FLDIGI – Easy Low Power Comms

One of the best things about going to NC Scout’s classes are the people you meet. Multiple friendships have developed through those classes and one is with Teacher. Once a week, every week, Teacher and I meet on the airwaves practicing our digital comms. Being about 90-miles apart we use a 2-meter repeater located in-between us or HF, using 20-meters early in the day or 80-meters as the sun is setting.  Scout asked Teacher to write-up a quick beginners how-to article on digital comms using the FLdigo free software. Enjoy – JMc 

My brother and I talked about working on our ham radio communication skills and decided on 2-meter digital communications. We decided to work 2m FLdigi using the mode Thor22 in FM using a repeater . The repeater is close to him, but it is 73 miles from me.

We chose 2m FLdigi because of its many advantages. It is an efficient and effective method of communicating, with a variety of modes to choose from that allow your comms to become more robust as needed and include a measure of privacy, in that not just anyone can listen in. Importantly, it is also a digital mode available to those with only a technician’s license. Technician-class operators have a phenomenal tool at their comms fingertips.

“Simple, fast, reliable, energy efficient” is 2m FLdigi in a nutshell.

I was excited because I now have someone to continually work out the bugs in any potential comms plan, the technical side anyway. For me digital is the way to go, and FLdigi is a good place to start.

As we were adjusting settings to make our contacts, we would use our cells [phone] to pass suggestions. It took a few sessions to find success.

My station consists of a Yaesu 2900, a Signalink with cables to attach it to the 2900, and my Asus laptop running Windows 10. My antenna is a Diamond x-30a with a length of LMR 400 to the radio.

Yaesu FT-2900 powered by a 10ah lfp battery, and a SignaLink connected to an Asus laptop

The Yaesu FT-2900 is a single-band radio that can put out 75 watts at full power, but full power was never needed. The FT-2900 has been replaced with the Yaesu FT-2980.

A simple BaoFeng (5-watts) or Quansheng (5/10-watts) can be used in transmitting and receiving digital comms. You also do not need a computer to run FLdigi – A smartphone app is all you need. Over at NC Scout’s Brushbeater site, in the Communications & Software Resources section, is a link titled FLdigi for Android. Follow the link to the free software.

On our first attempts working at FLdigi, I had a little difficulty. I gave tech support a call and left a message. They responded quickly, and we got to the problem. Their help was concise, and knowledge of my specific radio was spot-on. The tech support from Tigertronics, where I purchased the SignaLink, is excellent. I highly recommend their products, their site, and their staff.

So, after searching for and watching a YouTube video on 2m FLdigi, reading the directions that came with the SignaLink, using tech support, and most importantly, finding a like-minded brother to build skills with, we had success.

The settings on my equipment are specific to my station, but I will pass them on as an example.

I first turn on the radio and the SignaLink and then open up FLdigi.

The SignaLink settings are as follows: the DLY is all the way counterclockwise, the RX is set to 12 o’clock, and the TX is set to 12 o’clock. If everything is adjusted correctly, the red LED should be lit when transmitting.

Computer settings were accomplished by doing the following: right-click on the speaker icon on the lower right-hand side of the computer screen. Open the volume mixer settings and set the speakers at 100 percent and the application at 50 percent. Right-click on the speaker icon again. Go to the Sound Control settings. The settings will be as follows: Speakers – level 100%. Microphone – level 50%.

Open up FLdigi and click on “Configure.” From UI, click on “Operator.” Go to “Audio.” For Capture, you should choose “USB Audio Codec.” For Playback, you should choose “USB Audio Codec.” Lastly, “Port Audio” is checked.

Enter your frequency, choose your mode, and confirm that you are in FM, not USB, etc.

On the radio, my SQL was set at 10 o’clock, and the volume control was at 8 o’clock.

If you play with the volume control, you affect the waterfall.

Put your settings in a notebook. They may be changed by someone, or someone else may need to send a message. Hopefully, eventually someone in the family or group other than yourself will learn to use your station.

The effort to accomplish 2m FM digital comms is well worth it. 2m FLdigi when using the SignaLink is an effective tool and not that difficult. Get the tools and the experience now.

With success in using 2m FLdigi for comms, we now move on to HF FLdigi. I have been using HF FLdigi for a while. But, with our being about 80 miles apart, the adventure looks to be on the NVIS side of the house.

Good Luck, God Bless, and 73s,

Teacher

 

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About the Author: johnyMac

30 Comments

  1. Capt. D August 28, 2020 at 11:15

    This is super encouraging and motivating. I cannot thank you enough for posting this.

