/P - Radios
Handheld radios currently in use.
| Radio | Photo | Bands | Analog | DMR | C4FM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yaesu FTX-4 |
|
2m/70cm | ✓ | − | − |
| Yaesu FT-5D |
|
2m/70cm | ✓ | − | ✓ |
| Quansheng K5 |
|
2m/70cm | ✓ | − | − |
| Baofeng UV-5R Mini |
|
2m/70cm | ✓ | − | − |
| Baofeng DM-32 |
|
2m/70cm | ✓ | ✓ | − |
| Anytone D890 |
|
2m/70cm | ✓ | ✓ | − |
Target shack
My current target QTH station: working towards this, step by step
Design philosophy
The design is centered on a stable, always-ready operating environment: HF and V/UHF rigs can be used independently on their respective antennas without manual reconfiguration. A permanent SDR receive path is kept up for both domains, so spectrum visibility stays continuous no matter which radio is active. That removes cable swaps and RF repatching—the shack stays ready to use even after long breaks.
The architecture also favors flexibility and operational safety, which matters for non-daily use and heavy antenna experimentation. The switching and control layer (TRIO) makes antenna or mode changes quick and low-risk, and blocks classic failure modes like keying into the wrong path. The intent is a structured, foolproof station that supports tinkering without infrastructure busywork, so attention stays on testing and operating.
Equipment overview
| Component | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| microHAM TRIO | Central RF router and station protection: radios ↔ antennas ↔ PA; PTT, band decode, ALC, TX inhibit; shared PA and six-pack HF farm. Up to 3 radios / 6 HF antennas, remote/web control. | |
| ✓ | Yaesu FT-710 | Primary HF TX/RX. RF to PA and antennas via TRIO; CAT and audio over USB; band follow and TX inhibit from TRIO; SCU-LAN10 for IP remote. |
| MX-S3 ×2 | TRX/SDR switch and RF tap: panadapter, diversity RX, spectrum on HF and V/UHF. One unit with FT-710 (HF), one with FTX-1 (V/UHF path). | |
| RX-888 | Wideband receiver: full-band IQ capture, logging and analysis; fed from shared switching paths. | |
| ✓ | Yaesu FTX-1 | Secondary multiband transceiver. HF via TRIO; V/UHF via MX-S3 to dedicated antenna; SDR tap for V/UHF monitoring. |
| HF PA | Driven from FT-710; keyed via PTT, band data, and ALC. Shared amplifier brokered by TRIO for safe keying and routing. | |
| ✓ | Mac mini | SDR apps, panadaptors, decoders, CAT (e.g. rigctld), logging, automation. |
| SCU-LAN10 | IP CAT and remote operation for FT-710. | |
| Ethernet switch | TRIO controller, Mac mini, SCU-LAN — distributed, remote-friendly LAN. | |
| ✓ | Orico USB 3.0 BC1.2 Hub | The RX-888 needs on the order of 2 A supplied over USB, so the upstream port/hub must implement BC 1.2 (or equivalent higher-current USB power); a plain data-only or low-current port is not enough. Feeds RX-888, radio CAT/data, and other USB gear into the Mac at USB 3.0 speeds. |
ON8ST/P - Internet
RF Guru Analog HotSpot
RF Guru Analog HotSpot - Transceiver 70cm UHF or 2m VHF 500mW CE
/QTH - Hotspots
| Hotspot | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| RF.Guru Analog SVX Hotspot | Analog (SVXLink) | Primary analog hotspot |
| WPSD Digital Hotspot | Digital (WPSD) | Primary digital hotspot |
/M - Hotspot Box
This boxed dual hotspot is a portable setup meant for use in the car. It provides SVXlink analog access to the Belgian SVXlink network (portal.be.svx.link), and an MMDVM digital hotspot running WPSD hotspot software.
Both hotspots try Wi‑Fi in this order: the QTH network, the car’s Wi‑Fi hotspot, then the iPhone personal hotspot. A small companion server on one of the hotspots exposes a simplified status page for both, so you can glance at state from a phone while driving.
| Hotspot | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| RF.Guru Analog SVX Hotspot | Analog (SVXLink) | Primary analog hotspot |
| WPSD Digital Hotspot | Digital (WPSD) | Primary digital hotspot |
| Mini Waterproof Suitcase | Box | |
| 12V-5V microUSB | buck converter |
ON8ST/P - Antennas/Cables
Content coming soon...
ON8ST/P - Radios
Content coming soon...
