January 7, 2020.  On October 10th, 2019 I was received my FTM-100 and HRI-200 ID from Yaesu and was able to open my room. I call it ‘A Room with A View”. The view being that of helping other hams through difficulties and the challenges of operating in a stealth manner.

I plugged the HRI-200 into my main computer and connected my new FTM-100 into it with the supplied HRI-200 cable.  I then powered the FTM-100 on and opened up the Wires X program.  I had to input the new ID information into the Wires X program and immediately the data from the Japan servers started to download.  I checked the port to make sure that they were ok too.  It took a few minutes for my room to show up. Things made more sense now that I had an HRI-200.  One gets a node (which all PDN hams also get). But one also gets a Room. The room shows up in the Room ID bottom panel of the Wires X software. Mine was N2LRB-Room.  I eventually changed it to INFO-LINK as that is a more descriptive name for the room.

I got the room after initial thinking I would not need one. I wrote a local ham who had a room and asked if I could host a net in his room.  But almost immediately I figured 1. that it would be great fun to brand the room and 2. I would rather brand and make popular a room I own. I would also have control over the room.  With that I started making lists of potential names for the room.  I wanted the name of the room to reflect the room’s purpose. Names I came up with were: The Canteen, The Cloakroom, The Exchange and then INFO-LINK. Hey, you gotta get these things right. Next I set out to make a graphic that would be the INFO-LINK Facebook Page page banner and the graphic which would be posted with whenever I post something about INFO-LINK on Facebook or anywhere else. One graphic (brand) many uses.

In late December 2019 I started to post the existence of INFO-LINK on various Wires X and Yaesu equipment Facebook pages and in all of my Facebook group pages.INFO-LINK Graphic

I am hoping to host a few nets with the Stealth Radio Net being the first net. I am aware that it will take time for any net to become popular.  But I am not sure what to expect to tonight’s first Stealth Radio Net. Will many be attracted by the main topic of the net?  If so, will my Intel Computer on a stick computer be able to host many people in my room? Will no one show up? Can I run he Net effectively? We will see tonight.

Even before tonight I have had people come over to INFO-LINK to talk among themselves and to drop by and say hello. And my brother and I use it as a meeting place. No need to wait for America-Link to be free.

I have run tests to see how far away I can reach my Wires X Node.  It seems that 96th Street is the edge of my being able to talk from my FT3D HT.  I can listen all the way out to 86th and Third Avenue, but not all the time. I envy hams who live in the suburbs and say that they can talk via their Wires X Node from 14 miles away. The don’t have tall buildings where they live and not in the density which I have them.  It’s a miracle I can get through at all on East 96th Street. I have found that I can hit my node at a great distance if I am up high liike on the 14th floor of a building like Metropolitan Hospital. I was able to hit my node (FTM-100 with antenna at my window sill) with my FT3D from the office which I use to work in at Metropolitan Hospital. The office is on the 15th Floor and the window is line of sight to my co-op building.

My brother has a room, but he is one FTM-100 (in need of one) short of having the same setup as I have..

I love having a room with which to host nets. It will be a Wires X only room. I actually don’t want to add a DMR or D-Star bridge to it. As it will introduce the noise, pops, squeeks, whistles, pops and robotic sound which those modes have.  Though I am open to it in the future if my room becomes popular.


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