This is the blog of amateur radio enthusiast Stephen VK2RH based in Sydney, Australia.
Ham radio is a very broad hobby encompassing many very different activities. Over the years this blog has followed my various interests as they have waxed and waned, but a surprising range remains constant.
- QRP – operating with low power
- Homebrew – building and designing transmitters, receivers and other pieces of electronic equipment
- CW – morse code remains one of the most effective – and enjoyable – ways to communicate using low power
- SOTA – Summits on the Air – a brilliant way to test your equipment and skills operating portable.
- Propagation – WSPR
As an amateur living on a tiny inner city block with very little space available for antennas, most of my operating on the air is outside, at a local park, in the bush or on a hill or summit.
However all is not lost. I have installed a Reverse Beacon Node to quantify more informatively how bad it actually is. Weak signal modes which have appeared and developed concurrent with the life of this blog have also opened up interesting opportunities for hams with less than stellar antenna installations to develop a better understanding of radio wave propagation and connect with some exotic prefixes.
I have spent a lot of time re-learning CW, and even unlearning a range of inefficient morse habits with a focus on developing an instant character recognition skill and moving towards the ultimate aim of confident head copy at conversational speeds! While there’s no magic bullet there are more and more tools and as importantly, approaches that appear to be helpful.
- microwaves – 23 cm
- DATV – Portsdown
Over the last few years I have become interested in exploring the lower microwave bands and I’ve explored digital amateur TV following the projects of the British Amateur TV Club. This is another area where changes in the technology have made what was previously complex and expensive into something much simpler, less expensive and better.
So, it’s no wonder I needed a blog to keep track!