I’ve been working with a major publisher on a book with the working title, Ham Radio for Hackers. It’s been an on again, off again kind of project for the past two years. Well, now it seems to be on again.
I’m going to revise the outline I created back in 2017 (see below) and then re-submit my proposal. It obviously needs to be revised. For example, we now have the Raspberry Pi 4, which could lend itself to a number ham radio hacking projects. We now also have Parks on the Air (POTA) in addition to WWFF.
I’d love to get your input on the outline, especially what else I might want to include in this book. Please contact me directly or comment below.
Ham Radio for Hackers
- Hams were the original hackers
- Ham radio history
- An explosion of technology
- Getting a license
- Let the hacking begin!
- Arduino Projects
- DDS Signal Source/VFO. Inexpensive modules based on the Si5351 Clock Generator (www.etherkit.com/rf-modules/si5351a-breakout-board.html) coupled with an Arduino allow ham radio hackers to create very accurate signal sources at frequencies up to 160 MHz. These signal sources can be used in test equipment, such as antenna analyzers, or as replacements for crystals in in amateur transmitters.
- K3NG Arduino Keyer. Anthony Good, K3NG, has developed an Arduino-based keyer, which is device that electronically produces the dits and dahs of Morse Code. The source code is open source, and other ham radio hackers have taken that code and built their own keyers on top of that. One example is the NanoKeyer (nanokeyer.wordpress.com). Designed by Oscar Diez, DJ0MY, it uses an Arduino Nano, which plugs into the keyer board. There are many other examples of projects that use this code.
- UBITX 40 transceiver. The BITX40 transceiver (hfsigs.com) is a two board, single-sideband transceiver kit that’s perfect for hacking. Its frequency is controlled by a module called the Raduino, an Si5351 synthesizer controlled by an Arduino Nano. The software is open source, allowing users to to write code to add functionality such as adding more bands, receiver incremental tuning (RIT), dual VFOs, and CW and RTTY modes.
- K6BEZ Antenna Analyzer. An antenna analyzer is an instrument amateur radio operators use to find the resonant frequency of an antenna and how well an antenna is tuned. Beric Dunn, K6BEZ, developed an inexpensive design based on the AD9850 modules (see above) and an Arduino (http://www.hamstack.com/hs_projects/k6bez_antenna_analyzer.pdf), and other hams have hacked that design, adding features, such as a full-color display (https://www.riyas.org/2015/04/a-simple-standalone-antenna-analyzer-with-ili9341tft.html)
- Sidebar: The different flavors of Arduino. This sidebar will discuss the different flavors of Arduino-compatible boards that are out there, and give readers some guidance on which Arduino to choose for a particular task.
- Sidebar: “Sketching” Arduino programs. This sidebar will discuss the Arduino software environment and give readers some guidance on how to write “sketches,” which is the term used to describe Arduino programs.
- Raspberry Pi Projects
- Software-defined radio (SDR). Many ham radio hackers are using Raspberry Pis running open-source software, such as gqrx (gqrx.dk/download/gqrx-sdr-for-the-raspberry-pi) or gnuradio (www.gnuradio.org) along with RTL-SDR dongles (www.rtl-sdr.com) to develop a wide range of software-defined radio projects.
- WSPR transmitter. Weak Signal Propagation Reporter, or WSPR, is a digital mode ham radio hackers use for sending and receiving low-power transmissions to test propagation on the MF, HF, and VHF/UHF bands. Users with Internet access can watch results in real time at wsprnet.org. The RaspberryPi makes an excellent WSPR transmitter with a few added components (www.kb6nu.com/with-just-a-wspr/) and a simple antenna. Hackers can create their own shields or buy an assembled and tested shield (www.tapr.org/kits_20M-wspr-pi.html).
- DSTAR/DMR hotspot. When coupled with a Raspberry Pi, the DV4mini USB stick (http://wirelesshold.com/) allows hackers to create their own D-Star, DMR, Fusion, or APCO25 hotspot.
- Satellite Network Open Ground Station (SatNOGS). The SatNOGS project (satnogs.org) uses a Raspberry Pi 3 to create an open-source, networked ground station for amateur satellite operation. SatNOGS is a modular, scalable, and fully based on open source technologies and open standards, it provides interoperability with existing or future subsystems.
- Sidebar: Let a Raspberry Pi run your shack
- Packaging a Raspberry Pi
- Logging software
- Digital modes software
- Sidebar: The different flavors of the Raspberry Pi. This sidebar will discuss the different versions of the authentic Raspberry Pi and some of the knockoffs that are available.
- Hardware Hacking
- The QRP “subculture.” In ham radio lingo, QRP means low-power operation, and there are many hams that operate only QRP transmitters (less than 5W output), finding it a real challenge. A characteristic shared by many of these QRP operators is that they are tinkerers, aka hackers. This section will talk about the QRP mindset and how to become part of this QRP subculture.
