How many of you are Amateur Radio operators?

Lounge
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brand new here (still need to go post an intro…), also new to goTenna. picked up a 4 pack. doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of presence in the middle of CA but there’s a few around.

been meaning to get (ham) licensed, but been lagging on that…need to start studying again. have a couple cheapish HT in the house, primarily for emergencies (in off-grid areas, mostly, but whenever, really). grabbed the goTennas primarily for the lower key off-grid comms, as we’re more into texting than talking.

been eyeing mobile units, but waiting to get licensed to pull the trigger on that, as i want one with cross-band capability, and those aren’t all that inexpensive.

(good to know about the Coit relay…will have to keep that in mind)

Hi everyone !

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I’ve been a licensed HAM since 1987 (age 17). One time big DX chaser, now extensively involved in EMCOMM work (fire department CERT program, and California Office of Emergency Services).

Recently deployed to assist fire ops in California’s Butte County (the “Camp Fire”). Found major gaps in our comms, losing contact with field teams on several occasions.

We are currently using MURS VHF - good up to about three miles. Cellular text can usually cover gaps beyond that range, but much of that infrastructure was lost in the fire.

Now looking at goTenna MESH, and a portable repeater system, to maintain situational awareness, track our teams in real- time, and provide wide area comms.

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104

I’ve been devouring everything on this forum regarding modification of the goTenna, and building a MOAN. I’ve purchased a block of goTennas, the basic MOAN components, and am about to take the plunge.

I’d love to see a video walk through of the process … starting with cracking it open, the antenna connection points, tips on soldering / modding an SMT board, recommendations on battery / solar panels, etc. Surprised nobody’s YouTubed it yet.

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I’m another Ham Radio guy… been so for over 60 years (yes, 60 years) and pleased to see this means of setting up a MESH network. As of yesterday, I put one of my goTenna units in service as a relay point. It’s located not far away in the second story of my son’s garage, on a high point of the town. So, hopefully, it will be able to provide some coverage and a possible link to nearby Doylestown.

73 de Ray
K2ULR

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107

Hi Everyone - I’m JT. I’m a licensed HAM and an ARRL member. I’m intrigued with the goTenna Mesh product, and have purchased a few of them to set up as solar-powered relay nodes to establish an anchor for the mesh in my locale. I’m looking forward to participating in the mesh community forum to learn, to exchange ideas, and to help newcomers.

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Hello all, another Ham (since early '70s) here, tinkered with packet radio since before AX-25 (yes there was such a thing), nice to see store-and-forward and mesh networking in such a neat package. Will be running a relay while boating around Montreal and the Thousand Islands areas of Lake Ontario.

'73 de Norm VE2BQS
s/y Redline CFN4213 MMSI 316006738

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109

Wow. Another AX-25 veteran! Played with that a lot myself (before I became totally immersed in chasing DX. Got DXCC mixed mode in about six months, and DXCC CW about three months later, so I was truly obsessed).

Just started exploring the possibility of putting GTM relay nodes on a couple of Sacramento’s water tank “antenna structures” - about 120’ elevation. I’ve run the power plots on the VE2DBE “Radio Mobile” site. It appears that a single node at that height will cover nearly all of the City of Sacramento, major portions of Sacramento County, and portions of three neighboring counties (Sacramento is situated in a VERY flat flood plain).

Just trying to work up the courage to try modding one of these surface mount boards myself, as I’ve got a slight hand tremor. May have to go “decaf” for a few weeks, but that prospect terrifies me.

There’s actually an area called Thousand Islands? It’s not just a salad dressing?? Who knew???

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“There’s actually an area called Thousand Islands? It’s not just a salad dressing?? Who knew???”

Eastern end of Lake Ontario, start of St Lawrence River.

Great sailing / cruising / vacation area. And according to lore, the salad dressing came later and was named for the area.

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Honestly, Thosuand Islands sounds idyllic, and may factor into future vacation plans. What’s the best time of year up there? Any inns or campgrounds you’d reccomend?

The salad dressing thing was just my attempt at humor, for which I sincerely apologize.

Take care & 73

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No apology needed. As for the area, best time is definitely summer to early fall. I can’t recommend inns or campgrounds because we go and stay on our boat. but there are many many places between Brockville, Ivy Lea, Gananoque, Kingston that a little Googling should turn up.

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George gua742,

You should join our group. www.parachutemobile.com. Seriously. Come down to the SF Bay Area and jump with us. We’ve made coast to coast HF QRP contacts from aloft and a lot of other fun stuff including live jumper to ground 5.8 GHz video. APRS, packet, physio telemetry etc.

73
Mark
AF6IM

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115

KF5NJO From the MS Gulf-Coast.
73

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Living in an area with no alternative methods of wireless communication aside from satellite, the ham prohibitions against encryption (privacy) and business use nudge me more toward GTM or LoRa for local use. Even if I didn’t care about those things, I need to communicate in the area with others who are highly unlikely to get their license.

There are a lot of interesting things to play with which require a ham license. However, the most interesting thing to me about having a license is also connecting with a community self-selected for wireless communications geeks.

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Plus, you will learn a lot of interesting things. I got my first license at age 14, and am still going strong at age 77. Also, the big bug-a-boo for many people (the Morse Code test) has been eliminated. It’s a multiple-choice test, administered by other Amateurs (not a stern FCC examiner). And the question pool is public information… so you can see all of the possible questions that might be asked. It’s as easy as a driver’s license written test. Go for it!

73 de Ray
K2ULR

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Seaching for forum moderator…

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Hello Fellow Amateur Radio Operators,

KI6BEN here. I’m an Amateur Extra class operator living in Fremont, CA,in the East Bay.

I have 2 Baofeng UV5R-TP HTs (will be getting 2 more soon) + 2 Yaesu FT-857D mobile VHF/UHF/HF transcivers + 1 Yaesu FT-817 QRP all-band mobile.

I’m Cert + Block Captain for our 10-house culdesac. There are about 100 homes in our community.

I tried to mobilize all residents on an FRS Net that I coordinated using my GMRS mobile and external antenna, and relaying to distant neighborhood via Amateur Radio. It failed after 1 year due to lack of resident participation.

I bought a pair of GoTenna Mesh radios to see if I could demonstrate this capability to my neighbors. If I could get all 100 homes to have one unit, we could all communicate via smartphone+GoTenna using text in emergency when cellular, mobile Internet, Internet and phone are down.

That was the idea.

Yesterday I tried a test with my new devices, and I got 1-mile away and stopped seeing a ping or response from my son at home in the other device.

I’m skeptical that the 20 or so devices on the GoTenna map in Fremont are actually turned on.

I’m wondering if there is a way that we could convince a large number of GoTenna users in our neighborhoods to all turn in their devices on one day at a prescribed time, for an emergency test. Even better, if we could do this once a month or so.

If we could do something like that, we could invite our neighbors to watch the event, and maybe some of them would decide to buy their own devices and thus expanding the local mesh network.

I have no idea how to get this idea going. Maybe you do. What do you think? :grinning::studio_microphone::headphones::radio:

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Ed here. N4JVE. Got my license in Virginia back in the 80’s, currently in the NE corner of the People’s Republik of Illinois.

Retired US Navy vet, after 21 years of riding submarines as an Electronics Technician. Currently instructing basic Radar and Communications systems and troubleshooting to new technicians.