Going ham for Ham Radio
Lawmakers are making a multi-pronged push to drive the bipartisan Amateur Radio Parity Act through Congress and finally bypass objections from top Senate Commerce Democrat Bill Nelson of Florida, whose allegiance to his state’s homeowners’ associations drove his panel to yank the bill from consideration last fall. Editor’s note: Scroll toward the middle of this article for mention of the Parity Act.
Politico

Operating Rover in the ARRL June 2018 VHF Contest
First June VHF contest as a rover. Route worked well. Good QSOs from contest stations. Heat burned me out. WSJT burned me up.
K5ND

Could a P5 DXpedition happen?
Based on what I saw on the news coverage of yesterdays Summit, I would have to say that “anything is possible” and it seems that the possibility is more likely today than it was yesterday.
N6PSE

Iran radars on ham radio 28 MHz band
Iranian radars have been very active in the Amateur Radio primary 28 MHz (10m) band every day.
Southgate

RAC 25th Anniversary Challenge Coin Program
Radio Amateurs of Canada launched the special RAC 25th Anniversary Challenge Coin program.
RAC

Tropospheric DX on 2m SSB (with video)
I’ve never really experienced a proper tropospheric opening on 2m before. It’s a propagation mode I’ve been fascinated in, but I’ve just never been on the air at the right time.
Adventures in Ham Radio

Bench Testing HF Radios with a HackRF
This post describes how we implemented an HF channel simulator to bench test a digital HF radio using modern SDRs.
Rowetel

Series & parallel wiring your solar array
So you’ve had your fun with small single solar panels and are ready for a larger multi-panel system that can handle beefier loads.
Off Grid Ham

Raspberry Pi as an SDR – without the SDR
This has been made possible through clever use of the on-board Broadcom 802.11ac WiFi chip. The result is a TX-capable SDR.
Hack A Day

Video

2 Days Off Grid – PowerFilm Solar Ham Radio & Raspberry Pi
During March 2018 I took a short trip to 66 degrees North to field test the solar powered ham radio field station.
OH8STN

ARRL on The Weather Channel
Meteorologist Stephanie Abrams interviewed ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey on how to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season.
Facebook / ARRL

FT8 Adoption: The New Cool Thing
Making QSOs is king.
K0NR

Trouble Free HF Antenna For The Apartment Dwelling Ham
One enterprising local amateur has combined early established antenna fundamentals along with sound engineering to arrive at an elegant and highly successful solution.
VE7SL

FCC proposes $2.8 million fine against manufacturer
The FCC proposed a $2.8 million penalty against HobbyKing, a provider of audio/video transmitters that are intended to relay video to unmanned aircraft systems and other devices.
Southgate

Tom’s Backpack Shack
The goal is to make a field-deployable DX kit that isn’t cumbersome or time-consuming to set up on site.
The SWLing Post

Raspberry Pi Vintage Radio
Converted 2 vintage radios by replacing the analog electronics with a Raspberry Pi and python software to emulate the tuning of vintage radio content from the golden age of radio.
Maker Share

Student grilled for carrying VHF radio
A 19-year-old ham was detained at Nagole Metro Station and questioned for almost one hour.
Telangana Today

Classifying crystals with an SDR dongle
That’s generally a job for an oscilloscope, but if you’re clever, an SDR dongle can make a dandy crystal checker too.
Hack A Day

How to tell if you have a fake Nagoya antenna
A number of ways to tell if your NA-771 is a fake.
KB6NU

When antenna tilt matters
Ever wonder how sensitive our mobile antennas are to antenna tilt? Data from a previous test of antennas on my small SUV show a pattern tilt correlating to an approximate 5 degree antenna tilt towards the centerline.
Ham Radio . Magnum Experimentum

Video

Altair 8800 as AM SDR transmitter
Sending radio wave interference to a nearby AM radio.
YouTube

Getting ready for the VHF/SOTA Contest
The ARRL VHF contest is this weekend, so I am heading out to the George Washington National Forest to activate some 10 point SOTA summits and finish it up with the VHF contest. All these sites qualify for the Parks on the Air as well.
KB1HQS

Digital HF voice: FreeDV 700D released
Digital really does handle some nasty fading, and it really does work better than SSB in many cases.
Rowetel

Simple 1:1 Choke Balun
This is a very simple 1:1 Choke Balun for portable operation.
M0PZT

