Foundations of Amateur Radio
488 episodes - English - Latest episode: 9 days ago - ★★★★★ - 30 ratingsStarting in the wonderful hobby of Amateur or HAM Radio can be daunting and challenging but can be very rewarding. Every week I look at a different aspect of the hobby, how you might fit in and get the very best from the 1000 hobbies that Amateur Radio represents. Note that this podcast started in 2011 as "What use is an F-call?".
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Episodes
Yak Shaving ...
September 12, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 8 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio Yak Shaving ... Not every adventure gives you an outcome. Today started with reading a thank-you email from a listener who shared their activities and wanted to express their gratitude for encouraging them to get on air and make noise. That in turn prompted the question on the country of origin of that listener and did I know where all my listeners were? For the past few hours I've been attempting to answer that seemingly simple question. Aside from using the ...
What is so different about using software for signal processing?
September 05, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 8.13 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio In my ongoing software explorations I've discussed that Software Defined Radio or SDR is a fundamentally different way of dealing with radio. It's been in use across non-amateur circles for decades. Your mobile phone has an SDR on board for example. The original term of "digital receiver" was coined in 1970, "software radio" was coined in 1984 and in 1991 Joe Mitola reinvented the term "software radio" for a planned mobile phone base station. So, this idea has ...
When you run into a pounce ...
August 29, 2020 16:00 - 5 minutes - 10.4 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio Contesting is a fun way to learn about amateur radio. It tests your skill, your station, your patience and your ability to change approach at a moments notice. For those reasons alone it's an activity that I recommend you have a go at. For me it's also about self-improvement. With each contest, can you make better use of your station, can you learn more about your radio, about bands, about conditions and ultimately become a better operator. I know that there are...
After channelling your RTTY ...
August 22, 2020 16:00 - 5 minutes - 9.85 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio It's the morning after the day before. I've been calling CQ for 24 hours and for the first time in my life after a contest I still have my voice. That in and of itself is novel. I also don't have ringing ears, that's a blessing. I have learnt heaps and had fun doing it. I made contacts and I heard stations across the globe and I did it all from the comfort of my shack chair. Before I dig in and expand, the contest I just completed ran for 24 hours. I didn't sit ...
Channelling RTTY
August 15, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 8.93 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio When you start playing with radio your first interaction is likely to be voice. It could be SSB, AM, FM or something more recent like FreeDV or DMR. Your next challenge is likely going to be a digital mode like Morse Code, Radio Teletype or my recommendation for your first adventure, WSPR or Weak Signal Propagation Reporter. I've previously discussed WSPR, today I would like to look at Radio Teletype or RTTY. It's a digital mode that allows you to send and recei...
How much do you really know about your radio?
August 08, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 7.81 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio When I came across amateur radio nearly a decade ago I did a course, passed my test and got licensed. At that point I didn't have any equipment, didn't know about any, hadn't touched anything, other than the radio in the classroom, and had no idea about what to buy and how to choose. So, instead I asked the friend who introduced me to the hobby, Meg, at the time VK6LUX, what radio to get. I asked her what was the second radio she ever got because I figured that ...
First Digital DX contact!
August 01, 2020 16:00 - 5 minutes - 9.48 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio The other day day I managed my first DX contact using a new mode, FT8. It wasn't very far away, all of 2600 km or so, but it evoked memories of my first ever on-air DX contact nearly a decade ago. I should say thank you to YD3YOG for my 15m contact, fitting because my first ever was also on 15m as I recall. Unfortunately I never did log my first. Recently a friend asked me how the two compared. 15m and logging aside, there's a lot of similarities, even though I...
What do you talk about?
July 25, 2020 16:00 - 3 minutes - 6.75 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio When was the last time you told anyone anything about your hobby? What about someone who isn't also an amateur? Have you ever considered why there is a perception that our hobby is dying, why it's running out of people, why we struggle to get air-time in mainstream media, why attracting new members is hard and why there is a very narrow range of understanding about what our hobby is, what it does and how it's relevant in the world today? I'm a radio amateur. So...
What's the point of this hobby?
July 18, 2020 16:00 - 5 minutes - 10.2 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio One of the recurring questions in this hobby, technically outside this hobby, asked by people who've not yet, or have only just been bitten by the bug, is: "What's the point of this hobby?" In some ways I too have asked this question, though for me the answer came within a few months of learning that amateur radio exists. In response to others asking this I've also made meagre attempts to answer this question with varying degrees of success and satisfaction. Th...
