On Thursday January 9, 2025, five enthusiastic hams, Howard (PWF), Colin (EEH), Warren (WPX), Doug (CPS) and Felix (VOL) huddled into Howard's "shack" for an evening of ham stories and a basic introduction to Digital Modes.
First off was a discussion on repeaters and radios. Radios used for the demonstrations were the Yaesu FTM-700D dual band, Yaesu FT-710AESS HF rig and the Yaesu FT-70D HT.
We then moved on to the different way to connect to Wires-X. Using the FTM-300D, (FTM-300D) we used our local repeater, VE7EGO, and demonstrated how to connect to the "Node" and then to various "Rooms" around the world. Although not connected, we did talk about the pros and cons using the HRI-200 Wires X box. https://www.yaesu.com/jp/en/wires-x/id/active_room.php
Next up was FT-8, a digital mode of communication used to make contacts over long distances without voice. Using this mode requires setting up WSJT-X https://wsjt.sourceforge.io/wsjtx.html which also has other modes (FT-4) and WSPR, the Weak Signal Propagation Reporter. Unfortunately we had a bit of a snag with the radio (FT-710) not communicating with the computer, but the basic information was there.
We also talked briefly about various logging software.
LOG4OM2 https://www.log4om.com/
N3FJP Amateur Contact Log https://www.n3fjp.com/
To cap off the evening, Howard was excited to show off his new toy, a Yaesu ATAS-120 HF antenna and how it's controlled by the FT-891. This antenna will be used to POTA.
Howard VA7PWF