First Blog Update in Over Two Years
09/08/20 08:17
Hard to believe it has been over two years since I last posted to the blog. Been very busy. Work was so stressful I decided to retire about a year and a half early. When the job starts impacting your health, it is time to go. Thought I would have more time for operating but I've spent the last year catching up on delayed home projects….then of course there is the grandchildren. Those kids take up a lot of time.
So what's new in ham radio? Well still active on DMR, DStar and Fusion. Actually starting to like Fusion. Activity seems to have trailed off on DMR. Heck for that matter, repeater usage seems to have declined. People do not like to talk. All I can think of is that people have forgotten how to carry on a conversation. All they know if how to text.
I have one friend who says, "no one is on the repeaters." I ask him, do you put out calls? "No" is his response. Well if everyone is doing what you are doing, just listening, then there will not be any activity. Someone has to start the conversation.
As for DMR, changed out all the "old" type hotspots and moved to three Pi-Star based hotspots. One I bought and two I built. One is on DStar, one on DMR and one on Fusion. In my opinion, these little Pi-Stars are great. You don't need one for each mode, that's just how I have them. One Pi-Star can be easily switched between DMR, DStar, Fusion, P25 and NXDN. The Pi-Star will also support going from one mode to another such as from DMR to NXDN. These things are great, not that expensive and highly recommended. You can even buy all the parts on Amazon and cases for them are also available on eBay.
For DMR radios, I have moved away from Connect Systems. Too many firmware fixes that do not fix the issues and do not work. I sold all my Connect Systems radios except for the CS750. I tried selling it on Facebook and eBay for $35 and no one wanted it. I then sold it to a local guy for trial and he did not like it and gave it back. Actually works somewhat OK now with the last update to the PC software that fixed a major issue. Took SIX months to get that issue solved. I complained about the issues so much on their FB page that the moderator banned me from the group. Said I was making threatening comments which was all BS. He even claimed that my post to sell the CS750 was a bogus post. Nope it was not. Even had the radio on eBay. No bids at $35 starting bid. So I guess I am just stuck with it, though I do not use it much. Mostly use it now to listen to what's left on FM fire/police and FM GMRS. Now that it somewhat works, is in great condition, if you want to buy it send $65 via Paypal. Contact me via the website if interested.
If you still want to buy a new Connect Systems radio, I suggest you buy it direct from Connect Systems. Some of the dealers for Connect Systems sell them at a premium. Their "value add" is programming the radio. Learn to program it yourself or get a code plug from someone else and just load it. Buy direct and save money. Jerry is nice guy and does provide good service. However he has to rely on Co-Value (the Communist Chinese manufacturer of his radios) to fix the firmware and PC software. Therein lies the problem.
In my opinion there are much better radios for DMR then Connect Systems that are now available. I especially like the Anytone radios. Yup, made in Communist China but they work very nicely and are at very competitive prices and have far less serious issues with the firmware. There are many quality vendors offering Anytone radios. BTW, the programming software is also so much easier to use and you do not need to have Excel in order to upload contacts to the radios, another drawback of Connect Systems.
As for Fusion, Yaesu has made their radios very affordable. Seriously, you can get a basic FM/C4FM Fusion radio for well under $175 for single band, and around $200 for dual band.
The thing that I believe stalled DStar adoption is that Icom kept the price of DStar radios too high for too long. Heck, they are still to highly priced in my opinion. I like DStar, but for hams wanting to try digital voice modes on VHF and above, DMR and Fusion are much more affordable.
This Summer I hit another milestone with VUCC getting over 175 grid squares. So I applied to the ARRL for the endorsement, but still waiting on my sticker. Some might not think that is a lot of grid squares, but my 6 Meter antenna is a dipole in the garage attic. Not too shabby I think. Last year actually made a contact with the Canary Islands with that set-up and I have it confirmed. Now that 6 Meters has pretty much shut down for the Summer, I have moved back to HF.