Homebrew radio for the 21st Century
July 11, 2020 16:00 - 5 minutes - 9.92 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio The hobby of Amateur Radio is essentially one of experimentation. Within our community we endlessly build things, from amplifiers to Yagis and every letter of the alphabet in between. With every experiment we grow the amateur radio sphere of influence just a little bit. As our hobby is evolving into Software Defined Radio, or SDR, the homebrew aspect of our community is also changing bit by bit and as a result, homebrew today is just as likely to be based on sof...
What is a repeater offset and how does it work?
July 04, 2020 16:00 - 3 minutes - 6.65 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio Every week I run a net for new and returning amateurs. A variety of people join in with varying degrees of skill, knowledge and number of birthdays. One of the regular things I say during that net is that if I'm not acknowledging you, it's because I cannot hear you. I then start a spiel about repeater offsets and give some examples, but what is it really and how does it work? As you might recall, a repeater is a radio, generally located somewhere useful, like o...
Your antenna is a filter (of sorts).
June 27, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 8.88 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio The single most discussed topic in amateur radio is that of antenna design, that and medical procedures on 80m, but I kid. Previously I've discussed the notion that all frequencies are on-air all the time and that your traditional radio uses much of its electronic circuitry to filter out all the things you don't want to hear. Parallel to that is the concept that you tune your antenna to be resonant on a particular band or frequency. As amateurs we might look for...
If you WSPR and nobody hears you ...
June 20, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 8.7 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio The day came to pass when all my set-up and configuration was going to culminate in the moment of truth when I enabled TX on my WSPR mode station. Before I tell you of my experience, I should give you a little bit of background. A few weeks ago I managed to erect a HF vertical at my home or QTH. That in and of itself was news worthy, well at least to me it was, since it was the first time since I became licensed in 2010 that I had actual real all-band HF capabil...
Using something for an unexpected purpose can give you many great rewards.
June 13, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 8.49 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio The other day I was getting ready to go out when rain started pelting down. Not unexpected in this part of the world at this time of year but inconvenient for my plans. I didn't particularly want to carry an umbrella and the thought of wearing a rain hood brought back memories of water trickling down my back. For reasons I'm not quite sure of, my eye fell on my hat on its hook at the door. The hat I wear in the heat of summer to keep my brain from frying, the ...
How to pick a field operating position?
June 06, 2020 16:00 - 5 minutes - 9.2 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio Much of the operation that I've done as a radio amateur is conducted in the field. That is, I tend to either drive my car to a location, or go out with friends and set-up camp to play. After you do this for a while you start to notice the things that you look for in an operating position. The very first one is accessibility. That is, how easy is it to get there? It's fine coming up with the ultimate location, but if it's an hour's drive away and you've only got ...
The humble coaxial cable
May 30, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 8.31 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio If you've ever used a spray can of WD-40, you might have wondered what the name means. It stands for "Water Displacement, 40th formula". In my time as a radio amateur I'd never stopped to think what the RG in RG-58 stood for. Turns out that it too has a meaning, "Radio Guide", though I have found some interesting alternative descriptions where the G stood for Government. This radio guide, really a transmission line, gets a signal from point A to point B. Dependi...
The antenna and coax you use matter.
May 23, 2020 16:00 - 3 minutes - 7.3 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio During the week I climbed on my roof and installed a base antenna for the 2m and 70cm band. The antenna is a Diamond X-300N. It's 3 meters tall, has a gain of 6.5 dB on 2m and 9 dB on 70cm. I've owned it for just under eight years and this week I finally took it out of the box and installed it. I know, I know, in my defence, you shouldn't rush these things. Truth is, until this week I really didn't have a realistic way of installing it. Several factors needed to...
Buying and using pre-loved equipment
May 16, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 8.31 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio The other day I received an email from Colin VK2JCC who mentioned that he was a keen home brewer and he was interested in a discussion about using ex-military gear in amateur radio. If you want to see his beautiful rig, check out Colin's Clansman PRC 320 Radio, does 2 to 30 MHz at 3 or 30 Watts. Look for his callsign and you'll also find a video of him calling CQ. Colin also shared his efforts for the construction of a Ground Tuning Unit which started a whole di...
How much is a bit worth?
May 09, 2020 16:00 - 5 minutes - 9.35 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio During the week I finally made the decision to purchase my first software defined transmit capable radio. It wasn't an easy choice for me, given that the range of options vary in price from "not much" to "more than my car is worth" and an infinite number of choices between those. One of the considerations, other than price, was a thing called bit-depth. In the past I've spoken about how an analogue to digital converter or ADC uses bits to represent a radio signa...
So, you want to be an amateur?
