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I’m a big fan of the fan dipole!
I started experimenting with the fan dipole concept in the summer, building one out of bits of stick and tape for a quick bit of experimentation. I thought it was about time I came back to the concept for some further testing. The principle of a fan dipole is pretty simple. Dipole antennas for multiple […]
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QMX+ Finished!
I’ve been building a QMX+ HF QRP radio from QRP Labs since a little before Christmas. It’s finally completed and ready to go! I’m pretty happy with it. It’s a kit build designed by Hans Summers (G0UPL) and has a bit of a cult following online. The latest version does SSB as well as CW […]
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The Mighty V-Beam!
I’ve been researching a few ideas for antenna’s over the last month which inspired me to create the biggest antenna I think I’ve ever built – the mighty v-beam!! But let’s rewind a few steps – what I am really interested in is broadband antennas. There are many designs for broadband antennas but one thing […]
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2025 – My Year Of DX
Happy new year! I became a radio amateur in December 2024 so here is my first year of DX, the map shows SSB contacts only from 01 Jan 2025 – 31 Dec 2025…..
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A real test for Clansman
I’ve had an old Clansman PRC-320 for a while now and recently modified it to add lower side band modulation (LSB) to make it more useful on the amateur radio bands. It’s had a little testing at home but with the Christmas holidays starting it seemed like now would be a good time to test […]
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Shhhh Covert Communications!
I’ve been thinking for a while about discrete HF communications. I often read about issues in the UK with radio amateurs falling foul of local government enforcement action: Radio enthusiast at risk of losing lifelong hobby – BBC News In the UK most amateur radio antenna’s do require planning permission although this is rarely enforced. […]
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Really Weird Twisted Sisters!
I’ve been building a QMX+ HF transceiver kit recently, and one feature really caught my attention: the “really weird twisted sisters transformer” (RWTST).It’s a great reminder of how, at RF frequencies, the smallest physical details can make or break circuit performance. Earlier versions of the QMX+ used a conventional output transformer. But some builders noticed […]
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Software defined or hardware defined – which is better?!?
This weekend I upgraded my 1970s-era PRC-320 HF radio to include new functionality for amateur radio use – adding an S-meter, correcting the military 2 kHz frequency offset, enabling LSB, and replacing a few tired components. Every time I open one of these sets I’m reminded how remarkable older engineering can be. Built by Plessey […]
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CQ World Wide 2025
The last weekend in October is the CQ World Wide contest – The CQ WW is the largest Amateur Radio competition in the world. Over 35,000 participants take to the airwaves with the goal of making as many contacts with as many different DXCC entities and CQ Zones as possible. Normally I use contests as […]
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Proppy Propagation Prediction
Proppy is a simple to use web-based propagation prediction tool which allows users to predict HF propagation conditions, select appropriate HF frequencies for point to point links and understand what geographic coverage they can expect to achieve with their transmitter across time for a given frequency. The below shows how to use the basic functionality […]
