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RCS K6RCSRadio · propagation · field systems
K6RCS / Resources

Rigs · antennas · power · programming · digital systems · emergency communications

Operator resource directory

Start with the equipment, then the antenna, then power and software, then the network. The internet has successfully hidden simple radio tasks across six vendor sites, three wikis and a forum thread from 2012. This page keeps the list focused on resources that are still useful.

Start with the layer that can actually be broken before blaming the layer with the fanciest acronym.

Randall Stone and Karden Stone at GEARS Field Day in Chico, 2022

GEARS Field Day · Chico · 2022

Randall Stone and Karden Stone at the operating table. Manuals and directories matter most when they get the station on the air.

Field software that earns the battery

iPhone and browser tools

The useful apps answer a field question quickly: where is the repeater, what is the band doing, what room is active, what is my grid, what did I just work, and can this path reach licensed RF?

iOS

HamLog

Quick logging plus band plans, grid/bearing tools, wavelength calculations, WWV propagation information, DX cluster/spotting, DTMF, UTC and callsign lookup. This is field infrastructure, not a novelty logger.

HamLogApple App Store

iOS · offline capable

RepeaterBook

Nearby amateur repeater discovery with a database that can be downloaded for offline use. Particularly useful after the phone loses the network that was supposed to tell it where the radio network is.

RepeaterBookApple App Store

iOS

myGMRS

GMRS repeater and callsign directory. Use for licensed GMRS route/destination discovery; repeater-owner permission and current status remain controlling.

myGMRSApple App Store

iOS · locator

WiresApps / WIRES-X Nodes

Refresh the active-node database from Yaesu with Update Database, find a nearby WIRES-X node, then make the actual connection over RF with the FT-5DR. The phone finds the first hop; the radio makes it.

RF-on-the-fly procedureFT-5DR field steps

iOS · M17

MSeven - M17

Current M17 reflector client for receive/transmit, station activity, mapping, contact notes and supported RF interfacing. It is much more than the old “decoder” shorthand suggested.

MSeven - M17Apple App Store

Browser · DMR

BrandMeister HoseLine

Receive-only live BrandMeister talkgroup audio/activity for discovery, net monitoring and diagnostics.

HoseLineLive BrandMeister audio

Windows now · iOS forthcoming

QSO One

One software client for AllStarLink, EchoLink, IAX Direct, DMR, System Fusion/YSF and M17. Office QSO One is not counted as operational under the present security settings; iOS is still forthcoming.

QSO OneCurrent platform and network status

iOS

EchoLink

Native phone access now. If the selected EchoLink endpoint is attached to an amateur repeater, the remote end can be RF even though the phone-to-node segment is Internet.

EchoLinkApple App Store

Web

QSO One Net Finder

Live cross-network net directory covering AllStarLink, EchoLink, DMR, System Fusion, M17 and D-STAR. Useful as discovery; operator/network sources still control the final schedule.

Net FinderBrowse current listings
Publisher-first rule: manufacturer and authoritative live documentation stays with the source whenever possible. Local PDFs here are K6RCS-created field references, not redistributed manufacturer manuals.

1 · widest range / highest power first

Radios and primary manuals

Sorted roughly by operating range and practical transmitter class, rather than by which logo won the alphabet.

2 · RF leaves the radio here

Antenna specifications and plots

3 · power

Field power and generator reference

4 · programming and backups

Radio software

Read the radio first. Save the known-good file. Then make changes. Radios are remarkably good at remembering the one accidental checkbox you hoped they would forget.

5 · digital systems

From RF mode to network without hand-waving.

The new Digital Systems Field Guide separates air interfaces, IDs, hotspot/repeater settings, network destinations, and test methods. DMR, C4FM/WIRES-X, D-STAR, NXDN, P25, M17, AllStar and EchoLink each get their own page.

Open the Digital Systems Field Guide

License practice

The official pools, now runnable.

The current Technician, General and Amateur Extra pools are loaded into a browser-based K6RCS practice engine with official diagram support, full practice exams, subelement drills and local missed-question review.

Open ham radio practice exams

Licensing · technical learning · adaptive retrieval

One question at a time. Personal. Adaptable in real time.

This began as Stone family dinner trivia and immediately exposed a much larger use. The same loop can drill an amateur-radio examination class, Part 97, band privileges, electronics, propagation, antennas, digital modes, emergency communications—or essentially anything else that can be learned through questions and explanations.

The useful discovery was not that machinery can generate a stack of questions. A static stack already exists. The useful discovery was a live drill that can respond to the learner while the learner is using it.

1 · ground the material

Start with the official source.

For licensing, use the current official examination pool and current FCC rules as the controlling material. Generated questions and explanations can support study; they do not replace the source or get to invent operating privileges.

2 · require retrieval

Commit before revealing.

Ask one four-choice question at a time. The learner answers before seeing the result. Immediate retrieval is more useful than rereading a page until every sentence merely looks familiar.

3 · explain the distractors

Every option teaches something.

Reveal the correct answer, explain why it is correct and explain why each other choice is wrong. A missed answer should identify the broken concept instead of adding another red mark.

4 · adapt in real time

Change the next question because of the last one.

Track misses and hesitation; revisit weak topics from another angle; change the mix and difficulty as understanding improves; avoid repeating mastered material merely because it is easy to generate. That is the personal part. The drill changes while the learner is still in it.

Reusable amateur-radio study instruction

Use the current official amateur-radio examination pool and FCC rules as the controlling sources. Quiz me one question at a time with four choices. Wait for my committed answer before revealing the result. Explain why the correct choice is right and why every other choice is wrong. Track the concepts I miss or answer hesitantly; adapt the next questions in real time; revisit weak concepts from different angles; increase difficulty as I improve; avoid repeating mastered questions until the relevant pool is exhausted. Flag uncertainty instead of inventing a rule, privilege, frequency or examination answer.

See the family dinner discovery FCC Amateur Radio Service

The K6RCS licensing tools are paired with free amateur-radio instruction from ARRL instructor Randall Stone. There is no teaching fee; if in-person help requires travel, actual travel or transportation costs may be reimbursed.

6 · incident structure and public service

NIMS, CERT, ARES and regulatory references

7 · propagation, terrain and field conditions

The stuff between the antennas

Radio tools I keep close

Start with the voice and digital field-station guide.

Current regional systems and net sources

Use the operator’s current page for volatile schedules and access. A printed binder is a field reference, not a time machine.

GEARS repeaters and AllStar/EchoLink GEARS events and nets WIN System connection methods PNWDigital nets SNARS nets Bay-Net repeaters AllStarLink node list

K6RCS Nets & Access condenses the currently useful public operating set.