Category: Software

  • What Is CommStat? The Complete Guide to JS8Call’s Group Status Board

    What CommStat is, how it works with JS8Call, why StatReps matter for emergency comms, how groups use it, what you need to run it, and how the versions differ.

  • Choosing a Laptop for Field Operating

    Part of our Where to Spend Your Money guide. A laptop that works fine on your shack desk can be genuinely frustrating in the field, where sunlight, dust, and limited power access expose weaknesses a desk setup never reveals. Battery Life Matters More Than Raw Power For digital modes, logging, or CAT control in the…

  • Getting Started with Cheap SDR Receivers: RTL-SDR and HackRF

    What a $30 RTL-SDR dongle can actually do, how HackRF extends that, and how to get either one running.

  • How to Use AI to Program Your Ham Radio (With a Free CHIRP File)

    I gave an AI assistant one plain-English prompt and got back a CHIRP-ready CSV with my local repeaters, calling frequencies, weather channels, and more. Here is the prompt, the file, and what you have to verify.

  • Ham Radio Apps and Software Worth Having, Phone and PC

    Part of our Getting On The Air guide My shack is full of dedicated logging and mapping software, and my phone carries its own lineup for when I am away from the desk. When I am checking a repeater before a drive, spotting myself for a POTA activation, or getting the shack ready for a…

  • Ham Radio Apps for APRS Tracking on Your Phone

    Part of our Getting On The Air guide. You do not need a radio with a built-in TNC to get onto APRS. A collection of solid phone apps lets you track, message, and monitor the APRS network directly from a device you already carry everywhere. How Phone-Based APRS Actually Works Most APRS phone apps connect…

  • Setting Up a Backup Shack Computer: Redundancy for Software-Dependent Stations

    Part of our Building Your First Ham Radio Station guide. Modern shacks lean on software for logging, digital modes, CAT control, and often remote operation, which means a dead computer can take your entire station offline just as effectively as a dead radio, and most hams have a backup plan for the radio but not…

  • Building a Backup and Sync Routine for Your Logbook

    Part of our Getting On The Air guide. Years of logged contacts represent real, often irreplaceable data, especially confirmed contacts working toward awards like WAS or DXCC, and a single hard drive failure without a backup can wipe out a decade of logging in an instant. Why This Gets Overlooked Logging software like Ham Radio…

  • FT-857D CAT Control Setup with Ham Radio Deluxe

    Part of our The Yaesu FT-857D: The Complete Guide. The Physical Connection CAT control on the FT-857D runs through the Mini-DIN CAT jack on the rear panel, not the DATA jack used for digital mode audio. You’ll need a CAT cable with a USB-to-serial adapter on the computer end, since the radio predates native USB.…

  • Airband and Public Safety Scanning with an SDR

    An RTL-SDR dongle replaces a dedicated scanner for airband, and gets you most of the way there on trunked public safety systems too.

  • Setting Up a Personal Ham Radio Website or QRZ Bio

    A good QRZ bio is the first thing a lot of hams see about you. Here is what actually makes one useful.

  • Pi-Star vs. WPSD: Why I Switched My DMR Hotspots

    Part of our Getting On The Air: Modes, Operations, and Making Contacts guide. I ran Pi-Star for a long time before switching over, and now every hotspot I own runs WPSD. Both projects do the same underlying job, but a couple years of running both back to back has made the differences pretty clear to…

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