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…

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…

PK’s Loop Antenna’s – AM Loop

I enjoy getting out into the Australian outback, but i like to keep connected to the going’s on of the world via AM broadcast band radio when I’m travelling, listing to the morning news helps keep me connected. I recently upgraded my camper trailer AM Broadcast band radio to a very capable Sangean PR-D7 am/fm…

TV Tuner SDR on a Mac!

Software Defined Radios are all the rage these days, and with a cheap USB digital tv tuner card with the RTL2838 chipset, its very easy. My dongle cost $10.99 and took a week to arrive from Hong Kong via this eBay seller. You can find these dongles cheaper, I choose this seller as a friend…

Minikits Components Adelaide

Just a quick post to help promote a company in Adelaide who I recently used for some parts that will go into an antenna project that I have underway. The company is run by Mark, VK5EME. I was after a T106-2 Toroid core. And found one on the mini kits website. I also took the…

SelCall Tone Generator App Review

Black Cat Systems has produced a simple iOS and Andriod App that will let you send Codan* (and other tones such as DTMF, CTCSS and many HF radio communications formats) from your smart phone over the radio to connect to and interact with many radio communications standards. *23/8/13 the app has seen a version update,…

Icom IC-9100 Omnirig INI File

One of the reasons I purchased my icom IC9100 was for VHF/UHF contesting. Being a shack in a box, with 160m-23cm bands in a small package, it was the ideal rig for my limited space. and has been a wonderful performer. In Australia we have a number of active higher band contests throughout the year,…

Icom IC-9100 Firmware Update

Icom has Released a new firmware update for the IC9100 radio overnight. IC-9100 Firmware Rev. E2 is now downloadable form the Icom Japan website. It is a stand alone .exe file that will install the E2 firmware update. IC9100 E2 Firmware link The new firmware corrects a number of Issue and offers improvements to the…