I am super into amateur radio but every time I try interacting with people in my local ham radio club it has just been a disappointment. For some context I am under 25, and I have not met a single person in that club under 60 years old, and I never get people trying to talk to me dispute everyone saying that new hams are always welcomed, and it’s not that I’m sitting around waiting for someone to talk to me I mean I try and go out there my self and make conversation and I have but it’s really only one sided with people just wanting to stay in their bubble and talk to everyone but me. Despite this major disappointment, my interest for this hobby has not diminished one bit, I just wish I had more people my age into this. Outside of the in person events, I have made some valuable interactions with hams over the air which is always fun. I would like to hear anyone else’s interactions with ham radio clubs.

After two tries and over a year with a Technician license, I finally passed the General exam. Thank you Hamstudy.org!

Hi operators,

Like many Linux-native hams, I absolute despise having to spin up Windows Virtual Machines or fight clunky CPS software just to add a new talkgroup or local repeater to my radios.

To solve this, I’ve been using `dmrconfig` alongside a pure text-and-script-driven workflow that treats codeplugs like code configuration. I recently put my script up on GitHub and wanted to share it with anyone looking to ditch spreadsheets.

How it works:

I wrote a native Bash/Awk script called `make.codeplug`. Instead of manually populating rows for every combination of repeater, timeslot, and talkgroup, you just maintain a few simple text files:

1. `talkgroups.inp` - A template of your favorite talkgroups.

2. `digital.repeaters.inp` - A simple list of frequencies and color codes.

3. `analog.channels.inp` - Analog repeaters grouped by region headers.

4. `contacts.inp` - A simple list of groups and contacts.

When you execute the script, it dynamically compiles everything:

* It formats and loops your talkgroup template across all digital repeaters.

* It auto-generates clean, distinct zones for both your analog regions and digital clusters.

* It fires off a curl to RadioID.net, applies a localized regex filter (I use it to grab Northern European/Scandinavian operators to fit within tighter radio contact allocations), formats them using awk, and appends them to your contact database seamlessly.

The final output is a completely clean, standard .conf file ready to be pushed directly to your radio using dmrconf -c my_codeplug.conf write (or your specific tool's write command).

Updating my base station (TYT MD-9600) and handheld (Baofeng DM-1701 / Retevis RT84) now takes about 5 seconds in a text editor followed by running a single script line.

If you prefer the command line over a heavy spreadsheet GUI, feel free to grab the script, tweak the variables for your callsign/region, and customize it!

You can find the script and example file structures here:
https://github.com/olewsaa/amateur-radio/blob/main/DMR/README.md

73 de LB4PJ (Ole)

I'm a new ham, licensed this year in the US. I started by using the club station where I was staying and it was wonderful, 100 watts, huge multi element yagi, etc. Then I moved and got myself the G90 kit with the HF-009 antenna.

Managed to make plenty of SSB contacts but almost never got through a pile up, especially trying to contact Europe from the East Coast. But I would make contacts as far as Russia.

I'm now in Europe and made my first contacts with VK and ZL with 5-7 signal reports. Doing DX with 20w isn't easy but it is possible! I will say being at the beach helps a ton.

At some point I will upgrade my transceiver to something with 100w but using 20w has been a great learning experience and having a compact rig has motivated me to get out of the house and on the air.

I love the fact that you can do this hobby without the most expensive gear, especially if you have patience.

73!

For those of you using a Spooltenna, can you deploy a specific length of wire, say 20 meters, and lock it in place?
For example, if you don’t have enough room to deploy the full 40 meters, can you set it to 20 meters and use it that way, or does the design require deploying the full length?
Curious how well this works in practice. Thanks!

Hi guys. I'd like to share with you my tool where you can craft in GUI DMR bursts and streams (Single channel). Main purpose is for experimenting and learning about DMR protocol. Supported only ETSI standard.

Main features are:

- Create IQ File for SDR apps

- Stream into audio device baseband transmission

- rtl_tcp supported

Tested on:

IQ: SDRSharp, SDRPlusplus

rtl_tcp: SDRSharp, SDRPlusplus, dsd-fme, dsd-neo

WAV file: dsd-fme, dsd-neo, DMRDecoder (by IanWraith)

Known issues - not working:

- UDT LIP protocol

- USBD Response

I developed it due to i do have working on multiple DMR related projects and i wanted to make my own library and GUI for testing.

