73 de KJ5FTE

Licensing and Preparation Beginning your ham radio adventure means getting licensed. In the U.S., you’ll start with the FCC’s Technician Class exam. Use study guides, mobile apps, and online exam courses tailored to streamline your prep. For me the best tool I’ve found so far is HamStudy.org, sponsored by the folks at Signal Stuff. These resources offer focused lessons and practice questions, taking the stress—and confusion—out of the process. A strong understanding of the basics makes for smarter early gear decisions and builds your confidence on the air. ...

Many that have purchased and use radios from VGC such as the VGC N76 and newer mobile radio, the N7600, appreciate the “intelligence” of getting to use them with your Android or iOS devices. They’ve played a huge part in bringing some cool features such as satellite tracking and KISS/TNC functions to a very affordable device. One of the pain points though is that getting local repeaters into the limited amount of memory channels and can be a bit cumbersome, especially when we have databases of repeaters available but no bridge to get them into the HT app. Earlier this year Jaroslaw Surmacz , SP9HGN, in the VGC Facebook group posted a very helpful utility simply called, Chirp2VGC that allows the use of a Chirp formatted CSV file and their tool will reformat it with use in the HT app! ...

Too many HOAs are shutting down what makes amateur radio great, the freedom to build, connect, and serve. A simple antenna ban does not sound like much, but it’s cutting off communication, experimentation, and even emergency readiness. Other types of antennas like those for wireless internet, satellite internet and others are exempted from their restrictions but our use case was not added to this list originally. There’s a fix on the table: H.R. 1094 and S. 459 would stop HOAs from blanket-banning amateur radio antennas. But those bills need support and that’s where we come in. The ARRL has a great article up on their website outlining the background of this topic, it’s impact on communities and operators nation wide and is very much worth the read. ...

This year marks the 78th annual Texoma Hamarama , one of Oklahoma’s longest-running ham radio gatherings (since 1948). I’m excited to get back to the Texoma Hamarama, which I believe is the second largest hamfest in Oklahoma. This was actually my very first hamfest, and when I attended last year I didn’t know what to expect—but I had a great time. The sessions were very informative, the flea market area was bustling, and there was a steady flurry of activity throughout the morning on Saturday during the main event. ...

Last weekend I was able to attend the Enid Ham Fest which is also my hometown so visiting some family on the trip was a great bonus. This event is ran by the Enid Amateur Radio Club, www.enidarc.org. The event ran from 8:00am until 3:00pm and according to staff, had 145 attendees this year. I saw some of the usual ham fest vendors that I’ve seen at other Oklahoma ham fests such as the custom hat vendor, complete with bedazzled cowboy hats for ladies and the 3D printed tool box guy that prints onsite some really fun and neat stuff. ...

The Enid Amateur Radio Club, W5HTK, is hosting their annual Ham Fest at the Chisholm Trail Expo Center located at 111 W. Purdue Ave, Enid, OK 73701. There are multiple sessions that i’m excited for: Go Kit Challenge, a Tape Measure Yagi Building Class hosted by James, KI5OEB and Freddie Mac, KD5FMU, is hosting one of his famous AllStarLink presentations and I’m really looking forward to that one. Talk-In Frequencies: ...

From Chip (W0CHP) with the WPSD project, updated images are out for the update to Debian 13.1, codenamed Trixie. As recommended, the best way to upgrade WPSD from major versions of Debian is to install then by following the instructions via the WPSD User Manual. Generally, this requires backing up your WPSD configuration, reflashing your device with the newest image and then restoring your backup. As with most of my previous upgrades for this platform, my upgrade went perfectly smooth. If you encounter any issues I would suggest joining their Discord server, linked below, and asking there for help. ...

Archived from opengd77.com Firmware installation instructions Thanks mainly to Colin G3EML we now have an version which works on the TYT MD-UV380 and the Retevis RT-3S. Thanks also to Daniel F1RMB for his work on this, as well as the testers This firmware is an Alpha version, meaning not all functionality from the OpenGD77 is included and that the firmware will have many bugs This firmware is experimental and anyone installing it does so at their own risk. ...

As I’ve been traveling with my N76, I’ve began to create a collection of files that I use to program my radios and have learned that they are not as clean as I’d like to I want to begin versioning these files so I can track my changes to them. My first one is for the OKC area and I’m going to be uploading these to my Github. https://github.com/jeromyokc/vgc_frequency_groups Please let me know if you find any errors or have questions. These radios have been so much fun to play with so I hope more can enjoy them as well. ...

Come on, you didn’t get into this hobby because you’re the most fiscally responsible person (or you are, unicorn) so finding yet another thing to play with in this hobby is what makes it a never ending quest to play radio better and easier. I currently am using DMR with my main hotspot, running on a Pi4 4GB with a mmdvm hat running WPSD and really enjoy it with my Yaesu FT-3D in cross mode (YSF2DMR). I would like something a bit easier to use though and one that’d allow me to connect to DMR repeaters around OKC as it seems to have a good group of people supporting it here in town and they’re the same group that is involved with the Oklahoma AREDN group. ...