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Ham radio in Netflix’s Stranger Things - So many mistakes!
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Stephen Cole
Jul 17, 2019, 3:29:09 AM7/17/19
to
I just got round to finishing season 3 of Stranger Things, which was very
good actually but there were *many* instances of impossible or incorrect
radio that jarred to greater or lesser extents.
SPOILER SPACE
*
*
*
So, the kids in Stranger Things have used walkie-talkies since season 1,
and there’s always been incongruities in their depiction, most notably
their near-infinite battery life, use with antenna unextended (I bought a
set of these on eBay following that series, the fully-extended antenna is
about 7 foot long!), and comms being full-duplex rather than simplex.
Season 3, however, goes absolutely mental. Dustin, probably the nerdiest
kid in the gang, comes back from nerd summer camp with a hand-built ham
radio which he proceeds to cart to the top of the highest hill in town to
establish a station to communicate with his new girlfriend who lives in
Utah (Dustin and his gang live in Indiana, 1500 miles away). The power
source seems to be a small SLA battery (I’m presuming such things were
available in 1985 but not this compact) but the maddest thing is the
antenna they build; a 7 or 8 element VHF-sized beam (it’s established later
in the series that it’s a HF radio when Dustin gives a 20m frequency to QSY
to (which the gang’s 27mhz CB handies erroneously operate on...)) with all
manner of conductive tat stuck to it, including a stripped brolly and a
Slinky... This is built in the first or second episode of the show and
attempted communications with Utah fail, no contact is made
(unsurprisingly... LOL). This station is not visited or mentioned again
until the kids return to it at the end of the season to manage comms
between the team battling Russians at the secret base beneath the mall and
the team battling the monster on the surface, but when we see the kids
return to it, days after setting it up in storyline, the radio (which has
no top case to protect it from the elements!!) is still on the floor,
powered up, ready to use! This made me really twitchy, I get that it’s
required to suspend disbelief when watching a monster-based horror-comedy
but, Christ!, I couldn’t ignore that!
There’s a lot more radio wrongness in the show, give it a watch (it’s a
great show!) and spot all the foul-ups. See if it drives you loopy, too.
All of that said, though, it is nice to see radio use portrayed on screen,
and portrayed as absolutely essential to the successful resolution of the
adventure.
--
M0TEY // STC
www.twitter.com/ukradioamateur
good actually but there were *many* instances of impossible or incorrect
radio that jarred to greater or lesser extents.
SPOILER SPACE
*
*
*
So, the kids in Stranger Things have used walkie-talkies since season 1,
and there’s always been incongruities in their depiction, most notably
their near-infinite battery life, use with antenna unextended (I bought a
set of these on eBay following that series, the fully-extended antenna is
about 7 foot long!), and comms being full-duplex rather than simplex.
Season 3, however, goes absolutely mental. Dustin, probably the nerdiest
kid in the gang, comes back from nerd summer camp with a hand-built ham
radio which he proceeds to cart to the top of the highest hill in town to
establish a station to communicate with his new girlfriend who lives in
Utah (Dustin and his gang live in Indiana, 1500 miles away). The power
source seems to be a small SLA battery (I’m presuming such things were
available in 1985 but not this compact) but the maddest thing is the
antenna they build; a 7 or 8 element VHF-sized beam (it’s established later
in the series that it’s a HF radio when Dustin gives a 20m frequency to QSY
to (which the gang’s 27mhz CB handies erroneously operate on...)) with all
manner of conductive tat stuck to it, including a stripped brolly and a
Slinky... This is built in the first or second episode of the show and
attempted communications with Utah fail, no contact is made
(unsurprisingly... LOL). This station is not visited or mentioned again
until the kids return to it at the end of the season to manage comms
between the team battling Russians at the secret base beneath the mall and
the team battling the monster on the surface, but when we see the kids
return to it, days after setting it up in storyline, the radio (which has
no top case to protect it from the elements!!) is still on the floor,
powered up, ready to use! This made me really twitchy, I get that it’s
required to suspend disbelief when watching a monster-based horror-comedy
but, Christ!, I couldn’t ignore that!
There’s a lot more radio wrongness in the show, give it a watch (it’s a
great show!) and spot all the foul-ups. See if it drives you loopy, too.
All of that said, though, it is nice to see radio use portrayed on screen,
and portrayed as absolutely essential to the successful resolution of the
adventure.
--
M0TEY // STC
www.twitter.com/ukradioamateur
Jim GM4DHJ ...
Jul 17, 2019, 8:44:09 AM7/17/19
to
I tried to get my SB300 receiver to transmit after watching
Frequency...no luck ...
Stephen Cole
Jul 17, 2019, 8:46:08 AM7/17/19
to
Jeff <je...@ukra.com> wrote:
>
>> in the series that it’s a HF radio when Dustin gives a 20m frequency to QSY
>> to (which the gang’s 27mhz CB handies erroneously operate on...)) with all
>> manner of conductive tat stuck to it, including a stripped brolly and a
>> Slinky... This is built in the first or second episode of the show and
>> attempted communications with Utah fail, no contact is made
>> (unsurprisingly... LOL).
>
> Nothing wrong with a Slinky antenna, they may not be the best due to the
>
>> in the series that it’s a HF radio when Dustin gives a 20m frequency to QSY
>> to (which the gang’s 27mhz CB handies erroneously operate on...)) with all
>> manner of conductive tat stuck to it, including a stripped brolly and a
>> Slinky... This is built in the first or second episode of the show and
>> attempted communications with Utah fail, no contact is made
>> (unsurprisingly... LOL).
