After many people telling me that my blank screen issue is down to a loose ribbon cable, and since Radioddity are replacing my defective GD-77, I saw no harm in having a look inside. After all, if it’s such an easy fix, why not? I would like to report that I found no disconnected ribbon …
I recently bought a Radioddity GD-77 DMR handheld radio. Initially, I was very happy with the performance, if a little quirky. Its quirkiness inspired me to write a post about how to set it up and write a basic configuration to it. However, six weeks into ownership, I turned it on and was greeted by …
Antenna tuners seem to be some of the most misunderstood devices in all of amateur radio. In this article, I’ll try to explain what is happening when you use an antenna tuner. I’ll try not to get too much into mathematics, and I’ll also try to squash a few myths. I really don’t like the …
Do you solder the coaxial shield to the connector body when installing a PL-259 plug? What are those holes really for? I’ve been installing PL-259 plugs onto coaxial cable since I was about 16, and I’ve never soldered the body of the connector to the braid. I’ve not had any problems from not soldering the …
Introduction I bought one of these on an Amazon Deal for about $64. I started to wonder if it was actually such a good deal after fighting with it for a while. It’s pretty good really. Just quirky. (edit – the GD-77 failed me, six weeks after I bought it. Radioddity is sending me a …
For a while now, whenever I’ve had my PC on, and I’ve been talking on SSB (several bands), I hear occasional Windows USB connect/disconnect sounds. Generally a disconnect sound whenever I start talking, and then a connect sound when I finish. You can poke around in the Windows Event Viewer to try and figure out …
Amateur radio transceivers demand power supplies which have a large current capacity. The average 100 watt radio transceiver requires over 20 Amps when in transmit mode. Overview A linear power supply uses a large heavy transformer to step down the input high voltage AC to a level close to the desired output. From there, the …
I received my FT-991 back from Yaesu in the form of an FT-991A. They do not replace the front bezel, but the radio has a new sticker on the bottom showing that the model is a FT-991A and it has a new serial number. I’ve attached a video of the radio in action, and also …
I recently bought a couple of Alpha Delta coaxial switches, and noticed they come with a built-in surge arrester which can be replaced after a surge. They call them “Arc-Plugs”. These are on sale at DX Engineering for $9.99 each. I thought that was a little steep. When the switches arrived, I took at look …
If you Google the title of this post, I’m sure you’ll come across some results which detail a very simple modification you can make to your IC-7300 which some believe increases the RF output power. This is vague and misleading. The PEP (Peak Envelope Power) of the IC-7300 is rated at 100 watts. This would …
