admin A net is simply a scheduled on-air gathering, run by a net control station. Some are social, some are for traffic handling or emergency practice, and some are a mix. If you’ve got your licence but haven’t spent much time on the air, checking into a net is one of the best ways to start. … Read more
Wondering whether your new antenna actually works? WSPR (pronounced “whisper”) lets you see exactly where your signal is being heard, on a map, within minutes. WSPR stations send a tiny, slow, two-minute beacon containing your callsign, grid square and power. Other WSPR stations around the world decode it, even when it’s far too weak to … Read more
Ever spend an hour calling CQ on a band that was closed the whole time? PropMap is built to stop that. It pulls live data from NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center and turns it into a plain-language read on which bands are worth trying right now. The numbers that matter most Solar flux (SFI): a … Read more
Operating portable or mobile in an Alberta winter is great fun, until your battery quits halfway through the contact. Cold is hard on batteries, cables and radios, but a few habits make a big difference. Batteries Lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries should not be charged below 0°C. Many have a built-in cut-off that simply refuses. … Read more
Long winter nights are bad news for the garden and good news for the low bands. From November through February, 160, 80 and 40 metres come alive, and the hours around sunrise and sunset can deliver DX you’ll never hear in summer. The grey line is the band of twilight that circles the earth between … Read more