Using GPS in amateur radio

by Andrew Barron, ZL3DW

Today many of us have GPS (Global Positioning Satellites) units in our cars, a host of other gadgets and even some amateur radio equipment. However, as radio amateurs are we getting the most from this technology? Popular author Andrew Barron, ZL3DW sets out to explain the GPS technology and illustrates how you can experiment with it in amateur radio.

Using GPS in amateur radio is about GPS and other GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) satellites and how we can use the data broadcast by them for amateur radio. You will find that GPS benefits in digital modes like FT8, WSPR, and WSJT which rely on accurate transmit and receive period timing and this is easy to achieve with internet access to international time servers. GPS governed clocks dramatically improve the frequency stability of our transceivers working in the UHF and microwave bands and allow us to frequency lock our frequency counters, spectrum analysers and signal generators, turning cheaper instruments into professional tools. Andrew has included some Python programs and a few inexpensive Raspberry Pi projects that you can build at home. These are all designed to illustrate how you can experiment with using GPS data in your amateur radio endeavours.

As always Andrew has written a practical book in an easy to understand way that provides what you need to know in a digestible format. If you just want to learn more about GPS technology or perhaps want to build a GPS disciplined oscillator or clock then Using GPS in amateur radio is the book for you.

Size: 174 x 240mm, 176 pages ISBN: 9781913595270