K7XV Desert Signal

Las Vegas, Nevada · Amateur Extra

K7XV

Hello, I’m Eric.

I’m a new ham exploring local repeaters, linked radio, digital voice, APRS and whatever happens when useful equipment meets an unreasonable amount of curiosity.

Where to hear me See the workbench

VHF/UHF for now • RoIP and digital systems • HF on the horizon

Explore the shack
●Operating: local and linked repeaters
◇Workbench: mobile, AllStar, LoRa, DMR
↗Next horizon: HF and DX

Choose your path

The virtual shack

Scan the board. Open only the drawers that look interesting.

01 On the air Find the repeaters and linked systems where I listen. 02 Workbench Build logs, parts lists, diagrams and lessons paid for in advance. 03 Signal path Radios, nodes, antennas and the network holding it together. 04 My radio story How an HF plan became a new car and a much stranger hobby.

On the air

Where you’ll hear me

Local systems, linked conversations and a receiver that is probably already on.

W7HEN

Henderson Amateur Radio Club

HARC’s Las Vegas Valley repeater system and one of my main local radio homes.

Local repeater network
N4NJJ

Sin City Repeater Group

The Sin City-BARRA system, where a silent channel is still an invitation to key up.

Local + linked activity
W7SCS

Sun City Summerlin

Another useful local repeater in the Valley listening rotation.

Local repeater

Workbench

Current projects

Each card starts with the useful part. Open it for the technical rabbit hole.

Planning + testing Mobile installation

Motorola CDM1250 in a Mazda CX-50

A forty-watt commercial radio meets a dashboard designed with no apparent interest in accommodating one.

On the bench Simplex node

AllStarLink + AIOC

A low-cost local RF gateway using a Dell Wyse 3040, an NA6D AIOC and an HT.

Deployed / evolving LoRa APRS

LoRa APRS and solar tracking

A LILYGO SX1278 iGate, CA2RXU firmware and a growing solar-powered tracker experiment.

Running Digital voice

MMDVM and DMRGateway

An MMDVM Dual Hat on Debian 13, connected through a Dell Wyse 3040 and CP2102 bridge.

Virtual shack

Trace the signal path

A simplified view today. Eventually every box can expose status, configuration and build notes.

RF Local radios HT · CDM1250 · antennas
INTERFACE AIOC / MMDVM Audio · PTT · digital modem
HUB AllStar 403880 Debian 13 VPS · linked audio
NETWORK Linked systems Repeaters · nodes · remote access
Planned web access hub.k7xv.com/allmon3/

The signal path

How I got here

I met a Henderson Amateur Radio Club member in 2022, filed the idea away, and finally earned Technician in May 2026.

The Las Vegas Test Team and Laurel VEC sent me home with a Baofeng 5R Mini, a repeater list and a mission to keep testing. I did, and passed General and Amateur Extra on June 6.

HF, here I come. Three days later my car suffered a catastrophic engine failure, and the HF fund became a vehicle fund. The radio horizon moved, but the local landscape turned out to be much larger than expected.

For now I’m learning through repeaters, RoIP, digital voice, APRS, hardware experiments and the people generous enough to answer questions.

  1. 2022First sparkHARC conversation and an FRN
  2. May 2026TechnicianFirst license and first HT
  3. June 6General + ExtraHF ambitions officially authorized
  4. Three days laterPlot twistHF money becomes car money

Beyond the local horizon

HF is not missing. It is approaching.

This section will grow into bands, modes, antennas, contacts and operating goals. For now it is a marker on the map, not an empty cupboard.

Clubs and community

Radio is local before it is global

Thanks to the operators and organizations that turned a test result into actual conversations.

W7HEN

Henderson Amateur Radio Club

Local repeaters, testing, encouragement and the conversation that started the whole thing.

N4NJJ

Sin City Repeater Group

A welcoming connected system and another place to turn silence into a conversation.

VE TEAM

Las Vegas Test Team + Laurel VEC

Free exams, a first radio, a repeater list and the excellent advice to keep testing.

QSL

A desert signal deserves a proper card

Physical QSL and eQSL design are in development, with Red Rock, the distant Las Vegas skyline and a photographic representation of the operator somewhere between “credible radio amateur” and “man holding an HT.”

Gallery coming later

Project

Project title

Current state

Key hardware

    Why this belongs here