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Mark VK5QI

@vk5qi.bsky.social
401 followers 227 following 63 posts

He/Him; 'Strayan; Amateur Radio Operator (VK5QI); RF Engineer; High-Altitude Ballooning - sondehub.org; libre.space Contributor;

PostsRepliesMedia
Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
You don't have to be off-frequency by much in the SSB modes for the audio to sound horribly garbled. Typically the 'dial frequency' for SSB comms is quantized to 1 kHz or 500 Hz steps to make tuning in easier. Fun fact: The imperial probe droid signal in Empire Strikes Back is de-tuned SSB.
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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
It's definitely Upper-sideband though. That's the most common modulation in that segment of the 20m amateur radio band. Frequency has to be set to just below the bottom of the signal. Looks like you would have needed to set the frequency to 14138 kHz.
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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
That's probably just some amateur radio operator having a chat. You should be demodulating that with Upper-Sideband (USB), not AM.
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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 · 16/08/2026
HEY SHINJI, GET IN THE ROBOT www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyIp...
youtube.com
Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Lost 4Kids Opening (Full)
YouTube video by eagle8burger
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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Neal Stephenson called them an 'Earthsuit' in his novel Termination Shock ;-)
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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
What I find funny about this building is that so many people started calling it the cheese-grater that they used it in an ad campaign - "We don't grate cheese, we do great things".
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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
It's not often you get an article written about your hobby by a professional cheese fortune teller! Thanks for the amazing article Jennifer! www.stndrds.com/consume/the-...
stndrds.com
The Wonderful World of Weather Balloon Radiosondes
Discover the surprising world of weather balloon radiosonde hunters, a global community that tracks and recovers atmospheric instruments while helping reduce environmental waste and fueling a unique o...
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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Some audio recordings of the signals here: www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/8bnrj...
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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 · 12/03/2026
Only a few packets from you! RS41Tracker only uploads about one out of every 30 packets... I need to poke the developer and ask them to enable uploading of everything, like radiosonde_auto_rx does.
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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Seems to be a KNMI site, and KNMI even run their own radiosonde_auto_rx receiver and submit data to sondehub.org :-) sondehub.org/X1422335
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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 · 09/08/2025
I love this set! It's like I turned up to an A&B show :)
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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 · 05/07/2025
The big koala is definitely creepy looking. Those eyes...
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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 · 15/05/2025
Ohhh the habanero sauce is pretty good isn't it!
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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 · 15/03/2025
It is indeed extremely unpleasant outside.
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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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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
The sondehub.org receiver network has been watching!
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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
Truly a terrible day...
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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 · 10/01/2025
Awesome set!
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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
Oh shit they did a rendition of "Remember this Name" (probably one of the most incredible music moments in the game) AND they did the final 'catch' music!
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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 · 31/12/2024
It certainly looks like an angry teenager!
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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 25/12/2024
While the fixes to our RFI installed by SA Power Networks have certainly improved matters, we're still seeing residual RFI showing up on hot days. Whether this is some other mechanism, or just from a different like I'm not sure yet.
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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
This is probably the best way I can explain it. 19 kV AC couples capacitively through the insulators. Ideally this would just be grounded, but if the electrical connection between the insulators is poor, it can result in flashover and broadband EMI.
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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
Another look at the installation of these. You can see the tech getting ready to insert the wire brush (already dipped in grease) into one of the joints.
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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 · 20/12/2024
Yeah..... when it hits 31˚C in your office it's time to go home.
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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
Now that takes me back... pretty sure GPS spoofing tech has advanced a long way from that ancient GPS simulator we were using... Of course how relevant it is to whatever is happening in NJ, who knows. (probably not very)
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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
I worked it out :-) Congratulations!
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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 · 07/12/2024
Typical Australian Fauna.
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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
The sledge hammer trick doesn't work with out steel and concrete stobie poles! We did some direction-finding to work out which poles it was likely to be.
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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
When this particular insulator had its connecting clip poked at, the noise dropped away quite significantly, indicating that poor connections between the insulators may be our issue! SAPN has a fix for this, which they will install in a few weeks time.
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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
For reference this was the old album cover (from Horus 57, back in 2022)
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Mark VK5QI @vk5qi.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Here's a quick timelapse video of the Horus 63 preparation and launch youtu.be/WwM50Rw-OZQ
youtu.be
Horus 63 Preparation & Launch
YouTube video by Mark Jessop
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