51 Hour With Ham Radio On a Train

As I travel the California Zephyr from San Francisco to Chicago heading toward Hamvention 2023, I test out how effective ham radio is from a moving train.
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⏱️Chapters⏱️
0:00 Onboard the California Zephyr train
0:53 Using APRS on the Kenwood TH-D72
3:00 Results on the APRS map
5:23 Making a voice contact via a repeater
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[@HamRadioDX]

Watch more of my USA trip & Hamvention trip here 👉kzbin.info/aero/PLSuX83ay4OuhcfMwilGoiCU_GtUim6neJ

[@bearb1asting]

Dayton seemed like a real bust this year to me.

[@HamRadioDX]

@@bearb1asting You were there?

[@bearb1asting]

@Ham Radio DX yeah, I ran around looking for you Saturday and Sunday, thought I saw you in the food court, but wasn't 100% sure. Didn't want to chance the awkward "Hey, how's it, oh you're not that radio human. Whoops!" I actually heard complaints about staff, logistics, and the VEs doing testing. It's heartbreaking to hear stuff like that about something I love so much.

[@HamRadioDX]

@@bearb1asting No worries. I was in the food area for a little while. I didn't hear any complaints, but I guess the organizers have a full plate with the stuff they did do. FWIW I enjoyed it a lot

[@enriquediaz7547]

Wow! You’re seeing/seen the country in a way a lot of “us” locals haven’t! Great!

[@DonzLockz]

I went on Amtrak in 2017, it broke down and left us stranded at 10:30pm. Amtrak was useless with support, never again! Glad you had a good trip and played radio to keep you busy. ... its Boofwang!😂 Great split screen of you and Kyle, very cool.👍

[@HamRadioDX]

Thanks man. We were only delayed an hour traveling across the whole country we which considered pretty good!

[@HamRadioDX]

It was great to have Kyle at the other end

[@HamRadioDX]

Yeah, I think the longest we were delayed at one point was 2.5 hours.. but the driver made it up between Denver and Chicago. My goodness he absolutely hit the gas going down and through Nebraska overnight

[@AA0Z]

It's a big steel tube folks!!

[@Norm_KC9]

Hot take: I think Kyle's AA0Z ad lib commentary is on par with the Smokin Apes'.

[@depluribusunum3128]

On a trip back home in my dad's camper I had a lengthy conversation with a ham riding in the caboose in the desert. Back in late 70's. Good memories.

[@peter-vk3acz]

I did the Cal Zephyr in 2004, and (as I’m sure you were, too), was blown-away by the amazing scenery… but little did I know at the time that it would have been even more fun to have played radio on the train. I’m going to do the trip again, hopefully soon, and have already let this video convince me to take a HT with me when I do… thanks Hayden! Peter, VK3ACZ

[@HamRadioDX]

Awesome Peter! The scenery was amazing!

[@KM4ACK]

Great video! Enjoyed listening to the QSO with AA0Z

[@HamRadioDX]

Thanks Jason. Great to meet you in person mate too, you’re a legend 👍

[@bb_37]

Hayden, I wanted to add that it's been a real pleasure watching your videos about your first trip to Hamvention. Fun seeing America and Hamvention through your eyes. My first Hamvention was in 1988. I worked for a company who had an inside booth. I know that I was astounded by my first Hamvention. I wasn't a licensed amateur radio operator at the time, but it was still an amazing experience. I was also surprised that you took the train from San Francisco to Chicago. Amtrak, unfortunately, is kind of a red-headed stepchild in U.S. transportation planning. Too important, especially in the northeast corridor, to kill off, but never important enough to get the funding it needs. It's a political football that nobody seems to agree on. If you had continued to take Amtrak to Cincinnati, the closest station to Xenia, you'd have gone through the town where I live. Amtrak has a large rail car repair shop in Beech Grove, Indiana, which is near me. Thanks for the videos.

[@HamRadioDX]

Thanks Robert, appreciate you following along the journey and for your comment 👍 thoroughly enjoyed my time there

[@RB9522]

Good job syncing the audio. It's great to see you in the USA running /TM (train mobile). Great video.

[@HamRadioDX]

Thanks Richard, yeah it was good to see the audios at both ends. I probably got into the repeater better than I heard it.

[@costakeith9048]

Brave man, traveling by Amtrak when you have a schedule to keep; but it is a nice route, especially over the mountains, definitely a better way to see the country than flying over it and even better views than the major highways. I'm glad it worked out for you.

[@HamRadioDX]

Stayed in Chicago 2 days afterwards just in case of delays. We ended up only being 1 hour late. Over that distance, that’s pretty impressive. The train driver who took over at Denver was absolutely giving it the beans down the mountains that night though!

[@Jody_VE5SAR]

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles - Tasmanian style! 🙂You've done more on one trip than a lot of people EVER do!

