Got licensed and went straight through to General, now working on Extra — so still pretty new to this whole world overall. Wanted something I could glance at while listening in instead of digging through notes, so I took a wooden TV dinner tray and laser engraved a full reference sheet onto it: band plan, phonetic alphabet, Morse code, Q-codes, RST signal report, my grid square, and a Skywarn spotter badge since I’m registered for that too.

I do laser engraving and fabrication work so this was as much a “let me see what I can actually cram onto a tray” project as it was a functional piece. Ended up being genuinely useful to have parked next to the radio.

Open to feedback — still learning the ropes both on the radio side and the engraving side, so if I got anything wrong on the reference info let me know.

KQ4YQJ, 73

I came across this from a couple of youtube videos from a recent HAM show. Best part is no subcription's needed a one time purchase. Check it out! (I am not affiliated with this product at all, just purchased one this morning.)

Picked up Propagation, the amateur radio card game from Marconi Signal Solutions, and loved the concept but hated cards sliding everywhere mid-game. So I laser engraved a set of boards to keep everything organized — dedicated slots for the Bonus cards, Propagation deck, QSL deck, plus a personal “station board” with slots for Band, Antenna, and your active QSL contacts, callsign and all.

I don’t usually have people around to play with, so I’ve been running it solo and building my own house rules for it since it’s designed for multiple players. The gist: instead of competing against other players, you declare an objective before you start — something like “collect 3 QSLs from a specific region” or “make contact in a specific band” — and work toward it as Propagation conditions shift card by card. Still tuning the exact rules (attempt counts, how upgrades carry over between propagation changes, that kind of thing) but it’s turned into a genuinely relaxing way to spend time with the game instead of it just sitting on a shelf because I can’t get a group together.

Curious if anyone else has adapted card/board games like this for solo play, or has thoughts on making a QSL-collecting game work well as a one-person session.

KQ4YQJ, 73

Hi
I’m new in DMR radio I can configure successfully the analog repeaters from repeatersbooks nearby my location and works well I can hear the people talking

In the case of dmr I create all the contacts on group call with their ids from my country and I add on the ex group I saw the signal indicator also with another analog radio I can hear the “scrambled audio”

But I can’t never hear anything

I’m selecting the dmr repeaters and configuring as digital channel on cps setting the color code frecuency and ts

Is there a way to set the radio like to hear all the tg and any color code?

P.n Im still don’t have my id from radioid I’m just want hear conversations

I had a great field day!

I tested the battery system on the ftx1 field to enable 10W and it worked great.

I have a 99WH battery, with the simple PD board that does the handshake to set the USB voltages distribution in 15V, feeding the radio to the barrel connector.

I noticed 8W reception only, and 32W transmitting 10W in FT8.

The next step is to add solar to extend the whole operation.

I do eventually want to get both what is some good radios to start on handheld and base station/ back pack radio.

So, after basically a week of PTT anxiety, I made my first contact today in northern Indiana on my local repeater by simply saying my call sign, and someone responded with theirs. It went great; everyone was nice. I spoke to mostly one person, but someone else spoke a bit also. It lasted about 15 minutes before I had to get off. If everyone on that repeater is like the gentleman I spoke to, I think I'll get along with the locals great.

But calling 73 is where the good part ended. Because after I called 73, I went to turn my radio off, and I heard my call sign being said, followed by a new callsign. I didn't hear their callsign, and this is where the panic set in because I didn't know how to ask for their call sign again. I didn't know how to respond to them, like so I say their call sign and then mine? So while I'm rifling through the empty filing cabinets in my mind trying to figure out how to respond, I hear the guy I was talking to say “I guess he was serious about getting off” and the new guy say “yeah, I was going to say hi and introduce myself” and they start up a new conversation.

That is where the second flood of panic set in as I realized I think I got his call sign, but now I don’t know how to interject and let him know I wasn't ignoring him. I just panicked and froze because I didn't know how to properly ask for his call sign again or even respond to him calling my call sign.

So it indeed was a good first contact until I panicked and froze because of my lack of knowledge on ham radio etiquette. Needless to say, I will be looking into these things before I press the button again and probably shouldn't have hit the button today.

Edit: Grammar and Typos.

Every online HAM radio community has turned into an AI slop factory...

I have built and measured this cubicle quad antenna. The design is the process of my Moxon project. The wire (2.5mm²) is held in place via grooves, that have a snap fit. There is no measuring the wire length or something else, because of the frames double duty as a jig and as holders.

