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  • Pat Winlink Client: Setup and Your First Message

    Winlink Express is the client most hams default to, but it’s Windows-only, which leaves Mac and Linux users, along with anyone running Winlink from a Raspberry Pi, looking for an alternative. Pat fills that gap: a free, open-source, cross-platform Winlink client that runs pretty much anywhere. Why Pat exists Pat was built to give non-Windows…

  • FT-891 vs FTX-1 Field vs G90: Which Portable HF Radio Wins for POTA

    Part of our Getting On The Air: Modes, Operations, and Making Contacts guide. I get some version of this question constantly: which of my three portable-friendly HF radios should someone actually buy for POTA. I own all three, I use all three in the field, and the honest answer is that they’re not really competing…

  • Backup Power for the Shack: Generators, Solar, and Batteries for Extended Outages

    Part of our Emergency Communications and Preparedness guide. I’ve written plenty about LiFePO4 batteries and solar charging for field kits, but there’s a bigger question I haven’t tackled directly: what actually keeps the shack itself running when the grid is down for days instead of hours. Batteries alone won’t carry a base station forever, so…

  • MURS vs GMRS vs FRS: Which One (or Combination) Actually Fits Your Family

    I write a lot about GMRS and FRS on this site, but MURS almost never comes up, and that’s a gap. It’s the license-free service most people have never heard of, and for certain family and neighborhood comms setups it’s worth understanding alongside the two everyone already knows. The Quick Version FRS is license-free, low…

  • How to Run a Net People Actually Want to Check Into

    Part of our Clubs and Nets guide. I have sat through weekly nets that were nothing but a name, a call sign, and a signal report to know exactly why check-in numbers decline over time. Running a net well is a skill, and most of what separates a net people look forward to from one…

  • Net Topics That Actually Get People Talking

    A quick-reference list of net topics for when check-ins wrap up fast and the net needs somewhere to go.

  • Setting Up WIRES-X on the FTX-1: Registration, Software, and Getting Connected

    Getting the FTX-1 onto WIRES-X, from radio ID registration through the PC software’s confusing COM port setup, laid out start to finish.

  • RT Systems Programming Software: What It’s Good For (and Where I Skip It)

    RT Systems is the programming software I reach for on most of my radios, but not all of them. Here is where it earns its keep and where I switch to manufacturer software instead.

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