Tag: digital

  • 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.

  • 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…

  • What EmComm Actually Is, and Why It Needs Both VHF/UHF and HF

    Emergency communications isn’t one thing, it’s a layered system of local repeaters, regional HF, and the theory that ties them together. Here’s how it all fits.

  • 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…

  • Logging Software: Why It Ties Your Whole Station Together

    Logging software does far more than record contacts. Here is what it does, why it matters, and how my Ham Radio Deluxe setup handles CAT control and pushes every contact to QRZ, LoTW, and eQSL.

  • 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.

  • AnyTone AT-D890UV Review: The Radio That Never Leaves My Belt

    Why the AnyTone AT-D890UV is my everyday carry radio, how the BridgeCom Maverick compares, and what I’d want you to know before you buy.

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