Rather sooner than later this project will be available on GitHub.

Ask questions, if you have any.

Reporter Katie Thornton asks: What do we lose when we give up our public airwaves?

A deep-pocketed group of finance bros that is trying to wrestle the airwaves away from the public, and use them for a money-making scheme completely antithetical to broadcasting. This week we share an episode of The Divided Dial, which first aired last year.

I posted a while back about HTCommander, it's improved a lot since the last post. It now supports EchoLink and AllStarLink, APRS-IS, APRS.if and Winlink over the Internet. so, you don't need a radio anymore. It also support full control over Benshi Bluetooth radios including these:

• BTech UV-Pro, UV-50Pro
• Radioddity GA-5WB, DB50-B Mini
• Vero VR-N75, VR-N76, VR-N7500, VR-N7600
• Radtel RT-660

Most importantly, HTCommander now runs on all major operating systems and available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. The web site is at: https://ylianst.github.io/HTCommanderSite/ where you can look at the feature set which is quite extensive. For Benshi radios, this app should be a full super-set of the OEM application, including full control over all radio settings, radio firmware update, satellite tracking support, FM radio and more.

The list of features is extensive, you can take a look at them here: https://ylianst.github.io/HTCommanderSite/features.html . The software is free, open source and void of any telemetry. Feedback appreciated.

Or maybe Android question…

I have the official NA6D AIOC plus sweet 3D case.

It works like a charms with Windows, Linux, and macOS. I have friends who swear it works with the iPhone.

I have mine plugged into my uSDX. RX works and I can see FT8 messages. I get nothing on the TX part of the protocol!

(Yes, TX is enabled in the app.)

I have a support question in to the NA6D website but was wondering if anyone else had a problem.

73

I feel kind of stupid asking this question, considering the whole point is they may not have power still. But, maybe someone may have a go-bag or anything of the sorts hooked to a battery?

But anyone in Gary, Indiana, able to get on a frequency? Just looking to check in on the city and state. Not only do. I hear that Gary Indiana has most of the news attention, but their others that are saying that the whole state is dealing with the same issue.

I have a couple antennas I want to put on top of the 30’ish TV tower i have outside. What kind of climbing gear do I need to safely do it. I tried tough gear a few years ago and made it not even half way up before I panicked not having any safety gear.

Can some one from India please answer me can any one get me radtel rt 470x radio am willing pay good price for it

I'm looking to get my first HF rig and I'm looking for something that is versatile enough that it can be a mobile or a base, operate with digital modes, and offer remote functionality. I'm kind of looking at the icom 7300 and the 7300 mkII. thanks for input.

I know Apple has SDR Control but I use Android. I read a while back someone was developing an app similar to SDR Control that was for Android. I have the Icom software that works on a Windows computer,but I am looking for Android.

I was looking into how I would retire my father's callsign after his recent passing, and I learned I can take it over if I pass a test. I believe I just need to pass the first level test (his callsign is KB7AUH.)

I'm very happy to be able to do this. But my questions are: do I notify the FCC before I pass the test or after? Do I need to let the testing entity know I plan to take over a callsign vs. having a new one assigned to me? How do I get started? Any information is appreciated - thank you!

​

Today I learned about 2026 Kump Fieldcamp.

I'm definitely paraphrasing this but he said:

"We are set up in a cowfield for 2 weeks we make a lot of ham radio. We have a big tent and a kitchen tent. we have plenty of food beer and whiskey"

Station 1 HF:

Radio 1: Yaesu FT1000

Amp: Expert 1K

Antennas: HyGain TH11-DX with additional Dipol for 30/40 meters on top and aditional dipole for 80 meters

Tower: 90 feet on a trailor (Lift up electrical)

I just wanna disappear into a field for 2 weeks with a premier setup like that and work all the DX I can handle.

I believe the OP name was Volker. If you see this fine business making the QSO today I'm jealous :).

Can I wrap multiple usb cables around a single 31 donut for RFI purposes? Or do I need a 31 core per usb?

I have a 2x2 callsign, and I have an MA (Massachusetts) amateur radio license plate on my car, which of course has my callsign. MA puts a "lightning bolt" symbol in the middle of the callsign. I have learned that the MA RMV put a "/" (slash character) in my database record, right where that lightning bolt sits. I have been pulled over twice simply because the officer didn't know how to look up my plate in the database.

Is having a "/" in the official record normal (at least in MA)? Has anyone else had to explain this to local or state police?