Category: Uncategorized

Yeah, I might be a little fickle

I’m not afraid to tell on myself, I can own up to it. Last night I decided to go ahead and order a Yaesu FTX-1 Field. Not without reason though. I watched a few YouTube videos from hamvention with John from Yaesu talking about the FTX-1. He mentioned that the performance of the FTX-1 would be similar to the FT-710. That could be impressive. I just finished up a review on my FT-710 so I have a feel for the radio.

Another cause and effect was yesterday, I pulled my IC-705 out getting it ready for some POTA activations. I had been remiss doing QRP CW activations focusing instead on low power digital with full size radios. I have been feeling the urge to brush up on my CW skills. Back to the 705, I like the radio a lot. It does indeed push all of the buttons. I was holding it in my hand thinking it’s not so bad for a portable radio and the FTX-1 is only a little bigger…I thought I might do another comparison series this time between the 705 an the FTX-1. I have a couple of big trips planned for the fall and winter and these radios will do nicely.

Another reason that pushed me toward the FTX-1 was the price of used radios, they are over the top right now. I was looking at a KX3 and it was the same price as the FTX-1. Even some of the other used radios were more than I cared to spend for them. One thing I forgot to mention, is I have grown used to waterfall radios. I have learned to use them to help me find places in the band to operate and to do a real time check on propagation. It’s amazing what you can glean from those screens.

Hopefully, over the next couple of months I’ll put the IC-705 and the FTX-1 through their paces. Up front I will say that I have a preference for Icom radios, but the FT-710, KX2, and TS-890s have found places here at the ranch. I am not adverse to using different brand radios, I use whatever fits me best.

The new radio should be here in a couple of days and then the games begin. This should be fun. 72 de Scott

QRP QRMe

Over the past couple of years, I have spent a lot of time taking what I call big radios to the field. These are 100 watt radios that I run at reduced power usually between 20 and 35 watts. I can run digital modes all day long on a big radio at this power and it won’t even get warm. I usually take them out for a weekend camping trip.

That has gotten a little stale, I feel I have a good understanding of how those radios and antennas work and I have made 1000’s of contacts all over the world. It’s time to do something different. I have 2 wonderful QRP radios, a KX2 and an IC-705, that haven’t seen a lot of use. I have also let my CW skills slip a little. Change is in the wind. I am planning some trips using my little (QRP) radios. in addition, I may spend a few nights in a motel rather than camp. Each day I am out, I can mini rove and do a couple of parks instead of just one. I feel the change will be refreshing, kind of going back to my POTA roots.

This fall, I am planning another multi-state rove. This will be a multi-day rove hitting a park in a state and moving on. It will be a nice drive and a lot of fun. I want to try my hand at quick set-ups and tear downs. The beauty of amateur radio is the diversity of things you can do. Sometimes, you gotta due a few things for fun. 73 de Scott

Hurricane Season 2025

NOAA has released their 2025 hurricane season (01 June to 30 November) prediction. they are calling for an above average season with 13-19 named storms and 6-10 to reach hurricane strength. Of those hurricanes, 3-5 are predicted to become major hurricanes.

As we learned last year, coastal states are not the only ones vulnerable to the havoc a hurricane can bring. Now might be a good time to break out the portable gear and give it a shakedown. Turn on those go-boxes and feed those portable antennas. Make sure everything is in working order. Take your gear out and go at least 20 miles from home. Why 20 miles? It’s a distance that is too far to go back home and retrieve a forgotten part or replace a broken piece of kit. Field Day (winter and summer) are good events to try your gear. Only if you use the same gear you would bring for EmComm and use the same power levels. The lesson here is don’t wait to get ready, get ready now. I try to keep myself prepared to deploy in 4 hours or less.

You can’t plan for everything that may go wrong. You can however, minimize the chance of failure by ensuring your gear is in the best possible condition. Remember Proper Planing and Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance (7P’s). Be THE guy, not THAT guy. 73 de Scott

Why I didn’t Preorder the Yaesu FTX1

As information started coming out about Yaesu’s new QRP radio I was tempted to get one. However, the more I learned the less I liked about it. I have an Icom IC-705 and an Elecraft KX2 for QRP radios. My big field radios are an Icom IC-7300 and Yaesu FT-710F. I am looking for another QRP radio to do a long term review. I considered the FTX1 but gave it a pass for the following reasons.

