HAM's of Flitetest...Say Hello!!!

[KevinG]

Hi Everyone de KG6D Extra class QTH Manteca, CA (Northern California)

Just started this year with RC Planes and loving the hobby!

 

[makattack]

Just spreading the word to hams in the Sudbury/Concord area of Massachusetts who want to join in a foxhunt for a 7' sailplane lost 2 weeks ago:

Alan showed up last night at the field for our club meeting with a huge Yagi and his CW receiver. Unfortunately, they couldn't get a better fix on it, and I had an FPV tricopter that didn't have a long enough duration (trifecta) for a SAR -- I also didn't pack my FPV groundstation for 3rd party viewing so couldn't help with the search. I had a LRS fixed wing (mini skyhunter) there, but I hadn't mounted the FPV gear on it yet as I'm still tuning/configuring it.

From: Alan Marshall
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2015 1:11 PM
To: Part-L
Subject: [Part-L] RC Sailplane locating (foxhunting)

Everyone,

Last night at the meeting I showed several of you what the sound of the
beacon is like. The frequency is very close to 220.265 MHz (probably
actually 220.268)

I wanted everyone to know the frequency of the CW beacon. It is a pulse of
about .25 seconds every 2 seconds or so. It operates continuously and is
created
by the beacon made by Walston. You DO need to have a CW or SSB BFO to make
a tone out of it. I use a Kenwood TH-F6a Handi to hear it since that
receives CW.

The location is somewhere between Davis Field on Rt 117 near the North
Sudbury fire station at Pantry Rd. It is strongest on 117 about at the
Concord Town Line
Near 9 Acres Corner. If you turn south on Concord Rd (Sudbury name) and
drive to the curve after the Golf Course the signal turns strong but
direction is difficult to find from there. Likely the plane is located near
the top of some tall tree because of the area covered by the low power
signal of the beacon. Hopefully the beacon will continue to
work for a few more days. It is still there this morning. I can hear it
from here at my home near the Sudbury town line (Rt 20).

The plane is about 8 feet wing span, dark blue bottom of wing and white on
top. The fuselage is white I think. It is owned by Dick Williamson,
phone - 978-618-5475.
Questions call or email me.

tnx,
Alan Marshall, W1CCE

BTW, here's the beacon Alan referred to:

http://www.walstonretrieval.com/main.htm

 

[tailspin2]

Just wants to say Hi to all...been flying RC since 1957 ( AMA 1121 )when things were trickier and I had to have a CB license to fly the Pulse equipped models.
Been A Ham since 1958 ( WAØCEC ) and Extra Class since 1980 ( KUØI ) and 98% of the time I operate CW.
Just trying to figure out these FPV Quads............So much to learn for an old guy!!

73 & QRT

 

[rockyboy]

Newly minted KM4NNQ HAM technician here - RC lead me to amateur radio. Went after the HAM license to support a growing interest in future long range FPV flight.

 

[Tritium]

BTW, here's the beacon Alan referred to:

http://www.walstonretrieval.com/main.htm

Gasp......The price is WAY more than any craft I own or have built by a factor of 2X+!

Thurmond

 

[-°-°°°°°°--°°-----]

I have long been a license holder, seldom use the radio other than to listen. Most of the HAMs around use the repeaters for idle chitchat with their wives it seems.

I learned the love of flying from my dad... flew once successfully... I am now getting back into it and plan to do a lot of makeup flights.

73's

 

[makattack]

Gasp......The price is WAY more than any craft I own or have built by a factor of 2X+!

Thurmond

Heh, yeah. Those are old school expensive gear. There are better, lower cost DIY options as well. I think there are even clones of the walston beacon.

I have an openlrsng running HK OrangeLRS RX that has a beacon failsafe feature, openlrsng plays the tones from the movie "Close Encounters" on the FRS band.

 

[TheWW1FlyingAce]

WW1FA here. I originally got my tech license in 1995 (?) as KE6TAW, then upgraded to General and Extra back in 2007 so I could get WW1FA ("World War 1 Flying Ace") as a vanity call.

Unfortunately building my radio shack has had a 20-year case of analysis paralysis. I have a lot of the equipment, but just haven't got the round tuits to actually set the shack up.

