Hot Stuff

I had a chance to play around a bit with a new Yaesu FTX-1 rig during Field Day this year. One of our club members brought his and we hooked it up to an end-fed antenna just to monitor. Here's a few quick observations.

• Audio is excellent. Yaesu really did a neat trick with the 'front firing' speakers, which really are not front firing, but downward firing, but into a resonance chamber below the radio that directs the audio forward. I found the audio was loud, clear and distortion free. Good job there, Yaesu
• The screen is very good - clear, crisp and bright, and well laid out
• The configuration soft menu system appears to follow the FT-710 layout, which I thought was pretty good
• The main VFO knob is too big - it gobbles up too much front panel real estate, space that could have been put to use for other purposes like a dedicated sub-VFO knob
• The whole Field package seemed very sturdy. As many have commented, it's not light - it's very brick-like

But...

The radio was running just on receive, and it was running hot. I mean, HOT. There's a specific point on the back of the radio just above where I think the PA board is located, and for some reason it was hot to the touch. The radio was on receive only because we didn't want to interfere with Field Day stations operating just a few yards away. I was astonished at how hot this thing was running. Compared to its #1 competitor, the IC-705, well, there is no comparison. Both operate at the same power levels (10 watts max), but even running heavy digital modes like JS8CALL the 705 never gets above moderately warm (less than half of the built-in heat indicator scale, and never near the danger level). One YouTuber reports that his FTX-1 gets up to 110 degrees F. when running FT8. Of course, Yaesu has always stated that the optional fan is necessary when running digital modes, and I don't really have an issue with that, but they should include the fan as a standard item with every radio sold.  

Heat management is an issue all radio manufacturers face. Some do it better than others, but more often manufacturers get it right with some models, wrong with others. Even Icom. The IC-705 and the IC-7300 are well known as 'cool-runners', but their higher end commercial HF rig, the F-8101, is infamous for its heat issues and the need to run its noisy clip-on cooling fan even when just working SSB. Elecraft's small KX3 and KX2 field radios are notorious hot runners on digital modes, which has spawned an active accessory market for heat sinks and clip-on fans.

Nobody I know of has yet to open up an FTX-1 to take a look at how the PA board is built, and what components Yaesu spec'd. It may be that the engineers knew heat would be an issue, and they over-built that part of the radio to handle the heat. Equally likely, we may see that Yaesu ends up replacing a lot of boards under warranty because they just couldn't handle the heat. Either way, we'll know in about a year. Stay tuned.

W8BYH out

Bust

My lovely wife and I recently returned from a 2,100 mile road trip that took us from Atlanta, GA, to Mammoth Cave, KY, to Benton Harbor, MI, to Oregon, OH to Cincinnati, OH and then home again. The objective was Benton Harbor, to attend her nephew's wedding, but the other stops were for pleasure. For example, we both grew up in Maumee, OH, and wanted to visit relatives and old haunts, so we booked a campsite at Maumee Bay State Park in Oregon, OH (a great park, BTW). 

We were moving fast - a day or two here and there - and the objective was to visit people and see interesting things. In that sense we weren't really 'camping', we were just hauling our hotel room around behind our F-350. What also worked against us was the heat. Just as we left Atlanta, a near record setting heat dome settled in over much of the eastern US. Here's the temperature in Benton Harbor, on the shores of Lake Michigan, on June 21st at 2:00 pm:

It should be noted that at the same time the temperature in Atlanta was only 95 degrees. This heat dome followed us from Kentucky to Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, and it made any outside activity an exercise in heat stroke prevention.

I took along a compact radio setup knowing operating opportunities would be few and far between. I was right on that part. The only chance I got to set up was at our campground in Benton Harbor. This was a KOA, nicely run and well maintained, but campers were stuffed in cheek-by-jowl. This is a 'feature' of every KOA and private campground we've ever stayed at. The owners want to maximize profit, so spaces are tight. Stuff as many in as you can. This arrangement also highlights another problem with camping - RFI from the power inverters, converters and solar charge controllers built into every camper made in the last 20 years. It's a literal RF soup in these campgrounds, and many bands are simply unusable. Your only real defense is to use a radio that has strong filtering, and maybe bring along a set of bandpass filters.

I was using my Elecraft KX3, and much of the 40 meter band was unusable due to RFI (and the KX3 has strong bandpass filters built in), but I did find segments of 20 meters that were usable. Alas, my antenna setup wasn't good enough. I tried two vertical antennas - the desktop Elecraft AX1 you see in the photo, and a larger Chameleon 17' vertical. Alas, I wasn't able to make any Winlink or JS8 connections. I don't blame the campground RFI for this - it was really an antenna issue.  

