Great tips! I especially like the one about the hunter orange vest. There are probably a lot of people doing POTA that have no idea about hunting seasons. This is a great safety 1st tip.
Yes. State parks you will usually be ok. Especially if you stick to the day use areas. Otherwise expect hunters during the fall months in the more primitive areas.
I made a laminated business card with the Extra band limits (and the beginning of the General portion in parentheses) that I a tape into the back of log books in my portable kits. I'm surprised how often I can't remember the band limits (esp WARC), and that really comes in handy. And it keeps me from needing a whole band chart. I've been using your mic extension trick since you first showed it. It's an absolute must.
Great tips as always. The memory channel tips is awesome. If you want to go even lower profile mic extensions cable also more flexible, pickup a flat 6in Cat5 cable and a RJ45 coupler. 73
Thanks for the tips! I use the cardboard winders until they become unusuable but they do work. Great tip about marking the cable ends for right side up. I use bungee balls for lots of things but might order some Bongo Ties. I've been using an RJ-45 splitter on a VHF radio I use for Fldigi so I can also use the mic if needed. Great advice about hunting season safety. Two things I learned the hard way is always, always have coax adapters and an extra power pole jumper in your kit. Thanks again!
I've recently started using noise cancelling headphones during my activations. It's a game changer for pulling calls from a pileup or those under the noise floor. I'm hoping to add a Heil headset to my kit soon. 73 and thanks for all the great content.
Never even thought about wearing Blaze Orange - thanks for that tip. The microphone extension cable tip is brilliant. One hack seemed odd to me, the FT-891 has CAT rig control through a USB cable to the computer, WSJT-X will control the radio frequency when you select the band in WSJT-X. Why do you need to memorize the FT-8 frequencies when the WSJT-X software will do it automatically? Seems harder to use the "hack", or what am I missing?
CAT control for the FT-891 takes a 2nd USB cable. I typically don't use CAT with my rig for that reason. It's a pain and is prone to dropping out in the field.
When I was little my dad called an old lady that lived down the road from us a “hack” lol. I didn’t know what he meant then and I still don’t know what he meant to this day. Pretty sure it had nothing to do with ham radio😂, but every time I hear that word I think of her. Great video BTW
@KB9VBRAntennas yes, definitely not a positive term when talking about people. Thanks again for the videos. I’m already using your mic extension hack for the 891
What's funny is... I asked a group of friends just last night if they knew of a small ethernet extension I could get to extend the mic connection out from behind my 891's faceplate so I wouldn't have to take the portable zero rails off over and over.
Thanks for all the tips - I have been using many of your recommendations from earlier videos. It was great to catch you at a park last week. 73, Rob N7RLV
Great tips! I just ordered the mic extension and Bongo ties. Question: What headset do you have that is compatible with the FT-891 RJ45 extension? Thanks.
I’m using the Heil BM-17 dual side headset. The nice thing about Heils is that they have adapter cables so you can pretty much use the headset on any rig. Just get the correct adapter for it
Now that if you love near an active volcano- the bongo ties will disintegrate. I know it sounds like a joke but seriously, everything made of rubber in Hawaii gets so bad that it turns to a dust or a sticky mess that will break off while leaving behind a trail of crap. I can only hope they're made of silicone. I give them a try, and we'll see. Thank you for the content. 🤙🏾
It's a 53 foot inverted L using the the Chameleon 25 foot mast and 28 feet of wire. A 4:1 transformer is at the base. Here's the video where I introduce it: ua-cam.com/video/i1RDLy7a0ZA/v-deo.html
I'll wear my vest and go out into the woods during the fall, but stay away from the wildlife areas during the gun deer season. That's when all the crazies come out.
Thanks much for the shout out Michael! .....at 3:36 Hacks and mods are always great! KD9MSP
Excellent video Michael, I really appreciate the tricks you showed to us!
Great tips! I especially like the one about the hunter orange vest. There are probably a lot of people doing POTA that have no idea about hunting seasons. This is a great safety 1st tip.
Yes. State parks you will usually be ok. Especially if you stick to the day use areas. Otherwise expect hunters during the fall months in the more primitive areas.
@@KB9VBRAntennas That orange vest is a good idea. I keep a hi-vis vest in my car for breakdowns. That will be getting more use now. Thanks !
I learned some! Thanks! And nice cameo 😁 73,
I made a laminated business card with the Extra band limits (and the beginning of the General portion in parentheses) that I a tape into the back of log books in my portable kits. I'm surprised how often I can't remember the band limits (esp WARC), and that really comes in handy. And it keeps me from needing a whole band chart.
I've been using your mic extension trick since you first showed it. It's an absolute must.
That’s a great idea. I can’t remember the limits of the WARC bands either
The RJ45 extension cable and splitters are really good ideas with lots of utility.
