John Ball KN4OLA
I build practical things: secure systems, reliable comms, and youth-led programs that work in the real world. This homepage is a guidepost. Choose a lane, grab a tool, or jump into the latest field notes.
Start here
🧭 About
A consolidated bio across cybersecurity, public safety, Scouting, and radio — with the “why” behind the work.
📝 Posts
Build notes, quick references, and field lessons. Practical > perfect.
🧰 Tools & Dashboards
Live dashboards, RF tooling, and “this is working right now” pages I use day-to-day.
Pick a lane
🛡️ Cybersecurity
Field-tested notes on defense, monitoring, and “don’t do that” lessons.
📡 Amateur Radio
VARA/Winlink, portable ops, satellites, repeaters, and gear guides.
🧭 Scouting & Field Ops
Resources you can actually use: minutes, training, and youth-led comms.
Recent field notes
🧾 Latest posts
📌 What this site is (and isn’t)
It’s not a polished brochure. It’s a working notebook: how I build, test, secure, and operate things — with enough detail that you can reproduce it.
Expect field notes, quick references, checklists, and occasional “well, that escalated quickly” postmortems.
Live dashboards & handy tools
✈️ Air Traffic
- ADS-B Exchange Louisa Dashboard
- Louisa PiAware Dashboard
- Louisa FlightAware Stats
- Louisa KLKU LiveATC
🌦️ Weather & Science
📻 Amateur Radio
Portable HF/VHF, satellites, APRS, and “make it work in the field” comms. I’m especially fond of anything that still works when the internet doesn’t.
Winlink CMS Gateway (Mineral, VA):
KN4OLA-10 • VARA FM Narrow • 145.070 MHz VHF
🧰 Radio Scouting
Youth-led communications done the right way: learn the “why,” practice the “how,” and use radio to build confidence. This is where Scouting meets real-world ops.