Started playing around with JS8 chat. Looks rather interesting. Might help get some young people interested as they love chat on their phones and tablets.
That's it for now. I will have to get more into updating the blog a bit more frequently. In the meantime, get on the radio and start talking.
So what's new in ham radio? Well still active on DMR, DStar and Fusion. Actually starting to like Fusion. Activity seems to have trailed off on DMR. Heck for that matter, repeater usage seems to have declined. People do not like to talk. All I can think of is that people have forgotten how to carry on a conversation. All they know if how to text.
I have one friend who says, "no one is on the repeaters." I ask him, do you put out calls? "No" is his response. Well if everyone is doing what you are doing, just listening, then there will not be any activity. Someone has to start the conversation.
As for DMR, changed out all the "old" type hotspots and moved to three Pi-Star based hotspots. One I bought and two I built. One is on DStar, one on DMR and one on Fusion. In my opinion, these little Pi-Stars are great. You don't need one for each mode, that's just how I have them. One Pi-Star can be easily switched between DMR, DStar, Fusion, P25 and NXDN. The Pi-Star will also support going from one mode to another such as from DMR to NXDN. These things are great, not that expensive and highly recommended. You can even buy all the parts on Amazon and cases for them are also available on eBay.
For DMR radios, I have moved away from Connect Systems. Too many firmware fixes that do not fix the issues and do not work. I sold all my Connect Systems radios except for the CS750. I tried selling it on Facebook and eBay for $35 and no one wanted it. I then sold it to a local guy for trial and he did not like it and gave it back. Actually works somewhat OK now with the last update to the PC software that fixed a major issue. Took SIX months to get that issue solved. I complained about the issues so much on their FB page that the moderator banned me from the group. Said I was making threatening comments which was all BS. He even claimed that my post to sell the CS750 was a bogus post. Nope it was not. Even had the radio on eBay. No bids at $35 starting bid. So I guess I am just stuck with it, though I do not use it much. Mostly use it now to listen to what's left on FM fire/police and FM GMRS. Now that it somewhat works, is in great condition, if you want to buy it send $65 via Paypal. Contact me via the website if interested.
If you still want to buy a new Connect Systems radio, I suggest you buy it direct from Connect Systems. Some of the dealers for Connect Systems sell them at a premium. Their "value add" is programming the radio. Learn to program it yourself or get a code plug from someone else and just load it. Buy direct and save money. Jerry is nice guy and does provide good service. However he has to rely on Co-Value (the Communist Chinese manufacturer of his radios) to fix the firmware and PC software. Therein lies the problem.
In my opinion there are much better radios for DMR then Connect Systems that are now available. I especially like the Anytone radios. Yup, made in Communist China but they work very nicely and are at very competitive prices and have far less serious issues with the firmware. There are many quality vendors offering Anytone radios. BTW, the programming software is also so much easier to use and you do not need to have Excel in order to upload contacts to the radios, another drawback of Connect Systems.
As for Fusion, Yaesu has made their radios very affordable. Seriously, you can get a basic FM/C4FM Fusion radio for well under $175 for single band, and around $200 for dual band.
The thing that I believe stalled DStar adoption is that Icom kept the price of DStar radios too high for too long. Heck, they are still to highly priced in my opinion. I like DStar, but for hams wanting to try digital voice modes on VHF and above, DMR and Fusion are much more affordable.
This Summer I hit another milestone with VUCC getting over 175 grid squares. So I applied to the ARRL for the endorsement, but still waiting on my sticker. Some might not think that is a lot of grid squares, but my 6 Meter antenna is a dipole in the garage attic. Not too shabby I think. Last year actually made a contact with the Canary Islands with that set-up and I have it confirmed. Now that 6 Meters has pretty much shut down for the Summer, I have moved back to HF.
Started playing around with JS8 chat. Looks rather interesting. Might help get some young people interested as they love chat on their phones and tablets.
