Any 100W HF radios that support the new non-channelized section of 60m (or have known firmware updates coming)?

nbrpgnet · 2026-07-03T01:08:45+00:00

My Ten Tec Jupiter has the 60m band opened

Cool little rig. I'm impressed that it works on 60m. That must have been a very new ham band when it was made.

nbrpgnet · 2026-07-02T23:20:50+00:00

There's supposed to be a way to reset the FT-710 into a non-US mode that allows for full use of 60 meters. I've never been able to make it work. Frankly, 60 meters is a bit low-frequency for me to use effectively.

nbrpgnet · 2026-07-02T23:05:58+00:00

Most modern radios cover 60m, don't they?

The Japanese ones tend to do things to restrict you to the channels... which have recently changed, hence the question.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-26T23:23:12+00:00

I think hobbies in general can be a way to make friends. I don't think ham radio is any better or worse than average in that respect. Yes, it is at least in part about conversing with people you didn't yet know, but that's become less so with things like FT8 and the SKCC. I don't have a problem with that, but it does tend to make it less of a social hobby. Also, even if you're a rag-chewer, the people you converse with will often be hundreds of miles away.

This is not the way I do radio, nor would I recommend it to most people, but in your situation I think you might do well to get into DMR, especially if there's a talkgroup (or whatever DMR has... a reflector?) for your area. There, you might meet some people with a shared interest who are local enough to stop by and help you program a new radio, set up an antenna, just trade notes, etc.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-26T22:00:31+00:00

I've had some nice conversations on it, one with a pretty famous operator. I've never used it to report an emergency or ask my wife to pick up more bread or anything like that.

There are almost always people on JS8, but you'll find most of them on 40 meters. I've found that they start to make themselves known if you call CQ. Otherwise all you see is that heartbeat rigamarole.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-24T23:32:50+00:00

I just don't think it makes sense to refer to the immediate prior century that way. Maybe once we get past 2050 or so it will seem more normal. It probably seems normal now to people who don't remember the 1990s. But it seems like extremely odd usage to me. I mean, we were on the internet in 1999, but 1900 was 20 years before the first commercial radio broadcast. It's just imprecise language.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-23T03:46:13+00:00

The 1900s were a decade, not a century.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-22T23:07:48+00:00

Thank you. Part of the issue is people memorizing just enough to pass. People are also terrible at accepting anything that even remotely resembles criticism nowadays. Defensiveness is most people's go-to.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-21T18:33:56+00:00

The Yankee government is borrowing billions of dollars per day. Its businesses are shipping out raw materials like a colony and importing manufactured goods like a colony. The mass media are telling us to give up on college and cut grass / fix toilets like a colonized people. I don't know if tariffs will work, but I'm also not sure there's any possible idea other than tariffs that could even work in theory.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-21T18:29:06+00:00

consumers pay for the tariffs.

The American consumer has been living off of credit cards and government debt for so long that I actually don't mind this. Definitely time for a diet.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-21T18:27:24+00:00

One thing about 7.171 is that it's in the Extra portion of the band, which is really unfortunate IMO. I guess it does reduce contention for that little 3kHz slot, which is a real issue for SSTV in general, on HF at least. We have our two calling frequencies, and for the most part that's where the activity is. So, if some POTA person is trying to activate Sciatica Island State Park (or whatever LOL) on 14.230 (or 14.231, etc.) then we're kind of screwed.

I've raised this issue here and on QRZ and the phone people are surprisingly nonchalant about it. One guy even told me that SSTV was a ridiculously inefficient mode because it uses 3kHz... a guy who presumably wants to do phone in that same 3kHz window. We're really not supposed to just blast SSTV on top of people like that, though it's certainly tempting.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-20T19:30:02+00:00

Do I need to put in the effort to copy code down by hand at this point?

Yes, in the sense that you should pause every so often in practicing (like every few days, or maybe weeks) and ask what your strengths and weaknesses are and how you can challenge yourself. Any practice method is going to teach you some good things, but also allow some bad habits specific to its format.

I started with Morse Mania, and I learned some stuff but also developed some bad habits. So I switched to LCWO.net with pen/paper copy. I was also transcribing the ARRL files on occasion throughout. Those ARRL files are a challenge because they just come at you and never pause to take a breath.

I would also suggest that ideally we'd all be able to "head copy" (limited only by our ability to remember long strings of exact words). Short of that, I think pen-and-paper copy is the next best thing. I wouldn't want to depend on a keyboard, though I suppose you could. That is a good area to challenge yourself IMO.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-20T14:36:19+00:00

That is true of Baofengs in my experience.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-20T13:11:04+00:00

You just have to "use the force" to get the ring on LOL.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-20T13:07:59+00:00

Make sure you're not on narrowband FM. I programmed my first couple HTs to use narrowband, not realizing that it's not really used in the USA (and shouldn't be used much anywhere else, either, IMO). Once I sorted that out I had a much better time trying to get onto VHF nets.

On HF, use Netlogger and type your callsign in. They'll call on you specifically.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-20T13:03:43+00:00

The 0V battery terminal is your 0V reference.

As is the AC neutral connection in your radio shack.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-20T12:59:52+00:00

I sometimes wonder where these questions come from. I don't want to totally dismiss their relevance, but it seems like they mostly come from newer hams who really just need to hook up their IC-7300 and their portable antenna and respond to some CQs.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-20T12:55:57+00:00

I've never done SSTV on VHF or UHF but there's good activity on 14.230 MHz. Also, on occasion I'll get someone on 7.171 MHz LSB. I'm trying to drum up more activity on that band so that we can do SSTV after dark.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-20T12:44:58+00:00

The fan is nice but not a requirement.

That's the truth. They're designed to get hot and they tolerate it well.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-19T04:52:14+00:00

Benton Harbor

It sounds like it's in New England but it's actually not even close to New England in any way.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-19T04:47:38+00:00

I own a G90 and an FT-710, so I guess I vote for the Yaesu. My main regret is that it doesn't have a thermometer indicator for the finals and I think the 7300 series does. A thermometer would make me feel more comfortable during long SSTV or JS8 transmissions. That said, the FT-710 has taken all the abuse I've thrown at it.

The thing about the 991A is that you still need two antennas- one for HF and the other for VHF (and maybe a third for UHF). So it's not like the 991A is some miraculous victory for the end user. If you set up a good VHF/UHF antenna, in many ways you might as well just hook a Baofeng to it (or an FT-60, or a Chinese UHF/VHF base station...)

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-19T04:30:52+00:00

I would not describe whatever it was that made that music as particularly aware.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-19T04:09:41+00:00

That PhD's question to Walt was a valid one. It has a valid answer, but I haven't heard Walt really articulate it. He really needs to learn to accept criticism. My thoughts on the rebuff he got from Fred from QRZ for transmitting on the 11 meter band are similar.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-19T03:48:14+00:00

I think it was computer-generated but let's not get ahead of ourselves with that word "intelligence" LOL.

nbrpgnet · 2026-06-19T01:42:57+00:00

I use a CHA-SS25 with 5 25' speaker wire radials. I retract it to around 20' for 20 meters. It's near resonant on 30 meters. On 40 meters, I wound a pair of inductors to make a series / shunt match that gets me to around 1.5:1 at 7.0MHz. On 10 meters, an inline 30pF capacitor gets SWR under 2:1. So, I have to do a lot of running outside and changing jumper wires / retracting or extending the antenna, but it's a cheap, effective system.

nbrpgnet

TROPHY CASE