Hi guys!
Hope you’re all doing well? It’s been a long time since I posted in my blog and I am looking to write more in the future, quite a few things have changed since my last post 5 years ago lol but I wanted to talk about a couple of things here. First off though I want to apologize for my lack of content on my blog, I have still been posting to my youtube channel and have also created a forum where people can connect with me and also other hams across the globe. You can find the forum in the main menu of the site, this will take you directly to it or you can just use the URL of https://hamdialog.com hope to see you there and everyone is more than welcome!
So what’s changed in the last 5 years? Well I now own a Yaesu FT991 and absolutely love that radio, it’s a full shack in a box and can also do C4FM even on the HF bands! It was wide banded before I got it and it’s in very good condition. I initially wanted to buy the Yaesu 897d but thought this would be a better choice as it has some extra features.
I don’t use the 70cms part of the radio as I now have a repeater (GB7FL) located at my home QTH, the repeater covers fusion and d-star and has fantastic coverage all over the north west. I am not the keeper of the repeater I am just the closedown op, more information about the repeater and the others in the network can be found at https://cqnorthwest.uk/ I usually monitor the repeater on both modes.
That moves us quite nicely into my new handheld radios that I have acquired since my last post. I saved up last year and bought an Icom ID52, this is a phenomenal radio, I absolutely love it! Can do so much including sending photos over the air, I haven’t made a review of this radio as yet, there are plenty on youtube but I may add my own.
I also purchased just 1 month ago a Yaesu FT3D, always wanted one, I know the FT5 is a bit better especially when it comes to the audio but I prefer the look of the FT3, I am also looking into connecting the radio to my pc so I can use it as a personal hotspot and can use my FT1 to control it around the house.
I still own the Icom 7300 and probably will have it forever. It’s a really good radio and I mainly use it for the FT8, you can check out my awards in the main menu.
Nothing much more to add really, if you fancy then please check out my new forum to connect to me and others. Still early days, at the time of writing this post it’s about 1 week old and we have 22 members already! Thank you to everyone who has joined and for contributing to the threads.
I will try and post more often as and when I have something to say, hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year!
73
Matt
2E0FNM
