VK3XJM 817iPad Interface Cable

I can’t recommend you buy this product, Not yet anyway. It’s not an issue with the device, the build quality or the actual product operation. I cannot recommend you buy the product because of the poor purchasing experience. I wondered before my recent camping trip and first real try of QRP portable (non sota) if…

3 weeks in the Snowy Mountains

Before Xmas we packed up the camper trailer and car and headed bush for a holiday/break. Our location of choice is the Thredbo Diggings campground in the kosciuszko national park. We left Melbourne and headed east, looking for a different path into the mountains, our new(isn) car, the Prado has really made it easy to explore different…

First time for everything!! Even Morse!

I often joke I’ve programmed the morse keyer memory on my radio to ask “do you have a microphone” but… Yesterday afternoon I was sitting in the sun playing around with the ft817 and with my Dinkey morse key and got brave enough to put out some calls. *initially without much luck. But I videoed…

Portable PSK31 on the iPad

Digital modes on the radio are a bit of a Black art. In my quest to expand my radio options while camping. I discovered and purchased an 817-iPad interconnect cable and it arrived just before our trip. I’ll expand on that in another post, essentially it’s signalink type device for my iPhone/iPad. I haven’t really…

Sota Activation – VK2/SM-053 (Wollondibby Peak)

After our morning Activations to Box Ridge (SM-065) we headed back into Jindabyne for some supplies and lunch. The local Bakery at Jindabyne has really yummy Tandoori lamb pies, and i was keen to have one for lunch. The road back to the camp site passed another Sota Summit, VK2/SM-053, this is unnamed, at the…

Sota Activation – VK2/SM-065 Box Ridge (times 2)

This xmas holidays period has seen quite a bit of Sota activity in VK1/VK2 and VK3 areas. Many people have made the effort to operate portable on all kinds of summits. The sota rules allow you to only claim one summit a calendar year for activator points, and each summit can only be claimed every…

Sota Activation – VK2/SM-007 Mt Perisher

We weren’t so sure about this summit, we had left the camp site and headed into Jindabyne for some supplies before heading up the Charlotte Pass road for our yearly photo at the sign and a look over the Snowy River Valley. I’d suggested this was another easy sota summit on the way, looking at my…

Exploring random wire antennas!

In an effort to better understand the performance of my ft817 and the ZM-2 ATU, I’ve been exploring different random length wire antennas while camping. I read an article posted on a sota forum about random wire lengths and how to choose an efficient length, this article talks about the importance of choosing a length…

QRP portable. Yarra Bend park!

We spent the day out in the city as a family today. This morning I dropped off the rest of the family at the museum while I headed over to the maker faire called eurisko Melbourne. I was away and didn’t attend last years event (ran at Swinburne uni) but heard great things about it.…