May 02, 2020 16:00 - 3 minutes - 5.7 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio The other day I stumbled on a social media post titled "So, you want to be an astronomer..." by /u/Andromeda321 on reddit. Look it up if you're interested how she puts together the prerequisites from her perspective as an astronomer. Apart from the fact that a few of my friends are astronomers, one even a radio amateur - and I have to confess, that's a combination that is exciting and intriguing - it got me considering how you become a radio amateur. In my mind...
Permission to be curious
April 25, 2020 16:00 - 3 minutes - 5.75 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio The activities that our community places under the banner of amateur radio are many and varied. I've referred to this as a thousand hobbies in one. If you look at the surface, you'll find all manner of activities that readily attach to our hobby. Activations for example are invented at any opportunity, from parks to peaks, light houses, bridges, trains, boats, lakes, roads, locators and countries. We pursue contesting, making contacts using different modes, diff...
First ever digital contact!
April 18, 2020 16:00 - 5 minutes - 10.2 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio When you start life you learn early on the difference between being told about an experience and the actual experience. There's a saying that comes to mind, I use it regularly in my day job: In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, while in practice there is. I thought I'd do the quote justice to see where it came from, not from Einstein, who was three years old at the time it was coined and neither Yogi Berra or Richard Feynman had been bor...
When was the last time you played?
April 11, 2020 16:00 - 5 minutes - 9.97 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio The other day it occurred to me that my callsign had been away from HF for months, probably longer. I didn't really want to think about how long it had been. I moved QTH over two years ago and ever since I've been working on a new antenna set-up. You know the kind, you shouldn't rush this. Anyway, having just had a camp-out with some friends for a portable contest, where I gleefully had fun with the station callsign, I thought it was time to actually do what I ke...
Breaking the isolation one QSO at a time.
April 04, 2020 16:00 - 5 minutes - 9.33 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio In our hobby we regularly talk about its purpose, its need, its usefulness and other potentially abstract notions. Often there's a nod towards science, learning, self-discovery, challenge, emergency service or some other higher order concept. I know I've discussed many of those over the years and encouraged you to find what the hobby means to you. There is one aspect of our hobby that's pretty much left unsaid. It's left unsaid because it's obvious, since radio ...
Listening from the ground up
March 28, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 8.98 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio When I started learning about antennas I was told height is might. The higher the better. For many years I've followed that advice and like a good little parrot I've dispensed that advice. Turns out that as is usual in our hobby, that's not the whole story. I first came across a ground based antenna with a BOG, that's a Beverage On Ground antenna. It's essentially a long length of coax that's pointed at what you want to hear. You can either terminate the end, or...
What level of preparedness are you at?
March 21, 2020 16:00 - 5 minutes - 10.6 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio An often repeated statement about the purpose of our hobby is related to emergency preparedness. The various peak bodies around the world devote plenty of resources to the concept, with helpful examples, umbrella organisations, training, coordinators, grants and funding, photo-opportunities and all the other trimmings that come from the idea that you and I are going to be of assistance in the case of some or other emergency. Looking up the various emergency coor...
On the shoulders of giants we stand.
March 14, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 7.73 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio One of the things I love most about this hobby is the ability to randomly dart off into any related direction and learn new stuff. For example, the names Nikola, Guglielmo, Heinrich and Edwin emblazoned on a t-shirt sent to me by a very appreciative listener Jack KI4KEP, started an exploration into the deeds and misdeeds of the people behind those names. The first three might be somewhat familiar, Nikola Tesla whom we have to thank for inventions like Alternatin...
All bands + All modes + All countries
March 07, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 7.54 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio A regular lament is the lack of things to do in our hobby. I know, it's foreign to me, but there are plenty of amateurs who express frustration at the lack of activity, no contacts, nothing new, no challenges. For my poison, I started the process of contacting 100 different countries using 5 Watts. I've been at it for a number of years and truth be told, since my latest domestic move, over two years ago now, my efforts have been put on hold. Not because I didn't...
The impersonal nature of digital and other myths
February 29, 2020 16:00 - 5 minutes - 9.76 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio The other day I bumped into a concept that I've heard repeated before. The so-called "impersonal nature" of digital modes. There's this idea that any communication that isn't using voice, is devoid of the human touch. Often this assertion is specifically made in relation to modern digital modes like JT65 and FT8. As an aside, I've never heard it in relation to other digital amateur modes like slow-scan television, RTTY or PSK31. In the early 1900's when amateur...
The chicken and the egg, which comes first, the antenna or the radio?
