Portable QRP in the park

I took my kids down to the local park this afternoon as an excuse to have a play with my new FT817nd and squid pole as a portable station. I acquired a transport case for the radio and bits (a bit bigger than needed, but this is the camping/holiday setup). And this holds everything (and…

Sota Goat – iOS app review

I have always been interested in SOTA (summits of the air) and have been contemplating activating some   mountains and becoming active with this “part” of ham radio, now that I have a portable radio and antenna setup that will allow sota to happen, i was keen for more info. Being a mac / iOS…

FT817ND – My New QRP Rig.

I have just acquired a second hand Yaesu FT817ND for portable operation, microwave radio driving and camping holidays and I also plan to start to participate in SOTA activations. More posts to come as I explore this nifty little radio and the Z-match ATU i acquired in the bundle, as well as some useful SOTA…

VK2MB Flagpole – Pirate Day Contest

When I lived in sydney, i was a member of the Manly Warringah Radio Society (VK2MB), this is a very active ham club on Sydney’s northern Beach’s, they have weekly meetings at the clubs shack/rooms in Terrey Hills. The club has recently obtained a stack of portable / quick erect flagpole antenna poles, and have…

Flinders Rangers – Family Camping Holiday

It’s not all about radio’s here at VK3BQ!. We recently went on a Family holiday to the flinders rangers. (and while I did have radios with me, it was more about a relaxing holiday in a part of Australia I have not visited before). It was a wonderful relaxing trip to a beautiful part of…

Icom IC-7100 Omnirig INI File

Peter, VK5KX has modified my IC-9100 INI file to work with the new Icom IC-7100. He has modified the radio address (hex) only, and the same operation and limitations as my original IC-9100 version of the file. I don’t have a IC-7100, thus have not tested this file, but their is no reason it should…

Squid Pole Antenna’s

A cheap and cheerful way to mount wire antennas and verticals when portable is a cheap Squid Pole. These fibreglass poles are available in many sizes and styles from fishing stores all over the country. One example antenna using the squid pole as a base is this simple multi band vertical from VK7JJ. I plan to…