Category: Technology
Raspberry Pi in the Shack: The Best Amateur Radio Applications 2026
The Raspberry Pi has become an indispensable tool in the amateur radio shack in recent years. Whether as a digital modem controller, APRS iGate, Winlink gateway or fully-fledged WebSDR receiver — the small single-board computer handles…
Satellite Tracking and Reception for Beginners: From App to Antenna
Satellites have fascinated radio amateurs since the early days of OSCAR 1 in 1961. Today, getting started with satellite reception and even satellite communication is easier than ever before. With affordable SDR receivers, powerful tracking apps,…
wiki.echtcool.net – Karl's Workshop on the Web
There are radio amateurs who operate. And there are radio amateurs who build, measure, solder, mill, program and repair. Karl from Tretram, OE8JHK, does both – and documents his projects properly on top. Auf seiner Seite…
Experimental 5-Band Vertical Groundplane – Four Planks for a Hallelujah
Guest article by Jürgen, OE8RMJ If you want to skip the backstory, jump straight to "The Experiment". Prologue I got my licence in April 2025. Fresh and full of curiosity about the vast field that lay…
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 import…
EME – Earth-Moon-Earth: Moonbounce on 2 m and 70 cm
EME – Earth-Moon-Earth: When the Moon Becomes a Reflector The Moon – our nearest natural reflector in space and the key element for EME contacts. (Photo: Gregory H. Revera, Wikimedia Commons , CC BY-SA 3.0) Imagine…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
