Amateur Radio Station
On September 6th, I visited the PC5T Contest station. They were participating in the annual VHF IARU Contest. They’ve been doing this for 20 years at the same location near the village of De Cocksdorp, on the east side of the northern tip, directly on the Wadden Sea. Time to test the V-Dipole in…
STL FILES: downloads here Although the design of the V Dipole is not new at all, the past few months after building the V Dipole have proven to be a great success. Success in the sense of being very quick to set up, requiring a small footprint for guy wires, and still being able to…
Update 27-04-2025: New body added, for 16mm tube mount. I saw 5.6m telescopic antennas on Aliexpress a while ago. I ordered a set with the idea of doing something fun with them later. I wanted to make a lightweight dipole to hang in the mast. Later I thought it would be much more fun to…
Great news! I’m once again able to send and receive QSL cards via the Dutch QSL Bureau! As I really love making portable contacts it’s always a special experience. Therefore I decided to confirm these contacts with a QSL card. Just a quick note:➡️ Please don’t send QSL cards for digital contacts (like FT8 or…
Great news! My XLX880 Multiprotocol Reflector is now up and running smoothly. Connections between Yaesu Fusion, DMR (Brandmeister), and D-Star are active on XLX880A. 🔹 DMR users can connect via Talkgroup 2041151.🔹 Yaesu Fusion users can join Room 88880.🔹 Transcoding between all modes is fully functional, ensuring seamless cross-mode communication. Happy QSO and enjoy the…
I recently purchased a number of Icom Trunking radios with the intention of using them for digital use. That is, to use them to create a Hotspot / Repeater for D-Star and/or Yaesu Fusion (C4FM). I had once bought an IC-F1010 to use on VHF for packet radio. The adjustment for this was simple. Because…
Recently, I’ve been diving back into digital voice modes like DMR, D-Star, and Yaesu Fusion. These technologies remain a fantastic way to connect with other radio enthusiasts worldwide. As part of this renewed interest, I set up my own XLX server: XLX880. Using a Raspberry Pi 5, I configured an XLXD server to power the…
As an avid outdoor enthusiast and radio operator, I couldn’t be happier with my new 6mm POTA cable from Messi & Paoloni, along with the POTA Speed cable winder and the matching carrying bag. This setup has truly elevated my portable gear to the next level! After years of heavy use and admittedly some…
Last summer I cycled a lot from park to park with my IC-705 and telescopic mast, with various experiments in terms of antennas. I have had a lot of fun with this, and will certainly expand this further for next summer season. The only thing I really missed is the simplicity of setting up something…
There has been a lot of ES propagation lately. With my Bigwheel antenna for 2m I can make very nice contacts. Since the Bigwheel is approximately 5dBi, I wanted a little more gain and especially some forward gain. I have known for a long time about the existence of LFA antennas from Justin G0KSC. On…