Author: Kris – KZ7K
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Installing and Running the YSK-891 Separation Kit
How the YSK-891 separation kit actually installs, and what running the FT-891’s control head away from the main chassis looks like day to day.
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School Pickup and Lockdown Communication Planning for Families
Your family plan can’t replace the school’s plan, but it can fill a real gap once phone lines jam up.
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Essential HT Accessories: Speaker Mics, Cases, and Clips Worth Buying
Part of our Handheld Radios (HTs) guide. A handheld radio straight out of the box works fine, but a handful of accessories make it dramatically more comfortable and practical to actually carry and use day to day. Here’s what I’d prioritize. A speaker mic changes how you carry the radio A remote speaker microphone lets…
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AREDN Mesh Networking: Building a Ham Radio Internet
AREDN turns cheap off-the-shelf routers into a high-speed data network that runs entirely over ham radio frequencies, no internet required. Here is how the pieces fit together.
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Buying a Used HF Radio: A Model-Agnostic Buyer’s Checklist
A used HF radio can be a genuinely great value or a slow-motion money pit, and the difference usually comes down to how carefully you check it before handing over cash. This checklist applies regardless of which brand or model you’re looking at. Before you meet: research the model’s known issues Every radio model has…
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Choosing a Scanner for Situational Awareness During an Emergency
A scanner is input, not output. Here’s what it actually buys you, and why digital trunking makes this harder than it used to be.
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What Is PSK31? The Original Low-Power Digital Chat Mode
Long before FT8 took over the digital segments of every HF band, PSK31 was already doing keyboard-to-keyboard chat over weak, narrow signals. Released by Peter Martinez, G3PLX, in 1998, it’s still around today, and it’s worth understanding even if you never plan to make it your primary mode. How PSK31 actually works PSK31 uses phase-shift…
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Cross-Band Repeat: Extending Your Family Network’s Range With a Mobile Radio
A dual-band mobile can bridge two frequencies automatically, extending your family’s simplex range when the local repeater is down.