Which brings me to a major point of this post. I'm a big supporter of the 'AM radio in every car' initiative. Both because I do feel AM radio is important, but also because having to incorporate a working AM receiver into vehicles means car manufacturers will have to take the time to 'clean up' their electrical systems designs to minimize RF noise. This goes double for electric vehicles. Then hopefully there will be a trickle-down effect, where the FCC gets off its ass and does its job and starts forcing manufacturers of things like inverters, switch mode power supplies, solar charge controllers, etc. to clean up their products. Then maybe ham radio operators will be able to set up next to their campers and only have to deal with a light sprinkle of RF noise instead of the flood we deal with now.

W8BYH out

ARES Southeastern US Situational Awareness Map Updates - 12 June 2025

Before diving in to the discussion about changes, I think I'm going to start using this blog as the notification outlet for the Situational Awareness Map. Normally when I do updates and I need to get word out about key changes, I'm cross-posting between a couple of Facebook and Groups.io sites. It gets clumsy, and I have to keep my comments short to fit the various platform restrictions. Using this blog allows me to be a bit more 'expansive' in my comments and discussions about changes.

Now, on with the show!

Yesterday I pushed out a few key changes to the map that wrap up some content updates and a few minor layout changes. Let's have a look.

Since the 2025 Hurricane Season opened on 01 June. I set the NOAA Active Hurricanes layer to on by default. This means any NOAA-released hurricane & tropical storm information (tracks, probability polygons, etc.) will automatically appear and update as NOAA releases information. This layer will stay on by default all the way through hurricane season

Under the Situational Awareness layer group, I added a Current Wildfires layer. This data is hosted by the Department of the Interior, and provides basic information on current wildfires across the US. This layer is off by default:

Let's spend a moment discussing repeaters. After a few years of hosting Repeaterbook.com info in the map, and getting very little feedback on Georgia repeaters (good or bad) - and zero info on repeater data from other states - I've decided to take a different approach. I've dropped the Repeaterbook.com coverage, and have gone back to an internally managed repeater database for just Georgia. This new data can be found in the Georgia Amateur Radio Repeaters layer. What you see in the map today is a slight update to the old Georgia Repeater Database Initiative information. I can take direct updates to repeater information, and can make quick changes - new repeaters, off-line repeaters, changes in repeater location, etc. I will likely put up an on-line form to capture this info, and link it in the map, but that's still a few weeks off. I'm also using a data clustering display tool, which is why you see a bunch of large dots when you turn the layer on. As you zoom into the map, the repeater data will 'dis-aggregate', and  you'll be able to get all the way down to individual repeaters. This layer is turned off by default:

Next up... PSAP boundaries. This one caused a slight stir a few months ago when I put out the word that the Dept. of Homeland Security pulled down the national PSAP (Public Service Answering Point) boundaries layer, and I had to take the layer out of the map. Not that anyone actually used the boundary info, they were just incensed that DHS took it down. Conspiracies, and all that. Folks, it happens all the time with this cooperative mapping platform, not just with national level datasets, but with very innocuous local datasets like local bird sightings, or community-level Girl Scout Cookie sales point layer (yes, someone made a cookie sales point map layer). I do it in my regular job as a GIS program manager at a very busy international airport. Data layers often age-out, security restrictions get imposed, or we just come up with new ways to display the data. So we pull down the old and (usually) put up something new. It's not just me and the DHS doing it - NOAA does it, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency does it, local governments do it, DOT does it, FEMA does it - everyone does it. The real issue is that there's no built-in notification system that lets map authors know a data layer is no longer available. The map just throws an error when you try to open it and a data layer is no longer available. So, back to PSAP data. Yesterday I discovered that the State of Georgia has published its own PSAP data layer, and I've added it into the map. You'll find it under the Borders, Operational Boundaries & Geographic Features - Georgia layer grouping. This layer is turned off by default:

Let's wrap this up. The last thing I want to talk about is finding layers in the map. There are over 50 individual data layers in the map, and the layer structure is complex. It can be tough finding the exact layer you want to take a look at. Heck, even I get lost in the layer stack! That's why I've incorporated a search tool in the Data Layers window, to help you find what you are looking for. It's the little search icon in the upper right corner of the window:

Let's say you are searching for a layer that shows lakes in Georgia. You heard the layer is in the map, but you don't know where. Just open the search tool and enter 'lakes'. The search tool will find the layer group that 'lakes' is nested up under. Simply expand the layer grouping to find the Georgia Lakes & Ponds layer and click the check box to turn it on in the map (it's normally off by default):

That's it for this update. As always, if you have any questions, feedback, or would like some instruction on how to use this map just let me know. There is a feedback button in the map, and it's the best way to get my attention.

