In 1998 a large quantity of VHF FM92 radios hit the market at give away prices. The MWRS had obtained enough to supply every member at the time, many took this opportunity, they were cheap and robust. They were not small but most of them came with a remote head. Many ended up as a […]
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Category: Technical Stuff
Ham Hacks Category
All A new category has been added to post all these little tricks you do to make your hobby life easier and you would like to share.
Vanity Power
Looking for 12v power for your Bluetooth or dashcam? I’ve connected mine to the vanity mirror lights in the sun visor? Uses far less power than the 2 incandescent lights. In our car it is switched with the ignition – not the accessories somehow. Just need to plug before the light on/off switch. So no wires from the top of the windscreen […]
Anderson Y
I use Anderson plugs for all my 12 volt equipment. Except for my HF rig, most of my equipment is of very low current drain. I tend to always terminate my Anderson power leads and extensions with 2 plugs so that I can connect multiple devices, however I don’t like having the spare plug floating […]
Spade adaptor
SLA batteries come with 2 different size spades, narrow 4.7mm or wide 6.3mm. When getting a replacement SLA, you don’t always have the choice on the spade size. You can get away with plugging a 6.3mm female to a 4.7mm male, but the other way around will just not work. I found an easy way to make adaptors, if you don’t […]
Ding-Dong Car Alarm
A couple of xmas ago, some friends stayed at our place and got their car broken into during the night in our driveway, so I decided we needed a car alarm. As an amateur, I went for the homebuilt stuff. I got the cheapest remote door bell I could find ($15 at Bunnings!). Since the remote works on a 12v battery, […]
Ross Beaumont (VK2KRB) – Quadrant Antennas
Ross Beaumont (VK2KRB) has shared his report on a suitable antenna to provide quasi-omni-directional coverage in azimuth from an antenna that is light and simple enough for amateur use, and focussing specifically on Quadrant antennas: Quadrant Antennas
MWRS WebSDR Build – Part 2
Our WebSDR build is progressing well, after the first installment we had finished the construction of 3 x Softrock RX III kits. These have all been brought together on the bench and compared to each other using SDR# and one of the Asus Xonar U7 sound cards. The first 3 units are working well and construction […]
MWRS WebSDR Build – Part 1
What is a WebSDR and why make one? SDR means “software defined radio” – and the basic premise is that instead of homing in on one signal using a classic receiver, you can sample a substantial “chunk” of radio spectrum and then do whatever processing you like with it using software (all of the demodulation/filtering etc is […]
VK2RMB gets wifi
A few years ago the club was lucky enough to be selected to host one of a handful of ICOM supplied D-Star repeaters. As D-Star uses the internet to link repeaters around the world it was necessary to have our repeater shack setup with an ADSL connection, which the WIA graciously funded until recently. We […]
CHA-250B review
Comet’s CHA-250B is an interesting antenna. It claims (and delivers) continuous broadband coverage from 3.5MHz to 57MHz with no ground radials. Comet’s website admits this is not without its compromises of course: “If you have the space, budget and desire to erect a full size antenna system we suggest you do so… bigger is better…however…if […]
Three band end fed antenna
Geoff VK2TGO recently gave a lecture on an end fed antenna for 40-20-10m. This antenna is fed using a 9:1 unun, just under 13 metres of wire and a loading coil near one end. The antenna wire itself can be deployed in many ways: vertically, as an inverted V (with the feedpoint at one of the low […]
Club member Mal and his awesome home-brew magic carpet.
[tube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3FkFjN4UlE[/tube] Mal’s capabilities as a hacker are really on show here with his balancing scooter getting some airtime on YouTube!
Lazy Sundays (hunting QRM)
Everyone has a different idea of Lazy Sundays. For Tim VK2BT, Geoff VK2AVR, Charlie VK2GMT and El Presidente (Carlo) VK2MXC, this past lazy Sunday was an opportunity to chase some interference problems. Our VHF repeaters (analog and DSTAR) have had an issue recently – when both are keyed there is audible “splatter” on the analog tail […]
Elecraft K2 Amplifier Keying Circuit
As some of our members will be aware, I have been building an Elecraft K2 kit radio, and I completed construction this Easter weekend. When I ordered the kit, I didn’t order the internal ATU or the 100W amplifier option, as I already have an Elecraft KXPA100 amplifier with KXAT100 ATU. However, this amplifier is […]