Lennart Koopmann (KJ5KRF)

Why Amateur Radio?

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I always had a diffuse idea of why people are spending so much time and money on amateur radio. Once I got my license and started to amass radios myself, it became more clear to me.

It always seemed like amateur radio was an extremely practical endeavor. The goal appeared to be to establish alternative communication forms in case of a breakdown of existing ways to communicate or to be able to stay in contact with civilization when out hiking in the woods.

Close Access Denial

Sun, 01 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

I’ve been working on Nzyme full-time for 10 months now, and I was struggling to find a good name for what its WiFi functionality does. The fact that it looks at not only WiFi but also Ethernet data does not help with that problem. If I have a minute to explain it, it’s no problem - but there was just never a good, snappy title for it.

The obvious thing that comes to mind is “WiFi Security”. I dislike this term, because, historically, “WiFi Security” was never very good. Some enterprise solutions will allow you to tick a box and be compliant, but they are not really doing that much. Nothing I wanted to be thrown into the same pot with.

43 Hours on the Amtrak Southwest Chief

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In September 2022, after watching many YouTube videos of other people on long-distance Amtrak trips, I finally embarked on a journey of my own: I took the Amtrak Southwest Chief train from Chicago to Los Angeles. Continue reading to learn more about it and why I’ll do it again on another route.

“Why would you want to do this?”

This is a question I got a lot. When I told friends that I booked a ticket to be on a train for over 40 hours, many didn’t understand why anyone would want to do this when you can fly for cheaper and in so much less time, enjoying comforts like in-flight entertainment, drinks, snacks, and the airport lounges.