[@HamRadioDX]

The full trifecta! Looking forward to getting home though

[@dukeofrodtown1705]

I'm glad your experience was very pleasant. As someone who has been following Amtrak, I know that a lot of other folks (as one other comment indicates clearly) have had awful experiences. I will say, American scenery looks incredible when you're either by the tracks or aboard trains, having been a railroad enthusiast since I was little. Hope you've been having a great time in the US Hayden mate!

[@HamRadioDX]

Been an absolute blast!

[@Paddy_Roche]

Hi Hayden, I'm not much of a commenter but wanted to say how impressed I've been with your journey to, and through the U.S. to Hamvention. Its been awesome to see you live 'my' Dream (lol) of crossing America on an Amtrak Train. Thank you for the complete Playlist of this Great Adventure Hayden and congratulations to all the KZbin folk of America who seemed to really make you welcome. Special mention should go to Kyle I think, who is clearly such a Decent, Welcoming and Caring person. Epic mate.

[@HamRadioDX]

That’s Paddy. You must add it to your bucket list, it’s well worth the journey! Kyle was awesome, as were all the other KZbin Hams. I had a great time and they were really hospitable. What you see on camera is you get.

[@Paddy_Roche]

@@HamRadioDX I really appreciate the response Hayden thanks. Yes its very high on my list now buddy. I'm just watching through the Playlist right now (02:15 here lol). Great to know all the Tubers were good people. To be honest I always thought it would be the case. Thanks again mate take care friend.

[@ronwolenski-n8wcr]

I loved the Sugar Sugar Baby! Years ago I did the Amtrak from Washington to Ohio. It was a nice ride. It was interesting ride with some great scenery.

[@HamRadioDX]

Amazing way to see the country!

[@HowToHam_Tom]

I can literally feel your excitement and am SO happy for you! I can’t make HV this year but after watching this I’m totally going next year. Plus 5/20 is my birthday so I know what I’m getting myself in 2024. WELCOME TO AMERICA, Mate.

[@k-dog805]

My dad was a Hzm radio Buff. Net controll for over 10 years. Worked all counties in the US

[@HamRadioDX]

Nice! Has it interested you at all?

[@barrybogart5436]

I am glad you got on the train. I have taken Amtrak and VIA all over the US and Canada. You can take Amtrak from Chicago to a station in Kentucky just across the river from Columbus, Ohio. I took my folding bike and just rode it to Dayton from there. Then I rode it to Canada along the Underground Railway route. I have a Kenwood D-7 but don't believe I took it on that trip. If you like trains, you should take the Ghan some time! Probably not many repeaters along there.

[@HamRadioDX]

Yeah not many repeaters in range of the Ghan.... lots of desert though

[@MikeN2MAK]

That must have been such an amazing train ride. Thanks for sharing some of the experience.

[@HamRadioDX]

It was pretty cool indeed! I might do a summary video of the actual train ride itself. So much great footage to be shown.

[@GraemeKoch]

Loving these videos of your trip Hayden. It is giving me the urge to do it next year.😀

[@HamRadioDX]

It’s well worth it!

[@HamRadioDX]

All hams should do the trip to Dayton at least once. It’s such a great event

[@AndrewAbraham83]

Impressive. You wouldn't expect operating in a metal tube to work at all. You must have been on a very strong repeater

[@K5YVY]

It would be neat to travel the country by train…thanks for bringing us along. 👍#170

[@timothymorris1499]

That looks like a cool trip. Can’t beat a Signal Stick. -- I thought it was Bouw Fang😊

[@JamesHannibalKH2SR]

Great video! It was a pleasure for my dad and I to meet you at Hamvention. We hope to see you there again someday. 73!

[@HamRadioDX]

Thanks James, likewise! Awesome to meet you and chat

[@AD6DMDennis]

Wow you mean you passed through my 'hood?? (Sacramento) I was in proximity to the illustrious Hayden and didn't even know it.

[@HamRadioDX]

I was in secret squirrel/stealth mode!

[@johnwest7993]

I've ridden the Zephyr from Denver to Chicago several times. Made a few HT repeater contacts along the way. But mostly I just scanned till I found the freq. the conductor and engineer were on, and monitored that most of the way to see what was happening with the train, since they never tell you why the train pulls over, then sits.

[@bb_37]

Glad you had a good time at Hamvention. The tall, gray-haired guy in the dark blue shirt who sneaked into the shot around 2-3 minutes was Carl K9LA. He's the ARRL Central Division Director, my director. He's an HF propagation guru.

[@bb_37]

I'm a big dummy. Obviously, I was replying to your video about your meeting with David Minster NA2AA at the ARRL booth.

[@timothystockman7533]

I never tried while I was on the train, but I pulled out the ID-51 when the train made "smoke stops" and made a call on 146.52 from the platform. The only time someone came back was in Washington DC.

