Ham Radio
Baofeng BF-F8HP Review: Two Years of Real Use in My Shack
Two years with the Baofeng BF-F8HP: what holds up, what annoys me, and who should actually buy it.
A retired lineman on the handheld that has sat on his kitchen counter for two storm seasons, and why it earned that spot.
Two years with the Baofeng BF-F8HP: what holds up, what annoys me, and who should actually buy it.
Two years with both radios on a few acres outside Cookeville: what the extra money buys you, and what it does not.
Ten plain reasons the Baofeng BF-F8HP earns its spot in a new ham's setup, from a retired lineman who has carried one for years.
A retired lineman on the handheld that has sat on his kitchen counter for two storm seasons, and why it earned that spot.
A plainspoken walkthrough for programming a Baofeng BF-F8HP for local repeaters, from finding the frequencies to testing your first contact.
Two years with the Baofeng BF-F8HP: what holds up, what doesn't, and who should buy it anyway.
Two years of daily driving, storm-season bench duty, and one ice storm later, here is what I think of the AnyTone AT-778UVII.
A side-by-side look at two dual band mobile radios after two years of use.
Ten practical reasons the AnyTone AT-778UVII earns its spot in a ham setup.
A retired lineman's story about the afternoon a dual band mobile radio did what the cell network couldn't.
A retired lineman walks through the whole job: mounting the radio, wiring power, running the coax, tuning the antenna, and checking SWR before you key up.
Two years with the AnyTone AT-778UVII in a pickup truck and on the workbench. What I like, what I don't, and who should buy it anyway.
Two years of daily driving on a Tennessee pickup, through ice storms and repeater hunts, with the VFAN dual band magnetic mount antenna on the cab roof.
Two popular dual band antennas, two very different jobs. Here is which one belongs on your truck and which one belongs in your go bag.
Ten practical reasons the VFAN Dual Band Magnetic Mount Antenna earns its spot in a ham setup.
A retired lineman's story about the day he learned the antenna, not the radio, was the weak link in his mobile setup.
A plainspoken, step-by-step guide to putting a magnetic-mount antenna on a truck roof, from a retired lineman who has done it on his own F-150.
Two years of daily driving with the VFAN dual band mag mount: what works, what does not, and who should buy it.
Two years with the AURSINC NanoVNA-H on my bench: what it measures, where it lies to you, and whether you still need a separate SWR meter.
Two years with the AURSINC NanoVNA-H on my bench, and an honest look at what a traditional SWR meter still does better.
Why a retired telephone lineman keeps a vector network analyzer on the bench, and why you should too.
A retired lineman finds out what his wire antenna has been doing for the last decade.
Checking SWR with a NanoVNA is easier than it looks. Lyle walks through the five steps he uses with the AURSINC NanoVNA-H, from calibration to reading the dip.
Two years with the AURSINC NanoVNA-H, the good, the bad, and whether it deserves a spot on your bench.
A 30 amp bench supply that has run my mobile radio through two storm seasons. Here is what held up and what did not.
Two 30 amp bench supplies, one bench. After two years of running both, here is how they actually compare.
Why a steady 13.8 volts matters more than the radio sitting on top of it.
A retired lineman on the hum that disappeared when he changed one box on the bench.
A plainspoken, step by step guide to running your radio off a bench supply, using the Tekpower TP30SWI, from a ham who has done it for two storm seasons.
Two years on the radio bench taught me what the listing photos do not show. The good, the bad, and who should actually buy the Tekpower TP30SWI.
Two years with the Baofeng BF-F8HP: what holds up, what annoys me, and who should actually buy it.
Two years with the Baofeng BF-F8HP: what holds up, what doesn't, and who should buy it anyway.
Two years of daily driving, storm-season bench duty, and one ice storm later, here is what I think of the AnyTone AT-778UVII.
Two years with the AnyTone AT-778UVII in a pickup truck and on the workbench. What I like, what I don't, and who should buy it anyway.
Two years of daily driving on a Tennessee pickup, through ice storms and repeater hunts, with the VFAN dual band magnetic mount antenna on the cab roof.
Two years of daily driving with the VFAN dual band mag mount: what works, what does not, and who should buy it.
Two years with the AURSINC NanoVNA-H on my bench: what it measures, where it lies to you, and whether you still need a separate SWR meter.
Two years with the AURSINC NanoVNA-H, the good, the bad, and whether it deserves a spot on your bench.
A 30 amp bench supply that has run my mobile radio through two storm seasons. Here is what held up and what did not.
Two years on the radio bench taught me what the listing photos do not show. The good, the bad, and who should actually buy the Tekpower TP30SWI.