Price. An IC-705 cost $1349.95 at HRO. The FTX1 cost $1499.95 but to be truly compatible with the IC-705, you have to add Bluetooth ($54.95) and GPS ($69.95). this brings the total to $1624.85. A spare battery for the FTX1 is $199.95. The Icom battery (BP-307) is $135.95; however, knockoffs on Amazon can be had for 2 for $59.95. I use them and they seem to work just fine. Another point are the antenna tuners. The AH-705 sells for $359.95 and can tune long wire and coax fed antennas. Yaesu chose a different path they have one tuner for coax fed antennas and one for long wire each costing $319.95 or $639.90 for both.

The optima package. It cost $1899.95 to give you a 100 watt option. To put this in perspective, you can buy a FT-710 Field for $884.95 and a FTM-510 for $499.95 for a total of $1384.90. Plus you get an antenna tuner included with the FT-710 and the 710 probably has better performance than the FTX1 on HF. As a side note, the FT-991A sells for $1229.95.

Performance. Yaesu was pretty mum about the performance of the FTX1. With the FTDX101, FTDX10, and FT-710, they touted the Rob Sherwood numbers long and loud. The only thing they said about the FTX1 was it had the same Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) as the FTDX10. ADC’s are all pretty similar in all of the SDR radios. So where does the FTX1 fall? Is it like the FT-710 or is it more like the FT-991A or the FT-891? For POTA and SOTA using SSB this is probably fine Rob Sherwood recommends a Dynamic Range Narrow Spaced number of 80 dB for contesting. For CW that number increases to 90dB. The FT-891 and the FT-991 are in the 70’s range.

My friend Thomas K4SWL who is attending Hamvention put his hands on a live FTX1. His first impression was it was much bigger than he imagined. He decided to cancel his reservation for a FTX1. Looking at how things attached to the radio, I had the same thoughts. If I am going that large, I’ll bring my IC-7300 or my FT-710F. I am curious about the current draw of the FTX1 at idle.

As folks get their hands on the radio, more details will come out. Hopefully Yaesu will be more forthcoming with information, we shall see. It seems to me that Yaesu did not listen to the QRP/POTA/SOTA community when building this radio. For sure the pricing and size seem out of whack. As for me, I am still looking for another radio to review, but at this time I will give the FTX1 a pass. 73 de Scott

Paddle Widget

I have a set of Begali Adventure Paddles. They are wonderful paddles. I have the mount for my IC-705, KX2, and desktop. Each mount works well. However, there are times when I do not have a stable platform for my radios or the paddles. At these times I usually hold the paddles in my hands. My go to handheld paddles are my N0SA SOTA paddles. I got mine from his last run. They are an excellent paddle.

I tried holding the Adventure paddles in my hand but I would cause errant dits and dahs. I first thought I would 3D print a box for the paddles–to much thought. I then thought about getting some square aluminum tubing. Too expensive. I scrouged around in my shop and found some 1″ angle aluminum. Perfect. Before I go on let me explain, that this was done with hand tools. A hacksaw, files, hand drill and drill bits. I also used a Dremel tool a little. This project is far from perfect. I never let perfection be the enemy of good enough.

Here is the piece roughed out.

The slot is where the finger guard mounts to the bottom of the paddler using a 4-40 screw. Mounted it looks something like this.

The guard extends past the end of the paddles to help protect the cable where it enters the paddle.

In use the paddle/guard combo looks like this.The guard keeps my index finger from touching the paddle lever and allows me to put my thumb below the paddle lever on the other side. It is very comfortable to use even with my large mitts.

A coat of primer, followed by paint and a clear coat and viola!, it is finished.

I will let it cure overnight and it will be ready for the next adventure. 73-de Scott

US-2167 Black Rock Mountain State Park and the End of an Era

This month I ended up at Black Rock Mountain State Park. It is one of my favorite parks. I like it because it is located on the top of Black Rock Mountain. The views are fantastic and you couldn’t find a better park to operate a radio. This was a weekday trip. For the past couple of months I tried operating during the week instead of in the weekend. It was okay, I think I like the weekends better.

The weather was beautiful mostly cool with a spot of rain on the first night. I was surprised to see Slate Colored Juncos on the mountain. My mother called them snowbirds because they often proceeded a cold front and sometimes snow. I was near a comfort station and right next tot he camp host. No issues when I put up my 28.5′ random wire vertical.

Radio du jour was my FT-710. I also brought with me my IC-705 thinking I would switch over to QRP and CW on the second day. More about that later. I started out on FT8 and 25 watts. I went QRV on 20 meters around 1900 Z. The band was wide open! I stayed on 20 until about 0200 Z. The first day, I made over 200 QSO’s. Wednesday morning things started out well and then fizzled. In the end I made 453 QSO’s covering 46 states and 16 DX entities. The states I missed were AL, HI, ND, and WV. For DX I got as far north and west as Alaska, as far south as Uruguay, as far east as European Russia. I was hoping the band would stretch far enough west to pick up Hawaii, but it didn’t quite make it. A hop too far.

