Yaesu 857D little known Easter Eggs.

December 20, 2015 By ad Leave a Comment

One of the guys on my PreparedHam forum(see the link to the forum above in the Black Header bar) posted a link to a page that shows little known Easter Eggs on the Yeasu 857D radio.

I have had this radio for well over 5 years and never knew these things.

Example of whats there:
The Yaesu FT-857 has a number of undocumented features, some of which are very interesting. In no particular order, here are my favorite quirks.

XX Holding FAST for one second on the supplied microphone will toggle power.

XX The small wire on the power supply connector simulates the FT-897s internal battery sense line. When this wire is grounded, the FT-857 operation changes subtly.

With the display backlight in AUTO 2 (the default) and the sense wire grounded, the display light extinguishes after about three seconds, identically to AUTO 1 mode.

Also, the supply current drawn by the rig when it is turned OFF drops from about 8mA to about 2.5mA.

See more here:
http://members.cruzio.com/~k6xx/radio/quirk857.pdf

Easy way to get the word to your Representatives on the Amateur Parity Radio Act

December 15, 2015 By ad 1 Comment

Easy way to get to word to your representatives on the Amateur Parity Radio Act just add you zipcode and get an automated form, fill in your contact info and hit send. Please let all hams and non-hams know that those of us who live in HOA controlled communities, would like to get this past.

The law just asks for “reasonable accommodations” for antennas. Not a mandate to allow for 70 foot towers.

Ham radio operators are a vital part of disaster preparedness and response for everything from missing children to supplying communications for man-made and natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes. We provide critical communication services when things go Tango Uniform, and we do it free of charge.

https://arrl.rallycongress.net/ctas/urge-congress-to-support-amateur-radio-parity-act

November 12, 2015 By ad Leave a Comment

One of the folks on another forum posted this site from N4LCD that has compiled every antenna you would ever need. Check it out

http://www.n4lcd.com/wireantennas/

https://www.preparedham.com/455-2/

Go Bags: For Emergency Responders. We all have have a good ideal what should be in them, but the question is WHICH BAG?

November 4, 2015 By ad Leave a Comment

For all members of any Emergency Response Team(FEMA TF Teams, ARES, RACES, CERT and others) we learned early on what we need to take when we deploy. The standard kit: Clothing, medicines, Comms gear along with backups, First Aide kits, personal care items, sleeping bags/tents, cooking kit, food etc.

Your loadout will depend on what type of deployment you are sent on be it a 1-2 day search and rescue or a multi-week Katrina event.

The common denominator in all of this is the BAG. I have everything from a small ruck for a day community service event to a large expedition pack used for multi day/week deployments or back packing trips.

One of my favorite places to buy this type of gear besides www.rei.com is www.dovr.com Dvor is a division of Optics Planet and has great deals that last anywhere from 2 days to all month.

Today at DVOR is the 511 Pack and Bag sale. It lasts for 2 days and 12 hours as of this posting on Wed 11 PM AZ time.

If you are not familiar with 511, they make the best tactical gear and clothing around. I have been using their stuff for aobut 10 years and love it.

Here is the link to the DVOR 511 sale.

http://www.dvor.com/5-11-bags-and-packs-w-credit-56-2015-11-04.html

If you choose to, you have the option to use this link which will give me a $5 credit if you buy anything from DVOR. You are under no obligation to do so however.

http://www.dvor.com/s/8761jp

Once you sign up at DVOR(its free)you will get a link you can send to your friends and family and if they buy you get $5 for each person buying something.

This is my favorite pack from 511. Its called the 511 RUSH 72(hours) and is a monster. This is the bag I carry when I travel for work. It has a GIANT 2894 cubic inches of space and more pocket than you will need to sort you gear. It is compatible with any hydration bladder you might have which makes it a truly all around great pack. On Amazon it goes for between $149- $260

At Dvor it costs $169 but comes with a $65 store credit making the final cost $104 plus shipping. If you play your cards right and buy something else small and ship, the next order ships for FREE for the next 24 hours.

Here is a link to the 511 site that will give you more details on any of the 511 line. There is a great video on this page explaining the difference between the RUSH 24, RUSH 48 and the RUSH 72 line of packs.

Let me know what packs or bags you use and why. I would love to hear about them.

Programming the Yaesu FT60 handheld ham radio via the RT Systems software via www.K5EHX.net

April 26, 2015 By ad 3 Comments

I have produced a new video about programming the Yaesu FT60 HT using the RT Systems software with repeater data from the www.K5EHX.net repeater database website.

K5EHX has very cool feature where you can check the repeater coverage over local terrain. Here is a view of Mount Ord Arizona. Ord is over 7000 feet tall and using the coverage feature on k5ehx you can paint the terrain to see where you will have coverage. If your location is “painted” like in the Ord photo below you will have coverage.

Take a look at the video below and let me know what you think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxR83JofEws

Survival/Disaster Preparedness, Emergency Communications, CERT, Ham Radio