comtekradio

  Picture the caravan at dusk. The kettle's finished, the chairs are out and you're chatting to another amateur through the antenna back home, 1,500 kilometres away. There's no mast beside the van and no coax through the window. The neighbour assumes you're on a video call. Close enough. That's the appeal of a remotely accessed radio station. Your familiar rig stays in the shack while you operate from wherever your Australian travels take you, provided the internet connection and station arrangements are up to it. Remote ham radio lets you keep using the antenna you've spent years getting right without rebuilding the station at every overnight stop. For grey nomads away for months, that makes sense. Australia has plenty of room for travelling and rather less consistent mobile coverage. The trick is accepting that the internet becomes part of the station, including its occasional bad manners. Before packing the headset, you need to understand the home connection...