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Making a Yaesu FT-60 digital??

 

Hi all,

So I saw this video on YouTube:???.? So this video proves this Digirig will work with the FT-60, so that helps.? I still don't understand how it works.? According to??it's more of a sound card.? I don't get it.
My questions:? 1)? Would this turn my Ft-60 into a digital system, or would it just do digital signals over a analog system?
2)? I'm guessing I could hook up a computer to this Digirig system and send emails and stuff over the air.? Think this would be useful in a SHTF situation??

Thanks in advance,
Scott - KC3VUH
 

Good morning Scott

While I have not used a Digirig, they seem to be very cool. It was reviewed in QST sometime in the last 2 years.

It is a sound card that allows your analog FT60 to send and receive data via the mic jack using software such as FLDIGI.

You can do the same thing with a Signalink or Rigblaster.? ?The appeal of the Digirig vs them is 1) I think it is cheaper 2) plays better with new computers, tablets etc and 3) is the new kid on the block.

If you have an interest in VHF digital, it should be a great solution.? Much more portable than a Signalink.
One immediate use I can think of that a FT60 would do well with is capturing SSTV imagines from the ISS.?

?Perhaps someday someone will be able to create a gadget that using a soundcard can connect your radio to something that allows it to access DMR/D-Star/Yaesu System Fusion? as if it was a native radio to all 3.? I am not sure that is possible, But maybe someday.

The nice thing about Digirig or any of the others listed here is that if you acquire it for the FT60, then acquire a dual band mobile or a HF radio without a built in sound card, the Digirig can multitask.? ?And I love gadgets that are not committed to one system.

73
Frank
KB3PQT


Virus-free.
 

The Digirig is a soundcard. It converts the analog signals from your radio into sounds that are transmitted and converted back on the receiving end. It can work with programs like Winlink for email, FLDigi for digital messaging, and VarAC for chat. The Digirig is small, allows a one-wire connection to your radio, and does hardware P-T-T so you don't have to use VOX. It does not add DMR, Fusion, or D-Star to an analog radio.?
 

For many years we have supported a couple of Ultra runs with
Amateur Radio.? Many of the aid stations have no cell coverage and
we used to send info about each runner to start/finish net control via voice which when you have 200 runners is really tedious and time consuming.? The course is very rugged and we keep track of the runners to keep them safe.

A few years ago my son-in-law and his brother built an app using
FLAMP using a cell phone or tablet for input of each runner.? After you have input several runners into the app all you do is hit the PTT on your radio, hold the microphone by the tablet/cell phone and data for that batch of runners is sent.? It is amazing how robust the transmissions are.? Many times it just sounds like open squelch but the data still gets through even if the microphone of the receiving
computer is 15 feet away in an echoing trailer!!...



So you don't need a digi-rig, or other interface box, to do short digital text messaging over the air.


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The app sounds like it could be useful if it would work on later versions of Android.? I tried to download it but Google Play says it is only compatible with earlier versions of Android.? Perhaps you could get them to update it?

73 de AC7EW?
Kelly?


Regards,
Kelly Bersch

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of NV7V <nv7vham@...>
Sent: Sunday, April 2, 2023 12:40:41 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Yaesu-FT-60] Making a Yaesu FT-60 digital??
?
For many years we have supported a couple of Ultra runs with
Amateur Radio.? Many of the aid stations have no cell coverage and
we used to send info about each runner to start/finish net control via voice which when you have 200 runners is really tedious and time consuming.? The course is very rugged and we keep track of the runners to keep them safe.

A few years ago my son-in-law and his brother built an app using
FLAMP using a cell phone or tablet for input of each runner.? After you have input several runners into the app all you do is hit the PTT on your radio, hold the microphone by the tablet/cell phone and data for that batch of runners is sent.? It is amazing how robust the transmissions are.? Many times it just sounds like open squelch but the data still gets through even if the microphone of the receiving
computer is 15 feet away in an echoing trailer!!...



So you don't need a digi-rig, or other interface box, to do short digital text messaging over the air.


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We support something similar: a running relay race.? Two differences with yours
(1) we have ~450 teams which means ~450 runners on course at any given time which we need to process.
(2) we use packet radio on the ham bands.? Runner information is typed into a tablet & when the user presses "Enter", the information is transmitted via packet with confirmation.

Like you, we can attest that digital modes work fine.? We've used ft-60 as well as mobile rigs

The cell phones cannot handle the communication because?of the shear number of participants overload the cell phones (>5,000 participants in our town of 16,000)

Andy

On Sun, Apr 2, 2023 at 4:30?PM NV7V <nv7vham@...> wrote:
For many years we have supported a couple of Ultra runs with
Amateur Radio.? Many of the aid stations have no cell coverage and
we used to send info about each runner to start/finish net control via voice which when you have 200 runners is really tedious and time consuming.? The course is very rugged and we keep track of the runners to keep them safe.

A few years ago my son-in-law and his brother built an app using
FLAMP using a cell phone or tablet for input of each runner.? After you have input several runners into the app all you do is hit the PTT on your radio, hold the microphone by the tablet/cell phone and data for that batch of runners is sent.? It is amazing how robust the transmissions are.? Many times it just sounds like open squelch but the data still gets through even if the microphone of the receiving
computer is 15 feet away in an echoing trailer!!...



So you don't need a digi-rig, or other interface box, to do short digital text messaging over the air.


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