Index of ~/ct1ete on CT1ETE

About this site

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

On this site I share the themes of amateur radio that intrigue me and shape my experiments and discoveries. It is a ship’s log and, at the same time, a small archive of curiosities: you will find content on satellites, digital communications, DX contacts, mesh networks and many other subjects that this fascinating world, as old as it is inexhaustible, keeps offering to those willing to listen.

My fascination with contacting stations in Antarctica and the Arctic endures, in the frozen reaches of the planet, where every signal that arrives seems to defeat isolation itself. It is also the compass of my journey to complete DXCC on HF, entity by entity, and to enrich DXCC on satellite, where space is the go-between and patience the best ally.

Logbook

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Each green circle is a locator square (4 characters) where I made contacts; the bigger, the more QSOs. The station is in orange. Click a circle for the locator and the number of contacts.

Contact log

17,624 QSOs 12,184 callsigns 341 DXCC 2,564 via satellite 1993–2026

Loading the logbook…

Propagation

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Everything I like to check before switching the radio on: the state of the Sun, the ionosphere and the magnetic field, updated live.

Now

Kp–

SFI–

X-ray–

Loading NOAA data…

APRS

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The station’s position and history on the APRS network:

📍 APRS · CT1ETE

View on the map (aprs.fi) Position history

Equipment

Kenwood TH-D75E (2 m / 70 cm · 5 W) — Built-in GPS and TNC, analog and digital APRS (positions and messages), built-in digipeater, D-STAR and Bluetooth. The most complete of the three for APRS.
Yaesu FT-5DE (FT5D) (2 m / 70 cm · 5 W) — Built-in GPS (GPS, Beidou, Glonass, Galileo), C4FM and FM, position sharing also over C4FM, Bluetooth for headsets.
VGC VR-N76 (2 m / 70 cm · 5 W) — GPS/BDS and compass, TNC that works with APRSDroid and WOAD (Winlink), KISS modem for compatible apps, Bluetooth with a phone app.

Frequencies

MHz	Use
144.800	APRS in Europe and Africa (IARU Region 1), 1200 bps AFSK, FM.
145.825	APRS via the ISS (onboard digipeater) and satellites. Follow the pass; it may be active only at times.
432.500 / 433.775	LoRa APRS is usually on 433 MHz in Europe; check the frequency used in your area before transmitting.

Network and lookup

aprs.fi — real-time map, history, messages and nearby stations
APRS-IS — the server network that iGates connect to
aprs.org — the site of Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, creator of APRS
APRS Foundation — protocol documentation and specifications
findu.com — station and position lookup

Software

APRSDroid — APRS client for Android, with Bluetooth TNC or internet connection
Direwolf — software TNC, digipeater and iGate
YAAC — Java APRS client for desktop
Xastir — APRS client for Linux

LoRa APRS

LoRa APRS (OARC) — UK parameters and guidance (439.9125 MHz, BW 125 kHz, SF12, CR 4/5)
LoRa APRS Gateway — community project for LoRa trackers and iGates

Satellites

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Where I keep up with amateur satellites: what I have worked, where to listen, which frequencies they use, which ones are alive and when new launches happen.

My satellites

Generated from my logbook: the satellites I have made contacts through.

Satellite	QSOs	callsigns	first QSO	last QSO	↑ / ↓
RS-44	706	426	2010-07-04	2026-10-14	2m → 70cm
QO-100	642	490	2023-09-27	2026-10-17	13cm → 3cm
IO-117	318	261	2023-02-12	2024-07-06	70cm → 70cm
ARISS	248	174	2001-04-09	2026-04-14	2m → 70cm
FO-29	216	144	2001-04-09	2026-10-14	2m → 70cm
UO-14	107	87	2001-03-13	2003-03-09	2m → 70cm
RS-12	40	37	1993-08-06	1997-02-14	15m → 10m
AO-27	35	29	2006-03-28	2022-11-12	2m → 70cm
CAS-4B	30	27	2022-08-12	2022-11-20	70cm → 2m
AO-91	26	24	2022-09-04	2023-03-28	70cm → 2m
SO-50	25	22	2007-01-26	2023-09-29	2m → 70cm
XW-2A	25	21	2022-09-02	2022-11-22	70cm → 2m

