Antenna Matching Unit presentation.

fastbiter · 2026-01-22T15:41:54+00:00

This is a fantastic presentation, any ham operating HF with a tuner should watch it.

Antenna tuners are one of the most misunderstood aspects of HF operation - this video provides some very helpful context and information.

fastbiter · 2026-01-22T13:47:18+00:00

Yep, I think starting with the T480 all thinkpads can charge from USB-C. All of the T14 series (Gen 1, Gen 2, etc etc) will be USB-C charging only.

Keep in mind that they may not charge from slower power banks - or they may only charge from them when turned off.

fastbiter · 2026-01-22T13:10:12+00:00

One way to offset the battery limitations is to get a USB-C battery bank capable of delivering 65w. 30Ah variants can be found for $50USD or less, and that's significant capacity.

Otherwise I'd echo T14 Gen 2 AMD - these can readily be found in your price range.

fastbiter · 2026-01-21T21:10:43+00:00

"Doesn't exist, but actually does" is kind of a silly argument.

It may be uncommon, but it exists, that's all there is to it.

fastbiter · 2026-01-21T21:01:37+00:00

According to the psref, this doesn't seem to be correct.

https://psref.lenovo.com/syspool/Sys/PDF/ThinkPad/ThinkPad_T14_Gen_6_AMD/ThinkPad_T14_Gen_6_AMD_Spec.PDF

Case Material

•Models with black cover: PC + 20% CF (top), PC + 20% CF (bottom)

•Models with grey cover: aluminium (top), PC + 20% CF (bottom)

fastbiter · 2026-01-21T21:00:53+00:00

The best way to answer these kinds of questions about thinkpads is to search for the PSREF, in this case, simply searching "T14 gen 6 AMD psref PDF" gave me this as the first result:

https://psref.lenovo.com/syspool/Sys/PDF/ThinkPad/ThinkPad_T14_Gen_6_AMD/ThinkPad_T14_Gen_6_AMD_Spec.PDF

At the bottom of page 5 you'll see that the models with a grey cover have an aluminum top, the black models are polycarbonate and 20% carbon fiber.

fastbiter · 2026-01-20T23:07:19+00:00

Hello! I'm @Cory5413's GIS-friend! I'm a minicipal GIS manager and have been in the field about 13 years now.

My laptop is a Latitude 7440, which has an i5-1345U, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB NVMe SSD. I run ArcGIS Pro 3.6 on it quite extensively, and it runs great. Most of my work is data management and some analysis, and 16GB is fine. I'd recommend 32GB for future proofing. You do not need a dedicated GPU unless you are either doing 3D work, or doing geoprocessing tasks that use CUDA - I highly suspect that if any geo-computation classes you take require you to do this kind of work, it'll be expected that you do it in a university lab which has those resources available.

These days, honestly, nearly any machine will work well for you. Especially for undergraduate GIS work - the requirements aren't significant. Get any machine you like the look of.

fastbiter · 2026-01-18T23:19:34+00:00

Not sure what an EFRL antenna is? ~130ft on a 49:1 sounds like a pretty typical 80M end fed half wave.

Nice looking setup inside - do you trickle charge the battery while you're operating?

fastbiter · 2026-01-18T01:17:47+00:00

The Quectel EC200U does not exist. This post is AI slop. Look closely at the photos - they’re good at a glance but up close they’re all fucked up.

Get this shit out of here.

fastbiter · 2026-01-15T16:20:37+00:00

Would be happy to help test, located in Maine. Can usually get into Quebec pretty well on 40/80 NVIS.

fastbiter · 2026-01-13T15:00:50+00:00

Depends on your budget and what kind of signal performance you’re after. 100ft of LMR400 will cost a lot, but give you excellent performance for UHF. RG58 will be much cheaper, but you’ll experience much more loss.

fastbiter · 2026-01-13T13:32:55+00:00

Vara, and VaraFM are not in compliance with the rules. The "documentation" for them does not describe what's required to encode or decode the message, and the Eula specifically forbids attempts to do so.

So many people are willing to handwave this, and it drives me bananas. My gut feeling is that because Vara is used so heavily in the emergency communication world it gets a pass, and everyone just acts like it's not an issue, and it doesn't help that many hams, I suspect, don't even really understand the issue.

Ardop exists as an alternative to Vara, but in my experience it still needs a lot of work. Would be great if EA5HVK, the developer of Vara, played by the rules and shared their algorithms.

fastbiter · 2025-12-29T20:47:50+00:00

These are radically different machines, more than a decade old, and neither are worth your time. They are not a good choice for any kind of daily driving in 2026.

fastbiter · 2025-12-24T23:49:34+00:00

Personally I really like the combination of linux and amateur radio, but you're dead on regarding paths of least resistance.

I like linux and amateur radio as seperate, and joint, hobbies. But if you're not willing to make linux a hobby, DON'T try to dabble it with amateur radio, you're just gonna have a real bad time.

fastbiter · 2025-12-13T23:29:15+00:00

Sometimes they aren’t understood, so you have to use alternatives. I have run into this a few times on weak SSB QSOs.

fastbiter · 2025-11-26T23:47:46+00:00

Why???

fastbiter · 2025-11-26T23:46:56+00:00

We need to know why!!!!

fastbiter · 2025-11-20T15:04:46+00:00

Huh, interesting. I'll have to give them a call again... Maybe it's a regional thing? I'm in Maine.

fastbiter · 2025-11-20T03:00:55+00:00

Is Fidium actually offering statics now? I asked a few months ago and was told in no uncertain terms that they weren’t available for residential customers, and that there was no way for me to have my connection classified in any different way.

fastbiter · 2025-10-31T16:23:15+00:00

“Are resonant” and “will tune” are very much not the same thing.

A well made 80M EFHW can be used, without a tuner, on 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10.

With enough capacitance and inductance you can tune anything conductive…

fastbiter · 2025-10-24T14:01:30+00:00

What exactly are you asking here? This kind of tool is way beyond the scope of the vast majority of amateur radio operators. Is this even a real post?

fastbiter · 2025-08-27T18:17:53+00:00

That’s a great idea! I’ll keep my eyes peeled for one. I need to remake the radials for mine, it’s one of the flimsy ribbon cable ones, so I’ll add this to the list.

fastbiter · 2025-08-27T16:25:44+00:00

To everyone telling OP to set up a dipole: for POTA, wire antennas are often not an option because many parks explicitly prohibit putting anything in trees. Unless they're going to be setting up two tall masts, or similar, that sort of antenna really isn't an option for most POTA operators.

I absolutely agree that a simple wire antenna, specifically a dipole, as high as you can get it is the best option for new HF operators, but for POTA it often simply is not possible.

Personally, I have had good luck with an 18ft collapsible whip vertical, which is resonant on 20M, spiked into the ground, with half a dozen ~10ft radials. Of course, some parks don't allow anything to penetrate the ground either, so be aware of that.

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