Category: Radio

I spent the day getting a #digitalocean droplet running for a self-hosted @cloudlog Most time spent configuring virtual hosts in apache. Looking forward to seeing how the #cloudlog platform works. Next up is the import of my modest log file of ~1200 #morsecode contacts, and a hand full of other modes.

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I love my IC-705, it’s a really great portable radio. It sits at my desk during the day listening to broadcast stations, scanning local airbands frequencies, or listening for HF DX.

I also enjoy taking it with me for weekend mornings at a local park, for weekend getaways, etc. It doesn’t feel like a real sturdy traveler, with the exposed knobs and the large screen though. Luckily I had a chance to buy a case for a really good deal from Nomatic (https://www.nomatic.com/products/accessory-case).

I’ve been eyeing this one, but the price had been very high. They sent me an offer for a blemished product and I jumped on it. It arrived today and the fit is perfect. Take a look:

It fits snugly without feeling compressed. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a good travel case for your IC-705.

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…Or the Ahuago AW470, or Helida M2, or whatever it is called. I do know it is a tiny FM two-way radio running on UHF at 400-470mhz, with the ability to program input/output frequency pairs with encoded tones. So it can work simplex or on repeaters. Theoretically anyway.

I finally got some time to play with this radio. It’s been a long-term project spent waiting for doo-dads to arrive.

The radio:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/132268713527

The programming cable:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075CSVFCC/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Those sat around until this weekend. One issue with these cheap oddly built radios is that to program them, you have to download the programming software from some sketchy places. Luckily I have an old Windows 7 Netbook laying around that I can put on a guest network I have running at the house, so I think my exposure is low. The software link comes from this interesting site http://www.opg.org/2017/03/10/tiny-radio-ahuago-470-felida-helida-nktech-m2/

About halfway down is a link to the programming software https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8BGmr-vYNsbNUQ3eENLWUZsZGM. I had previously installed other software from NKTECH that looked right but never worked, luckily the OPG gang had the right link.

Next came the problem of device drivers. The trick here was to get the old driver from Prolific, available here http://pdxpiedmont.net/node/52 That worked like a charm. And plugging in the cable to the old Netbook caused the drivers to load and assign to COM3.

From there it was pretty simple. Plug in the radio to the cable, launch the sketchy software, and type in frequencies. Except the software is in Chinese by default and has an English language setting. But how do you find it if the program launches in Chinese? OPG guys to the rescue – 5 menus to the right and second entry down. Bam, ‘murica.

The audio is pretty rough, but it works. The size is fun, ridiculously small. Cool color. All said and done though, the lure of these little radios is waning. When you want to use a radio, just use a radio that is solid, always works, and sounds good. For most of us, that’s Kenwood, Yaesu, Icom, etc.

Here is the what the Nktech sounds like as recorded on my TH-D74:

Here is the what the TH-D74 sounds like on the Nktech: