Category: FT8

Getting Started with JS8Call – One of best things going in Digital HF!

Today we’re going to talk about JS8Call. What’s JS8Call? If you’re a ham radio operator on HF, then you likely know all about FT8 and what it’s done for (or to, depending on your perspective…) amateur radio. It’s made a simple 5 watt QRP station capable of truly worldwide contacts! Here in Washington State, I …

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Is QRP Saving Ham Radio?

Recently on HackADay.com there was an article called “FT8: SAVING HAM RADIO OR KILLING IT?” which drew fire from some and praise from others. The article title itself was a little click-bait-y but justifiable. According to the source article over at flexradio.com FT8 lovers and haters are split almost 50/50. Some say its awful because FT8 …

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QRP Labs QSX is Almost Here!

In 2017, QRP Labs changed the QRP kit landscape when they released the QCX, a high performance single band QRP CW transceiver. For $49 a person can have a self aligning transceiver packed with features. Many wondered: will they follow up with a SSB kit? The answer of course is yes. But it’s going to …

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Dual Band BITX40 Project Update

I’ve written about putting together a dual band BITX40 in the past and the methods I used had varying success. The idea was to augment the built in filters with switched in/out add-on filters from QRP-Labs. This is a sound idea, but the layout of Low Pass Filter on the BITX40 really didn’t allow it …

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BITX40 PTT Enhancement for Digital or CW

The BITX40 PTT is a simple circuit: A switch grounds out the PTT Relay and the transceiver goes into transmit. As a stripped down SSB radio, this works fine and is simple and uses few parts. Why modify it? The challenge is that the PTT circuit is not solid state. The PTT circuit is just …

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