Any Amateur Radio Operators (AKA "Hams") Here on The HughesNet Community Forums?

[El Dorado Netwo]

I was a Ham when I was 12. Had a Technician Class license, WA6ZHL. Fell out of it when I got into high school. Wish I had stayed in.

Now, I'm studying to take the tests to get my license renewed. But this time I'm going all the way for the top Extra Class, something I could only dream about when I was a kid.

Great site I found, http://www.hamstudy.org. I've gone through the Technician and General Class questions and was happy about what I still remembered after all these years. Now working on the Extra Class questions. Once I get to about 85% pass on those, I'll go in to take all three exams at once.

Have to say I'm glad they eliminated morse code as a license or even an exam requirement (when did that happen?). I hated learning code, and could barely get to 5 WPM to pass the Novice and Technician Class exams. 13 WPM for General and 20 WPM for Advanced were simply way too far out of my reach at that time. I'm sure some old-timers would say the standards have all gone downhill from the "good old days,"  but I'm glad I won't have to learn and pass an exam on a technology I'll never use.

Anyway, would like to hear from any fellow Hams on this forum? Let's QSO 🙂

[Bernie_]

If you have an Apple iPhone.  There is a called "My First Antenna".  It calculates leg length and total length of the Dipole antenna.  Works for 10m SSB, 20m PSK, 20m SSB, 40m PSK, 40m SSB, 80m PSK, 80m SSB.  Another program called "HamAntCal v3.1" also calculates wire lengths.  On VHF 30 to 300 Mhz. and UHF 300 to 500Mhz.  Another program "Antenna Tool"  go antenna type drop down menu.  Punch in your antenna type and it automatically calculates length.

73's

Bernie

[El Dorado Netwo]

Thanks for that. I'll check those out!
Wanted to buy ready-made antennas first, then work on constructing my own. I may put up a broad loop around the property since I have the room and the trees to do it. But it may need to wait until my next cash infusion. I'd sort of forgotten how expensive this hobby can be. Literally, the sky's the limit 🙂

[Bernie_ · Accepted solution]

Let the rest of us "Ham's" know what you purchased with your $2000.00.  This way we can salivate a little.

73's

Bernie  KD2JYU

[El Dorado Netwo]

Hi Bernie,

I came back with an ICOM 7300 HF Transceiver, an ICOM 2730A 2 meter/70 cm mobile, a Buckmaster OCF multi-band dipole, a Diamond 510HDX vertical, and a 30 amp power supply. Misc cables, dacron rope and tensioners, remote control software, and other install bits and pieces. 

Blew right past my budget ceiling. Glad my wife wasn't with me 😄 

[MarkJFine]

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@El Dorado Netwo wrote:
I came back with an ICOM 7300 HF Transceiver, an ICOM 2730A 2 meter/70 cm mobile, ... remote control software, ...

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Hopefully ICOM's software is better than it used to be. One of the reasons why I made Smart Icom Control some years back for the R72. Their method of receiver addressing and command codes were not very straightforward to implement, either.

[El Dorado Netwo]

Hello All,

Thought I'd give you an update. Finally got my station up and running in early February after chasing my tail for three weeks trying to track down a problem with my new rigs. Turns out I had bought a Powerwerx switching power supply that was bad right out of the box. It would light up my receivers but was not putting out enough amps on transmit to get anywhere, or trigger repeaters on 2 meters.

Last time I was on the radio in the 60s, there was so much less noise and so many more stations that I could pick up with just a simple dipole strung along the edge of my parents' roof. I thought at first there was something else wrong with my new setup until someone pointed out that the sunspot cycle was at a 400-year high during the late 50s/early 60s, and there wer far fewer devices back then causing noise: computers, wall warts, dimmers, grow lights, wireless routers, smart phones, smart everything.

I've been busy stomping out local noise problems, apparently some due to my OCF inverted V antenna. I put up a 520' loop antenna (cut for  a full wavelength on 160 meters) connected to an ICOM AH-4 remote tuner with a piece of ladder line so I can take it multi-band. Wow! Noise dropped about 3 - 5 S units across the HF bands and suddenly I'm hearing stations I could not hear before on the OCF.

I'm mainly active on 80, 40, and 160 Meters in the mornings and evenings, and learning how to work local 2 meter repeaters. Soon to go mobile.

I had contacted our local newspaper, the Mountain Democrat, to see if I could get a better photo for that story they ran in 1962. They became interested, and ran another story two weeks ago: https://www.mtdemocrat.com/news/alan-thompson-is-still-a-ham/.

You can read my profile here, with links to both articles: http://www.aj6ar.com/

[MarkJFine]

Beware those efficient spirally-shaped non-LED bulbs. They really make a mess of 40 meters.

