First thing I had to deal with was a desk. I almost bought one of those cheap particle board computer desks but my husband talked me out of it, which was the right call. We ended up finding a solid-core door at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for twelve dollars. Threw some basic metal legs on it and now I have a desk that's about 30 inches deep and six feet wide. That depth is something I did not know I needed until I had it. There's actually room to spread out the manual, have the radio, a not
The FT-891 arrived yesterday and I spent most of the evening getting it set up. I have to say, coming from the simple world of VHF/UHF repeaters, this thing is pretty intimidating! So many buttons, menus, and settings. The manual is thick enough to use as a doorstop.
Why I Chose the FT-891
I went back and forth between several radios for weeks. The IC-7300 kept coming up in reviews as the gold standard for new HF operators, but honestly it was just out of my budget range. The FT-891 seemed l
When I first got my license back in February, I was so excited to get on the air that I immediately bought a Baofeng UV-5R and started hitting the local repeaters. That was fun for a while, but I kept hearing about HF and all the amazing contacts people were making around the world. The problem was, I had absolutely no idea where to begin with putting together an HF station.
The Research Phase (aka Going Down the Rabbit Hole)
I spent weeks watching YouTube videos, reading forums, and asking
