VU2CPL – Manoj Ramawarrier

01 · About

The Operator

Located in the garden city of India, Bangalore. Licensed since 1993, I started operations in Thrissur, Kerala with a simple homebrew QRP rig following VU2VWN OM Vasanth (SK)'s circuit — the most popular design of those days.

Later graduated to SSB with the help of an old exciter originally made by VU2UCY Om Bhasi (SK). Went through different iterations of 807 tube QRO and some military surplus gear (Redifone GR 345) during the 1990s. Shifted to Bangalore in early 2003.

I travel extensively for work and mostly operate remote during free time. The shack runs a fully automated setup including remote antenna switching and lightning protection.

DXpeditions

VU7T / VU7MSKavaratti Is, LakshadweepOct 2017

AT5PRameshwaram Is, IOTA AS-173May 2015

AT3N · ARSI HilltopNelliyampathy, Kerala — 4,417 QSOs, 261 DXCCJan 2024

ARSI Hilltop 2025Vayalada Hills, Kozhikode MK71WMJan 2025

ARSI Hilltop 2023Kulamavu, Idukki MJ89KT — HF/VHF/UHFFeb 2023

CallsignVU2CPL

GridMK83TE

LocationBengaluru, KA 562157

Licenced1993

ModesSSB · FT8 · CW

Bands160m – 6m incl. 60m

QSLLOTW · Clublog OQRS

Awards

5BDXCC160m DXCC30m DXCC17m DXCC12m DXCC

The shack — Bengaluru · FLEX-6600, SPE Expert 1.5 KFA

02 · Station

Equipment

Radios

FlexRadio FLEX-6600 (SDR)

RGO One

Icom IC-705

Amplifier

SPE Expert 1.5 KFA

RX Antennas (Low Band)

350 ft 2-wire reversible Beverage (N/S) — winters only

N6RK Loop

K9AY Loop

Antennas

Hex beam — 20m to 6m

Vertical — 30m

Inverted Vee — 80m & 40m

Inverted L — 160m (hairpin matched, 2 elevated radials)

4 ele LFA Yagi — 6m

Band Allocation Notes

80m: 3500–3700 kHz

160m: 1800–1825 kHz

60m: QRV from Dec 2018

FT8: split needed within VU allocation

04 · Projects

Shack Automation & Utilities

Node-RED Flows

FLEX-6600 State Monitor Dashboard

Real-time Node-RED dashboard tracking all four slice receivers via FlexRadio TCP API. Dual SmartSDR client support (AetherSDR + iPad). AngularJS UI with color-coded active slice indication — amber for RX, red for TX.

Node-REDFlexRadio APIAngularJSMQTT

▶ YouTube demo

Active

DXCC Tracker & DX Alert System

Pulls worked DXCC data from Club Log and monitors DX cluster spots via telnet. Compares each incoming spot against the worked log and alerts in real time — red for new DXCC entity, blue for new band, amber for new mode fill. Colour-coded dashboard panel with per-band and per-mode filtering. Club Log DXCC API integration with 24h refresh.

Node-REDClub Log APIDX ClusterTelnetMQTT

Active

Lightning Antenna Protector

Automatically disconnects antenna and radio when lightning is detected within 25 km. Dual source: Open-Meteo lightning_potential API (polled every 5 min) + AS3935 local sensor via MQTT. Leaflet/OSM map with storm overlay. 20-min auto-reconnect timer.

Node-REDOpen-MeteoTasmotaAS3935Leaflet

▶ YouTube demo

Active

Remote Shack Control

Full remote operation capability including antenna switching via Tasmota MQTT relays. Operates the FLEX-6600 via SmartSDR from anywhere. Integrated with the lightning protection system for safe unattended operation.

TasmotaMQTTSmartSDRNode-RED

Active

Utilities & Tools

FT8 Cluster Aggregator

Standalone macOS application that aggregates spots from multiple FT8 sources and DX cluster nodes, then re-serves them through a built-in telnet server that mimics a standard DX cluster. User login is supported via RumLog and FlexRadio. Spots are filtered against the current worked DXCC chart pulled from Club Log and displayed in a colour-coded interface. Based on original work by Vinod VU3ESV, modernised and extended.

macOSFT8DX ClusterTelnet serverClub LogRumLog

Active

SPE Expert Amplifier Control & Display

Web-based control and monitoring interface for the SPE Expert 1.5 KFA linear amplifier. A WebSocket server runs on a Raspberry Pi connected to the amplifier via USB, serving real-time data — power, SWR, temperature, band and operating state — to any browser on the network. Based on original work by OH2GEK, modernised and adapted for the Expert 1.5 KFA.

WebSocketRaspberry PiUSBSPE ExpertNode.js

Active

05 · Writings & Field Reports

Articles & Contest Reports

Top Band

0–100 on 160m

My journey exploring the Gentleman's band from scratch — inverted L antenna, hairpin matching, beverage antennas, and chasing 100 DXCC on 160m from Zone 22.

102 countries worked 29 CQ zones 1,622 QSOs

Jan 2019 ↓ PDF

DXpedition

VU7MS — Lakshadweep DXpedition

Writeup of the VU7MS DXpedition to Kavaratti Island, Lakshadweep. Operations on HF with cubical quad and wire antennas from one of India's rarest DXCC entities.

2016 ↓ PDF

DXpedition

VU7T — A Sequel to VU7MS

The follow-up DXpedition to Kavaratti Island, Lakshadweep in October 2017. Expanded operations including first steps towards 160m activation from this rare entity.

Oct 2017 ↓ PDF

Contest Report

AT3N — ARSI Hilltop Contest 2024

Field report from team AT3N operating from Nelliyampathy, Kerala at 1,380m ASL. Multi-band HF/VHF/UHF operation — 4,417 QSOs, 261 DXCC entities, Category C winners.

4,417 QSOs 261 DXCC

Jan 2024 ↓ PDF

Contest Report

ARSI Hilltop Contest 2025

Report from Vayalada Hills, Kozhikode (MK71WM). Smaller team, new location. 160m Inverted L and 90m reversible Beverage installed. Experimenting with 10m delta loop and CQ160 contest entries.

763 QSOs 148 DXCC

Jan 2025 ↓ PDF

Technical

Interfacing the PA2500 with Modern Radios

How to interface the Furuno PA2500 linear amplifier with modern transceivers — Arduino band decoder customisation, direct LPF switching, ALC polarity conversion using LT7660, and automated 4:1 antenna switching.

2015 ↓ PDF

All PDFs should be uploaded alongside index.html in the GitHub repository to enable downloads.

VU2CPL
Manoj Ramawarrier

The Operator

Equipment

Recent Contacts

Shack Automation & Utilities

Articles & Contest Reports

Get in Touch

VU2CPLManoj Ramawarrier

The Operator

Equipment

Recent Contacts

Shack Automation & Utilities

Articles & Contest Reports

Get in Touch

VU2CPL
Manoj Ramawarrier