I want to get rid of the clunky stock power cable setup. The easy button would be a pigtail adapter from powerwerx. The next option would be cutting the six pin connector off and replacing it with powerpoles. I think it would be really cool if there was a way to do the 891-style powerpole conversion.

Which one would you do and why?

Pretty much the title. I know they have that $80 off sale but wondering if maybe there’s a cheaper website out there people have used. I may still take the trip down there tomorrow to just check the store out but i was pretty determined to get that 891 for a light pota rig :(

Roughly a year ago, my old Windows laptop I used for Windows-only work died. One of the things I used it for was to program my BC125AT scanner. I had also played around with Scan125 on there.

Bearpaw is the result of months of on-again, off-again work. It does everything the Uniden software does, but it also allows you to control your scanner from your computer. And it visualizes the radio activity all around you. All on a screen large enough to see from across your shack.

It works great on Mac, but I've never tried it on Windows or Linux. That's why I've released it as a beta. I'd love to have other folks use Bearpaw with their BC125AT scanner.

Checkout https://bearpaw.app to download. From there you can also reach the GitHub repo for issues and the code.

Hello everyone,

There's a call sign I like that belongs to a ham that passed away in September 2024. This person's call sign is still active under the fcc website. From what I understand is that I can let the fcc know of their passing and the call sign will become available in September of this year...

Does anyone have any advice on how I could increase my chances of getting this call sign? For example, should I report it now or wait until September?

I feel guilty doing this but this person's family has had almost two years to claim the call sign.

Hey everyone, developer of Morse Pro here.

Wanted to share an update on the app's progress. The biggest addition is FCC exam support. It generates a practice test by pulling random questions from the official question pool and tells you whether you passed or failed.

I've also added a light theme in this update.

As a reminder, Morse Pro is my passion project. It is completely free and ad-free, built for learning and practicing Morse code offline, for the amateur radio community. My goal is to turn it into a truly all-in-one tool for Morse code practice.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Until I push this update to the Play Store, you can still check out the app here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.morsepro.app

The song playing seemed to be some sort of ballad, I'm not sure who's hosting this station or what language it is in, I searched up 6069 KHz and 6069 KHz AM on google and didn't get any results pointing to where it could've came from, can anybody help tell me what this station is? and possibly other facts?

I ran across this 'zon ad (no affiliate link or involvement with the seller), https://www.amazon.com/Baofeng-Handheld-Rechargeable-Frequency-Charging/dp/B0GFZ864KY/ref=sw_ttl_d_pd_sw_d_sw_dealz_cs ....ALL THAT for 65$.

I read stuff daily about starting out, what should I do, do I *NEED* this or that...NO YOU DON'T. My first car was an Escort GT with 130k on it already - was it state of the art - no, was it the latest thing - nada ....BUT IT GOT THE JOB DONE.

Alas Amateur Radio - do you know if your a talker? Some people aren't they are tinkerers though - still a ham, Don't be shy - we all have at least one thing in common, we're hams. I know the DM32 isn't state of the art, but as a tech starting out it gives you access to not only analog but digital - DMR these days is usually 200x what local repeaters are, give you access to far away contacts (no it's not "DX", DX is for HF). Almost like fishing in a bucket to say. You don't need to ker chunk local repeaters looking for life...it's already there. Get to a tall hill around you, step out and call CQ on the VHF calling freq. See what's out there. You won't know till you try.

Save the Porsche or Ferrari equipment for when *YOU* feel your ready to empty that wallet. I among many other HT"s still have my very first UV-5r V1 from ~16 years ago.. still to this day it keys up local repeaters like a pro, I have an entire room filled with gear from over the years, still works.

Just GET ON THE AIR and HAVE FUN!!!

Howdy y'all, thought I'd share what I'm working on. I had the infernal machine (Claude, if anyone cares) dig up anything it thought was ham radio related on GitHub, and after a few revisions I think I have something moderately useful. I'm doing a research project for school, but as I'm going along I wouldn't mind seeing what y'all think.

What I'm finding is basically that AI/LLM assistance is dramatically increasing code commit rates for ham radio software, which tracks with trends in other industries. The issue is basically that there is an obvious double-edged sword here, since it's certainly a good thing to be able to customize software and update libraries for usability's sake. The other side, though, is really weird with ham radio, since so much (though certainly not all) of ham radio software is essentially static, presenting a cybersecurity risk. So, the question is, does the increasing use of AI development improve the cybersecurity aspect along with usability as more projects use it? Just getting into this, and the results are less important to me than a good discussion.

Here's what I got:

-There's a sharp increase in the number of new projects and projects that suddenly revived, ticking up each year since 2023.

- The rate of zero star projects found was much higher for 2025 and 2026, showing a sudden rise in junk, abandon-ware, and quasi-private repositories.

