The Yaesu FT-620 (and its updated version, the FT-620B) is a vintage amateur radio transceiver designed specifically for the 6-meter band (50–54 MHz). Produced in the 1970s, it…
Overview The Anytone AT-778UV is a dual-band VHF/UHF mobile transceiver designed for amateur radio operators. It operates on the 136–174 MHz (VHF) and…
Have you heard of a flowerpot antenna? I hadn’t until recently, and I enjoy gardening also. But this antenna has nothing to do with gardening apart from why it was named flowerpot and it will probably end up either on your roof or garden.
A good friend of mine put me onto it as I was having trouble on 6m. A small group of us think 6m is under-utilised so we all get on their and chat for a while either on AM or SSB.
My antenna worked reasonably well, but they suggested I build my own using the flowerpot method. Given I’m always up for learning something new, I couldn’t resist.
The best but about the antenna is it is extremely cheap to make, easy to put together and the antenna works really well.
You can make a flowerpot antenna for either 6m, 2m or 70cm. You can hang it in a tree if you wish, in a pvc pipe like I did, or using a pole or something else.
There were only two parts I needed, everything else I already had. But if I had bought everything, it would have cost me I total about $15. Not bad for a great antenna and one you can say you built yourself.
All I needed to buy was the pvc pole, which is optional and a slightly wider pipe to make the coil on I already had the RG58 coax, and it even had a pl259 plug on it!
My flowerpot antenna
Items I purchased included: PVC Pipe. Make sure you give it a shake in the store before buying. If it is too flexible then it may bend and snap in the wind. But you don’t want it to heavy either.
HF radio and lightning storms are closely connected because lightning creates strong radio frequency interference that affects HF radio communication (3–30 MHz). High Frequency radio is commonly used…
OpenHamClock is an open-source amateur radio dashboard designed as a modern successor to the original HamClock used by radio amateurs worldwide. It provides a real-time visual display of…
The Radtel P8 PoC radio is a Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PoC) device that looks like a traditional walkie-talkie but communicates using 4G/LTE mobile networks instead of UHF/VHF radio…
An antenna coupler (also called an antenna tuner or matching network) is a device used in radio systems to ensure impedance matching between a transmitter and an antenna.…
Amateur radio operators use many different antenna types, each designed for specific bands, space limits, and operating goals. Here’s a clear overview of the most common ones and…
A dipole antenna is a basic radio antenna made of two conductive elements fed at the center. It is typically a half-wavelength long and is widely used as…
Interference in Amateur Radio refers to unwanted signals that disrupt radio communication. This interference can reduce signal clarity, make contacts difficult, or completely block communication between amateur radio…
I’ve heard a lot about dipole antennas, and I’ve heard a lot about long wire antennas also. I would say I’ve seen more dipoles than long wire antennas.…
Repeater-START is a multi-platform app designed for ham radio and radio-operator enthusiasts who need fast access to repeater information. The app provides a detailed repeater map as well…
What Is the 6m Band? The 6-meter band, spanning roughly 50–54 MHz, is a section of the VHF spectrum assigned to amateur radio operators. Its wavelength is six…
Overview The Anytone AT-778UV is a dual-band VHF/UHF mobile transceiver designed for amateur radio operators. It operates on the 136–174 MHz (VHF) and 400–490 MHz (UHF) bands, offering…
Yes, this popular girl name is actually an Amateur Radio term. Christian, DK8EW, put me onto Olivia after we chatted on VARA HF. I had heard about Olivia…
The Yaesu FT-620 (and its updated version, the FT-620B) is a vintage amateur radio transceiver designed specifically for the 6-meter band (50–54 MHz). Produced in the 1970s, it offers support for AM, CW, and…
Key Assignment For some reason, not all the key assignment options are in the manual and after a bit of searching, I found no complete list. Hopefully this…
Everyone that has been into radio for a while will know the brand Kenwood. And most know Kenwood isn’t only into Amateur radio, they are bigger than that,…
HamClock has always fascinated me, as it seems such an amazing program specifically set up for Amateur Radio. I have seen countless videos on it but the draw…
You could say every amateur radio operator knows about the Baofeng if they have been around long enough. Most have held one of their radios and lots have…
Have you heard of a flowerpot antenna? I hadn’t until recently, and I enjoy gardening also. But this antenna has nothing to do with gardening apart from why…
The Daiwa CN-460M is a small cross-needle meter displays both forward and reflected power for 2m and 70cm. It measures in ranges of 15/150 watts forward and 5/50 watts reflected.…
The 2m band has always been an interesting one for me. It used to be swamped with pager interference, but it actually is a great band. Inversion allows…
The new CBL-561 antenna is strong and light that is fit for mobile work, camping or remote radio use. I plan to use this on our next outback trip!