W8BYH out

Making Up My Mind

The XYL and I are planning for a long road trip - winding our way north to Michigan to attend a family wedding, then wandering back down towards Atlanta and visiting family along the way (many of them helpfully live just off of I-75). Normally when we camp, ham radio is a big part of the trip. Hours and hours of tinkering and making contacts while my wife reads or naps. This trip is different. It's like a military campaign. Get to Michigan as quickly and efficiently as possible, hang out with long-lost relatives and friends, head back with stops along the way to visit other long-lost relatives. We have a 22' pull-behind camper, but our overnight stays at any one place will be brief and, again, the focus will be on visiting with relatives, not stringing wire.

And yet, ham radio must play a part, even if it's a small one. On this trip the focus will be on back-up communications. I intend to take an HF setup that is small, efficient, easy to deploy, and I know works well on Winlink. The whole package - radio, antenna, power source, cabling, etc. needs to be as small and light as possible.

The antenna decision has already been made - Chameleon Antenna's excellent Tactical Delta Loop. It's fast and easy to set up, and versatile. If there's no space for the full delta loop deployment it can be configured as a simple vertical. The back-up antenna is a Par End-Fedz trail friendly EFHW.

But the radio selection process is more involved. I have something of an embarrassment of riches when it comes to rigs. I'd normally just toss my IC-7300 into a Pelican case and be done with it, but on this trip that radio (and case) would be too big. Something smaller is in order. Here's my options:

• Icom IC-705
• Elecraft KX3
• Elecraft KX2
• Yaesu FT-818

The IC-705 would seem, to most, to be the logical choice. It may well be, but the radio with all of it's necessary out-boarded components (like the AH-705 tuner) fits into a very chunky box. I'll admit though, in that chunky box there's a LOT of capability, and the 705 is a proven performer. In past write-ups I've called it a 'digital mode beast', and it is. Once you get it set up using a wi-fi connection between the rig and your computer, the thing will loaf along all day on digital modes and get only slightly warm. Icom did a remarkable job with heat management on this rig. 

Next, the KX3. This is the excellent Elecraft K3 desktop rig squeezed down into a surprisingly small package. What got left out was TX power. The KX3 puts out only 15 watts compared to the K3's 100 watts, but it retains all of the K3's world-class receiver performance. The KX3 overall is about the same size as the IC-705 but includes a built-in tuner and battery pack (although on internal batteries it only puts out between 3 - 5 watts). The radio requires an external soundcard for digital modes (I use an inexpensive Sbarent USB soundcard), but it's easy to configure and at moderate digital activity levels without getting too hot. I've installed an after-market heat sink, which helps. The KX3 with accessories fits into a Pelican case that is about 20% slimmer than the case the IC-705 fits into.

The KX2 is Elecraft's SOTA/POTA focused rig. They took the KX3, dropped 6 and 160 meter coverage, included a built-in tuner, lithium battery, internal charger, a built-in microphone and made it smaller and lighter than the KX3 by about 15%. Max output is only 10 watts, but you can actually achieve that for short periods on the internal battery. Yes the controls are cramped, but that's a reflection of the size of the radio. What Elecraft did retain from the KX3 is the large high contrast display. The display on both rigs is excellent - logically laid out, easy to read, and if you turn off the backlight, the radio sips just milliwatts on receive. No waterfalls, though. Like the KX3, this radio requires an external soundcard. The digital configuration is the same as for the KX3, but because of the smaller size of the KX2 it doesn't handle digital modes quite as well - it can get hot. But, for emergency Winlink use it's just fine. The KX2 doesn't get transported in a hard case. It travels around in a small soft bag.

OK, the Yaesu FT-818 is not a serious contender for this trip, but it IS available if I'm thinking of something for a back-up rig. My 818 has the Windcamp lithium battery mod, and that turns the radio into a viable emergency use rig. Plus, the little thing is so easy to use - it's probably the last honest radio Yaesu released, honest from the perspective that all the controls are logically laid out, the small display shows you everything you need to know, and not a pixel more, it's easy to configure, doesn't throw any surprises your way, and runs remarkably well on digital modes with an external soundcard. In fact, compared to Yaesu's later offerings like the FT-891 or the FT-991A, the FT-818 is a simple joy to use. 

