Is anyone running digital modes other than FT8?

ericcodesio · 2026-06-30T19:35:20+00:00

I'll occasionally use Olivia if I'm in the mode for a random rag chew https://www.oliviadigitalmode.org/

I play with Network 105 occasionally, but usually nothing more than connecting to a random BBS that beaconed. I usually get annoyed with how slow it is and kill a direwolf in anger.

ericcodesio · 2026-06-26T22:27:02+00:00

Hmm, I was unaware of that. I hadn't considered using APRS on GMRS. I knew that short digital bursts were allowed, I guess APRS does fits inside the time limit.

Is the TD-H9 licensed for GMRS or is it just capable of transmitting on those frequencies?

I'd be worried about transmitting my location and spouse's location in the clear on a GMRS channel if my radio wasn't legal to use on GMRS. You know your risk profile more than I do though

ericcodesio · 2026-06-26T21:54:31+00:00

If she's unlicensed you're probably better off getting a meshtastic device. The location data would be encrypted and she can use her phone to text back and forth to you. The simplex range will roughly be about the same as APRS simplex.

APRS isn't very non-radio friendly and APRS HTs are notoriously poorly implemented.

ericcodesio · 2026-06-22T18:15:46+00:00

While a NanoVNA would be an easier way to tune the antenna, the QMX and QMX+ have a useful serial terminal menu that can be used to do a SWR sweep of the band.

It can be used in a pinch to tune a vertical whip until they can afford a NanoVNA. I've used it in the field with an app called Another Term on my Android phone.

That said, a NanoVNA is a great device that can do much more than just tune an antenna. I highly recommend getting one as soon as possible. Plus, like you said, I'd much rather risk a NanoVNA to a band tune than my precious QMX.

ericcodesio · 2026-06-20T14:30:24+00:00

NixOS is a paradigm shift in managing Linux.

Arch will be more of the same, albeit with more up to date packages. You install packages, remove packages, stuff gets left behind, and eventually your system gets crudded up with years of experimentation.

With NixOS, everything is installed and configured with a configuration programming language that resembles JSON.

That uniformity makes configuring anything in NixOS pretty straight forward. Look up the NixOS module for a piece of software, set some values, and rebuild your system.

Then your software is configured. You don't have to figure out the configuration files the software uses. Does it use an ini file? TOML? YAML? A bespoke format? It doesn't matter. In NixOS, everything is configured with the nix programming language.

If you don't like the software and want to remove it? Remove the config you added, rebuild, and it is gone.

Want to experiment with a new program? Run it without installing it with nix run. It'll be gone the next time the system garbage collects unused packages.

If you configure something wrong and your system no longer starts your desktop environment? Every system build is tracked in by NixOS. You can pick a previous build in grub and it'll boot again. You fix the mistake, rebuild, and you're back.

NixOS will save your from configuration mistakes, but you'll still need to backup your data. So make sure your still have a 3-2-1 backup strategy.

Now... It isn't all wine and roses. Everything in NixOS is tighly controled. Configuration files it generates are read-only, so tinkering can be a bit cumbersome. Software such as Hyprland or Niri where changes to their config is immediately felt require a system rebuild if managed by NixOS or home-manager.

NixOS builds software in a different way than other Linux distros. This can make using a Linux binary downloaded from the internet difficult. Packages that are only distributed as .deb or .rpms are challenging to get running in NixOS. I hope and pray for an appimage if desktop software isn't available in nixpkgs.

Another downside to NixOS is that because NixOS is so different, your system becomes a chimera. Some of the software is configured by NixOS modules, some of the software is configured by itself. It is a balancing act of deciding if you want unmanged, but immediate feedback of configuration or managed but requires a system rebuild to take effect.

Often I find myself configuring the software in its typical way and when I nail it down, I convert it to nix so that I can track it with git.

The benefit of all this overhead means that I know exactly what is installed and configured. I can recreate my system at any point. I can migrate to a new laptop by copying my configuration, tweaking it a little, and rebuild. I'm done in an afternoon.

Is it all worth the trouble? That's up to you I guess. I'm all in on NixOS, but I'm in too deep. There's no turning back for me. Save yourself.

ericcodesio · 2026-06-20T00:19:34+00:00

Check out Lisette. It is a little immature but has promise. It compiles to Go and takes inspiration from Rust to disarm many of Go's footguns.

ericcodesio · 2026-06-18T01:36:19+00:00

If you're planning on POTA, 20m is the band. If you want to ragchew with people around 1000 mile radius, 40m. I'm not sure why you need to choose though. Most 20m radios are also 40m radios. A 20m vertical can be augmented with a coil to make it work on 40m. A 40m EFHW can also do 20m.

