VE3MAL

Yes. This is a setting in the menu. Audio source is selectable separately for -D and non-D, so one of them can use the mic and one can use the aux, or whatever you want. I believe it also recalls the various DSP settings as well, so you can set things up how you like for phone, and for digi and easily toggle back and forth.

It's not about a pre-set per-se, but about having 2 custom U/LSB profiles.

That manual is written by Jordan, but the key point is not the manual, it's the software and protocol.

JS8Call has a few bits it can devote to "special" group calls that save a lot of bandwidth, and saving bandwidth improves how much you can send in a single cycle, improving both communication speed AND fidelity. But there are only a few of them because they are limited by the protocol design, so Jordan necessarily has to be selective. He chose to devote one of those to a group with christofascist and insurrection ties. That is an implied endorsement, or special assistance rendered to that group that turns off a LOT of hams. It's quite literally baked in to the software. If that doesn't bother you, fine, but I hope you can see why many of us would rather just stay clear of something like that.

The relaying is also a problem. Though most people don't automatically relay, it's worth being aware that if you turn that feature on, you could be carrying water for AMRRON. It could also be illegal at a point. Without the network features of JS8Call, it doesn't actually bring a while lot of fancy features beyond existing digimodes.

Put the volt-meter in series with a switch or momentary button. They tend to draw a little power, so you don't want it draining your battery when you are not using it. If you stick a cig (accessory) port in there too, you could plug in other things, or a usb charger or whatever if needed. I've used my pota battery to run a small 12v air compressor, for instance.

Amateur radios are generally spec'd at 13.8v plus or minus either 10% or 15% so that they work on a non-running car (12.something volts) or if an alternator is running a bit hot. A 100W radio like this is pretty much always going to require around 20amps at full power -but they have adjustable transmit power. They don't transmit as well at the lower voltage range, but most people don't worry about it.

It's a (kind of silly) throwback to the radios that armies used in the first half of the 20th century that were large enough to necessitate a dedicated person backpacking them around everywhere. It's still common in ham radio like other traditionalist terms. "Portable station" is more accurate, but maybe boring?

There's negligible advantage in loss going from pl259 to N connectors on HF. You don't have the kind of losses you do on VHF and especially UHF. The only time N is really nice is when you need an intrinsically weatherproof connector -but this is mounted inside the weatherproof box.

If you want slightly better loss specs AND a more convenient, quicker connector, BNC is great. But PL259, as I said, is fine.

I would look at fabbing up a box that fits snugly, rather than "clamping" them. That could protect against puncture as well. A 3d print or thin plywood glued together would be fine.

Star Trek discussion /usually/ tends toward anything new being bad, and always has. SNW and lower decks are exceptions because they do so much fan service and return to a more classic Trek format. Discovery was groundbreaking in a way that I'm sure Roddenberry would have enjoyed, but groundbreaking also implies jarring change and throwing away things that work for experiments that sometimes don't.

This is a really good take. I have enjoyed the serialized shows -but they are a juggernaut of emotion and intensity to watch. You tend to watch them once, and it's a fairly wild ride, but then it's done. I suspect that I will be re-watching episodes of SNW and lower decks for years to come, as I have for TOS and TNG. That's how Trek wormed it's way into my brain in the first place.

Is this for FM? Most people are using vertically polarized antennas for that. You could turn it on it's side, and feed that coax sideways for at least a few feet.

The trick with a friend and JS8Call would be to utilize heartbeats and script up some sort of notification alert when a path opens.

If you don't have trees and want an easy, portable solution. Buy a $20 20 foot "crappie" fishing pole on your favorite online retailer, and run a 20m 1/4wave vertical wire up it. Add between 4 and 8 radials on the ground, and craft up a simple guy system with some rope and tent pegs. Cheap, lightweight, and highly effective, especially at this point in the solar cycle. Cut some shorter wires for higher bands and you can pick and choose which one to hoist on a given outing. The only downside is that right now, specifically js8call activity is still heavily on 40m. You will make boatloads of ft8 contacts on 20 though.