Recently, I got my hands on an FT-991A, which I’ve been enjoying for 2m/70cm nets and similar activities. While experimenting, I stumbled upon a local repeater using Fusion technology. Intrigued, I decided to give it a try and considered using my hotspot for the connection.

My existing setup featured an older MMDVM hotspot running on a Raspberry Pi Zero W, equipped with WPSD instead of PiStar. However, it was sluggish—remarkably so. With the CPU load consistently hitting around 70%, the hotspot tended to run warm.

After coming across a forum post suggesting the Pi Zero 2w as a seamless replacement, I promptly ordered one from Amazon. Today, it arrived, and after a quick five-minute swap (including hammering in the headers), I was back on the air. There were no additional configurations. The FT-991A now connects much more seamlessly, and the dashboard response is vastly improved—about five times faster, in fact. Undoubtedly, this is a worthwhile upgrade.

Best Regards & 73 – W0WC