VarAC HF Digital Instructional Video From A - Z 

Wow, thank you for such a high and honorable comment. One of the greatest compliments I've have ever received. The ultimate goal for a person with a teachers heart. THANK YOU!!

Nice fix and glad you could get the RF under control. SWEET!!

Thank you for your kind and encouraging words!!

Thank you for taking the time to let me know! Have fun and I hope you make a lot of contacts.

Thank you for taking the time to let me know. 😊

Glad it was helpful!

Thanks my friend, I will send you the handout.

So glad they are helping you!

Glad it was helpful! Each new version release has new stuff in it. Let me know if you want the latest handout for VarAC. kw3kw@mail.com

Great to hear! Thanks for letting me know.

So nice of you to take the time to post this! Thank you.

Email me at HamRadioMadeSimple@RU-vid.com and I will send you my operational manual. Thanks for the kind words too :-)

So glad you are finding these videos helpful. Thanks for taking the time to let me know.

Glad it is of value to you!

Sounds great! I would recommend that you add frequencies when connecting with friends and stay off the main calling frequencies. Less traffic and more privacy. FUN app for sure!!

NVIS will hit your buddie in the valley 👍

Gary, how is it going? Need any help?

@@hamradiomadesimple Everything is going great - I think I have all the the main apps setup and working properly - thanks for all of your assistance!

Glad you find them useful and thanks for taking the time to let me know.

So much to learn so it will keep you busy for a while. Especially when using the advance features. Have fun!!

Glad to hear you got it fixed. When it comes to software, one box unchecked or checked, can make a big difference.

Try 20M 14.05 later in the day and 40M 7.105 in the evening times. They have the most activity.

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to post this and for hitting the like and subscribe buttons!! Next up: JS8 from A to Z

You're very welcome. Thanks for taking the time to let me know. I really appreciate it!!

Glad it was helpful! Now a new version of the software was released. May have to update soon :-)

You are so kind my friend. Thank you!!

Sorry to hear this! It test you faith but in the end you become stronger from all this. My prayers are with you and your wife. Last year, my wife had lower back fusion with a long hard recovery. When she got better I had 4 different surgeries in 5 months with 2 requiring long recoveries. Better today but not normal so we learned to adapt to the NEW normal. Grateful to be able to be mobile and functional. It helps when you see what is on the good side of the ledger of life and not focus on what is on the bad / difficult side. As we age, more gets moved to the difficult side. To those who can see the good, can still enjoy life. Blessings and let me know how your wife is doing!

Thanks for taking the time to post something AGAIN. Your words are encouraging as you have posted MANY times before. I really appreciate this!!

Not sure myself. I would guess that it won't connect while another connection is in progress. With so many changes recently, I will have to double back and see.

That would be cool! I think I need to build a Raspberry PI computer in order to operate on this, correct?

Thanks for posting this!

I hope it helps you get up and running on VarAC!

I will be redoing VarAC late in Jan 2024. New user interface and will do a QSO and a Broadcast Messaging...

After I recover from some health issues, I will be redoing VarAC due to the massive change in user interface. I've been looking into this already. Hopefully I can figure out the best way to do it. One of my issues is, the constant resending of data making the rig get tied up for too long. There's gotta be a better way of stopping this. Agree with your assessment, now what is the best way to fix it?

Great point John. I thought the same except when it comes to Vara HF. The manual instructs to go 1/3 on the ALC meter. Not sure why and not sure it if matters. Been trying to stay at or near zero and don't see much of a difference. Let me know what you come up with!

I would have a primary and secondary frequency. The lower the frequency (on 40M) the greater the chance you will run into higher traffic from RITTY, CW and other digital apps. Keep the primary one toward the upper part of the digital band. Use short hand codes to keep the TX time down. Start with the published list for CW short hand words. Create your own. Have set times to check in during emergency situations on set bands and freq. depending on the time of day. Make sure you can forward MSG. There is so much that goes into an EMCOMM Plan it would take several pages to fill this out. If you want to connect directly, let me know.

