“HamRadioNow doesn’t do ‘unboxings’, and we don’t do product reviews per se, but this time we do both. A new BaoFeng UV 5×3 tri-band handheld (144-220-440) caught Gary’s eye, and at about $80 he thought ‘why not’. He needed to learn more about this wave of cheap Chinese radios, and very few radios include the 220 band.
The main rap on the Chinese radios is that they’re hard to program. Gary finds this one different than the Japanese brands, but not necessarily more difficult. And it programs easily with free Chirp software.
Harmonics have been an issue. This episode includes an interview and demo from ARRL Lab Product Review Engineer Bob Allison WB1GCM from the 2014 Hamvention, where Bob was testing ham’s radios on a spectrum analyzer.”
Digital Modes
FT8Call 0.5 Released – New features, a MacOS build, APRS.fi spotting, and more!
“Howdy Folks, I’m excited to bring you the next development version of FT8Call, version 0.5, and boy do I have some fun stuff included i... Read more
Digital Activity Days RDRC “01-10” – Rules
RDRC Objective: Attraction of radio amateurs to the development of digital reports and software for various digital modes. Participants: Licens... Read more
New Digital Modes Gain Traction for Moonbounce, but Occasionally Show Up on HF
In December, Joe Taylor, K1JT, released the latest version (1.7) of his WSJT-X software suite, designed to facilitate basic Amateur Radio communicatio... Read more
Contesting
ARRL RTTY Roundup is a Good Way to Kick Off the 2016 Contest Calendar
Photo:AA5AU The ARRL RTTY Roundup over the January 2-3 weekend is a veritable digital festival, so dust off those keyboards! In addition to convention... Read more
58th JOTA : October 16-18, 2015
What is JOTA? When Scouts want to meet young people from another country, they usually think of attending a World Jamboree. But few people realize tha... Read more
QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo to Include Speaker Track on Amateur Radio Satellites
The QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo on March 13 – 14 will devote a speaker track to AMSAT and the world of amateur radio satellites. The Expo is... Read more
Review
Icom 7300 WSJT-X Combined With HRD and JT-Alert
Part 1 starts with Icom 7300 setup in the menu and connectors. In preparation for connecting to HRD and HRDLogbook. 03:03 Setting up Icom 7300 for rec... Read more
Review of the new RSPdx SDR receiver by SDRplay
This new model has a metal case, three antenna connectors and several circuitry upgrades that make it the performance leader in the SDRplay line-up. Read more
Equipment
Weird Ham Radios: Manpack Backpack HYS TG-G25W
SPECIFICATION:Built-in 6A Li-ion battery for 10W radio12A Li-ion battery for 25W radioRadioator FanMini size:210*152*44mmFrequency Range: 136-174/400-... Read more
ICOM External speaker SP-41 for IC-7651 and IC-7300
A high-quality external speaker that matches the IC-7610 best. Dual watch ® is also comfortable with input switching . Dual watch can be done comfort... Read more
New UT-133A Bluetooth Unit for Icom Mobile Radios
The current Icom UT-133 Bluetooth unit is being replaced with a new version that is compatible with not only the ID-5100E and IC-2730E Amateur Radio m... Read more
VHF
New ! ICOM A120 VHF Air Band Transceiver
VHF Air Band Mobile Radio Icom’s A120 air band mobile introduces two new features: Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) and Bluetooth® capabilities. The newl... Read more
Alinco DJ-X81 0.1~1300MHz Seg TV voice · EWS receive corresponding receive
Base price (excluding tax): 36,800 yen ● reception frequency range: 0.100 ~ 252.895MHz / 255.100 ~ 261.895MHz 266.100 ~ 270.895MHz / 275.100 ~ 379.895... Read more
Compact D-Star Transceiver, Icom ID-31 upgraded!
Newly released handy transceiver ID-31PLUS for amateur radio which can enjoy long distance communication with D-STAR ® easily Product name / model nu... Read more
Baofeng Tech: Mobile Radios
“We’re excited to unveil the UV-2501 and UV-5001 Dual Band Mobile Radios. We have spent the last several months refining our first... Read more