Generally speaking, I don’t trust sellers on eBay; hence, I seldom make purchases on eBay — I prefer Amazon. In my opinion, eBay is a cesspool and a petrie dish of scammers and products of questionable origin, make, and quality –ESPECIALLY, sellers that write, “No refunds due to people swapping out parts” in their product…
Category: HAM Operators
Alfonso Faustino: Super Heterodyne vs. Direct Conversion, and Front-end Transceivers
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): Your transceivers should be Super Heterodyne and have front-end filters (the ability to block unwanted RF) when in ICS-based emergency operations. If you don’t get Super Heterodyne transceivers and don’t have a filter for the front-end, you will experience desensitizing in your transceivers while involved with ICS-based emergency comm operations:…
Alfonso Faustino: CARLA: Antenna Replacement Project (K6ASF)
Boss, N6MVT, invited me to go with him to one of the CARLA sites to replace an antenna on one of CARLA’s towers. I always enjoy helping Boss at his CARLA’s sites; because, I get to see all the technology that makes CARLA so great. In addition to CARLA’s technology, CARLA resides in some of…
Alfonso Faustino: Motorola XPR 7550 VHF Transceiver (K6ASF)
My collection of Motorola hand-held transceivers is complete with the Motorola XPR 7550 VHF hand-held transceiver, shown below. The Motorola XPR 7550 VHF transceiver will take the place of my Motorola Radius CP200, as shown in the picture, below. I will either sell or use it as a back-up for VHF communications. Since I already…
Alfonso Faustino: My code-plug of repeaters (K6ASF)
Since I transitioned to using Motorola transceivers, XPR 7550e (UHF), CP200 (VHF), and XPR 7580 (33-Centimeter), I have to do my best to ensure that each of these transceivers can provide me with the necessary coverage I need in the event of a catastrophe that knocks out the mobile phone services. By far, my XPR…
Alfonso Faustino: Bay Area Fires: Importance of Transceivers (K6ASF)
Photo Credit: CDN.TravelPulse
Alfonso Faustino: Motorola XPR 7580 Transceiver: 806-941 MHz (K6ASF)
An acquaintance gave me a Motorola XPR 7580, and his gift forced me to expand my knowledge and understanding of RX and TX operations in the 800 and 900 MHz frequencies with a hand-held transceiver. As I mentioned in my previous BLOGs, I’m really a believer in the Motorola transceivers for emergency preparations and social…
Alfonso Faustino: Yaesu VX-6R: RX & TX:Aviation & Maritime Frequencies
LEGEND: For the sake of discussion for this BLOG, the word, transceiver, means hand-held transceiver. My Yaesu Submersible VX-6R was my very first amateur HAM transceiver; and, it has been one of the best purchases I ever made with respect to Yaesu products. For a HAM operator, this tri-band transceiver is reliable, durable, affordable, and has…
Alfonso Faustino: Thunder & Lightning in San Francisco
11-September-2017, at 2030 Hours PDT San Francisco seldom has extreme weather; and, while I understand that extreme weather in San Francisco is par for the course as normal weather for the rest of the world, from my perspective, thunder and lightning in San Francisco are still amazing and captivating events for me. While I was participating in…
Alfonso Faustino: Aviation Transceiver: Yaesu FTA-450L
7-Sept-2017, 2217 Hours PDT When I travel, land, sea, and air, I carry either one, two, or three of these transceivers: Motorola CP200: Maritime Operations Yaesu FTA-450L: Air Operations Motorola XPR 7550e: Land Operations (though, I did program some UHF maritime and UHF aviations channels in this transceiver, as well — I like to have…
Alfonso Faustino: Motorola CP 200: VHF: Maritime Frequencies (K6ASF)
I only use four VHF frequencies — the rest of my HAM operational activities are on the UHF frequency band. So, what are the four VHF frequencies I use? MAR-09: Internship SAR MAR-13: Bridge Port-Bridge MAR-14: Bay Traffic MAR-16: DISTRESS (United States Coast Guard) As a PADI SCUBA diver, I am in the ocean about…
Alfonso Faustino: DMR and Yaesu’s System Fusion and WiresX (K6ASF)
I’m fortunate to have access to both DMR and Yaesu’s System Fusion and WiresX digital networks; and, I want to share my experiences with you regarding both digital networks. In this BLOG I will, at a 50,000-feet level, generally talk about the two digital networks I use for my HAM operations: DMR and System Fusion…
