s0lesurviv0r

My Portable Station Requirements

Over the years I've developed some requirements for my portable and mobile stations. I operate in a variety of conditions (e.g. weather, time, elevation, etc). In tougher environments I don't want to waste time fiddling with my rig, antenna, or computer. I either want to make the needed contacts in as short a time as possible or maximize my time on the air. In short I prefer to have a tactical setup. The requirements I'm presenting are based on personal experiences with a variety of gear and conditions. Additionally, I'll provide my reasoning for each requirement.

Radio

I don't have too many requirements for a rig. Most important is having multiband HF capability. Honestly 40m/20/15/10m is good enough to use JS8Call, Winlink, WSJT-X, and FlDigi.

My second most important is having a radio with USB sound card and CAT control. This makes it incredibly easy to setup and teardown, both in terms of having a single cable to plug into my computer and making it easy to reproduc

s0lesurviv0r

Thoughts on Ham Radio Software

Introduction

I wanted to take some time to discuss my thoughts on amateur radio software. I've noticed a few troubling patterns that I worry may hinder development and adoption of particular applications and protocols. Particularly, I wanted to share my philosophy of adopting open source ham radio applications at all costs, ensuring the tools I train on, and recommend, can live on.

Software

I've spend a majority of my life writing code. Whether it was growing up, in college, or as a professional. I've written software across domains and industries, including some ad-hoc toolsfor amateur radio in my spare time.

I've come to understand that software is rarely static, it's living and breathing. A great application will see itself live past the system it was intended to run on. New operating systems, and versions of operating systems, dependent libraries, etc, will change over the course of an application's life. For a enterprise application, developers update their app

s0lesurviv0r

QRP and Hiking Loadout in 2023

Introduction

I try to change my loadout when I find a better configuration or change my operating style. This happens pretty frequently and it appears that I may publish my loadout annually. The major changes this year have been using Winlink and moving to Southern California.

Changes

• Switched QRP rig from Elecraft KX2 to Lab599 TX-500. I did so as I operate in heavier conditions that put my KX2 at risk. The TX-500 is more durable, and the only water resistant QRP rig for consumers
• Switch from the Baofeng UV-5R to the Yaesu FT-65R. The primary reason was that digital modes didn't work so well with the Baofeng's slow VOX trigger. My need for VHF Winlink have been the primary driver for this
• Since I moved to Southern California from Northern California I have less trees to work with. Therefore I removed the throw weight and instead use the SOTABeams carbon fiber 6m mast to support my wire antennas
• I still use the EFHW but I carry the OCF dipole more often becau