Category Archives: How-to

It turns out there is a “soft” MARS mod which will allow the owner of either radio to “open up” the transmitter to cover an expanded range. The use of such an “expanded” HT outside of the authorized amateur radio … Continue reading →

So tonight, in about 30 minutes, I took an Icom IC-7100, attached an IT-100 Antenna Tuner which in turn is connected to my MFJ-1838 cobweb antenna, and set up the RemoteHams software to control it from the other side of … Continue reading →

Courtesy of N9EWO: n9ewo_ic7610_scope.pdf

I don’t use external TNCs, but I have friends that do, and every once in a while a friend or customer will ask me about a cable to connect one particular Kantronics TNC to one particular radio, and I always … Continue reading →

I was helping a friend program his new Kenwood TM-281A Two Meter radio, and we had an interesting problem. We had recently performed some maintenance on our local 2M repeater (WA5CKF in Irving, TX) and the programming file I had … Continue reading →

Yaesu has recently released a new dual-band hand-held amateur radio, the FT-4X. I always encourage hams that buy a hand-held to try and program their new radio by hand – it’s a great way to get familiar with your new … Continue reading →

A few years ago I foolishly told my fellow club members that I planned to test for am upgrade from Technician to General class amateur radio license. I say foolish, because now my friends would be expecting me to pass … Continue reading →

The Yaesu FT-65r is a good, solid-performing, inexpensive dual-band (2m/70cm) handheld. It is popular with new hams for it’s price and features, but new hams find it hard to program, so I worked with a fellow ham (Matt Mathews, KG5QZO) … Continue reading →

I’ve sold many FT-60r handhelds to amateur operators these last few years, and while everyone likes to say that this is one of the easiest handhelds to program, to a new ham it is still a bit confusing or intimidating. … Continue reading →