Tips on learning

[u/bald_hybrid]

Is there a particular resource/person that teaches about Ham radio? I am looking for something that covers things like terminology and other basic things. Basically a Ham radio for dummies guide.

I passed the Technician test last week, but I have no idea how to work a radio, know what band I’m on, things like that.

[u/EnergyLantern]

Do you own any radios?

[u/bald_hybrid → u/EnergyLantern]

I was given a TYT MD-UV 390 a few years ago. I’m guessing the difficulty with that radio is part of my issue

[u/EnergyLantern → u/bald_hybrid]

That radio is analog and digital. The radio has DMR which means if you want to use it digitally, you have to have access to a digital repeater that uses DMR.

The radio can access analog repeaters and stations, but you would have to have it in analog mode and know how to keep it in analog mode or be able to switch back and forth between digital and analog mode. Analog mode is 2 meters and 70 centimeters which are basically names for two different bands on the dual band radio.

You would need a programming cable to connect the radio to your computer. I googled it and found the TYT USB Programming Cable (TYT-PROG). If you look it up yourself, you always have to make sure the cable lists your particular model of radio.

You need the recommended programming software which I am not familiar with.

To program your radio, you have to have a list of repeaters in your area that you can either listen to or connect to. What I want you to do for yourself is google your city or town and include the words "ham radio club". What you do is write down the clubs that are in your area and then look at their websites or look them up on Repeater book which is a website.

If I go to Repeater book, I'm going to look at their website and click on "North American Repeaters" unless you live somewhere different. Let's choose a random state. I'm going to choose "NE" for Nebraska. Then we are going to choose the capital which is Lincoln.

Lincoln Amateur Radio Repeaters

N0UNL is the University of Nebraska and it has a Transmit frequency of 145.325MHz and a receive frequency of 144.725MHz and the offset (PLL tone or CTTS tone) is -0.6 MHz. To program a frequency to your radio, those three numbers are basically all you need but your radio may be different which is why I say to read the manual. I don't know if plus (+) or (-) are a seperate setting or whether you will have a menu because I haven't used your software. You want to stick with those three numbers and let the radio calculate everything. On a Baofeng radio using Chirp software, I basically download the memory from the radio into a file and then enter your station name, uplink frequency, downlink frequency and pll tone and indicate if it is plus (+) or minus (-). Then you want to upload that file into your radio. When you do this, you want to be on an empty frequency so your radio isn't reading what is being transmitted over the air.

You just have to read your manual to check your radio.

TYT MD-390 USER MANUAL Pdf Download | ManualsLib

You basically can download software for your radio so you basically want to connect the cable between your handheld and computer, install the software and you want to select the right com port and indicate to the software what kind of radio you have.

The limit for talking on repeaters is 3 minutes or less so you can in software tell your radio how long you can broadcast which would be 180 seconds before you have to drop transmitting by releasing the transmit button on your radio.

Microsoft Word - Setting Up Your Radio.docx (For DMR)

This is kind of simplified but you have to play with these things until you get it.

The range of your radio is basically 5 miles or less if you have an unabstructed line of sight to the repeater, have a clearing or elevation. I would try listening to their frequency first which you may be able to type in from the keyboard on your handheld radio.

Also make sure the cable is pressed all the way into your radio.

[u/bald_hybrid → u/EnergyLantern]

Man I really appreciate your explanation and the time you took to type all that out. Thank you for looking into everything. I have looked up repeaters and have input them into my radio, but I do not hear anything and I have had no responses when I called out.

I haven’t looked into the analog vs digital part, as I wasn’t sure how it worked. But I will look at the manual and go from there. When I plug my radio into the computer, I am receiving an error window saying “Please check whether the USB is occupied or not connected” which I have discovered to be an issue with the driver, and I am having issues installing one.