Category: Digital Modes (Inc: FT8, DMR, YSF, DStar, Etc)

  • 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…

  • Using Dual Watch for Split Digital Operating

    How I use the IC-7300 Mark II’s dual watch to monitor two frequencies at once during split digital mode operating.

  • ARDOP vs VARA: Winlink’s Two TNC Modes Compared

    If you’re setting up Winlink, you’ll need to pick a modem to actually move your messages over the air, and the two real options are ARDOP and VARA. They solve the same problem in different ways, and the right choice depends more on your priorities than on either being objectively better. ARDOP: open source, built…

  • What Is APRS? History, Digipeaters, and How the Network Really Works

    APRS stands for Automatic Packet Reporting System, and it is one of the oldest pieces of digital ham radio still in daily use. Most operators know it as “the thing that puts a dot on a map,” but that undersells it badly. APRS is a real-time, ham-built data network that has been running continuously since…

  • What Is Winlink, and Why EmComm Operators Rely On It

    When the internet and cell towers go down, Winlink lets you send and receive real email over radio. Here is how it works, and why served agencies lean on it so heavily.

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