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Top 10 FT8 Operating Tips 12

Dec

23

2020

I’ve been slow off the mark with this blog post, but years ago I posted my Top 10 PSK31 Tips for Beginners guide and it was really popular at the time. I’ve held off writing this post, so that it could be a (hopefully) genuinely useful post, as opposed to just jumping on a hot ...

Watch my RSGB Presentation: Portable Adventures with SOTA 1

Sep

11

2020

On Monday the 7th September I did a live YouTube stream for the RSGB ‘Tonight at 8’ series. It gives an overview of getting out on the hills and taking part in SOTA, tips and tricks and lots of photos from activations around the world. It was received well and you can rewatch it for ...

2m Contesting from a SOTA Summit (Video) 7

Oct

3

2019

While on holiday in the Lake District I decided to try a spot of VHF contesting from one of the many SOTA summmits in the area. I chose the SOTA summit of Red Screes (G/LD-017, 6 points) and operated in the RSGB 2m Backpackers contest. The video shows my experience and live QSOs:

VHF Contesting with the ICOM 9700 (with video) 2

Jun

1

2019

Each year me and Phil M0NVS get involved with the RSGB 2m Backpackers series of contests. 2019 is no exception and while we don’t have any chance of winning it, we do always enjoy it! We like to do as well as we can, but are limited by the relatively small hills here in IO91. ...

Top 10 Amateur Radio Uses for the Raspberry Pi 36

Oct

12

2016

The Raspberry Pi has proved to be a phenomenal hit with hobbyists around the world. Originally conceived to get children into computer programming, it was quickly adopted by hobbyists due to its cheap price and GPIO output pins. Indeed, initial demand was unprecedented and supplies were limited for some time after launch and this still ...

Top 10 Reasons to Take Ham Radio Portable 56

Feb

1

2016

Update 12/07/16: This blog post has been published as an article in the August 2016 Practical Wireless magazine here in the UK. Check it out, looks better in print! Portable amateur radio operation is the reason I’m still in the hobby. There you go, I said it! Since getting licensed I’ve not lived in a ...

Yaesu 817ND vs Elecraft KX3 Differences for Portable Use 57

Jan

25

2016

I use and love both the Yaesu 817ND and Elecraft KX3. Both of these rigs inspire passion in their owners for good reason and both are excellent. That said, having used both for portable operation I have a favourite. This post came about during email exchanges with Andreas (SM6UNC) about which one I’d recommend. ...

Extreme QRPp SSB SOTA Activations using my Elecraft KX3 10

Nov

29

2015

One fateful day on the 10th of January 2015 I activated two SOTA summits on the island of Lanzarote (just off the north coast of Africa). The summits themselves weren’t overly special, being only worth 1 and 2 points… but band conditions that day were. Since I arrived on the island conditions had been pretty decent, ...

Beginners Guide to PSK31 Macros 18

Aug

8

2013

PSK31 operating is all about the macros. These are pre-canned sets of common information that you need to send on a per QSO basis, these obviously save you from typing a lot and they do get a lot of use! Macros are also helpful for non-English speaking amateurs, as they just need to setup the ...

Top 10 PSK31 Tips for Beginners (Part 1) 35

Apr

17

2013

Introduction I’ve recently got into the PSK31 data mode (as a new ham) and in a short while i have learnt a number of things that should prove useful to other amateur radio operators beginning with this facet of our hobby. So i thought i would share them here in the spirit of amateur radio. ...