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…

FT817 Peg Legs – Palm Radio

I discovered a critical flaw in the FT817 almost the first time I used it (a flaw for me anyway) the box is great, but has no built in ability to raise the display/control at a nice angle easily, it works a treat vertically, resting on the heat sink extension on the bottom of the…

QRP by the Bay Day

Yesterday afternoon, I visited peter VK3YE and a group of like minded hams at a arp afternoon at a park near the beach in Chelsea south of Melbourne. My kids came along with the promise of a cool playground/park for them to explore, and it was a very cool park with a lighthouse and pirate…

10GHz EME VK3BQ – W5LUA Texas

Today at the EMDRC microwave day, rex, vk7mo had a 10GHz EME (earth-Moon-Earth) station setup to work Al, w5lua in Texas. Rex runs the 90cm dish and 50watts running the WSJT software and using a new mode JT4F. After Rex made his initial contact with Al, a lot of those who were part of the…

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…

LOTW DXCC

I haven’t ever really played serious DX HF, Ive used it to chat around Australia while exploring the country and for the occasional chat overseas while driving, but thats not a serious effort. In recent weeks (and with the CQ WWDX Contest) it spurred some interest in me, that my small bit of random wire…

Sota Activation – VK3/VC-002 Mt Donna Buang

Today was a public holiday in Melbourne for a horse race that stops a nation, the Melbourne Cup. I couldn’t care less about glue pots, so the family headed out for a picnic lunch and a drive into the local hills. It was a lovely day in Melbourne, mid 20’s and sunny blue skies. We headed…

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.…

Sota Activation – VK3/VC-022 Mt Cowley

My work took me down near Lorne yesterday, a long day actually, so I choose to use my lunch break for a very quick activation on Mt Cowley. This summit over looks bass straight behind the great ocean road, and is a nice drive into the hills behind Lorne and up past Erskine Falls. (where…