>
> steel material but they do work, unless you use the plastic versions!!
>
Oh, absolutely, but a Slinky wrapped around an undersized yagi? With a
brolly stuck on top? And pointing at the floor? :-D Look, I know that it’s
just a silly show, a bit of fun, but it wouldn’t have taken much to get a
ham on board to consult on the reality of radio, particularly considering
that the kids (especially Dustin) are written as clever, geeky children
with genuine knowledge and interest in the sciences (they were members of
their school amateur radio society in season 1, now I think about it!).
Here’s a picture of Dustin’s antenna:
https://images.app.goo.gl/xtRTRCBBxabN8a7c6
:-D
Jeefaw K. Effkay
Jul 17, 2019, 9:32:17 AM7/17/19
to
On Wednesday, July 17, 2019 at 1:44:09 PM UTC+1, Jim GM4DHJ ... wrote:
> On 17/07/2019 06:44, Stephen Cole wrote:
> > So, the kids in Stranger Things have used walkie-talkies since season 1,
> > and there’s always been incongruities in their depiction, most notably
> > their near-infinite battery life, use with antenna unextended (I bought a
> > set of these on eBay following that series, the fully-extended antenna is
> > about 7 foot long!), and comms being full-duplex rather than simplex.
> >
> On 17/07/2019 06:44, Stephen Cole wrote:
> > So, the kids in Stranger Things have used walkie-talkies since season 1,
> > and there’s always been incongruities in their depiction, most notably
> > their near-infinite battery life, use with antenna unextended (I bought a
> > set of these on eBay following that series, the fully-extended antenna is
> > about 7 foot long!), and comms being full-duplex rather than simplex.
> >
> Never heard of the show.....but
> I tried to get my SB300 receiver to transmit after watching
> Frequency...no luck ...
I had exactly the same problem with my Pye Pcketfone PF1 transmitter. It absolutely refused to receive when I let go of the PTT, like the ones on "The Sweeney" did.
> I tried to get my SB300 receiver to transmit after watching
> Frequency...no luck ...
I tried complaining about this to Pye, as well as about the fact that the antenna got stuck up my nose every time I pushed the PTT, but it seems they don't exist anymore.
Brian Reay
Jul 17, 2019, 11:43:26 AM7/17/19
to
programme etc it wouldn’t be obvious where the Rx audio was coming from.
I’m not sure if my memory of seeing the PF1 being used in service is from
actually seeing a policeman using one or just from a Pye promo film* but
the idea was the Rx was clipped to the body/uniform/clothing etc and only
the Tx was handheld as I recall.
*possibly even a police TV programme like Z cars!
The PF1s were as deaf as the proverbial post, not least as the Rx antenna
was the metal ‘speaker’ grill. It was about 1cm x3cm , the speaker was
actually more like a cheap earpiece I seem to recall. If you added a short
helical, the Rx improved dramatically. You could even convert then to 2m
but it required all of the tuning coils etc to be replaced. I think Chris
Lorek published the details.
The PF2 was a much better set but the battery was a pain to get hold of.
Jeefaw K. Effkay
Jul 18, 2019, 12:59:52 AM7/18/19
to
It's a lot of work for a single channel 2m rx, butI s'pose it made sense in 1984.
In thought this was a pretty cool way of overcoming the problem of PF1 batteries made from unobtanium: http://www.g4kfk.co.uk/Pye_PF1_Conversion_REW_198307.pdf
Brian Reay
Jul 18, 2019, 6:46:06 AM7/18/19
to
also published a similar article.
You may recall Chris published a lot of conversion articles and a couple of
books based on them. Sadly I believe he died a few years ago.
> It's a lot of work for a single channel 2m rx, butI s'pose it made sense in 1984.
Another almost purely fun conversion was the SR1 pager to a receiver.
>
> In thought this was a pretty cool way of overcoming the problem of PF1
> batteries made from unobtanium: http://www.g4kfk.co.uk/Pye_PF1_Conversion_REW_198307.pdf
>
The rallies were generally flooded with PF1 batteries that had seen better
> In thought this was a pretty cool way of overcoming the problem of PF1
> batteries made from unobtanium: http://www.g4kfk.co.uk/Pye_PF1_Conversion_REW_198307.pdf
>
days. Due to the low current demand it was best to just use a decent
Alkaline PP3 or a pair of them in the tx than waste money on doubtful
nicads.
REW was a good mag but ran out of steam.
Guy G4DWV 4X1LT
Jul 20, 2019, 3:27:12 PM7/20/19
to
On 17 Jul 2019 05:44:22 GMT, just as I was about to take a herb,
Stephen Cole <use...@stephenthomascole.com> disturbed my reverie and
wrote:
>There’s a lot more radio wrongness in the show, give it a watch (it’s a
>great show!) and spot all the foul-ups. See if it drives you loopy, too.
OT: You should see the mistakes when medical stuff is involved, let
alone dentistry (my area).
--
73 de Guy G4DWV 4X1LT
Stephen Cole <use...@stephenthomascole.com> disturbed my reverie and
wrote:
>There’s a lot more radio wrongness in the show, give it a watch (it’s a
>great show!) and spot all the foul-ups. See if it drives you loopy, too.
alone dentistry (my area).
--
73 de Guy G4DWV 4X1LT
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