Log file azimuthal maps
This tool reads your ham radio logs and generates an equidistant azimuthal world map plot of your contacts using Scalable Vector Graphics.
N1YWB

The amazing BOG
A ‘BOG’ or ‘Beverage On Ground’ seems to come in many varieties and is usually, out of necessity, shorter than a ‘real’ beverage.
AmateurRadio.com

CHIRP Radio Programming webinar
Attendees will learn: What CHIRP is, which radios are supported, how to get CHIRP, and how to troubleshoot CHIRP.
ARRL

Sotabeams Laserbeam DSP Filter
It is cheap, simple, razor sharp and a really useful add on.
G7KSE

Ham Radio on a boat
Ham shack and lab on a 50-foot Delta power boat.
microship.com

QRP is unfair to chasers
If you understand propagation, then a QRP signal will be loud to someone, somewhere.
W2LJ

Smoky Mountains NPOTA activation recap
I took my field kit which included the Elecraft KX2, QRP Ranger battery pack (not pictured), and EFT Trail-Friendly antenna.
The SWLing Post

Homebrew 20kWh powerwall
He’s working on adding a huge number of 18650 Lithium cells to his home’s power grid and posting about his adventures along the way.
Hack A Day

Video

Android DMR HT
RFinder Android Radio DMR QSO International Worldwide.
YouTube

Slow Scan Digital Video (SSDV)
First end-to-end test of a 115.2kbaud FSK modem, transmitting slow-scan digital video.
YouTube

High-speed imagery downlink making use of SSDV
In our payload, we use SSDV to compress images captured by a PiCam, then transmit them via 70cm FSK at 115kbaud.
SSDV

ARRL 2016 Simulated Emergency Test is October 1-2
Every local ARES team and/or ARRL Section will come up with their own scenarios and work with served agencies and partner organizations during the SET.
ARRL

End-Fed antenna revisited
I really like the simplicity of this antenna for many aspects: fast to deploy, works on many bands, no antenna to tune…
VA2SS

How to undertake a SOTA Activation – Step by step guide
It covers the set-up, spotting, operating procedure and tips and tricks I’ve picked up over the last few years.
Adventures in Ham Radio

Reflector Life
In a nutshell, IRLP links repeaters and individual nodes, like mine, with others via the Internet.
KE9V

A single lever paddle
The only paddle I have is a Bencher, which is a bit too heavy and cumbersome to carry in my backpack for a portable set-up.
AA7EE

NPOTA: Photos from weekend “two-fer” activation
My family visits national parks regularly, so it’s easy for me to pack a small radio, do a quick NPOTA activation all while incorporating non-radio activities that the family loves.
The SWLing Post

VDSL interference: A Ham operator’s nightmare
Unfortenately still sometimes we lost the complete DSL connection and in that case we had to wait for 5 minutes to get TV, internet and phone back online.
PE4BAS

Radio club coordinates energency response during cycling event
Huntsville Amateur Radio Club volunteers were instrumental in coordinating the communications amongst event organizers and volunteers, emergency personnel.
WHNT

AT&T’s New “AirGig” Not Your Father’s BPL
ARRL’s earlier anti-BPL campaign, and market forces, eventually led to the demise of the prior BPL initiative.
ARRL

AT&T Labs’ Project AirGig nears first field trials
AirGig could one day deliver low-cost, multi-gigabit wireless internet speeds using power lines.
AT&T

Amateur Radio Parity Act passes in the US House
“This is huge step in our effort to enact legislation that will allow radio amateurs who live in deed-restricted communities the ability to construct an effective outdoor antenna.”
ARRL

First VK-VE 630m contact
This is the first-ever QSO between North America and Australia on the relatively new 630m MF band.
VE7SL

Radio-Dakar QSL card sells for $1,195 on eBay
This QSL card started out life on eBay at $9.50 with free shipping.
The SWLing Post

Ham Nation: Hams Gone YL’ed
It’s an all YL cast tonight! We interview VA1YL, Amanda explains emergency situations, and a space weather update from Dr. T
TWiT

Get the right signal tone
One of the most common set of signaling tones is called the Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) tone system, often known as Touch-Tones. This system was invented for use in telephone systems by AT&T in 1963.
Ham Radio School

Portable logging for iPad & iPhone
The upgrade to the water/dust proof case was just the ticket, despite it adding some bulk it really protects the device well.
M0JCQ’s Ham Blog

Review: BTech UV-50X3 tri-band mobile
Four years after its initial design, the VGC 6600PRO has evolved into the BTech UV-50X3, a full featured Tri-Band mobile that delivers a full 50W on VHF and UHF.
tri-band-review

Video

75 meter yagi installation
Installation of a 75 meter yagi antenna at W0AIH contest station.
YouTube

A teardown of the Kenwood TH-D74
YouTube

Air Force to ‘bomb the sky’ to improve radio reception
CubeSats could carry massive amounts of ionized gas to the ionosphere to create radio-reflecting plasma.
Prepared Ham

Smaller solar cycles ahead?
Data suggest that Cycle 24, the current solar cycle, will bottom out in 2020.
ARRL

Michigan State Parks on the Air
It looks like the program will get started next year.
KB6NU

Emergency preparedness: How will you communicate?
September is recognized as National Preparedness Month.
Icom America

The woman behind the KM5R repeater
Once upon a time there lived a home-schooled fairy princess named, Melissa, or as she later became known, KM5R.
Weekly North Texas net for YLs

YL International Single Sideband System
The ISSB System operates on 14.332 MHz, 365 days of the year.
YL System

September VHF Contest this weekend
The goal is to contact as many different stations in as many 2 × 1 grid squares as possible on frequencies above 50 MHz.
ARRL

