VE2HEW

Welcome to my ham radio blog. I’m Anthony from Montreal.

  • My main interests are software-defined radio, satellites, DXing, contesting, and antennas.
  • Sometimes writing about tech stuff on my personal blog 💾
Time.is

Time Syncing Software for Ham Radio

If you want to keep your computer clock perfectly in sync for digital modes like FT8, try these tools for Windows or Linux. Meinberg NTP and Chrony can use data from multiple sources to keep your clock precisely synchronized. Windows 🖥️ Meinberg NTP is an excellent free time synchronization software for Windows. It’s super lightweight, consuming only 1 MB of RAM! You can customize the config file to add your own list of servers....

March 18, 2022 · 3 min · Anthony Di Iorio
Loop Controller

DIY Programming Cables

Do you want to program your radio from your computer but don’t want to get ripped off with expensive programming cables from the manufacturer? In this article, you will find some great resources to build your own cables. Find a USB to Serial UART / TTL Dongle I’ve had great success with a Silicon Labs CP2102 UART dongle. Many other UART chips on the market should work as well. For example the CP2102N or CP2104....

February 28, 2022 · 2 min · Anthony Di Iorio
Loop Controller

LZ1AQ Loop Controller

I wanted to build a fully remotable LZ1AQ Active Antenna controller with off the shelf components. It is very cheap to buy ESP8266 MCUs and multi-channel relay boards online. Why reinvent the wheel? This project can be easily adapted to control remote antenna switches and other devices that can be controlled with relays. View on Github Wiring Diagram Usage Navigate to http://loopcontroller.local/ Auxiliary Relay Relay 4 connects to pin D1 (GPIO 5)...

October 16, 2020 · 2 min · Anthony Di Iorio
Loop

LZ1AQ Loop Installed

Finally had some time to install the loop outside. I was very impressed with it when I had it in prototype form indoors, but moving it outside really made a huge difference. The noise floor dropped, and sensitivity went through the roof on higher bands. There are signals I hear on the loop that don’t exist on my transmit antenna. Enclosure Parts Part Number Description QTY E987N-CAR Carlon PVC Junction Box - 4x4x4 Inches 1 CCLP-200-B5 Carlon Schedule 40 PVC Conduit Clamps 2 In 2 VENT-PS1YGY-N8001 Amphenol Vent With Nut 1 5309 221 Altech CABLE FDTHRU 7-16MM PG21 (Ethernet) 1 7211 856 Altech PG21 Locknut (Ethernet) 1 5308 920 Altech CABLE FDTHRU 2....

October 15, 2020 · 1 min · Anthony Di Iorio
Thetis

PowerSDR Skin: Flat Blue

This is my first skin for PowerSDR, OpenHPSDR, Thetis, NaP3, etc. It’s clean and simple. All the project files are in the repo for you to edit in Photoshop. I’ll probably make some more as time allows. Download on GitHub Setup -> Appearance General VFO RGB Band Data RGB Inactive 255 255 255 Inactive 191 191 191 Active 255 255 255 Active 218 218 218 Background 0 0 0 Out of Band 105 105 105 Small Color 255 255 255 Background 0 0 0 Info Color 255 140 0 RX Display Panadapter RGB Grid RGB Main RX Filter 255 255 255 Background 0 0 0 TX Filter 64 159 255 V-Grid 255 255 255 Band Edge 255 0 0 V-Grid Fine 255 255 255 MultiRX Filter 64 159 255 H-Grid 255 255 255 MultiRX Zero Line 135 206 250 Zero Line 255 255 255 GrayLine 0 0 0 Text 255 255 255 Cursor/Peak Readout RGB Peak Text 30 144 255 Background 0 0 0 Instructions PowerSDR, OpenHPSDR, Thetis Thetis: copy skin folder to %AppData%\OpenHPSDR\Skins...

December 17, 2019 · 2 min · Anthony Di Iorio
Retevis RT8 Image

Retevis RT8 Review

The Retevis RT8 GPS is an inexpensive handheld radio with DMR digital voice capability, packed with many cool features, and very extensible with custom firmware. Video Review First Impressions Programming GPS to APRS Custom Firmware Conclusion Video Review First Impressions The RT8 has a solid plastic case with a nice finish. The radio is rated IP67 for dust and water resistance and has gaskets around the accessory port, battery, and battery contacts....

November 29, 2019 · 8 min · Anthony Di Iorio