(Work in progress … really!) The PicoRX was introduced to the MWRS at the June 2025 Lecture as one of the projects for the shack. Since then, many members have ordered and acquired the kit and started the build process. A Buildathon was organised for those who wished to build their PicoRX together in a […]
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Category: Homebrew
Home brewed equipment, including kits
July 2025 NTP Clock Buildathon
Following the June 2025 lecture where the NTP Clock and the Pi-PicoRX were introduced as “Projects for the Shack”, an obvious appetite for the projects motivated Richard ARH and Simon VK2YU to organise for the acquisition of the components and organise for buildathons so that members can get together to build and configure the devices. […]
June 2025 – Lecture – Build Projects for the Shack
The June lecture, Build Projects for the Shack by Richard VK2ARH and Simon VK2YU, introduced two new club projects: an NTP (Network Time Protocol) Clock for the shack, and Pi-PicoRX, a software-defined radio receiver based in the Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller. You can watch the lecture on VK2MB-TV. The lecture proved very popular, and another […]
HamClock Configurathon
Following feedback received from a very good HamClock lecture and the urge from many members to build their own, a “Configurathon” evening was organised for Wednesday 26-Feb-2025, basically BYO hardware and lets configure together, first one to tell the time from his/her clock … helps the other ones to finish. Richard VK2ARH kindly organised the […]
on/off toggle switch to a push-on/push-off switch
I needed to convert from an on/off toggle switch to a push on/push off switch with discrete components from my junk box. Basically, the old system uses a simple on/off toggle switch: when the toggle is on, the system is on, when the toggle is off, the system is off. The new system has one […]
June 2024 ADX Buildathon
It all started with very good lecture by Richard Hinsley VK2ARH/W5ARH on the ADX (the Arduino Digital Transceiver) in April 2024 followed by an email to all from Michael VK2MDP asking around about interest for a club buildathon, very quickly the list of interested members grew to 28 people wishing to grab a kit, many […]
May 2024 – 5th Wed – Enclosures, Cabinets, and Carry Cases
Having the best radio and test equipment enclosure requires a combination of ingenuity and art. Appearance and practicality are as important as the actual function performed by the equipment. We are looking for big & small, artwork, robustness, embedded functions, old, modern, classic, generic, jiffy, portability and more. There are prizes for the Best Display […]
April 2024 lecture – ADX Transceiver
Watch the video at https://youtu.be/cG4vHLs39iU. For our April lecture, Richard Hinsley VK2ARH/W5ARH talked about the ADX (the Arduino Digital Transceiver) and the buildathon program he ran in 2023 for the Cowtown Amateur Radio Club in Forth Worth, Texas. His presentation includes a live demonstration of the transceiver. Update, March 2025: Richard has updated the Constuction […]
WOWIT Indicator
We’ve got 2 rigs in the car, a 70cm/UHF-CB combo and a 2m. A green light on the rig goes on to show it is receiving, however if you were not quick enough to see it, then you go “which one was it?” (WOWIT). So, using a latch relay and a couple of resistors, I […]
VHC Pilgrimage 2023
The annual post-Christmas trip to the Victorian High Country was kicked off by Andy VK2EAH and Geoff VK2WA, with Dom VK2JNA in hot pursuit. Dom caught up by Jindabyne and we headed down the Barry Way. We paused at Ingeegoodbee to take in the first scenic lookout: After a quick swim in the fast-flowing (and […]
Building an outdoor ADS-B receiver
Article by Simon Mitchell – VK2YU Overview The aim of this project was to build an ADS-B receiver using the popular PiAware implementation (created by FlightAware). The installation and configuration of PiAware is very well documented so I will not elaborate on this in this text only to point interested people to FlightAware’s PiAware URL: […]
A Tape Measure Tactical Antenna for Airband
There are plenty of amateur tactical aerials available on the market for 2m and 70cm but I couldn’t find an airband one. I decided to cook one up, but couldn’t find any recipes. I wanted an end-fed half-wave (EFHW) tuned for 125.000 to 127.000 Mhz. We use many flower pots aerials, rubber duckies and quarter […]
VHF portable operation with range
Portable VHF/2m operations can often be a challenge when range is required: Here is a simple and economical portable set-up providing you do not have to run into the bush. Except from the length of the RG58 cable, all the components were picked up from the local council clean-up! The aerial is a ground independent […]
VK2YU Home brew M0MCX DX Commander
Home brew “DX Commander” 7m antenna – November 2021 … Australian date & time Firstly, this build is a copy of a commercial antenna so ALL credit to the design and effort of the idea all goes to the designer: Callum McCormick, M0MCX https://www.m0mcx.co.uk The original build information is here https://www.m0mcx.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/DXC-Rapide-User-Guide.pdf Note there are several […]
ARNSW 40m dipole “buildathon” — 10-March-2019
Amateur Radio New South Wales held a 40 metre dipole “buildathon” at Dural earlier this month. The event was aimed at helping Foundation licensees get onto HF, though some Amateurs with other licence grades turned up too. From our club, Sajith VK2FAST and Shaun VK2XPP participated, and Richard VK2SKY came along to “hold hands” and […]