Originally planned for POTA, grew it a bit to cover more and be an emergency go-box as well. No drilling outside the box to keep it weather-tight.

1) Case: Apache 4800
2) HF radio: Xiegu G90 with H1 cooling fan stand and DE-19 data interface for data modes
3) Dual band radio: Radioddity DB-25D. 20 watt limit, but small package that allows dual band, DMR, and covers MURS and GMRS frequencies as well for emergencies.
4) Power supply: Eco Worthy 12v 10Ah battery
5) Ports: USB 3.0 x2, USB-c, Voltmeter, cigarette lighter socket, dual powerpole port for charging and powering external devices if needed.
6) Light: generic RV LED light with red light for night mode.
7) Pouches: Velcro pouches for cables, coax, throw line, N9TAX dual band antenna and a Spooltenna EFHW antenna
8) Mic hooks: Lido mount hooks.

Roast away!

The place is no refunds (antique/pawn shop) but I can plug it in in-store to see if it powers on but I doubt I could test transmitting on it though.

I was able to work P5/4L4FN on September 22, 2002 running 5 watts. Don't think there have been any operations since. Bob, K4OCE

Is this a good deal? The guy says he tested it and everything works. It would be my first real radio.

The Pebble is a 5w 20m transceiver, capable of CW, SSB, and FT modes. It takes about 2-3 hours to build, and it has a built in mic element, a built in straight key, and can run off 12vdc or 5vdc. At 12v it puts out a little over 5 watts. At 5v is puts out about 1 watt. The kit is $50.

Google Pebble HF

Then you just need a power source ( I use a spare battery) and an antenna tuned for 20m...something like a half wave 20m dipole made out of an old extension cord.

And like magic you are now on HF. Please have a General or Extra class license....Techs are not allowed on 20m.

I am looking for some insight before making a purchase, and figured this group of experts might be the most helpful. My organization is hosting a 5k race on a runway at a small local airport (in the US). The other runway will still be active. It's mostly single prop private planes.

I need a way for the parking attendants and the shuttle van drivers to communicate with each other. It will be a 0.5-0.75 mile distance between the race area and the outer parking lots and mostly open field or some small homes. It is suburban and not an urban area with tall buildings.

I am looking at two-way radios. I see that there are some that require an FCC license (GMRS), and others that do not (FRS) and we would be able to operate out of the box. I don't know if there are additional restrictions around airports for FRS.

I also understand that the range is typically 0.5-1.0 miles, unless you are standing at the summit of a mountain where you might get 20+ mile range.

So if I look for a basic FRS radio that is rated for a 0.5-1.0 mile radius in urban areas, would that be a safe bet? Are there any other details I should consider?

Hey everyone, u/RozzKiv here!

You might remember my post a while back about being a 15-year-old RX-only hobbyist who’s been building DIY antennas since I was 9 (from long wires to SATCOM turnstiles).

For years, I’ve done nothing but listen, scan, and monitor the airwaves. But tomorrow is going to be a massive milestone for me. I’m participating in JOTA-JOTI for the very first time!

Tomorrow, I am finally stepping away from just being "RX-only." I’m actually allowed to get behind a station, push that PTT button, and make my first official transmissions (TX)! My main mission for the event is to scan the HF bands and try to hunt for and make new

friends over the airwaves.

Going from building antennas just to listen, to finally hearing my own voice bounce through the ionosphere is going to be surreal. I’ll definitely have some first-time mic fright, but I can't wait!

If you hear a young newbie from Indonesia calling out on HF looking for friends this weekend, please say hi! Any tips for an RX guy making his first-ever voice contacts?

73!

I'm looking to buy my first radio. I've been looking at the IC7300 and FT-710, both great radio's I'm sure. But they do not hit the spot for me.
For some reason (might be my age) I'm more attracted to to older radio's with more buttons then menu's. But I do still like the waterfall that I'm currently using with my SDR dongle. Just not on the radio

Economically ofcourse it would be far better to buy a new radio for an extra €300 then an older second hand Radio, but I'm afraid I'll loose interest with such a modern tool where everything just works out of the box.

Now my question, is it a good option to buy a Kenwood TS-590S (probably will cost around €600,-) and use antenne switcher for whenever I want to use it with a waterfall?

I know the 590SG has this option build in but it costs €1000,- second hand, so more then a new FT-710 with three years warranty and I can't bring my common sense (or whats is left of it) to that.