The spreading ‘eHam disease’
I’ve written before about the eHam policy of protecting the raving insane posts of a click of forum trolls.
K9ZW

D-Star QuadNet Array
You can Group Route to any Smart Group, whether you are operating from your home, or you are operating a mobile rig.
QuadNet

The Mission RGO ONE: A new 50 watt all mode HF transceiver
The idea of this project was inspired by old TEN-TEC radios with 9MHz IF – their perfect analogue design and crystal crisp audio both CW and sideband.
The SWLing Post

Radials mitigate feedline and mast currents, tests reveal
This suggests radials of 1/4 and 3/4 wavelength do a good job of immunizing the antenna from circumstances that might encourage RF currents down the mast or coax. Radials of 1/12 wavelength do nothing.
Ham Radio . Magnum Experimentum

Long delayed echo on 50Mhz 6m
Initially I didn’t know what it was, and I still don’t know why it was. If nothing else it was extremely interesting, so I’m sharing this short article about a Long Delay Echo (LDE).
OH8STN

HF Ham Radio on a budget
This should come in around $100-150USD. If you simply don’t want to do Morse code, there’s the option of the BITX40, a very inexpensive HF SSB rig that runs on 40 meters.
KE6MT

Video

N1SPY chases mini satellites on a budget
Using $25 worth of equipment to chase signals from cubesats which are the size of a coffee can.
N1SPY

VK2TPM on FreeDV 700D
We could barely hear each other in Single Side Band mode but FreeDV 700D is pretty good once your ear gets used to it.
YouTube

Hamvention 2018
Would I come back to Hamvention? Right now, given that it’s always the same weekend as Maker Faire Bay Area? Pfth. Not a chance.
The Life of Kenneth

My visit to Hamvention 2018
What a great event! The new location is superb. It is 1000% better than the old location at Hara Arena.
N6PSE

Faux SDRs & Vaporware Products at Hamvention – “The Fake News”
Reports from Dayton of new products seem to be far apart, and a couple anticipated products seem lackluster or concept mockups.
K9ZW

2018 Hamvention photos: Inside Exhibits
Most of the following photos were taken in the main Hamvention buildings and tents at the Greene County Fairgrounds.
The SWLing Post

2018 Hamvention photos: Friday Flea Market
The selection was pretty amazing. The rain did come and go throughout the day, but the recycled asphalt that was spread between the aisles did help keep mitigate the mud situation.
The SWLing Post

Death of an E-Salesman
Our classic electronics surplus stores are disappearing. Can they be saved?
sparkfun

Post-launch signals received as Amateur Radio heads to Moon
China has launched two microsatellites into a lunar transfer orbit. Following deployment, signals from the DSLWP satellites were received by radio amateurs in Brazil, Chile, and the US, as well as by many others around the world.
ARRL

Ham loses license for interference
N8CAM illegally operated on, and caused interference to, the Michigan Public Service Communication System.
KB6NU

NVIS works very well… except when it doesn’t
Anyone relying on near vertical incident skywave (NVIS) propagation for 24/7 radio circuits between any two points should heed the warnings found in the raw QSO data from the Virginia QSO Party.
Ham Radio . Magnum Experimentum

About Software Defined Radio and RTL-SDR
Software Defined Radio: computer or smartphone does signal processing, not individual and expensive components as with traditional radios. The cheapest way into radio reception, best bang for the buck.
Radio for Everyone

Video

Review: Antenna analyzer N1201SA
HamRadioReviews

Shortwave Trading: The West Chicago Tower Mystery
I recently stumbled onto the first evidence of shortwave trading at a site in West Chicago, Illinois and then used Federal Communications Commission (FCC) database research techniques to find two more sites.
Sniper In Mahwah & friends

2018 State of the Hobby Results
The results are in!
State of the Hobby

6m Moxon antenna
The SWR figures predicted are pretty much spot on, with a dip right around 51250.
NY4G

FreeDV 700D vs Analog Comparison
A comparison between Analog SSB and the new FreeDV 700D mode, over an HF channel (40m, late at night), with the same transmit power (~100W PEP).
Mark Jessop

Nixie LED Clock
I built an alternative clock using a 3D printer and laser cutter.
SparkFun

The Boris Beacon
A 1mW solar-powered HiFER beacon.
AA7EE

Radio receiver ‘listens’ for dark matter particles
We’ve built a radio that looks for a radio station, but we don’t know its frequency.
Futurity

