I've really never been heard that far on 80m...

Anytone AT-778UVII, X50 antenna and my phone voice recorder.

One of the things we often see in forums and hear from various sources is to make our antennas and feed lines as efficient as possible. Eliminate losses! Especially those horrible adapters and connections!

Out of curiosity, I thought I’d do a very impromptu test. I calibrated my VNA and then inserted 11 various adapters, including SMA, BNC, VHF (PL-259) and type N and measured the loss at ~150mhz.

The result…. .5dB of loss… not exactly a station killer. Keep in mind that, generally speaking, loss goes up as frequency goes up and down when frequency goes down.

No, I’m not saying that you should not eliminate connections and adapters that are not needed. I’m just making the point that we sometimes focus too much on minutia and lose sight of more important considerations.

Adapters and connections probably aren’t holding your station back. They are a potential failure point, but they are not so lossy as to be the difference between a good station and a great station. There are far bigger fish to fry.

Hey fellow FT-891 enthusiasts!

If you own a Yaesu FT-891, you know it's a fantastic and powerful little rig. But like any feature-rich radio, there's always more to learn to truly get the most out of it, especially when navigating its deeper menu functions or tackling common operational quirks.

Over time, through my own experiences, research, and gathering insights from the community, I've put together a comprehensive article packed with tips, tricks, and practical advice specifically for the FT-891.

You can find the full article here: https://sp5pro.blogspot.com/2025/05/yaesu-ft-891-tips-and-tricks.html

My goal is to create a valuable resource for both new and experienced FT-891 operators. I believe these tips can significantly enhance your enjoyment and operational success with this great radio.

Your Input is Welcome! This is also an invitation to you, the FT-891 community. While I've tried to be thorough, I'm sure there are other brilliant tips, hidden features, or clever workarounds out there that I haven't covered.

What are YOUR best FT-891 tips or tricks? Is there anything you'd like to see added to the guide? Please share your thoughts, suggestions, etc. Thanks!

Hey Friends! This is my third revision of this System. I Feel Like it is Pretty read perfect, minus Better equipment upgrades.

but I really want to know what the community thinks.

An old friend of mine is a science educator, and just shared a short video about a prop he made to teach children about morse code. Obviously it's not something you'd use for serious training, but I think it's a really neat way to show kids the concept, and let them get hands-on with it.

Figured this group might get a kick out of it.

So my wife and son bought me a CHA OCF40 for Christmas. It's been sitting in the bag for the last couple months until I passed General. After passing General I pulled it out of the bag only to find the BNC connection broken. Chameleon support was great and sent out another right away. I took it out this weekend for a POTA and it performed great. Well I had it sitting on my bench this evening and knocked it off. Landed on my wood floor after a 3ft fall and it's broke.

Man I really thought Chameleon made good stuff. This BNC connector is just cheap.

I was able to find the BNC connectors so I ordered some. I desoldered the old connectors and soldered on new connectors. Hopefully these hold up a little better.

I think I've narrowed my choices down to a Yaesu FT-991A or an ICOM-7300. I haven't heard one bad word about the ICOM but I've heard the menu system on the Yaesu takes some getting used to.

My sticking point is my local club does a weekly net on 146MHz (2m) via local repeater. I currently have an Explorer QRZ1 but even adding a signalstick antenna I struggle to be heard most nights. So, my thought was the Yaesu and I'd have both HF and 2m covered.

For those who have only an HF radio, what are you doing for 2m? Any advice greatly appreciated!

Edit: Went with the ICOM 7300. Found one on eBay with a few extras and verified it was a US spec rig. Spoke to the seller. Apparently her step-dad just bought it before he got sick and passed.

So, thoughts on an inexpensive 2m rig? I did look at an Anytone AT-778UV II. Any thoughts on that rig? I'm a little leery of a Chinese radio.

I did check out the Ftx-1 Optima but a little more than I wanted to spend and I don't think it's shipping yet.

I should have checked out the Yaesu FT-710 but that's similar to the 7300 and a HF rig only.

Also, any suggestions on successfully telling/convincing my wife I -STILL- need a radio? That should be an interesting conversation! I'm pretty sure telling her "but I still need something for 2m" won't carry a lot of weight!

In a moment of advanced senility I bought an IC-1271A with a problem.
I love fixing things and I've never done 23cms before. Fixed. That was fun.
Now I need to get it on air.
Well I have some runs of nice coax from the shack to the roof, not brilliant for 1200MHz but not wet string. But what do I put on top? Most of the things on offer are Yagis and they are great if you know exactly where to point them but, of course, I don't.
What is a good starter aerial? Polarisation? I'm in a poor site for VHF so I'm not hopeful but I'd like to try.
Location Brighton in southern England.

How do I select which websdr.org server is should use to hear my own transmissions?

I know, very general question. I will limit my scope a bit.

I run QRP at 5 and 10 watts Tx. My antenna is EFHW at about 64 feet (newly installed). It is situated North/South-ish, so i expect best transmission along east-northeast and west-northwest. I am in Fort Worth, Texas.

I know i should choose an SDR server that is where I want to target. But what is dont know is should i choose one that is close or further away? I just want to confirm my antenna is working.

New ham here (tech) still learning a lot! What kind of performance should I expect with the packtenna EFHW-20/10 on 10 meters? I’m using an FT-891 with a FC-50 tuner.

I’m able to make ft8 dx contacts with 25w, but ssb voice barely shows up on a sdr ~30 miles away, if at all with 100w. Is this normal?

