Following is a story of how I found a solution to make my very old Yaesu FT-817 work on 60 meters. If you have the Yaesu FT-817ND there is no need to modify the radio as it is designed to include 60 meters! This process of modifying the older Yaesu FT-817 is quite difficult. I do NOT recommend you attempting this for a few really good reasons. I was told by a former Yaesu repair person that this radio has…
I was given a Toyota 2009 RAV4 from my sister who can no longer drive. I decided to install an old Kenwood radio that I had purchased years ago into that vehicle. The Kenwood TM-D710A radio is a dual display radio because two channels can be received. MSRP for the TM-D710A when it was sold $600. I have this model. E-Ham Score for TM-D710A: Average rating: 4.2/5 TM-D710A is no longer made. Current, in production, model is TM-D710 GA, ($530…
I really recommend the Comet SBB5. This is a 2 meter and 440 antenna. It does not require a ground plane. It is almost double the length of the SBB2 which is an awful antenna. My SWR analyzer showed a near perfect SWR for 2 meters using the SBB5. Typically this antenna is attached to a vehicle. I volunteered to provide communications for a walk and run event at a local university. From past experience working this event, I…
It all started when I noticed on the shelf of Home Depot a plastic ammo can. Immediately I thought it would work to hold my 12 volt gel cells that I use for emergency communications.
I love Kenwood Ham Radios because their radios are easy to use without a manual but the TH-D72 was driving me crazy. As is typical with a lot of technology items, the user manual was nice but totally lacking in a couple of places. If you want to use the APRS function, you must type in your call sign. I tried this so many times and failed that I figured that the radio was defective. I figured that there had…
My wife and I were in San Luis Obispo June 23 on vacation. That evening our room lights dimmed, a brown out. A while later we lost power. My wife looked out the window and reported not seeing any lights. After finding two LED flashlights I pulled out my hand held ham radio and turned to one of the local repeaters. (146.670 MHz). It took a while but within, I would guess fifteen minutes, we got a pretty clear picture…