[lm8542]

Hey, not a ham operator but I do have a problem with someone skilled in radio... I use my hughes.net like most people pretty much have the laptop and blueray player going constantly streaming a movies etc. New guy moves in and is paranoid about someone spying on him. From the questions posed by this man he thinks when he picks up our wifi (hughes.net) that it's cameras looking at him. Long story short we don't have any cameras connected to our wifi. All we can figure he thinks someones trying to trap him poaching. But I stay busy in my own little world and don't worry about anything else until my wifi starts getting interrupted continuously. It's works great for a few minutes then my dog gets in the window and barks in the direction of this new neighbors house and my wifi gets jammed etc. He had mentioned that he uses an illegally overpowered amplifier and linear and bilinear ? I have no idea what that stuff means and I guess I will need to learn but my question to you or anyone who might want to help is : Is there a particular filter I can have put on my dish to prevent his interruptions? I mean he asked us once if we had wireless cameras linked back to our house and I told him truthfully NO. So I need to adjust my own enterainment system to keep him out. I am not going to try and prove myself to a rogue radio madman. This is my first experience with this sort of thing. Any help would we be greatly appreciated. I called hughes.net tech support and they said they have no filters and no nothing about it.

[GabeU]

@lm8542

I know very little about HAM radio, but if he's using amplifiers like you mention it wouldn't surprise me if it's screwing up your WiFi.  Those things jack the power up quite a bit, throwing out a lot stronger signal.  I don't know this from HAM radios but I am somewhat familiar with linear amplifiers used with CB radios.  

I'm not familiar with any filter that can be used with the HughesNet system.  

[BirdDog]

Depending how much illegal power he's transmitting and the proximity to you, there is no filtering available that will keep the signal from feeding directly into your equipment and causing havoc.

If he's truly running illegal amplifiers those things are infamous for producing all kinds of spurious frequency signals across the entire radio spectrum. He's a prime example why Hams in general often get a bad rep.

You've got a real problem on your hands IMO. Good luck.

[GabeU]

Whoa!  Did the spam filter catch Alan's post and delete it?  It's was a great and informative post, and I learned something about the SSID Broadcast I didn't know.  Hopefully the person who asked the question will have a copy of Alan's answer in his/her email.  

[El Dorado Netwo]

@GabeUwrote:

Whoa!  Did the spam filter catch Alan's post and delete it?  It's was a great and informative post, and I learned something about the SSID Broadcast I didn't know.  Hopefully the person who asked the question will have a copy of Alan's answer in his/her email.  

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Yeah, that was weird. I edited the post as HTML and it was flagged as spam. Just reposted.

[El Dorado Netwo]

Let me try again:

Wow! That guy has a few wires loose. Doesn't sound like a Ham Radio Operator. Maybe a paranoid CB'er?

OK, there is a solution if you don't want him to see your Wifi Network but you still want to be able to use it. This is a bit technical, and you may need to go find a computer technician (or a teenager) to do this for you.

First of all, if your neighbor is as clueless as he sounds about WiFi networks, you most likely have nothing to fear about him being able to break into your network.

You will need to access your wifi settings and then change them. If you can, use a wired connection between the modem and a laptop or desktop computer to do the following:

Go to http://192.168.0.1 to access your HughesNet modem, then click on WiFi Settings in the left menu. The default password to get into the Wifi settings is : admin (lower case).

Make a note of the network names (SSIDs) for both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. You can change the SSID names to something easy to remember, such as MyWiFi or even "FBISurveillanceCamera" (if you really want to freak out your neighbor). Save your changes. If you change the SSIDs, and you're connected wirelessly, you'll need to reconnect once you change these names. Make a note of the changed names. Also make a note of the type of encryption (WPA) and write down the WiFi password. You'll need this information for the next steps.

Once you log back into your WiFi settings, un-check the boxes for "SSID Broadcast." Again, Save your changes. This will hide the SSID names from being displayed in any smart phone's or computer's list of WiFi connections. Now, your neighbor won't see your WiFi network connection names, and can obsess about something else.

To reconnect to your WifI yourself, you may need to "add" the (now hidden) network back in, only this time, in addition to the password, you now will need to manually enter the SSID name since it will no longer be displayed or broadcast.

That's it. Your paranoid neighbor should now no longer be able to see your WiFi Network.

[lm8542]

Hey , thanks for your feedback. I assume since he mentioned cb's that he may only be a CB operator I truly don't understand the jargon. I will try to learn though. I don't wish any ill will towards the guy just want to watch netflix in peace. lol

[El Dorado Netwo]

I didn't answer your question about your neighbor interfereing with your WiFi. I have never heard of ham radio transmissions interfering with Wifi. When you lose your WiFi connection, do you also lose wired connectivity? You'll need a laptop or desktop computer connected directly to the HughesNet modem with a network cable to check this.

