VK2RH ham radio

vk2rh: a blog about ham radio

  • Volcanic propagation

    G4ILO has some interesting observations and speculation about recent 10m openings in his part of the world. He wonders whether they might be scatter off the clouds of volcanic ash drifting to Europe from Iceland.

  • SDR lists

    Via M1KTA’s blog a pointer to Christophe F4DAN’s exhaustive list of SDR projects. What an amazing resource! It feels like the distillation of many hours of research and study. Really valuable information in here. It was last updated at the end of March. Also available in ‘une version française‘.

  • A123 batteries

    There’s been a great explanation posted on the Buddipole list about the practicalities of using the A123 battery packs Buddipole sell from their site. The advantages of the A123 chemistry are low weight, fast charge times and ability to deliver high current. As well their voltage – 13.2v for a four cell pack such as the…

  • iPad date announced for Australia

    News this morning from Apple that the delivery date for iPad (both WiFi & 3G) – in Australia – is 29th May. I’m so looking forward to seeing how an iPad might fit into a portable QRP operation. Or even a remote one. I’m also hoping that Apple will retain enough of open protocols so…

  • The creator of the Continental code

    I stumbled on to a page on Wikipedia about Friedrich Clemens Gerke, (22 Jan 1801 – 21 May 1888) the man responsible for simplifying Vail and Morse’s original telegraphic code. As the wikipedia article explains, “The original Morse code consisted of four different hold durations (the amount of time the key was held down), and some…

  • Fabric antenna

    Via Southgate News and MAKE magazine news of a collapsible fabric yagi antenna developed by Diana Eng KC2UHB who has combined two craft skills in a stylish way, electronics and sewing. It’s a design for a Yagi for portable amateur radio satellite operation. Her MAKE magazine article is well-written, comprehensive and brilliantly illustrated. Diana Eng has also…

  • Portuguese in morse

    This page has a listing of how different alphabets and accented characters are sent with morse including Russian, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese and Korean. I feel an overwhelming urge to change it from its dots and dashes layout to a didah format to reinforce the sound and not the visual structure of the characters. As comprehensive as…

  • Morse Alive!

    Great BBC story on morse code from 2008, mentioned on the FT817 email list by Joe WB7VTY:

  • New CW learning resource

    “Beware the Jabberwock, my son!The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!Beware the Jubjub bird, and shunThe frumious Bandersnatch!” But make sure to check out the new training section on the SKCC site featuring mp3 files prepared by John KF7BYU.So far the following texts are online, some in speeds ranging from 5 up to 50 wpm, along…

  • The KGD antenna

    Via Julian G4ILO I came across a WSPRnet report from DM1RG on his success with a newly built KGD Antenna from the German site QRP Project. I had actually ordered their other antenna project (a Multiband Fuchs antenna that enables a single 41m wire to operate on all 8 HF bands) a few days ago and earlier tonight revisiting their site I…

  • CW Operator’s QRP Club Inc

    I rejoined the CW Operator’s QRP Club Inc. after a long absence. I was surprised to discover I’m entitled to my original membership no #56. It’s probably been almost two decades. I have fond memories of the Lo-Key magazine, but I’m also keen to have a go at the club’s Milliwatts per Kilometre Award! 10,000km on 5W…

  • Samuel Morse’s 219th birthday

    Samuel Morse was born 219 years ago. But of course credit for devising the code that bears Morse’s name goes to his assistant (machinist & inventor) Alfred Vail. His birthday is 25th September 1807.