GazLabs

Radio, RC, Linux, gaming, drawing & content creation

Ham radio, RC, Linux, gaming, drawing, and content creation, all in one place. Antenna calculators, an FT8 setup hub and more — no signup required.

📝 Blog 🧩 WebApps 🚗 RC Cars & Trucks
10+
Free WebApps
5+
News Sources Aggregated
Welcome

What GazLabs is about

GazLabs is a hobby website run by a licensed UK radio amateur. It brings together hands-on articles, free web tools and reference guides for amateur radio, electronics, RC cars, home-lab computing and a few favourite games. Everything is written from real use — radios that have been on the desk, cables that have been built and tested, and problems that have actually been fixed — and it's all free to use with no signup.

Amateur radio, from a UK point of view

Most of the site is about ham radio. The blog covers new transceivers and handhelds (including hands-on first looks), side-by-side comparisons, digital modes like FT8, D-STAR and System Fusion, and practical fixes: USB driver problems, firmware boot loops, amplifier PTT and band-data cables, and connecting SDRs to logging and data-mode software. Band plans, propagation notes and licensing references are based on Ofcom rules and IARU Region 1, so they're right for UK and European operators rather than written for the US.

Free tools you can use in the shack

The live tools include a ham radio news feed. Alongside it are calculators for antennas and frequency error (PPM), an interactive FT8 setup hub that walks you through WSJT-X, rig and audio settings, a fault-finder for Ciro loop antennas and a database of wide-band modifications. Live data is cached on the server where possible, so pages stay fast and your browser isn't talking to lots of third parties.

Beyond the radio

GazLabs also covers the other things that live on the workbench: RC cars for bashing in the UK, Raspberry Pi and self-hosted home-lab builds, and network security tools. There are in-depth game guides too — a multi-page Soulmask guide, an Enshrouded recipe book and an ARK breeding calculator — written while running community dedicated servers.

Honest, independent and kept up to date

GazLabs isn't paid by manufacturers or dealers for coverage. Reviews say when they're based on early hardware or published specifications, prices are dated, and articles are updated when firmware or availability changes. Hosting is paid for out of pocket, helped by adverts from Google AdSense. You can read more about GazLabs, or use the contact form to ask a question, report a bug or suggest a tool.

Blog of the Day

Today's pick from the blog

Blog & Web Apps

Apps, News & More

GazLabs original blog, live ham radio news, and a directory of all web applications — tools, calculators, databases and reference guides.

📝
Blog
Radio and hobbies blog with articles on amateur radio, SDR, antenna projects, equipment reviews, modifications, and more. Posts with full HTML content, search, and reader interaction.
GazLabs Blog
🧩
WebApps
All GazLabs web applications in one place — antenna calculators, modification databases, fault finders, parts lookups, and more. Browse the full collection of tools and utilities.
App Directory
🚗
RC Cars & Trucks
RC cars and trucks resource — guides, links, battery and motor comparisons, and community forums for radio-controlled vehicle enthusiasts of all skill levels.
RC Resource
📰
Ham Radio News
Latest amateur radio headlines aggregated from ARRL, QRZNow, IARU, HamDaily and AmRadio. All major amateur radio news sources in one place, updated every 30 minutes.
Live · RSS Aggregator
Calculators & Reference

Antenna & Radio Tools

Offline-capable tools for antenna design, modification research and fault-finding. No live data required — use these in the shack, in the field, or anywhere.

📐
AntennaCal
Wire antenna designer for dipoles and end-fed antennas. Calculates SWR, feed impedance, voltage and current distribution. Covers 17 wire types, 11 HF/VHF bands and multiband comparison.
Calculator · Offline
🧵
Homebrew Antennas
Antenna advisor, hentenna calculator, dipole, loop, quad, J-pole and more, with a radiation pattern simulator showing vertical vs horizontal behaviour and compromise install advice.
Calculators · Offline
📡
WBMod DB
Wideband modification database for Icom, Yaesu and Kenwood transceivers. MARS/CAP TX/RX expansion guides with diode maps, photos and step-by-step instructions.
Database · Reference
🔁
Ciro Baby Loop Fault Finder
Interactive fault-finding guide for the Ciro Baby Loop magnetic loop antenna. Step-by-step diagnostics covering capacitor, motor, controller and RF connector issues.
Fault Finder
🔄
Ciro MK2 Enhanced
Enhanced Ciro Baby Loop MK2 diagnostics with NanoVNA guide, efficiency calculator, SWR logger with session history, and advanced fault-finding decision tree.
Fault Finder · NanoVNA
⚡
ACOM Amplifier Parts
Genuine replacement parts for ACOM HF linear amplifiers. Covers ACOM 1200S (LDMOS), 2000A (dual-tetrode), and 1000 (single-tetrode) models.
Parts Reference
📻
Kenwood Parts Lookup
Genuine replacement parts for Kenwood radios sourced from official service manuals. Currently covers TS-590S HF/50MHz transceiver.
Parts Reference
📻
Yaesu Parts Lookup
Genuine replacement parts for Yaesu radios sourced from official technical supplements. Covers ATAS-120, FT-818ND, FT DX 10 and FTM-500DR models.
Parts Reference
Other Apps

