Category: Digital Modes

  • What Is P25 Digital? The Public Safety Standard Every Ham Should Understand

    P25 is the digital mode most hams have heard the most about and actually know the least about, mostly because almost nobody in ham radio actually transmits on it. It is not a hobbyist mode. It is the standard that runs the police, fire, and EMS radio traffic you probably scan or listen to, and…

  • APRS on the VGC VR-N76: Bluetooth KISS TNC Setup

    The VR-N76 does APRS completely differently than anything else in my lineup. Instead of an all-in-radio APRS engine like the Kenwood or AnyTone radios, it works as a Bluetooth KISS TNC that bridges to your phone or a laptop, where the actual APRS application lives. That is a real strength for flexibility, but it also…

  • Getting Started with D-STAR

    D-STAR was the first widely adopted digital voice mode in amateur radio, and its reflector and gateway system still works a little differently than DMR or Fusion. Here is how to actually get on it.

  • What Is PSK Reporter?

    PSK Reporter is a free website that shows you, on a live map, exactly where your signal is being heard around the world. Here is how it works.

  • Setting Up APRS on the Kenwood TH-D75A

    The TH-D75A is the easiest APRS setup in my whole lineup, and it is not close. Built-in GPS, a dedicated APRS mode button, dual-band RX so you can watch a data frequency and talk on another, and a real screen to read packets on. No Digirig, no laptop, no companion app required. Here is how…

  • Meshtastic vs. AREDN vs. APRS: Which Mesh Tool for Which Job

    Three different technologies all get lumped together as ham radio mesh. They’re not interchangeable. Here’s what each one is actually built to do.

  • EchoLink and IRLP: Linking Repeaters Over the Internet

    Before DMR and Fusion linked repeaters digitally over dedicated networks, EchoLink and IRLP were already connecting hams worldwide over the ordinary internet. Both are still very much alive.

  • Kenwood TH-D75A Review: My Go-To Travel and Wideband Receive Radio

    My honest take on the Kenwood TH-D75A after using it as my dedicated travel radio: wideband receive, D-STAR, APRS, and where it actually falls short.

  • The Fldigi Family: Fldigi, Flrig, Flmsg, and the Other FL Apps

    The FL suite is a collection of free, connected ham radio programs for digital modes, rig control, and message handling. Here is what each one does.

  • What Is SSTV, and How Do You Get Started?

    Slow scan television, SSTV, is the mode that lets you send an actual picture over radio instead of text or voice. It’s been part of amateur radio since the 1950s, and it’s still active today, helped along by regular SSTV transmissions from the International Space Station. How a radio signal becomes a picture SSTV encodes…

  • Setting Up the Xiegu G90 for Digital Modes: Digirig, WSJT-X, and Your First FT8 Contact

    The G90’s ACC port handles CAT and audio for digital modes, but it takes the right cable and a few menu tweaks to get clean FT8 out of it. Here’s the full setup.

  • What Is VARA, and Why Winlink Depends On It

    If you’ve set up Winlink recently, you’ve almost certainly installed VARA, even if you weren’t entirely sure what it was doing behind the scenes. It’s the software modem responsible for actually getting your email-over-radio message from your station to a gateway, and it’s become the default choice for most Winlink users. A software modem, not…

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