Category: Construction

Replacing my hexbeam with… another hexbeam!

My new hexbeam with 40m

At the end of July, I happened to glance up at my aerial and noticed the 15m element hanging down. It was broken. It didn’t look serious though and I was sure that it was just that the connector on the end of the element had snapped off. Around the same time, I was offered […]

1090 MHz ADS-B PCB antenna from eBay

That's better - The repaired ADS-B PCB antenna

About a month ago I bought a 1090MHz PCB aerial on eBay and immediately forgot about it. It arrived a few days ago and I had a good look at it before I connected it to anything to try and work out what it actually was. I decided from the construction that it was a […]

QRSS revisited

VE1VDM stacked on 27th March 2019

For the last couple of months, I’ve not done much in the way of traditional radio, largely down to the fact that I’ve been really busy at work. I’ve had lots to do and I’ve spent a month working away from home either on training courses or in meetings preparing for a very large project. […]

An updated internal and external ADS-B comparison

ADS-B receiver mounted on a rifle cleaning rod

It’s been well over a year since I moved my external ADS-B receiver to the top of my Alimast and it’s been performing very well, regularly sitting in the top five of the UK receivers according to the FlightAware statistics page and in the top ten world wide on the PlaneFinder sharers list.  A good location […]

Installing a good quality TCXO into my Kenwood TS-590SG

W7MLG TCXO board fitted inside my Kenwood TS-590SG

Over the years as I’ve operated QRSS and WSPR, I’ve noticed that my original TS-590S and then the replacement TS-590SG have always been slightly off frequency and suffering from a little drift.  This frequency inaccuracy was barely 30Hz which seems minuscule but when monitoring a section of the band which is only 200Hz wide, the […]

Building a Hendricks 41dB Step RF Attenuator

Hendricks 41dB Step RF Attenuator kit

Two or three years ago I had a browser tab sitting open on the Hendricks 41dB Step RF Attenuator from Pacific Antenna/QRP Kits in California.  For some reason I never ordered one and when I finally remembered that I was going to get one, they were out of stock. I dropped them an email back […]

Building a JYE Tech Cap Meter 060 Kit

JYE Tech Capacitance Meter DIY Kit

One of the new local Foundation licence holders recently did the Intermediate course and exam and as part of her practical assessment, she built a capacitance meter which I’m sure helped her pass the course.  Well done, Caroline! I fancied doing the same as it’s a handy piece of test gear that I’ve never owned. […]

Time for a new aerial, I’ve replaced my doublet with an OCFD

Far support pole holding my OCFD

Earlier this year I decided it was time to replace my doublet with a new wire aerial.  There was nothing actually wrong with the doublet, I’ve worked plenty on it but it always galled me that I had a smarttuner connected to it which limited my transmit power.  I could only run 100W SSB or […]

A detailed look at three different methods of operating the low power WSPR mode

Hans Summers Ultimate 3S transmitter

There seems to have been an upsurge in people operating WSPR recently.  Barely a day goes by (sometimes barely an hour) without someone posting a map of where their signals have been received on Twitter.  When I first started experimenting with WSPR and QRSS some years ago, I did exactly the same. I’m quite sure […]

Installing a new external ADS-B receiver

External ADS-B receiver using a Raspberry Pi and Poe to power it

Not long after my last post on this subject, back in January, the preamp I had mounted in the box at the top of 30ft of pole strapped to the side of my house failed and I was forced to removed that particular ADS-B aircraft tracker.  I still had my loft unit running and working […]