weechat-radio:$
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guides › Connect a radio › Pick a radio path

weechat-radio:$ Pick a radio path

Pick the picture that matches your station. Each path is about five minutes. All four work with the internet off.

You are the control operator

Stay inside your licence. Suggested frequencies are only suggestions — check your band plan before you transmit. See calling frequencies.

Four paths

Each path differs in what presses the radio’s transmit button. Pick one to watch a line go out and its receipt come back.

How a radio joins the station This computer and a radio, with another station on the same frequency. Path A: one USB cable to a Digirig, then one audio/PTT cable into a handheld; the Digirig presses transmit. Path B: two audio leads, and the radio keys itself on the sound (VOX). Path C: a sound-card lead and a CAT lead through Hamlib's rigctld into an HF radio; the computer presses transmit. Path D: Bluetooth to a VR-N76, which makes the packet itself with no sound card. In every path the receipt comes back the same way. other station same frequency on the air this computer <G4ABC> hi [ok] > _ HF radio Digirig or AIOC USB audio/PTT the Digirig presses transmit for you handheld computer headphones → radio mic radio speaker → computer mic VOX: the radio keys itself on the sound radio sound card CAT · Hamlib rigctld the computer presses transmit over CAT Bluetooth no cable, no sound card the radio makes the 1200 bd packet itself VR-N76

  • D · VR-N76 / UV-PRO over Bluetooth Radios with a built-in packet TNC. No cable, no sound card: the app pairs and connects for you. path D →
  • A · Handheld + Digirig Walkie-talkie (Baofeng and friends) plus a USB Digirig or AIOC cable. path A →
  • B · Any radio with VOX Headphone cable. The radio transmits when it hears data tones. path B →
  • C · HF rig with CAT HF radio with USB. The computer can press PTT and change frequency. path C →
The computer turns chat into audio. The radio sends that audio over the air.

Audio: low / hot / good

The status bar reads the receive level from modem73 (the sound program sitting next to wcr).

low
turn radio volume up, or raise the computer input.
hot
turn it down. Distortion kills data.
good
leave it.

When the path is weak

If the other station is faint, or HF is fading, do not turn the audio up into hot. Pick a slower preset and let the program retry. Guide: weak signals.

hf-poor is the usual HF calling preset. hf-weak and hf-deep are slower. The status bar TX and RETRY fields show when the program has stepped down on its own.

No radio yet? The 5-minute start works on internet only.

Next: put up an antenna → HF antennas · VHF and UHF antennas