NBEMS is something that I have been exploring for awhile. The next video in the series will be all about NBEMS and transferring files. Ideally, I'd like to make this video with the FT-60R assuming the new cable arrives on time. We are petitioning the Arizona Repeater Association to allow us to test NBEMS (fldigi+MT63-2KL) on our repeaters. Thanks for stopping by Jason.
Gaston, Thanks for the video. With your help on the settings, I was able to get my FT-2980 working with the DigiRig and FLDigi! And the ferrite bead on the USB Cable… what a pain in the butt to diagnose, but it got me too! Thanks again Buddy.
I'd never worked with digital modes over FM, but you definitely seem to be rocking it! I'm definitely going to be checking out more of your videos and digging in!
Enjoy the exploration. Outside of packet radio, it took me awhile to find a modem (MT63) that works well on FM. It looks like the research payed off. I hope others find value in FM digital modes. 73
Very cool compact setup. It looks to me like the TTP-6000 frame fits fully inside the Helikon pouch, but from earlier photos it seemed like you needed to remove the lid from the pouch.
For the most part. The flap closes about 98% of the way which is good enough for government work. The TTP-6000 frame is just a tad shorter by design than the FT-817/8 TPA frame to accommodate it in the bag. It was a balance of having enough height on the bottom to allow for a proper coax bend radius and sufficient cooling for the fan. This is why I am designing a new bag for this form factor of radios. No timeline yet on the bags. I am running into challenges with people not up to the task or unwilling to build the prototype given its complexity. I may just have to learn how to sew and get into the "MYOG" scene. Thanks for checking in, Dennis.
I have just purchased an FT-818 for the field and the Digi-rig was the first thing I bought for it. I have it doing FT8, which is for SOTA work. When I find the hours in a day I am going to follow your lead. Looking forward to the NBEMS video.
The FT-818 is my favorite rig. If I could only have on radio besides an HT, that would be it. Enjoy and good luck on your next activation. If the 818 supported 20 watts, it would be near perfect. I hope Yaesu releases something along these lines at Dayton.
Thanks. This is a great idea for a video. I was on Ham Radio and Coffee sometime back to talk about what you can do with a Technician license, but I think we went off topic. I'll add this topic to the backlog. Cheers!
Here in my area, EM85, the 8PSK-500F seems to the the mode of choice. That is literately all I know although it works for me as I monitor the local practice nets on 2m FM. They also use the the ICS-213 form. Thanks for this series, it certainly helps!
Received my TTP-6000 pack frame here in the UK yesterday (31/05/22). Really pleased. By the time I'd tried to make a frame myself it would have been half the cost and no where near as good so in that respect the TTP-6000 was half price!
I will be using it on my walks on the South Downs, the higher hills have Ordnance Survey trig markers and although obsolete should make it interesting. Plenty of repeaters around here to get into as well. I have a couple of MOLLE pouches so will make do with those for now. ARMOLOQ were great to deal with, really easy and friendly. If I get time I might make a video over the coming weeks.
So before I begin, this is an excellent video and a great place to start to get both the ideas and the links to set up your Mobile FM Rig. There are a few things that need to be addressed though. First , KY jelly to get the rig into the main bag. It has a pocket inside that hangs up the frame while trying to get it in the bag. It is way too small for this set up. Additionally, Right now you cannot even get the Admin bag. It is out of stock and has been for some time. I get that this frame is made specially for this radio, but at $135.00 it is already spendy, then you add $20.00 shipping and handling on top of it and you have your self a solid gold frame. Then on top of that the idea that they cannot even include a $3 antenna mount, so you have to make one yourself is just gouging. There are a few things in life I absolutely despise, and one of them is being nickel-ed and dime'd for shit. Honestly, just add the mount to the price and you won't have people crapping on your marketing practices. Great Idea, but needs some adjustments in practice.
In this demo what Station Callsign and Operator Callsign did you use on each station? I am trying to do some testing between two stations and need to know how to differentiate them? Thank you.
