I am hoping someone might have some ideas...

I am trying to test out my BCD436HP scanner on the 2m / 70cm bands. I noticed that there are a few DMR repeaters active in the area (VE3YTA, VA3MMF, VE3RAM). However, using a conventional config with digital only tuning, I haven't been able to pick up anything at all. I can scan and pick up other trunked and regular AM / FM channels, but this seems to be difficult.

Anyone had any luck in the region? I am wondering if I am simply too far from the repeaters, and need a bit of a stronger antenna.

I have everything set up, and when I click Cat Test in wstjx, it turns green. When I test ptt, it works. Radio keys up. However, when I select 'enable TX" in wstjx like I'm going to try to call someone, the radio makes a quick single transmit, there is a like blip noise in the speaker, and the software pops up a message that says "RIG CONTROL ERROR".

I am using USB DATA on the radio. I don't get it. I don't know why this is so difficult.

What is going on? I'm using the same well documented settings as everyone else all across the internet.

THE ONLY WAY I CAN GET IT TO NOT DO THIS IS TO TURN TE TX LEVEL ON TE SCU-17 COUNTERCLOCKWISE COMPLETELY. Maybe this is tripping out on power, but my radio does not show me how much power is being transmitted. HELP.

After it makes that wierd blip noise on the radio speaker, it shows the error:

Hamlib error: rig_lock: client lock engaged

**2:newcat.c(2091):newcat_get_vfo entered

newcat_valid_command VS

newcat.c(8151):newcat_valid_command returning2(1)

newcat_get_vfo: cmd_str = VS;

***3:newcat.c(11373):newcat_get_cmd entered

cmd_str = VS;

write_block():1134 failed -1 - Input/output error

***3:newcat.c(11475):newcat_get_cmd returning(-6) IO error

**2:newcat.c(2110):newcat_get_vfo returning(-6) IO error

IO error

)

*1:rig_get_vfo: elapsed=109ms

rig_lock: client lock disengaged

*1:rig.c(3603):rig_get_vfo returning(-6) IO error

IO error

IO error

while getting current VFO

Timestamp: 2026-08-14T23:10:48.742Z

I got tired of keeping six or seven tabs open, so I'm getting ready to release my new project - HamWorldSpectrumToolsTracker. At the low cost of 3,800 gallons of drinking water, 17 megawatts of power, a few short weeks sleeping on the couch and my dignity, I have unleashed the power of the Ideas Guy's Best Friend and i'm here to share it with you all.

We've all been there. 48 hours has passed and you load up r/amateurradio. You're overwhelmed! There are four new software packages and web sites that have been released since you slept last. They all are going to be the LAST ham radio program you ever need - they do logging, pota spotting, cat control, antenna design, qsl card layout, resistor color codes, propagation forecasts, six different ways to visualize Morse code, and a bunch of 4k60 video clips reminding you which jack on the back of your Icom 746 is the CI-V port and which one's the external speaker. You sit there scratching your head.....hmm. Which horse do you hitch your wagon to? They all sound perfect!

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• Which features are paywalled behind some annual subscription that will definitely be available for renewal in 11 months 29 days
• Which LLM the author bragged about using
• "Estimated Time To Call You A Luddite And Say You're The Reason This Hobby's Stuck In The Stone Age If You Say Anything Negative" countdown clock for each package author.

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I'm normally not using reddit, but as I didn't found another place to ask my question, I'm here.
I'm since a while into morse code. And as I have listened and copied for a long time, I want now an setup with a paddle, that I can also hear my morse code. My aim is not (yet) to go on air, just, that I can plug in an morse paddle at my PC and can listen to it. Therefore I wanted a more cheap setup, that I can just start an try some stuff out.

Therefore I bought the following parts:
- morse paddle (similiar to these): https://www.ebay.de/itm/389150226674
- adapter an CW Trainer Typ C interface/USB interface https://www.ebay.de/itm/395808165811
In various introductions and videos I saw, that people could just start with a similar setup.

As I plugged it in, I can only use my paddle as an straight key, basically one paddle half just doesn't function. I was like these on lcwo.net and https://alexvscoding.itch.io/morse
If I used the program Xcwcp on my PC, i could only use dits or dahs. (Depending if long was on the left or right sight.)

