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Amateur Radio (Ham) in the airplane

moll780

Well Known Member
Does anyone have/use ham radio in their RV's? (the flying kind...)
What equipment do you use?
Any issues with repeaters?

Just curious; I'm about to become technician and trying to figure out if/how to extend it into the air.

*addendum, Not to discuss the safety aspects of non-aviation radio usage in the air and yes, I will do APRS.
 
I do have a 2m transceiver in the plane but I've only ever used it as an APRS tracker (receive and triangulation). It's let's my hunt Russian bogies.
 
I'm going to get one of those Micro-Trak RTG kits and hard wire it into the plane for APRS.
But I was curious if people chat as they fly around and if they did.. how.

I do have a 2m transceiver in the plane but I've only ever used it as an APRS tracker (receive and triangulation). It's let's my hunt Russian bogies.
 
In the (thermal powered) paragliding world 2M radios are the standard. I've run into quite a few hams who were surprised to hear us and they were even more surprised once we told them where we were... :D
 
Its super cool!
I was just listening to a guy on the rnav approach into alliance Fort worth on 443.675.

In the (thermal powered) paragliding world 2M radios are the standard. I've run into quite a few hams who were surprised to hear us and they were even more surprised once we told them where we were... :D
 
Gil,

I do have one of the APRS trackers but that is a "transmit in the blind" unit. I carry a portable 2m HT that has integrated APRS capability so I can receive APRS and know the source and position of the APRS units in my area.

I have considered adapting it to my audio panel but have not dug into that project yet.
 
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I've always wondered how someone would find the time as PIC to fly the plane and have a QSO while flying. Never tried it myself. To me, it's two different hobbies.
 
I have a dual band rig in my truck. Given the amount of time I've spent using it for actual ham QSOs in the past several years (close to zero), and given my lack of ability to see any point to adding APRS, I don't plan to put any ham gear in the plane.

If I could find a handheld that would be legal (or even usable) for both aeronautical and ham use, I'd buy and carry one. Apparently there aren't any. I'll probably take my VX-7R along on trips just in case, but really only out of habit.

I know, strange words coming from me. There must be a few hundred repeaters with my hardware installed in them, but I've never used one.
 
I have a good friend that has an HF antenna in the wingtip of his RV-7 thats controlled by a winch. There is a tuner in the wingtip as well. The wire has a small plastic funnel on the end, and when he lets it out it rotates in the wingtip vortex. Almost looks like a refueling probe in flight. :)
 
2m/440

I have a dual band handheld that I have used in the plane several times. I have had good results with just the rubber duck antenna, no problem hitting repeaters. The only issue is noise. Unless you can figure out a way to plumb the audio through your audio panel, you'll have a lot of ambient noise on transmit. For receive, I just plug into the music input of my headset.
 
The Vertex VXA-710 is an air band radio with vor's and 2 meter band thrown in. It also has a headset adapter to fit your aviation headset. Great back-up with the ability to play around with 2M.
 
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