Currently I'm working on learning CW using the http://lcwo.net course.

 

[tbaucom]

Hi Everybody..

Troy here - from 6 land. My call is AE6VP. I've been a ham for almost 13 years and a RC pilot for almost 13 weeks... hihi

-.. . .- . -.... ...- .--.

 

[Nvr2Late]

I, like a lot of you got my HAM license because of RC and FPV. I just received my call sign today, NE8CSZ and have a multiband HT on the way. I found the Technician Class test very easy to do but took my time studying the manual and taking many, many practice tests. ANYONE can get their license and it costs very little and so I recommend it to everyone. Especially if you plan on doing any FPV flying.

 

[k37chup]

KF7EUP is the Call Andrew is the name, QTH Mesa, AZ, Been a ham Since 09, Thinking about upgrading to General but currently A Technician. Would like to see More Information on Ham Specific Abilities in the model Air Craft World, IE, Higher Power, 433MHZ,900MHZ tech that can be used because we have the legal ability to.

I was a Ham First and Formost however Always been interested in RC, Love Travling and hoping that FPV will let me experience This joy in a different way.

Hello All and I look forward to hearing from you all!

 

[haim]

4Z4NN from ISRAEL. my name is Haim and been a Ham since 1970 and RC flyer 2 years after.
Not an active ham now but very active on rc scale building and flying.
Have a lot of fun building FT models, they are great flyers and nice looking too.
Thanks FT and all others for sharing.
Haim.

 

[Enea]

I am an Ham radio operator with full licenses for several EU countries !!! Very handy to have radio fan and also to test new technologies in the RC hobby. Like using the 2m band for TX or ... in the near future ... an HF Tx/Rx set I plan to build !!!

 

[PaperAirplane]

PaperAirplane is a ham as well and I have been now for nearly 50 years! Grew up with tube type radios even in R/C equipment! Now both R/C and amateur radio equipment is so much better, smaller, easier and fun to operate. 73, de KO8S

 

[BigDean65]

My name is Dean, I have a General Class License, KG5AGG, QTH is Collinsville, Oklahoma. I have had my license for 3 years.

I am relatively new to the RC world. My brother has flown RC for a long time and his bug bit me! LOL

 

[D_X]

Howdy from KB7DX. Licensed since 1991 and hold an Extra class ticket. I'm also new to the RC world and hope to expand my knowledge and empty my wallet on RC.

 

[Crazy Goats]

Hello, im WH6FBI. I just started, and still dont have a radio, so could someone give me a recommendation for a beginner radio? I'm too young to get a real job, and im trying to get into FPV as well so it can't be very expensive. Im thinking of getting a little handheld, and then making a better antenna. Thanks.

 

[Tritium]

Nikolas there are lots of Baofeng 2 meter / 70 centimeter band radios on e-bay for about $30 that you can use with your Technicians License. You should have a lot of fun in Hawaii with Ham Radio and FPV!

Thurmond

 

[Crazy Goats]

Thanks Tritium! I hope to.

 

[jhitesma]

Finding local Ham's is another good bet for a budget radio. In my experience both here in AZ and in Ohio it's quite common in radio clubs for older members to pass along equipment at little or no cost to new Ham's to help get them started. Showing up at a few meetings of the local radio club is a great way to get started and meet some "Elmers" who will take you under their wing and get you going. Getting a 2m transciever is a great first start and the cheap baofeng's are a good way to do that. Then find out your local repeaters and listen for a week or two to get the feel for the local etiquette and find out about any local nets. There's almost always a swap net going on where people buy and sell older gear.

One tip if you look for older gear is to make sure it's got a CTCSS module. Pretty much all modern repeaters require CTCSS tones to use them and a lot of older gear the modules were optional and a lot of people didn't get them to save money because back then most repeaters didn't use CTCSS.

I have a number of older 80's radios I've inherited or picked up cheap on eBay and it's crazy that a CTCSS module for them can cost more than a whole new "modern" radio. Those radios are still useful, but not for the things most people want to do. I've used them for APRS and Packet though since CTCSS isn't needed for that.

Personally I'm not a big fan of the Baofeng radios, they're cheap...but you very much get what you pay for and quality control is all over the place. But they will get you up and going and that will probably be enough to open the doors to a better radio