[@n5pa]

Hayden: My wife and I flew to Denver back in February and rode the California Zephyr from Denver to Sacramento on a “Winter Train Tour”. When we got to Denver there was heavy snow and the temperature was -3F. When we got up the next morning to board the train it was -11F with a windchill of -20F. There was not a lot of snow in the Rockies but it was brutally cold. The Colorado River was frozen solid. When we got to Truckee, CA there was 5 feet of snow and it was about 17F. About an hour west of Truckee, just past the Donner Pass, the snow was over 7 feet deep and the train came to a halt. We waited 5 1/2 hours for the train snow plow to get to us and clear the tracks. By the time it finally arrived we had 9 1/2 to 10 feet of snow. The roomette you have is okay for one person, but is extremely crowded with two people. Plus, they kept the temperature on the train 75F degrees. I slept on the top bunk and it must have been 90F up there. I did not sleep much at all. Glad you made it to Dayton. We were in Hawaii for a week and then sailed on a cruise ship to Victoria, BC and then on to Vancouver, BC. We flew home via Dallas and New Orleans. We got home at 3:00 a.m. CDT on Monday, the 22nd of May. We are still not use to the time change.

[@HamRadioDX]

Wow! We didn’t see that much snow. Funny enough the most snow on the track was near California. The rest was mountains in Rockies and Salt Lake City. I slept on the top bunk too, very hard to get decent sleep! Had a great time for sure though, Dayton was AMAZING.

[@Cruzinnv]

Well deserved thumbs up 👍👍👍👍.. Really enjoyed this video great job.

[@HamRadioDX]

Thank you 👍

[@kilobyts5703]

Nice from bayarea i wish i could bring my ham radio all the time from san fracisco to chicago

[@KI4ASK]

Glad I’m not the only one who likes to use APRS while traveling.

[@HamRadioDX]

It was good to see the track Joe across the country

[@archieus7752]

I'm going to be taking the Zephyr myself later this week, with a Baofeng, thanks!

[@HamRadioDX]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@StuartM0TTQAmateurRadio]

Very jealous, one of the train journeys I have always wanted to do

[@HamRadioDX]

It’s pretty good! Great scenery

[@DMflyers]

Awesome adventure and journey

[@KK6USYHamRadioAdventures]

Glad you had a good trip, I still want to do a train trip!

[@HamRadioDX]

Do it Chuck! It’s just down the road 😀

[@danvk3ndg104]

50 hours on a train? Wow is it cheaper than flying? Looks awesome. APRS for the win

[@HamRadioDX]

When you factor in accommodation it was about the same as flying

[@nerdlywehunt]

Just curious how the cellular network performed during the trip. Went trans Canada about 2 years ago and had mostly no coverage for the inner 1500 miles of the trip! Thanks for the great posts!!!!!!

[@HamRadioDX]

Cell was in and out. Obviously when we got to a major town then we had coverage. I was on T-Mobile. It was probably 60-70% coverage all the way I’d say.

[@peredavi]

Brave man!. Riding Amtrak. You’re going to excite a bunch of hams thinking they got 2 m.skip all the way to Oz.

[@kilobyts5703]

Great video ❤❤❤❤

[@alvarogaitan2529]

Thanks for sharing this video fabulous 73from kb2uew

[@HamRadioDX]

Thanks for watching!

[@BobHolowenko]

I'm currently in Denver visiting family and am currently monitoring W0TX as well! That was awesome 👍👍

[@HamRadioDX]

Sweet!

[@HamRadioDX]

It had great coverage for me

[@brianfields4479]

Just found your channel again, love the train qso. Metal box, any chance their will let you put a hf vertical on the top hi. Enjoy 73

[@alvarogaitan2529]

Fantastic video

[@HamRadioDX]

Thanks!

[@45auto]

What a fun trip.

[@patriot9455]

I have 4 Bfangs. I hope you had a great time in Dayton

[@MESA-East-Model-RR]

Too much fun!

[@don_n5skt]

I have traveled from Dallas to LA and from Dallas to NY on the train. I had an absolute blast both times and I would so do it again. Did you get a Sleeper or go Coach?

[@HamRadioDX]

Went sleeper. Coach over two and a half days would be a killer!

[@don_n5skt]

@@HamRadioDX Yes so you got the whole experience. I loved it. I actually had a GPS dongle with a suction cup and mapping software that read the GPS and plotted my position. Kind of like you were doing with APRS. I did not think about the radio but my wife and I could have used that to stay in touch via APRS and Allstar. Very cool Hayden.

[@HamRadioDX]

@@don_n5skt yeah it was a lot of fun. Thanks Don 👍

[@DD-gd3fr]

Great 👍 that is cool

[@digitalanaloguehamradio]

What a great adventure! Hayden, the whole thing. Traveling from your home to America and then across the country to the hamfest. Did you travel on your own?

