which radio ?

Which radio would be good for the 70cm BRB . Looking top for top of the line and not the very cheap Chinese radios . In the 100-150 range . There some Alcoa (sp ) that would do the job thanks

Emailed the owner of BRB and got the answer. Thanks

....and what was it?

chris m said:

Which radio would be good for the 70cm BRB

Click to expand...

If you're thinking of eventually getting a BRB GPS, or other APRS rocket tracker (like the Altus Metrum TeleMega or new TeleMetrum devices), you might consider getting a radio with built-in APRS support. I know you can plug any radio into a phone and use phone-based APRS software, but I've found that a bit unwieldy in the field (yagi, radio, phone, all with wires everywhere).

For RDF, you definitely want something with an RF attenuator as when you're close to the transmitter, it will peg the receiver in every direction.

And, if you plan on chatting with people while tracking rockets using the same radio, you might want something with two real receivers, and not just the ability to have the radio rapidly flip back and forth between two frequencies.

Just some suggestions on why a more expensive radio might not be a terrible plan, even if it doesn't seem necessary right away.

Anything that has a S-meter and is able to tune your RF . Mid price 150-200

Yeasu (sp) FT 60r that what I was thinking

chris m said:

Yeasu (sp) FT 60r that what I was thinking

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I have an FT-60R that I used for RDF for a long time and I love it. Bulletproof, lasts forever on a charge, nice controls.

I found them for $150 plus shipping

Best bang for the buck I could find
at the time I bought my FT 60 ...............

https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht/0060.html

Teddy

I know that the OP stated that he was not interested in "cheap Chinese radios", but I have had a couple of Baofeng HT radios for over a year now and for me they have worked 100%.

Members of my local amateur radio club are always amazed that my little $40 Baofeng UV-B5 works just as well as their more expensive Yaesu and Kenwood HT radios when we are out at events.

I am not interested in starting a flame-war, I just wanted to let the OP know that my "cheap Chinese radios" work perfectly for me and my amateur radio and rocketry needs at half or one-third of the price of the more expensive HT radios.

Now, if we are talking about HF equipment then I must admit that I love my Kenwood TS-590S...

Cor

P.S. The UV-B5 has a functioning signal strength meter unlike some of the older/other Baofeng models.

I wish I had known the b5 had a working s meter when I bought my uv-82 (which has the usual crappy baofeng s meter).

Other than that, I like my uv-82, although I have absolutely zero experience with any other radio.

Do the squelch levels work correctly too?

If I were looking to spend $100 - $150 on a ht, I'd really look at the wouxun kg-uv6d.



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0076T2C9U/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

If the cheaper Chinese radios work and give same range and level of use as the Yeasu,,Kenwood and the others I'm all for it . I scratch build and love doing stuff at the best price . That's why I can do very nice upscales and not run out of money

How to save $380 on a radio

Here is the fdog's easy, how-to tutorial on saving hard earned money when it comes to a radio.



The usual way of doing things:

1. Buy a decent quality dual band radio, like a Yaesu FT-60R. $150
2. Big Red Bee RF transmitter, charger & battery. $115
3. Nice quality 7-element Yagi antenna from Arrow. $59
4. Offset Attenuator from Arrow, a must-have for RDF. $59
5. Fly this for a while, have a couple of issues finding rocket.
6. Get frustrated.
7. Buy a Big Red Bee GPS tracker, with battery & charger. $289
8. New, APRS-enabled radio, like a Yaesu VX-8GR (or Kenwood TH-D72A) $450
9. Find rocket easily.
10. Big smiles.

Now, how to save $380!

1. Buy a Big Red Bee GPS tracker and Yaesu VX-8GR.

All the best, James

Fdog said:

Buy a Big Red Bee GPS tracker and Yaesu VX-8GR

Click to expand...