Wanted to know what your performance is like on this and how the antennas act without being held in hand. I know most 1/4 wave antennas are reliant on you being part of the "ground plane". Building a setup just like this for field expedient digital and fm comms.
In short, this setup is not designed to run a whip antenna above 5 watts. If you're going to run a whip, you should add a snap-on ferrite beads to the coax jumper below the relocation hardware as well as add a 19" counterpoise wire. My preference is to run a J-Pole, jungle antenna, or Yagi with this setup for anything over 5 watts.
You can always go with someone like Palomar Engineers if you need to be certain. I've had good luck with the Amazon snap on beads, but have always wondered about the mix used on the Amazon listings.
@@TheTechPrepper I am absolutely serious. You must know how delighted I am when you post your work! I am fascinated with how many things can be done with VHF and so very few people cover it. Your knowledge of computers linked to your love of the outdoors is a treasured combination! I hope to some day have such an vast understanding♡
@@TheTechPrepper haha! Yes I have found myself preferring the Yaesu radios so far🥰 I couldn't yet afford the 6000 so I went with the 2980 for a higher wattage option on 2m. My hope is to have a good understanding of the digital fun that can be had with the new digiRig, and your videos are absolutely fantastic!♡
In Digital Series Part I, I noticed you enabled PTT using Digirig within Direwolf, and in this current video you tell FLdigi to also use Digirig for PTT. I've been following KM4ACK's video series as well and he has us use FLrig for Direwolf and elsewhere. I was just wondering how the experience differs between the two settings.
soooooo the 6000r does do cat control and data, you just bought the cable that has the one control, you needed the cable that has the two 3,5mm jacks and youd have cat control too
Here's an old video that I did with the SignaLink USB. ruclips.net/video/KP9fyWveOoM/видео.html My new setup is using the DigiRig Mobile. No video on that. Good luck!
I really enjoy your content and have similar goals for remote comm. My bag has a FTM 6000 with the cool frame. I have a mobilinkd 3 but I am confused about which cable I need. You talk about 6 pin and the radio has 10 pin. Would you please reply with a link to the cable you know works. Thanks and keep up the good work.
@@edwardjdeaton There are no settings on the radio. Just configured the software to trigger the PTT using RTS. This works on the Yaesu HT's, too. Good luck.
I typically run it at 5 watts, but have run it at 25 watts. If I need to run full power, I'll switch the antenna out with a roll-up J-Pole. Even though the SignalStick is rated for 100w, I would never run the FTM-6000 at 50w.
Hi great content, new to ham. Which Yaesu radio would allow me to connect directly to the computer without the need for a digital mode interface such as Digirig?
Take a look at the Yaesu FT-991A. It has a built-in sound card and is considered a shack in the box as it covers HF/VHF/UHF. The Icom 7300 is a another poplar rig for new hams. Welcome to the hobby.
So this radio has a serial port that is only for programming? And it takes two different cables end to end to get this connected to a TNC or sound card device? If I have this wrong please correct. Seems like Yaesu missed the memo again that a native CAAT port with sound card onboard will sell if you build it. Why is the 10 pin port so downplayed on this radio? I had to search through 3 manuals to find out what they will tell about it at all.
Great questions! 1. The 10-pin data port on the back is used for connecting to a TNC or in this case a sound card. 2. The 10-pin data port allows you to also trigger the PTT button. The DigiRig Mobile uses this to trigger the audio transmission (using an RTS signal). 3. I have never tried programming this radio. I am a self-admitting survivalist and program everything manually. There is a USB port under the head unit which I believe is for programming and/or flashing the firmware. Don't quote me as I have not used it. 4. I 100% agree with you. This radio would be perfect it had an integrated sound card and CAT control. Make IP68 rated and I would personally by 3 more. Add single sideband and I would buy 3 more. They also need to fix the scanning feature. 5. Yes, they bury the digital stuff in their advanced manual. I bought this radio for the data port. I hope this helps. 73, de KT1RUN
@@TheTechPrepper If they would reissue the FT-2600M now for around $150 I would buy a few. Simple DB-9 on the back to TNC or sound card. Never another as good. Only bad issue with that and all the radios Yaesu made at that time was the mic cables fell apart like wet noodles. Not if it would shred but when.
