FreeDV 2016 road map
Release VHF FreeDV modes, one mode that runs through $60 HTs, another that outperforms closed source DV by 10dB.
Rowetel

Danger in calm seas
These three things present a clear and present danger to our continued growth and enjoyment of the radio hobby.
KE9V

First Amateur Radio geosynchronous satellite to launch in 2017
“Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, a new ham band will be available for the Americas.”
KB6NU

CQ World Wide favor limiting operating time to less than 48 hours
Contesters want to see a time-limited category for single operators.
ARRL

Bouncing radio off of airplanes
Amateur radio operators are always trying some new stunt or other. It’s like they’ve got something to prove. Take Aircraft scatter for instance: the idea is to extend your radio’s range by bouncing it directionally off of overhead airplanes.
Hack a Day

PWM and MPPT solar charge controller
The solar charge controller is arguably the most important component of a solar energy system.
Off Grid Ham

Signal direction finding with an RTL-SDR + Raspberry Pi
Direction finding system built out of a Raspberry Pi, an RTL-SDR and four antennas.
RTL-SDR.COM

Airplane on 60m!
I almost cannot believe it happened. And how unique this contact was.
PE4BAS

How to

How I learned Morse Code
They practiced the art of radiotelegraphy: where the contacts were easier to make, the operators were more skilled, and the signals were stronger. I wanted in.
Fine Business

Super simple APRS position reporter
My criteria has been a Raspberry Pi and an HT as the two major hardware components. No hardware TNCs and no custom cabling.
K4HCK

Video

Building a new Ham shack
We are living in a rental house and we plan to build a new house. So, I need to setup a ham shack.
K7AGE

11kV lightning arrestor and exploding disconnecter
This is a lightning arrester from an 11kV power distribution line with an interesting feature to clear itself electrically when sustained current flows through it.
YouTube

2015 Year in Review

For this last issue of the year, I thought I’d do something fun and pull the most popular links from each issue and complie the top 10 as a ‘look back’ on the world of Amateur Radio in 2015. I hope you enjoy! –Cale K4HCK

#10

Verizon issues furious response to FCC, in Morse code
Verizon wrote a press release in Morse code and set the date as 1934 to make the point that the FCC is taking us backward in time.
Ars Technica (Issue 50)

#9

Steal this Ham Radio (technology)
If you think hams just use Morse code and voice communications, you are thinking of your grandfather’s ham radio.
Hack A Day (Issue 79)

#8

A look inside the NR5M super-station
The sun was just setting and I’m sure I had a stupid look on my face as I saw the towers rise over the horizon. What a sight to behold.
W0EA (Issue 65)

#7

EP6T team pleads for “more respect” from operators
“Jammers calling with fake calls and disrespecting the operators, sending disgraceful e-mails, and calling us names is sometimes too much for us.”
ARRL (Issue 45)

#6

Portable radio operations
Using Morse Code to keep in touch with friends.
Wiltshire Man (Issue 73)

#5

K1N logs 125,000 QSOs, offers “All-Time New One” days
“…do not call them if you already worked them.”
ARRL (Issue 48)

#4

Request an azimuthal map
Use this form to create an azimuthal map for any location on the globe.
NS6T (Issue 48)

#3

Icom IC-7300 available in January, official price announced
Icom’s IC-7300 is probably the most expected transceiver of 2016, given the fact that it’s the first direct-sampling SDR from one of the “big three” manufacturers.
YO9IRF (Issue 89)

#2

Dayton Hamvention – R.I.P.
The “laws of the market place” are taking care of the “Dayton as a hell-hole” problem.
K9ZW (Issue 64)

#1

New Baofeng radios on Monday?
“Including: Crossband Repeater Capabilities, Dual Simultaneous Receivers, 6 Band Reception, NOAA Weather Channels and Alerts, 7 Encoding and Decoding Methods, and Upgradable Firmware.”
Brick O’Lore (Issue 49)

Fessenden Christmas Eve commemorative transmissions set
WA1ZMS, will again put his 600 meter Experimental Station WG2XFQ on the air for a Christmas Eve commemorative transmission.
ARRL

Christmas Poems
‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the shack
The rig was turned off and the mic cord lay slack.
eHam.net

