AmateurRadio.com

Stories you’ll find in our October, 2021 issue:

Amateur Radio’s Lost Tribe: The ‘Blue-Collar Scholars’ Who Started It All
By Frank M. Howell PhD K4FMH

We all know the history of US amateur radio: Hiram Percy Maxim founded the American Radio Relay League, and the rest is history, right? Not quite, says Frank Howell, who takes a closer look at the origins of what he calls amateur radio’s ‘lost tribe of blue-collar scholars,’ the thousands of unlicensed wireless experimenters who learned radio science through the pages of Hugo Gernsback’s prolific wireless publications years before there was an ARRL or QST magazine.

AM Band DXing Today
By David Yocis

With over one hundred years of listening to the AM band, you might think there’s nothing new to learn, but David shows that Twenty-first Century technology has brought new life to the oldest radio hobby. From software defined radios to remote-controlled receivers to advances in antenna technology, there is almost no limit to what an average listener can hear today.

Ultralight MW DXing with Ferrite Sleeve Loop Antennas
By Jock Elliot KB2GOM

Taking small, inexpensive portable radios outdoors and turning them into DX machines is what ultralight medium wave DXing is all about. And, thanks to DIY ferrite sleeve loop antennas, you can try your hand at the action. But it will be tough to top those already in the game who have logged medium wattage stations at 8,000 miles. Jock explains how it’s done and who’s doing it.

Feeling the Geomagnetic Pulse: Antennas for the ELF and VLF Bands
By Georg Wiessala

There was a time when listening to Extremely Low Frequencies (3-30 Hz) and Very Low Frequencies (30 Hz to 30 kHz) required expensive laboratory equipment and acres of antenna installations. Georg reports that’s no longer the case as he dives deep into the receivers, antennas, and software you’ll need to explore this radio territory.

CB Radio: Six Decades of Utility and Fun
By Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV

Citizens Band radio has the distinction of once being the leader as an American popular culture icon in its first three decades. From Top 40 records to network TV shows to feature films, millions of everyday Americans were ‘ratchet-jawing’ on their CB sets. But never count CB as dead—Cory reports that it’s still alive and now with FM modulation!

Scanning America
By Dan Veeneman
A Tale of Two Counties: Branch and Hillsdale (MI)

Federal Wavelengths
By Chris Parris
TSA UHF Update

Milcom
By Larry Van Horn N5FPW
More Government Master File Diving

Utility Planet
By Hugh Stegman
KiwiSDR Ale Scanner Goes Live Online

Shortwave Utility Logs
By Mike Chace-Ortiz and Hugh Stegman

VHF and Above
By Joe Lynch N6CL
ARISS Space Station Contact Opportunity

Digitally Speaking
By Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV
VHF AM: The Rediscovered Country

Amateur Radio Insights
By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z
Shack Screens: Big is Beautiful!

Radio 101
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR
OTA-TV and FTA-TV Update

The World of Shortwave Listening
By Andrew Yoder
HF Pirates Sail on the Shortwaves

The Shortwave Listener
By Fred Waterer
Fall Shortwave Programming

Adventures in Radio Restorations
By Rich Post KB8TAD
That Jukebox Sound: Wurlitzer 530 Audio Amp

Antenna Connections
By Robert Gulley K4PKM
An Ounce of Prevention

The Spectrum Monitor is available in PDF format which can be read on any desktop, laptop, iPad®, Kindle® Fire, or other device capable of opening a PDF file. Annual subscription is $24. Individual monthly issues are available for $3 each.