This antenna supports a frequency range of 25-30MHz, covering both 10-meter and 11-meter bands.
With a SWR of ≤1.3:1 and a high power capacity of up to 500W, this makes an ideal mobile or camping antenna.
This antenna is compatible with the following radios:
Radioddity QT40
Radioddity QT60
Radioddity QT80
Radioddity CS-47
Radioddity CB-27 Pro
Radioddity CB-500
Radioddity CB-900 Pro
and all other brand’s that transmit in the range of 25-30MHz.
I use the QT80 radio with this antenna, so I highly recommend you seeing that review.
Tuning the antenna
I found tuning the antenna was simple. Just a small Allen Key allowed for adjustment between bands, however some bands were close enough as you can see in my video.
If you mark the antenna to the correct lengths, then it becomes easier still.
The antenna is built from aluminium alloy, so it shouldn’t rust. It is strong and windproof plus I’ve tested it mobile with the M916 base (extra) with great success.
The coil on the antenna is strong and doesn’t rattle at all.
The antenna has a standard PL259 on the bottom of the antenna so it fits my antenna connector that was already on my 4×4 which will save me wiring it all in.
More information
More information is available on my YouTube channel here.
There are several mounting options to the car, this is the base we use, th M916 Heavy Duty Magnetic Antenna:
CHIRP is a free, open-source tool for programming your amateur radio. It supports a large number of manufacturers and models, as well as provides a way…
I bought this wireless keyboard/mouse which was very cheap. It does not come with batteries, but come with a USB dongle. It has a fantastic range since it is 2.4GHz RF. The back also has good grip which apparently isn’t common on all models. You can select what colour you want the plastic to be also.…
I recently started using ProScan after years of using FreeScan. I have always enjoyed using FreeScan as it is easy to setup, I can download outputs from the software, and the main reason “it works”. However ProScan seems to be more graphical and has different features also.…
I recently started using ProScan after years of using FreeScan. I have always enjoyed using FreeScan as it is easy to setup, I can download outputs from the software, and the main reason “it works”. However ProScan seems to be more graphical and has different features also.…
A good friend of mine, Mike VK5ZC, put the information below together and asked me to put it on my web site. He has spent a lot of time putting it together with pictures and videos, so I encourage you to have a good read.…
A good friend of mine, Mike VK5ZC, put the information below together and asked me to put it on my web site. He has spent a lot of time putting it together with pictures and videos, so I encourage you to have a good read.…
This page is just a help to friends I have spoke to who are interested in upgrading the Radioditty GD-77 to the OpenGD77 software. This is not my work, however I really do appreciate Roger and his team have done to put this together. I claim no responsibility if it breaks your radio, however I have not hear this happen now in some time. I am not an expert at all with OpenGD77, I have just put this together to help people who have asked me how to do it.…
There are several DMR networks around the world, and more and more start all the time. The Australian DMR network currently covers the entire country and…
The first thing I noticed after receiving the radio was the size of the radio. It is small yet not to small that it is hard to use. It fits comfortably in your hand.
Not only is it physically small, the price is amazingly small also. How I would have loved to have this radio when I started in the hobby 35 years ago!
Saying that, I see this as a great entry level budget radio. Or a small radio for camping or in the car rather than putting an expensive radio in.
The GT-5R PRO is an enhanced version of the classic GT-5R, capable of receiving a wider range of frequency bands including UHF, VHF, FM, NOAA, Airband, 1.25M, and 1M.
I was easily able to program the radio via the keypad putting in my local repeaters with the required offset and tone squelch. But it was even easier to program it via Chirp Next and I have a video on how to do that.
It is a 5 watt radio complete with VOX if you want to go hands free.
The GT-5R PRO is fully compatible with the UV-5R’s accessories. Such as the car charger, speaker mic, ear piece, antennas plus more.
The GT-5R Pro comes in a standard single-unit version as well as a kit version that includes a long antenna and programming cable. I got the kit version, so be shore when purchasing you know if you want the kit or the single unit version.
Contents • Radio • Fast desktop charger • Antenna • Long antenna • Li-lon battery pack • Wall adapter • Belt clip
It supports UHF VHF dual band transmission and a wide range of reception frequency bands, including 136-174MHz, 400-520MHz, 76-108MHz, 108-136MHz, 200-260MHz, 350-390MHz, and NOAA weather channels.
Receiver Frequency: FM 76-108 MHz; AM 108-136 MHz; VHF 136-174 MHz, 220-260 MHz; UHF 350-390 MHz, 400-520 MHz
Transmission Frequency (US version): 144-148 & 420-450 MHz Transmission Frequency (EU version): 144-146 & 430-440 MHz
It has 128 memory channels and I love how when you program them from the radio, you can see what has already been used.
