Category: Amateur Radio
35 Years of OE8XFK: The Dobratsch Relay and Its Sysops – A Thank You
In January 1991, a relay was purchased that has since reliably served from the summit of the Dobratsch at 2,166 metres above sea level, workable not only across most of OE8 but well beyond the borders.…
Frequency Utilisation Ordinance: What Has Changed for Radio Amateurs in Austria
With the amendment of the Frequency Utilisation Ordinance (Frequenznutzungsverordnung, FNV) , published on 13 March 2023 as BGBl. II No. 61/2023 , the amateur radio frequency allocations in Austria were fundamentally reorganised. The former Annex 2…
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 suited…
OE8DDX – Domenik Luca: 277 DXCC Entities, HST National Team and Styrian Accordion at 17
There are stories in amateur radio that show passion knows no age. The story of Domenik Luca Hochegger, OE8DDX , from Wolfsberg in the Lavanttal valley of Carinthia is one of them. At eleven years old,…
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 under…
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. A…
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 has…
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 shack.…
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…
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…
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, today…
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 the…
