M7PTH wrote: ↑Thu Feb 01, 2024 3:32 pm
I'm new to the hobby having just passed my Foundation exam on Jan 21st.
I want to learn about C4FM and WIRES-X and am thinking of the a setup something like the following::
- FT3D
- FTM-300D
- HRI-200
- WIRES-X software on PC
Could you help me with a few questions?
- what is a Gateway? Is it the donor/node radio and the HRI-200? I see 431.800 in the video of Matt's setup. Is that assigned? Or do you have to apply for it? Or can you just pick any frequency?
- does the node/donor radio need to be anything special considering its only going to be used as a 'Gateway'? Or would something cheaper than an FTM-300D be sufficient?
- i travel between my home in Chorley and a holiday home in Wales, so I want to be antenna-free. If I wanted to use something like an FTM-400/500 to transmit/receive instead of an FT3D, could I plug that into the Radio 2 socket on the back of the HRI-200 and use that antenna-free? I understand a dummy load would be required on the node/donor radio. If I used the FTM-400/500 to transmit/receive, would that need a dummy load as well?
- does every device connected to WIRES-X need to be registered on yaesu.com? If yes, does that mean each device requires it's own Member ID for registration purposes?
Sorry if these question seem a little basic! But as a new person to the hobby and knowing very little about C4FM/WIRES-X, I'm just trying to understand it more before going ahead and buying the wrong kit or kit I may not need.
Thanks for your help.
Paul.
M7PTH
Hi Paul!
Welcome to the hobby! Sure you will get many years of enjoyment from it
A gateway is a donor radio yes, you only need a HRI 200 if you want to host your own room.
For a donor radio you could use an FTM 100 or if its for around the house an FT2, FT3 or FT5 would be ideal. as a foundation holder you are not able (as yet, this may change as ofcom are looking at this) to apply for an NOV to trasmit on air with a gateway, you would of course put the radio on a dummy load and use around the house.
only the radio that is the node/gateway needs to be registered at Yaesu the radio you wish to talk to the node on does not.
Hope this answered some questions for you Paul
One other way is you could use an FT3 or FTM 100 and use whats called PDN mode, this allows you to connect the radio to the PC and talk into the mic, no RF comes out but would be ideal as an internet radio, this would have to be registered on Yaesu
Thanks for asking and I hope I cleared some things up for you