Notes from building and running the Ikara remote station — what got installed, what broke, and what was learned along the way.
There is a third remote station in planning — the radio is bought, the site is not chosen, and nothing about IKARA changes. What it is, and the two things about it that are worth knowing from here.
The DX Commander is built, guyed and on the air — a 3D printed base, elements cut with VK1MDA, clean resonance on three bands, one band that will not tune, and 100 watts that left the Starlink alone.
A long Saturday at Spring Range — a drone puts a support line over the tall gum, two sensors and a second SDR go into the cabinet, and the weather station admits it has been reporting the wind backwards.
Ikara now publishes its own weather — a new Local WX panel with temperature, wind, rain, pressure, sun and UV from the station in the paddock, plus the conditions inside the cabinet.
Why owning a quiet radio location is getting harder, and why renting one — and making the station portable — changes the economics completely.
Everything moves under ikara.vk1hf.com, and the station at Spring Range goes into limited production.