Random Wire 164: FT8 etiquette, i7 micro PC in the server rack, t630 thin client runs ASL 3, the design language of AllScan products

January 9, 2026: Several new EtherHam articles, some interesting Short Stack items, Amazon finds for radio amateurs, KJ7T activities, and in the closing a note about NXDN radio.

In this issue…

EtherHam articles

- FT8 etiquette: being a good operator

- Micro PC added to the mini server rack for sandboxing

- The capable HP t630 thin client will run ASL 3

- The lovely design language of AllScan hardware

Short stack

Amazon finds

KJ7T activities

Closing

EtherHam articles

Click the title of the summary to read more on the EtherHam website.

FT8 etiquette: being a good operator

I have to confess that when I got my Worked All States award on FT8 a few years ago, I didn’t give etiquette much consideration. I did not perceive that my transmissions might be colliding with, or otherwise interfering with others. I think I was just ignorant of best operating practices for FT8.

I found guidelines and recommendations in several places (including here, here, here [PDF], and here [PDF]), but the five points described by Antoine 3E2AG are perhaps the best starting point I’ve found so far.

I was not an excellent operator when I got my WAS in 2023. All this makes me want to break out my HF station and crank up WSJT-X to work some more FT8 stations, but this time, do it properly.

Micro PC added to the mini server rack for sandboxing

I’ve been watching for a good deal on a powerful micro PC for several weeks, so when this listing came up, I started bargaining for this machine: Dell OptiPlex 5090 Micro i7-10700T 32GB RAM 1TB NVME Win 11 Pro w/ AC Adapter.

When I tested the HP t630 thin client, Dell Wyse 3040 thin client, and Raspberry Pi 4B, the ratings were in MIPS: Million Instructions Per Second. The Dell OptiPlex 5090 performance is in GIPS: Giga Instructions Per Second. Given that 1 GIPS = 1,000 MIPS, it’s easy to see that the 5090 has massively more through-put power than those other machines. It’s a fast little beast.

I enabled Windows Sandbox, a simple virtualization tool, to use for testing programs in an isolated space.

The capable HP t630 thin client will run ASL 3

I wondered: will this machine be capable of running AllStarLink 3? If you don’t want to read through to the end, here’s the spoiler: yes, it runs ASL 3 just fine. The HP t630 platform is very affordable on eBay, with machines configured like the one I used to test ASL 3 costing $40 and up. However, power adapters can be pricey, so look for a t630 that includes the power adapter. You can get a lot of capability for not much money, more than enough to run ASL 3. If you get a t630 with the stand, it takes up little room on the desk or shelf.

The t630 rates better than the Dell 3040 mini PC for CPU performance, and about the same on average as the Raspberry Pi 4B platform. I used 7Zip to make comparisons, using the 7z b command to test multi-threaded configurations.

How does it feel? Running KDE Plama for the desktop environment puts greater demand on the system, but it certainly feels much more responsive than a 3040 with a desktop GUI. I’d say it feels about the same as a Raspberry Pi 4B with a desktop environment installed. The movement of the mouse pointer was very smooth, and dragging windows around the screen was also quite smooth.

I then installed AllStarLink 3 (the appliance version) on the t630. Based on this experiment, I conclude that AllStarLink 3 will run on the HP t630, probably about as well as it runs on the Raspberry Pi 4B.

The lovely design language of AllScan hardware

I like AllScan hardware products. As I noted a few weeks ago, I own and use several AllScan devices. Find AllScan products at https://allscan.info/.

Why do I like them? They are designed and built for a purpose. The maker, David Gleason NR9V, is an accomplished builder. That shouldn’t come as a surprise considering his extensive audio and engineering background. With every product, his focus is first and foremost on audio quality. Good audio was one reason I dove into the AllStarLink world and David’s AllScan products continue to make this experience better for me.

David’s design philosophy seems to be to retain some level of traditional radio look and feel in his builds. His UCI (USB Communications Interface) products are made to be used with real amateur radio microphones and speaker-mics. Instead of tapping the space bar on your computer, you actually key up with a hand mic or desk mic. This makes the AllStar experience feel very much like traditional radio, even though you are actually using a modern analog-to-digital system that allows licensed hams to communicate clearly and swiftly around the entire planet. This marriage of real microphones with modern capabilities for amateur radio over the internet hits the center of the target for me.

AllScan gear works very well. It often looks simple. It’s durable. There is a subtle hint of wanting to repurpose older gear if it will be capable and reliable, but at the same time, David uses modern materials and engineering to improve the final product. I find the configurations attractive, especially those devices where the insides become part of the visible product.