50 CTCSS tones and 210 DCS codes
SOS Emergency function
FM radio receiver (87.5-108MHz)
Channel or frequency mode selection
TOT (Time out timer)
Reverse function
CTCSS and DCS codes research
Busy Channel Lockout function (BCL)
Frequency step: 2.5/5/6.25/10/12.5/25KHZ
Repeater shift
VOICE: vocal indication of the function selected
Li-lon battery pack
VHF and UHF bands and channel name displayed
Squelch adjustable in 9 levels
1750Hz tone for repeaters
LCD display with backlight adjustable in 3 colours
VOX, Scan, Dual Watch functions
Power Save
DTMF function
Alarm function
Setting and storing of channel names
High/low power selection
Frequency offset (adjustable): 0-69.990MHz
2pin Kenwood accessory jack
Keypad lock
Battery allows direct charging from the DC port
Testing
I quickly made some contacts on both 2m and 70cm and both said my audio was great. I swapped antennas halfway though a conversation and found the small antenna better but that was just for one repeater. I plan on doing more tests in the coming weeks.
Programming Tip
Did you know you can program these radios via Chirp? Here is a great tip you may like with chirp.
Summary
When I received the radio, I was stunned at the price and thought I can’t really go wrong here. I didn’t check the hypnotics but everything else I checked worked well.
There are lots of duel band antennas available, but most required extra mounting brackets. These brackets often restrict you as to where you can mount…
The Daiwa CN-460M is a small cross-needle meter displays both forward and reflected power for 2m and 70cm. It measures in ranges of 15/150 watts forward and…
A good friend of mine, Mike VK5ZC, put the information below together and asked me to put it on my web site. He has spent a lot of time putting it together with pictures and videos, so I encourage you to have a good read.…
A good friend of mine, Mike VK5ZC, put the information below together and asked me to put it on my web site. He has spent a lot of time putting it together with pictures and videos, so I encourage you to have a good read.…
I found it hard to find useful information on how to run the OpenGD-77 hotpot mode with Windows 10. At the time of writing this, there is a lot about this topic using a pistar and even android or ISO, but not much with Windows 10. This is my experence with BlueDV and Open GD-77 using a Windows 10 PC.…
An unusual name, but a catchy name no less, just like Peanut that was written by the same person, David PA7LIM. If you like Peanut, then you will like this project also. This project, like Peanut, includes some amazing coding and thinking.…
The Retevis RT73 and Kydera CDR300UV are identical radios. They are a DMR/FM duel band radio for Amateur radio use. This is great,…
I recently got my hands on a new Baofeng UV-17R Plus Series radio. It didn’t take long at all to arrive and was…
As per the Yaesu FT-710 manual, the Digital Noise Reduction (DNR) system is designed to reduce the level of ambient noise found on…
I recently got the Radioddity M916 Heavy duty antenna magnetic mound with the Radioditty HF-008 all band portable antenna. I had always wanted…
The first thing I noticed after receiving the radio was the size of the radio. It is small yet not to small that…
The new QT80 radio by Radioddity is a fantastic radio and I have a lot of contacts on it already. QT60 Vs QT80…
CBL-561 Review The new CBL-561 antenna is strong and light that is fit for mobile work, camping or remote radio use. I plan…
There are lots of duel band antennas available, but most required extra mounting brackets. These brackets often restrict you as to where you…
Why does a radio need a cup holder? I agree it’s a bit odd. But this isn’t a product that involves a cup.…
The 2m band has always been an interesting one for me. It used to be swamped with pager interference, but it actually is…
The Daiwa CN-460M is a small cross-needle meter displays both forward and reflected power for 2m and 70cm. It measures in ranges of 15/150 watts…
I recently got my hands on the Hiroyasu IC-980 Pro dual band base radio. This is pronounced as “Hiro-Yasu”. When I say, got…
A great radio that does all bands up to 70cm. Using all modes also you can talk on SSB on VHF and UHF.…
I purchased this radio from a friend, and it worked well. He hadn’t really used it, so I did a factory reset. This…
I managed to get one of these radios and was rather impressed with it and what it came with. Have a look what…
Key Assignment For some reason, not all the key assignment options are in the manual and after a bit of searching, I found…
The Yaesu FT-620 (and its updated version, the FT-620B) is a vintage amateur radio transceiver designed specifically for the 6-meter band (50–54 MHz). Produced in the 1970s, it…
Overview The Anytone AT-778UV is a dual-band VHF/UHF mobile transceiver designed for amateur radio operators. It operates on the 136–174 MHz (VHF) and…
The Radtel P8 PoC radio is a Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PoC) device that looks like a traditional walkie-talkie but communicates using 4G/LTE mobile…
VK3TBS 