Batteries for portable Amateur Radio use
I’ve used everything from car batteries, Sealed Lead Acid Batteries (SLAB), standard AA’s, Lithium Polymer (LiPo) and Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries (LiFePo).
M0JCQ’s Ham Blog

Can you ID this mystery digital signal?
I noted beeps at Hz repetition rate, does not appear to be data, it beeps for about a minute then there is a short data burst then beeping again for a minute or two.
The SWLing Post

Video

VHF Transmitter key-up analysis
Based on what I learned about this radio, I won’t be operating it at the high power level due to the frequency drift.
W2AEW

Random wire portable antenna back yard test
I decided to try a random wire in the back yard with QRP power and portable set up for some fun and to see how it would work for me.
RadioHamGuy

Jogging while listening to the Space Station
This is my reception of Astronaut Jeff Williams talking with summer camp students at the Kopernik Observatory and Science Center.
Space Comms

Lightning strikes on the Maestro/Flex 6300
Perhaps it’s time to disconnect the antennas and call it a day.
The Radio Hobbyist

Hamvention announces venue for 2017
The Greene County Fair & Exposition Center will be the new home of the Dayton Hamvention.
Hamvention

Hamvention: The Fairgrounds
First and foremost, if you had worries about parking space, relax.
KE9V

NPOTA activation of The White House today
Members of the Great South Bay ARC have obtained a permit from the National Park Service to operate from President’s Park
AMSAT

Public Communications Network: What you need to know
There has been a lot of online chatter about how the public communications network (i.e., “the phone company”) fits into off grid ham radio and survival/prepping plans.
Off Grid Ham

DXpedition ethics
My first ethical quandary came in 2009 when I was fund-raising for our 2010 YI9PSE DXpedition.
N6PSE

Weak signal volume levels
One of the best and most simple noise reductions is to lower the volume.
VE7SL

Elecraft KX3 cardboard desk stand
It’s easy to make, cheap, useful and environment friendly.
SP7Q

History of the capacitor, the pioneering years
I liken it to the pioneering days of aviation when you made your own planes out of wood and canvas and struggled to leap into the air.
Hack A Day

FCC levies $25,000 fine for deliberate interference
The FCC has imposed a $25,000 fine on William F. Crowell, W6WBJ (ex-N6AYJ), of Diamond Spring, California, for intentionally interfering with the transmissions of other radio amateurs.
ARRL

Video

RTL-SDR stock antenna teardown and vna measurements
The antennas are as expected and pretuned to the DVB-T TV band at around 500 – 600 MHz.
RTL-SDR.com

Russian Woodpecker becomes drone playground
Duga was a Soviet over-the-horizon radar system that operated from July 1976 to December 1989.
YouTube

Hara Arena to shut down
Hara Arena is closing its doors after 60 years.
WDTN

Hamvention to remain in Dayton area
The event will take place on the same weekend and it will be within the region.
Hamvention

Utah County ham radio club draws attention
In less than six months, the club has amassed more than 340 members.
Daily Herald

Antennas on a Boeing 777
Antenna locations on a Boeing 777 aircraft.
Reddit

Alive and Well: Post-Coup Amateur Radio in Turkey
I can confirm that I’ve heard a number of Turkish amateur radio operators on the air since the coup attempt.
The SWLing Post

VHF/UHF Digital Voice – a peek into the future
Digital Voice on VHF/UHF is clearly here to stay. Even though the mainstream manufacturers are supporting it (their own version of it), it’s still fairly niche now. It will grow.
AmateurRadio.com

A tour of Elecraft
At a time in our hobby where many businesses are consolidating, closing their doors or failing to innovate, Elecraft is one of the few bright and innovative companies in our hobby.
N6PSE

Georgia Ham fined $1000 for failure to properly identify
Failure to transmit call sign information undermines the purpose of the Amateur Radio Service by preventing licensed users from identifying a transmission’s source.
ARRL

New SDR client, Kukuruku
RTL-SDR compatible software features multiple demodulators running at once and history browsing.
Kukuruku

Video

National Parks on The Air – Satellite Activation
This was filmed on Sunday July 17th, 2016 on the Craggy Overlook Trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.
KG4AKV

Sparks by static charge on a groundplane antenna
A short video showing static discharges in the form of sparks, a PL259 connector connected to a groundplane antenna, during a lightning storm.
PA2OLD

Radiosport vs. Pokémon GO
It should come as no surprise that ham radio operators are drawing comparisons between Pokémon GO and Amateur Radiosport.
ARRL

Growing 6m JT65 activity
On several occasions this week, I have heard or worked dozens of others on JT mode while the bottom end of the band appears void of signals.
AmateurRadio.com

North Korea activates numbers station
A female announcer at the radio station read numbers for two minutes on 24 June and 14 minutes on Friday.
The Guardian

What’s In your rubber duck?
I often refer to the rubber duck as The World’s Most Convenient Crappy Antenna.
K0NR

Life as a blind radio Ham
Anyone can join in the conversation and sometimes you find yourself talking to a dozen or so people across the ends of the Earth.
Largs & Millport

Smartphone vibration motor as microphone
Two researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have devised a method for turning vibration motors, like the ones found in smartphones, into makeshift microphones, capable of recording the sound around them.
Southgate

How to: GPS spoofing (to hack Pokémon GO)
As satellite GPS signals are very weak while receiving on earth, transmitted signals with the HackRF will be very strong in comparison
Insinuator

A speaker mic NOT to buy
I’m guessing this one didn’t pass through quality control, if there is such a thing at the Baofeng factory.
Digital Mobile Radio

Receiving WSPR with RTL-SDR
Direct sampling mode allows you to receive HF signals on an RTL-SDR without the need for an upconverter
RTL-SDR.com