ISS SSTV activity planned for late December
The first session is being targeted for Dec 26-27 to celebrate 15 years of ARISS school contacts with the ISS crew.
AMSAT UK

AO-85 slow scan TV image likely a prank, not a test
“I can tell you that in South America, they are having some fun, and that our analog-to-digital to analog IHU processing of the audio seems to work very well at SSTV frequencies!”
ARRL

Spacing – the most important thing
“Written” Morse is almost impossible for me to decode.
W2LJ

Sorry, I’ve been on 2m FM again
It is just too easy and too convenient.
K0NR

Yaesu FT1DR Review
Very nice, but as with ANY radio it has a few bugs including with the accessories. We tested it side by side with it’s elder FT1D model.
N9EWO

Agnes Scott College first Amateur Radio station on a women’s college
The station was established with the enthusiastic support of Agnes Scott faculty in the Department of Physics & Astronomy.
Agnes Scott College

Historic Ocean Gate antenna field may be removed
The iconic poles emerging from the tidal marshes in Bayville’s Good Luck Point may soon disappear if a federal plan clears a historic preservation hurdle.
The SWLing Post

Impact of WWI on US Ham Radio
When the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, most radio stations came under government control, reserved for war efforts.
Southgate

Video

Skelton HF transmitting station
Skelton Short-Wave Transmitting Station: Its Role in WWII and the Cold War.
YouTube

aprs.fi releases iOS app for iPhone and iPad
This is the official iPhone and iPad application of aprs.fi, the favourite APRS web site of the Amateur Radio world.
aprs.fi

Icom IC-7300 available in January, official price announced
Icom’s IC-7300 is probably the most expected transceiver of 2016, given the fact that it’s the first direct-sampling SDR from one of the “big three” manufacturers.
YO9IRF

New IC-7300 videos from Icom
Over Ham-Radio.nl

Ham discovers sat transmitting 46 years after being abandoned in 1967
G3YPQ noticed its peculiar signal drift caused by its tumbling end over end every 4 seconds as the solar panels became shadowed by the engine.
The Vintage News

QRP as Work/Life Balance
You’ll often see me eating lunch at my desk. Those are the days when you likely won’t see me later that afternoon.
fine.business

Just another VHF SOTA contact
Dakota Hill is 10,929 feet and set back into the mountains, so I wasn’t sure if I could make the RF trip over Palmer Divide.
K0NR

Florida Ham agrees to penalty for failure to identify
K3TW will pay a monetary penalty In response to complaints that an unidentified station was transmitting on an Amateur Radio frequency at 14 MHz.
ARRL

QSO Today: Howard Sherer, AE3T
If you wanted to operate two meter EME or “moon bounce,” then your Elmer should be Howard Sherer, AE3T, who has made over 700 contacts with a modest station.
QSO Today

Trip down memory lane via vintage Radio Shack catalogs
Archived Radio Shack catalogs and sales flyers going back to 1939.
The SWLing Post

4-wheel-drive trip from one continent to the next
Not the ordinary DXpedition, but a unique merging of Amateur Radio and charity.
Southgate

The story of space debris
20,000 pieces of tracked debris exist in orbit ranging in size from an apple to a bus.
The Royal Institution

Video

Repeater Design Example: Bidirectional RICK Crossbander
Here’s a simple design example and a walk-through of using an HP service monitor to set “repeater gain.”
The Life of Kenneth

2015 SKYWARN Recognition Day
SKYWARN operators visit NWS offices and contact other radio operators across the world.
NOAA

Ten-Tec sold to mystery owner
I had a discussion with the new owner last night, and I wanted to relay some information.
amateurradio.com

Santa Claus Arctic Circle Team active during December
OH9SCL has been on the air each holiday season for the past 30 years.
ARRL

See the invisible wireless signals around you
The app offers an augmented-reality experience: spin your iPhone or iPad around you, and your device will act like a window into a previously invisible world.
The Verge

Operating from downtown San Francisco: A compromise
Living on the eighth floor of an apartment building in downtown San Francisco isn’t an ideal environment for an amateur radio station.
Fine.Business

Now online: A new WebSDR in Iran
Ham Radio club EP2C has just put a WebSDR online in Iran–perhaps the first in this part of the world.
The SWLing Post

Rock ‘N Radio — QRP style
Operating QRP can mean operating from a “Quiet Restful Place.”
N4PBQ

