CQWW SSB QRP park portable.

The kids were going crazy at home. So I volunteered to take them to the local park for a play. And packed the FT817ND along for the ride. This weekend is the CQWW SSB contest so I hoped active bands would nab me some portable contacts. I set up the squid pole and radio. And gave…

Sota Activation – VK3/VC-019 Mt Warrenheip

Having day release (thanks wifey) to attend the Ballarat hamfest saw me spend some time activating two more local mountains. Both Mt Warrenheip VK3/VC-019 and Mt Bunninyong VK3/VC-018 are ~10km form Ballarat and are the remains of old volcanoes. This was my second summit for the day, having worked Mt Bunninyong earlier in the afternoon. After my previous hill…

Sota Activation – VK3/VC-018 Mt Bunninyong

Having day release (thanks wifey) to attend the ballarat hamfest saw me spend some time activating two more local mountains. Both Mt Warrenheip VK3/VC-019 and Mt Bunninyong VK3/VC-018 are ~10km form Ballarat and are the remains of old volcanoes. I left the hamfest around 11am and made my way to the mountain top, Ive been up this…

What is a Hamfest – “A Formal Junk Swap?”

What is a Hamfest, for many it’s an opportunity to spend some time out of the shack, interacting with ham acquaintances while perusing gear from retailers and someone’s back shed? In recent years the larger dealers appear to have ditched the hamfests, why? Maybe it’s a lot of hassle for little return, maybe they feel…

Anderson Power Poles

Standardisation of power supply connectors is something I have recently been undertaking throughout the shack, car and my camper trailer. There is nothing worse than not having the right connector, having to make up some form of connector instead of just having that box work, and with the camper trailer, dealing with fiddly and flakey…

CHIRP and the FT817ND

An easy way to program and manage this new 817nd is with some simple computer control software (and with the intention of having it work with VKCL logging into the future if need be, I lashed out and spent $11 on ebay and purchased a USB to CT-62 yaesu CAT control interface cable. The cable…

Portable Power for the 817ND

Now that I have my SOTA radio and portable antenna setup working. Portable power options were the next item on my list. The 817nd has internal rechargable batteries, and can use AA batteries also, i have 2 battery trays for AA rechargeable batteries and the internal Ni-Mh pack, but for extended 5w operation portable, an…

Sota Activation – VK3/VC-025 Mt Dandenong

I managed to grab a couple of hours yesterday afternoon for a drive to Mt Dandenong VC-025 and then a simple activation. My first summit activation. (Thanks wifey) I met Andy VK1NAM who had just packed up and was about to head home, Andy has been in Melbourne for the last week and has activated many…