More Apps

🥩
ProteinPlanner
Personalised high-protein meal planner. Enter your stats, get macro targets, browse 100+ recipes, build a meal plan and generate a shopping list. All data stays on your device.
Calculator · Offline
🥚
ARK Breeder Helper
Score your ARK dinos by weighted wild stat levels, find the best source per stat, get breeding pair recommendations, plan colour mutations, and rank your herd — all local, no server needed.
ARK · Breeding
🐙
GitHub Projects
Free, open-source Soulmask and Enshrouded server managers: browser-based control panels with live console, settings editors, backups and updates.
Open source · MIT
About

What is GazLabs?

GazLabs is my humble corner of the internet — a UK radio amateur's self-hosted mix of ham radio tools, RC builds, Linux tinkering, gaming guides, drawing, and content creation, made for tinkerers, DX hunters, and anyone who wants real data without the noise. Every tool here is free and open, supported by ads served through Google AdSense.

No Signup Required

Every tool on GazLabs is available immediately with no account, no email, no login. Just open and use.

IARU Region 1 Focus

Band plans and frequency references are all based on IARU Region 1 allocations for UK and European operators.

Open Data Sources

News from ARRL, IARU and QRZNow.

Privacy Friendly

GazLabs itself adds no third-party trackers or tracking cookies (adverts are served by Google AdSense — see the Privacy Policy). A small first-party visit counter logs basic page-view stats — no cookies, nothing shared with anyone else, and your IP address is never stored, only a one-way daily hash used to estimate unique visitors.

RSGB Member

Built by a licensed UK radio amateur and RSGB member. Got feedback or a bug to report? Use the contact form.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about GazLabs tools, data sources, and amateur radio concepts.

What licence do I need to operate as a radio amateur in the UK? ▼
In the UK, amateur radio is licensed by Ofcom. There are three licence levels: Foundation (entry level, up to 10W), Intermediate (up to 50W), and Full (up to 400W with full HF access). All levels require passing an exam run by the RSGB (Radio Society of Great Britain). Foundation allows operation on most amateur bands including HF, VHF and UHF. The RSGB website at rsgb.org has full details on exam dates, training materials and licence conditions.
What is FT8 and why does it dominate the DX cluster? ▼
FT8 is a weak-signal digital mode developed by Joe Taylor (K1JT) and Steve Franke (K9AN) and released in 2017. It uses 15-second transmission sequences, extremely narrow bandwidth (50 Hz), and forward error correction to achieve contacts at signal levels 15–20 dB below what SSB requires. This makes it highly effective when bands are marginal or signal paths are poor. FT8 has become the dominant HF mode for DX contacts, which is why most DX spots today show FT8 activity, particularly on 20m, 17m and 15m.
What is a wideband modification (wbmod) and is it legal? ▼
Many amateur radio transceivers are manufactured with receive and/or transmit capabilities restricted by software or hardware to comply with amateur radio band limits in different countries. MARS/CAP modifications (also called wideband mods) remove these restrictions. In the United States, MARS (Military Auxiliary Radio System) and CAP (Civil Air Patrol) operators are licensed to use some frequencies outside standard amateur allocations, and manufacturers support these mods for them. In the UK, any modification that enables transmission outside your licensed amateur bands is illegal. The WBMod DB on GazLabs is provided as a technical reference only. Always operate within your licence conditions.
Resources

Useful Ham Radio References

Key organisations, data sources and references used by GazLabs and the wider amateur radio community.

RSGB — Radio Society of Great Britain

The national membership organisation for UK radio amateurs. Runs the UK amateur radio licence exam programme in partnership with Ofcom. rsgb.org

IARU Region 1

The International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 coordinates frequency allocations and band plans for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. All band plans on GazLabs follow IARU R1 recommendations. iaru-r1.org

Cookies & Tracking
GazLabs shows ads served by Google AdSense. Google and its advertising partners may use cookies or similar technologies to personalise ads and measure performance — see our Privacy Policy for details and how to opt out. Beyond that, GazLabs itself sets no advertising cookies and does no third-party tracking of its own. Only system fonts are used — no external font loading. A first-party visit counter records page views and a one-way, daily-rotating hash of your IP address (never the IP itself) to estimate unique visitors — no cookies involved, and nothing is shared off-site. Theme preference stored in localStorage only.
External Data Sources
The news page fetches headlines from public ham radio news feeds. Those services can see your IP address as part of normal HTTP requests. Some fetches are proxied server-side to apply caching and avoid CORS restrictions.
Data Controller
GazLabs is operated by a UK radio amateur. For enquiries use the contact form. Subject to UK GDPR and PECR. Basic, aggregated visit statistics are kept to understand which pages get used — see Cookies & Tracking above for what that involves. Read the full Privacy Policy.