NASA funds concept for gigantic radio telescope on far side of Moon

NASA is exploring the potential of building an enormous radio telescope on the far side of the Moon in a vast, hollowed-out crater. The telescope’s reflector would be comprised of a 1-km (0.6-mile) diameter wire mesh that would be pulled into place by … Continue reading NASA funds concept for gigantic radio telescope on far side of Moon→

Homebrew Loop Antenna Brings the Shortwave World to You

Radio may be dead in terms of delivering entertainment, but it’s times like these when the original social network comes into its own. Being able to tune in stations from across the planet to get fresh perspectives on a global event can even be a life saver. You’ll need a …read more

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Software-Defined Radio Made Easy

Just a few decades ago, getting into hobby radio meant lots of specialty hardware, and making changes to your setup to work on various frequencies wasn’t particularly easy. Since software-defined radio (SDR) came onto the scene in an accessible way for most of us, this barrier to entry was reduced …read more

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NASA is about to stop talking to Voyager 2 for almost a year

Nary a month since NASA managed to reboot Voyager 2 after a technical malfunction, it looks like we’re about to lose contact for almost a whole year. The radio antenna that acts as Earth’s sole transmitter to Voyager 2 will soon undergo important upgra… Continue reading NASA is about to stop talking to Voyager 2 for almost a year→

Raising the Titanic’s Radio Room

For some reason, of all the ships that have sailed the oceans, it’s the unlucky ones that capture our imagination. Few ships have been as unlucky as the RMS Titanic, sinking as she did on the night of April 15, 1912 after raking across an iceberg on her maiden …read more

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Multi-Band Receiver On A Chip Controlled By Arduino

The Silicon Labs Si4735 is a single-chip solution for receiving AM, FM, and shortwave radio. With a bit of hacking, it even supports single sideband (SSB). All you’ve got to do is provide it with a suitable control interface, which [Ricardo Lima Caratti] has done with his recent project.

Using …read more

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Stout Homebrew Radio Pumps Out 200W of AM Goodness

In this day and age, with cheap online shopping, software defined radio and bargain-basement Baofengs from China, the upstart radio ham is spoilt for choice. Of course, there’s nothing quite like the charm of keying up your own homebrewed rig, cooked up in the garage from scratch. [Paul], aka [VK3HN], …read more

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All Band Radio Uses Arduino and Si4730

It is getting harder and harder to tell homemade projects from commercial ones. A good case in point is [Mirko’s] all band radio which you can see in the video below the break. On the outside, it has a good looking case. On the inside, it uses a Si4730 radio …read more

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A Mini SDR Receiver Using An Audio DSP

Software defined radio or SDR is the most exciting frontier in the field of radio, transferring as it does all signal functions from the analogue to the digital domain. Radios using SDR techniques can be surprisingly straightforward and easy to understand, and [Ray Ring]’s little SDR receiver manages to combine …read more

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Mr. Carlson Gets Zapped by Snow

As a Canadian, [Mr. Carlson] knows a thing or two about extreme winter weather. Chances are good, though, that he never thought he’d get zapped with high voltage generated by falling snow.

[Mr. Carlson]’s shocking tale began with a quiet evening in his jam-packed lab as a snowstorm raged outside. …read more

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