The scenario is simple: you spend a not insignificant amount of money on a Garmin GPS unit, then travel and find that you don’t have maps for that region, and Garmin charges quite a lot of money for something that you didn’t know you were missing. So you then search the interwebs for solutions, and […]
Xiegu G90: digital and CAT control.
My uBitx v6 has been my main FT8 rig for over a year, thanks to the (discontinued) Funtronics sound card which gives me full CAT control and sound in/out with a single USB port. This is a huge advantage with Windows, since the OS tends to change audio settings erratically on my machines, both of […]
Updating an older Garmin (GPSmap 60CSx)
In the past year and a half we have been hiking more, and after missing the trail on a hillwalk due to our phones’ GPS inaccuracy, I bought Lauren a Garmin eTrex 22. I recently found an older Garmin GPSmap 60CSx at a hamfest for cheap, so that I could also stop walking with my […]
Making a cheap LiFePO4 battery for SOTA.
I needed a good battery to power my Xiegu G90, so that I could carry it up hills and talk to strangers in my bid to join the SOTA community. In 2023 the general trend for portable lighteweight power is to buy a *premium* battery like the Bioenno pack–which are designed specifically for this purpose–or […]
Xiegu G90 weight loss: Preparing 20w for SOTA activations
I bought a used Xiegu G90 in 2023 as a portable rig to take on SOTA (Summits On The Air) activations, and to use as a travel rig. The G90 is a compact unit, about the size of an airport-best-seller novel which covers all modes from 160m to 10m at 20w output: it is SDR […]