If you want to set up an HRI-200 on Starlink, AT&T, or use you phone as a hotspot, there’s a problem. You need to open incoming ports and that can’t be done in many cases. The answer is to use a VPN to tunnel past your ISP to the raw Internet. One solution for some carriers is to use the PDN mode which does not require incoming ports to be open. But that may still not work.

The other problem is we’re running out of IPv4 space. New ISPs, such as Starlink, don’t have a lot of IPv4 addresses. IPv6 solves this problem plus many others. Thus it’s no problem for each ISP subscriber to have thousands of unique IPv6 addresses. Unfortunately the WiRES-X software DOES NOT support IPv4. At all. IPv6 will become more and more dominant and this will just become a bigger problem.

If you set up a PDN (no HRI-200), a commercial VPN will work well. With a VPN, your IPv4 traffic will be sent in an IPv6 tunnel. At both ends, your node and the Internet, IPv4 addresses will be used. This works because PDN does not require any incoming ports to be open. It may be that Starlink provides this service automatically. Don’t know.

If you use an HRI-200 then YOU NEED to open an incoming port. Most every commercial VPN does not permit assigning specific ports for incoming traffic. This is because they will share a single IPv4 address between dozens of subscribers. A couple of VPN providers do permit this. I have used Golden Frog’s VyprVPN in the past for this purpose. VyprVPN is a “high end” VPN service and will cost you quite a bit more than free or low-cost VPNs ($60/yr). You’ll need to turn off the NAT firewall so make sure your exposed computer is well protected! This will give you complete, unfiltered access to the Internet – something you can’t get with your ISP!

See https://www.vyprvpn.com/

See the attached file for supplemental information regarding the VX8, FT1, FT2, FT3, and FT5 series battery comparison discussed during the 13-Mar-2023 Fusion Technical Net. The discussion can be heard on the podcast Part One, Part Two.

Link to the high current (and cheaper) CD-41 replacement desktop charger: https://amzn.to/3G9fUCX

The file has been updated for the 3-Apr-2023 Fusion Technical Net.

The other day I was working my Fusion repeater with my FT70D. Since I was “DX” I had the HT on high power. Although it looked like I was getting into the repeater just fine, I couldn’t enter the WiRES-X control mode. However when I switched to low power I WAS able to control the repeater.

What gives? Why could I control the repeater (node) on high power, but not on low power?

Back at the house where my repeater is located, the problem still existed. I could use the WiRES-X control mode on low power but not on high power. Since I’m within 10 meters of the repeater, signal strength couldn’t be an issue.

Looking at the output spectrum of the FT70 revealed the problem. On high power there were some spurs that shouldn’t have been there. The spurs were much weaker on low power. Other radios didn’t exhibit the spurs. Click on the images to compare and see the details.

Photos show the waveform capture from an FT5 during a MNWis net. Note that they are not symmetrical around zero. The 2nd image has more detail and you can see that the waveforms are not symmetrical. The clipping sound is heard when the audio level hits the limits even though it is still not at 100%. Odd.

I don’t know why Yaesu doesn’t make this public, but they don’t. You can download version 1.44 of the IMRS LAN firmware. This solves some problems with LAN connections constantly dropping.

During the Monday Night Fusion Technical Net, a comment was made that it was possible to use an FT5D to receive C4FM on 29.250. This started a conversation about other HT’s as well. Thanks to W4IOD, AD0MI, N0PXT, and N0OQL, we now have the definitive answer for most of the Yaesu Fusion radios.

Background

Using 29.250 for C4FM has become popular as 10 meter conditions have improved significantly. The Yaesu FT-991(A) is the only radio that is capable of Tx and Rx on 10 meters as well as operating in Group Mode (GM). When the band is open, you may see or hear C4FM traffic on this frequency.

One way to check 10 meter band conditions is to tune AM down to the CB frequencies near 27.195 MHz. If you hear a lot of racket, then 10 is probably open.

The ‘A’ band must be used since the ‘B’ band on all radios cannot tune 10 meters.

Analysis

Note that none of these radios can transmit on 29.250. In addition if 29.250 works, then six meters will work as well.

The following radios cannot receive 29.250 MHz since they don’t tune down that low, bummer:

Mobile Radios: FTM-100, FTM-200, FTM-300, FTM-400, FTM-3200, FTM-3207, FTM-7250

HT’s: FT-70D

The following HT’s tune 29.250 and DECODE C4FM (show callsign and switch between DN/VW)* but do not provide audio:

FT-1D (US version), FT-2D, and maybe FT-3D

*Must be set to Rx DN or VW.

The following HT’s will receive C4FM on 29.250 but cannot engage GM. GM is handy for seeing the callsigns of stations that are beaconing.

FT-1D (Japan version) Interesting! Maybe the JP versions of other HT’s will do this as well.

The FT1D and FT2D can enter GM using the following process:

1. Enter 29.250 on the A side.
2. Enable both A and B if both sides are not enabled.
3. Switch to the B side.
4. Press the GM key.

The following HT’s can receive 29.250 and can enter GM. Note that they display the GM information but do not beacon:

FT-5D

Bottom line

The FT-5D has more C4FM capability since it allows reception wherever it tunes while other radios do not.