Short stack

• ★ Yaesu has reorganized its website ★, so links you may have saved to various files will no longer work. Hint: go to Products, find your radio or device, click that item, and scroll down to find Files and Updates. (This isn’t new information, but if you haven’t been to Yaesu.com since summer, you’ll feel a little lost.)

• Here’s something I didn’t know I’d been waiting for: Subnets for Idiots (PDF). Crafted by Mark Phillips NI20, it is subtitled “how to correctly use the address space from the 44net”. Mark covers CIDR notation, NAT, calculating subnet information, and more.

• N3FJP Amateur Radio Software: “Amateur Contact Log is an easy to use general logging program that has many great features including tracking of worked all states, counties and countries. The rest of our programs are easy to use "contest specific" applications. You can see what we've been up to lately on our recent news and announcements page.” Several of my local ham friends use the N3FJP logging software.

• Reflectors Explained. “Let’s delve into the world of D-Star reflectors. These reflectors play a crucial role in enabling communication among D-Star repeaters and hotspots.”

• Common Antennas You Need to Know About talks of several basic antennas, courtesy of the always interesting Nuts and Volts magazine. The article covers dipole antennas, as well as Yagi, log-periodic, inverted F, and patch antennas, plus “the operator as an antenna.” This is a great refresher if you haven’t thought about antennas for a while.

• A truly independent search engine shouldn’t exist in 2026 — but it does, and it’s great. I gave it a try and it’s not bad. If privacy matters to you, Mojeek might be a service you want to bookmark. “Mojeek is a growing independent search engine which does not track you.”

• On Reddit: Travel routers - why? This is an interesting conversation about using travel routers to reduce costs and increase security.

• 3 USB-C powered gadgets I never knew I needed. (The retractable USB-C cable? I use coiled cables [affiliate link].)

• The Unreasonable Effectiveness Of The Fourier Transform. Click bait? It was for me. I had to click it.

• 6 Notepad++ features you should be using is interesting to me. I use Notepad++ on my Windows laptop. It is one of my “always install” programs when I put a new computer into service. A feature I use every day is folder as a workspace.

• Raspberry Pi 5 Setup for Beginners 🔥 | OS Install, Testing

• Need to track a GitHub project? Try new(releases). This service will email you when changes occur. You can also track many other sources. Along this same line of thought, there are various ways to get RSS feeds for aspects of a GitHub project or GitHub user. (Hardcore RSS users may already be familiar with Kill the Newsletter!, a service that allows you to create RSS feeds of newsletters.)

• File this under “Linux curiosities” — This is the tiniest Linux distro I’ve ever seen

Amazon finds

I own and use most of these items, so I feel comfortable recommending them. These are affiliate links. (If you purchase a service or product through an affiliate link, I may earn a small commission. There is no additional cost to you. Purchasing through affiliate links helps support the Random Wire and EtherHam sites.)

• BTECH UV-PRO (TAN) IP67 Dual Band VHF/UHF Two-Way Radio - APRS, Bluetooth, GPS, Text Messaging, Aviation Band Scanner, NOAA Weather Alerts, USB-C Rechargeable Battery. I have this radio and really like it (read my first review of it). It is my “go to” radio for one of my AllStar nodes at home. The display is easy to read (I don’t need my reading glasses!) and the audio is clear.

• Radioddity HD-1 IP67 Waterproof Floating Heavy Duty Walkie Talkies, Long Range Two Way Radio with 2400mAh Battery, One-Key Group Call, Vibrate Alert, SOS, Dual PTT for Hunting Road Trip, 2 Packs. I wanted a floating, waterproof, no-license radio for the times I go out on the lake and my daughter needs to call me (we have no cell coverage here). These radios work fine for that. We also use them when we are driving separate vehicles and need to coordinate our turns, where to park, etc. She doesn’t have an amateur radio license so FRS was a good choice, and these affordable radios are easy for her to use.

• TIDRADIO TD-H3 Plus Ham Radio Handheld,Bluetooth-headphone-connectable,Wireless Programming, Multi-band Walkie Talkies Long Range NOAA Emergency Weather Radios for Survival Gear Hunting Crystal 2 Pack. I like the TD-H3. Right now, the price is the lowest it’s been in 30 days: a 2-pack plus many accessories for $70. At that price, I don’t worry about accidentally damaging this radio. It’s small enough to slip into a pocket. If you’re looking for an inexpensive multi-band handheld radio, check out the TD-H3.

• Practical SDR: Getting Started with Software-Defined Radio. The paperback price is reduced to $24.99 on Amazon. If you’re curious about SDR but don’t want to spring for a device before learning more, this is for you.

• Need a travel router with wifi 7 and VPN? The TP-Link BE3600 Wi-Fi 7 Portable Travel Router TL-WR3602BE | Dual-Band, 2.5 Gig Port, USB 3.0 | Multi-Modes in One | OpenVPN, WireGuard® | Public WiFi Sharing for Hotel/ Cruise/ RV/ Plane | No 6 GHz is reduced on Amazon to only $99.99. This is the device I usually take to hotels. I bought mine in December 2020.