Yeah, except the VX-8GR has been discontinued. I ended up with a FT1D, which seems like a tolerable substitute for the real thing. (and, of course, my APRS transmitter is built into my TeleMega flight computer, which means I don't need a separate tracker)

keithp said:

Yeah, except the VX-8GR has been discontinued. I ended up with a FT1D, which seems like a tolerable substitute for the real thing. (and, of course, my APRS transmitter is built into my TeleMega flight computer, which means I don't need a separate tracker)

Click to expand...

BTW, I expect to be given the opportunity to poke at said radio in May....

Especially since Gigaparts is no longer on the agenda.

-Kevin

keithp said:

Yeah, except the VX-8GR has been discontinued.

Click to expand...

as of right now, new ones are still available on ebay but given the going price, it doesn't seem like a wise buy.

I have a VX-8GR that I bought for use with the BRB 70cm tracker, anticipating that I might get the GPS unit some day. Glad I did. I'm still not any good at finding the tracker, so getting the GPS unit is likely going to be sooner than previously planned.

Joe


Sent from my iPad using Rocketry Forum

troj said:

Especially since Gigaparts is no longer on the agenda.

Click to expand...

We'lll just need to find a reason for you to visit Oregon and we can go to HRO instead; no computers, but a lot more radios.

keithp said:

We'lll just need to find a reason for you to visit Oregon and we can go to HRO instead; no computers, but a lot more radios.

Click to expand...

Deb did mention going to Oregon today. Of course she claims it was just an example. I'm calling it prophetic


Sent from my iPhone using Rocketry Forum

Fdog said:

How to save $380 on a radio

Here is the fdog's easy, how-to tutorial on saving hard earned money when it comes to a radio.



The usual way of doing things:

1. Buy a decent quality dual band radio, like a Yaesu FT-60R. $150
2. Big Red Bee RF transmitter, charger & battery. $115
3. Nice quality 7-element Yagi antenna from Arrow. $59
4. Offset Attenuator from Arrow, a must-have for RDF. $59
5. Fly this for a while, have a couple of issues finding rocket.
6. Get frustrated.
7. Buy a Big Red Bee GPS tracker, with battery & charger. $289
8. New, APRS-enabled radio, like a Yaesu VX-8GR (or Kenwood TH-D72A) $450
9. Find rocket easily.
10. Big smiles.

Now, how to save $380!

1. Buy a Big Red Bee GPS tracker and Yaesu VX-8GR.

All the best, James

Click to expand...

While not disagreeing on acquiring a better rig, I think we all are aware of GPS transmitters that have lost their lock when subjected to rapid acceleration. A standard tracker on the other hand isn't subject to that type of failure, and continues to put out a signal. RDF'ing is easy to learn, and if you have an attenuator, it makes it that much easier to locate your bird...

Greg Young said:

While not disagreeing on acquiring a better rig, I think we all are aware of GPS transmitters that have lost their lock when subjected to rapid acceleration. A standard tracker on the other hand isn't subject to that type of failure, and continues to put out a signal. RDF'ing is easy to learn, and if you have an attenuator, it makes it that much easier to locate your bird...

Click to expand...

Oddly, I can RDF on the transmission of my Big Red Bee GPS unit, even when it doesn't have a GPS lock.

...From a purely recovery perspective, who cares if it loses lock under acceleration? It will eventually regain it during drougefall, or under parachute, when it will be closer to the recovery point, anyway.



All the best, James

Fdog said:

It will eventually regain it during drougefall, or under parachute

Click to expand...

Modern u-Blox 7 series GPS receivers usually regain lock within a few seconds of motor burn-out. If you're lucky, that's long before apogee

Although, I do enjoy RDF tracking as well; it's a lot of fun to figure out how to track the rocket during flight, and then following the signal once it has landed. The FT1D radio I have includes an RF attenuator, which I'll definitely be using for this.

