[K3CAL] New Technician- Repeater and WebSDR assitance

[Franklin Charity]

Thanks everyone for the tips and suggestions. It looks like I had the
repeater locations mixed up, so that clarification was very helpful. I had
thought the 2m repeater was in Lusby and the 70cm repeater was in
Sunderland, which is why I was focusing on 2 m. Thanks for setting me
straight.

I am also running a vertical dipole, but I wasn’t routing about five feet
of feed line horizontally, so I’ll be testing that as well.

Thanks again for the warm welcome. I’m looking forward to attending the
meetings and learning from you all.

73,

Franklin

KD3CQH | WSKR559



On Thu, Feb 26, 2026 at 8:55 AM N5WTA N5WTA via K3CAL <k3cal at mailman.qth.net>
wrote:

> Google copper cactus Jpole. Another great dual band 2m/70cm option.
>
>
> Regards,
> Johnathan Ibert
>
> On Feb 26, 2026, at 8:47 AM, Andrew Charland via K3CAL <
> k3cal at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
>
> 
> Not sure about WebSDR's as I'm not really into them. Couple things to keep
> in mind about dipoles for repeaters... 1.) If you tune it for a specific
> repeater, tune to the input frequency since that is what you are
> transmitting on. Examples: K3CAL 146.985 has a -0.6 MHz offset so tune for
> 146.385MHz., K3CAL 444.950 has a +5MHz offset so tune for 449.950MHz. 2.)
> It's FM. Pretty much all FM repeater antennas are vertically polarized so
> mount it vertically for best results.
>
> May consider building a vertical. Youtube has a lot of good instructional
> videos for building inexpensive but effective verticles for repeaters.
>
> The club meets on the 2nd Thursday of the month at the Barstow Public
> Safety Building at 315 Stafford Rd. (next to the jail) at 7:30. Come on out
> and meet the folks. A wealth of knowledge to help you as you move forward.
>
> Welcome to the world of amateur radio!
>
> Andy
> KC3WRX
>
> On Thu, Feb 26, 2026 at 6:57 AM jimmy mumper via K3CAL <
> k3cal at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
>
>> Lusby has an offset  of  +005.000
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 25, 2026 at 9:28 PM Franklin Charity via K3CAL <
>> k3cal at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Good afternoon,
>>>
>>> I recently earned my Technician license last week and am new to the
>>> amateur radio hobby. I’ve been involved in radio-adjacent interests for
>>> years, but only recently took the step into ham radio.
>>>
>>> At the moment, most of my experience and equipment has been on the GMRS
>>> side. I’m currently running a Nagoya UT-72G mag-mount antenna outside with
>>> a budget 25W Radioddity mobile radio in my basement, along with a couple of
>>> GMRS HTs that my family and I primarily use for travel and hiking.
>>>
>>> On the amateur side, I have the cliche starter radio, a Baofeng UV-5R
>>> paired with a home-brewed 2m dipole (not fully tuned yet; I’m waiting on a
>>> NanoVNA to arrive). I live in St. Leonard and have been trying to make
>>> contacts through the 2m repeater, but so far I haven’t received any
>>> responses. I do hear the repeater feedback when I key up, so I may be
>>> getting in, but it’s also possible no one is monitoring at the times I’ve
>>> tried.
>>>
>>> I’ve had similar challenges reaching the GMRS repeater, so I recently
>>> ordered a better roof-mounted antenna in hopes of improving my overall
>>> reach. I’m saving up for a higher-quality amateur radio, but in the
>>> meantime, I’m hoping to make some progress with the repeaters.
>>>
>>> Does anyone know of any WebSDRs in the area that I could use to verify
>>> whether my signal is making it out when I’m not hearing responses? I have
>>> searched websdr and kiwisdr, but do not see any that are on the 2m band in
>>> the area. I’d love to confirm whether it’s an equipment/antenna issue or
>>> simply a matter of timing and activity.
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance, and I’m looking forward to learning more and getting
>>> involved with the club.
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>> Franklin
>>> KD3CQH | WSKR559
>>>
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