About

Matthias Peter, LA0FA

I am a Swiss-born radio amateur living in Norway, with a lifelong interest in electronics, telecommunications, software, and the practical magic of radio.

My interest in electronics and radio communication started when I was about 14. It shaped my education as a Diploma Engineer from EPFL, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland, and it has stayed with me ever since as both a profession and a hobby.

I passed my regulatory required exams and acquired my first amateur radio licence in Switzerland in 1983 as HB9CSP. When I moved to Norway in 1985, the call sign gained its Norwegian sister: LA0FA.

LinkedIn profile Station overview

On LinkedIn I have also published a more personal reflection on living in Norway over the last 40 years, with thoughts on belonging, identity, and home.

Read the LinkedIn article

LA0FA logo

Contact

Find me online

These public profiles are the best way to find, verify, or follow me without publishing private contact details here.

QRZ.com LA0FA callsign page X @matthias_peter GitHub matpet

Radio

Operating, chasing, and learning

LA0FA is where I collect my amateur radio activity: HF DXing, DXCC progress, satellites, QO-100, digital modes, QSL confirmation work, antennas, station notes, and small experiments that are useful enough to document.

I enjoy radio most when operating skill, engineering curiosity, and good tools meet. Listening carefully, understanding propagation, improving the station, and keeping the log accurate are all part of the same craft.

  • DXing
  • DXCC
  • Satellites
  • Digital modes
  • CW (Morse code)
  • Contesting
  • LoTW and QSL
  • Station software

Software

Building tools around the station

This site is also a working project. It connects my logbook, DXCC data, grids, satellites, articles, and DXpedition information into a personal operating dashboard.

That same interest in useful radio software also shows up in related projects, including modernizing classic Mac radio tools and building web systems for amateur radio organizations, contests, and activity programs.

  • Classic ASP
  • MySQL
  • Swift
  • Objective-C
  • PHP
  • RUMlogNG
  • ADIF
  • macOS radio tools
  • Web publishing

Community

Community and long-running projects

LA DX Group President of LA DX Group, with long-running work on the web platform, publishing, and member-facing systems. NRRL Activities Team Lead Activities in NRRL, working with amateur radio activity, contests, and operator engagement. NAC Logrobot A project I created to support Nordic Activity Contest log handling, submission workflow, and activity reporting. NRRL Cup A web platform for Norwegian NRRL members to register contest log files by self-service. NRRL HF Contest Robot The new HF contest log robot for contest overviews, submitted logs, and result workflow. HF Contest Diploma Annual HF contest diploma results and standings for Norwegian contest activity. NRRL The Norwegian national association for radio amateurs.

Principles

Good operating and good records

I support the DX Code of Conduct and the habit of keeping radio courteous, patient, and accurate. I prefer confirmations through Logbook of the World where possible, while still appreciating the tradition of paper QSL cards and the bureau.

For a more formal professional history, LinkedIn is the best place. This page is the radio side of the same story: curiosity, engineering, communication, and a long-running desire to make practical tools that help operators work better.