  2. Jon August 28, 2020 at 11:19

    Excellent post. Thanks for sharing your lessons. FLDIDI Is good software. It just takes some practice to learn the nuances.

  3. Johnny Paratrooper August 28, 2020 at 11:35

    I have so much to learn.
    That might have well been written in Chinese.

    • Old Man Coyote August 28, 2020 at 13:42

      Yeah, I feel like a cow looking at a new gate.

      • Johnny Paratrooper August 28, 2020 at 15:36

        Not to familiar with cows. Although, I have heard that if you are too nice to them, they turn into baby pets.
        I was riding a horse once and crossing a road(Trying to at least) during a round up, when that big ass mare saw those yellow lines in the road she FLIPPED OUT. Apparently, she missed that day of class.
        THERE”S PAINT ON THE ROAD! I Better Start Bucking!
        I stayed on, but got the hell off if you know what I mean.

  4. LKS August 28, 2020 at 13:35

    Good article. I managed to get FLDIGI working using a virtual cable (heck, FWIW my Ham computer is a virtual machine). I’ve used it only to receive through SDR. Need to sit down and get my Kenwood setup to use on the computer too. Thanks for the motivational post!

  5. Badlands Rifleman August 28, 2020 at 15:19

    “I first turn on the radio and the SignaLink and then open up FLdigi.” That’s an important procedure from my experience, turn on radio then open fldigi. It took me awhile and some heartburn to figure that one out haha. Thanks for a good article for setting it up on VHF.

    • johnyMac August 30, 2020 at 15:17

      LOL Badlands you are 100% correct. Actually, if I want a flawless digital experience, I turn on the radio, Signalink, and then fire up the computer from scratch. They all then seem to recognize their specific rolls and VIOLA! Failure to do that, my dog, W3OOF, has to put her paws over her ears while I express my displeasure with the whole digital experience.

      73 & God Bless

  6. Johnny Paratrooper August 28, 2020 at 15:32

    Hey serious question,
    Is there an unofficial, official net to listen to for patriot traffic outside of the normal civil emergency band(which is obviously controlled by leftists) or NOAA which is obviously also controlled by leftists?

    • Homer August 28, 2020 at 17:51

      Amrron. They have regular national and regional nets.

    • johnyMac August 30, 2020 at 14:56

      Sorry for this late reply Johnny Paratrooper been in Indian country helping a friend with his comms. To answer your question, yes/no. LOL

      I ran a net from about mid March till the end of June, 2 – 3 nights a week. Specifically, everybody gave a BORRIS Report on the CCP Virus for their surrounding AO. The PACE was posted on unchainedpreppers.com in the Radio Board. It was open to lurkers as well as hams with licenses. I gave instruction for lurkers who just wanted to monitor their SSB capable shortwave radios like a Grundig.

      Currently, their is none really on the easy coast other than AmRRON that hold a weekly net on Sunday nights 7.238Mhz or 3.818Mhz LSB depending on the time of the year, starting at 2100 hrs ET. I think right now it is 7.238 Mhz LSB.

      I have attended a couple but have not been impressed so I stopped attending. BUT, it is a good group to try out of you are new to amateur radio or attending a net.

      73 & God Bless

  7. Daniel August 28, 2020 at 15:47

    For me this and Winlink have been exercises in frustration and futility. No joy here even after other HAMs tried to help. If *getting* it running is such a bitch I wonder how much of a time-suck keeping it running would end up being. Maybe not so bad once the heavy lifting is done, but my pre-boog to do list is long and I can only sink so many hours into a project before seeing results.

    Daniel – No Speed, All Drag

    • Homer August 28, 2020 at 21:27

      I have felt ur pain in getting fldigi set up. But when running its a valuable tool and opens up a whole new world in hf. Once I had it functioning I took pics of all the different settings and printed out paper copies. That way if I had problems in the future I could refer back to them.
      Good luck…..

    • johnyMac August 30, 2020 at 14:44

      LOL, Daniel – No Speed, All Drag.

      I can not find fault with your comments. I had to learn it as I am part of the local ARES group her in NE PA. Personally, I am not a lover of digital comms. With that written, if I didn’t have someone at my Mount Everest of frustration come and actually spend an afternoon with me, I would have jettisoned this mode of comms. CW is easier at first for me.

      Giving back is what I am doing with Teacher. However, I am learning as much as Teacher is during the process. ;-)

      73 Brother

  8. SOTA Prepper August 28, 2020 at 16:09

    HF is really the most versatile way to go. You want to be as independent of any infrastructure (including repeaters) as possible.