Ham radio operates at relatively low frequencies, usually below 55 Mhz and very seldom above 440 Mhz. On the other hand, satellite communications operate at extremely high frequencies, well above 1,500 Mhz and often more than 30 Ghz (way, way up there).

WiFi signals are at 2.4 and 5 Ghz, and they don't share frequencies with ham bands. If there is interference from a ham station, you'll usually hear it in AM or FM radios or with TV channels. Find an AM radio, tune it to an unused frequency near the low end of the band, and see if it starts making more noise whenever you WiFi stops working.
Most self-respecting Ham Radio operators with work with you to eliminate "RFI" (Radio Frequency Interference).

Also, if you give me an address I can check the F C C database to see if there is a licensed Ham at that address. Anyone can do this since it is public record.

[BirdDog]

I'll just add "back in the day" when I maintained ATC and Ham frequency radios I saw them interfere with things you never thought they could or should given enough power and proximity. All radios emit some spurious frequencies at multiples of the assigned frequency. Normally at such low levels that it isn't a proble. But attach an amplifier that is poorly designed then those weak spurious signals can become quite strong and even inject into the electronics at the board level on nearby equipment. Not to mention induced into cables.

Only saying IMO it is possible for such interference to happen as @lm8542 describes.

I'll shutup now. 

[El Dorado Netwo]

You're right, it is possible.
My own Ham radio station was interfering with my computer in a really odd way that's hard to describe. Certain types of video displays would freeze on the screen while I was transmitting.

Turns out I had something called "common-mode RF current" coming from the antenna down the outside of the coax shield and into my shack.

Also, my wifi router was interfering with my radio receiver and inducing a regular, pulsing noise into the lower frequency bands.

If there is interference getting into the HughesNet wifi, it may be curable by placing several ferrite beads on all the cables (coax, network cables, and even the power cable, which already has one on it). But it might take a lot of them.

[lm8542]

Hi, I am surprised that I got any response so quickly. I can't prove that I am right and I don't 100% know that the interference is being done intentionally. I was using my the 5 ghz band of my wifi router and I had it "hidden" and when I would turn it on it would work great until right at dark every time. I was getting dns accleration errors and rtt errors along with association errors. So, I said I don't truly need wifi since everything I use has an ethernet port so I turned off wifi. My errors aren't as bad mostly rtt errors across every hour almost every day from like 5pm-11pm it really makes my internet sluggish and netflix continuously reloads until about 11pm-midnight. From midnight until 5am I have no problems. My neighbor comes home at 5ish(pm) and so that could be a cooincidence, however he has asked my husband multiple times if he was going to call the game warden on him even though we can't actually see onto his property at all. I really don't know how to take those questions. He asked me the only time I ever met him if I had cameras that linked back to my house. Well I have ADT wired and no wireless cameras. So the fact that these errors started when he moved in I suppose could also be a cooincidence. I am not interested in playing detective to spy on my neighbors but I don't know how to convince a stranger of that. I know nothing at all about cb's etc. My husband supsected radio intereference and instead of explaining our problem he told him he was interested in getting a cb setup either in our house or in his truck. That is when the guy offered up the information about using and I quote "I use a powerful amplifier they are illegal but the federal won't do nothing about it. I use Linear and bi-linear..." I don't know what any of that means but we assumed he was the culprit just because of his fear of the game warden. I certainly realize the reason people love and are interested in radio communications like Ham and cb's etc. I certainly have no desire to trash the operator's I would love to learn it myself. I think I would need to know how to use a spectrum analyzer or something like that to truly know what's going on. My husband didn't flat out ask the guy because he was afraid it would get worse... I will replace the line and have it sealed it's old and it has one line that goes into my modem from the dish but it has a line that goes to nothing that the guy just clipped the coaxial head off of and it could be picking up stray RF and amplifying the problem. I will start with trying to make certain my dish and everything is properly grounded etc. I really appreciate any feedback on this subject. Thanks!

[lm8542]

Oh yes! I did forget to mention that I had tried a couple of ferrite beads. I got  the idea surfing around and reading everything I can about RF. I used the wrong kind of ferrite core perhaps. I got the rings that are too big to fit the cord and the coaxial was too stiff to wrap around that cord. But I put it on the power cord and even the Ethernet unaware if it made any sense or not. I could not tell any difference at all. I got a smart meter cover for my power meter since I could not and still cannot use the 2.4ghz spectrum on my modem. The 5ghz has always worked until dark. I feel I need to start with my own hardware which is why I thought there might be some kind of filter that would solve the problem but would be too easy. Thanks again for the ideas and info.