Foundations of Amateur Radio

Foundations of Amateur Radio

Author: Onno (VK6FLAB) Language: English Episodes: 579
For anyone curious about the crackle of a distant voice emerging from the static or the thrill of making a contact across the globe using nothing but radio waves, Foundations of Amateur Radio offers a friendly, steady guide. Hosted by Onno (VK6FLAB) from Australia, this long-running podcast acts as a companion for newcomers navigating the initial, often overwhelming, steps into this vast hobby. Each episode deliberately unpacks a single facet of amateur radio, breaking down technical concepts, equipment, and operating practices into digestible pieces. You'll hear practical advice on how to get started, find your place within the global community, and discover which of the hobby's countless avenues-from building antennas to satellite communication or emergency service-might spark your passion. It’s not about dry theory; it’s about demystifying the process and sharing the genuine rewards that keep enthusiasts engaged for a lifetime. Having evolved from its earlier incarnation in 2011, this podcast builds from the ground up, week by week, creating a solid resource that grows with you. Tune in for a down-to-earth conversation that makes the airwaves feel a little more accessible and a lot more inviting.
Episodes
Bald Yak, droplet 9, fosphor and the impertinence of software [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:07
Foundations of Amateur Radio Have you ever come across a solution to a problem that you sort of knew you had, but didn't really appreciate until that moment? I had one of those recently. To set the scene, fair warning, w…
Bald Yak, arena 8, paying attention to the details [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:46
Foundations of Amateur Radio Recently I built a first attempt at a noise cancelling circuit, on my couch, in GNU Radio, without holding a soldering iron and running the risk of the room smelling like burnt chicken, becau…
Finding your path in this hobby [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:48
Foundations of Amateur Radio As you might recall, recently I stumbled on an excellent list of 52 weekly challenges put together by Fabian, DJ5CW and friends. You can find it at hamchallenge.org. As I've previously mentio…
Bald Yak, scene 7, building a circuit without burnt chicken smell [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:56
Foundations of Amateur Radio The other day I was sitting on the couch lounging about when I came up with an idea and there and then I picked up a circuit board, soldered down a hundred or so components and built a noise…
WSPR beacon QSY to 15m [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:02
Foundations of Amateur Radio For quite some time I have operated a WSPR or Weak Signal Propagation Reporter beacon on the 10m band. If you're not familiar with it, I've dialled the power right down to 10 dBm, or 10 milli…
Ham Challenge [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:37
Foundations of Amateur Radio The other day I noticed a flurry of QSL card designs come across my screen and it sparked me into action on actually creating such a card for myself. I've previously talked about what I think…
Bald Yak, scene 6, chaos will reign [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 6:13
Foundations of Amateur Radio Life is messy. This is not a revelation. We attempt to organise this chaos by using all kinds of magic incantations, to-do lists, new year resolutions, plans, projects and anything else you m…
Bald Yak, scene 5, debugging [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:02
Foundations of Amateur Radio As you might know, a little while ago I started a new project. "The Bald Yak project aims to create a modular, bidirectional and distributed signal processing and control system that leverage…
Bald Yak, week 4, time [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:13
Foundations of Amateur Radio In the analogue world you throw up an antenna, turn on your radio, tune to a station and sound comes out. Aside from propagation restrictions, you don't particularly care when you do this. In…
Bald Yak - week 3 - Push To Talk [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:39
Foundations of Amateur Radio When you key your transceiver, as-in, you trigger the Push To Talk or PTT button, you close a switch that activates the transmitter and in turn allows your voice to make it through the microp…