I Removed The Other Shelf Thinking That It Would Relieve The Pressure On The Power And Reset Buttons,

I ordered the radio on the right, a Yaesu FT-897, as a gift for myself for passing my General Class exam. I've wanted this radio since it was released in 2002 but as a Technician Class I wouldn't have been able to use but two frequency bands, not to mention it was out of my price range. I got it off of ebay and learned that it's a Japanese version and hard wired to not operate on all U.S. frequencies, even after MARS modding it. I already have the two radios on the left and the handheld (HT) for the 2 meter and 70cm bands so it's not a total loss and the radio still has performance abilities (power consumption wise) that far exceeds modern rigs.

My daughter and I successfully sent and received test texts to one another once everything was setup.

Performing 3D Printer surgery

Layer separation using the new direct drive. This is a new learning curve and I may have to change some settings.

After being a Technician Class since 1997, I passed my General Class exam last month. I only missed one question! *pats self on the back* It took about two weeks to be updated on the FCC website.

If you are going to use a GPS with your unit you will need to enable the GPS mode and then set the rx and tx pins that you have soldered to on the circuit board of the radio. Here they're set to 48 and 47, respectively.

Learned about the MIDCARs and the ECARs nets from a Facebook group and tuned in this morning. I was encouraged to go ahead and check in, so no need to just listen in until I feel I've learned enough about them. I heard a call for any stations to check in and I got real excited, grabbed my mic, keyed up and got that TX-Error again. I downloaded the Japanese band plan (because this radio came from Japan - see previous posts) and learned that I will not be able to transmit on frequencies above 7.200Mhz on 40 meters. It's all good, I'll just have to save up and try and get a comparable radio with similar capabilities. Meanwhile, I'll just listen in to these great nets.

I was about to order a shelf so I could upgrade my station but remembered I had a kitchen rack I wasn't using. It'll do for now. The station is a work in progress.