My Entry in to The Digital Age

After being quite impressed and inspired by my visit to our local emergency communications group last week and because I've got all the necessary equipment already, I decided I'd start playing around with it a little and see what I could accomplish. So after a hectic end to the week and a jam packed Saturday, I was finally able to find some time on Sunday to play around.

I figured it would be best to try a little VHF packet radio first, as I have been using my Kenwood TM-D710A for APRS both at home and mobile for quite some time, so at least I know it is working. So, I downloaded RMS Express, which is the packet software our EmComm group uses and hooked the radio up to my netbook.

I love this radio!

I spent about an hour trying to figure out why my computer would not recognize the TNC in the radio before I finally looked for some instructions and found that I needed to be using the COM port in the back of the radio head, and not the one in the back of the radio... DUH. After that, it was about 15 minutes of playing with menus in the radio and setting up the RMS Express software, but I finally got the radio and the computer gelling.

Okay, now to test a test packet to our local Fire Hall, (3kms away)...... Nothing. Timed out, disconnected.

Okay, no problem, I'll try the EmComm group just south of us (9kms)..... Nothing. Timed out, disconnected.

Hmmm... how about another station on the list, (13 kms away).....  Nothing. Timed out, disconnected.

Alright... time to check everything.

So, I tried all three again seperately.....  Three strikes. All timed out, disconnected.

After thinking for a while, I came to the conclusion that maybe the mag mount antenna sitting on the patio table two feet off the ground isn't the best setup. No problem! After a painter's pole, an old tobacco tin and half a dozen zap straps, I had my antenna at 18 feet up and I could start to hear packets being transmitted on the frequency.

Local Fire Hall:  Nothing. Timed out, disconnected.

EmComm group just to my south:  Nothing. Timed out, disconnected.

The next station down on the list: Well, I bet you can guess.

Improvised antenna setup

At this point, I was starting to get a little frustrated. These things always seem to work when people show me how to do them, but as soon as I try to do them myself it is a miserable failure.

After a few more tries and checking and re-checking all the connections, cords, menu setting, software settings and making sure everything matched up and was set to what it is supposed to be, I tried again. This time I tried all 20 stations listed in the software as online and reachable from my location. They ranged from 9 - 80kms away and were in all directions.

Nothing but "Connection Timed Out.... Disconnected."

By this time, It was high noon and I needed a break from the 30 degree heat, so I took my laptop inside and decided to a little research.


After two and a half hours of reading, texting questions to fellow hams, taking notes and watching painfully boring YouTube videos, I headed back out with a few new ideas and a fresh outlook.

ABSOLUTELY NO F**KING LUCK... Nothing but more of the same!

At this point, if I had to stare at the screen for 15 seconds one more time only to see "Connection timed out, Disconnected.", I was going to smash something, so I closed RMS Express and set the TM-D710A to scan some local emergency and transportation frequencies.

Station Under Construction

If I wasn't going to have any luck with VHF, fine. I'm not a big fan of VHF in the first place, and I was really only playing with it because it seemed easy enough. I really have no use for VHF/UHF packet anyway.

Good riddance, really.

What I am REALLY excited about in the digital aspect of Amateur Radio is the HF Digital modes. And they don't even require a TNC! So I set up my trusty FT-100D, found the CT-62 CAT cable and connected it all to my laptop and fired up HRD...

I have played around with Ham Radio Deluxe before, and sometimes it takes a couple or more tries to get the program to read the radio. It's always some setting or another that needs to be changed. There are multiple settings on start up, and I'm not computer literate, so I am patient with it.

Unfortunately, after trying every possible setting combination, switching COM ports and my usual checking, re-checking and re-re-checking of all the connections, and then checking all the driver software, etc, etc, etc... I still couldn't get HRD to acknowledge the damn radio.

Once again I hit the internet in search or answers, but after a while, I just closed the laptop, turned everything off and went inside to watch baseball. I was at my wits end.

I understand that there is a learning curve to this hobby, but to be totally honest: It's really starting to piss me off.

I've got another couple of days ahead where I will have to leave the radios alone, which is totally fine with me as it will probably take that long for my blood pressure to go down and for me to actually want to turn them on again. I might see if I can test that CAT cable to ensure it's actually working, as it was a $15 Chinese eBay deal, and I'll go from there. 

But, barring some epiphany as to what is wrong, I'll probably just stick to SSB on HF for the foreseeable future.

A beautiful night for endless frustration...