Blog

52 Week Ham Radio Challenge Roundup: Weeks 29-32

Written on Friday 8 Aug 2025

If you’ve read the first post in this series or are playing along yourself, you’ll be aware of the 52 Week Ham Radio Challenge. If not, hit up that link for the details! This post covers the challenges from weeks 29-32, which were: Make your own xOTA activation. Make a...

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POTA Activation Report: Shitterton & May's Wood

Written on Tuesday 5 Aug 2025

There are many things to criticise about the British. You might pick our endless complaining about the weather, our supermarket Meal Deal-based cuisine, or the centuries of brutal colonialism. But one thing that’s great about us is that when we give a village an awful name, we will doggedly stick...

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52 Week Ham Radio Challenge Roundup: Weeks 25-28

Written on Sunday 13 Jul 2025

If you’ve read the first post in this series or are playing along yourself, you’ll be aware of the 52 Week Ham Radio Challenge. If not, hit up that link for the details! This post covers the challenges from weeks 25-28, which were: Locate local noise sources in your shack/flat/house....

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Back Here Again: A Return to Win Green, and a Year of Portable Amateur Radio in Review

Written on Sunday 29 Jun 2025

Win Green, the highest point in Cranbourne Chase. From the small copse of trees on top of this hill, you can see for miles in every direction; to Stourhead in the north, towards Southampton in the east, and to the south, all the way to home and the sea. Panorama...

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Flashing OpenGD77 on the Retevis RT-3S

Written on Friday 27 Jun 2025

A while back I purchased a Retevis RT-3S radio, as I wanted to try out the OpenGD77 firmware’s advanced features for working satellites. I have now managed to flash the OpenGD77 firmware onto the radio, thanks to the information detailed on this page, this official thread and this video. However,...

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POTA Activation Report: The River Frome

Written on Monday 23 Jun 2025

GB-2522 River Frome Site of Special Scientific Interest had stood unactivated for around nine months, and had been on my to-do list for almost that long as well. The SSSI stretches all the way from Dorchester to Wareham, but encompasses only a few tiny scraps of riverbank—mostly, it’s just the...

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Bunkerfest 2025: The Hike to the Huff Duff

Written on Monday 16 Jun 2025

Despite Saturday’s poor band conditions on 40m, I was saved from a disappointing activation by the huge number of Bunkerfest stations on the air. But while I was benefitting from Bunkerfest, there was no bunker near my summit, so I wasn’t really contributing. Of course I couldn’t let that stand,...

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OARC SOTA Day 2025: Nine Barrow Down

Written on Sunday 15 Jun 2025

Nearly a year ago, OARC SOTA Day 2024 provided me with the excuse I needed to awkwardly step onto a hill, set up some kit, and start my journey into the world of outdoor amateur radio. I think it’s fair to say that’s been a success. And so when June...

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52 Week Ham Radio Challenge Roundup: Weeks 21-24

Written on Sunday 8 Jun 2025

If you’ve read the first post in this series or are playing along yourself, you’ll be aware of the 52 Week Ham Radio Challenge. If not, hit up that link for the details! This post covers the challenges from weeks 21-24, which were: Create a GNU Radio flowgraph! Simulate an...

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The Casual Outdoor Radio Kit, plus a Return to Hengistbury Head

Written on Tuesday 20 May 2025

Sometimes, outdoor radio is about long self-supported hikes with big rucksacks and madcap races against time. Sometimes it’s about places you’ll likely never visit again, where failure isn’t an option. Sometimes you just need to bring the power, whether for popular activations where many people will want to call, times...

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