Beacons have like other digital modes moved with the times, making use of the latest digital modulation techniques to improve detectability far beyond the human ear and CW. The name PI4- PharusIgnis4 comes from the ancient words for a beacon, lighthouse and fire and is a digital modulation that is compliant with the IARU Region 1 […]
FT8 on 144 MHz
FT8 has taken the HF bands by storm, a bit like PSK did in the early 2000s. These days it seems the mode of choice for DX stations, allowing them to make a number of QSO is a short duration. If you haven’t checked out FT8 then I would suggest you head over to Joe Taylor […]
CQ WPX RTTY
I recently received back my Expert 1.3K-FA linear back from its holiday in Italy. I noticed some months ago that it would sometimes fail to start and require repeated presses of the power button. After a short holiday in Italy, the manufacturer replaced two relays, and I thought WPX RTTY was a good baptism of […]
Multi Mode Digital Voice Modem with HAT
Let’s start with the name, MMDVM (Multi-Mode Digital Voice Modem) with HAT(Hardware Attached on Top) The HAT has been designed by Flo DF2ET and Mathis DB9MAT and is compatible with the Raspberry PI or PI W Zero. The board will support MMDVM so that’s DSTAR, DMR, P25 and Fusion using the excellent software by Jonathan G4KLX. The Raspberry Pi zero W (WiFi) The board […]
Receiving HF Weather Fax
If you have spent time listening to HF you may have noticed the distinctive sound of HF Fax, something I thought had disappeared 20 years ago. FAX seems like a very old technology now, although before the days of email the FAX machine was the only way to send near real-time images between people. HF Fax uses […]
6E beam for 70 MHz
70 MHz has become increasingly popular since Icom added it to some of their new transceivers. Since owning an Icom 7100 and Icom 7300 and enjoying the UKAC and portable events I decided to make a beam for the band. I had some aluminum from a previous order at aluminum warehouse, and so decided to look […]