Rob AI6VN takes us behind the scenes of how the WSPRDaemon project works and how it is contributing to the HamSci community.
Category Archives: Meetings
AREG Video: Amateur Microwave Experiments on 241 GHz
On the 20th of February 2026, AREG was introduced to the world of Amateur Radio microwave experimentation on the 241 GHz band by David VK5KK and Iain VK5ZD. Here is their story!
AREG March Special Meeting – WSPRDaemon Wideband SDR Radio
March General Meeting – Change of Time and Venue
Firstly, AREG wishes to advise that we will not be holding our normal March Friday night meeting on the 20th of March, as our meeting venue is not available this month due to it being used as a polling booth for this year’s state election. Instead, AREG is pleased to announce that we have a special guest presenter, Rob Robinett AI6VN, who will join us online from California via Zoom at a special meeting time of Saturday March 7th at 10AM Australian Central Summer Time.
WsprDaemon: A low cost, high performance, all band WSPR decoding system
Rob Robinett, AI6VN, will present an in-depth overview of WSPRDaemon, a low-cost, wideband software-defined radio (SDR) system designed for continuous monitoring of the MF and HF spectrum. WSPRDaemon uses the 16 bit / 128 Msps RX-888 SDR receiver to digitize the entire 0-64 MHz spectrum which enables the simultaneous recording and reporting of 51 signals: all 11 of the WWV, WWVH and CHU time signals, all 18 of the 2200m – 6 meter WSPR bands, and all 22 of the FT4 and FT8 bands.
When the RX-888 is clocked by a GPS-Disciplined Oscillator, WSPRDaemon records WWV with sub-microhertz accuracy while WSPR ‘spots’ are reported with 0.01 Hz accuracy. That accuracy results in Doppler shift measurements like those shown in the above spectrogram, and from which radio scientists are gaining insights into previously poorly understood ionospheric dynamics, Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs), and space-weather-driven propagation effects.
The system operates continuously 24/7 and automatically uploads WWV/CHU recordings to HamSCI servers where they are archived and made available for scientific research and collaborative analysis.
The presentation will cover system architecture, SDR hardware considerations, time and frequency accuracy requirements, software processing chains, and examples of real-world data products, including observations captured during geomagnetic storm events. Rob will also discuss how WSPRDaemon integrates into the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS) framework and how amateur radio operators can deploy stations that contribute meaningful, research-grade data.
This talk will be of particular interest to members involved in SDR, weak-signal modes, propagation research, frequency metrology, and advanced amateur experimentation.
AREG February Meeting: Operating on 241 GHz
At our next general meeting, AREG is pleased to present a talk/demo by David VK5KK and Iain VK5ZD who will discuss their experiments on the 241 GHz microwave amateur band. This band is really the final fronteir in microwave amateur radio experimentation, given this is the highest frequency band allocated to the Amateur Service. David and Iain will take you through the gear they developed and also their efforts to set a VK distance record on this band.
To hear and see more, come along to the next general meeting of the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group, which will be held on Friday 20th February, starting at 7.30pm. AREG meets at the Fulham Community Centre, Phelps Court, Fulham. Doors open at 7.00pm. We hope to see you there!
AREG November Meeting – SA Repeater Network and the VK5RSB Repeater Rebuild
The next meeting of the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group will be held this coming Friday, November 21st . The presentation this month is by Dean VK5HQ who will take people through the work that the AREG Repeater sub-group has undertaken at Summertown to rebuild it and prepare it to become the SA Repeater network hub repeater. He will also take you though the rest of the linked repeater network sites to give you an understanding of the reach and operation of the central SA network.
The meeting was held at the Fulham Community Centre.
A copy of the presentation is available here
Next Meeting Friday Oct 17th – Digital Amateur Television
The next meeting of the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group Inc will be held on Friday October 17th at 7.30pm. Doors will open at 7.00pm. The venue will be the Fulham Community Centre, Phelps Court, Fulham.
Introducing Digital Amateur Television
The topic this evening will be an introduction to 445 MHz (70 cm band) Digital Amateur Television, presented by Steve VK5SFA. Steve will present his journey to establishing an ATV transmission capability, including the various challenges encountered along the way.
Steve will also discuss how to get involved in receiving ATV on the 70cm band, and if you bring along your DVB-T set top box he will help you leave with it programmed ready to receive the local Adelaide ATV operators. The usual retailers are still selling the Laser STB-9000 for about $40.00 which will directly receive 70cm ATV if you want to get on board.
Update: a copy of the Youtube presentation is now available here:
Homework
Below is a list of terms used in DVB-t2 television broadcasting. I will not be going into any great detail about how DVB-t2 actually works. It is a mature technology and there is plenty of information on the Internet.
Feel free to conduct your own research if interested.
- DVB-t (Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial)
- Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (COFDM)
- QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying)
- QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation)
- MER (Modulation Error Ratio)
- FEC (Forward Error Correction)
- Guard Interval
- Carriers (2K & 8K)
- PID (Packet Identifier)
- LCN (Logical Channel Numbers)
Next Meeting Friday 19th September 7.30pm: Foxhunting at the National Championships
The next meeting of the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group will be held on Friday 19th September 2025. The venue is the Fulham Community Centre, off Phelps Court, Fulham. Doors open at 6.30pm and the meeting starts at 7.30pm.
The presentation this month will be given by Mark, VK5QI and Grant VK5GR who will take everyone through what happens at the National Amateur Radio Foxhunting Championships, held in Mt Gambier over the June long weekend each year.
Tea/Coffee and refreshments will be available. After the presentation a short business meeting will be held.
We hope to see you there (at the ex Reedbeds Community Centre – now Fulham Community Centre).
Next AREG Meeting 15th August – Annual General Meeting – Presentation from Adrian KO8SCA on the 2026 Bouvet Island DXPedition!
The next AREG meeting will be held on Friday the 15th of August at the Fulham Community Centre – Phelps Court, Fulham. This will be the AREG’s Annual General Meeting, which will include the election of the 2025-2026 committee.
At this meeting we’ll have a presentation from Adrian KO8SCA on the plans for the February 2026 Bouvet Island DXpedition (3Y0K).
Bouvet Island is the most remote uninhabited island on earth, and is currently the #10 most wanted DXCC. It’s a serious challenge to even just get there, let alone get equipment onto the island, set up a station, and then work the many many stations expected to be calling.
Adrian will be presenting via Zoom from the US (a very awkward time difference), so a big thanks to him for agreeing to present to us!
Doors open at 7.00pm and the presentation kicks off at 7.30. Everyone is welcome to attend. If you’ve never come along to one of our meetings, we’d love to see you there, all guests are welcome. For our remote members, the meeting will be broadcast via Zoom
After the talks we’ll all be given an opportunity to have an eyeball QSO among ourselves whilst enjoying a tea or coffee and a biscuit.
73, Mark VK5QI