From FT8 to FT4

New mode from the FT8 folks!! Here is a presentation from the developer Dr. Taylor. He begins with some info on FT8 and then moves to the new FT4 mode.

I believe there were some changes made right after this FT4 presentation. The version of FT4 that will be coming out on Monday is synchronous, on a 6-second cycle, and requires a more accurate clock than FT8.  One thing that you can do now, before the program release on Monday, is to make sure that your computer clock is as accurate as possible.  The Meinberg NTP program is recommended by K1JT for keeping your clock accurate https://www.meinbergglobal.com/english/sw/ntp.htm

You can check the accuracy of your computer clock by going to www.time.is

ARRL The Doctor Is In Podcast

This might be interesting to many of you.. ARRL Podcast called "Listening Outside the Ham Bands". Anyone can listen anywhere, and you never know what you might find!

First Look at the Yaesu FTdx101D

Well it's finally landing...... here is a short overview of the brand new Yaesu SDR Transceiver the brand new FTdx101D. Check this beauty out and yes if you want to buy me one... I WILL accept delivery !!

New SEKARC/ARES Repeater

Great news from the SEKARC !!

KØSEK has a new repeater on the air in Crawford County! With the help from some donated equipment from Crawford County and hard work from Bill, Tyler and Matt we have a new all FM repeater on the air. It is located at the county tower, Southwest of Girard and is up about 300 feet. The frequency is 147.24 with a PL Tone of 91.5. No need for tone squelch on this one! If your radio has a NARROW FM setting you might set it up that way since the repeater can only be set to narrow mode but either way it should not be an issue.

We have received test reports from Galena, Parsons, Carl Junction and coverage is very good. It can be reached in Pittsburg on an HT but is scratchy as expected but still able to copy. This repeater will be the primary ARES repeater but we would love to have it used freely. The connection with the new ARES group has helped us in obtaining the donated equipment from the county which was in the 150 mhz range. We needed a higher VHF frequency for gear that was pretty much ready to get on the air! We had to do some duplexer tuning but in short order we had it ready.

We have a lot of options going forward for area repeaters so stay tuned and get involved as we grow and change. Here is a link to the clubs local repeater listing and map image of the location...

SEKARC Area Repeater Listing CLICK HERE !!

Review - Retevis RT91 Amplifier

Here is a review of the Retevis HT amplifier for DMR, Fusion and other signals. Could be the answer for weak signal HT's !!

WiresX Is Up And Running !!!

Well after talking about for a year or more, we finally got the SEKARC UHF repeater connected to WiresX. The setup is an FTM-100 and HRI-200 setup as a node connected to the clubs UHF repeater at 442.675. The remote node station is setup at the office of KØVLL in Pittsburg.

The 442.675 repeater will still fully function like it did before for those that do not have a WiresX radio. FM functions as it did before unless there is Fusion traffic. It took a few days to get the bugs worked out but I believe the setup bugs have been exterminated and we will be on the lookout for new infestations. If you experience issues please send an email to the group or to the club direct email which is sekarc.net@gmail.com

If you are traveling and can get into a WiresX repeater or Node you can connect to use here by connecting to the room # 46341 or the room name SE-KANSAS. If in the Joplin area you can try the WiresX node on 144.910 operated by Brian KBØDXS. Please get in there and try it out! Yesterday I spoke with a ham that used to check in to our nets every week Casey Cook KDØFRL who now lives in Virginia. He said to be sure and say hi to Big Larry NØMST and like magic he showed up at the coffee today!

There are some good deals out there right now especially the Fusion dual band HT the FT-70d is only $125 or so. The FT-991 will do it also. I have an HT the FT1D and a FTM-400 which is back ordered darn it! I attached below some links for help with WiresX so have fun and let us know if we can help!

WWV Inside Tour

Here is a neat look in to the WWV facility in Colorado !!