• Not a computer and not a radio. I purchased this portable tire pump several years ago. I think it disappeared into one of our kid’s cars. At 41% off, I’m replacing it this week. AVID POWER Tire Inflator Portable Air Compressor, 20V Cordless Car Tire Pump, Rechargeable Battery Powered Air Compressor w/12V DC Adapter, Digital Pressure Gauge. I’ve used it on personal cars and trucks, work vehicles, bicycles, motorcycles, and helping people in parking lots. It’s been one of the most used tools in my entire kit.

KJ7T activities

M1KE

• To upgrade to beta firmware, you must check the “Advanced mode” box in the footer of the web interface. If that is not checked, you won’t see the option to upgrade to beta releases in the Settings page. After saving my selection to include beta releases, I rebooted the M1KE to make sure the new settings were fully saved. When the M1KE did upgrade, it went from version 0.39 to 0.48 without any fuss. (I did make sure it was plugged into USB power, just in case.)

WIRES-X

• I have a WIRES-X station with a Yaesu FTM-300DR at my Portland, Oregon place, but I really don’t want to take it apart and move it up to the lake house near Olympia, Washington. Since I have my Yaesu FT-5DR handheld radio with me, I bought the SCU-57 Yaesu Interface Cables set to use the FT-5DR as a Personal Digital Node. I’ve done this before so it should have been a snap to set up…but it wasn’t. My laptop has an ARM64 CPU and I could not find a Prolific driver that would work with that architecture. WIRES-X installed and ran okay, but the Prolific driver did not. I switched to an HP t630 thin client running Windows 11 Pro and that worked fine until I ran into the “not found the audio device” error. It might be something to do with the thin client audio system so I’ll be trying a USB audio adapter and hoping that resolves the problem.

GL.iNet travel router

• I set up a GL.iNet Slate 7 travel router (this is an affiliate link) as a test. It was a bit bumpy getting started, but once configured properly, it operated brilliantly. I also set up a VPN connection through my VPN provider of choice, NordVPN (this is also an affiliate link), and I’m currently writing this over that connection. The router is speedy and seems like a solid bit of kit. I’m hoping to use this device for a Wireshark tunnel to my 44net IP block.

B-TECH UV-PRO handheld radio

• I ran out of memory…in my head. I got frustrated trying to find the latest firmware update for my B-TECH UV-PRO handheld radio. Finding the change log online is easy. But there is no link to the firmware on that page. There is no link to the firmware on the product page. No explanation. I ended up emailing Baofeng support for help. Silly me: it’s done through the app. I upgraded that way and it could not have been easier. I guess I’m not used to using an app to upgrade a ham radio.

Mini server rack / AllStarLink

• I added a Dell OptiPlex 5090 Micro i7-10700T 32GB RAM 1TB NVME Win 11 Pro w/ AC Adapter to the mini server rack. It has the power and storage I was looking for, in a chassis that includes a USB-C port. I knew I’d find one of these so I already had a 3D-printed mount on hand for it. This micro is pretty darn fast!

• Over at EtherHam, I set up an HP t630 thin client with a full installation of Debian 13 “Trixie” and AllStarLink 3. The t630 feels very similar to a Raspberry Pi 4B during operation, and performance measurements show it is faster than the Dell Wyse 3040 thin client. This fanless system takes up relatively little desk/shelf space when used with the t630 stand. RAM is upgradable to 32 GB (or 64 if you wish to exceed factory recommendations) and two M.2 slots are available for mass storage. If size isn’t a significant issue for you, this very affordable and reliable hardware platform may work well. This device is going on top of the mini server rack.

Closing

I’d like to get involved with NXDN radio, but I’m put off by the programming software. Stated more clearly, I’m put off by the cost of the software. There are good deals to be had on older NXDN gear, but the programming software can cost more than a handheld NXDN radio in good condition. Granted, I’m just curious, wanting to try something different. I know I can use NXDN with my hotspots, but I can already use other radios, so I’m not missing out…except NXDN is new to me and I’d like to learn more. Still, the cost of the CPS software is offputting. This is where having a radio club “lab” might come in handy, because may one purchase could serve many hams. I tell myself that if I ever win the lottery, I’ll build a clubhouse with a lab for our local amateur radio club, but my odds of winning would go way up if I ever bought a lottery ticket!

Thank you to Bill and to an anonymous person who provided some support last week by buying coffees. It makes a difference and I am deeply appreciative — thank you!

I hope this new year treats you well in all things. 73 to all,

https://www.qrz.com/db/KJ7T