Digital Mode · Beginner–Intermediate · about 5 minutes of reading
In the FT8 on a Hackintosh article, one problem was left open. The receive audio from the Yaesu FT-857D into the Digirig was far too hot. The JTDX input meter sat at 88–90 dB even with the macOS input slider almost at zero. The fix is a small hardware mod: one cut across a solder jumper marked ATT on the Digirig's circuit board. It took one craft knife, a cheap multimeter and a few minutes. The meter dropped from about 90 dB to 55 dB. Here is how it went, including the mistake I made with the multimeter.
Digital Mode · Intermediate · about 9 minutes of reading
One evening, one old desktop turned Hackintosh, a Yaesu FT-857D and a little Digirig interface. The goal was simple: run FT8 from macOS with JTDX, the program I always use on Windows. It was not a straight road. There was a shared memory error, a crash that left no crash report, and an audio level that would not come down. But by the end of the night the log held its first QSOs, including a 5,444 km contact with Australia on 20 m. Here is the whole session, step by step, including the traps.
Digital Mode · Beginner · about 8 minutes of reading
In the previous article I explained what FreeDV is and why it is worth a try. This time it is pure bench work: FreeDV is installed, the Icom IC-7300 MK2 is plugged into the laptop with a single USB-C cable, and now every box in the software has to be filled in correctly. Here is exactly what I set, in the order I set it, including the traps I stepped into along the way.
Digital Mode · Beginner · about 10 minutes of reading
FreeDV turns an ordinary HF radio into a digital voice station with nothing but a laptop and one USB cable. It is free, open source, and it runs on any SSB transceiver — no vocoder chips, no licence fees, no internet link. This guide explains what it is, how it works, and walks through a full setup on an Icom IC-7300 MK2.
Beginner build · about 20 minutes of reading · total cost roughly $25-35
The 40 meter band (7.000-7.200 MHz) is the workhorse of amateur radio. By day it reaches across a region, by night it crosses oceans. And the antenna that works best for it is also the cheapest antenna you can build: a half-wave dipole made from wire, rope, and a piece of PVC pipe.
Pernah ikut special event seperti 8A100K, tetapi masih ingin tetap memakai call sign pribadi di JTDX atau WSJT-X? Daripada bolak-balik mengganti My Call di menu Settings, dan berisiko salah call sign saat QSO, lebih praktis membuat beberapa profil terpisah. Satu profil untuk satu call sign, masing-masing dengan setting dan log sendiri.
Caranya cukup menambahkan satu perintah, --rig-name, pada shortcut JTDX/WSJT-X. Panduan ini berlaku untuk Windows.
Pernah ikut special event seperti 8A100K, tetapi masih ingin tetap memakai call sign pribadi di JTDX atau WSJT-X? Daripada bolak-balik mengganti My Call di menu Settings, dan berisiko salah call sign saat QSO, lebih praktis membuat beberapa profil terpisah. Satu profil untuk satu call sign, masing-masing dengan setting dan log sendiri.
Caranya cukup menambahkan satu perintah, --rig-name, pada shortcut JTDX/WSJT-X. Panduan ini berlaku untuk Windows.
My late father, YC1BRN, is the reason this station is on the air. His call sign is silent now, but his love for radio carries on in every contact we make from this shack.
His love for radio began as a student at STM Budhaya in Jakarta. A school practical — building an FM transmitter with vacuum tubes — sparked a joy that turned into a lifelong hobby.
Before long he was building his own transmitter at home, quietly broadcasting songs late at night without a licence. Over the years that passion became more focused, and official: he was licensed as YD0WWC, became YD1BRN after moving to Bekasi, West Java, and finally YC1BRN — the call sign he held until the end of his life.