    • johnyMac August 30, 2020 at 14:38

      SOTA Prepper, yes sir you are correct with one caveat… Simplex VHF or UHF works also. A friend of mine (Yes, I have to pay him-LOL) we use simplex VHF to chat via FLdigi and we are about 60-miles apart. Doing this works best with a horizontal polarization of a 5-element yagi antenna. We find TX/RXing in ssb works best too. No repeaters used.

      As a side note, very few folks use CW anymore. That is a good option to use also instead of digital however, it takes a bit longer to TX.

      73 & God Bless Brother

  9. Daren August 28, 2020 at 16:38

    You should look into FLMSG as well. It allows for form, both custom and predefined, to send an email type message. It stores receives messages so if you were to receive something while away from the computer it would be there without the gibberish FLDIGI sometimes decodes.

    • Wynn August 28, 2020 at 19:07

      Have you tried JS8CALL?

    • Homer August 29, 2020 at 16:54

      Flamp is a must have also. Most ARES type organizations use flmsg and flamp both. An operator should have these for gathering information/intelligence if nothing else.

    • johnyMac August 30, 2020 at 14:33

      I read ya’ Daren. We use FLMSG and FLAMP for ARES exercises. Heck, your group could come up with your own ‘form message’ too and use those two modes.

      73 Brother

  10. FlyBy August 28, 2020 at 17:20

    So, does one need to use the SignaLink between the radio and the computer, or can the radio be direct wired to the PC?

    • johnyMac August 30, 2020 at 14:31

      FlyBy, sorry i have taken so long to get back to you on your question. Been in indian country Fri & Sat helping Patriotman string a few antennas at his new AO. I hoe these answers to your question help a bit. Probably will spark some new questions \”/

      1) Between my HF rig, a TS-590s, I do not need a Singnalink or any other USB sound card/radio interface as my rig comes equipped in the radio.
      2) Between my VHF rig, a TM-V71A, I do need the signalink or Rigblaster, or….USB sound card/radio interface.
      3) Now if you want to do it the old fashion way, and have your computer’s mic hear the clicks and pings of a RX from the radios speaker. Then when TXing hold the radio’s mic up to the computer’s speaker when sending you could do that; However, what a pain in the neck. PLUS, whether you are RXing or TXing the opportunity for either function to pick up ambient sounds in or around the shack are greatly increased. Boy that was a mouthful.

      73 & God Bless

  11. Anonymous August 28, 2020 at 18:33

    5

  12. Wynn August 28, 2020 at 18:38

    FLDIGI is a great program but JS8CALL is far more robust form of digital comms for short burst type messages. I highly recommend looking into it.

    We need a 48/80m comms window for digital… what say you JMAC? NCSCOUT?

    • johnyMac August 30, 2020 at 14:09

      Hey Wynn, yes I agree.

      PM me, and lets you and I set a PACE for one in the near future. I just looked at the VOACAP propagationpredictor and 40-meters looks excellent on 40-meters from about 0700 hrs ET to 2200 – hrs ET. Sound copacetic?

      If others would like to participate I will post a PACE after Wynn and i figure out a good day/night/time.

      73 & God Bless Brother

  13. Homer August 28, 2020 at 21:20

    Does anyone here run a Yaesu mobile vhf/uhf radio with just an Android device/data cable and NO signalink? I want to run a Yaesu 8900 with data cable to an amazon fire running the flmsg app. I would just manually control tx/rx with the ptt on the mic.
    In my case the audio is not going over the data cable. Im guessing a setting in the radio is not correct. But I can’t figure it out and haven’t found any info on this.

  14. pixie August 28, 2020 at 23:11

    Question… these BaoFengs-Is it absolutely impossible that China could not have put some kind of tech inside to disable these at any point? I worked in parts warranty for years, its found in wide range failure reporting all the time. Though they do try to make it intermittent to hide the scam. Just wondering. They are pretty much the only radio on amazon and if this is what everyone has… well. These are the things I think about before I was about to purchase.

    • NC Scout August 28, 2020 at 23:26

      I’ve took one apart. No, there’s not.

  15. Major Hayseed August 29, 2020 at 00:43

    fldigi is weak signal processing software. your waterfall should be nearly all blue and only the receive signals turning yellow. this will affect your decoding ability if you’re swamping out the signal. try turning your radio volume down to the 10 o’clock position and leave the signalink where you have it. bpsk is usually a very strong signal to start with. olivia, on the other hand, will sometimes decode even if there is no audible or visual signal in the waterfall. way down around s/n -10 dB. if you can use flrig with a cat cable, you can tweak your radio from the sliders there.

    • johnyMac August 30, 2020 at 13:58

      Thank you Major Hayseed. All good points.

      73 & God Bless

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