It Has Me Pinpointed

Ruined one of my Heltec V3's by soldering and resoldering the connections for the hot and ground wires trying to get it to fit into the radio frame.

Layer separation using the new direct drive. This is a new learning curve and I may have to change some settings.

I ordered the radio on the right, a Yaesu FT-897, as a gift for myself for passing my General Class exam. I've wanted this radio since it was released in 2002 but as a Technician Class I wouldn't have been able to use but two frequency bands, not to mention it was out of my price range. I got it off of ebay and learned that it's a Japanese version and hard wired to not operate on all U.S. frequencies, even after MARS modding it. I already have the two radios on the left and the handheld (HT) for the 2 meter and 70cm bands so it's not a total loss and the radio still has performance abilities (power consumption wise) that far exceeds modern rigs.

Got it updated and connected to my phone but it's the only one in the area. Need to build a mesh

After being a Technician Class since 1997, I passed my General Class exam last month. I only missed one question! *pats self on the back* It took about two weeks to be updated on the FCC website.

The radio frames made by Tony G on printables.com truly are well designed and if anyone is thinking about building meshtastic radios I would highly suggest downloading any of his designs that suits your needs.

I would have only one fix for this radio frame though, it's this blasted lip/shelf where the heltec v3 is supposed to sit. The design prohibits the connections for the hot and ground wires to the GNSS radio to sit. Granted, I'm not good at soldering but I was good enough to ruin my radio trying to find a way to get the wires soldered in a way that would work. But I think I have a solution.

I'm not a man of great means, so when I look at antennas, like my purchase of the Moonraker GPA-80, I need it to be versatile so I can take it to the field if needed and collapse it relatively fast if needed. I've been eyeballing alot of these telescopic masts but most won't work with the Moonraker, but I still have the field expedient 1/4 wave 40m I made that I could run up a crappie rod which is relatively cheap. If anyone wants to take a look at the source for the one in the picture, the link is below.

Frames completed after 17.5 hours.