James, if the lock is regained there is no issue. I know of folks however who rely on tracking strictly using GPS coordinates, so if lock is not regained, they are out of luck.
I guess I am struggling to understand what GPS adds to finding lost rockets that DF'ing can't provide for a lower $ investment. Granted I am an old ham that has DF'd over the years, but I do enjoy new technology. (I certainly appreciate having a GPS receiver in my car!)
I would not want folks to get the impression DFing is challenging, so they should go the GPS route if they want to recover their lost birds. As you stated you have the ability to track your BRB GPS unit's RF output so you in essence have 2 ways to track and recover! Double indemnity works well!
Greg

Greg Young said:

I am struggling to understand what GPS adds to finding lost rockets that DF'ing can't provide for a lower $ investment

Click to expand...

A rocketry-specific GPS system adds distance and altitude information to the direction provided by DF. This tells you a lot about the state of the airframe, including when apogee has occurred, whether recovery components have deployed successfully and lets you know when the rocket is back on the ground.

From a safety perspective, knowing the descent rate lets you identify ballistic returns, having the ground position of the airframe lets you tell whether it is over the flight line or not.

When you have a radio failure during flight (or, rather more common, during landing...), having the last reported position will usually get you close enough to find the hole in the ground. If your GPS system includes mapping, you can plan your approach to the landing site; whether that's locating which roads to drive on, or figuring out which side of a fence the airframe is on.

I've even used GPS to predict the location of a lost fin-can by plotting a ballistic path from the spot where it fell off (easily identified from the spike in accelerometer data).

Greg, I really do not have much experience with east coast rural rocketry. Actually, no experience.

All my HPR has been on the Black Rock Desert, or similar playas. (I know, right? ...A tough position to be in) These playas present some...unique... challenges:

• At mid-day, despite being the flattest place on earth, you literally can't see an object on the ground further than a half mile away.
• Under parachute, you can receive a strong signal from the RDF tracker for (easily) 10 miles or more.
• As soon as it touches down, the signal is gone. Zip. Nada. Nothing.
• Even with a 7-element yagi, you cannot pick up this signal outside visual range. Really. 1/4 mile is more like it.

Thus the best plan for pure RDF is to constantly track from liftoff, attempting to generate a bearing before touchdown. This is nerve-wracking and surprisingly difficult! The best outcome is a decent bearing that you can drive out on, hoping to see the rocket along your limited sight range.

Given the opportunity to loft your rocket into the (often overhead) jet stream, and having miles of territory to look in with limited sight range, GPS makes sense. After touchdown, look at the radio, find the last transmitted coordinates (before the radio signal was swallowed by the giant flat ground plane of the playa), and go there. For me, this has never been more than 20 or 30 feet off.

Personally I would love to have a chance to enjoy the craft and skill of fox hunting. It just doesn't work here.


All the best, James

keithp said:

Yeah, except the VX-8GR has been discontinued. I ended up with a FT1D, which seems like a tolerable substitute for the real thing.

Click to expand...

The Yaesu site isn't particularly clear - the FT1D has APRS that works with the TeleMega?

matthew said:

The Yaesu site isn't particularly clear - the FT1D has APRS that works with the TeleMega?

Click to expand...

Yup, seems to work fine. As far as I can tell, the FT1D is a practical replacement for the VX8GR. Yeah, it's got some crazy digital mode that no-one else supports, but otherwise it seems completely reasonable.

Thanks Keith. It's good to know the options. It looks like the FT1D can be as hard to find as a lost rocket, at the moment. They must be just filtering onto the market.

matthew said:

Thanks Keith. It's good to know the options. It looks like the FT1D can be as hard to find as a lost rocket, at the moment. They must be just filtering onto the market.

Click to expand...

Personally I prefer the Kenwood TH-D72 to the Yaesu offerings. But your mileage may vary.

I think it's incredibly cool that the TeleMetrum v2 and TeleMega now support APRS transmissions. Kudos to the Altus Metrum team for making that happen!

matthew said:

Thanks Keith. It's good to know the options. It looks like the FT1D can be as hard to find as a lost rocket, at the moment. They must be just filtering onto the market.

Click to expand...

HRO definitely has FT1DRs. Not sure if that's different than an FT1D or just a typo.

FT1DR's are about 10 minutes of manual reading than the 8GR for APRS setup, but they so far work fine at least with the Beeline GPSs.