Very new. Very confused.

[spider87]

New question! I understand, or at least think I know, skip is basically using a signal repeater or something right? How do you know you've hit that? I also see people saying they talked to this guy on the skip or something. How do you know you're on skip other than the fact that your talking to someone far far away?

 

[W5LZ]

spider87,
I think you may have that just a little bit confused, about 'skip' and a signal repeater. What is called 'skip' is a normal/natural occurrence of a radio signal 'bouncing' off of a layer of the several ionized layers of 'atmosphere' around the planet. More a product of 'Momma Nature' than anything else. Those layers of ionization are affected by several things but primarily by the sun. They vary in height, so the angle that a radio signal hit's them will vary too, which means that when it's reflected back to earth it will cover a wide range of distances. So, 'skip' varies a lot. How much it varies depends on the 'activity' of the sun, the frequency band of use, if it's day light or dark, and of course, 'Momma Nature'.
Don't take any of that as being 'definitive', it certainly isn't! But, it covers just about all of what's going on with 'skip', and 'touches' on it's different aspects (sort of a 'street' version?).
- 'Doc

 

[spider87]

spider87,
I think you may have that just a little bit confused, about 'skip' and a signal repeater. What is called 'skip' is a normal/natural occurrence of a radio signal 'bouncing' off of a layer of the several ionized layers of 'atmosphere' around the planet. More a product of 'Momma Nature' than anything else. Those layers of ionization are affected by several things but primarily by the sun. They vary in height, so the angle that a radio signal hit's them will vary too, which means that when it's reflected back to earth it will cover a wide range of distances. So, 'skip' varies a lot. How much it varies depends on the 'activity' of the sun, the frequency band of use, if it's day light or dark, and of course, 'Momma Nature'.
Don't take any of that as being 'definitive', it certainly isn't! But, it covers just about all of what's going on with 'skip', and 'touches' on it's different aspects (sort of a 'street' version?).
- 'Doc

Thanks for the clarity in this. Definitely helps me understand. In the end then the only way to tell if you're using that (more likely that you're ALWAYS using it right?) is that you are getting further than usual? People always talk about it like it's something they can will to happen. Is that false or is there a way to make it happen and know when it's happening?

 

[Robb]

Spider:

What did you do about the SWR adjustment? You may have bought an antenna and put it on your car; but there is NO GUARANTEE that the SWR is correct. They seldom are! If you are transmitting on an antenna with a poor SWR; your radio may well be in the process of self-destruction.

More details please...

Please be careful...

Robb

 

[spider87]

Thanks everyone for the advice and tips. kd-5, I am working my way there haha. I have dipped in and I think I'm hooked. I bought a cheap cheap CHEAP ($1) glass mount antenna at a garage sale. I hooked it up in my house on my radio with a power supply and started hearing people chatting. I started reading about those and read they transmitted horribly. I went an bought a cheap ($25) antenna from advanced auto parts and I have it magmounted on my trunk and the radio hooked up in the car. I am planning on upgrading that eventually but for now it's ok. The radio was $5 so if I do kill it it won't be the end of the world.

I have had a few short conversations. There is a sheetz opening in my area and I asked if anyone knew when it was opening. One guy responded saying he didn't know but it was going to make the intersection hell. I responded and said it would definitely be crazy and he agreed. It was short but I am ecstatic that my system works! I haven't done a radio check/breaker yet because I can't get the guts up haha I'm still a little nervous. Even though it's pretty much anonymous I'm still a little nervous about engaging other people on it. Any tips for that?

I am also currently scavenging for a second cheap radio (craigslist etc) so I can set up a small base station in my house mostly for testing purposes (for now) so I can see how I sound in my car and what my range is like. Eventually, I'm planning an a99 for this. I have to do more reading on antennas and radio waves though for now.

Thanks for all of the help guys!

I know it's not completely logical but I have routinely found cobra/uniden/midland radios on craigslist for $20~ so buying a $45 swr meter would cost more than replacing a radio twice. FOR NOW. Eventually I plan on buying one but not yet. This logic might seem odd but I don't know... I would love to buy an swr meter for $10 on ebay or something but I posted that one and you guys basically said unless I buy brand new I'm just screwing myself and I can't buy brand new yet so I have to hold off since the used ones on ebay won't be any good.

Also, the guy down at the CB shop said they don't like to mess with tuning on vehicles because if you just buy their antennas and their radios they're already tuned....

 

[nat19]

Who ever said the antenna was already perfectly tuned was wrong. It will vary from setup to setup. I still strongly recommend saving your money and buying the right gear the first time. Lets say you buy a 20 dollar radio and blow the final then buy another $20 radio that's 40 bucks you could have spent on a swr meter. You buy a $25 antenna then later upgrade to a $50 antenna that means you have $75 dollars in your antenna system, you could have saved the other $25 dollars to put towards the better antenna. Also the only way to get an acceptable swr on your base is to buy an actual base antenna such as the a99. A magnet mount will not work worth 10 cents, for your base. You were asking about skip. The antenna you have probably won't work very well for skip but it depends a lot on how strong the conditions are. The wilson 1000 will work a lot better, on many occasions I have talked to people thousands of miles away on just a Wilson antenna in their car. Considering you don't have an ssb radio shooting skip in your car will that antenna will be almost impossible. As for the base put the a99 as high as possible, but I have talked to people with them as little as 10 feet off the ground, again thousands of miles away.

 

[spider87]

Who ever said the antenna was already perfectly tuned was wrong. It will vary from setup to setup. I still strongly recomend saving your money and buying the right gear the first time. Lets say you buy a 20 dollar radio and blow the final then buy another $20 radio thats 40 bucks you could have spent on a swr meter. You buy a $25 antenna then later upgrade to a $50 antenna that means you have $75 dollars in your antenna system, you could have saved the other $25 dollars to put towards the better antenna. Also the only way to get an accepteble swr on your base is to buy an acual base antenna such as the a99. A magnet mount will not work worth 10 cents, for your base. You were asking about skip. The antenna you have probably won't work very well for skip but it depends a lot on how strong the conditons are. The wilson 1000 will work a lot better, on many occasions I have talked to people thousands of miles away on just a wislon antenna in their car. Considering you don't have an ssb radio shooting skip in your car will that antenna will be almost impossible. As for the base put the a99 as high as possible, but I have talked to people with them as little as 10 feet off the ground, again thousands of miles away.

That's pretty awesome. The antenna I have now is for mobile. I am planning on, in the future, getting an A99 for my base.

 

[nat19]

Yeah it is if you think talking to someone down the road is great wait until you talk to someone across the U.S. it is a great feeling. Like I said the ssb radios are much esier to talk skip on. Do some research about ssb on the web I could write for hours about it but I don't have the time, lol. Another contact I made on ssb was to a guy pulling up to bass pro shops with a wilson 1000, I am in West Virginia and he was in Indiana. If you have any more questions feel free to ask.