This is going to change as I expand my skills!
Status: Backup
This microphone is a bluetooth or cabled accessory for the D578UV. It won't work for the 878 handheld range.
The idea of this is to enable the hiding or careful placement of the D578 unit in a car, and have the BT01 as the remote head for it.
I'm not sure about this yet. I've set it up on bluetooth but not really used it. You have to (as with all AnyTone units) be careful with the volume. By default it's either off or 11...
Big note - I fell foul of what many others appear to have; the screen scratches easily. It wasn't until I looked very closely that I realised that there is in fact a thin protective film in place which is exactly the same size as the screen and unless you know it's there, you would not notice it.
It comes with a belt clip, oddly, so I am unsure how exactly the best was of mounting it may be. I guess it could work on the sun visor, or maybe you need a jumper with radio loops! Maybe Brodit could design a cradle for it, as they have with the D878.
Status: Active
I have two hotspots using Rasberry Pi 2 W with MMDVM hat, running WPSD, one of which is connected to YSF, the other to DMR.
It's great for global digital contact.
I've configured the dashboard colours to match my Autotask PSA dashboard, because why not!
Status: Active
I picked up this PSU on eBay and happily it looks brand new apart from the rear posts being slightly bent, probably from being bumped in transit.
This one should hopefully be future-proof for such times as my shack grows.
Status: Active
My SWR meter is a cheap-and-cheerful Surecom SW-102.
Does the job, is battery-powered and portable. Mine is the SO239 type.
Status: Active
Shortly after getting my Foundation and my callsign, I went back to the antenna to do some testing.
I put my SWR meter inline and on the 440MHz (70cm) I got 1.02:1, and on 144MHz (2m) I got 1.04:1.
Happy with this, and no adjustments made, I went to temporarily mount it outside the office. It was a bit of a windy evening, and suddenly the wind caught a tree and the branch gently snapped off two of the radials!! :D
at that point I thought, if it's that susceptible to breaking, there's no point putting it up on the roof, so I have ordered a Diamond X-30...
The X-30 is loft-mounted and the RG213 is run inside down to the shack. SWR is 1.01:1 on both 70cm and 2m.
Status: Retired
For my first antenna I decided I wanted to learn about some of the theory behind transmitting and receiving (Project post here).
I chose a 1/4 wave ground plane antenna as it's compact and there are lots of online help and how-to articles.
I purchased a 100mm square 4mm thick piece of aluminium, 4 x 1m long 4mm aluminium rods and a 4mm x 500mm copper pipe with 2mm bore.
I used an old outdoor junction box for the insulating upright to house the copper driven element, and an SO239 connector.
I cut the aluminium rods to 600mm to give some room to trim down, and assembled the antenna. I put hot glue round the soldered part of the SO239 for some weather protection.
I have RG213 Mil-spec coax terminated with PL259 connectors as I'm going to be getting a cheap mobile unit like an AnyTone AT-778UV.
I hooked it up to my DM-1701 and put it on top of a 10ft pole for testing. Receiving signals was good and a marked improvement over the long whip antenna I had. At this stage however, I was not yet licenced so listening was as far as I could go.
Status: Active
Following on from getting the D878UVII Plus handheld, I picked up a D578UVIII Plus mobile unit.
I've mounted it at home and hooked it into the Diamond X-30 for now. I'm slowly getting my head around DMR and how the talk groups all work, and following on from connecting to local repeaters, I heard someone earlier today from the North West, but didn't manage to catch the TG or channel as it was on scan in the background.
I've got the BT-01 microphone but am deciding whether it's worth using in the house. I may leave it in storage until I can get my own car again!
Status: Active
I have this handheld set up for hotspot and mobile use. At home it's connected to my WPSD hotspot for YSF reflectors.
It's a great radio, and I have a stubby antenna for when on hotspot or for local marshalling.
Status: Active
This is a great little handheld which allows me to do 2m/70cm and DMR with I think 8W of power.
Once you get your head around the zones, channels, talk groups etc, it's a powerful device with a lot of functionality. It has a bluetooth PTT so you can hook up to the car bluetooth or a headset for example, stick the PTT on the steering wheel or gear stick and work hands-free.
It's worth noting that the radio has the Baofeng-style SMA connection, so I have a female SMA to BNC converter screwed into the radio, giving a good stable connector, and then I use a short right-angled BNC to PL259 lead to then connect to the antenna SO239.
Status: Backup
Is this a K5 (99) or a K6? Who knows. Probably the same thing...
Getting this to experiment with it. £19 is a good price.
Job 1 - get that orange knob taken off and sprayed black...
