New Resource: Ham Central – Built by a Ham, Free for GPT+ Users!

STXARES
1

I wanted to let the group know about Ham Central — a new, AI-driven resource I built specifically for amateur radio operators worldwide.

:white_check_mark: What it does:

  • Answers licensing, technical, operating, and emergency comms questions — with strict regulatory accuracy.

  • Covers U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, and global amateur radio rules.

  • Supports topics like SSB, CW, FT8, VARA, Winlink, POTA/SOTA, contesting, and more.

  • Provides cited, fact-based answers — no guessing, no bad advice.

  • Uses the web to quickly find any new information not provided in it’s training set of instructions.

:white_check_mark: How it’s different from a search engine:

  • Ham Central doesn’t just “Google” things.

  • It’s trained to only answer using trusted amateur radio sources (ARRL, RSGB, IARU, FCC, Ofcom, ITU, WSJT-X manuals, etc.).

  • If it can’t verify something, it will tell you, not guess or make things up.

  • It also adapts to your country, license class, and interests for more targeted help.

:white_check_mark: How to use it:

  • You need a ChatGPT Plus account ($20/mo at OpenAI).

  • Inside ChatGPT, click “Explore GPTs” in the left sidebar, then search for Ham Central — and start asking questions!

  • Or Just follow the link below!

  • No extra fees, logins, or installations — it’s free for Plus users.

:white_check_mark: Example Interactions:

  • User: What bands can a U.S. Technician use for FT8?

  • Ham Central: U.S. Technician licensees may operate FT8 on 10 meters (28.000–28.300 MHz) and in CW/data segments of 15m, 40m, and 80m, within FCC §97.301 limits (2025).

  • User: What is the maximum SSB power allowed on 40m in Australia?

  • Ham Central: 400W PEP output is authorized for Standard and Advanced licensees on 40m in Australia (ACMA LCD 2024).

:white_check_mark: Important Notes:

  • Scope: Ham Central focuses on regulatory, technical, and operating practice questions — it does not provide legal advice, health guidance (like RF exposure risk assessments), or sales recommendations.

  • Memory Limits: It’s best for direct, focused questions. Huge document uploads (like a 300-page manual) are not supported.

  • Maintenance: I plan to review and update Ham Central quarterly to stay current with regulatory changes.

:magnifying_glass_tilted_right: I really need your feedback.
Please try it out — and try to break it!
Ask hard questions, find weaknesses, and let me know where it can improve. That’s the only way to make it bulletproof for the whole community.

:link: Ham Central on ChatGPT

Hope you enjoy it — I sure had fun building it.

73,
john
N5MGC

2

John,
Do you prefer responses here or is there a better way you would rather receive feedback?
Just at a quick test, it has issues with my current local time.

I told it where I was located, that I was a general, and wanted to do some FT8 right now. It gave me guidance on the fact that it thought it was 10:30pm (not 9:30am). So I asked it if it was taking into account my local time. It then gave me 2 answers. It said that based on my local time (10:30pm) that I should use 80m. And then within the same answer it said it was getting my local time and that my local time is now 9:30am (which is correct) and then proceeded to give me a different answer of using 20m. Both answers were correct based on the time it thought it was when giving me an answer but it was weird that it thought my local time was 2 different times within the same response.

3

If you are going to respond with feedback, please do not send it to the group chat. The rest of us don’t need to see all the emails this will generate.

Philip Lanham
W5PLA

4

Here is fine. And thank you for the feedback. I will make note of it!

5

I get this error
Route Error (400 ): { “error”: { “message”: “You tried signing in as "jimstex@gmail.com" using a password, which is not the authentication method you used during sign up. Try again using the authentication method you used during sign up.”, “type”: “invalid_request_error”, “param”: “auth0|jimstex@gmail.com”, “code”: “identity_provider_mismatch” } }

6

It worked for the couple of queries I tried. One plus I have a free account not a paid for one and it still works for me.

7

the free account gives you a couple of things…to get everything you have to subscribe to the Plus…FYI none of that goes to me. My tool is free to use.

8

Jim, the error you’re seeing:

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Edit
Route Error (400):
{
“error”: {
“message”: “You tried signing in as ‘jimstex@gmail.com’ using a password, which is not the authentication method you used during sign up. Try again using the authentication method you used during sign up.”,
“type”: “invalid_request_error”,
“param”: “auth0|jimstex@gmail.com”,
“code”: “identity_provider_mismatch”
}
}
means:

When you originally signed up, you did NOT use a regular password-based login.

Instead, you likely signed up using a third-party provider (like Google, Facebook, GitHub, etc.) — NOT with just email + password.

Now, you are trying to log in with a password, and the system says, “Hold on — that’s not how you signed up!”

Solution options:

Use the same method you used when you first signed up — like clicking “Sign in with Google” instead of typing your email and password.

If you’re unsure how you signed up originally, check your email inbox for the original “Welcome” email you received — it might mention the provider.

If you really want to use email+password now, you’ll need to reset your account or contact the site admin to unlink your old login method.

Plain English Summary:

You’re trying to log in a different way than you signed up. Go back and use the original login method.

9

Thanks,
Jim