What other reasonable modern radios with buttons beside the TS-590 should I look at?
I do also want to be able to use digital modes.

Probably none of the above makes any sense but perhaps someone will get it :)

I recently just saw this video on Instagram and was kinda wondering the context as a new ham. And who if anyone is “right”

Halfway through the technician study manual book. Was looking for movie- related, T-shirts online and saw this one on their homepage because Halloween is approaching. Made me think of amateur radio. I bought it. It'll give me another incentive for passing the technicians test.

Anyone else having problems logging into QRZ.COM???

Howdy!

Looking for input, experience, or ideas about an issue I'm having with my Baofeng UV-5R mini.

I reached out to their 'customer service' to inquire about warranty status, and after 11 emails in the thread and no answer, I'm fed up with them and now setting out to fix this myself.

When I plug in amy speakermic to either of the two UV-5R mini radios I have, I will get random popping/static noise in my lapel speaker, or in my earpiece if I'm using one, usually coinciding with movement.
From a close physical inspection is appears that my radio port is not fully accepting the speakermic pins, causing a loose connection and then the popping/static.

Have you found and resolved this issue?
Are you having the same issue?

I'm planning to vacuum out the ports, closely check for interference in the fitment from the rubber on the radio or the speakermic plug(s), and double check my results by pairing various peakermics with the radios to see if it's just some or actually all.

I already made a post a few weeks ago. After that post, Hans answered me. Hope it happens again!

Hans, the 30 of September, answered me and said that by the 3 of October, the qmx+ pcbs would have arrived, and in that week, he would have sent the kit. I wrote to him 4 days ago. There are no updates on his website.

Did anybody order from qrp labs in this batch? Do you know something? I understand that Hans might have problems, but at least I want to have some news...

73 to everyone!

I have a few rigs I haven’t used in a while. My antennas are all down. Where is a good place to sell them? Don’t wanna deal with shipping. Don’t mind someone testing them. I don’t wanna sell something that’s not working. Located in Connecticut.

A friend who was a ham died recently. I and a few of his other ham friends removed antennas from his house and had a radio estate sale. The newer gear was sold and money given to widow. However he was a hoarder (with ham gear). He had gear in storage that was 35-40 years old and had likely been in closet for decades. When I hauled away the gear that no one wanted to use, one bay of my garage was shin deep with ham stuff. I did stop people from taking some gear as I knew they had a new radio, had their old radio and maybe a previous radio in storage. The radios they were going to take, if none else wants it, was going to end up back in a closet.

When we were loading the unsold gear in my vehicle, myself and several of the other hams had a moment of reflection. We realized that we all had a lot of gear in closets that wasn't being used and had been sitting in closets for years. I am not referring to a back up radio or other backup gear but to the 4th, 5th, or 6th radio.

The older a radio is, the less value it has. When a ham dies there is good chance that the radio that was sitting in closet for years will simply be tossed in recycle bin. I see it at hamfests and club meetings. People trying to get 100 bucks for a 35 year old radio, The seller will usually say, this has been in closet for years but I did thoroughly test it last week. Works great. but no one buys.

I was able to find 4 new hams (here) and set them up with complete radio stations for shipping costs, radio, tuner, power supply, antenna. With the simple request that they pay it forward. whether it be giving away the gear they received from me or giving away their own gear when the time was right.

I did call the recipients before shipping gear, to make sure it was going to fit their needs and be used. When talking to a prospective recipient I realized the radio I had left was not going to fit their needs. I did have one of my own radios that did fit their needs and the radio had been sitting unused for 8 years. I shipped them my radio with my friends tuner. It actuality felt great, that a radio I loved so much was going to some one that would use it and enjoy it as much as I did.

I am posting this in hopes of encouraging other hams to look in their closets, at gear that has not been used in years and realize it is time for that gear to find a new home. The hobby is declining, used gear looses value every year. Selling and buying old gear has some risks as radios to go bad just sitting. GIVE THAT GEAR TO A NEW HAM. Post about it in hopes of encouraging other people to do the same.

CLOSET RADIO PROJECT.

I just got this project AL811H from a buddy of mine, It's been converted to 572 tubes and has a long list of upgrades.

Looking at it so far, it has the step start upgrade, grid overload protection and front panel ALC mod.

