Author Archives: VA3QR

About VA3QR

Obtained Basic (Canada) license on March 21, 1994. Received 5WPM Morse Code endorsement in the summer of 2003. Obtained my Advanced in the winter of 2014. Active on all Amateur bands between 160m - 70cm (excl. 1.25m), all modes. Primary rig is a Flex 5000A with ATU, RX2 and VHF/UHF module. Mobile rigs include Kenwood TM-D710A, and TM-480SAT. Antennas include Cushcraft MA-5B, Cushcraft A6270-13S, Hustler 6-BTV (with all 3 DX Engineering mods), 2 x Comet CX-333, Custom-Made Random Wire (tunes 160m - 10m), and MFJ Active Receive Antenna. I host the VE3PAQ Repeaters on 1.25m and 70cm, the VE3YAP APRS Digipeater, and the APRS2 Tier 2 network node for Ontario.

High-Speed Networking in Amateur Radio

There are many, many digital communication modes used within Amateur Radio. One of the most popular modes back in the 1990’s was Packet Radio. 1200bps (or 9600bps if you could afford the gear) links to VHF/UHF BBS’ and gateways, 300bps HF links between stations, the odd satellite or space station link – wow it was… Read more »

My Portable Station

One of the ham-related things I’ve always enjoyed doing was operating portable – grabbing my equipment, finding an out of the way place and operating; usually a contest or Field Day (because Field Day isn’t a contest, right?) One of the first times I did this was shortly after I met my XYL, Cass. This… Read more »

My Ever-Patient XYL

A long time ago, when I was still a teenager, I was sitting at table with several hams, many years my senior, listening to one of them talk about how his wife hates his hobby, and all the antennas, and the time he spends in his shack. That day, I vowed to marry someone who… Read more »

Are Amateur Radio-Based Emergency Communications Still Relevant?

There are many long-standing arguments within the Amateur Radio Community, and I’d have to say this one probably sits in the Top 10. It’s one of those things that every ham has a strong opinion on, from “we are the be all and end all of disaster communications planning” down to “hams who show up to… Read more »

Review: Heros CAT Controlled SCR-Preselector

I stumbled upon this little toy last year when I installed the latest version of PowerSDR and saw that a menu called “Heros” had suddenly appeared. I started to do some digging and was eventually led to the Heros Technology website where I was introduced to the Heros SCR-Preselector. The idea of a preselector isn’t… Read more »