Yemen authorities maintained that, in the last twenty years, no hamradio licence was granted in their Country, for security reasons. One could argue that, in such time span, an operation from that entity has been approved by DXCC. However, such criticisms are now left behind by the fact a DXpedition went on the air, with an official licence (and with the three key Ministries of Yemen supporting Read more →

Maybe it’s because of my age, or maybe it’s because I’ve seen it happen live (I won’t go down that road now, but at 12 I had a Vic-20, at 14 a C64, and so on…), but I’m in the bunch convinced that a ham should try something new every day of his life! So, since I’ve read the first time about the RTL-SDR project, I decided I’d go deeper. First was to secure a DVB-T stick featuring Read more →

Easter’s Monday (“Little Easter”, as it’s called in Italy) makes a perfect day for field radio. If weather is not horrible, everyone feels the need to walk, to burn extra-nourishment of the day before. So, considering sun was quite high, and temperature was not too cold (10° Celsius), I decided I’d go for some trekking. Weeks ago I noticed an hill, above the place where I live, that Read more →

Let’s face it: if you ride along DX highway, DXCC is your fuel, and a new Country marks your main goal for every new day. However, well before that comes knowing your engine. If you can’t meet the expected speed, you still have to enjoy the ride, maybe by stopping for a while and appreciating the landscape. Last night, yours truly wasn’t quite believing his ears. Signals from the US Read more →

Long silence here, lately. Many things going on, however, on hamradio and SWL sides. Problem is the lack of time to tell them. However, tonight I wanted to stop this absence with something that caught my attention since I heard it at first. It’s about – as you can guess, knowing a bit my interest – field operations, but in a highly unusual theater. Next Saturday, 31st March, two italian collegues, Read more →

Being a ham since less than a year, I’m not so aware about how much felt are national contests. I can speak for Italy, as I took part already twice (at first as an SWL, and then as a real player) in “ARI 40/80″ and “Bande Basse Italia”, which usually take place between the end of the year, and the beginning of the new one. Then, it happened me to witness, on 15 meters, the joyful Read more →