Pixie QRP 7Mhz CW Kit

The other week, talk on the australian ham radio Facebook wall turned to kit radios and the Pixie QRP Kit. A number of options were shown and talked about, after a search and comparison, I chose to purchase this Versions of the kit from This eBay seller. with free postage it was around $8. The…

FT817 – W4RT 500Hz CW Filter!

As part of my efforts to make the FT817 work as well as it can on sota summits (yes, i tinker too much). I was looking at options for filters for the radio. While i have been spending money on this exercise of “pimping my radio”, i have been acquiring items cheap, second hand or…

Basics of a morse QSO!

SOTA CW BASICS As part of the learning process of getting CW going, was the question of “HOW?” to hold a qso, the below information was posted on the sota group, the below is aimed at sota, and how to have a quick sota cw contact, but is also generic for those learning morse. It…

The Best way to improve the FT817ND performance?

So. What do people think the best bang for buck 817 upgrade is?? With the dollar heading north again (if you believe the financial review 🙂 it might be time to order some bits from OS again. My current thinking is a Collins Mechanical filter of some Type/Style/Manufacturer. On my Sota activations. The most common…

The Long Hard Road back to CW begins…

 So it has begun… I suspect my auto keyed memory will change form “do you have a microphone” to “QRZ?”.. I collected an old (but new) and new to me MFJ-564B Iambic Morse key from an old stock clear out at Strictly Ham had over Xmas as they moved form their old to new stores. It cost…

FT817 Dinkey Morse Key

My morse code skills suck. REALLY REALLY Suck!!. I passed my morse exams in the mid – late 1990’s and then only just. I did enough to qualify for the exam. And have never actually had a morse QSO on ham radio. I do use morse today. I use it to decode beacons and ID…