Parity Act language inserted in National Defense Authorization Act
The bill now awaits House floor action. The Senate will begin its markup of the NDAA during the week of May 21.
ARRL

OLED GPS display on Arduino with a little C++
I’ve written a little code to read the $4.10 GPS and display a bit of info on a small OLED display using the excellent Adafruit library.
marxy’s musing on technology

Video

Receiving Radio New Zealand 15720khz in Santa Cruz, CA on a Hallicrafters S-38
What Radiohead sounds like from 6,500 miles away on a 62 year old shortwave radio.
YouTube

4m parrot repeater
Testing GB7FM 4m simplex repeater, fondly known as the Tring Parrot.
M0JCQ

The Horror-Mitters
A working tuneable FM transmitter for the two meter amateur using only found junk and components scavenged from old television sets.
VK3ZZC

Developer says he has purchased Hara Arena
Michael Heitz, a Lexington based developer, has bought Hara Arena.
Dayton Daily News

Don’t buy into the doom-and-gloom: Low sunspots are not the end
Here are a few strategies for working DX during sunspot lows.
The SWLing Post

Children’s book features Amateur Radio and space communications
Ada Lace, Take Me to Your Leader is a new book written for young people by Emily Calandrelli KD8PKR that features amateur radio and space communications.
AMSAT-UK

Ham Radio operators help save lives in tinder fire
Communication troubles began because of poor cell service at the fire line.
KVOA

Build your own 18650 LiFePO4 battery pack, no soldering
18650 batteries are a cost effective way to power our communications gear out in the field.
OH8STN

Ham!
Ham.
Ham Button

Designing a satellite station for the home QTH
Working SSB satellites from home is a bit more complicated, especially as I wish to automate a lot of what happens, especially the automatic tracking of the satellites during passes.
Adventures in Ham Radio

Video

Hand made vacuum tubes
Hand made vacuum tubes by Claude Paillard
Vimeo

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Walmart Parking Lots on the Air
WMPLOTA is a special event and award scheme for amateur radio satellite operators that encourages the practice of portable operation in the ubiquitous and easily accessible location of Walmart parking lots.
wmplota.org

Using the WiFi chip on a Raspberry Pi 3B+ as a TX capable SDR
Combined with RPiTX which is a Raspberry Pi tool for transmitting arbitrary RF signals using a GPIO pin between 5 kHz to 1500 MHz, the Raspberry Pi 3B+ may end up becoming a versatile low cost TX SDR just on it’s own.
RTL-SDR

Special call signs to be on the air for 2018 FIFA World Cup
Special Canadian call sign VB18FIFA will be among those active around the world from June 1 to July 15 for a World Cup 2018 football Amateur Radio “marathon.”
ARRL

Phone contesting tips for DX contests
This article is prompted by the recent WPX SSB contest, in which I worked thousands of guys from Aruba as P49Y, which engendered much reflection (and teeth-gnashing, to be sure) about how U.S. hams can be best understood from the DX end.
AE6Y

Why does electricity have a sound?
When we’re using electricity in our day to day lives we don’t hear a peep. But at grid scale our electricity system makes a variety of noises.
drax

Dual Band 4/6m Moxon Antenna
My first step was to calculate the dimensions for the driven and reflector elements for my centre frequency of 70.200 (centre of SSB activity on 4m).
M0JCQ’s Ham Blog

The K7TMG HF Morse Code Temperature Beacon
QRPp beacons have been a “thing” of mine for a while now, ever since I put the Sproutie SPT HiFER Beacon on the air, sending it’s 12 wpm SPT ID out continuously on 13558KHz, with a mighty 4.6mW to a much shortened loaded dipole.
AA7EE

After Hurricane Maria, AM radio makes a comeback in Puerto Rico
Desperate for news about the disaster befalling her island, Plaza turned on a battery-powered radio and found that a local radio station, WKJB 710 AM, was maintaining its broadcast.
Columbia Journalism Review

GDPR and Amateur Radio Clubs
Does GDPR apply to amateur radio clubs? From my understanding, yes. Amateur Radio clubs that hold personal data need to be compliant by the 25th of May.
Essex Ham

Video

Loop antennas for AM broadcast band
N1SPY looks at the inner workings of an AM broadcast band receiving loop antenna.
YouTube