Author: Michael | OE8YML
Receive Antennas for Low-Band: Beverage, K9AY and Flag Antennas
On the low bands — 160, 80 and 40 metres — a DX contact is rarely decided by transmit power, but by the station's ability to hear . Atmospheric noise (QRN) is so high here that…
Digirig Mobile: The Compact Digital Interface for Portable Operation
Anyone who wants to run FT8 , JS8Call, WSPR , or Winlink in the field knows the problem: a laptop, a transceiver, and between them a tangle of cables — USB sound card, CAT cable, PTT…
CW Operation in Practice: From First Key to QSO
CW – telegraphy in Morse code – is the oldest mode in amateur radio and at the same time one of the most alive. While other modes come and go, the plain little "dit-dit" has stubbornly…
Receiving and Decoding Weather Radiosondes: Tracking High-Altitude Balloons with RTL-SDR
Every day, thousands of weather balloons rise around the world, equipped with radiosondes that measure temperature, air pressure and humidity – and transmit their measurements by radio to the ground station. With an inexpensive RTL-SDR dongle…
futureGEO: The Future of Geostationary Amateur Radio Satellites After QO-100
Since February 2019, QO-100 on Es'hail-2 has proven that geostationary amateur radio satellites work — and work brilliantly. Thousands of radio amateurs across Europe, Africa, and Asia use the narrowband and wideband transponders daily for SSB…
TETRA on BrandMeister: TetraPack.Online Brings Professional Digital Radio to Amateur Radio
Most radio amateurs know BrandMeister as the world's largest DMR network. But since 2024, there's a new family member: TetraPack.Online brings the professional TETRA standard to amateur radio — with superior voice quality, full-duplex capability and…
Learning CW in 2026: Modern Training Methods with Apps, Web Tools, and AI
Morse code is the oldest digital mode in amateur radio – and one of the most fascinating. CW (Continuous Wave) works with minimal power, gets through where other modes fail, and has a worldwide community that's…
Aviation Radio and ADS-B: Tracking Aircraft with RTL-SDR
Alternative: HackRF PortaPack with Mayhem Firmware If you already own a HackRF PortaPack , you do not need a separate RTL-SDR dongle: The Mayhem firmware includes a fully functional ADS-B receiver built right into the device.…
HAM RADIO Friedrichshafen 2026: Europe's Largest Amateur Radio Exhibition
From June 26 to 28, 2026, Europe's largest and most significant amateur radio exhibition will take place in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance – HAM RADIO. For Austrian radio amateurs, it's the must-attend event of the year:…
When One Person Brought a Local Chapter Back to Life
There was a time when the Hermagor district was radio-silent. Amateur radio operators existed, yes, but the local chapter ADL805 was little more than a name on paper. An organisational unit without life, an entry in…
EMC Guide: Finding and Fixing Interference
EMC — Electromagnetic Compatibility — is one of the biggest practical topics in radio operation, whether amateur radio, CB, PMR, or other radio services. Whether the S-meter on 40 m constantly reads S7 with nobody transmitting,…
Yagi Antennas for VHF/UHF: Building Your Own Directional Antenna
The Yagi-Uda antenna — usually just called "Yagi" — is the most widely used directional antenna in amateur radio. It focuses energy in one direction, increases gain and range, and suppresses interference from the sides and…
