N3BKV’s Ham Radio Hacks

  There is a special kind of magic in a blinking cursor. Before social networks, web forums, Slack, Discord and group chats, there were bulletin board systems. You dialed in, waited for CONNECT, logged in with a handle, read the bulletins, checked your private mail, posted a message and logged off with the unmistakable finality of: NO CARRIER For radio amateurs, that world never really disappeared. Packet BBS systems, club bulletin boards, mailbox nodes, Winlink-style messaging, APRS bulletins, repeater status pages and remote station dashboards all come from the same basic idea: low-bandwidth, text-first, asynchronous communication. That is the spirit behind CBBS_PI — a vintage CBBS-style BBS emulator built in Python for a modern Raspberry Pi, Mac, Linux box or Docker host. It is part nostalgia project and part platform for experimentation. What It Is CBBS_PI is a text-mode bulletin board system that recreates the feel of early BBS systems. It supports local terminal access, Telne...

  Bridging WaveNode Power Meter Data into Thetis One of the fun things about modern ham radio is that so much of the station is now software-defined it's not just the radio, but the amplifiers, power meters, rotators, dashboards, remote control systems and logging tools around it. That also creates a familiar problem: all the pieces know useful things, but they do not always speak the same language. This project started from a simple question: Can Thetis display WaveNode RF power and SWR data the same way some stations use TelePost LP-100A meter data? The short answer is: maybe and this project is an experimental bridge to help test exactly that. The Problem Thetis already has a Multi Meter I/O feature that can accept external meter data. Many hams have used this with the TelePost LP-100A, where meter information is sent into Thetis over the network. WaveNode systems, on the other hand, can publish useful station telemetry such as: Forward power Reflected power SWR In my station, ...

Centralized Field Day logging is one of those things that looks simple until the network hiccups, the generator burps, Windows decides it is “helping,” or one laptop thinks it is 2019 and another thinks it is next Tuesday. My club was looking for an easy-to-use solution for FD 2026 that would tie all the logging computers in our main tent together to simplify log submission and track our total progress during the event. But past attempts with a logging server brought to light many issues, especially individual station computers locking up when there were server or network issues. The goal is simple: all operators log to one reliable N3FJP server with consistent local IPs and accurate time without internet access. Here is a practical way to build a central N3FJP Field Day logging server that does not depend on the internet: One Windows server laptop or mini-PC that runs the N3FJP master FD log. The server also hands out local IP addresses using a local DHCP Server for Windows. All Field...

  There’s a certain kind of frustration that comes with inexpensive hardware: it works, but it doesn’t tell you anything useful. That’s exactly where I found myself with an OOYCYOO MPPT solar charge controller. It was happily charging batteries, but beyond a tiny LCD panel, there was no meaningful way to monitor performance, integrate it into dashboards or understand what was actually happening over time. So instead of replacing it, I decided to listen to it. What came out of that experiment is a simple but surprisingly powerful approach: passively tapping the RS485 data stream, decoding the controller’s undocumented protocol and publishing clean telemetry into MQTT for Node-RED, Grafana or Home Assistant. Important Disclaimer – since you will be doing something experimental, follow the instructions carefully and I take no responsibility for any equipment you might damage. The Core Idea: Passive RS485 Monitoring Most people approach this kind of problem by trying to talk to the con...

  Remote station control is one of the most powerful features of the FlexRadio ecosystem. With SmartSDR and VPN access, you can operate your station from anywhere. But one problem remains for many remote setups: how do you safely power the radio on and off when you're not physically there? A simple and reliable solution is the Shelly 1 Gen4 smart relay , used as a dry contact switch to simulate pressing the FlexRadio power button. This approach is inexpensive, robust and integrates nicely with Node-RED, MQTT or direct API control. Below is a practical guide based on a real-world remote shack setup.  Important — Read Before Wiring This project involves power connections. If you are not completely comfortable working with DC or AC wiring, do not proceed. Incorrect wiring can damage your FlexRadio or create a safety hazard. This guide assumes you are only using the Shelly relay as a dry contact. Never switch the radio’s main power through the Shelly relay.  ----------------...