Ferdl
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SATIRE Hamspirit – Your Survival Guide for the Amateur Radio Club
A satirical guide for anyone wanting to join an amateur radio club – and who should know what they’re getting into. You’ve just passed your amateur radio exam, your first callsign in hand, and a…
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Which License Class Is Right for Me? Class 1, 3 and 4 Compared
Getting started in amateur radio in Austria begins with an important decision: which license class should you choose? The Austrian system has three authorization classes — Class 1, Class 3 and Class 4. Each offers…
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The History of Amateur Radio in Austria: From the Beginnings to Today
Amateur radio in Austria has a long and eventful history, closely intertwined with the political upheavals of the 20th century. From the first radio experiments in the 1920s through the ban during the Nazi era…
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New at oeradio.at: Hansl Hohlleiter and the “The Jammer – Satire on Air” Column
Dear readers, it’s your Ferdl here. Normally I write about propagation, antennas and operating modes. But today I have some very special news: We’ve got reinforcements. The kind of reinforcements where you’re not quite sure…
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Field Day: Amateur Radio Under the Open Sky — How to Plan a Successful Participation
When the days grow longer and the weather beckons us outdoors, many radio amateurs feel the excitement building: Field Day is approaching! Whether on an alpine meadow in the Austrian Alps, atop a hill overlooking…
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Wavelog: The Modern Web Logbook for Amateur Radio — Setup with Docker
Any amateur radio operator who wants to properly document their QSOs (radio contacts) needs a logbook. But the days of handwritten entries are long gone: modern web-based logbooks offer DXCC tracking, automatic QSL management, ADIF…
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EME – Earth-Moon-Earth: Moonbounce on 2 m and 70 cm
EME – Earth-Moon-Earth: When the Moon Becomes a Reflector Imagine sending a radio signal from Earth to the Moon and receiving the echo back – a round-trip distance of approximately 768,000 kilometers. This is exactly…
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The 10-Metre Band: The Forgotten DX Band Comes Back to Life
There are bands in amateur radio that always work — 20 metres, for example. There are bands that only come alive at night, like 80 and 160 metres. And then there is the 10-metre band:…
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EchoLink, AllStarLink and SVXLink: Worldwide Repeater Linking via VoIP
Imagine standing on the Dobratsch in Carinthia with your handheld radio and having a QSO with an amateur radio station in Australia — via a local VHF repeater. Sounds like science fiction? It is not.…
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WWFF Austria: Flora & Fauna Activations in Austria’s Nature Parks
Amateur radio and nature experiences – the World Wide Flora & Fauna (WWFF) program combines both in a unique way. If you enjoy portable operation and want to explore Austria’s beautiful protected areas at the…
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PMR and CB Radio: No Licence Needed – A Guide to Licence-Free Radio
Not everyone has an amateur radio licence – and that’s perfectly fine. Yet there are situations where radio communication is practical, useful, or even life-saving: on a hike in the mountains, skiing with the family,…
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Creating RF Propagation Maps Yourself: From SPLAT! to Radio Mobile
Do you want to know how far your radio signal actually reaches from your location? Whether the new repeater site on the local mountain provides optimal coverage? Or which frequency and antenna height are best…
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ESP32 and Amateur Radio: 10 Projects for Makers and Ham Radio Operators
The ESP32 has become the favorite microcontroller of many radio amateurs in recent years – and for good reason. With integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, two processor cores, numerous GPIO pins, and a street price of…
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Gray Line DX: The Magical Twilight Zone for Shortwave
For those active in amateur radio on shortwave, the phenomenon is well known: sometimes connections succeed over thousands of kilometers with surprisingly good signals, while at other times even nearby stations can barely be heard.…
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HackRF PortaPack: The Portable All-Rounder for SDR Enthusiasts
If you’re into Software Defined Radio, you know the problem: most SDR devices are powerful but need a computer to work. Not so with the HackRF One and its PortaPack extension — a combination that…
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ISS Contact via Amateur Radio: How to Hear the Space Station
Who wouldn’t want to make contact with an astronaut orbiting Earth at 28,000 km/h? The International Space Station ISS makes exactly that possible – and you probably already have the equipment for it in your…
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EFHW: The End-Fed Half-Wave Antenna — simple, effective, versatile
Few antennas have received as much attention in recent years as the EFHW — the End-Fed Half-Wave antenna. Whether for SOTA activations on Austria’s mountain peaks, POTA in national parks, or as a discreet garden…
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Understanding Propagation Conditions: SFI, K-Index, A-Index Explained
“What are the conditions like today?” – every amateur radio operator asks themselves this question before going on the bands. The answer lies in a handful of key indicators: SFI, K-Index, A-Index, and sunspot number.…
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New: RSS Feed for oeradio.at – Never Miss an Update\!
We’re excited to introduce a new feature: You can now subscribe to all oeradio.at articles via RSS feed – without cookies, tracking, or social media algorithms! What is RSS and Why Should I Use It?…
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CubeSats for Radio Amateurs: Small Satellites, Great Opportunities
A 10 cm cube racing across the sky at 27,000 km/h – and you can transmit through it. CubeSats have democratized amateur radio satellite communication: Where once huge budgets and years of development were necessary,…
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WSPR: The World of Propagation Research with 5 Watts
Imagine sending a signal with less power than a flashlight – and stations around the world receive it. That’s exactly what WSPR (pronounced “Whisper”) makes possible. The Weak Signal Propagation Reporter network is one of…
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Amateur Radio as a Hobby: What to Expect and What Does It Cost to Get Started?
You’re interested in amateur radio but not sure what to expect? Don’t worry — you’re not alone. Every year, hundreds of people in Austria discover this fascinating hobby. Whether you want to talk to stations…
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DXCC, WAZ, WPX: The Major Amateur Radio Awards Explained
Introduction: The Fever for the Certificate You just made your first DX QSO on 20 meters — Japan, with only 100 watts and a wire in the garden. Your heart is still pounding. You checked…
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Contests for Beginners: Why You Should Enter at Least One Contest
Introduction You’re sitting in the shack, turning the VFO, and suddenly on 14 MHz you hear a tangle of callsigns, lightning-fast exchanges, and cryptic numbers. “CQ Contest, CQ Contest, OE2S, Oscar Echo Two Sierra.” Then…
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ChatGPT, Claude & Co. for Radio Amateurs: AI as Learning Aid and Shack Assistant
Let’s be honest: who among us hasn’t asked ChatGPT how long a half-wave dipole for 20 meters needs to be? Or asked Claude to write an Arduino sketch for a CW keyer? Artificial intelligence has…