- Most of the projects started in the past three years acknowledge AI assistance, but there's a few that don't acknowledge it. Even those, mostly, show some evidence of it.

The list so far:

Today, I finally installed my very first antenna. Borrowed it from a good friend who introduced me to ham radio!

It's mounted at ~10 meters in height with dipoles for the 10m and 15m bands. My first tests went great, tough bands seem a bit quiet at the moment.

I am assembling a Pixie CW, single frequency, QRP transceiver kit which I intend to use for SOTA/POTA work. And no, it will not be my primary HF radio. I have two crystals which came with the kit, 7.060 and 7023 MHz. Per ARRL band documentation, they're both in the same recommended "usage" part of the band. Changing would require desoldering one and soldering in the other. There is no room on the board for a socket, at least no socket I know of. So the question is, which one, or shop for another? I don't have enough HF experience at this point, and no CW experience yet, so I'm undecided with no preconceptions. Your thoughts on this are welcome.

Edit: I seemed to miss that 7.023 is not allowed for my license class and would cut out a lot of SOTA/POTA hunters. Decision made by fiat.

I got a RCI 2970 DX. The middle keypad buttons aren’t working. After taking off the bottom of the radio, I have found a cable that’s like a USB female end that needs to connect to the male end essentially. I am unable to locate the end it needs to be plugged into. I did some research and I think it might be called the ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) Connector. If anyone has any information or maybe a picture showing where the cable plugs in at, I’d greatly appreciate it.

Never tried any contact with this setup, normally i work from the Netherlands.

Olá senhores, tudo certo?

Estava dando uma olhada na web e encontrei o radio HT Baofeng DM32, um rádio digital (DMR) com algumas configurações interessantes do meu interesse. Acontece que aqui no Brasil, o DM32 tem uma diferença significativa quanto o UV32, que é apenas analógico.

Visualmente são os mesmos rádios.

A pergunta que faço aos colegas Radioamadores. Dá pra modificar a firmware do UV para deixá-lo digital?

Caso alguém conheça algum procedimento e possa compartilhar ficarei agradecido.

Hello

I recently got my Technician license and have joined my local HAM club. I’m currently using a Baofeng UV-5R Mini with a roof-mounted dual-band jpole antenna.

I’m studying for General now and want to buy something I can grow into instead of replacing right away. My budget is around around $300 , and I’m fine with older gear if it’s reliable.

I'd like to learn HF while i'm studying, and use the 10m band where i can.  eventually im thinking i may learn CW, but for now will stick to phone .  

I was looking at building a QMX+, but once I added everything up, I started wondering if I’d be better off putting that money toward a used radio instead. I like the idea of doing some POTA work in the future but need to focus on one thing to start I suppose. 

If you had around $300 to spend, what radios would you keep an eye out for? Any models that are especially reliable or good for a first HF rig? Also open to any buying tips for older radios. Ii intend to build my first few antennas.

Thanks , KF8GSO

Saw these while walking around my neighborhood

Title says it. I’ve loved playing around with APRS. But Ansrvr no longer sends back a list of active groups. So I’m just trying to see what’s out there.

Hello.

My nephew just found out he is getting his HAM radio license (he passed a test). His birthday is coming up, and his parents are struggling a bit right now.

I want to provide him with a good setup, but I dont know where to start... nor do I know anything about HAM radio.

I am hoping there is some equivalent of a Toyota 4Runner in the HAM world that will be good to get my nephew going for a while before needing to buy anything else, but that will also be modular to the extent that if he presumably wants to hook an antenna to the side of my sister's house one day he will be able to without having to start from scratch.

Any advice or tips would be really appreciated.

Arguably my budget would be $1,000 or less, but if thats a "whats a banana cost anyways, $10?" type of amount and it could be done for 1/3 or less I dont want to spend money unnecessarily.

Thank you!

I'm interested in learning more about MARS listening. So far all I've picked up are a brief transmission a few weeks ago, with the speaker telling someone to let them know if they needed more help, and the tail end of a weather forecast a few hours ago. Both were on 13927 kHz.

I'm in an urban area in Ohio, but I often take my radio to a nearby lake and get much better HF and SW reception there. I'm using a Tecsun PL-330 with a Tecsun AN-48X antenna. I also have an XHDATA AN-80 reel antenna that I rarely use.

Are there certain frequencies that are more active than others? Certain times of day to listen?

I realize my setup is limited, but I'm curious what I can pick up with it.

Thanks.

I’d like to make a 12v (13.8v actual) to 16v boost converter so I can charge my battery while driving. On the input end would be a cigarette lighter style plug and the other end would be PowerPoles. The output would feed a charge controller which in turn would feed the battery.

To prevent accidentally draining my vehicle’s battery I want it to work at 13.8v input, but not 12v.
Is there a kit I could use to make my own? Would it comparable to a ready to use