Amateur Radio — VHF / UHF Data Station
VK3ACN

Shayne — building automated APRS services and packet infrastructure for the VK3 community.

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia · Grid QF22
MODE DATA
BAND 2M / 70CM
STATUS TESTING
CH1 About

Data over voice, most days

I'm Shayne, VK3ACN, operating out of Melbourne. My interest in the hobby sits mostly on the data side — APRS, packet, and the automation that runs quietly behind it — rather than working DX or logging contacts. I still keep an ear on the local calling channels, but the shack's real focus is building systems that other stations can actually use.

CH2 Bands & Activity

2m & 70cm, data-first

Both bands are run primarily for data traffic, with occasional monitoring of the local calling frequencies.

144 – 148 MHz

2m VHF

Primary band for APRS and packet data testing. Calling channel monitored occasionally, not actively worked.

APRS Packet Voice — occasional listen
430 – 450 MHz

70cm UHF

Secondary data band, used alongside 2m for testing and future digipeater/gateway coverage.

APRS Packet Voice — occasional listen
CH3 Data Modes & APRS

APRS station — currently in testing

Setting up an APRS igate/digipeater for the VK3 area. Not yet running live full-time — this is the staging ground for the bot system below.

Status
TESTING
Frequency
145.175 MHz (VK APRS)
Function
iGate + digipeater, evaluating software TNC options
Next milestone
Public launch of the community bot system
CH4 Automation & Bots

Community bot system

A set of APRS-based bots and gateways, in development, aimed at giving the local VK3 community useful automated services over the air.

Weather Bot

Planned

Message an APRS query and get local weather conditions back over the air.

Ping / Pong Bot

Testing

Simple round-trip connectivity check — send a ping, get a pong, confirm the path works.

Meshtastic Gateway

Planned

Bridges local Meshtastic mesh traffic into APRS, and back, so both networks can talk.

SMS Gateway

Planned

Send and receive SMS messages through the APRS network for stations without a phone signal.

Helper Bots

Planned

Small utility bots supporting the rest of the system — more detail as they come online.

CH5 Station

Equipment & software

A lean, data-focused setup. Details will grow as the igate/digipeater goes live.

RADIOS
Primarily Quansheng UV-K5(8) Dual-band 2m/70cm handheld running a custom variant of the Egzumer/F4HWN/OneofEleven firmware
IGATE HOST
Currently not running an iGate, as I want to do local RF forwarding first. x96q LPDDR3 version 1 running custom Armbian from sickXnull, software TNC using Ham2Rig cheapo interface from the big rock candy mountain
SOFTWARE
Direwolf, plus custom bot scripts under development
FOCUS
APRS, packet data, automation
CH6 Blog

Field notes from VK3ACN

Short posts about radio, APRS, packet, automation, projects and whatever else is happening around the shack.

MICROBLOG / ONLINE

Logs, experiments & assorted radio nonsense

A running collection of short notes and project updates. No long-form articles, no separate post pages, just a chronological field log.

OPEN BLOG →
CH7 Contact

Reach VK3ACN

Easiest way to reach me is over the air — APRS message, or listen for me around Melbourne on 2m/70cm.