Why public service-oriented Hams should participate in contests
Radio contests are training that improves our abilities elsewhere in Amateur Radio.
Social Contest Club

FreeDV voice keyer and spotting demo
FreeDV has a low bit rate text message stream that allows you to send information such as your call-sign and location.
Rowetel

Wire antennas in trees
Choosing a wire antenna system is one thing. Finding somewhere to put it up is another. Particularly if you’re short on supporting structures around the home environment.
Delta Alfa

Russian military in 7 and 14 MHz Ham Radio bands
The latest IARU Monitoring System newsletter reports Russian Military traffic in the amateur radio 7 and 14 MHz bands has increased.
Southgate

Meet the preppers who are ready for the next massive solar storm
Another source emphasized the value of hunting down older, “tube type” communications gear. “Modern amateur radio gear is hugely susceptible to EMP.”
Gizmodo

FM/VHF operating guide
This guide is intended to assist new amateur radio operators in figuring out what VHF FM and repeater operation is all about.
K0NR

Signal Identification Guide
This wiki is intended to help identify radio signals through example sounds and waterfall images.
Signal Identification Guide

1090 MHz bandpass filter from FlightAware
FlightAware.com is a website that aggregates ADS-B aircraft location data from various contributors.
RTL-SDR.COM

Turn your current transceiver into an SDR
The MDSR software performs all of the demodulation, filtering (both radio frequency and audio frequency), signal enhancement (equalization and binaural presentation).
MDSR

We need a better UHF connector
The venerable UHF connector was developed in the 1930’s. The UHF connector suffers from two problems.
amateurradio.com

Video

DMR TYT MD-380 programming tutorial
A guide aimed at people new to DMR, showing how to program an amateur repeater and a simplex channel.
YouTube

Solar powered HF Ham Radio portable system
Zamp 40 watt Portable Solar Charging System ZS-40-P, 80-6 Meter-Alpha EZ-Military Antenna, ICOM-IC-718 HF-Ham Radio, LDG-IT-100-AutoTuner, and a 18AH-Werker-A­GM Battery.
YouTube

How can we get more women involved in ham radio?
We are currently dealing with a hobby that is only 15% women that keeps fretting about getting more people involved in it, so why do we allow things that would drive half the population away?
amateurradio.com

How Radio Mala laid the groundwork for lifesaving communication
This is a story about a tool — amateur radio — that has helped, and will continue to help save lives. We call ourselves Radio Mala.
Make:

Arkansas Ham tops his own satellite contact distance record
Operating from an old US Forest Service fire tower atop Rich Mountain in western Arkansas, Swanson worked Manuel “Dom” Ruiz in Valencia, Spain via AO-7.
ARRL

FreeDV champion partners with Outernet
The modem will use QPSK, a LDPC code, and deliver payload data at around 2400 bit/s in a 5kHz RF bandwidth.
Rowetel

Morse code used to cheat during chess match
The 37-year-old player was also “batting his eyelids in the most unnatural way”, Mr Coqueraut said.
Southgate

Experimenting with the Ham Radio Wilderness Protocol
Just as Morse code was fading in the mid-1990s, the American Radio Relay League proposed the Wilderness Protocol as a way for hikers and campers to call for help in remote areas before mobile cell phone coverage became ubiquitous.
KC4LMD

D-STAR QSO Party 2015 September 18th
The goal of the D‐STAR QSO PARTY is to communicate through as many D‐STAR repeaters as possible throughout the world.
Icom

Using HD radio signals for navigation
In this article, we present the results of a study using AM HD Radio, digital radio in the 540–1700 kHz band of the frequency spectrum, with known transmitter locations, to locate and track receiver locations that are otherwise unknown.
GPS World

The Cold War nuke that fried satellites
The explosion – the world’s most powerful high altitude nuclear test – created an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) strong enough to disrupt global radio communications.
BBC

VHF-UHF Hams asked to observe Radio Quiet Zones
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) at Green Bank, West, Virginia, has asked that hams notify the facility if they plan to operate within 10 miles of either the Green Bank Telescope or the Sugar Grove Research Station.
ARRL

QSO logger for Android
QSO Secretary is a special logging program, optimized for mobile, portable, and field operations. It has been designed to allow quick entry of important information regarding QSOs.
Google Play

How to

See actual microwaves
In this post I will show you how to actually see microwaves by modifying a coffee can radar which you can build at home.
Hack A Day

Pi-Go 12v power adapter for Raspberry Pi
The Pi-Go connects to the GPIO header and supplies a solid 5V at up to 3A for the Pi and its connected peripherals.
Kickstarter

$50SAT falls silent
The $50SAT amateur radio spacecraft has ceased transmitting after nearly 20 months in space.
AMSAT UK

Labor Day weekend: a great time for pirate radio action
Monday, September 7, is Labor Day throughout most of North America; shortwave pirates love to operate on long holiday weekends.
The SWLing Post