How in the heck do you keep that radio cool when it's all wrapped up in a backpack? I've had my 5 watt hand-helds get too hot to hold! This is a 50 watt dual-band mobile! As I recall, with a fan to circular the cooling air? Q. Is it ment to be "Exspendable"? Q. Do you expect it to "Burn Out"???
This manpack was purpose-built for field expedient communications and designed to hit small commo windows. It's not for rag chewing or prolonged digital. I have used 5 variations of this manpack for over a year and deployed in the Sonoran Desert. No issues. I typically run minimum power to achieve the contact and run between 5 and 25 watts as needed. I have run a net for 90 minutes in the shack at 50% duty cycle and the FTM-6000 and hit 118F which is fine. I have used it at 5% duty cycle for 8 hours during a wilderness public service event in the desert with 90F temps. Again, no issues. I run digital modes for no more than a few minutes. Typically, just enough to send an SMS text over APRS or a few minutes to check winlink email. If you run max RF output, rag chew for long periods, and run in high ambient environments, you will likely cook it. I'm all about field expedient comms.
I really appreciate this video series! If you're able to squeeze it in I'd like to see your FT-2980R and Pi setup as well. Edit: Doh, disregard that. I see that I missed a video where you already went over the packet station behind you.
okay, this is a DIY comment: Raspi can put about 1mA to each GPIO pin. 🤷♀️ Arduino / ATmel chips are built to put >10mA to each pin. as high as 20mA? so, 100 mWatt is fair game. - Raspi is a good “Interface” … but want to DIY electronics? play with some ATmel chips, plugged into that Raspi. 😂👍 It’s legit actually, “more fun.”
Thanks, John. After recording this I found a much more reliable USB cable on Amazon. So far, no TX lock up issues, but I'd like to do a bit more testing before I share it. Take care, sir!
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
NBEMS is a powerful system. I wish groups in my area would adopt it. Everyone around me is sold on Winlink. I love Winlink but NBEMS is value added.
NBEMS is something that I have been exploring for awhile. The next video in the series will be all about NBEMS and transferring files. Ideally, I'd like to make this video with the FT-60R assuming the new cable arrives on time. We are petitioning the Arizona Repeater Association to allow us to test NBEMS (fldigi+MT63-2KL) on our repeaters. Thanks for stopping by Jason.
I agree, NBEMS is powerful. It's like a really slow second Internet. 😁
Gaston, Thanks for the video. With your help on the settings, I was able to get my FT-2980 working with the DigiRig and FLDigi! And the ferrite bead on the USB Cable… what a pain in the butt to diagnose, but it got me too!
Thanks again Buddy.
I love comments like this. I know that I'm not the only having pain with digital modes. I'm glad to have helped. Enjoy your new station capabilities.
Just bought all the gear for digital! You’re the man! I’m excited to finally participate in the digital portion of my weekly net!
Excellent. Congratulations.
I'd never worked with digital modes over FM, but you definitely seem to be rocking it! I'm definitely going to be checking out more of your videos and digging in!
Enjoy the exploration. Outside of packet radio, it took me awhile to find a modem (MT63) that works well on FM. It looks like the research payed off. I hope others find value in FM digital modes. 73
Very cool compact setup. It looks to me like the TTP-6000 frame fits fully inside the Helikon pouch, but from earlier photos it seemed like you needed to remove the lid from the pouch.
For the most part. The flap closes about 98% of the way which is good enough for government work. The TTP-6000 frame is just a tad shorter by design than the FT-817/8 TPA frame to accommodate it in the bag. It was a balance of having enough height on the bottom to allow for a proper coax bend radius and sufficient cooling for the fan. This is why I am designing a new bag for this form factor of radios. No timeline yet on the bags. I am running into challenges with people not up to the task or unwilling to build the prototype given its complexity. I may just have to learn how to sew and get into the "MYOG" scene. Thanks for checking in, Dennis.