February 22, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 8.23 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio In my day to day activities as a radio amateur I come in contact with people across all parts of their amateur journey. Some who don't yet know that they're amateurs, through to those who've just passed their test and are waiting for their callsign. Then there are those who have been amateurs for a while, experimented a bit and have settled down into the comfort of being a member of an active community. Stretch that further and I also spend regular quality time w...
Exploring an understanding of filters and circuits.
February 15, 2020 16:00 - 5 minutes - 10.9 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio Every person is the product of their environment. Unsurprisingly this is even true for radio amateurs. That's not too say that we can't break our mould, but it takes effort. I grew up around technology in the 1980's. As a result I'm familiar with 8-bit microprocessors like the Motorola 6502 which featured heavily at the time. I tend to think in terms of the presence or absence of a signal, rather than the intricacies of circuits and components. As a child of my ...
How I care for my connectors
February 08, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 7.4 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio If you've ever found yourself in the position of attempting to screw a PL259 into an SO239, or an N-type plug into an N-type socket you'll have likely come across the situation where the thread doesn't quite fit. If it does, you might have issues attempting to undo the connection, even if you didn't particularly do anything strenuous in relation to mating the two in the first place. This kind of situation happens to me more than I think is reasonable. It happens...
How I host a weekly amateur radio net for new and returning amateurs
February 01, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 7.97 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio If you've ever had the pleasure or misfortune to hear an on-air net, you might have considered, however briefly, how that net came to be, how it's run and what's involved behind the scenes to make it happen. I host a weekly net called "F-troop". It's been running every week since the 12th of June in 2011. Since then I've made over 5000 contacts with stations scattered all over the globe. A typical net has about ten people, but depending on the weather, what's on...
Is this frequency in use and other lies we tell ourselves.
January 25, 2020 16:00 - 5 minutes - 10.3 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio When you switch your radio on to start a radio fishing expedition you join all the other spectrum users across the planet. To be fair, you'll likely only become aware of some of those for the time that your radio is switched on, even if there are thousands around. One of the ways you can find other users is by ditting out "QRL?" in Morse or saying "Is this frequency in use?" into your microphone. This simple courtesy of checking to see if the frequency you're o...
The lessons we teach.
January 18, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 8.97 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio When you become a member of the amateur radio community you become part of a small group of humans who know and understand certain aspects of life. That's not to say that others don't share this or that the knowledge is unique or special, but radio amateurs are required to know this before they receive their license. In the past I've spoken about how getting a license is like receiving a key that opens the door to the world of radio communications. It's one of t...
What's in a plan?
January 11, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 8.45 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio As radio amateurs we learn which frequencies we're allowed to transmit on, where stuff lives and who has priority when there's a signal on the frequency you're operating on and when you need to contact your regulator if you hear an illegal station on the air. Some of that information arrives in your brain by way of the education process that eventually becomes your license after a test. Depending on which country your license is valid, determines which region of...
Where do you start?
January 04, 2020 16:00 - 4 minutes - 7.36 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio So, you've got yourself a license, or it's coming but you're waiting for the regulator to get the administration done and for your payment to go through. The excitement is building, you're itching to get started and you've told your family and friends what your new callsign is. Then the day arrives. Your callsign is allocated, it's paid for and you're allowed to call yourself a licensed radio amateur, a member of the community, a part of history, the next thing ...
What does Amateur Radio mean to you?
December 28, 2019 16:00 - 3 minutes - 6.05 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio Over the years I've been asked what the hobby of amateur radio is all about. My response has evolved over time, but it started with the lure of simple point-to-point communications. The antidote against such an example is that a mobile phone does that and more. Of course if you're already in the hobby you know that there is a massive difference between the two, but if you're an onlooker that is not nearly as obvious. There are other problems with an answer like ...
Lamenting the decline of the hobby.
December 21, 2019 16:00 - 4 minutes - 8.27 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio During the week I received an email from a fellow amateur who described that they were feeling deeply disturbed by the decline of the core knowledge underlying the education and certification of today's new amateurs. This is a topic I've covered previously and some of what I'm about to say will touch on things I've said before. I come from a long background in information technology. My first introduction was around the Motorola 6502 processor in the early 1980'...
How did you get here?
December 14, 2019 16:00 - 6 minutes - 11.2 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio During the week I celebrated my ninth birthday. You might think that I'm quite eloquent for a nine year old and you'd be right if it was related to how I came to be born. My ninth birthday as an amateur appeared in my diary unexpectedly on a Monday and I took the liberty of telling a few people. On one forum it started a wonderful series of comments from amateurs and would be amateurs about their experience coming to our community. I've shared mine before, so in...