It looks like it just needs tubes, a parasitic suppressor harness, setup, and maybe an RF interconnect braid wire.

Can't wait to get it fixed up and get on the air.

I have this old IC281H that someone has given to me. Its missing its main oscilator X1 and the PA was toast. Replaced those and it works fine no problem. Transmit power maxed out at 47 watts which i am more than happy with. But sometimes. When i transmit to repeater the repeater just refuse my signal. After i tried to use the scan function on my baofeng i found out that the radio stops transmitting the ctcss tone, but the signal and my voice still transmitted loud and clear. Power cycle and reset does nothing and it also doesn't seems to be temperature dependent. Frequency drift is also not a problem i've checked the radio after changing the X1 and the frequency is still spot on.

Any idea why it does that? Maybe a weak solder join or electrolytic caps?

So what kind of Antenna should I get for POTA? I had a ham friend and he just abandoned me at a POTA location in the middle of nowhere. So I got online and did the test. Which brand of radio should I get.

TL;DR: the AnyTone AT-778UV (aka Retevis RT95, CRT Micron UV, Midland DBR2500, Yedro YC-M04VUS) has no CAT port, but there's an undocumented command set in its firmware that lets you tune it live from software over an ordinary programming cable. Writeup, firmware notes and a Python library below.

CHIRP talks to it over a serial interface in the mic port with five commands, all for reading and writing the codeplug.

I wanted to know whether the radio could be driven live over that same port, so I pulled the LCD-processor firmware off the vendor's own download page and read it (finding that was a mission in itself...)

I found that the command dispatcher in the LCD firmware has twenty-two arms, not five. One of them, the "D" command, sets a live parameter during normal operation: frequency, offset, bandwidth, both tones, squelch, volume or power, in one short frame. And the radio acknowledges these in about 130 ms. It needs no programming mode and does not reboot the radio, and the display does not even change. Your bog standard programming cable (the one CHIRP already uses) is all you need.

So you can tune this radio from a PC or a Pi over its mic bus. Here is the frame that sets the frequency:

44 00 44 60 06 25 06 -> 06 tune to 446.00625 MHz

There is a real race condition that I can't resolve. In memory mode that same command overwrites the stored memory channel instead of the VFO, silently, and there is no way on this bus to lock the mode or address the VFO directly. I've implemented a guard that shrinks the window but cannot close it. That's (one of the reasons) why I have not shipped a clean Hamlib backend. Something that can corrupt an operator's memories under a race is not what I would want to give to, say, WSJT-X. It is buildable if you agree to keep hands off the front panel while software is driving the radio, and I may turn my attention back to it in the future.

PTT and the S-meter are not on this bus either. PTT stays on the discrete pin, and the RF processor never forwards signal strength to the mic side.

I wrote the whole thing up in github so you can see how it was found in the firmware, the frame formats, the full command map (including eleven more commands locked behind a factory-mode gate I've yet to fully explore), and a Python library to make use of what's now known about this command structure.

I enlisted Claude to help put together a web console to sit on top of this library, to give a sense of what can be done (the console UI is Claude's work and came out nicer than my scrappy notes deserved).

My code, notes and writeups (and dead ends) are all here: https://github.com/muurk/at778uv-rt95-mic-bus

One question for anyone here who runs one of these radios: would live software control actually be useful to you? I can see it being handy for satellite Doppler tracking or a headless setup, but I'd rather hear whether that matches how you'd actually use the radio.

Have you considered experimenting with 44Net but thought that getting set up was too complicated? 44Net Connect gives licensed hams a simpler way to get a static 44Net IP address, with no complicated setup required! 

44Net Connect uses WireGuard, which is supported by many common routers, including NETGEAR, TP-Link, and Ubiquiti, as well as modern devices, including desktops, mobile devices, and Raspberry Pis. It also works behind CGNAT.

Hams are using 44Net Connect for personal tinkering, club setups, education, and EmComm. Since its launch in December 2025, the service has grown to more than 2,200 users, and we’re currently expanding our infrastructure by adding three additional points of presence (PoPs) in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Sydney, bringing the total to six. 

To get started, you’ll need a verified call sign on the ARDC Portal. From there, you can sign up for 44Net Connect here:  https://connect.44net.cloud. 

Want to learn more? Check out our introductory blog post here: https://www.ardc.net/introducing-44net-connect-a-simpler-way-to-access-44net/.

73!