Icom IC-9100 RTS to CAT control

The IC-9100 that I have has a USB port on the back that allows audio and cat control directly from the radio. It works as advertised, and works generally well.. BUT.. a number of the software programs I like to use (WSPR) don’t have CAT radio TX control, they use the RTS method. I had…

RaspberryPi WSPR Beacon – WsprryPi

The inspiration to purchase a RaspberryPi originally came from reading an article about turning it into a simple HF WSPR beacon. The device will output around 10 milliwatts directly from the GPIO4 pin and once connected to antenna will transmit away!. The first step was to build a simple band pass filter, i choose 30m/10Mhz…

Band Pass Filter Kit

Another Project for the Raspberry Pi when I get a chance is to try WSPR using the box. To make sure this works properly, it is recommended you use a filter of some sort. I ended up with a simple 10MHz (30m) bandpass filter as a kit from kits and parts in the US. it took 2 weeks…

Raspberry Pi

I was looking for some items on the element14 website when I noticed they had a new Raspeberry PI item listed. The version B board and an 8gb SD card with the OS installed as a bundle for $45. I had been looking for one when the price was acceptable, and this new package deal…

Project Space Balloon 5 – Flight

PSB5 has been flown. The device was launched at around 11:30am north west of Bendigo and  I was able to track the device from around 12:30 when it was heigh enough to be seen from home. The path was very different from that expected when they ran the prediction 2 weeks ago, the device headed…

Project Space Balloon PSB-5 – This Saturday

I received this email from the PSB team, I hope to listen and capture the signals saturday. The website has more detail. http://projectspaceballoon.net ****************************************** Our PSB-5 balloon launch will be from Bendigo this Saturday, 16 November 2013 at 11am. The details: – 434.65MHz USB for telemetry and SSDV images. RTTY 450Hz shift, 300 baud, 8 bit…

EMDRC / VK3 Microwave Day 2013

On Sunday 10th November EMDRC hosted the 2nd annual VK3 / Microwave test and tune day at the club’s rooms located in Burwood. The format this year included the normal field testing of TX and RX systems, from 1.3GHz, 2.4GHz, 3.4GHz, 5.4GHz, 10GHz and 47GHz, but also feature a special visitor from Tasmania , Rex VK7MO and…

Idiots guide to 144Mhz WSPR

WSJT, MAP65, WSPR, and WSJT-X are open-source programs designed for weak-signal digital communication by amateur radio.  Normal usage requires a standard SSB transceiver and a personal computer with sound-card. WSPR (pronounced “whisper”) stands for “Weak Signal Propagation Reporter.” This program is designed for sending and receiving low-power transmissions to test propagation paths on the MF and HF and VHF/UHF…

WSPR Test 432Mhz

Tonight Leigh vk2krr and vk3smc and myself played WSPR on 432mhz. 330km path. Not bad for a verticle in my backyard. 🙂