Great tips as always. The memory channel tips is awesome. If you want to go even lower profile mic extensions cable also more flexible, pickup a flat 6in Cat5 cable and a RJ45 coupler. 73
Thanks for the tips! I use the cardboard winders until they become unusuable but they do work. Great tip about marking the cable ends for right side up. I use bungee balls for lots of things but might order some Bongo Ties. I've been using an RJ-45 splitter on a VHF radio I use for Fldigi so I can also use the mic if needed. Great advice about hunting season safety. Two things I learned the hard way is always, always have coax adapters and an extra power pole jumper in your kit. Thanks again!
I've recently started using noise cancelling headphones during my activations. It's a game changer for pulling calls from a pileup or those under the noise floor. I'm hoping to add a Heil headset to my kit soon. 73 and thanks for all the great content.
Thanks for the advice!
Thanks for the vids.
I made an antenna winder out of wood and painted it. I have been surprised so few seem to do this instead of plastic ones that seem to prevalent.
I bought a jigsaw a while back to cut some winders out of thin plywood. I should pull it out again and make a bunch.
@@KB9VBRAntennas Awesome. Wood winders needs to be just as much or more than a thing than plastic ones. In my opinion, an easy project.
Thanks for the great tips!
Thanks for sharing. 👍
For me, little 600 watt LDMOS amp. I push it through the military antenna called KUA-35/5-1kW
Never even thought about wearing Blaze Orange - thanks for that tip. The microphone extension cable tip is brilliant.
One hack seemed odd to me, the FT-891 has CAT rig control through a USB cable to the computer, WSJT-X will control the radio frequency when you select the band in WSJT-X. Why do you need to memorize the FT-8 frequencies when the WSJT-X software will do it automatically? Seems harder to use the "hack", or what am I missing?
CAT control for the FT-891 takes a 2nd USB cable. I typically don't use CAT with my rig for that reason. It's a pain and is prone to dropping out in the field.
Great ideas other than 2 of them being for FT8 which is absolutely no good to people like me that wouldn’t touch it with a 10’ pole. Long live SSB/CW!
When I was little my dad called an old lady that lived down the road from us a “hack” lol. I didn’t know what he meant then and I still don’t know what he meant to this day. Pretty sure it had nothing to do with ham radio😂, but every time I hear that word I think of her. Great video BTW
There are many definitions for hack, and some of the slang ones are quite perjorative.
@KB9VBRAntennas yes, definitely not a positive term when talking about people. Thanks again for the videos. I’m already using your mic extension hack for the 891
What's funny is... I asked a group of friends just last night if they knew of a small ethernet extension I could get to extend the mic connection out from behind my 891's faceplate so I wouldn't have to take the portable zero rails off over and over.
Gotta say I love the WAGO adapter idea also
These tips are great. My one is, 99% of all USB ports are oriented where the seam on the cable connector faces down.
Thanks for all the tips - I have been using many of your recommendations from earlier videos. It was great to catch you at a park last week. 73, Rob N7RLV
Doesn't WSJT change the freqency and mode when you change them in the software? it does for my Icoms,...
If you have the CAT control hooked up it will. The FT-891 requires a second cable and second USB port for CAT, so I don’t use that feature
@@KB9VBRAntennas Fair enough :)
Great tips! I just ordered the mic extension and Bongo ties. Question: What headset do you have that is compatible with the FT-891 RJ45 extension? Thanks.
I’m using the Heil BM-17 dual side headset. The nice thing about Heils is that they have adapter cables so you can pretty much use the headset on any rig. Just get the correct adapter for it
@@KB9VBRAntennas Thanks, Michael.
Great tips! Two thumbs up! 👍👍 Thanks Michael, de Bruce VE6BR
Now that if you love near an active volcano- the bongo ties will disintegrate. I know it sounds like a joke but seriously, everything made of rubber in Hawaii gets so bad that it turns to a dust or a sticky mess that will break off while leaving behind a trail of crap. I can only hope they're made of silicone. I give them a try, and we'll see. Thank you for the content. 🤙🏾
These will probably fall apart on you. They are made of natural rubber and I've had them disintegrate when they come in contact with certain oils.
Can you link the video where you talk about the antenna you set while wearing the orange vest? Looks like an L maybe.
It's a 53 foot inverted L using the the Chameleon 25 foot mast and 28 feet of wire. A 4:1 transformer is at the base. Here's the video where I introduce it: ua-cam.com/video/i1RDLy7a0ZA/v-deo.html
@@KB9VBRAntennas Much appreciated!
Great video. Ps. Almost time to fill ur bird feeders 😂
Squirrels empty them faster than we can keep them full.
@KB9VBRAntennas this is true
Re: deer season, don’t wear white! It can attract lead
I'll wear my vest and go out into the woods during the fall, but stay away from the wildlife areas during the gun deer season. That's when all the crazies come out.
Digi hack was the best one.
I think I spotted the Teleprompter in the reflection of your glasses lol
Most likely you saw the reflection of the fill light I use outdoors to knock down some of the shadows.
These are great hacks, thank you from Hawaii! 73 de KH6DC
Thanks for the great tips!