[@HamRadioDX]

No I was accompanied by my significant other

[@genoa1979]

Good radio train 😂

[@walteredwards544]

Nice video but Amtrak is soooo agonizingly slow! Great for sightseeing but not for rapid transit. I'm glad you had a safe and wonderful trip across his country. Cheers

[@HamRadioDX]

That’s okay, we weren’t in a rush. We enjoyed seeing the countryside, it was fantastic

[@K1STG-Fred]

Fun video. Did you do any ham radio while in the San Francisco Bay Area? The hobby is super active around here. If you are ever back through I recommend a trip to Mt. Diablo, you can bang out a POTA on 2M in about 10 minutes on a weekend.

[@HamRadioDX]

I did a video that I released yesterday trying simplex on my HT around the Bay Area - kzbin.info/www/bejne/oauQYq2CrpepZtE I worked via the Mt Diablo repeater which was great

[@n1lx892]

Nicely done. I've often wondered how operating from a moving train would be. Have you tried HF onboard, or would there be too much RF interference due to the moving metal tube and engine?

[@HamRadioDX]

Didn’t try HF. Antenna was the main limitation there

[@KS0JD]

Next you need to do train mobile to parachute mobile! G-day Mate! 73

[@HamRadioDX]

That would be awesome haha

[@3dPrint_and_chill]

When I first visited America my first instinct was to take the train. You know like in every other country in the world. In the US it's a bad idea. It's slow, it's expensive. Car is king here unfortunately.

[@droy47]

I'm just getting into Ham, taking my test next week. I have watched a ton of your videos. Can you go into a bit of detail about your radio config and what software you are using to do that APRS tracking. I'm doing an Overlanding trip in October and very interested in tracking on a map like that.

[@HamRadioDX]

Hey mate. Yeah so the radio has a APRS functionality built in, so all you have to do is beacon from it with the correct SSID and path. Then you can view your track online at aprs.fi/ There's a few setup guides you can Google or find online for whatever radio or tracker you might purchase/build.

[@Zach-K7FC]

Really cool.

[@HamRadioDX]

Thanks Zach!

[@Zach-K7FC]

@@HamRadioDX Your level of excitement to be in the USA and see all your friends makes your Hamvention videos the best of the year. Thanks for sharing the fun.

[@HamRadioDX]

@@Zach-K7FC Thanks Zach, that's really kind. What video did you enjoy the most? I tried a style of just shooting how it was, enjoyed every minute of it.

[@Zach-K7FC]

@@HamRadioDX This one with the train, APRS, your ambition to do a POTA on 2m, the disappointment with nobody being on 2m, but then excitement with the contact with Chuck. It all made for a good vlog style video.

[@HamRadioDX]

@@Zach-K7FC Cheers Zach. Yes that was all legit excitement. I had the best time ever. Now I'm back at home at work, the complete opposite lol

[@richarde735]

alligator clips and you could tune the train

[@HamRadioDX]

Lol right

[@Bill-HRT]

Great contact! Now I know train mobile is a thing. It was nice to meet you at Hamvention, Hayden. You were very busy at the youTuber AirBnb with everyone else and the stream, so I wish I had more opportunity to talk to you. Next time.. TimTams are awesome! 73 de @Bill-HRT

[@HamRadioDX]

Thanks Bill, was great to meet you too and to hang out. Definitely next time we’ll have more of a chat 👍

[@chunkylover54]

checks watch... yep a day

[@patriot9455]

I wonder if the results would be as good on a bus

[@WillShattuck]

I was hoping you were going to be doing HF on the train

[@HamRadioDX]

HF was a little big to pack in my suitcase for this trip unfortunately

[@TangoOscarMikeN3WS]

How was the train trip itself? I always thought that might be an interesting way to travel.

[@HamRadioDX]

It was great! Amazing views, had all meals included. Got a sleeper cabin. Our car attendant was amazing, had a great time

[@cbjamesb1]

The signal stick really helped, did you pick that up from the hamvention?

[@HamRadioDX]

No I picked that up pre-Hamvention. I got it sent to Chuck KK6USY and I picked it up in San Fransisco. I wish I had of bought more Signalsticks at Dayton though

[@cbjamesb1]

@@HamRadioDX they seem great, I'm in the UK and debating buying one. Be much easier if someone sold them here.

[@gregwmanning]

Gday HH Where can I get the ant you are using thanks Greg vk7gwm

[@HamRadioDX]

Hey mate, from here: signalstuff.com/product/super-elastic-signal-stick-sma-male/

[@hobojon44]

Feed back is your opinion of something

[@bradl2636]

Amtrak is camping on rails.

[@trevorstudent4625]

Most Americans can’t even say Nevada correctly, kudos.

[@HamRadioDX]

Haha thanks!