Amateur Radio on its edge
After launching this website 5 years ago the time has come to move to modern design. It took me some time and I had a steep learning curve considering modern webdesign but it was actually also fun to dig deep into CSS3, Javascript and HTML5.
Here are the design criterias I tried to follow:
During the last few years the internet enriched greatly our lives. In this blog post I will share the five best tools how to increase your personal productivity. Regardless if you are just a passive ham browsing the web, actively building Ham Radio equipment or organizing the next Fieldday, these tools will help you to organize your hobby, save time and hazle. I’m using all of them on a daily basis!
Are you familiar with the following situation: You are watching the latest Hollywood movie with your girlfriend. You could convince here to watch a thriller instead of a romance, which she would have prefered. Over the time, the story evolves good, there is even a notion of romance (to the satisfaction of your girl) but – the movie really sucks when it comes to technical details. Pseudo amateurs hack themselfs within 5 minutes into a SECRET Pentagon’s network and a 5 page emergency report is transmitted with just 20 morse code characters, beaten with a wrench against an old pipe. The longer you watch the movie, the more upset you get about the ignorance and incapacity of Hollywood (film) and book writers…
But – let me tell you – there is one book which really makes the difference!
Have you ever wondered why W3LPL is so loud? This video will tours you through the Super-Station and give you an impression about the effort behind the callsign W3LPL. Frank invites all friends and contesters on an anual basis to the W3LPL Open House. Unfortunately it’s not me who shot the video, I hope I can attend on day a W3LPL Open House party.
Don’t forget to turn on 720px HD, if have sufficent bandwidth.
The Ham Radio Convention in Friedrichshafen is the largest Amateur Radio convention in Europe. It’s the place and time to meet all our friends to whom we only talk on the air during the year. Beside strolling threw the big flee-market and the commercial exhibition, I had the chance to speak about my latest project PowerSDR-UI, the DJ Console improvement for PowerSDR. While the convention starts on friday and ends of sunday, I could only attend one day, which is definitely not enough. Next year I’ll be back again for at least two entire days! Since the memories are still fresh and the pictures already uploaded, let’s recap briefly the convention!
I’ve been waiting for this a very long time – finally it came true! Last Month a Ham Radio Podcast started on the TWIT Network. Nobody less then Mr. Bob Heil, K9EID is hosting the show. This is definitely a must see for all hams or persons who would like to dive into the beautiful world of amateur radio. Bob committed to produce a new episode every week.
The first episode of HamNation was joined by Joe Walsh, WB6ACU. Even if you haven’t heard Joe on the bands I bet you’ve already heard his music a lot of times. Do you know the song “Hotel California” ? Exactly, Joe is member of the famous band the Eagles.
If you want to listen to HamNation there are a couple of ways:
If you have broadband internet access the video version is a must!
Check out here Episode #2: Emergency Communications
Security Now! is one of my favorite podcasts and a weekly “must listen”. The heart and soul of this podcast is Steve Gibson. Steve is a true “builder”. Ever since he loved to build stuff. Beside of his “geekiness” he is an excellent writer and story teller. Most of the topics he has already covered (like all flavors of encryption) are still up to date, but there is one episode which deserves special attention: Episode 281 – The portable dog killer. Its a story of Steves youth. Back in these early days, when transistors were still something exciting and new, he built a special kind of (non-lethal) weapon to educate the neighbours dog…. with unforeseen consequences.
The reason why I recommend this particular episode, because it is to entertaining to listen, but also so educating at the same time. He explains in such a great way how much fun it is to actually “build something” instead of playing video games in front of your TV. Gather your friends, your kids or your grandkids around your stereo and let yourself inspire!
Just stumbled over this awesome poem, written by KN4AQ. It just fits so perfectly into the season. Merry Christmas my dear readers!
Thanks to Dan, KB6NU for posting the link to this neat video. Col. Doug Wheelock, KF5BOC gives a 20 minute tour through the International Space Station. After the tour he makes some contacts in a FM pileup from the russian part of the space station where the Ham Radio equipment is located. The Video is available in an excellent quality (720px HDTV) and worth watching on the big plasma screen in your living room.
Dear geeky reader, it’s time to think about Christmas gifts! In case you are struggling for a nice present this year, let me make you some suggestions!