By Wednesday afternoon the bands were dead and I decided to head back to the house. It was a good run while it lasted and a lot of fun. The only issue I had were people asking for dupes. I only need to work you once and the way band conditions were many stations I needed were a one shot deal. Heard them once and then they were gone. I lost some of those because of people asking for dupes. That means two of us lost. Most logging software will show you if you worked a station before. It’s what I use. As an activator, I try to get as many stations as I can in the log.

Once the bands died and I realized that QRP and CW were not viable, I decided to pack it up and head home. I left the park early Wednesday evening and was home before dark. All in all a nice trip. Here is a QSO map of the activation.

End of an Era. This will be my last year on WordPress. It cost me between $100-$200 a year to maintain and being retired I need to cut a few corners. What will happen, is I will move back to Blogger which is free. I own the domain name and I will bring that with me. My WordPress subscription, ends March of next year and in the mean time, I will move some of my posts over to Blogger. Mainly the technical stuff. I will also be taking fewer overnight trips and combining some trips with the wife doing more than amateur radio.

Retirement is grand, I wouldn’t trade it anything. With it comes a little more responsibility. If I think I want something on the pricey side, I ask myself if I am willing to go back to work for it. So far the answer is no. Stay safe and 73 de Scott

Yaesu FT710 final Review and Where to Go From Here

I’ve had the Yaesu FT710 for a while now and used it mainly in the field. That was and is my intent for this radio.  In general, I feel if I am doing an activity like Field Day or a multi-day POTA activation, and I am not carrying my gear more than a few feet, why not bring a full sized but compact radio.  These radios have more operating options and the controls are generally easier to use.  In addition, running a 100 watt radio at low power (20 watts or less), the radio doesn’t even get warm.  The radio works well with digital modes.  It wasn’t that long ago that Yaesu’s were a real pain to run digital.  Icom’s have had an easy interface since the IC-7100.  Today, the FTDX10 and the FT710 both are on par with the Icom’s when it comes to digital modes.  With CW, both brands are about equal.  In general, I feel both radios are interchangeable and it would be the matter of personal preference which would determine which is best for you. In the next couple of paragraphs I will describe the pluses and minus’ of the FT710 and the IC-7300. John WD8LQT provided input from his use of my radio during the WGARS Spring Fling.

Attenuation.  The IC-7300 only gives you 18dB of attenuation while the FT710 give you 3: 6dB, 12dB, and 18db.  Your more expensive radios typically have 3 like the FT710.  In an SDR radio, attenuation is your friend.  Preamp should almost never be used.  The nod goes to the FT710.

CW Tune.  Both radios have autotune but the FT710 has a CW tuning indicator right below the S-meter. I find myself using it quit a bit.  Some CW ops crank their filters way down and if you are a little off frequency, they won’t hear you.  My buddy John WD8LQT, also liked this feature. Nod goes to the FT710.

Sound quality.  The FT710 sounds a little better, but the IC-7300 has a lower noise floor.  I do not find either one objectionable. YMMV.  Draw

Waterfall.  The IC-7300 has an averaging waterfall and the FT710 does not.  That means that the FT710’s waterfall has to be manually adjusted every time band conditions change.  John noticed that when sending CW the waterfall would flash rather brightly, enough to be a little distracting. This may have been due to the waterfall level not being adjusted properly, but it is not an issue with the Icom.  Nod to the Icom.

Ergonomics.  Here the IC-7300 is the clear winner.  It has more of the right buttons on the control panel and it is easier to get to the most needed controls. The 7300 gives you 3 adjustable filters and the Yaesu gives you 2.  To adjust the Icom, grab a knob and give it a twist.  On the Yaesu, push a knob, twist the knob, push the knob, twist the knob.

Power consumption.  The FT710 uses about 1.2 to 1.3 amps at idle with normal volume.  The IC-7300 uses about 0.85 amps.  This doesn’t matter if mains power or generator power is available but when working off of batteries this can become an issue.

