10-4 big buddy....

I guess it is past time to dust off my CB Radio that I must have had for at least 2 hrs....

Well; yea, but mostly looking to see what if any place in Colorado Springs has some of the necessary do-dads; mostly antennas. I know that Amazon is just a credit card away - but I figure there will be a few odds and ends that I might want to pick up. I have picked up some higher end coax lo-loss cable that I will most likely re-purpose to a ham radio...

If all else fails; head down the road and find a big truck stop could work...Buckee's is too far away; and never a fan of Loves truck stop...

And truth be told; I am not looking for anything specific; just sort of want to know what is local to me. With some of the home locations I had been looking at up north would require more of a 20 meter rig to find someone local ;)

I figure the DX engineering low loss cable will be re-purposed once I find a base station (maybe mobile base station). That coax cable was not cheap to buy...and the only real use the cb radio will get is with the built in weather alert features for road trips.

I miss my old HR2510...

There's a Loves at exit 104, they got CB stuff but not worth the trip as the coffee sucks.
Ham Radio Outlet up in Denver has 11meter gear and all the coax/connectors you could ever want.
I got a never used Antron A99 antenna if you want it, I'll part with it for $75 you pickup here in the Springs in 80907. PM me if you want that antenna.

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Originally Posted by battlemidget

There's a Loves at exit 104, they got CB stuff but not worth the trip as the coffee sucks.
Ham Radio Outlet up in Denver has 11meter gear and all the coax/connectors you could ever want.
I got a never used Antron A99 antenna if you want it, I'll part with it for $75 you pickup here in the Springs in 80907. PM me if you want that antenna.

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In the early AM I am powered by coffee; but after lunch it is ice tea all the way.

I started digging the first few words on the mfg website for that antenna and then I spotted that thing about being 18' tall. Well; yea, I want that on about 100% of the places I spotted in Wy...but not in town here.
The price is more than right, but I will stick with the 4' Firestik I have on order.

If you have a 10-14 f150, I have a STL file.

Queue up the C.W. McCall music in 3..2.....

I've been out of the CB thing for a while. Are there still any amateur radio expos around?

I poked my head into the game for a few reasons...some radios have FM, SSB and even for the Ham lover; 10 meter band.

to answer your question on radio expos - (yes)
http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/search/...RM/model:Event

08/28/2022 - Denver Radio Club Hamfest

What are you looking to do? Getting an amateur radio license is pretty easy and the equipment is head and shoulders above CB.

Technician (tech) license offers all privileges above 30 Mhz and a few below it, with no morse code requirement. Since most of the short range communication is happening on the FM bands, with 2m (144 - 148 Mhz) and 70cm (430 to 440 Mhz) being the most popular, most people don't go beyond Tech (including me.)

My biggest complaint about ham radio is that in making the equipment extremely versatile, they also make it extremely complex (IMO overly complex) and not "user-friendly" at all.

In my experience, CB is crap except for very short range (as in, <1 mile.) The only "advantage" of CB is that it's easy to find and easy to use so if, for example, you just need communications on a 4x4 trail or something, CB is often the 'default' choice. FRS/GMRS is a better quality of sound but limited by the small amount of power in the cheap hand-held radios. Technically, GMRS requires a license but I think the FCC has bigger fish to fry than chasing after unlicensed GMRS users.

In theory, a well-tuned CB and antenna setup should offer good range, but for most people, spending big $$ on CB is like putting a $40 saddle on a $10 horse.

My plans are to have fun; and I do have a my Ham license - passed all 3 tests and only missed one question in total. So you could say that I am an extra special Ham.
I picked up a cheap radio (CB and something that works on 136-174 MHz & 400-520 MHz).

I have a SDR (software defined radio) receiver so I can check end-to-end so this will give me a local test bed.

My goal for the post was to see what if anything CB related was local to me for some odds and end parts. The only thing I spotted local were too cheap to own stuff from Walmart...

If I need something a bit more than what the local truck stop could be found; I would head on up to the candy store in Denver (Ham Radio Outlet).

I was talking to a drone pilot today about my idea to run a HF long wire antenna across the top of a bunch of trees in my yard using a drone to pull along a pull wire.

On the drone thing; use fishing line - attach it to a more robust cable/rope/antenna - that way a smaller drone should be able to do the job. And FYI: some FPV style drones use a vtx (video) that might just require a Ham license depending on freq and power...just saying there are many ways to skin the cat using lighter weight line to attach to a much heavier weighted line.

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Originally Posted by ChadAmberg

I was talking to a drone pilot today about my idea to run a HF long wire antenna across the top of a bunch of trees in my yard using a drone to pull along a pull wire.

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Didn't we talk about that a few years ago?

>Didn't we talk about that a few years ago?

I could be I posted a few times on this method - a common way to do that sort of thing. I have used it to help fish wire thru my house using a small line to pull a larger line thru. If you have access to 550 para cord that stuff is real light and can can work wonders in that sort of task.

You could go all robin hood on the method and use a fishing bow with said line attached and go that route.

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Originally Posted by 00tec

Didn't we talk about that a few years ago?

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Yeah we did! I still ain't done it... probably a good thing got the tree folks coming out here soon do a trim but also remove the one tree that's in the middle of that run. Maybe once things have settled down I'll actually do it!

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Originally Posted by ChadAmberg

Yeah we did! I still ain't done it... probably a good thing got the tree folks coming out here soon do a trim but also remove the one tree that's in the middle of that run. Maybe once things have settled down I'll actually do it!

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I would offer again, since I thought it was a cool project, but my drone is in storage prepped for moving

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Originally Posted by 00tec

I would offer again, since I thought it was a cool project, but my drone is in storage prepped for moving

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> Bryan, TX soon

I have been looking at land pretty much east of that location - some place that is more than 5+ miles from an airport - to make sure if I dust off the drone hobby I could play outside.

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Originally Posted by bradbn4

> Bryan, TX soon

I have been looking at land pretty much east of that location - some place that is more than 5+ miles from an airport - to make sure if I dust off the drone hobby I could play outside.

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We will be doing the same soon. Somewhere out there.
3+ hrs from most family (reasons). 10+ acres.
Bryan just panned out for the fastest resolution for now. Probably gonna sleep there for 5yrs or so.

In HAM news, if anyone wants that STL file for the 10-14 f150, just shoot me a PM

Poked at the hardware a bit - and also did a quick check on another radio...no cb traffic...the expensive cable + extra large antenna sucks compared to the cheap amazon recommended mag roof mount when tuning in the weather.

I find a bunch more traffic on the local Colorado repeater on 70cm/2 meter band if I pick the right time of the day/night.