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Freebanding for Beginners
- Thread starter Riverman
- Start date
Dan, how do you expect me to poke fun at what you said if I don't leave anything out?
well hell...
I think maybe you didn’t realize how much we agreed on the topic
Yep, you're right.well hell...
I think maybe you didn’t realize how much we agreed on the topic
The bands that people use are usually assigned to some other radio service including the US Military but some people just do as they please & don't care.I found that I am much better off just using a legal frequency so I got an Amateur Radio License where there are more frequencies than I will EVER use even if I live to be 100.
SIX-SHOOTER
The original freebanders were licensed amateurs that initially refused to relinquish 11m .
It's a dead heat for the next two groups. Swap TX/RX rocks and the VFO radios.
Then crystal synthesis. Even before 11m was opened up to .45MHz some crystal manufacturers had specific areas in their catalog for "CB crystals" that included out of band possibilities.
Fairchild, Motorola, et al. PLL synthesis was a game changer.
"Amateur radios" converted to 11m use. Some legacy radios didn't require conversion. 11m was on the bandswitch.
Only then do we arrive at purpose built "export" radios. Who was first is an interesting discussion
It's a dead heat for the next two groups. Swap TX/RX rocks and the VFO radios.
Then crystal synthesis. Even before 11m was opened up to .45MHz some crystal manufacturers had specific areas in their catalog for "CB crystals" that included out of band possibilities.
Fairchild, Motorola, et al. PLL synthesis was a game changer.
"Amateur radios" converted to 11m use. Some legacy radios didn't require conversion. 11m was on the bandswitch.
Only then do we arrive at purpose built "export" radios. Who was first is an interesting discussion
Personally, when all I can hear on CB is Spanish and English skip that is so strong it wipes out locals, then sure I will go down to C band, so I can talk locally. Otherwise, I don't.
(Sigh). Why is it a problem?
Chrome,
and little flashing lights spell out,
“Welcome to Las Vegas”;
the little hula girl twirls to a 4/4 beat.
That’s the trucker version
.
It’s not that it’s a problem, rather that it’s not a viable radio for 10 Meters, and not very useful for “freebanding” as we generally know it.
I have one of the cheapest export radios extant: the Anytone Smart (Albrecht AE-6110 in Europe). Not only does it hear well and garner surprisingly good signal reports; it also is a usable 10M rig as long as you have a General or above license. It covers the entire 10M band in 5kc steps, AM and FM only. Doesn't do repeaters but it does FM simplex. It's not legal for Novice/Tech because it doesn't do SSB or CW.
It's a power up button sequence to toggle between 10 different 40-channel sets, covering 25.615 to 30.105 MHz. Another button toggles between 5 and -5 kc, which means it has 800 discrete channels.
Doesn't have a clarifier, nor does it need one since it only does AM and FM.
It's a whole lotta radio for a tiny, $60 package.
It's a power up button sequence to toggle between 10 different 40-channel sets, covering 25.615 to 30.105 MHz. Another button toggles between 5 and -5 kc, which means it has 800 discrete channels.
Doesn't have a clarifier, nor does it need one since it only does AM and FM.
It's a whole lotta radio for a tiny, $60 package.
I just got another export radio, too: Anytone AT-5555 V6. This one is much larger and all-mode: AM, FM, CW, USB, LSB. Out of the box it covers 10M 28.000-29.700 in 5 kc steps, all the way down to 10 Hz steps using the RIT/XIT (tx/rx clarifier). Six banks of 60 channels each. It does splits too, so repeater use is possible. Doesn't have PL tones as far as I can tell, but tone boards are available that you can add to any radio. There's plenty of room inside for one. I have at least one and probably more of those kicking around here somewhere, so I may just add one.
A power-up sequence toggles between 10M and "export" mode. That gives 6 banks of 40 channels in the same plan that some of the other export radios use, up to 28.315 MHz. RIT/XIT works the same way here, down to 10 Hz steps. So there are really no skipped channels; or rather there is a workaround for any skipped channels on the main dial. This also means that the ham can access the bottom 15 kc of the 10M SSB subband without having to do the power up dance, just to see if there is activity.
But wait; there's more! If you get the programming cable (I have one on the way and have already downloaded the software), you can set up 60 channels in each of the 6 banks, covering the range of 25.615 to 30.105 MHz. You can also add splits to any of those channels. So, you could put all of the CB channels, plus all the A channels and the most popular freeband channels (27.555, 525, 465 etc.) in one bank. All of the lowband FM business freqs within its range in another. Never know what you might hear there. Then dedicate the rest of the banks to 10M including the entire CW/digi/beacon/SSB subbands in 5 kc steps, plus all the discrete AM and FM channels (hams don't call them channels but that's what they are) including all of the FM repeater slots.
That makes for a very useful radio.
A power-up sequence toggles between 10M and "export" mode. That gives 6 banks of 40 channels in the same plan that some of the other export radios use, up to 28.315 MHz. RIT/XIT works the same way here, down to 10 Hz steps. So there are really no skipped channels; or rather there is a workaround for any skipped channels on the main dial. This also means that the ham can access the bottom 15 kc of the 10M SSB subband without having to do the power up dance, just to see if there is activity.
But wait; there's more! If you get the programming cable (I have one on the way and have already downloaded the software), you can set up 60 channels in each of the 6 banks, covering the range of 25.615 to 30.105 MHz. You can also add splits to any of those channels. So, you could put all of the CB channels, plus all the A channels and the most popular freeband channels (27.555, 525, 465 etc.) in one bank. All of the lowband FM business freqs within its range in another. Never know what you might hear there. Then dedicate the rest of the banks to 10M including the entire CW/digi/beacon/SSB subbands in 5 kc steps, plus all the discrete AM and FM channels (hams don't call them channels but that's what they are) including all of the FM repeater slots.
That makes for a very useful radio.
S&W357
$upporting Member KO4RJD....WDX-556
My Anytone AT-6666 can take me many places I shouldn’t go. So I don’t. Well, maybe I do just a few.
My Anytone AT-6666 can take me many places I shouldn’t go. So I don’t. Well, maybe I do just a few.
During a full moon, or only when Mercury is retrograde?
.