Foundations of Amateur Radio

The art of amateur radio is many things to many people. For me it's a technological challenge, a learning, a way to broaden my experience, a way to be technically active…

One of my favourite activities is contesting. Essentially it's a time-limited activation of your station for the purposes of testing your skill and station against other…

After weeks of attempting to get some noise, any noise out of my PlutoSDR I have finally cracked it. Not sure if cracked it refers to my sanity or the outcome, but beepi…

The other day I took delivery of a shiny new circuit board populated with components and connectors. Knowing me, you'd assume that I'd been the recipient of some kind of…

One of the topics I've been talking about lately is the idea that we might be able to measure the performance of your radio in some meaningful way using equipment that c…

Recently I've spoken about measuring the frequency response of your radio and what the benefits of doing so might be. Today I've got some progress to report and some ini…

During the week I was reading a comment from another amateur about digital modes. Tucked inside that comment was a phrase that could easily have been overlooked, but it …

On the 6th of June, 2004, two Brazilian amateurs Roland, PY4ZBZ and Arnaldo, PY4BL made a historic contact on 40m. The distance was not particularly significant, only 70…

A couple of days ago, after months of anticipation, an unassuming little box arrived on my doorstep. Inside the box was a nondescript electronic device with two SMA conn…

A little while ago I mentioned in passing that I was considering implementing a parrot repeater to help determine how your radio is performing. Discussion afterwards rev…

The other day I received an email from a fellow amateur, Elwood WB0OEW. We've been exchanging email for a little while and having been in the hobby since before I learnt…

The other day I came across a how to video on becoming a radio amateur. It's a recurring kind of publication, the kind that I've contributed to in the past.

I wondered …

After discussing the notion that it's not really possible to determine how your gear is performing without measuring, several people commented that in the good old days …

When you spend some time in this hobby you're likely to find equipment with similar performance for vastly different pricing. At one end of the spectrum you might compar…

For some time now I've been discussing the potential of weak signal propagation and its ability to create a live map from the data that your own station transmits. There…

One of the regular topics of conversation in amateur radio, especially for those new to the community, is where to start? The sheer volume of available options is often …

Right now it's 10:45.

That piece of information is unhelpful without any context. I could just as easily have told you that it's 2:45 and it would be just as accurate, …

On the 12th of December 1961, before I was born, before my parents met, the first amateur radio satellite was launched by Project OSCAR. It was a 10 kilo box, launched a…

As you might know, I like to transmit with as little power as possible, known as QRP operation. My own station runs at 5 Watts, since on HF, that's as low as my radio wi…

Recently I exchanged emails with fellow amateur Gary VK2OVA. This was his most recent response.

Hello Onno,

What have you been up to in amateur radio lately, you ask h…