So which is it? At this time I haven't made up my mind, so if you have any advice or suggestions let me know in the comments below!

W8BYH out

Getting To Know The Motorola Micom

 'Getting to know you, getting to know all about you'

Fans of Rogers and Hammerstein's 'The King and I' will remember the song. I first heard it when the impossibly beautiful Deborah Kerr sang it to the King of Siam's kids in the movie version of the musical. OK, Ms. Kerr couldn't sing, or couldn't sing good enough, so the undisputed queen of 1950's & 60's female musical over-dubs, Marni Nixon, turned Ms. Kerr into a musical star. I've been smitten with Deborah Kerr (and Marni Nixon) ever since.

Nothing to do with ham radio, but with a look like that, who cares?

'Getting To Know You' is a tune I often sing to any new radios or accessories that come across my bench, particularly if the device falls outside of what I describe as normal ham radio operational protocols. That would be just about anything not made by Icom, Kenwood or Yaesu. And so it was with a radio I'd had an interest in for years, but didn't know where to start when looking for one - a Motorola Micom commercial HF transceiver. These were (and still are) in common use in the MARS, CAP and SHARES communities, and unlike their L3/Harris, Barrett or Codan brethren, they were relatively affordable on the used market. Motorola stopped manufacturing the Micom line about 8 years ago, but there's still an active user community, swapping advice, radios and components. Good working examples pop up regularly on eBay. So, in terms of availability and price, they are pretty accessible and have a very good reputation for ruggedness and long service life.

I found mine, a 2E model. on a Groups.io site devoted to commercial and military HF rigs. According to the seller it was in excellent condition and had been used in a test environment at a small radio accessory development company he used to own. The radio came with an external long wire tuner (similar to an Icom AH-4), microphone, power cable, programming software and some documentation. On arrival it was clear that the rig really was in very good condition. The microphone was the only real iffy item - it had been in a lot of hands, and it was a bit 'sticky'. The seller dug a new one out of his box of parts and sent it to me for free.

The biggest issue was a programming cable. Motorola did a lousy job of documenting just how to connect this thing to a computer to get it set up. All the instructions say is, 'connect programming cable'. What programming cable? What does it look like? Where do I connect it? There's a 25 pin accessory connector on the back of the rig and, like the rest of the radio world would, I figured that served as the radio programming port. But no. I found out through the user community that programming takes place through the CAT6 microphone connector. What this means is, there's no CAT-like radio control that lets you do voice ops while managing frequency or settings. There are no original Motorola programming cables to be had, at least none I've been able to locate. There is a guy on eBay selling what he claims is a home made programming cable, but what he sells doesn't work. I was saved by an instruction sheet issued by the Civil Air Patrol back in the early 2000's that showed how make a programming cable using CAT6 cable to a DB9 serial connector. 

The Motorola software is old, but pretty good. It allows you to set up the channel frequency memories and settings, and configure the radio for ALE. It was written to run on Windows 2000 or Windows 7, and has a distinctive 32 bit Windows XP look and feel, but runs just fine on Windows 11 in compatibility mode. Earlier this year I got the radio programmed with a swath of Georgia ARES, SHARES and other public service frequencies, played around with it a bit, then got distracted by other rigs. The Micom sat unused for months. 

A few weeks ago I came upon a Micom video on the LifeIsTooShortForQRP YouTube channel. The host reviewed a Micom 2E - the same model as mine, except his is the remote head version. Other than that, it's the same radio. He reviews and repairs a LOT of commercial and military HF gear, and had nothing but praise for the Micom. The video renewed my interest in the Micom, and I decided to get it back on the air and spend more time learning its capabilities. 

I now see why the Micoms were (and still are) so popular. They are a mil-spec chunk of metal that just works. I have mine connected to an LDG Z-100 tuner so I can use to my MyAntennas end-fed in the back yard. The speaker audio is excellent - designed to 'punch through' in noisy environments, and I get consistently great audio reports whether I'm using the hand mic, or the Motorola handset I found on eBay. 

I've only used it on sideband for local, state and regional nets. It MAY do digital, but I'll need to work on figuring that out. As far as I can tell Motorola never produced a digital modem. Discussion on the topic is very... unclear. One recommendation is a digital mode interface made by XGGComms out of New Jersey, built with a 25 pin connector specific to the Micom. Reportedly it will also allow the 25 pin port to serve as the programming and radio control connection. One's on order, but it'll be weeks before I'm able to give it a comprehensive test.