ON8ST/P - RF switching and filtering
Content coming soon...
SDR receive module
RX-888 based wideband receiver with MX-S3 TRX/SDR switching for TX protection
Purpose
This module adds a high-performance wideband SDR receiver around the RX-888 (USB to PC), while MX-S3 SDR transceiver switcher units isolate that receiver from the transceiver’s transmit power. One MX-S3 covers HF; a second covers U/VHF. PTT lines ensure the SDR is not connected to the antenna path during TX.
Vendor references: RX-888 MKII product site · MX-S3 on Banggood (UK)
Working block diagram (sketch)
Hand-drawn system overview as filed for this project.
RX-888 MKII (receiver core)
According to the manufacturer’s documentation, the RX-888 MKII is a PC-based SDR that streams wide bandwidth over USB 3.0 (~3 Gbps), using a 16-bit ADC (LTC2208) at 130 MSPS. It can display about 64 MHz of spectrum at once from roughly 10 kHz to 1.8 GHz coverage (depending on band/tuner path). The MKII updates include tunable HF attenuation (0 … −31.5 dB), a VGA with about −10 dB to +33 dB gain range on HF and VHF, an R828D tuner (replacing R820T2), an improved 64 MHz low-pass filter for image rejection, and selectable internal vs external 27 MHz reference. Typical host applications include HDSDR, SDR Console, and stacks using ExtIO or SoapySDR on Windows, Linux, and macOS.
MX-S3 (TRX / auxiliary receiver switcher)
The MX-S3 is marketed as an SDR radio transceiver switcher / auxiliary receiver interface, with compatibility called out for rigs such as IC-7100, FT-891, 450D, and 991A on the retail listing. In this station design it provides:
- ANT — antenna port
- TRX — connection to the main transceiver RF
- PTT IN / PTT OUT — keying sense and switched outputs so receive-only gear is bypassed or isolated on transmit
- RF feed toward the RX-888 (sketch labels this path LNA? — confirm gain and filtering in the final build)
Exact insertion loss, isolation, and power handling should be taken from the MX-S3 datasheet or vendor measurements when available; the Banggood listing is a convenient index but may not list full RF specs.
Power and data
The block diagram shows a shared 12 V feed (with inline protection on each branch as noted in the sketch) for the RX-888 and both MX-S3 units. The RX-888 connects to the PC with USB 3.0 for IQ / spectrum data.
Signal flow (conceptual)
- HF antenna → HF MX-S3 → RX-888 HF-related input.
- U/VHF antenna → U/VHF MX-S3 → RX-888 VHF/UHF path.
- Each MX-S3 ties TRX and PTT to the respective band radio so that on TX the SDR sees a safe port instead of full PA energy at the antenna.
ON8ST/P - Mast
Content coming soon...
ON8ST/P - Console
Content coming soon...
ON8ST/P - HTs
Content coming soon...
/M - Mobile Radios
| Equipment | Type | Bands | Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yaesu FTM-500 | Mobile Transceiver | 2m / 70cm |
|
/M - Mobile Antennas
| Equipment | Type | Bands | Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diamond MR77 | Mobile Antenna | 2m / 70cm |
|
| Diamond NR-770H | Mobile Antenna | 2m / 70cm |
|
Server
Load Average (1m, 5m, 15m) [—]
Network bandwidth (Mbps, per 10s) [—]
Memory % [—]
Disk % [—]
Page views (HTTP)/h [—]
API calls/h [—]
Latest KPI entries
Active external API clients (last 24h) [—]
| IP address | GeoIP location | Active since | Last API call |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | |||
Database Management
Manage
| Resource | Country | Last Import | # Imported Records | Actions |
|---|
View
| Callsign ↕ | Frequency ↕ | Location ↕ | Mode ↕ | Country ↕ | Resource ↕ | Latitude ↕ | Longitude ↕ |
|---|
| Source | Count | Coords % | Update |
|---|---|---|---|
|
SDR Book
(receiverbook.de)
|
- | - |
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WebSDR.org
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- | - |
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Database Summary
Background Polling Status
Update Log
Actions
Logs
Tracks which pages are opened by each user. Multiple views of the same page in one session are counted.
| IP / Location | User | Page | Delta t |
|---|
Users and Roles Management
Active Users
Users who have been active on this server (most recent first).
| Username | Name | Location | Last Active | Total Views |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loading… | ||||
Roles
| Name | Description | Permissions | Actions |
|---|
Users
| Username | Role | Created | Actions |
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