Archive for the ‘Ham Radio’ Category
Wire Doublet Antenna
I have built and installed a ‘doublet’ antenna for HF use at home. There is some rough details on the doublet at Hamuniverse, but basically it is two pieces of wire, fed from the centre with open wire feeder. Ladder line can be used (and many people use the 450 ohm ladder line rather than [...]
Icom IC-92AD D-STAR Handheld
I recently bought myself a new handheld to replace my old Yaesu VX5R (which had started to play up). After a bit of consideration I selected the Icom IC-92AD from Kyle Communications in Burpengary. Mark Kyle had the radio to me very quickly, which is one of the benefits of buying locally. The decision I [...]
Bluetooth Adapter for Ham Radio
Quite a few people have made bluetooth adapters for ham radio using the Jabra A210. Unfortunately this is almost impossible to buy in Australia, and the US sellers on eBay won’t ship to here. I chanced across the HH1 at iBluetooth and this does everything that I need. The packaging lists the model as an [...]
In: Computing, Ham Radio
Earbone Speaker-Mic
I was browsing the website of one of my favourite radio shops, 409shop.com in Hong Kong. I saw that they sell the ‘earbone‘ microphones for portable radios. (Click for full size) These are really quite cool. The speaker-mic looks like a normal in-ear ‘covert’ or ‘security’ earpiece, but there is also a small piezo accelerometer [...]
Track in the Box
I’ve been playing with the OpenTracker from Argent Data Systems for a little while now. It has mainly been used with a Yaesu VX-5 handheld, but I recently bought a Puxing PX-777 VHF transceiver especially for it. I think that the PX-777 is one of the best Chinese handhelds out there. It is much more [...]
Install of Yaesu FT-8800 Dualbander in VW Golf (Gen IV)
After much mucking around, I finally got around to installing my new dualbander into the Golf. It was a bit of a challenge, as there is not much room in a little hatchback, and the engine bay is quite packed. Here’s a photo on the install in the centre console and a photo of the [...]
New toys – LDG Z11pro Ultra Autotuner
A new tuner arrived today to replace my LDG Z100 Ultra. The Z11pro is frequency sensitive, which is good for use with the FT-817 because there is no built in tune function on the FT-817, while there is on the FT-857 and FT-897. The Z100 Ultra is off to work on an FT-897 so it [...]
Great little bag for the FT-817
I recently bought a small travel bag to put karabiners, kernmantle rope and other goodies in for SES while working on roofs since there was a nice loop where it could be attached to a harness. It turns out that the bag is very nicely sized for the Yaesu FT-817 and a couple of accessories. [...]
Bribie Island Visit
My in-laws are staying with us, and we decided to get out of the house and go somewhere a little different today. They hadn’t been to Bribie Island, which is just off the east coast of Caboolture and has some nice, but quiet, beaches. It was also an opportunity to take my Buddipole out on [...]
