IDEAS

Hi all... this is about DIY programming cable.... for your HAM radio... Various  programming cables can be found in eBay at high prices. But the fact is that all these cables are UART - USB converters either in 3.3V or 5V TTL. Radios whether it be Icom, Yaseu, Baofeng, Motorola , all can be programmed with a single cable , once you know what are the connector pinouts... Here i am going to explain this with help of my Baofeng UV-5RE, which is a 5W VHF/UHF handheld radio. It has a 2.5mm and 3.5mm jack for connecting programming cable, headset+mic. Depending on what you connect, the radio responds to it... The ring, tip, sleeve on both jacks have various signal designations. So for this DIY programming cable , our point of interest are on 1. 3.5 mm sleeve   (Rx Data) 2. 2.5 mm ring      (Tx Data) 3. 2.5 mm sleeve  (GND Data) So what we need to have before starting.. 1. A modified nokia DKU-5 or CA-42 cable (USB-UART converter). See i...

As you all can find immense resource about HAM Radio and its related hobbies in internet, i am hereby trying to give some help to get such license in India. So this post is for someone who is planning to write the licensing exam (Amateur Station Operator's Certificate or ASOC). No HAM technical are described here... for that u should dig somewhere else.. So lot of changes have occurred in licensing like the Grades of Licence, Maximum power allowed in each grade, the exam pattern, frequency, guidelines etc... Revised amendments from government will update these aspects... According to current regulations two grades are available. (Old times it was total 5 grades)  1.Restricted (no Morse code test  and lesser transmission power)  2. General  (Morse code test  and higher transmission power ) A candidate can mention his desired Grade in application form for exam. Always the best method is to find a Ham club in your town and register with them for e...