This post contains a series of SSTV test images and associated wav files.
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Configuring a SatNOGS station
The SatNOGS documentation is mess, with bits and bobs spread across multiple places (main site, wiki, forums etc). To enable me to remember how to re-configure if required, here’s the process I followed for an RTL-SDR ➜ Raspberry Pi.
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A Battery Backpack for QMX
Carrying an external battery sounds like a simple affair, but when you’re operating portable, and tired from a tough hike, or setting up in a blowing gale, every separate bit of kit feels more like a required-effort multiplier rather than a simple addition. And so it was that my QMX ended up with a battery backpack.
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The choice of a morse-code cheerio: <SK> <VA> or <30>
How do you finish a CW QSO? I always thought the standard procedure was to pronounce your key going silent with <SK>. It was only recently whilst digging through my new QMX’s settings that an odd option piqued my interest. Is there more to ● ● ● ━ ● ━ than meets the ear?
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Anytone NSTIG-8R Programming Software
If you’ve been looking for the official programming software for this radio, this is for you.
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Humming, Trains and the Joys of Zero-Beating
We’ve all heard the term “zero-beat”. “Please zero-beat to me”, or “when listening to two stations that are zero-beat, I don’t know who’s who” or “to bust the pile-up, make sure you don’t zero-beat”. In modern parlance, people just mean “exactly match the frequency”. To “zero-beat” however does refer to a specific technique with some interesting physics behind it.
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Exploring the TS-520s’ CW frequency chain.
There were some peculiarities with my TS-520s CW operation, and not knowing exactly where the issue lay, I have tried to understand the different factors at play. This post will attempt to demystify the CW signal chain’s frequency transformation.
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VK Parks/SOTA CW exchange & frequencies
In Australia and New Zealand, our parks exchange is a little different to what’s been published online for other parts of the world, so if you’re just starting out chasing or activating with CW, here’s the commonly used script, and where you’ll find activity.
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Making CW your easy listening station of choice.
Following on from the previous exploration of how receivers convert a CW signal into an audable tone, we will take the next step in our journey to understand why pre-DSP receivers have a fixed pitch CW tone, and the oft overlooked feature there to ease your ears.
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A 49:1 & CMC pair
Needing a paired 49:1 transformer and a common mode choke (CMC) for a permanently installed EFHW, I whipped one of each up and mounted them in some 50 mm PVC pipe.
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