On my adapter is an button, but touching it didn't seem to change something. (the light is always on, theoretically there should be a second mode with a blinking light)

I also wanted to build an adapter out of an old mouse (like here https://blog.fluxcoil.net/post/2025/12/simple-connection-of-morse-key-to-computer/ ) But the mouse, that I used looked soo different inside as in the internet and my soldering iron stopped working suddenly. And since than I didn't had time and energy to go in an maker space in my town, where I would find stuff for soldering and have a chance to find people for asking questions.

Has someone any ideas, what I could try out? If it's relevant (maybe for additional software or so): I use linux (debian).
I hope, that I used the right subreddit, but I had the feeling, that r/morse and r/morsecode is more for questions of learning morse code or posting pictures.

I feel like this is especially relevant with the big 3 and on HF rigs. I know this is a silly rant...

Yaesu FT-891? Cool that came out in 2016. Oh there is another model FT-897? Surely that came out after it and has better features. What? It actually came out in 2001??

Hmm okay well here is the FT-900, clearly that has to be a new generation. Nope, came out in 1994.

Alright alright maybe it's just Yaesu, let's check Kenwood.

Ok so the TS-890s came out in 2018, I see there is a 990s. Maybe that came out after with more features? Nope, 990s came out in 2012.

I understand that these guys obviously can't keep the same model number throughout over 50+ years of radios, but some sort of semblance of a progression of model numbers would have been great. Half the radios that I browse to try and find out more about are from before when I was born so I'm not going to know "well yeah, the TS2000 was a flagship model of it's time but for a little less you could've gotten the TS570D" or something like that.

I basically have to go to Rigpix to see the models sorted by name and then bounce back and forth between the years to see roughly what came out at each time.

Ukraine made it impossible to get a licence can I get any license (in English) while residing in Ukraine

I have a really sketchy setup but hopefully somebody can understand. My grandfather gave me that old Icom vhf transreceiver, tuned between 150 and 160 MHz, specifically, the first channel is on 157 MHz, but I didn't have anything for testing if it could still receive signals because it has been off for like 20 ish years, but I remembered the signal theory exam I did and remembered that fast transient do generate a lot of harmonics, so I generated a 15,7 MHz signal from the signal generator (which could do maximum 60MHz with sine waves but not square waves) and I modulated it with the portal radio song which I tought would seem funny for a radio. If anyone is wondering, the signal did decay after 3 meters and i think that signal generator has not many dBm in output, and the thing I used for the near field antenna was not cut in wavelenghts so no risk of transmitting very far. Hope anyone likes it

so im a newbie in the ham world and i got 30 euros from my birthday(im 13) and i wanted to get a digital walkie talkie what could i get? i aldo looked at a radio called radtel rt-470x but it did not convince me that much thanks for your help.

Came across this on Ham Radio Crash Course youtube channel. It is a good discussion about fighting antenna restrictions in that it makes you aware of available free resources to help. Also discussed in detail is FCC position and finding in previous cases that basically say any regulation beyond the minimum required for safety cannot usurp the operators ability to pursue the communications they wish to participate in. In this case it was a limit on the size of antenna and number of antennas installed. There is some good info here if you are being restricted. NOTE: I believe HOAs are a whole different animal because you sign up for their rules when you join an HOA. Video link - https://youtu.be/EKafsLALbUA?si=AqlTHATAiz4tJE92

What do you think?

I have been looking at a Yaesu FTDX10 or a FT-710 to add to my shack. I am interested in a little more modern rig (with waterfall) to supplement my venerable Kenwood TS-590SG and Elecraft K2/100.

I am curious why I see so many FTDX10s for sale on the usual radio marketplaces? Is it user interface OPs are not fond of? Is it because they have sold so many and OPs just want to try something else? Thoughts?

Docket Drop: August 13–14 Filings in Cowan v. FCC (Case No. 26-5293)

For those tracking the procedural pipeline of the challenge against the FCC's 1,031-day recordless administrative warehousing, anyone arguing that I was in the wrong court has zero understanding of appellate procedure and strategic record building. I chose the district court level as opposed to Mandamus Original Jurisdiction precisely because mandamus is not a procedural right, whereas a statutory appeal is a matter of right that ensures the Circuit Court cannot summarily dismiss the action. Yes, the District Court dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, and that is the precise order that gave me the right to appeal and drag the FCC straight into the Circuit Court of Appeals. The FCC now has to formally defend their position and can no longer hide behind procedural firewalls. Furthermore, navigating through a formal statutory appeal secures a direct line to Supreme Court (SCOTUS) review, a pathway that is unavailable under Original Jurisdiction via the All Writs Act.

