I am a newly-licensed ham (KK6JOT) and I live on the other side of the hill (east) from Laguna Beach. I am able to hear the repeater just fine from my QTH, but transmitting is a no-go. The only equipment I have (and will for the foreseeable future) is a Baofeng UV5R+, a NagoyaNA701 dual band rubber duck antenna and a Workman 2m/440 mag mount antenna for the vehicle. I was able to hit the repeater this morning with the rubber duck while driving (thank you to the gentleman - didn't catch his call- who confirmed this for me) on my ride into work. Thanks also to Daryl DTO for confirming that I was hitting it but not holding it when I keyed up a couple of hours later outside the car in the parking lot at work in Tustin.
I am looking for antenna ideas to work with the UV5R+ that I have for now so I can tx at the QTH. I am in a condo association, so outdoor antennas are a no-go. Perhaps I won't have enough power to get out, or maybe I am too far from the repeater. Anyway, I would really appreciate some ideas and input from you veterans. For the record, building things is not my strong suit.
p.s. - the reason I got into amateur radio was from monitoring you guys/gals on a scanner app I purchased 5 months ago for my iPhone. It listed 449.500 MHz SCRAP Repeater and I was like, "what the hell is a SCRAP Repeater?" I began listening. I liked what I was hearing so much, I bought a HT and started studying to get my tech ticket and am currently studying for my general. Sorry for the long post but I am new and excited to start playing radio.
73's - Mike
I am looking for antenna ideas to work with the UV5R+ that I have for now so I can tx at the QTH. I am in a condo association, so outdoor antennas are a no-go. Perhaps I won't have enough power to get out, or maybe I am too far from the repeater. Anyway, I would really appreciate some ideas and input from you veterans. For the record, building things is not my strong suit.
p.s. - the reason I got into amateur radio was from monitoring you guys/gals on a scanner app I purchased 5 months ago for my iPhone. It listed 449.500 MHz SCRAP Repeater and I was like, "what the hell is a SCRAP Repeater?" I began listening. I liked what I was hearing so much, I bought a HT and started studying to get my tech ticket and am currently studying for my general. Sorry for the long post but I am new and excited to start playing radio.
73's - Mike