Current Projects
These are my current Ham Radio projects. This is not an exhaustive list and may not be up-to-date, but may give some idea about what interests me.
Several of these projects are well underway and at least 80% complete. Some further down the list need more work. I plan that at some point I will either open an online store or sell through a distributor, with a long-term goal to just release these projects as open source. So far, my open source projects have not been popular enough.
I am working on many other projects that are not Ham-related, too. Some of these relate to the Salary Continuation Plan. Others are just for fun or needed around the house, so my time to work on Ham projects continues to be limited. Too bad.
If you want more information about any of these projects, let me know!
Universal Repeater
This is a 70cm repeater that is a full Software Defined Radio. It is capable of several modes including Analog FM, M17, P25p1, YSF, D-star, and even CW. It can tune anywhere within the 70cm band, decodes the incoming signal, and based on what is received can retransmit that information with the same or a different modulation.
Additionally, the system has an Ethernet port to connect to a network to link repeaters or join the system into a linked repeater service such as AllStar. The Ethernet port also allows for a web-based configuration of the system, including which modes and features will be allowed, power levels for each mode, alerts for self-detected faults and heartbeats, downloading logs, and other trustee and control operator duties.
The primary goals of the repeater are resilience and performance, so the development includes extensive testing and verification. Currently, the receiver is meeting my goal for sensitivity and the transmit purity is well within FCC requirements across the band at 40W.
The Universal Repeater breaks through these silos of digital modes to create a more competitive marketplace for Hams to experiment, choose between technologies, and create new capabiltiies. The repeater also should be able to add DMR and NXDN after the AMBE+2 patent expires in 2028.
Spread Spectrum APRS
I currently have several APRS units on-the-air from my home QTH. They include:
- W1OT-2 - LoRa APRS iGate 433.775
- W1OT-3 - LoRA APRS iGate 915.775
- W1OT-10 - Standard 2m iGate 144.390
The LoRa systems are set to BW=125, CR=4:5, and SF=12. LoRa on 70cm and up have a potential of providing increased benefits for APRS. Much like the popular unlicensed Meshtastic devices, LoRa provides better coverage at lower power than typical APRS, while also allowing for smaller, cheaper hardware implementations. APRS provides many additional benefits and Ham-specific features that Meshtastic will not (I asked).
Each is currently logging into aprs.fi independently, so the remaining piece of this project is an aggregator that will unite them under the single -10 index and provide a callsign-to-band cache to increase the spectral-use efficiency. The aggregator has both a wired and WiFi AP capability, since my APRS units connect over WiFi and the aggregator will create its own WiFi network and SSID, but connect to the internet via a wired connection and be powered by PoE. I provide a DC barrel jack and a second WiFi to allow options for other Hams to use in the future when I release it.
Hardware Interfaces
I am almost finished with a set of shack enhancements that I will be releasing soon. These were initially motivated by the Yaesu FT-710 and FT-DX10 HF rigs, but grew to include many other rigs in the implementation. The interfaces include:
- An interface to connect phantom-powered XLR microphones to all of the shack rigs I own. I currently use it for one base station at a time, but I am adding a distribution amplifier to the options.
- A selector to provide a single benchtop PTT button or footswitch to one or any set of rigs. More than a simple rotary switch, it includes an input to prohibiting transmit from the antenna switch and independent outputs to mute or reduce the volume of other rigs.
- A selector and RF matrix switch to connect a set of rigs arbitrarily to a set of antennas. From a console, a simple push button can reconfigure the shack. Removing 12V power automatically moves all antennas connections to ground and all rigs to dummy loads. The prototype handles eight antennas and four rigs, but I am considering a respin to one that does twelve antennas and six rigs, because my linear takes one antenna line and one rig line and I want a spare rig line on the workbench.
These units are essential to my shack which is a project itself in continuous development. I expect that I may call the shack "finished" once these are done.
30m APRS
Further behind the above projects is my 30m APRS gateway. It depends somewhat on the aggregator listed above for the LoRa systems, since I don't want the aprs.fi to get upset and there are only so many suffixes to use... I also need to put up a better, dedicated 30m vertical antenna for this. Once complete, it will be easier to use APRS far from the coverage of VHF iGates. The system is in a waterproof pole-mounted enclosure with only power to it. Network connectivity is via WiFi back to the aggregator.
Universal Digital Mobile
Based on my repeater design, I can easily make a mobile that can do analog FM, M17, YSF, D-star, or any other digital mode. I have the schematic ready, and 80% of the code is the same as the repeater, but time I don't have to move forward on it, yet. Once the repeater is solid, I will want to have an M17 mobile, so this project may get bumped up in priority.
Lab Equipment & Gear
I have prototypes of several piece of test equipment and gear that I think other Hams would love to have:
- Reflectometer - like a VNA, only different. It works with your existing transmitter to provide high power analysis for non-linear loads. It can be left inline to provide logging of system behaviors.
- A bench tool that can provide Communications Analyzer capabilities without the high cost of traditional equipment. Think NanoVNA and TinySA, but designed to help you fix and test a radio.
- SatTracker designed for Hams - for all those who want to do satellite comms but don't have the means to build it, and for all those who want to demo such tech for the school kids, I want to build a foolproof and easily deployed portable amateur satellite ground station. Element download, frequency selection, tracking, doppler shift -- all as automated as possible.
- Tube Characterizer - Tubes, or valves as those across the pond call them, are a dying technology, but I love them. I have thousands of them. I love doing projects with them. I have several tube testers, but I want curves and operational parameters under in-situ conditions. My design will not only do tubes - it can do transistors and any other analog componetry - but I give homage to the lowly tube in its naming and note that it is capable of testing at up to1200 Volts.
Software
- Morse Trainer - I have code to help learn and build proficiency in Morse code. I need to package it for everyone to use. It can help not only to train your ear and ear-to-hand skills, but also your fist - by connecting your computer to a key or paddle, it evaluates your skill compared to the ideal.
- NEC4Hams - I am working on writing in Zig the analysis engine that we commonly know as NEC. It will be able to run on a Mac, Linux, and Windows machines. The engine can be coupled with applications that will provide users a better experience than any NEC-like software has today, with much better performance and with their native platform GUI frameworks.
- WSPR Config - A configuration tool to use to configure the ZachTek WSPR transmitters from a Mac. I wrote one a while ago, but some issues at the time kept me from keeping it up-to-date. I had hoped that others would contribute to the project, but alas maybe I am the only Mac user who wanted it.