I started my adventure into Amateur Radio in 2016 when a good friend of mine got his license and started showing me the ropes. In January of 2017 I started a course offered by the Barrie Amateur Radio Club in Barrie, Ontario, Canada and in April 2017 I received my callsign VA3NED. I then purchased a Yeasu 8900R and and Diamond X50 antenna and got on the air.

Seeing as how I was already a software developer I started learning about digital modes, software defined radios and Raspberry Pi's. Once I figured out that I could use a RTL-SDR to receive Acurite and La Crosse weather sensors I wanted a way to store this information so I could see graphs of my local weather.

Since 2010 I have been working Ciniki.com, an online small business management platform, so it was a natural fit for me to extend the platform for Amateur Radio. This provided a framework in which to store the weather data and then the ability to view the data on any device.

The next step was figuring out how to share this data over Amateur Radio and APRS was a natural fit. Realizing that I required a way to connect a Raspberry Pi to a Radio, I started designing a circuit board that could be used to connect with virtually any radio. I started to show what I was working on with other local club members and decided I should try to turn it into a product so other operators could benefit from it as well.

I also joined the local Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) group and they have been very helpful in testing out the features as I add them. Each time we have a community service event I would bring my Acurite 5n1 along with the Raspberry Pi and APRS radio. I would be the onsite weather monitor providing net control with any weather updates as required.

Thus began the QRUQSP project to integrate everything into an easy to use package. It has been a lot more work than I ever imagined, but I am hopefully it will be useful to other Amateur Radio operators. If you would like to know more, please head over to qruqsp.org