That's it for now. I will have to get more into updating the blog a bit more frequently. In the meantime, get on the radio and start talking.
Comments
New Digital Application - EXChat
03/02/15 05:53
There is a new FREE digital application out and hams will find it to be useful and fun. It’s called EXChat and uses DominoEX and the digital method of transmission.
What makes this different from other digital mode applications is that it mimics how many of us use texting and chat programs over the Internet and on our cell phones. So this application will be particularly interesting to kids as we try to attract new blood into amateur radio.
If you want to get to it and give it a try now, go to:
http://www.qsl.net/zl1bpu/MFSK/EXChat.htm
There is no install, just unzip the files into a directory (C:\EXChat for example) on your C: drive and start it up. All you then need to do is enter your call, select the sound card for outgoing and incoming audio and the comm port to use for PTT. Takes a few minutes to set up. You can very the baud rate to match conditions, but the application defaults to 11baud.
Rod, WI0T, and I have been using it to chat away on 40 meters each using 25 watts and vertical antennas. Rod is in St. Louis area and I am in the Cincinnati area. We have used 22 baud with great success which equals about 140 words per minute.
How EXChat differs is that it creates a chat environment by sending sentences and acts just like a chat or texting program. You type out a sentence, hit return and away the message goes. You can chat with a group on just one-to-one.
Give it a try with a friend or group of friends. I think you like it.
What makes this different from other digital mode applications is that it mimics how many of us use texting and chat programs over the Internet and on our cell phones. So this application will be particularly interesting to kids as we try to attract new blood into amateur radio.
If you want to get to it and give it a try now, go to:
http://www.qsl.net/zl1bpu/MFSK/EXChat.htm
There is no install, just unzip the files into a directory (C:\EXChat for example) on your C: drive and start it up. All you then need to do is enter your call, select the sound card for outgoing and incoming audio and the comm port to use for PTT. Takes a few minutes to set up. You can very the baud rate to match conditions, but the application defaults to 11baud.
Rod, WI0T, and I have been using it to chat away on 40 meters each using 25 watts and vertical antennas. Rod is in St. Louis area and I am in the Cincinnati area. We have used 22 baud with great success which equals about 140 words per minute.
How EXChat differs is that it creates a chat environment by sending sentences and acts just like a chat or texting program. You type out a sentence, hit return and away the message goes. You can chat with a group on just one-to-one.
Give it a try with a friend or group of friends. I think you like it.
Airlink Express - A Hidden Gem for Digital Modes
16/02/14 06:30
The other day I was having a QSO with a guy who said he was using Airlink Express for his digital mode work.
Airlink Express? Never heard of it, but I love trying out new software. So I did a search and found the site for the software. How did this little gem remain so elusive for so long?
The software can be found at http://www.airlinkexpress.org and is freeware, but contributions are solicited and appreciated.
The software is very easy to set-up and use. It supports PSK, MFSK and RTTY. It also has a built-in logbook and has some basic radio interface to grab frequency. Like most digital mode applications, you can create all sorts of macros to make it more efficient to use.
Airlink Express seems to be a very capable program and so far I have used it to make several contacts on PSK. I have to still try using it with the other modes but I am it will work equally well.
Give Airlink Express a try as I think many of you will like it.
Airlink Express? Never heard of it, but I love trying out new software. So I did a search and found the site for the software. How did this little gem remain so elusive for so long?
The software can be found at http://www.airlinkexpress.org and is freeware, but contributions are solicited and appreciated.
The software is very easy to set-up and use. It supports PSK, MFSK and RTTY. It also has a built-in logbook and has some basic radio interface to grab frequency. Like most digital mode applications, you can create all sorts of macros to make it more efficient to use.
Airlink Express seems to be a very capable program and so far I have used it to make several contacts on PSK. I have to still try using it with the other modes but I am it will work equally well.
Give Airlink Express a try as I think many of you will like it.