New versions K1JT weak signal digital modes
Think of this mode as FSK441 slowed down to 315 baud; the bandwidth is therefore narrow enough to make the mode legal in the “CW and data” portion of the 10 meter band.
amateurradio.com

HI HI: LOL of the 19th century
LOL in the age of the telegraph.
The Conversation

Sound of a sinking ship
Listen to the Morse code interchange between a sinking cruise ship and fellow ships.
hamradio.me

Open letter to Ham Radio manufacturers
Once upon a time, companies like yours developed equipment for hams entering the hobby as Novice licensees.
KC4LMD

Liquid metal changes shape to tune antenna
Liquid at room temperature, these alloys have the useful property of oxidizing on contact with air and forming a skin.
Hack A Day

Solar storm of 1859
Telegraph systems all over Europe and North America failed, in some cases giving telegraph operators electric shocks. Telegraph pylons threw sparks. Some telegraph operators could continue to send and receive messages despite having disconnected their power supplies.
Wikipedia

Video

Video of ICOM IC-7300 in action
IZØKBA

Digital voice and SSB comparison
You can really notice the reduced audio bandwidth and ever present noise of SSB compared to FreeDV. This is just the start – we are gradually improving the low SNR robustness and speech quality of FreeDV.
Rowetel

and finally…

RTTY decoder for Commodore 64
Decodes RTTY audio to readable text on the screen of your Commodore 64.
ebay

Icom reveals first SDR, IC-7300
During the Tokyo Ham Fair 2015, Icom revealed their first Software Defined Radio (SDR) HF transceiver, the IC-7300, sporting HF+6m+4m coverage, 100W, touchscreen TFT display and an internal antenna tuner.
YO9IRF

(PDF) Pre-release information: IC-7300
Now, a serious spectrum scope is NOT a “privilege” of high-grade models.
Icom UK

Testing FreeDV mobile
One of my aims for using the SM1000 in the car was being able to really use it like a microphone. One cable, low clutter.
RF Head

Primary, Ion, and Polymer: a lithium battery primer
Lithium primary, lithium ion, lithium polymer… Want to know the differences between–and varied uses for–these diverse types of lithium batteries? You’re not alone.
The SWLing Post

FCC fines Smart City $750K for blocking Wi-Fi
Company used Wi-Fi monitoring system to block mobile hotspots at convention centers.
Southgate

Tracking Wi-Fi signals to passively see through walls
We used LabVIEW to design and iterate the advanced signal processing used to detect minute Doppler shifts in the acquired wireless signals to sense movement.
National Instruments

ARES supports 60,000 runners for Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta
Supporting the runners are some 5,000 volunteers, including more than 50 Amateur Radio operators.
ARRL

Mac client for Flex Radio
dogparkSDR is the first native Mac client for the Flex Radio Systems Signature series SDR radios.
Mac Ham Radio

How to

Speaker placement
Sound, after all, is our core business and we want to be able to enjoy the fascinating soundstage of incoming TX audio at its very best.
Delta Alfa

Guide to improving club websites
There’s a serious problem with the way Amateur Radio clubs present themselves online – Outdated, broken, poorly-designed and invisible websites do no favours for clubs, and more importantly, the hobby.
Essex Ham

Video

Inside the world of pirate radio
Pirate radio is still going strong despite the rise of internet radio.
BBC

$8,000 fine proposed for Ham causing interference, failing to identify
Ham volunteered to track down the interference he was causing.
ARRL

Are Amateur Radio-based emergency communications still relevant?
From “we are the be all and end all of disaster communications planning” down to “hams who show up to emergency scenes should be arrested.” So what’s the answer?
VA3QR

Slim Jim vs. Traditional J-pole Antenna
Real measurements of a Slim Jim antenna and traditional j-pole antenna reveal the truth about their respective gain and pattern.
hamradio.me

New, fast JT9 Meteor Scatter modes
Joe Taylor K1JT has published some information about the new ‘Fast JT9’ submodes for Meteor Scatter communication on 28 and 50 MHz.
Southgate

Rufus Turner: Ham Radio’s first African American Operator
Rufus was an engineer who developed the 1N34A germanium diode in the 1946.
KC4LMD

First Tracksoar test flight
The Tracksoar APRS tracker is designed to be flown under anything capable of lifting 60 grams, including balloons, RC planes, quad copters, or anything else that flies.
Tracksoar

Danish CubeSats head for ISS
The IARU have coordinated 437.250 MHz for the 1k2-9k6 bps beacon and 437.425 MHz for the GMSK beacon.
AMSAT UK

SkookumLogger contest logger for OS X
Supporting CW and SSB events on the six HF contest bands plus 6m, 4m, 2m, and 70cm.
K1GQ

