Baofeng UV-5R, Ham Radio, What can I listen in on in OKC?

[Raptor62]

OCSO and all the MA agencies, matter of fact, every agency in OK County with the exception of Edmond, MWC and Del City are P25 now, using OKC's system.

I think Edmond is on that system now also. I was disappointed when they changed over I had to buy a digital scanner.

 

[OKCHunter]

If a cell tower goes down, obviously you lose cell phone connection.
What can cause radio signals to drop? I know you guys talk about repeaters in certain areas, but are there radio towers like cell phone towers?
The other day when cell phones went out did radio guys loose their signals?

Reason for the question-
When cell signal went out it got me thinking even more about communications. Iv been kicking it around for about a year and it’s went to know where.
It seems as if they can cut cell phone usage out with just a flip of the switch? Can radios be done the same way?

I may be asking repetitive questions but it’s how I learn.

Solar flares / intense solar activity can disrupt ham radio communication. But, I’ve been able to communicate on one band or another even during a solar storm. It’s usually just high background noise and local / regional communication is still possible. Different bands are also available to hams and work based on various propagation methods. An example - the 10m band opens-up best when sunspot numbers and solar flux is high, especially in the daytime of the summer months. I’ve communicated with Africa, Europe, Australia, Japan, and others on 10m recently. And, it should only get better as we approach the peak of the solar cycle next year. Other bands such as 40m is great for local regional communication during the day but the band goes “long” at night, essentially eliminating local communication but opening up communication with Europe, Africa, Asia, etc. At night is when 80m is great for local communication. The 15m, 17m, and 20m bands are generally useful both day or night. There are other HF bands available to hams as well. All this is a very generalized description of HF bands that allow communication without the need for local repeaters when all else fails. Repeaters can go down similar to cell services during power losses, etc. There is also repeater communication connected to the internet that allows voice communication worldwide with a handheld transmitter. But, that mode is also subject to failure in power loss or internet loss. You will learn about propagation, communication modes, and many other topics as you progress in your licensing for ham radio.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Correct me if I’m wrong, I may be,
Cell signals is just a radio frequency at high speed? Faster than what ham radios can transmit?

Cellular Voice Frequencies are Higher than ham or gmrs frequencies, meaning more waves, not higher speeds.

The Cellular band occupies 824–849 MHz and 869–894 MHz ranges. To issue cellular licenses, the FCC divided the U.S. into 734 geographic markets called Cellular Market Areas (CMAs) and divided the 40 MHz of spectrum into two, 20 MHz amounts referred to as channel blocks; channel block A and channel block B.

All radio waves travel at the speed of light, since they are in essence photons of light, we just don't see them with our eyes.

Now comes the kicker to confuse the matter further, 5G Frequencies. They are much shorter:

What frequency is 5G cellular?


The frequency bands for 5G networks come in two sets. Frequency range 1 is from 450 MHz to 6 GHz. Frequency range 2 is from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. To share frequencies used by LTE and 5G networks, frequency- and time division duplexing can be used.

Perhaps the more knowledgeable here can help, but I believe the higher the frequency, the clearer the signal.

 

[Beautiful Mulberry]

Cellular Voice Frequencies are Higher than ham or gmrs frequencies, meaning more waves, not higher speeds.

The Cellular band occupies 824–849 MHz and 869–894 MHz ranges. To issue cellular licenses, the FCC divided the U.S. into 734 geographic markets called Cellular Market Areas (CMAs) and divided the 40 MHz of spectrum into two, 20 MHz amounts referred to as channel blocks; channel block A and channel block B.

All radio waves travel at the speed of light, since they are in essence photons of light, we just don't see them with our eyes.

Now comes the kicker to confuse the matter further, 5G Frequencies. They are much shorter:

What frequency is 5G cellular?


The frequency bands for 5G networks come in two sets. Frequency range 1 is from 450 MHz to 6 GHz. Frequency range 2 is from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. To share frequencies used by LTE and 5G networks, frequency- and time division duplexing can be used.

