iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

radiosonde_auto_rx v1.9.0 is now released! Support for more radiosonde types, lots of decoder and interface fixes, and support for more SDR types using ka9q-radio! Release info here: github.com/projecthorus...

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

An observer in Toulouse, France, happened to capture the transit of a weather balloon in front of the sun! Absolute fluke shot. The radiosonde launch in question was 117km from the observer at the time. Flight data from SondeHub lines up very well!

Graphic showing two photos of the sun during a partial solar eclipse observed from Toulouse, France. A small dot is seen moving across the solar disk, with analysis showing this was a weather balloon approximately 117km away from the observer.

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Spotted on the 20m band (14205 USB) - Regular (10 min) beacons that look a lot like LoRa (well, chirped modulation of some kind), but are contained within a 3 kHz channel. The beacons seem to alternate between data packets and just FMCW. Seen anything like this @destevez.net ?

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Very chatty New Holland Honeyeaters in the backyard!

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

Last night I gave a presentation on go at the Australian Foxhunting (Amateur Radio Direction Finding) Championships - It's now up on YouTube here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz0Y...

youtube.com

ARDF at Mt Gambier - by Mark VK5QI and Grant VK5GR - AREG September 2025 Presentation

YouTube video by Mark Jessop

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

Attempting to make a 'press-fit' 4x BNC plug for easier band changes on my KrakenSDR DoA system. First step is to try out disassembling a BNC plug and using just the inner bit. Made a 3d-printed holder for it. Seems to work OK!

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

Down at Mt Gambier, SA, having a go in the Australian Foxhunting (Radio) Championships! My combination of KrakenSDR and beam-out-the-window setup is doing fairly well! Mt Gambier has brought on the weather though, and it's been very very wet...

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

Playing with one of these cheapo 'EMF' meters. Meter starts blinking scarily with only about 40mW/m^2 incident power density. For reference, at the frequency I was transmitting on, the General Public limit (ARPANSA RPS S-1) is 2000 mW/m^2. No wonder these things make people freak out.

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 10/05/2025

Attempting to push my KrakenSDR-based Foxhunting (ARDF) system up to the 23cm (1296 MHz) band. Teeny DoA array made from PCB and SMA sockets. Surprisingly (to me) it works! Unfortunately a harmonic of the 28.8 MHz RTLSDR clock falls right on 1296 MHz, which will limit sensitivity.

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Check out webhorus - a Horus Binary high-altitude balloon telemetry decoder in a browser! Thanks to @xssfox , this supports audio decoding, and now even RTLSDRs via WebUSB! www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCGZ...

youtube.com

webhorus - A browser-based Horus Binary decoder!

YouTube video by Mark Jessop

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Reposted by Mark VK5QI

smith🏳️‍⚧️🌻 @sunflowersmith.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

times are tough yall, but we are tougher! stand strong and trans rights

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

Peppy in motion. (Being annoying as usual)

A black & white cat photographed from above, looking up at the camera, blurry as the cat is jumping upwards.

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Finally got to see a rocket launch! Transporter 12, viewed from West Ocean Avenue near Lompoc. youtu.be/sNXiFN2nm3Q

youtu.be

Transporter 12 Launch, 14th January 2025

YouTube video by Mark Jessop

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

Having just finished watched Squid Game season 1... Why the hell does this show have a McDonalds tie in meal?!!?!?

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

Amazing renditions of some Tears of the Kingdom music by a wind orchestra (senzoku game music brass) @l-train.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTx0...

youtube.com

【吹奏楽】ゼルダの伝説ティアーズ・オブ・ザ・キングダム

YouTube video by senzoku game music brass

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

We had another visit by SA Power Networks to AREG's remote site today, to install fixes for our power-line noise issue. Technicians inserted wire brushes into the insulator joints, which had an instant effect on the noise! Thanks SAPN! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5R_...

youtube.com

Power-line RFI getting fixed at AREG's Remote HF Receive Site

YouTube video by Mark Jessop

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

"What are you looking at?" SCREEEEECH

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

radiosonde_auto_rx 1.8.0 is now out! This adds full support for ka9q-radio, allowing coverage of the complete radiosonde band using an Airspy! github.com/projecthorus...

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Flight report for Horus 63 is now up! www.areg.org.au/archives/212...

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Today we had SA Power Networks visit AREG's remote HF receiver site and investigate the powerline RFI that's been annoying us for a while. After a lot of poking at high voltage things with long sticks, we're pretty sure the issue is related to connections between glass-disk insulators!

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

Today's Horus 63 flight tested a new cross-band (2m in, 70cm out) FM repeater, and a new imagery payload. Many contacts were made across South Australia on the repeater. We hit some focus issues with the imagery payload, but still were able to capture some great photos!

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

New album cover dropped. (From today's Horus 63 high-altitude balloon launch)

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Finally playing Stray, now that it's out on Switch! (I don't have a gaming PC)

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 10/11/2024

Today was testing out the new Wenet imagery payload outside. Hung it from my tower, let it run for a while. Hit an odd issue on the first half of the run where load averages spiked, and the Pi crashed. Have since added in watchdog timers. Don't expect temperatures to be as much of an issue in flight

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 09/11/2024

Thermal testing time! With an ambient temp of 21.5˚C, the body of the Yaesu FT-530 (within the box), got to about 52˚C after 30 min of continuous transmit at low power.

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 08/11/2024

Latests updates in the Project Horus space... new payloads! Have just finished building a new crossband repeater based around a Yaesu FT-530. This will fly on the next launch, in early December.

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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 08/11/2024

Trying out BlueSky. I'm also over on Mastodon at cloudisland.nz/@vk5qi I do amateur radio, foxhunting (no, not real foxes), and high-altitude ballooning stuff.

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