CJU satellite antenna for HTs
A minimalist satellite system.
VE6AB

How to

Setting up Ubuntu for Decoding NOAA and Meteor M2 Sats
In this guide, I will attempt to make it easy to set up Ubuntu with GQRX, GNU Radio Companion, WxtoIMG, and Tools for decoding Meteor M2 Sats.
voiceoverman

And finally…

One acorn too many
Woodpecker fills Antenna with Acorns.
YouTube

Getting started in Meteor Scatter
I write this during the peak of the Perseid meteor shower as it’s much more likely for a newcomer inspired by the article to decode meteor scatter bursts with a modest VHF station.
M1BXF

Perseids peaking
My receiver immediately sprung to life with a very loud SSB signal, slightly off-tune. We talked back and forth for about another 60 seconds before the burn finally dissipated.
VE7SL

Meteor Scatter experiments
Last weekend was very close to the peak meteor shower from Perseid. This gave us an ideal opportunity to try meteor scatter for the very first time.
Loughton & Epping Forest

J-Pole antenna grounding
A fully grounded antenna is certainly a very worthwhile goal so long as you don’t needlessly compromise the antenna’s functionality.
hamradio.me

Cross country HF APRS
The HF APRS network that resides in North America is on the high end of 30 meters. This band is open day and night.
VE6AB

$40 Arduino antenna analyzer
It is no surprise that hams will build an antenna analyzer from a DDS module and an Arduino instead of dropping a few hundred dollars on a commercial unit.
Hackaday

Skywave Linux
With global SDR access, shortwave listeners can access broadcast, utility, amateur radio, military, and other signals from almost anywhere in the world.
Skywave Linux

Tennessee QSO Party 2015
1800z Sunday, September 6 until 0300z Monday, September 7, 2015
Tennessee QSO Party

Noise canceling speaker hack
I have several Onkyo speakers from a retired surround sound system and a 100 watt 12 volt car audio amplifier and started to think on hacking this into something usable.
Prepared Ham

How to

Add OpenStreetMaps to Xastir
This tutorial will guide you how to install OSM maps into Xastir software.
S55MA Ham Blog

Video

Replace the meter light on a Kenwood TS-430s
KF4NOD

Portable radio operations
Using Morse Code to keep in touch with friends.
Wiltshire Man

FreeDV QSO Party Weekend
The Amateur Radio Experimenters Group would like to invite all amateurs interested in HF digital voice communications to join us on the weekend of September 12th and 13th in a FreeDV Codec2 digital HF voice QSO Party!
AREG

Do not Digipeat via PCSAT
Although this is the correct frequency for APRS operation in IARU Region 2, it is not compatible with our Region 1 bandplan.
AMSAT UK

My Amateur Radio bucket list. What’s yours?
There is just so many possible things you can do within the hobby that it could possibly take a lifetime to achieve.
NT1K

Chinese Amateur Radio Satellites set to launch in early September
The XW-2 series satellites are equipped with substantially identical Amateur Radio payloads — a U/V mode linear transponder, a CW telemetry beacon and an AX.25 19.2k/9.6k baud GMSK telemetry downlink.
ARRL

Simplex, Duplex, Offset and Split
Simplex is a term that applies on all of the ham bands, because it is the simplest way to communicate. However, it is not the “opposite” of using a repeater.
Ham Radio School

What happened when I added a counterpoise to my HT
By adding a 1/4-wave counterpoise, you, in effect, turn the antenna into an off-center-fed, vertically polarized 1/2-wave dipole.
KC4LMD

Facebook. What is it good for?
Notable Amateur Radio Facebook Groups.
W2LJ

DX from Bald Ledge
EA5GX Sergio in Spain was calling CQ and we made a quick contact. There was some QSB, but he gave me a 579. Finally, I heard LZ1GU in Bulgaria calling CQ. Harry was strong and he gave me a 569.
amateurradio.com

In Pacific islands, radio remains the most accessible news source
Newspapers are a luxury item. On average, each newspaper in the Pacific will be read by seven people, which helps explain why the daily paper’s print run is so low.
The Saturday Paper

How to

QRV from a new apartment
This mainly amounted to mounting and tuning my 20m hamstick and running cable to the radio. This doesn’t sound like much on paper but it was a lot more engineering than that.
W0EA

Video

Ham Radio fun with tropospheric ducting propagation
This is a sample of stations I worked or heard during a nice tropospheric ducting 2 meter band opening from my location in Albert Lea, Minnesota.
RadioHamGuy

Homemade yagi antenna field test
I demonstrate some local QRM that I have been receiving there, check access to 4 distant repeaters (GB3SC, GB3JB, GB3WH and GB3VA), and have a nice QSO with Andy (G6TRW).
YouTube

Amateur radio enthusiast contacts space station
We live in a world fascinated by space, but very rarely does the ordinary man reach up into the stars for a chat.
CNN