. (Which are actually lower than the frequencies I was already legalized to use! Lol.)
NOW we’re playing with full power and spectrum.

to be continued.

I also got some very good FULL VIDEO of me participating in the Timber Repeater Fiahong Net while 30 miles in the woods, also proving its out of cell reception with my cellphone on the video.

I’ll post the videos soon. I don’t get to stop traveling anymore....

of course this probably means we will have to spend $2g’s on gear and contact Australia. Problem is, nobody has any HF radios available due to chip shortages.

[tacklejunkie]

https://youtu.be/FqQlHSdGTyY

There's the 8 minute clip of me participating in the Ham Radio fishing Net with a beer and some sushi while 30 miles deep in the woods.

[tacklejunkie]

The campsite from that night. Had the trailer, the dog and a nice fire going. 30 miles back down a winding dirt road.
Nobody goes there. Tons of free fire wood all over. Roll up and BONFIRE.
https://youtu.be/rq_8s4mugRg

[tacklejunkie]

OOOOOooooooohhhhwheeee!
Have I got a hell of a surprise for ya'll.
Get ready to start speaking with an accent. We broke the 2G budget limit.

[tacklejunkie]

Alright, ladies.
$2500 later we can call Pluto.

I contacted Utah from Oregon today, California last night and I have been listening in on Japan and Indonesia.
I’ll get some more evidence soon. Perhaps even touch base with said countries.

here is the big Japanese motorized mechanical antenna I was talking about:
https://youtu.be/UbgkcRijeSM

and here is my solar powered off grid trailer powering my HF Yaesu FTDX10 fine Japanese radio!
I didn’t even realize it all these months but it appears I built a solar radio shack. It just materialized today.
https://youtu.be/1WdMAjPovHw

They jabber a bit different on HF than they do on VHF/UHV. As soon as I learn to squawk like the birds, I’ll record it. This computerassed radio can do things like that. Along with plugging in a mouse, keyboard and monitor :Shocked:

[tacklejunkie]

I am also in the process of applying for a new, shorter call sign, and I have moved my call sign to a PO Box. So you can’t all track me down, so easily. :LOL:

The shorter call sign helps make people actually want to talk to me more on HF. Easier to remember and contacts on Hf can be quicker because “band” conditions fade in and out and change from one area to another.
If it’s dark in LA but light in Florida, one band may be open in Florida tha is not yet open in LA until the sun comes up, or similar.

Anyway, I got some adrenaline when calling out on HF my first few times in the middle of nowhere and watching the $2500 investment work it’s magic. Like plug and play, man. Plug and play. So cool.

i did not plan to have a solar powered HF Radio fishing shack. But indeed, I do.

[tacklejunkie]

One more thing.

I picked up the third and final Ham radio licensing manual for the Extra Class license.
Twice as many questions on the test and lots more math.

Gonna go for it. Might as well, opens up more capabilities on the $2500 HF system.

[tacklejunkie]

Contacted a skydiver last night with the HF radio. While here in South Dakota camping out. He jumped out of a plane and deployed his antenna and had 7 minutes of float time to talk to people. Was on a livestream on YouTube. Super wild!

just call me super armchair YouTube bandit.