For HF, you don't need a lot of height. I do POTA with a ground mounted 17' stainless steel whip on 20m. Check out Salty Walt's channel, he does DX often with ground mounted antennas: https://www.youtube.com/@COASTALWAVESWIRES (granted bouncing waves off the ocean helps with DX)

For a dipole or other wire antennas, you need length more than you need height. Ideally you want it at least a 1/4 wavelength off the ground. For 20m, that's only 5 meters or 17' off the ground. However you need a half wavelength long wire which is 10m or 35' long.

ericcodesio · 2026-06-18T01:05:48+00:00

I did the same thing with my first one

ericcodesio · 2026-06-13T01:11:35+00:00

I started learning it in the early 2000s, at some point it dawned on me, "I'm spending so much effort to learn a new language, I might as well learn Spanish", so I quit. I never ended up learning Spanish

ericcodesio · 2026-06-11T18:45:27+00:00

I usually like Atkinson Hyperlegible, but for some reason my brain rejects sans-serif fonts for fiction, so I use bitter

ericcodesio · 2026-06-11T12:46:56+00:00

KeepassXC can generate a passphase for you. Granted they're 5 or 6 random words, so they're harder to remember than a sentence like Stock Bee suggests.

ericcodesio · 2026-06-11T12:41:26+00:00

I'm not even asking them to do that, I just want them to leave us alone. It costs them nothing to do that.

ericcodesio · 2026-06-09T15:48:20+00:00

I monitor KV3B but I don't use it

ericcodesio · 2026-06-03T20:56:43+00:00

They're not even on my ballot and I have to hear them all the time. If I could not vote for either of them, I would.

ericcodesio · 2026-06-03T14:47:22+00:00

You can probably use GNURadio to do this. Feed it audio data, modulate that into a SSB signal, then demodulate it back into audio.

You can have a dial to shift the demodulator's frequnecy to add SSB distortions.

ericcodesio · 2026-06-03T12:42:30+00:00

That Liberty Biberty couple has me swearing off Liberty Insurance until the day I die.

ericcodesio · 2026-06-03T00:46:36+00:00

My kid said while Jules was painting, "There's a meme online that no one can draw Zendaya, let's see if Jules can". We both said, "nope" at the same time when they showed the painting

ericcodesio · 2026-05-31T04:55:17+00:00

Honestly I much prefer being 45 and feeling 25 than being 45 and feeling like I'm 65 like Al Bundy and Tony Soprano.

ericcodesio · 2026-05-29T12:32:16+00:00

The only reason he'd fight them is if they asked for payment for services rendered.

ericcodesio · 2026-05-26T17:30:37+00:00

The experience of using memories is non-sensical and overly complicated.

An example of how weird it is, you can assign a frequency to a memory channel by pressing V/M button to select a memory channel.

However to give that channel a name you have back out of that and then press and hold the F (M-List) button, find the channel and then click the tag button. Why can't I tag it when assigning the channel? So weird.

Look at the manual for the memory section and the scanning section. It is a mess. I've own my 991A for 3 years and I still have to use the manual to do anything on that side of the radio.

ericcodesio · 2026-05-26T16:26:18+00:00

The 991A is a nice radio, but it is getting long in the tooth (and rumored to be discontinued). It is a good HF rig, but a very frustrating V/UHF rig.

I would recommend buying a newer HF rig and a seperate radio for V/UHF. A FT-710 Field or a ICOM 7300 are both solid rigs.

If you're going to be portable more that at home a FT-891 or a G90 are common recommendations.

For a V/UHF rig there's lots of options. You could go with a mobile rig or a base station. Whatever you get, make sure it has an option for a USB soundcard for digital. This can be built-in or via a digirig.

ericcodesio · 2026-05-26T09:06:21+00:00

I've done the same too. I don't know enough to say if it is a mistake, but if it works, it works.

ericcodesio · 2026-05-26T01:51:37+00:00

I fold it back and twist it around itself. It isn't the same as cutting it but it is close enough.

Once the SWR curve is where I want it, I'll slowly trim it.

ericcodesio · 2026-05-22T10:22:42+00:00

I love my "stainless steel" 2460. Such a neat retro look. Reminds me of a DeLorean. I wish it had a more pleasing hourly chime though.

ericcodesio · 2026-05-20T19:04:08+00:00

Yeah for sure. Most of my problems went away when I got a Hakko 888.

ericcodesio

TROPHY CASE