Being limited to the 10-Meter band for HF in germany, and the 10-Meter band being susceptible to rapid band condition changes, the ability to make contacts greatly depends on the propagation for your current location. To get an idea of where in the world I can be heard under the current conditions, I do a… Continue reading Test propagation with the Reverse-Beacon-Network (without knowing CW)
Category: Equipment
Use a standard CW-paddle on a Quansheng UV-K5 / UV-K6
I am currently learning CW, and already have a compact paddle for my YAESU FT-818nd. I saw that the Quansheng UV-K5 / K6 can also transmit CW after the installation of a specific firmware, and will type the letters that you transmit. I wanted to use this to transmit into a dummy load, and practise… Continue reading Use a standard CW-paddle on a Quansheng UV-K5 / UV-K6
The perils of a bad connector
We decided that we would take advantage of the sunny weather, and set up for some radio fun on the office roof after work. We setup the 1/4 wave ground plane antenna, and double checked the SWR with a nanoVNA. It showed an unexpectedly high value of 1:4. That can’t be right – when we… Continue reading The perils of a bad connector
Debugging with a dummy load
One of my friends recently got a new radio (an Icom-706MK2G), and wanted to try the 15m band. We did not yet have an antenna for 15m, so it was a perfect excuse build another ground plane antenna (more details about the construction can be found here: https://m7isy.rootfs.net/2025/02/28/building-a-1-4-wave-ground-plane-for-20m/). It was the third time building this… Continue reading Debugging with a dummy load
Building a 1/4 wave ground plane for 20m
I’ve been struggling to get HF working for me. I replaced the Yaesu FT-818nd’s internal battery, and figured out that there is a 11.5V threshold to get the full 6Watts out (more info can be found in my previous blog post: https://m7isy.rootfs.net/2024/12/06/yaesu-ft-818nd-the-11-5-volts-that-nobody-told-you-about/). I attempted to check my propagation by using the reverse beacon network and… Continue reading Building a 1/4 wave ground plane for 20m
YAESU FT-818nd – The 11.5 Volts that nobody told you about
As stated in other posts, I started my amateur radio experience on a YAESU FT-818nd. A portable radio with an internal battery and an advertised max output power of 6 Watts: Four power levels are available on the FT-818: 6 Watts, 5 Watts, 2.5 Watt, and 1.0 Watt. When using Alkaline batteries or the supplied… Continue reading YAESU FT-818nd – The 11.5 Volts that nobody told you about
Quansheng UV-K5 / UV-K5(8) / UV-K5(99) / UV-K6
— UPDATE 2026: Quansheng has released a new version of their radios. While they look exactly the same, they do contain a different processor. Be careful when flashing custom firmware to it and only use firmware built for your hardware version. Flashing the wrong firmware can brick your radio! — It was time to pick… Continue reading Quansheng UV-K5 / UV-K5(8) / UV-K5(99) / UV-K6
Using the Yaesu FT-818nd microphone as a CW keyer
As part of our mission to figure out why we did not have any luck with HF on the Yaesu (see my previous post for more info: Why we bought a battery pack for our Yaesu FT-818nd), we decided to attempt to reach the reverse beacon network. The beacons are in ‘reverse’ because, unlike normal… Continue reading Using the Yaesu FT-818nd microphone as a CW keyer
Why we bought a battery pack for our Yaesu FT-818nd
Whilst my Dad was visiting, we decided it was time to have a go transmitting on HF bands. Well, to put it more accurately, I decided that he needed to trasmit on HF bands! (As whilst I am still in Germany, I cannot transmit). Although we had previously set up the end-fed antenna and mast,… Continue reading Why we bought a battery pack for our Yaesu FT-818nd