Show the other 24 satellites

AO-51	19	16	2004-08-05	2009-08-03	2m → 70cm
JO-97	19	18	2022-09-24	2023-09-25	70cm → 2m
CAS-4A	13	11	2022-08-13	2022-11-07	70cm → 2m
FO-118	13	13	2022-12-28	2023-02-20	2m → 70cm
VO-52	13	11	2007-01-15	2007-03-04	70cm → 2m
AO-7	12	11	2002-07-08	2022-10-29	2m → 10m
XW-2C	8	8	2022-09-03	2022-10-30	70cm → 2m
TEVEL2	7	7	2023-08-04	2023-09-25	2m → 70cm
FO-20	6	6	2001-04-09	2001-07-10	2m → 70cm
TEVEL6	6	6	2023-08-11	2023-08-12	2m → 2m
PO-101	5	5	2023-02-18	2023-02-19	70cm → 2m
CAS-3H	4	3	2022-10-13	2023-02-04	2m → 70cm
AO-10	3	3	1997-03-01	1997-03-01	2m → 70cm
AO-92	3	3	2020-08-11	2022-10-30	70cm → 2m
EO-88	3	2	2022-11-17	2022-11-18	70cm → 2m
AO-85	2	2	2016-01-14	2016-11-14	70cm → 2m
FO-99	2	2	2023-02-19	2023-02-19	2m → 70cm
NO-44	2	2	2001-10-14	2002-05-05	2m → ?
AMSAT-OSCAR 123	1	1	2026-02-01	2026-02-01	2m → 70cm
CAS-5A	1	1	2022-12-28	2022-12-28	2m → 70cm
HO-113	1	1	2022-11-03	2022-11-03	2m → 70cm
QMR-KWT-2	1	1	2026-02-01	2026-02-01	2m → 70cm
TO-108	1	1	2022-09-23	2022-09-23	70cm → 2m
XW-4	1	1	2022-12-24	2022-12-24	2m → 70cm

Listen and receive

QO-100 (Es’hail-2) is geostationary: no passes, the dish stays fixed. The BATC WebSDR, hosted at Goonhilly, lets you hear the transponder in the browser without any equipment.

Audio Archive

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Recordings of contacts with space stations and satellites, and of telemetry received, grouped by type and in chronological order.

Crewed space stations

Contacts with astronauts and cosmonauts onboard the MIR station and the International Space Station.

1999 08-14

MIRR0MIR

QSO with Jean-Pierre Haigneré, onboard Space Station MIR

1999 08-15

MIRR0MIR

QSO with Jean-Pierre Haigneré, onboard Space Station MIR

2001 06-23

ISSNA1SS

QSO with Susan Helms, onboard the International Space Station

2001 06-24

ISSNA1SS

QSO with Susan Helms, onboard the International Space Station

2001 10-21

ISSNA1SS

Sferics

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sferics (short for “atmospherics”) are the radio impulses produced by lightning. You do not need a transmitter: a very simple receiver, a small antenna and an audio input are enough to hear the Earth’s atmosphere at work.

What you hear

Sferics are broadband pulses, with most of their energy below 100 kHz and a peak between 5 and 10 kHz. They travel in the waveguide between the ground and the ionosphere with little attenuation, so they arrive from storms thousands of kilometres away. On VLF they sound like a crackling Geiger counter.

Contact

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

You can reach me on the air (callsign CT1ETE), through my QRZ.com profile or on X, at @ct1ete.

73!

Search

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

LoRa and mesh networks

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 +0100

Experiments with LoRa radio at 868 MHz and mesh networks:

LILYGO T-Deck Plus at 868 MHz.
The SX1262 radio has a hardware limit of 22 dBm output power.
Reticulum MeshChat running on a Mac mini.

QO-100 station

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 08:00:00 +0100

QO-100 is the first geostationary satellite with amateur transponders, which means the dish is pointed once and then stays fixed. The station in Guimarães (IN51uk) uses an 80 cm dish with an Ice Cone Feed, a DX Patrol LNB, a Groundstation transverter and an Icom IC-705.

Listen and follow along

🛰️ Satellites · IN51uk (Guimarães, Portugal)

QO-100 is geostationary (25.5°E): there are no “passes”, the dish stays fixed. Listen to the transponder: narrowband WebSDR · wideband (BATC)
Low-orbit satellites (passes): N2YO · Heavens-Above · AMSAT Track
Amateur satellite status: AMSAT Status

What I miss in DX’peditions

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 16:30:00 +0000

The 3Y0K Expedition to Bouvet Island, one of the globe’s most remote locales, has been operational since the outset of March, generating considerable excitement within the amateur radio community. As usual, enthusiasts are striving to log this diminutive, icy isle. The fortunate operators bask in elation, while others grapple with frustration, which often erupts into toxic behavior across bands, social media, and several clustering platforms. However, do the majority of operators embody best practices in this endeavor? This could be just a simple rhetorical question, yet it is anything but, as it is absurd what they are doing to themselves and others.