My name is Nick Waterman, and I am a Radio Amateur

(Me and my daughter at Field day 2008)

The QTH

VA3NNW, DXCC Canada, ITU 4, CQ Zone 4, Locator EN93rk

G7RZQ, DXCC England, ITU 27, CQ Zone 14, Locator IO91rk (previous)

The rig

• Elecraft K2, home built
• KPA100 - the internal 100W amplifier
• KAT100 - the external 100W ATU
• KSB2 - the SSB option
• oh, and the finger dimple!

Other equipment

• DL1 20W dummy load
• N-GEN noise generator
• XG1 signal generator
• BL2 switchable 1:1 / 4:1 balun
• Black Widow Paddle from W5JH
• Delhi DMX48 48ft tower
• lovingly-restored CDE H4 rotor, with my own Arduino-based "Rotorduino" Rotor controller
• TA-53M antenna
• Random wire antenna
• half-length G5RV
• WX station on APRS, CWOP, wunderground, and a whole lot of other networks
• I receive local ADSB air traffic and send it to adsb.fi, adsb.lol, adsb.one, adsbhub.org, planespotters.net, theairtraffic.com, and probably a few others.
• I look after the VE3RBM IRLP node 2410 which is also also Echolink #152298. We hope to get it on AllStar as well someday, but right now you can only get 2/3 of the systems to cooperate. 😕 It runs EchoIRLP on a Raspberry Pi Zero W "PIRLP", and talks via a KWARC-owned Moto Radius M10 to a UHF beam about 2/3 of the way up my tower. VE3RBM is available across most of the Kitchener-Waterloo region and up and down a good stretch of the 401, on 444.875 (+ve offset) with a 131.8 PL tone. See also other KWARC area Repeaters

My software

I have written a few bits of Amateur-radio related software, including, but not limited to:

• Some IRLP WX announcements, heard about 2mins past each hour on the above VE3RBM repeater
• An IARU beacon map with Grayline
• A web-based Morse Tutor
• A shell for serial control of the K2 (not released yet)
• A web-based Industry Canada Amateur Exam practice aid
• Wrappers that convert fowsr or Accurite to APRS for my WX station
• Maps of my contacts in the 2020 ARRL Field Day - the first COVID one. I used the FT8 digital mode, from home, and really enjoyed it

Also...

I'm also a member of KWARC - the Kitchener-Waterloo Amateur Radio Club, and elected 2009-2013 President, holding various other executive positions, including current treasurer. In Jan 2010 I gave a presentation called An Introduction To CDMA (updated and improved for Elmira Radio Club in Sep 2019). In April 2010 I presented another on PSK31 and WSPR. In Sept 2010 I demonstrated my LED Dance Floor and in Oct 2010 I put together the KWARC QUIZ [244KB PDF] with questions from the exec, Industry Canada, and a few other sources. Several times I've given a presentation about IRLP and our VE3RBM node.

"I am often asked how radio works. Well, you see, wire telegraphy is like a very long cat. You yank his tail in New York and he meows in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? Now, radio is exactly the same, except that there is no cat." -- Albert Einstein