I have just purchased an FT-818 for the field and the Digi-rig was the first thing I bought for it. I have it doing FT8, which is for SOTA work. When I find the hours in a day I am going to follow your lead. Looking forward to the NBEMS video.
The FT-818 is my favorite rig. If I could only have on radio besides an HT, that would be it. Enjoy and good luck on your next activation. If the 818 supported 20 watts, it would be near perfect. I hope Yaesu releases something along these lines at Dayton.
One again you prove there is a lot of fun and meaningful things you can do on the technician bands!
Thanks. This is a great idea for a video. I was on Ham Radio and Coffee sometime back to talk about what you can do with a Technician license, but I think we went off topic. I'll add this topic to the backlog. Cheers!
Hey thanks for this. I am looking forward to trying it with the FTM 200DR. Great stuff!
Here in my area, EM85, the 8PSK-500F seems to the the mode of choice. That is literately all I know although it works for me as I monitor the local practice nets on 2m FM. They also use the the ICS-213 form. Thanks for this series, it certainly helps!
I'm not familiar with EM85 and 8PSK-500F. Thanks for putting it on my radar. 73's
@@TheTechPrepper My apologies brother EM85AS is my Location. East Tennessee.
@@neubert500 No need to apologize. Your sentence is grammatically correct. I just misread it. Roger. 8PSK-500F. I was just in Linden TN.
@@TheTechPrepper Hope you were treated very well while in our beloved state!
Great video Gaston! I am looking forward the next one in the series, 73!
Excellent. Next up: FT-60R + DigiRig + NBEMS.
Received my TTP-6000 pack frame here in the UK yesterday (31/05/22). Really pleased. By the time I'd tried to make a frame myself it would have been half the cost and no where near as good so in that respect the TTP-6000 was half price!
Fantastic! I am curious to see how you enjoy this style of operation. Do you have a bag for it? ARMOLOQ makes quality gear at a good price. Enjoy!
I will be using it on my walks on the South Downs, the higher hills have Ordnance Survey trig markers and although obsolete should make it interesting. Plenty of repeaters around here to get into as well.
I have a couple of MOLLE pouches so will make do with those for now. ARMOLOQ were great to deal with, really easy and friendly. If I get time I might make a video over the coming weeks.
Other than the admin pouch, i've basically built the exact kit he has there. I am so happy with it! Love his videos.
So before I begin, this is an excellent video and a great place to start to get both the ideas and the links to set up your Mobile FM Rig. There are a few things that need to be addressed though. First , KY jelly to get the rig into the main bag. It has a pocket inside that hangs up the frame while trying to get it in the bag. It is way too small for this set up. Additionally, Right now you cannot even get the Admin bag. It is out of stock and has been for some time. I get that this frame is made specially for this radio, but at $135.00 it is already spendy, then you add $20.00 shipping and handling on top of it and you have your self a solid gold frame. Then on top of that the idea that they cannot even include a $3 antenna mount, so you have to make one yourself is just gouging. There are a few things in life I absolutely despise, and one of them is being nickel-ed and dime'd for shit. Honestly, just add the mount to the price and you won't have people crapping on your marketing practices. Great Idea, but needs some adjustments in practice.
Good to see you again!
Thank you. Glad to be back. Life and work just got the best of me the last two weeks. The joys of being a part time content creator. Cheers from AZ!
You always share good info.
Thank you for all the work!
It's my pleasure. Glad to hear that the info is useful to the community and yourself. 73 de KT1TUN.
mountain of very specific tech involved here.....types with two fingertips.....
thanks for putting the links in !👍👍
Not a problem. A viewer insisted that I start doing this. Was it you? Either way, glad you found the links useful.
Black Friday special available now for $199 from HRO 11/22/22
That's a deal...about $120.00 less than I payed for my unit last year. The FT-891 is on sale too as are a few HT's. Thanks for sharing.
@@TheTechPrepper Was hoping the IC-2730 would be on sale but the FTM-6000 will do just fine for that price so I ordered it.
In this demo what Station Callsign and Operator Callsign did you use on each station? I am trying to do some testing between two stations and need to know how to differentiate them? Thank you.