The SDR earthquake will change our hobby forever
December 07, 2019 16:00 - 5 minutes - 10.1 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio In the early 1990's when I was a broadcaster I would come into the studio and prepare my show. That involved hours of preparation, but on the technology side it involved vinyl records, reel-to-reel tape on open spools, looped tape on cart, running edits and razorblades. If you're not familiar, a running edit is where you're playing the tape at normal speed and you hit record at just the right moment to replace the content. Of course that also requires that the th...
Morse Code and You
November 30, 2019 16:00 - 4 minutes - 8.76 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio With the growing availability of new ways of communicating across the globe, from digital voice such as CODEC2, through weak signal modes like WSPR, JT65, MSK144 and FT4 to name a few, with Internet linked radio such as Brandmeister and DMR and the newly granted access to all Australian amateurs to all those modes, it's easy to overlook the one mode that started this adventure. Morse Code. It's no longer required to obtain your amateur license, so if that was p...
What's in a Whisper?
November 23, 2019 16:00 - 5 minutes - 9.85 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio A while ago I set up a WSPR, or Weak Signal Propagation Reporter at home. Before I go into the details, WSPR is an amateur radio protocol that allows stations to transmit their callsign, location and power level and for receivers around the globe to decode those and upload the results to a central database. It's a great way to see what you can hear and what propagation is like. A couple of months ago the regulator changed the Australian License Conditions Determ...
Putting a radio in a car.
November 16, 2019 16:00 - 4 minutes - 7.56 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio Putting a radio in a car. As you might recall, most of my radio activity is done away from my shack. I tend to operate portable, camping, sitting on a jetty or using a picnic table while a BBQ is going nearby. For me operating with my car as a mobile base made more sense than trying to cram an antenna in a home with little or no garden. Putting a radio in a car can be as simple as bringing a hand-held and hanging it from the rear-view mirror, or it can involve...
Where is North?
November 09, 2019 16:00 - 4 minutes - 8.58 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio The other day we were aligning an antenna for a contest. It had slipped on the rotator pole during a recent storm and when the rotator was set to zero it was pointing somewhere south east. Not ideal if you want to point your antenna at a particular station. The topic of the direction of north came up. There was vague hand-pointing, some mobile phone compass magic performed and north was arrived at. I asked if that compass took into account magnetic declination w...
In pursuit of a challenge
November 02, 2019 16:00 - 3 minutes - 6.97 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio An interesting question came up the other day. It's there such a thing as a solo contest? At the time I answered with examples like talking to a hundred countries to achieve the DXCC, or doing that on every band. I gave other examples too, but today I'd like to come at this from a different angle. When you go fly fishing, you typically stand in cold water trying to tempt a fish into taking your lure. If you are in the right spot at the right time with the right ...
First Solo
October 26, 2019 16:00 - 3 minutes - 6.53 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio The other day I looked in my diary and noticed that it was the anniversary of my first solo flight. If that's not familiar to you, it means I got in an aeroplane on my own for the first time, taxied to the end of the runway, made a radio call to warn all the other pilots, took off, flew a circuit and landed safely. All the essentials for flying a plane. It occurred to me that there was a period of preparation associated with that flight. I did training, I practi...
World Wide Radio Operators Foundation
October 19, 2019 16:00 - 4 minutes - 7.99 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio The other day I accidentally learnt something new. I know, it's crazy, sometimes I surprise myself. I received an email that announced an activity from something called WWROF, more specifically, the World Wide Radio Operators Foundation. It caught my eye, because it was announcing a webinar about an upcoming contest, as it happens the largest annual amateur contest, the CQ World Wide. The time zone for the webinar put it firmly during my sleeping hours, so I ask...
How to make contesting interesting to an audience?
October 12, 2019 16:00 - 4 minutes - 8.62 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio As you might know I enjoy doing contests, actually that's an understatement; I LOVE doing contests. I think that they represent an excellent way to learn about operating procedure, propagation, band selection, antenna direction, callsign recognition and dealing with adverse operating environments. In short, I think that contesting teaches you lots about amateur radio in a very short time. That said, doing a contest, or learning from a contest is challenging and ...
Leave some bread crumbs behind
October 05, 2019 16:00 - 5 minutes - 9.58 MBFoundations of Amateur Radio About a year or so ago I received a message from a friend of mine. The message asked if I would have or could find a use for some amateur radio gear from their active amateur father who became a silent key. That started a sequence of events that leads us here, today. In the year that followed that message I became the grateful owner and archivist of an amateur shack that belonged to Walter VK6BCP (SK). Walter had two calls that I know of, VK6BCP, last logged on t...