Updated 12/18/2021 There has been some recent interest in kit building within the ranks, so I’ve created a course that I think would be both fun and educational. Sign-up has ended for this session Schedule: Unit 1: Setup, Soldering, and a Dummy Load Saturday November 6, 2021 @ 9:00AM ESTRecording Available Here (click) Unit 2: […]
How-Tos
Fox (Transmitter) Hunting
Amateur Radio SPORT? (Updated Aug 26, 2022) Next Fox Hunt scheduled (Oct 1st 2022) in Christiansburg, VA, starting at the Country Kitchen around 9:30am. Vehicles needed. Arrive early (8:30 ish) for “pay your way” breakfast. Click for PDF of event details. That’s right… get on your running shoes, sweat bands, and start stretching. We’re going […]
Satellite Ops – Where to Start?
So far, I’ve yet to make a satellite contact using the FM repeaters available. Seems I’m either not fast enough, the repeater is down, or my equipment isn’t right. There’s always SOMETHING that works against me! EDIT: Finally made a contact on Oct 8, 2020 on SO-50! Sample audio in the article below! So, why […]
How Does the J-Pole Work?
J-Pole antennas are one of the true works of electrical engineering that gives us a smaller footprint vertical with no need for a ground plane. But how do these things work? Here is a great presentation from Dr. Ed Fong WB6IQN explaining. Other articles and information on J-Poles available here: The DBJ-1: A VHF-UHF Dual-Band […]
History of Digital Modes – Dave Casler KE0OG
Really good introduction to the history of amateur radio digital modes by Dave Casler, KE0OG.
Programming the Baofeng HT
Need some quick instruction for your Baofeng UV5R? Here is a quick summary of how to program that HT for simplex and repeater operation. Thanks to K2COE for the information!
Building Superheterodyne Receivers 101 with Chuck Adams, K7QO
Editors Note: Since the posting of this page, Chuck Adams has decided to remove all of his content from Youtube. It’s unfortunate for us builders as these videos were full of useful information. The below is kept for historical reasons. If you want to find information from his old website, the Internet Archive may be […]
DMR Radio – Made Me Cross!
I’ve recently bit the bullet, and decided to try out digital radio, more specifically, DMR. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that it’s really frustrating and confusing in the beginning, much like those 3D prints they used to sell at the mall back in the 90s. You remember? It’s the ones that you had […]
Learn About Digital Mobile Radio (DMR)
What is Digital Mobile Radio (DMR)? It’s an open digital radio standard that can be used by amateur radio operators to use digital infrastructure such as the Internet to provide communication. Want to know more? Here are some resources to help you along your learning journey! Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_mobile_radio The best podcasts on the subject to […]
Build and Review – Dual Band J-Pole 144/440Mhz
(Tips added at the end of the article below on 10/26/2019) If you’re like me, you like to save some money. One place that I like to save is by constructing my own antennas. When I was looking to set up my base station at home, I looked through all kinds of designs, and ended […]