Noisy Home Internet Router

I have cable internet connected at home, I’m using the Optus hybrid fibre/coax network (HFC), recently I had some performance issues, the old modem had started to go a bit flakey and Optus came and swapped my faulty modem/router. Thats when the noise on HF started, s9 hash constatntly, mostly on 7MHz, but all over…

FT-817ND Speaker Upgrade

*** An update. I have only had the time for one sota activation since fitting the new speaker, it worked very well, I had my headphones in my bag, but didn’t need to use them as this new speaker worked very well, worth the small investment to swap this over. I was looking at the…

Sota Activation – VK3/VC-007 Mt Macedon

My four year old son Toby is Volcano obsessed at the moment. We had talked about some old volcanic rocks you could see not far from melbourne, and he had a picture of them in a book we had gotten him on volcanoes, so, we promised him a trip to the “Organ Pipes National Park”…

SOTA = Summits of the ANDREW

One observation of this Sota caper is. Many of the operators are named Andrew. Is it just a case of age/naming popularity of the 1960’s and 1970’s? Or some other weird universe / moon / crystal / alignment that has drawn so many Andrews to climb to the top of hills and call out as…

The $10 Squid Pole.

Randomly searching around eBay as you do, i discovered a place in Melbourne selling Cheap 8m long squid poles. They advertise them as pickup only, and a search of the seller name found me the store, a fishing shop in Dandenong. On eBay, its 2 for $26.50 with pickup, curious about the quality of the…

A Happy Kranker Knob!

A flaw in the Kranker Knob upgrade for my FT817 was discovered soon after the knob was installed. The yaesu soft carry case for the FT817 neatly protects the radio, however the knob extension bar didn’t fit!, thankfully my wifey has a home/internet based sewing business making kids hats and other items, so i enlisted her…

Sink Holes on the Air!

Amateur Radio Operators are always looking for challenges. When the opportunity to launch a new sport arose, many operators were quick to participate. One amateur was recently quoted as saying “Simple point-to-point communications just didn’t do it for me any more. Sink-holes On-The-Air is an exciting new-low in Amateur Radio tradition that pushes the barriers…

Sota Activation – VK3/VC-025 Mt Dandenong (2014)

My big child Nathan has developed a recent trait of unexpected and rather rapid onset motion sickness in the car when we travel on twisty roads. With that in mind, we set off to join the Morrabbin and District radio club members at Mt Dandenong for a mini SOTA combined activation and promotional event. The…

The WIA embraces a Digital Future!..

Rejoice in the glory of 0’s and 1’s. The WIA has come to the realisation that paper magazines and the lack of a digital model is not sustainable. After amassing large losses over the recent years with the production and distribution of a paper magazine, the institute has decided to head towards a digital model,…