Sensitivity and Selectivity. The Icom has a lower noise floor, -133 vs -127 dBm for the Yaesu. Before I get into selectivity let me explain a little about Rob Sherwoods numbers.  Most people quote the 2 KHz blocking number, that comes with a couple of caveats. First, for the most part Rob measures 2 KHz blocking with a 500 Hz filter. That’s a CW filter.  Sideband filters usually run 2.4 KHz plus.  Unless you’re a CW op, this number is irrelevant. Here is what Rod Sherwood says, “I decided to sort the table on my website by close-in dynamic range at 2-kHz spacing. This was the “acid test” for CW contest / DX pile up operation.” He further quantifies his research with the following numbers. “What do you need in the way of close-in dynamic range? You want a number of at least 70 dB for SSB, and at least 80 dB for CW. A 10 dB safety factor would be nice, so that means you would prefer 80 dB for SSB and 90 dB for CW.” In the past I have compared the IC-7300 with the FTDX10 and the FT710 during a CW contest. What ever I could hear with one, I could hear with the other. The Yaesu’s had a little less ringing but I had no problem copying the signal from any of the radios.  

What this means is either radio will serve the vast majority of operators well.  Whatever your personal preference is, go for it.  There are things I love about the FT710 and there are things I love about the IC-7300. I never feel at a disadvantage with either radio.  I plan on keeping both.

Where do I go from here? That’s a good question. I don’t have anything in line to review. I have decided to take a step back from EmComm for a while.  I’ve been doing a lot of digital lately and need to get back to the joys of CW. I also have a couple of QRP radios that need to be taken out and used.  I still enjoy the smaller radios.  I’ll take a big radio on a camping trips/Field Days and may take a little radio for a quick activation. Sometimes it’s nice to grab a small box or bag and go. I have some antennas I haven’t used in a while, I need to get them out.  

Thanks for hanging with me.  I appreciate your company.  73 de Scott

WGARS Spring Fling 2025

Today was the club’s semi-annual outing and this spring it was one of our old haunts, Cheaha State Park US-1037 in the fine state of Alabama. There are 3 things we as a club like to do, we like to eat, we like to socialize, and once in a while we talk on the radio.

As usual, food was in abundance.

We had several stations set up under the pavilion. QRM was held to a minimum. We had Xeigu G90’s, Tru-SDR, Icom IC-705, and my Yaesu FT-710. I set the radio up and turned it over to the club President John WD8LQT. John, like me is a CW op and I wanted his opinion of the FT-710. I didn’t have to twist his arm too hard. The setup was the radio feeding a Chameleon micro transformer with a 12’ whip and about a 20’ counterpoise. The radio was powered by a 20 amp-hour Bioenno battery and the paddles were a Begali Expedition.

Band conditions were poor and it took John most of the time at the park to get his 10 contacts. There were stops for eating and chatting. Early in the activation, I decided to change antennas to be sure we had an atmospheric issue and not an equipment one. I had my Diamond RHM-12 which recently proved itself to be a good performer. Once the switch was made and some searching through the bands, John started making contacts on 20 meters. I believe it was atmospherics and not the equipment. John got his 10 contacts and we called it good.

John’s comments about the FT-710 were quite favorable. Like any radio, there are pluses and minuses. In general he thought it was a very good radio for CW. There is more commentary from John on the YouTube video posted below. John did have one epic fail. The ear buds he was using which looked rather ancient finally gave up the ghost. I took it upon myself to intervene and unceremoniously threw them in the trash. John will thank me.

My review of the FT-710 is drawling to a close. I find that I like the radio. It performs well for its price point and has some features found on more expensive radios. It has its quirks as all radios do, but none that I find overly objectionable. I plan on keeping the radio and it has found a place among my field radios. I imagine the radio may make an appearance during this year’s Field Day.

FTDX10 or FT710

Yaesu came out with too fairly closely spec’d radios at different price points. The FTDX10 currently sells for ~$1,500 and if you add in the 300 Hz filter, another ~$175. The FT710 Field sells for ~$1,075. Roughly $500 less.

The FTDX10 is a hybrid radio with a down conversion receiver feeding into a Direct Digital Synthesizer (DDS). The FT710 is a SDR radio similar to the IC-7300. I owned an FTDX10 for about 18 months and I am on my second FT710, total ownership time is approximately 10 months. I had the first FT710 a couple of months after the initial release. It wasn’t working the way I expected it to so I traded. About 6 months ago, after reading some of the update material, I thought I would give it another go. My second FT710, this time the field version, is much improved. It is my current go to field radio. I plan on keeping this one. Having used both radios if I had to do it again which one would I pick?