Wanted to know what your performance is like on this and how the antennas act without being held in hand. I know most 1/4 wave antennas are reliant on you being part of the "ground plane". Building a setup just like this for field expedient digital and fm comms.
In short, this setup is not designed to run a whip antenna above 5 watts. If you're going to run a whip, you should add a snap-on ferrite beads to the coax jumper below the relocation hardware as well as add a 19" counterpoise wire. My preference is to run a J-Pole, jungle antenna, or Yagi with this setup for anything over 5 watts.
I really wish they would state the core type in the Amazon description, type 43? Who knows.
You can always go with someone like Palomar Engineers if you need to be certain. I've had good luck with the Amazon snap on beads, but have always wondered about the mix used on the Amazon listings.
I can't find the bag anywhere. Keep doing videos
You are so absolutely badass and amazing. Real talk. You are freaking awesome!🥰📻👍🔥
I also went and ordered the cords for my yaesu handheld ♡ I am just loving the digiRig
Best complement so far over the last two years. ;-) I am humbled. Thank you!
You're a Yaesu gal? Yes!!!
@@TheTechPrepper I am absolutely serious. You must know how delighted I am when you post your work! I am fascinated with how many things can be done with VHF and so very few people cover it. Your knowledge of computers linked to your love of the outdoors is a treasured combination! I hope to some day have such an vast understanding♡
@@TheTechPrepper haha! Yes I have found myself preferring the Yaesu radios so far🥰 I couldn't yet afford the 6000 so I went with the 2980 for a higher wattage option on 2m. My hope is to have a good understanding of the digital fun that can be had with the new digiRig, and your videos are absolutely fantastic!♡
In Digital Series Part I, I noticed you enabled PTT using Digirig within Direwolf, and in this current video you tell FLdigi to also use Digirig for PTT. I've been following KM4ACK's video series as well and he has us use FLrig for Direwolf and elsewhere.
I was just wondering how the experience differs between the two settings.
soooooo the 6000r does do cat control and data, you just bought the cable that has the one control, you needed the cable that has the two 3,5mm jacks and youd have cat control too
How is the 2980 connected to the Pi? I have that radio and i'm interested in how you're using it.
Here's an old video that I did with the SignaLink USB. ruclips.net/video/KP9fyWveOoM/видео.html
My new setup is using the DigiRig Mobile. No video on that. Good luck!
I really enjoy your content and have similar goals for remote comm. My bag has a FTM 6000 with the cool frame. I have a mobilinkd 3 but I am confused about which cable I need. You talk about 6 pin and the radio has 10 pin. Would you please reply with a link to the cable you know works. Thanks and keep up the good work.
Part 2 🏆
Does the cable from the FTM-6000 connect to the Serial or Audio port of the digirig mobil
The audio port, but it will be presented to your computer as two devices: a serial device (for the PTT) and sound card.
@TheTechPrepper Thank you. I believe I have everything right, but I am not getting ptt on the radio. Are there any radio settings needed?
@@edwardjdeaton There are no settings on the radio. Just configured the software to trigger the PTT using RTS. This works on the Yaesu HT's, too. Good luck.
@@TheTechPrepper Thank you for confirming that. I will revisit the video and my settings again.
How many watts on the FTM6000 will you run that signal stick at?
I typically run it at 5 watts, but have run it at 25 watts. If I need to run full power, I'll switch the antenna out with a roll-up J-Pole. Even though the SignalStick is rated for 100w, I would never run the FTM-6000 at 50w.
Hi great content, new to ham. Which Yaesu radio would allow me to connect directly to the computer without the need for a digital mode interface such as Digirig?
Take a look at the Yaesu FT-991A. It has a built-in sound card and is considered a shack in the box as it covers HF/VHF/UHF. The Icom 7300 is a another poplar rig for new hams. Welcome to the hobby.
So this radio has a serial port that is only for programming? And it takes two different cables end to end to get this connected to a TNC or sound card device? If I have this wrong please correct. Seems like Yaesu missed the memo again that a native CAAT port with sound card onboard will sell if you build it. Why is the 10 pin port so downplayed on this radio? I had to search through 3 manuals to find out what they will tell about it at all.