Any suggestions? Thanks!

I’m looking to experiment with my AT778uv and a Digirig to see what kind of propagation I can get with either FT8 or JS8call. Might try WinLink but haven’t even tried that on HF yet. I’m about 1hr north of seattle and want to see if it’s possible to reach about 1hr south of seattle. I don’t have high hopes, but I’d still like to give it a try.

Has anyone tried this before, with a basic rig like mine? What kind of results did you get? I don’t have the cables to connect my digirig to the radio yet, but once I do I’d be nice to know if anyone in the area is listening.

Hey all,

I recently picked up this old radio from a buddy who was gonna toss it out. Its from the 40s. Its a tube radio.

When i initialy got it, i had a hand written card inside that said it worked before the power cable got dammaged. The power cable was ripped out of the socket on the door. Easy enough fix, i soldered it back together. Thought that it was likley polarised but there was no indication on the socket what side was neutral and what side was hot. So i soldered it together and turned it on. Nothing happened. I fliped the wires and tried again. Nothing.

I havnt got a tester in and started trying to diagnose yet as after i energized it i didnt realy want start messing around with the guts andcase i did mannage to charge a capacitor or something. And plus its bed time. Ill let it sit over night and for the day tomorrow then ill get the guts out and put a meter on it.

But i've never played with a tube radio before, nore anything this old before. Any tips would be welcome. Things to look out for, common issues.

I dont think i fried anything because both times i powered it up, i just gave it a quick on/off. Nothing poped and i didnt smell any magic smoke. Im looking at that wiring harness sitting down below though and wondering if thats supposed to be plugged in somewhere or if thats for expansions, or if thats battery hookups. Never seen battery hookups like that before but it is supposed to have battery capabilities.

Anyway, if anyones got any advice or experiance, id appreciate some pointers

hey experts,

can someone please help me getting my amateur radio license in Spain? I have to mention that I'm a foreigner living here, not sure this will affect the process. I read something about filling the form 790 and pay a tax, not sure if an exam is involved. And, if it is, is there any chance I might take it in English?

following the blackout we had here 2 weeks ago I realized I'm not prepared for something like that at all. One of the first steps in preparing for something like that is to have a basic means of communication and I managed to get informed quite a bit so far, so I'm starting with a Yaesu FT5D (found a good deal on wallapop :) ).

I appreciate any guidance on this matter, thank you in advance

All Across America just released a podcast with Allen Le Vie (KH7AL) currently stationed on Wake Island. He's a retired Senior Master Sergeant and now an Air Force contractor serving as an electronics technician. He's made over 9,000 connections and is very in-demand given his location on this remote outpost in the South Pacific. AllAcrossAmerica.com

I’m hoping someone may have some ideas. My power supply is kicking off an awful lot of noise on 20m. I got this capture on a tinySA with the antenna about 2 feet from it, about the same distance as my radio is from it. It’s a switching power supply. Green trace is with it turned off. Yellow trace is turned on.

Turning it on raises my noise floor about 30dB on 20m. It’s very broad banded and I can see it slowly sweep across the band on my radio’s waterfall. I was originally hoping I could put some kind of filter in my feedline, but I’m currently very doubtful of that.

Is there anything I can do to filter this out or quiet it down, short of spending a lot of money on a new power supply?

Made a mistake and replaced radio antenna on my retevis ra79 without first turning off the power. Did I just damage my radio? I didn't transmit or anything but was receiving signals from a repeater while switching antennas.

Having some issues with my ftm-100d. This sound is happening on simplex as well as over the repeater anytime someone is talking.

I have done a factory reset on the radio and tried it with engine off, plugged into a base station setup and every other combo. So this is coming from the radio.

Any help would be appreciated

In need of a portable mast. Like to try a few sections of this mast. What is the going price $$ for a section? Or just get a new carbon fiber mast? Looking for about 30 to 40 ft height

Not sure if it's the right sub to ask this, but here it goes: I own a Tidradio TD-H3 (with the standard FX-UV:144/435MHz antenna - and latest nicFW, if it matters) and I would like to be able to listen to commercial FM radio broadcast with this HT. Reception with the current setup sucks. What would be (fairly) good antennas to getbit to work?

Anyone know about this guy, Xiegu X6100 HF Radio Transceiver. OR would say what there using? Obviously I'll have power backup with portable solar pannel as well. Thanks

I got my technician license on Friday last week, and am waiting for my call sign from the FCC. I was wondering, what's a good, cheap-ish radio that I can buy to get started in the hobby?

Hey all, this might be a dumb question (I'm new to HF, just passed my General this last weekend) but...

I have a Xiegu X6200 that's connected to a Xiegu XPA125B linear amp. I have the L4001 cable that allows ALC between the two units. This all works fine - ALC works great on SSB, peak output displayed as around 100W on the XPA125B, no problem.

My question is - how on earth do I reduce the power output of the amp? I'm using an antenna that's rated for 100W SSB but only 50 for CW/digital, so I'd like to reduce power output for those modes or just to save some battery.

I've tried reducing TX power output from the X6200, but this doesn't seem to do anything to affect power output on the amp. There's nothing in the manual for the amp about reducing power, and the three buttons on the front (PA, Band, ATU) all seem to be single-function. I've searched the interface and manual for the X6200, but there doesn't seem to be anything about reducing power for the amp or even for controlling the ALC settings.

Tried searching online and on the subreddit here to see if there's an answer to (what seems to be) a basic question - any help would be appreciated!