DIY Antennas, QRP, SDR & Ham Radio Projects from VU3DXR
Shifting Meshtastic to the 433 MHz amateur band offers superior range and higher power limits. This deep-dive guide explores how licensed hams can legally build high-performance mesh networks while staying compliant with international radio regulations.
Ashhar Farhan has officially unveiled the zBitx v2, a significant leap forward for the compact SDR transceiver. With upgraded hardware including a passive FET mixer and a game-changing Wi-Fi-based front-panel connection, the v2 fixes legacy bugs while paving the way for custom user interfaces.
Tired of lost packets and weak signals in your ADS-B setup? STREAM1090 introduces a paradigm shift in demodulation, moving away from fragile preamble detection to a robust, CRC-validated bit-streaming approach that extracts more data from the noise.
While Meshtastic has long dominated the LoRa scene, MeshCore has emerged as a serious contender for structured, infrastructure-based communication. Here is how they stack up for the modern ham.
Analog FM is hitting its limits. Enter DRM+, the open-standard digital revolution that brings CD-quality audio, multimedia data, and emergency alerts to the 88–108 MHz band. Explore the technology and global adoption of 2026.
Imagine a digital network where every radio node talks to others, passing messages automatically without the internet. That’s Meshcore. This post explains how ham operators can use cheap LoRa boards to build resilient, local data links for texting and telemetry.
The amateur radio landscape is shifting rapidly with the rise of the “FT” digital modes. While FT8 remains the king of weak signals, the faster FT4 and the experimental FT2 are challenging its dominance. This guide breaks down the technical differences, performance trade-offs, and best use cases for each mode to help you master the HF bands.
Welcome to Issue #012 of Radio Waves Weekly! This week the JIDX CW contest is running right now — one of the best chances all year to fill your log with Japanese prefectures. Sporadic E season is knocking at the door, the 10-metre band is wide open, and MeshCore is quietly becoming the off-grid mesh network that actually works at scale.
FT2 promises to clear a pile-up in the time FT8 takes to finish a single exchange. But speed always costs something — here is what the global ham community has actually discovered after months of real-world use.
The UA4HAZ 20-meter antenna is a clever modification of the classic half-wave dipole, designed specifically for radio amateurs struggling with limited horizontal space. By utilizing a “folded” or inverted-U geometry, this antenna maintains a resonant length for the 14 MHz band while significantly reducing its physical footprint. This guide covers the theory, construction, and proper coaxial feed techniques required to get this efficient radiator on the air.