The Micom has ALE built into the firmware ALE 2G, and apparently does it well, so that'll be the next thing I get it set up for. 

Overall, I'm finding the Micom an interesting example of a commercial HF rig, and it's helped me better understand what the commercial HF hardware world looks like. Customers aren't interested in spinning dials and waterfalls. They want a radio that's easy to operate, holds a few channels, has a long mean-time between failure, and when one of their personnel keys the mic, it works with no fuss or muss. They are business tools, not hobbyist toys.

I'm sure I'll be writing more about the Micom, as I get deeper into digital modes and ALE. So stay tuned. 

W8BYH out

Fanboys Report!

It's been just a few weeks since the Yaesu FTX-1 Optima and Field models have started to ship. We've had the usual silly and pointless unboxing videos, and only a few in-the-field-making-contacts videos have come out. But there have been enough of those videos to show:

• the firmware is still buggy
• the field version with just the battery is pretty big and heavy; it ain't no Elecraft KX2
• the radio addresses some of the issues that linger with the very good FT-710, such as waterfall display averaging
• audio quality and volume are both good
• the radio naturally 'sits' at a good viewing angle (something Icom blew with the IC-705)
• something I never thought of, but Yaesu botched the placement of the two BNC connectors - the UHF/VHF connector should be at the top of the stack, making it easy to mount a whip antenna for local repeater work and still connect an HF antenna cable
• like all field radios that have come before it in the Yaesu line, it's about as water resistant as a submarine with screen doors

There have been no reports on Bluetooth or GPS performance yet. And no discussion or evaluation of the performance of the 'snap-on' accessories like the external tuner or cooling fan.

For me there are few huge wait-and-see items, and this post is a request for someone to specifically address them.

First, does the radio have back-lit buttons? Internet chatter indicates that, yes, the radio does have some back-lit buttons, but I'd love someone to do a short video in low-light conditions to show just what buttons are back-lit, and show the menu item that controls the lighting level (assuming there is one).

Next, how well does this rig perform when running digital modes? In the recent past, Yaesu's digital mode configuration settings on their HF field radios were an unholy mess (FT-891, 991A and a few others of the same generation). My sense with the FT-710 is that Yaesu spent a lot of time cleaning up their menu structures, but I never got to work the radio on digital. Since this rig seems to borrow a lot from the 710 interface, I'd like to see someone do a video on configuring the rig for something like FT8, and then running an extended session outdoors to see just how cool the rig does, or doesn't, run.

Last, and most important, how well does the FTX-1 do when running digital modes over a USB-C cable? This is the Icom IC-705's biggest design flaw - Icom badly botched the RF shielding in the rig, and it's unusable on digital modes over USB. I want to know how well the FTX-1 works on digital when controlled by a USB cable. Did Yaesu get it right - did they incorporate proper RF shielding? If yes, this radio has the potential to grab the majority QRP radio market share from Icom.

So Yaesu YouTuber Fanboys, here's your mission - I want a comprehensive, focused video of the new FTX-1 covering all the things I list above. Get it posted by the end of the week. Move out.

W8BH out

The Radio As A Box Of Legos

The new Yaesu FTX-1 started shipping this week and the ham radio world is all a-flutter. The Yaesu fanboys are squealing with delight, the Yaesu haters are harumphing, and folks in the middle, like me, are taking a 'let's wait and see' attitude. 

One of the FTX-1 issues I did gripe about on Facebook is the lack of built-in GPS and Bluetooth, and no wi-fi capability. In this day and age, and particularly at this radio's price point, leaving out these features seems kinda' dumb. 

However, someone responded to my post with a strong argument against GPS, Bluetooth and wi-fi integration, and his argument made sense. Now I'm not so sure stuffing all this technology into an HF ham radio is such a good idea.

Bluetooth and wi-fi are perishable standards. This means that the standards are always advancing, and backwards compatibility can be iffy. Over the course of a few years any radio with these features will become increasingly out of step with the latest standards. As the radio ages, it becomes harder and harder to sync it with Bluetooth devices like wireless headsets, or get the radio on a working and secure wi-fi network. I'll admit, it's more likely that the radio will fail for other reasons before the Bluetooth and wi-fi features become obsolete, but it does make me think about a radio with obsolescence engineered into the box.