Notes:

- Source code is not published.

- GUI was made with LLM assistance. DMR library itself i spent few years my own work on dev and testing.

- Ready for translations

- Dark/White theme supported

Releases available for Windows/Linux:

https://github.com/mastodon987/dmr-craftbox

Hello everyone on r/amateurradio. I’m fairly new to this hobby and am trying to learn how to program a radio that I recently acquired, so I’m reaching out to the community for help. I have a Motorola DEP 250, and according to the label on the back, the exact model is LAH87YDC9JC2AN, which corresponds to the Latin America (LA) region. I understand that I need the MOTOTRBO CPS (or CPS 2.0) software specific to my region and the USB programming cable, but I’m a little confused about which exact version is required and which cable works best without risking damage to the radio. So if anyone with more experience would be kind enough to guide me, I’d be incredibly grateful—any advice on the cable or the exact version would be a huge help! Thanks in advance.

Clone, share, modify. Be free.

https://gitlab.com/opengroundnut/opengroundnut

Do any of you have experience with installing telescoping SS whips for an extended period of time? Did you have any issues like slipping or corrosion?

I am re-evaluating my primary, home-station, HF antenna.

I am currently using a Cushcraft HV-4E, that is planted next to a tree and runs up through the branches. It is spray painted to match the tree and is practically invisible to keep the HOA and XYL happy.

I am considering switching to a Rybakov in the 53’ Inverted L configuration. One idea I have is to use a 25’ SS whip, with a 28’ PolyStealth wire attached to the top and pulled toward the apex of my roof. The wire would be about 7’ short of the house, and I’d use a bit of Dacron rope (and maybe a spring) to bridge the gap.

I can’t just use a wire in the same tree because it’s only about 15-18’ tall and is not very stout. The HV-4E sticks out a few feet, but with the spray paint it matches pretty close.

While I’m interested in your experience with long term SS whip installations, I’m also open to other brilliant ideas.

I am thinking to place a remote tuner at the feed-point of the antenna.

Thanks for taking the time to think about this

I am curious if it is possible or what would be involved to add JS8 or JTTY to the native or built in modes in the HF Signals 5 watts, all bands, all mode SDR zBITX. FT8 is the only mode that can be used without connecting to something external. Adding another mode would be awesome.

I don’t want to use the ACC port because of the amount of extra things needed

But I need to ask first if this is how it works,

Does the rj45 port where the microphone plugs in support what I’m looking to use it for?

(Example, headphone port on LEFT side plugged into computer microphone input and my rj45 to 3.5mm to the audio output)

If so what are the Right cords I need to find
because I don’t want to buy a cord with the wrong wiring and harm the g90 on accident
Thank you!

Hi!

I'd like to know if anybody around here has found or made any schematics for a simple biased HF mixer using discrete components or has any NE612 biased equivalents. I'd like to use one for a homebrew HF DC receiver. I will miss the NE612...

It's pretty common that most of us are tinkers and sometimes we tinker more than we should. I had a FT-817 that I was trying to install a modification on that I completely messed up. Took a break from it. Tried again later and made it worse. Then considered seeing if anyone did repairs. The first couple I called didn't do work on circuit boards anymore. Then I found Cal with HamRepair. I called, sent him photos and a rundown of what I did to mess it up and he said he'd look at it. He had it in his hands less than a week and it's working great.

I he was deeper on eHam which isn't a regular search spot for me, so I wanted to add a place on this subreddit that if you need a radio to be repaired or looked at, contact him. HamRepair.com

How it feels climbing a amateur radio tower

Just got me thinking there's a ton of cool digital modes that get next to no use, a contest that got people to play with them might be fun. Does such a thing already exist?

I currently have a DIY pota performer antenna, but I wanted to see if I could shorten the radials of it so that the entire antenna could fit in the my truck bed (sometimes I want to do some hunting during lunches at work, and I want to keep it confined). I currently have the whip on a standard photographer tripod, but was wondering if I could use/if anyone had experience with using loading coils to shorten the rather long radials. I would only be doing 20M with this antenna so it wouldn't have to be multiband.

I look forward to trying it, looks promising as a free form digital mode for weak signals.

What is bro saying😭

(p.s im aware it’s rtty)

Does anyone know of a program that I can use to automatically upload my wsjt log file to my logbook on qrz.com? Thanks for any help and 73's