I would pick the FT710. The FT710 has 90-95% of the performance of the FTDX10 for $500 less. In fact, I do not think one could tell the difference between the two in a side by side blind test. There is a caveat, the receiver architecture is different between the two radios and it requires a slightly different skill set. SDR radios like the FT710 basically run wide open all of the time. Keeping that in mind, in most cases it is better to run IPO or attenuation rather than preamp. I almost never run preamp on my FT710. What is nice about the FT710 is it gives you 3 levels of attenuation: 6dB, 12dB, and 18dB; a feature usually only found on higher end radios. In contrast, the IC-7300 only gives you one, 18dB.

The other control you should become familiar with is the RF gain. On a Yaesu, RF gain starts in the fully clockwise position. When there is a lot of noise, slowly turn the RF gain counter-clockwise until only the desired signal is heard. Coming from analog radios years ago, my brain is still a very good filter. I use digital noise reduction sparingly. I often keep it at level 2 or 3, enough to take the edge off.

Perhaps the most compelling reason to chose the FT710 over the FTDX10 besides the cost, is the ergonomics. I have large hands and fat fingers. The FTDX10 clustered its controls close together so I had to be careful when pushing a button or twisting a knob. Even so, I would bump the frequency dial and throw it off frequency. I have remarked that the controls on the FTDX10 were more suited for the lefthand. In fact when it was a part of my home station, it sat to the left side. With the FT710, the controls spaced further apart and are easy to get to even with my big mitts. This is a real benefit for a field radio. The position of the radio or the lighting conditions may not be optimal so ergonomics are important. I find the FT710 a joy to use in the field.

If you are a dyed-in-the-wool FTDX10 owner, this post is not for you. I wrote this for the amateur radio operator looking for their first HF radio, or maybe a seasoned operator looking to venture into the Yaesu family. This is also for those who have limited funds and are agonizing over which radio to get and should they sacrifice funds for the more expensive radio over something else they may need for the shack. The FTDX10 is a fine radio. Its Achilles’ Heel is its ergonomics. The FT710 is a fine radio in its own right. I believe it is 90-95% of what the FTDX10 is but for much less money. Of all the Yaesu radios I have owned over the past almost 30 years, the FT710 is the one I have been most happy with. YMMV de Scott

Surprises at Laura S Walker State Park

I decided to travel a little further this time and head toward the Okefenokee swamp. this time I tried the Laura S Walker State Park. It was a five hour drive and about 320 miles but fortunately I was able to stay off the interstates for all but about 30 miles of the trip. The park is near Waycross, GA which recently suffered from severe weather. Even though it has been a while there it still plenty of evidence to attest to natures fury. The park itself was in good shape and I had a nice campsite.

I would normally use my 28.5′ vertical antenna but I had a power line that passed almost directly over my truck and camper. I could have requested a better campsite but in the spirit of FunComm I decided to work with what I had. Instead of my usual antennas I deployed a new antenna. A Diamond RHM-12. This is a manual screw drive type antenna that is only about 7 feet tall and covers 40 meters to 440 MHz. With additional coils it also covers 80 and 160 meters. I set it up away from the power lines and used a Chameleon Spike to set it into the ground. I also had 2 counterpoises about 20-25′.

I was a little concerned about its performance. Inside the camper I had My Lenovo Laptop and Yaesu FT-710 with an LDG tuner.

I had a Rig Expert Pro Stick antenna analyzer with me and I was able to get the SWR down below 2:1. I guess I could have monkeyed with to get it lower but since I had the tuner…

I have really taken a liking to the FT-710. It has been performing well and since the last firmware updates, it has become a little champ. It is winning my heart. The radio, tuner, and computer all worked well together. I only ran 25 watts of power as that is about the limit on the antenna using FT-8. I was going to work some CW but the days I was at the park the temps were up around 90 degrees, far from the 43 degrees the morning I left my home QTH. I ran the air conditioning and when it is on I have trouble copying CW. Years in Army Aviation and other loud occupations have affected my hearing.

How did I do? Surprisingly well. In a 24 hour period which included sleep time, I made 400 contacts (7 dupes). I made contacts in 46 states (Not AK, HI, MT or RI) and 34 DX entities! I think that’s a new record for me during a POTA Activation. I got as far west as Australia and American Samoa, and as far east as Turkey, Bulgaria, and European Russia. The bands were up and down and I had to make a few trips out to the antenna to adjust it when I changed bands.

I never expected that little antenna to perform so well. The RHM-12 antenna has been assigned to permanent duty in my antenna kit.

It’s important to take your gear out and use it. Understand how it operates under various conditions. Know what your gear can and cannot do. This is good to know having fun but becomes critical when more is at stake.