GPS is a bit different. The GPS data standard is stable and has a lot backwards compatibility. There is an installed base of millions of GPS devices in critical applications (like aviation) that can't be messed with. This means GPS, by its nature, is pretty 'future proof'. But GPS integration by ham radio manufacturers has always been half-assed. I've written about this in the past. What this means is that owners who want GPS info for uses beyond DSTAR or C4FM integration will get only a fraction of the potential out of the GPS receivers built into the radios.

So let's look at what a modern HF radio must have to be relevant in today's world. The list is actually pretty short. It needs to be able to transmit on all bands from 10 meters through 80, and should be able to tune continuously from  1.5 mHz to 30 mHz. The radio has to do AM, SSB & CW, and do them all well. It must have good filtering and bandwidth adjustments. And of course, some sort of audio output (speaker), a physical control interface (knobs, buttons & switches) and a virtual control interface (CAT or CI-V) via serial or USB. 

Yes, Lego does make a radio! (OK, it's not a real radio, but it's still cool. Check it out!)😄

A radio with these features, and just these features, is a very viable and a very future-proof rig. It carries no technology that will cripple it due to obsolescence. Plus, by adding external components (that 'Box of Legos' thing), you can add relevant functionality without endangering the radio's basic resistance to obsolescence. The transceiver is the core of a system to which you add functionality by dipping into the metaphorical Box of Legos.

The IC-718 has been in production for a quarter century and lacks most bells and whistles
available on current rigs, But it's still a very viable HF rig that has survived 
precisely because it lacks technologies that could have aged-out, forcing the radio from the market.
Using the Box of Legos concept, it can be easily built out to match the
capabilities of more modern rigs 

The Yaesu FT-891 is a very good basic HF rig. It lacks a lot of modern features
such as a soundcard interface, antenna tuner and GPS. Its simplicity is a strength - there's
little with this radio that will 'age-out'.
Using the Box of Legos concept, it's easy to expand the rig's capabilities to
match more sophisticated units that are packed with technologies that
will age-out.

Want to be able to match a variety of antennas? Grab an external tuner. The beauty of an external tuner is that you can match it to the mission. Just want a basic 100 watt tuner for rag chewing or low power digital modes? There's plenty of them on the market. Need to run higher power level digital modes for SHARES or MARS nets? There's a few tuners available for that. Want a battery powered tuner you can run on a POTA activation? Those are available, too, in max wattage ranges from 20 to 100.

Want to run digital modes? Virtually every radio made in the past 30 years can support digital modes. If the feature isn't built into the radio, you can easily out-board the digital signals to an external soundcard device. There's lots of good options. Amazon will sell you a very nice external USB soundcard for under $20, or you can go for a more expensive but more capable dedicated unit like the SignaLink, or one of the manufacturer-specific soundcard interfaces. Any of these options will get you on digital modes with little fuss.

Think your rig is old? Here's a picture of N6CC's field setup, running Winlink using a 70's-vintage
military AN/PRC-174 radio. and a SignaLink as the digital interface

Is  your radio's volume output a bit weak? There are plenty of small, lightweight and cheap battery powered speakers on the market. 

Two small battery powered speakers designed for use with devices like smartphones with 3.5mm
audio output jacks. These work well with radios that need a bit of extra audio 'oomph'.
The small red one in the foreground (about $12 on Amazon) actually provides better sound,
but the battery only lasts an hour or two before it needs a recharge

Need access to GPS to time sync your FT8 session? Remember, the radio doesn't care a wit about a time sync for FT8, it's the WSJT-X application running on your computer that cares. For less than $20 you can buy a USB GPS receiver to plug into your computer and get highly precise location and timing information. There's free software available that will sync your computer's system clock to the GPS timing signal. This is a far more useful solution than a GPS signal that stays locked up inside of a radio.

Here's a nice looking GPS receiver that gets good reviews and uses the ubiquitous uBlox receiver chip.
Cheap and effective 

Just add one of several free GPS monitoring applications to your Windows device, and you'll be getting far more useful GPS info than you could ever hope to from a GPS receiver installed in a modern ham radio.

To sum things up, don't be afraid to buy into old or low(er) tech radio solutions, as long as you can bring the core transceiver up to snuff using add-ons that extend the radio's usefulness without endangering its resistance to obsolescence. Have that Box of Legos filled with useful add-ons that keep your radio running - and relevant - long after current Bluetooth and wi-fi standards are no longer supported. 

W8BYH out