3 ms·
Something that I think would go a LONG way toward encouraging a new breed to get into amateur radio is not just saying "You can do digital -- oh and here's a $2
by mikece 6y ago
Something that I think would go a LONG way toward encouraging a new breed to get into amateur radio is not just saying "You can do digital -- oh and here's a $25 Chinese handheld FM radio" but a $50 (or less) TNC that connects your UV-5R (or equivalent) radio to your computer or smartphone so the cost of going from zero to slinging packets on AX.25 is under $100 (not counting the cost of your computer or phone, of course).
Does anything like that exist?
- ianpenney 6y agoThe APRS-K2 cable? https://baofengtech.com/aprs-k2-trrs-cable https://baofengtech.com/aprs-k2-trrs-cable
- mikece 6y agoDidn't know the thing existed -- ordered it!
- ka2dew 6y agocheck out a $30 four-speed KISS TNC for $30 called "NinoTNC". Also a ham radio cable manufacturer called hammadeparts.com Beware that the Baofeng radio has many configurable elements, some of which get in the way of doing packet. Also, the radios are built like crap and can hurt you during operation. There are used radios like the Kenwood TK760g for not much more than a Baofeng but they do 25watts output. < %70 each. Sometimes down to $30.
- mumrah 6y agoUnder 100 for radio and TNC, sure. See the NinoTNC http://tarpn.net/t/nino-tnc/n9600a/n9600a_info.html http://tarpn.net/t/nino-tnc/n9600a/n9600a_info.html. For radios we use second-hand commercial radios that we reprogram for Ham use. However, coax and antenna can easily exceed 100 alone.
- mattbk1 6y agoYou can get started with pretty junky coax and a homemade antenna, although antenna parts that used to be common are sometimes now less-so. I spent part of my day visiting stores looking for twinlead or ladderline and found none.