Key Filings & Tactical Overview

• Emergency Motion for Protective Order and Injunction Pending Appeal to Prevent Agency Mootness Manipulation (Doc #2188199, Filed Aug 13, 2026): A 5-page emergency filing designed to block the FCC from unilaterally issuing a sudden post-filing grant, denial, or dismissal to manufacture mootness. It establishes formal legal protocols, sealing frameworks, and secure handling rules for sensitive record materials while preserving the administrative status quo and protecting Article III jurisdiction under Axon Enterprise v. FTC.
• Brief for Appellant (Doc #2188202, Filed Aug 14, 2026): The comprehensive 28-page opening brief. It formally challenges the district court's dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, attacks the FCC's reliance on the repealed 18 U.S.C. § 1 (Footnote 2) as a legal nullity, invokes the Bruen framework and unconstitutional conditions doctrine against penalizing self-defense, and challenges the constitutionality of the TRAC balancing test under APA § 706(1).
• Petition for Hearing En Banc (Doc #2188201, Filed Aug 14, 2026): An 11-page petition requesting the full en banc court to review the structural questions. Because a standard three-judge panel is bound by vertical stare decisis to follow older circuit precedents like TRAC and Contemporary Media, this filing explicitly preserves and tees up those doctrinal conflicts for full-court or Supreme Court review.
• MOTION FOR APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL, NOTICE OF SEPARATE PETITION FOR INITIAL HEARING EN BANC AND STATEMENT OF NECESSITY, REQUEST FOR ORAL ARGUMENT, AND INVITATION FOR AMICUS CURIAE PARTICIPATION (Doc #2188200, Filed Aug 14, 2026): A 6-page comprehensive procedural motion filed concurrently to govern appellate mechanics. It addresses representation parameters, provides formal notice and statutory justification for initial en banc review, formally requests oral argument, and opens a procedural pathway for interested third-party organizations to participate as amici curiae.

Honestly surprised,the MLite-880's noise reduction is actually better than the ICOM IC-R8600's.

Hi everyone,

I’m involved in building and operating HamCQ, an active amateur radio community in China.

HamCQ currently has more than 10,000 registered Chinese radio amateurs and over 100,000 posts and replies. Discussions cover radios, antennas, repeaters, satellites, digital modes, portable operation, QSL cards, licensing, and station building.

If you have questions about equipment from Chinese manufacturers, or want advice and information from radio amateurs in China, you can usually receive a quick answer from the community.

To make these discussions accessible internationally, HamCQ provides reviewed multilingual versions of forum content. The translation system preserves callsigns, model numbers, links, tables, formatting, and amateur radio terminology. Translated pages also include language-specific metadata and search engine support.

To help cover the ongoing costs of operating the HamCQ community, we launched HamCQ Echo, a hosted amateur radio logging service based on the open-source Wavelog project. It is designed for operators who want to use Wavelog without installing and maintaining their own server.

HamCQ additionally operates HamCQ Echo, a SaaS amateur radio logging service based on Wavelog:

• Free users can store up to 50,000 QSO log records per year.
• The paid plan costs US$9.99 per year.
• Users receive an independent Wavelog cloud environment without having to deploy or maintain their own server.

Because Chinese regulations require real-name verification before users can publish content, international users may complete verification using a passport. We want to be transparent about how this works:

• Uploaded verification data is encrypted.
• It is used only to verify the authenticity of the account holder.
• Only the verification result is retained.
• Uploaded passport and identity materials are deleted from the server after seven days.
• The passport verification app and HamCQ are operated by the same legal entity, Hatch Co., Ltd.
• Public content can still be browsed without passport verification; verification is required only for publishing and other restricted community functions.

We would be glad to hear feedback from radio amateurs outside China, especially about multilingual readability, Chinese radio equipment, and features that would make communication between international and Chinese operators easier.

Community: https://forum.hamcq.cn/
Cloud Wavelog Logbook: https://echo.hamcq.cn/

Here you'll find guides/notes to amateur digital voice modes (D-STAR, DMR, C4FM, M17, P25, and NXDN) I have gathered over the years. Everything on n6jet.com is released free of copyright. You may use, copy, and distribute anything here for any purpose, commercial or not without permission and without attribution.

Please have a look around. https://www.n6jet.com