- Finding parts. Now that Radio Shack is long gone where do you find parts? There are several electronics distributors online from whom you can purchase parts—and pay full price—but there are also a number of other sources for parts that can save you big bucks. These include hamfests eBay, and even Amazon.
- Sidebar: Cheap Inexpensive Chinese parts and kits. In the past five to ten years, a number of Chinese companies have begun selling amateur radio kits on eBay. The prices for some of these kits is extremely low. So low that sometimes the price of the kit is actually less than one or two of the parts! That being the case, savvy ham hackers are buying the kits and repurposing the parts.
- Schematic capture and circuit analysis tools. This section will discuss some of the online and standalone schematic capture and tools available for hackers. This will include, but is not limited to kicad, Digikey SchemeIt, and Fritzing.
- Construction techniques. This will be a review of different construction techniques used by ham radio hackers. This will include protoboarding, vector boarding, and Manhattan style breadboarding techniques. In addition to these prototyping techniques, I’ll discuss how it’s gotten much easier and cheaper to have printed circuit boards made for your projects.
- Hacking batteries. Batteries are an essential part of a ham’s equipment list, especially for portable and emergency operation. We’ll look at a few ways to save money on batteries and how to maintain them so that you can get the most out of them.
- Tools and test equipment. This section will include a list of tools and test gear that every ham hacker should have.
- Create custom enclosures with a 3D printer. Once a project is up and running, you gotta put the circuit board in some kind of enclosure. With a 3D printer, ham hackers can create custom enclosures on the fly for their ham radio projects.
- Sidebar: Online and in-print resources to help you learn more about electronics.
- Hacking Antennas. Antennas are some of the easiest projects to tackle. This section will discuss several different DIY antenna projects.
- 2m quarter wave vertical antenna (kb6nu.com/21-things-to-do-build-an-antenna/). This is often the first antenna that a ham hacker will build. It consists of a single SO-239 connector and five short pieces of stiff wire or welding rod. When properly mounted, if offers much better performance than the “rubber duck” antennas that come with most handheld radios.
- Cheap Yagi antenna for satellite operation. You can buy a satellite antenna for $100 or more, but you can building one for a lot less (www.wa5vjb.com/references/Cheap%20Antennas-LEOs.pdf).
- HF antennas. HF antennas are equally hackable, and you’ll be surprised what you can do with a spool of wire and some plastic insulators.
- Dipoles and doublets
- End-fed wires
- Making your own open-wire feedline
- Operating for the Ham Radio Hacker
- Portable operation. Portable operation is a favorite of ham hackers. They pack up their stations and hit the road. To make operations more interesting there are a couple of organizations that encourage portable operation by offering awards to both “activators” who operate from remote locations, and “chasers,” who mostly operate from home, but try to contact as many activators as possible.
- Summits on the Air (SOTA). SOTA encourages portable operation in mountainous areas. Their website—sota.org.uk—lists the summits that can be activated and has a spotting service that allows chasers and activators to more easily find one another.
- Worldwide Flora and Fauna (WWFF). Like SOTA, WWFF encourages portable operation, but instead of summits, WWFF operators head to designated nature parks and protected nature areas. One of the goals of WWFF is to draw attention to these areas, while at the same time, providing ham radio operators with an interesting activity to pursue.
- QRP operation. As mentioned above, QRP operation is all about the challenge of using low power. It’s no wonder then that so many ham hackers are QRPers.
- CW? Yes, CW. Low-power operation requires that you get the most our of every milliwatt, and CW is a great mode for doing that. Not only is it an efficient mode, it doesn’t require the use of a computer, like the digital modes.
- Digital modes. Digital modes do require a computer, but it’s almost magical what a computer can do. That’s why ham hackers are drawn to digital modes, such as JT9 and JT65. These modes allow the computer to literally pull a signal out of the noise.
- Satellite operation. With a cheap, homebuilt Yagi antenna and a couple of handheld FM transceivers, ham hackers can make contacts via the low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.
- The Future of Ham Radio Hacking
- Digital modes. Even though the number of digital modes has exploded in recent years, hackers will continue to work on ways to cram more data into the available bandwidth.
- Data networking. Since the future is digital, data networking is going to be very important. As an example of this, I’ll take a look at what Faraday RF (faradayrf.com) is currently doing. They say, “We’ve developed Faraday and all necessary code to provide the hardware and software necessary to enable the shift towards a data-centric amateur radio.” And, it’s all open source.
- Artificial Intelligence. Artificial intelligence is going to play role, not only in receiving and analyzing signals, but also in the human-radio interface. It won’t be long before some hams are saying, “Alexa, tune to 7.195 MHz, lower sideband mode” or “Alexa, find W1ABC on 40 meters and give him a call.”