I use Filter 2 and like you, get the best results. I use JS8Call, Winlink Vara HF P2P, and FSQ right now. VarAC is really cool but still tweaking it to see how consistent the results are. I could give you a download on this like at what -dB level you need to pass when trying to send a message etc. What additional frequencies you need to add to get off the crowed channels. So much depends on your location (elevation, obstructions etc.), Antenna type, setup, SWR, radiation pattern. As I keep practicing with my friends, we all are reposition or adding another antenna. I have the EMCOMM 2 in both a sloper and NVIS setup. I will be adding the Palomar Engineering OCF Dipole at 35 plus feet for more DX to our group. I like the way you think. Let me know what works best for you!!!!!!!!!

@@hamradiomadesimple I currently have an EFHW set up in an inverted "V" with one half of the length situated north to southwest and the other half of the length situated northwest to southeast. It does work quite well. The center support is an old 25' flag pole with a small pulley attached to the lanyard. I use it in this configuration for longer distance. When I need NVIS, I lower the pulley down to about 10' or less from the ground. I've worked stations coast-to-coast and border-to-border, and beyond on a single watt. Like you, I'm always trying new things and I have several antenna options available.

Yes it does! Only way to go with the Vara Apps. Daniel, have to work with you on Vara HF P2P. LOVE IT

Roger roger! Texting via HF and a software app. JS8Call, Fldigi (suite of various apps) are a few others. My next video is a side by side comparison on all these. Pro's & Con's of each and what you can expect from them.

Yep, email me at kw3kw and remind me what you just asked for 😁

Wine! I believe it is in the user manual (Under Resources on the header) around page 79ish...

On Page 71 of the User Manual: Download for manual is on the VarAC App under RESOURCES then look for User Manual WineLink deploys WINE with a full Winlink RMS version and VARA using this following project script. We only need the WINE and the VARA modem part of it but this installer simplifies the installation. github.com/WheezyE/Winelink

Dave, it could be several things. One, another digital mode is sending on the same frequency but unable to decode so it is ignoring it. Second, not directed to you like you mentioned. Thanks for passing the channel over to others. I hope this helps shorten the learning curve and fill in the missing gaps of information.

Two programs that are INTEGRATED seamlessly together. Vara HF is the Modem app and VarAC is the "fast chat app". Vara HF won't communicate to anyone but provides the connectivity. VarAC is the chat app that can't communicate to anyone apart from itself. The two together is what makes it work. Does this make sense?

Very good explanation. Should help people with installation

Great question Todd!! My background was in Healthcare IT Software Sales. I often worked with software where they integrated separate software to make it run seamlessly. Cost less to produce and faster to market. Very common in my old world. Appreciated you taking the time to post this. Have fun and let me know how I can help!

Contact me at KW3KW@mail.com and I can send more info on this.

Contact me at KW3KW@mail.com and I can send more info on this.

Check to see what your default audio devices are and make sure they are not the USB Audio Codex. I use the Realtek Speaker as my default speaker so I get the sound notifications. Let me know if this helps.

@hamradiomadesimple worked thank you

I would agree that Winlink HF Email is better. It uses Microsoft Services (Cloud) that allows the better response (holds emails and looks for connections when only ONE side is connected). VMail has to have your intended recipient connect while you are connected - both have to be on and able to transmit message based on band conditions. I see this as a challenge but something is better than nothing. I use it with others who I know. When we are connect - at the same time - for a more "private message" - well, as far as Ham Radio goes lol....

Thank you!

I totally understand. I have to be mindful of how long these videos go. I also learned you can't have part 1 and part 2 of a Digital HF App video. They can't find the first one and then tell me I messed up. Doing the best I can with what I have to work with. Thanks for posting your perspective.

Its step by step

I understand. The videos are long already for most people to even consider to view. Most end up watching several times while taking notes. When I do a series they don't seem to find them in the right order either. IF I had a private channel that might work but who would find it? Thanks for taking the time to post this and I wish there were a better way of doing this.