# Radio Question



## DrPrepper (Apr 17, 2016)

I may know lots about medicine, but I know NOTHING about radios. I recently bought a small crank radio. It has AM, FM, and 2 short wave (one from 5.8 - 10.0 MHz, and the other from 11.6 - 18.2 MHz). Can anyone tell me if I will be able to hear HAM radio transmissions on this? Since I am not sure what the difference is between Ham and Shortwave, I don't really know what I am listening to. I get pretty good reception at night - last night I listened to people talking in English, Spanish, French, and Chinese! I just could not tell if I was listening to radio programs or conversations. Thanks for helping me understand!
Diana


----------



## OutInTheWoods (Jun 13, 2016)

5.8mhz-10mhz would be the 40 and 60 meter HAM bands.
11.6mhz-18.2mhz covers the 17,20, and 30 meter HAM bands.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amateur_radio_frequency_allocations


----------



## ENIGMA6 (Apr 16, 2011)

Most ham transmissions are in Morse code, and single sideband on the frequency ranges you mentioned. If your radio doesn't have a bfo function, you won't be able to understand SSB. A few hams still use AM mode, but not many. I think your radio was meant more for international broadcasts, like the BBC, and other foreign broadcasts beamed to the US in English.


----------



## DrPrepper (Apr 17, 2016)

Thank you!


----------



## Fn/Form (Nov 6, 2008)

There's just as much or more voice traffic out there than there is Morse. Data is another HF mode many are using for long-distance/weak condition comms where you can't even discern Morse code by ear.

If your preps include a laptop then spending $300 + free software download will give you a software-defined radio or software-defined receiver (SDR) that is able to display the entire HF band spectrum at a glance. You can see transmissions happening real time and with an immediate historical view called a "waterfall display" using your regular computer monitor. Google it.

With an SDR you can cover all HF bands all at once and decode AM, FM, SSB and many new many other modes with a few mouse clicks. If you are computer or tech savvy it will not be difficult at all to receive things like satellite weather images direct to your computer with the same SDR.

The SDRplay RSP is probably my favorite when paired with the free software they offer. It has, by far, the lowest CPU loading of any software out there. It will run on any compatible, half-decent computer. However it only receive the maximum waterfall bandwidth of about 8 megahertz with a decent computer. I have my RSP running on a banged up 5yr old 2nd gen i5 laptop without any performance issues. 

On the other hand the Airspy + SpyVerter setup will allow you to see the entire HF Spectrum at a glance. Then you can tune to where you see signal activity. The SDRplay and Airspy both require a decent amount of computer knowledge. But once you have them set up they are easy to play with.

You will need to spend a little more for an antenna which could cost you anywhere from 40 bucks to the sky is the limit.

Many SDRs are extremely wideband - - meaning they cover HF through UHF and much higher. 

You can get your feet wet with something like a Nooelec USB radio from Amazon. They should run about 20 to 30 bucks for the one with a temperature compensated oscillator. I have two of the ones with aluminum cases and they're great for just trying out the concept. They are very limited bandwidth though.

There are SDR transceiver is out there as well. They range from the cheap couple hundred bucks to thousands of dollars.

The crank radios are great for use with known, scheduled programming or strictly mobile use. Otherwise you may find yourself twiddling the knob for a significant amount of time before you find traffic of worth to you.


----------



## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

The big tell tale sign if you are picking up ham radio is that they will be using call signs to identify their station every few minutes like KM4ZBX ( I made that up and don't think it's been assigned yet). Or it could be shorter or it could have 5 digits, 4 letter and one number in the second or third space.


----------



## ab3lw (Sep 28, 2016)

hi, im new here. the difference between ham and shortwave is: shortwave is a band of spectrum that has global coverage at varying times and ham is a "service" that uses it for a hobby. another service is international broadcasting. the band 5.8 to 10 is favored by the atmosphere for long distance at late afternoon to night ( the later the lower). the higher 11.6 - 18.2 will work best morning to late afternoon.

try adding a ten foot piece of thin speaker wire to the antenna for better results.

most of the english broadcasts left are religious stations. most of the gov run stations like the bbc are gone now.

try 12.160 mhz at noon est for infowars on wwcr. its rebroadcast later around six pm est on 6.115 mhz

that radio isnt going get much ham activity


----------



## smaj100 (Oct 17, 2012)

talk to me about transmitting data from one radio to another that is cost effective?


----------



## bkt (Oct 10, 2008)

Yes, please do! I know you can use APRS to send short messages, but that's not what it was designed for. Something that will let me send a data stream of moderate length would be handy.


----------



## dademoss (Aug 6, 2011)

http://www.arrl.org/digital-data-modes :

A great number of exciting new digital operating modes have developed, largely because of the availability of personal computers, soundcards, and advanced software. But amateur digital communication began in earnest in the late 1940's (if you don't count Morse as a digital mode!) when hams worked out techniques of connecting mechanical Teletype keyboard/printers to amateur gear using FSK and AFSK modulation. There are too many different modes to list individually, but here are some of the major ones:


----------



## ab3lw (Sep 28, 2016)

i have little experience with digital modes in ham radio. but if i wanted to connect two laptops together i would buy a pair of kenwood d72 hts. 

if you have ppl in your group that dont have a ham license, check out the gotenna products. there are two kinds available now, one works as a mesh network over uhf. the other uses murs freqs on vhf. a third version is available to emergency responders and military only. 

its all on their web site gotenna.com 

no ham license required!


----------



## bkt (Oct 10, 2008)

Thanks, ab3lw. I'm going to try to figure out a way to do basic AX.25 with cheap HTs, if possible. I have a Mobilinkd TNC already, so it should be possible. The objective is to be able to communicate several miles away with friends running fldigi or similar.

I guess the confusion is that there's digital HAM radio which digitizes a voice and sends it on a narrow frequency which might help with range and during inclement weather. And there's digital packet radio on analog FM radio which probably isn't significantly better than voice. (It would be better only in having a CRC to resend corrupt packets.)

The gotenna idea is very neat. Unfortunately, the range is around 4 miles in wide open spaces per the website.


----------



## ab3lw (Sep 28, 2016)

the go tenna soulds like it would be good for you if you just use the radio portion of it tied in to your existing tnc with some kind of hack. 

i have a uv8d that was only 99usd and a uv5r that was 25usd, i dont do packet, but as far as i know i just need a tnc.

myself, im looking at getting a delorne sat phone with unlimited voice and text for 150 a month.


----------



## Bob_Hayles (Jan 13, 2017)

ENIGMA6 said:


> Most ham transmissions are in Morse code...


No idea where you got that, but it is WRONG, big time. There is far, far more voice over Ham than code. Its not the 1960's anymore.


----------

