This site is updated whenever I've completed playing a new WAD to add it to the list at the bottom. I'm a casual player, want to see enough ammo in the levels and like to have a moderate difficulty. If you feel the same, the list might be also for you.
One reason is that every project is worth starting and finishing when you blog as it will result in something useful - no matter if it is a fail or not.
I second this. Amateur radio is an amazing hobby where you learn lots about electronics, (virtually and - if you like- physically) meet lots on new people and gain lots of knowledge on our planet, its countries and their people. You can participate in contests and compete with others many times a year and all this from home - if you are lucky enough to be able to put up antennas.
I amazes me evertime over and over again to have a conversation with someone living 10000km away from me without having to rely on other peoples/companies infrastructure. Especially when you are able to power your station with solar energy.
I've picked up this hobby with 40 and the only thing I regret is not having it picked up earlier. Also a great hobby for parents since you can operate from home at night times when everybody else is asleep.
I myself did not know any amateur radio operator but read about it on the internet. I then did some research on what is needed to get on air - which is a license. Without a license, you can buy gear and listen to the airwaves (but are not allowed to press the PTT button) or listen to shortwave communications via WebSDR. Some people visit local amateur radio clubs, learn stuff there and get help. I went the following route:
* I decided that I want to get the beginner license first, then do a second exam for the big license
* bought some books for exam preparation
* bought a cheap 30€ handheld radio to listen to local repeater traffic while studying
* downloaded an exam preparation training tool
* worked through the material halfway through
* have registered for an exam
* stood up every morning at 5 and learned 2h before the family woke up for two months
* did the exam, got the beginner license
* studied another two months
* got the big license
* met other amateur radio operators a year after that ;)
There is so much more to write and I don't know where to start, but here are some fun facts:
* you don't have to learn morse code anymore for the license in most countries
* for local communicaiton, a budget of 30-100€ is sufficient
* for world wide shortwave communication, a budget of 400 to 700 can be sufficient when buying used
* you can do digi modes (computer to computer communication) instead of talking to people. This helped me the first year to get into it since i was mic shy.
* the community is awesome, people share their knowledge and help each other
* you can buy a digital handheld radio for around 200€ and work the world without any antennas over the internet. For some not the real thing, for others a blast.
I created a very simple CLI tool for logging amateur radio contacts. There are tons of programs doing this but there was too much clicking, thinking, selecting etc involved or were overloaded with distracting stuff.
I want to play with the radio, not with the tool that should help me with that.
My software simply does the following in the order I want it to do:
* asks me for a call sign
* shows info about the call sign gathered from a API
* shows previous contacts with this station
* asks for date, time, band, report, comment and prefills what it can
* submits this information via an API to an online logbook service
Harry: [Marv brings a load of stolen goods from the Murphy household to the van and Harry sees him laughing] What's so funny? What are you laughing at? You did it again didn't you? You left the water running. What's wrong with you? Why do you do that? I told you not to do it.
Marv: Harry, it's our calling card!
Harry: Calling card.
Marv: All the great ones leave their mark. We're the wet bandits!
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