Radio Communications - Blog Posts

Pin layout and GPS wiring diagram.

Apparently my son's radio still thinks it's Christmas

My daughter and I successfully sent and received test texts to one another once everything was setup.

If you are going to use a GPS with your unit you will need to enable the GPS mode and then set the rx and tx pins that you have soldered to on the circuit board of the radio. Here they're set to 48 and 47, respectively.

The final one (for now) is done, just need to Bluetooth it and test it out.

Second one ready to go!

After filing the 3D printed buttons down and removing the other shelf, the pressure on the power and reset buttons was relieved enough to tighten the screws and finish assembly. This one is ready to be Bluetoothed to a phone.

Everything packed in but still getting too much pressure against the reset button, so that will need elevated before I can tighten the housing down

I removed the other shelf thinking that it would relieve the pressure on the power and reset buttons, but this turned out to be wrong.

I've removed the bottom left "shelf" that the radio sits against that blocks any wiring from the radio to the GPS. Hopefully, this will fix the issue with the radio not properly sitting in the frame. Keep in mind, if you aren't going to wire a GPS unit to the Heltec V3 then you'll not have to remove the "shelf"

I apparently live in a soldering replacement tip black hole, so when I need a new tip I have to buy a new iron. The Chicago Electric soldering iron ($3.99 @ Harbor Freight) and the Weller soldering iron ($19.99 @ Ace Hardware) appear to be the exact same, aside from color. I've looked online and haven't found any specific manufacturer for thr Chicago Electric iron aside from "various Chinese" production companies, while the Weller is produced by Apex Tool Group, LLC out of Apex, NC. Still yet, the packaging for the Weller says it's made in China. Here's to hoping that the tip on the Weller is a bit better quality and doesn't deteriorate as quickly as the Chicago Electric one.

I have been very busy the past month +, and only just today learned about the Twelve Days of Christmas special event! As a new General Class Operator, I had never worked HF bands before, and looking at this I know I won't likely get all twelve, but that won't keep me from trying! I have made two contacts this afternoon, W2D and W2S. I failed to contact K2L before he had to bail but he said he'd be back on later this evening, and I'll be here listening for him.

The twelve stations you're looking for are:

W2P - Partridge

W2T - 2 Turtle Doves

W2F - 3 French Hens

W2C - 4 Calling Birds

W2R - 5 Golden Rings

W2G - 6 Geese A-Laying

W2S - 7 Swans A-Swimming

W2M - 8 Maids A-Milking

W2L - 9 Ladies Dancing

K2L - 10 Lords A-Leaping

K2P - 11 Pipers Piping

W2D - 12 Drummers Drumming

Bonus: VE9XMAS1 (Canada)

Bonus: VE9XMAS2 (Canada)

I bought this soldering iron at Harbor Freight and have only done some light soldering and the tip looks like it's been buried in the dirt on Mars for a millennia. I guess I need to upgrade before continuing my projects.

The Yaesu FTM-150 is a 55w VHF (2 meter) / 50w UHF (70 cm) dual band, mobile radio that features a Super DX function that increases the rig's receiver sensitivity and improves weak signal (sounds like a built-in pre-amp). It has a data port in the back and an MicroSD card slot. Price? $380 +/- Run over to X and follow this guy if you haven't already.

I filed it down! I'm not an electronics guru so it took me a bit to realize that I just need to manipulate the environment in which the Heltec V3 is going to occupy inside the radio frame. I'm considering using hot glue to help secure the radio in place now that the shelf/lip is gone. We'll see once it's in place, but in the meantime, I need to get a replacement radio.

The radio frames made by Tony G on printables.com truly are well designed and if anyone is thinking about building meshtastic radios I would highly suggest downloading any of his designs that suits your needs.

I would have only one fix for this radio frame though, it's this blasted lip/shelf where the heltec v3 is supposed to sit. The design prohibits the connections for the hot and ground wires to the GNSS radio to sit. Granted, I'm not good at soldering but I was good enough to ruin my radio trying to find a way to get the wires soldered in a way that would work. But I think I have a solution.

Ruined one of my Heltec V3's by soldering and resoldering the connections for the hot and ground wires trying to get it to fit into the radio frame.

Bands have been wild during the DX contest 25 & 26 Oct 2024

Loads of activity on 14.282 today

Listened in on 20 meters for most of the day and heard a fine young ham making some great contacts.

Once I got the radial elements reattached I weaved some electrical tape around them and the main element for added stability before wrapping the main element with some coax-seal. I remounted the antenna back onto the mast and called for a radio check. Not getting a reply, I keyed up a couple of repeaters, so at least I know I'm putting out a signal.

I crimped thr coupler over the main element and the contact of the SO-239 connector before using some heat shrink for a bit of added structural support. I'm not like all the other high class and fanciful hams, so I used my daughter's hair dryer on high heat to shrink the heat shrink. It worked like a charm!

Not wanting to try to fool with the solder again, i decided to go a different route and instead of soldering the main, copper element onto it, I opted to use an electronics coupler, minus the plastic sleeve.

The main element on my 1/4 wave, vertical antenna broke off, regardless of how secure I had made it with electrical tape and coax-seal, the solder just wasn't wanting to hold.

This is how I feel everytime I have to solder anything, which is still a relatively new experience for me with a somewhat frustrating learning curve.

I'm not a man of great means, so when I look at antennas, like my purchase of the Moonraker GPA-80, I need it to be versatile so I can take it to the field if needed and collapse it relatively fast if needed. I've been eyeballing alot of these telescopic masts but most won't work with the Moonraker, but I still have the field expedient 1/4 wave 40m I made that I could run up a crappie rod which is relatively cheap. If anyone wants to take a look at the source for the one in the picture, the link is below.