Great questions!
1. The 10-pin data port on the back is used for connecting to a TNC or in this case a sound card.
2. The 10-pin data port allows you to also trigger the PTT button. The DigiRig Mobile uses this to trigger the audio transmission (using an RTS signal).
3. I have never tried programming this radio. I am a self-admitting survivalist and program everything manually. There is a USB port under the head unit which I believe is for programming and/or flashing the firmware. Don't quote me as I have not used it.
4. I 100% agree with you. This radio would be perfect it had an integrated sound card and CAT control. Make IP68 rated and I would personally by 3 more. Add single sideband and I would buy 3 more. They also need to fix the scanning feature.
5. Yes, they bury the digital stuff in their advanced manual.
I bought this radio for the data port. I hope this helps. 73, de KT1RUN
@@TheTechPrepper If they would reissue the FT-2600M now for around $150 I would buy a few. Simple DB-9 on the back to TNC or sound card. Never another as good. Only bad issue with that and all the radios Yaesu made at that time was the mic cables fell apart like wet noodles. Not if it would shred but when.
The audio on the back of the radio plugs into the audio port on the digirig? No CAT so that must be it??? Great videos BTW..
Yes, for the radios that do not have a CAT interface (i.e. most mobile radios and HT's), just plug the single interface cable into the audio port.
What OS are you running on the tough book ?
Ubuntu 22.04. Everything but the stylus works.
@@TheTechPrepper Thanks!
How in the heck do you keep that radio cool when it's all wrapped up in a backpack?
I've had my 5 watt hand-helds get too hot to hold! This is a 50 watt dual-band mobile! As I recall, with a fan to circular the cooling air?
Q. Is it ment to be "Exspendable"?
Q. Do you expect it to "Burn Out"???
This manpack was purpose-built for field expedient communications and designed to hit small commo windows. It's not for rag chewing or prolonged digital.
I have used 5 variations of this manpack for over a year and deployed in the Sonoran Desert. No issues.
I typically run minimum power to achieve the contact and run between 5 and 25 watts as needed.
I have run a net for 90 minutes in the shack at 50% duty cycle and the FTM-6000 and hit 118F which is fine.
I have used it at 5% duty cycle for 8 hours during a wilderness public service event in the desert with 90F temps. Again, no issues.
I run digital modes for no more than a few minutes. Typically, just enough to send an SMS text over APRS or a few minutes to check winlink email.
If you run max RF output, rag chew for long periods, and run in high ambient environments, you will likely cook it. I'm all about field expedient comms.
I really appreciate this video series! If you're able to squeeze it in I'd like to see your FT-2980R and Pi setup as well.
Edit: Doh, disregard that. I see that I missed a video where you already went over the packet station behind you.
Thanks. I was just about to include a link. I'll leave it here for others. FT-2980R 2m Packet Station
ruclips.net/video/KP9fyWveOoM/видео.html
okay, this is a DIY comment: Raspi can put about 1mA to each GPIO pin. 🤷♀️ Arduino / ATmel chips are built to put >10mA to each pin. as high as 20mA? so, 100 mWatt is fair game. - Raspi is a good “Interface” … but want to DIY electronics? play with some ATmel chips, plugged into that Raspi. 😂👍 It’s legit actually, “more fun.”
just sayin’ … “More Fun” 😂 home build Analog whatever you what, but a
If you are still around, I’m interested in knowing more about digital radio. 73 KQ4OBF
More digital topics are on the way. Thanks for the view.
Great job! Thanks for sharing all your experience and knowledge. WH6GTC.
Thanks. My pleasure. It's fun sharing the experiences as I learn and explore the hobby. 73 de KT1RUN
Please don't apologize! You are doing us all a great service. Thank You! DE WA1KLI
Thanks, John. After recording this I found a much more reliable USB cable on Amazon. So far, no TX lock up issues, but I'd like to do a bit more testing before I share it. Take care, sir!
@@TheTechPrepper: Little details like this make all the difference.