Tag: digital
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2013: Yaesu System Fusion (YSF) Brings C4FM to Ham Radio
Part of our The Evolution of Amateur Radio timeline series. By 2013, hams had two digital voice options: Icom’s purpose-built D-STAR, and the commercial DMR standard amateurs had adopted for its cheap hardware. Yaesu decided the market needed a third option, one built entirely in-house, and released System Fusion, commonly known as YSF. Yaesu builds…
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Today: Where Amateur Radio Stands Now, HF, Digital, and Everything Between
Part of our The Evolution of Amateur Radio timeline series. This is the last stop on the timeline, and it’s the only one without a fixed date, because it’s still being written. Amateur radio today is a genuine mashup of every era covered in this series: century-old HF DXing, postwar VHF repeaters, personal radio services…
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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…
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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.
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Troubleshooting Common FTX-1 Digital Mode Audio Issues
The digital mode audio problems that come up most with the FTX-1, and the order I actually check things in to fix them fast.
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Olivia and MFSK: Robust Digital Text Modes Beyond FT8
FT8 gets all the attention these days, but it’s not actually the most robust digital text mode available to you. Olivia and MFSK were built for a different problem: pulling a readable message out of conditions bad enough to wipe out almost anything else, at the cost of being considerably slower. How Olivia gets its…
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Setting Up Winlink: RMS Express, VARA, and Sending Your First Message
Part of our Emergency Communications and Preparedness guide. I’ve explained what Winlink is and why EmComm operators rely on it, but I’ve never walked through actually setting it up. This is that post: getting RMS Express and VARA installed and sending a real message through the system for the first time. What You Need A…
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Troubleshooting IC-7300 Mark II Digital Mode Audio Issues
The digital mode audio problems that come up most with the IC-7300 Mark II, and the order I actually check things in to fix them fast.
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What Is JS8Call?
JS8Call takes the weak-signal power of FT8 and turns it into real keyboard-to-keyboard conversation and messaging. Here is what it does.
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M17: The Open-Source Alternative to DMR, D-STAR, and YSF
Every digital voice mode I’ve covered in the Evolution of Amateur Radio series, D-STAR, DMR, System Fusion, shares one thing in common: they all rely on the proprietary AMBE voice codec, a patented chip that every manufacturer has to license. M17 exists specifically to get away from that dependency. A protocol built to be genuinely…
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What Is a Digirig, and Why Do Some Radios Need One?
A Digirig is a tiny interface that connects your radio to your computer for digital modes. Here is what it does and why some radios need one while others do not.