Perhaps the more knowledgeable here can help, but I believe the higher the frequency, the clearer the signal.

This makes sense. Thank you for the explanation.

 

[Beautiful Mulberry]

Solar flares / intense solar activity can disrupt ham radio communication. But, I’ve been able to communicate on one band or another even during a solar storm. It’s usually just high background noise and local / regional communication is still possible. Different bands are also available to hams and work based on various propagation methods. An example - the 10m band opens-up best when sunspot numbers and solar flux is high, especially in the daytime of the summer months. I’ve communicated with Africa, Europe, Australia, Japan, and others on 10m recently. And, it should only get better as we approach the peak of the solar cycle next year. Other bands such as 40m is great for local regional communication during the day but the band goes “long” at night, essentially eliminating local communication but opening up communication with Europe, Africa, Asia, etc. At night is when 80m is great for local communication. The 15m, 17m, and 20m bands are generally useful both day or night. There are other HF bands available to hams as well. All this is a very generalized description of HF bands that allow communication without the need for local repeaters when all else fails. Repeaters can go down similar to cell services during power losses, etc. There is also repeater communication connected to the internet that allows voice communication worldwide with a handheld transmitter. But, that mode is also subject to failure in power loss or internet loss. You will learn about propagation, communication modes, and many other topics as you progress in your licensing for ham radio.

There’s so much more to ham than just pushing a button to talk.
More than what I thought. A lot better than the walkie talkie or CB.
This is what I was trying to get understand.
Thank you to you and TANSTAAFL and others for giving me a glimpse.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

There’s so much more to ham than just pushing a button to talk.
More than what I thought. A lot better than the walkie talkie or CB.
This is what I was trying to get understand.
Thank you to you and TANSTAAFL and others for giving me a glimpse.

Ironic, I'm the noob who is just getting into this. Need to get the license. I may need to set up a string on scanners, the digital ones....

 

[OKCHunter]

There’s so much more to ham than just pushing a button to talk.
More than what I thought. A lot better than the walkie talkie or CB.
This is what I was trying to get understand.
Thank you to you and TANSTAAFL and others for giving me a glimpse.

Yes, there is something for everyone who has an interest in radio communications. The digital modes like FT8, JS8Call, PSK31, and many other modes are fun to explore also. They use a computer interface to transmit keyboard typing over the radio waves. FT8 and JS8Call are weak signal modes. I really like FT8 for exchanging quick signal reports with stations around the world. JS8Call uses the same weak signal algorithms but allows Hams to have conversations using the computer keyboard. There is also SSTV mode for transmitting pictures to other hams over radio waves. There are some hams that experiment and communicate with each other using moon-bounce and meteor scatter propagation methods. Ham radio is a really deep rabbit hole. You can keep it a simple as you want or deep dive into the hobby.

 

[R Hicks]

I bought a Baofeng uv-5r 8w pro set last year thinking that I could find info on how to get started on the web but couldn't find much understandable guidance. Where can I find information to get started?

 

[Beautiful Mulberry]

Yes, there is something for everyone who has an interest in radio communications. The digital modes like FT8, JS8Call, PSK31, and many other modes are fun to explore also. They use a computer interface to transmit keyboard typing over the radio waves. FT8 and JS8Call are weak signal modes. I really like FT8 for exchanging quick signal reports with stations around the world. JS8Call uses the same weak signal algorithms but allows Hams to have conversations using the computer keyboard. There is also SSTV mode for transmitting pictures to other hams over radio waves. There are some hams that experiment and communicate with each other using moon-bounce and meteor scatter propagation methods. Ham radio is a really deep rabbit hole. You can keep it a simple as you want or deep dive into the hobby.

I don’t even know half of what you’re talking about means. I’ll get there someday.

 

[Beautiful Mulberry]

I bought a Baofeng uv-5r 8w pro set last year thinking that I could find info on how to get started on the web but couldn't find much understandable guidance. Where can I find information to get started?

Iv asked this question and it has not been answered yet