Welcome to another installment of Ham Radio Portable Insights. Today, let’s talk about some utilities you may not be using (but maybe you should be). For this article, let’s refer to a utility as any program that can be used to modify or display your portable logs. You can have a lot of fun operating […]
Author: KK7XU
One Watt POTA Fun: Let’s compromise a compromised antenna!
by Thomas (K4SWL) On Monday, September 22, 2025, I visited my father in Hickory—in the foothills of North Carolina—and on the way home, I found myself with about an hour to spare. Naturally, that meant one thing: Parks On The Air (POTA) time! I first thought about stopping by Tuttle Educational State Forest since I […]
Learn About GMRS/FRS Radios from a DX Engineering Amateur Radio & Off-Roading Expert (Podcast)
In May, a crack team from Airwaves GPS installed three transceivers in the Summit Racing/DX Engineering Roamin’ Gladiator Jeep project vehicle: Yaesu FT-891 HF/50 MHz All Mode Mobile Transceiver (YSU-FT-891) for long-distance contacts Icom ID-5100A-D VHF/UHF Digital Transceiver (ICO-ID-5100A-D) for local communication Rugged Radios Jeep Two-Way GMRS Mobile Radio Kit (RRD-JP1-GMR25, waterproof version, below) for communication with GMRS (General […]
K4RLC: Radio Adventures in the Highlands of Scotland Gang aft a-gley
by Bob K4RLC & MM/K4RLC But Mousie, thou art no thy lane, In proving foresight may be vain: The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men, Gang aft a-gley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy. -Robbie Burns, National Bard of Scotland “To a Mousie” 1785 Thanks to my friend Vince, VE6LK, I learned the value of […]
Ham Radio Holiday Gift Guide 2025 Part 1: DX Engineering Gift Card
Over the next several weeks, OnAllBands will be posting articles filled with gift ideas for the amateur radio operators in your life—everything from T-shirts to amateur radio license study guides, headsets to antennas for portable operators, Morse code keys to transceivers. If you’ve been asked what tops your must-have list this season, we’re going to […]
Impromptu Blue Ridge Parkway Twofer and My First Run with the Ham2K PoLo Logger
On Monday, November 3, 2025, I had a handful of afternoon errands to run. I’d scheduled them so I could move from one to the next without issue. After leaving the house and finishing my first appointment at 1:00 p.m., I decided to double-check the time for my second. I had it in my head […]
Guide to November 2025 Ham Radio Contests—Giving Thanks Edition
DX Engineering thanks its customers with its new Rewards Program! For contesting enthusiasts, there’s a lot to be excited about for the remainder of November, including the CW portion of the CQ Worldwide DX Contest and the ARRL November Sweepstakes, SSB. But before we get into fall contesting fun, DX Engineering and OnAllBands would like […]
DX Engineering Customer Insights: The microHAM ARCO Advanced Rotator Controller
This story is from OnAllBands Guest Contributor Mark Chouinard, K5YAC. Mark was kind enough to share his experience installing the microHAM ARCO Advanced Rotator Controller available from DX Engineering. *** Been kind of quiet here for a while and not much activity on the bands over the summer, but plenty of work in the shop […]
Catching Up with a Friend and Logging 9,150 Miles per Watt from William B. Umstead State Park!
On Monday, October 20, 2025, I was still in the Raleigh area of North Carolina. That morning, I dropped by NC State University for a brief visit, and afterward, I had the rest of the morning free to play a little radio. I’d spent my previous few activations at Clemmons Educational State Forest (US-4853), so […]
3D Printable Mounts by KO4YLZ
Many thanks to Dave (KO4YLZ) who writes: Hey Thomas, I created some generic mounts for the KX2, TR-35, and QMX that can be 3D printed. They’re generic in the sense that I haven’t added any specific provision for how the basic mount mates up with another object/surface. I leave it up to the user to […]