Video

ISO-TIP 7700 Cordless Solder Iron review
This is my video review of the ISO-TIP #7700 rechargeable battery soldering iron.
ToddFun.com

Sneak peak: VK9WA Willis Island DXpedition 2015
A short video of beautiful Middle Cay, Willis Islets, Coral Sea, Australia – the home of the VK9WA amateur radio DXpedition.
YouTube

and finally…

Antenna cannon
The easy (dangerous) way to string an antenna through a tree.
YouTube

Raspberry Pi Zero: $5 computer
Of all the things we do at Raspberry Pi, driving down the cost of computer hardware remains one of the most important.
Raspberry Pi

3916 Santa Net 2015
Every year on 3916, we give good little boys and girls a chance to talk to Santa Claus at the North Pole!
The 3916 Nets

Kids are not the future of Ham Radio
You’ve heard it a million times: our kids are the future. But I am starting to think it is incorrect.
K0NR

rtl_433: 433.92MHz generic data receiver
rtl_433 turns your Realtek RTL2832 based DVB dongle into a 433.92MHz generic data receiver.
GitHub

5 things good Elmers do
Sending a newcomer a QSL card is a good way to encourage them to get on CW again, and I included the message, “I hope to hear you on again sometime.”
KB6NU

RTTY contest soapbox
I honestly thought I was going to be making blazing fast contacts since it’s a “Digital” mode. Nope… RTTY contacts are much longer than CW or SSB.
NT1K

DIY kit for aircraft band monitoring
There is an interesting kit being sold on eBay designed specifically for aircraft monitoring of 118-136 MHz.
The SWLing Post

SatSat iOS satellite tracker
Satellite tracking software displays current and next passes for any satellite. It also provides beacon frequencies to listen to.
SatSat

APRS Paths explained
“Why is WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1 better than WIDE2-2?” The answer has to do with the use of neighborhood “fill-in” digis.
wsanders.net

HF Automatic Link Establishment (ALE)
Automatic Link Establishment, or ALE for short, has become a worldwide standard for initiating HF communications between two or more points.
VA3QR

Samuel Morse’s other masterpiece
The famous inventor’s painting of Gallery of the Louvre is as much a fascinating work of art as a 19th century history lesson.
Smithsonian.com

Video

The changing face of hobby electronics
The internet offers cheap components from global suppliers to anywhere in Australia but may also herald the downfall of local brick and mortar stores.
State of Electronics

5MHz amateur band – it is now official
WRC-15 has ratified the first new HF amateur allocation since 1979.
amateurradio.com

National Parks on the Air map
In cooperation with the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) CQmaps is pleased to offer the 2016 National Parks on the Air (NPOTA) map. Your map is the ticket to all 432 parks that the ARRL has included in the 2016 Centennial.
CQmaps

The Sproutie “SPT” Beacon – A legal, unlicensed HiFER beacon
This blog-post discusses the use of the 13553 – 13567KHz band under FCC Part 15 regulations in the US.
AA7EE

Extreme milliwatting
WSPR on 80m with only 10mW (on the horizontal 80m loop).
PE4BAS

State ousts leader of Oregon Amateur Radio Service
The state has an agreement with amateur radio enthusiasts to provide a backup system.
OPB

Arduino pocket lightning detector
This sensor watches for the particular waveform of lightning at 500Khz and gives a distance approximation.
Instructables

TV going the distance: Propagation
At shortwave frequencies, distant propagation is much more common. Shortwaves travel via ground wave (short distance) and sky wave.
Hack A Day

HF Underground
Shortwave Pirate Radio Forums in North America and Around The World. (And other stations that go bump in the night.)
HF Underground

Ham history

Radio hams do battle with ‘Russian Woodpecker’
From their own homes, many ham radio operators have quietly carried on an electronic war with the Soviet Union .
Miami Herald

Duga radar (Russian Woodpecker)
Duga-1 was a Soviet over-the-horizon (OTH) radar system used as part of the Soviet ABM early-warning network.
Wikipedia

Sound clip of Russian Woodpecker
It sounded like a sharp, repetitive tapping noise, at 10 Hz, giving rise to the “Woodpecker” name.
YouTube

Video

Delta loop vs Cobwebb antenna
Amateur Radio Guy!