Many of you likely know that I’m on the crew of the Ham Radio Workbench podcast and that, in December 2023, we hosted the first Ham Radio Workbenches On The Air (HRWBOTA) event. Unfortunately, I had one scheduling conflict I couldn’t change, which meant starting the event with my KH1 in a downtown Asheville parking […]
Ham Radio Tech: Anderson Powerpoles®—Putting It All Together
One of the really annoying things about ham radio is the sheer number of different cables and connectors out there. With USB alone, there are four or five common ones, and let’s not even talk about all the other connectors for the variety of wall warts. Reach into your power cord stash and you’ll see […]
Guide to April 2025 Ham Radio Contests: Severe Weather Prep Edition
As the saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers.” With state QSO parties and state park activations kicking into high gear this month, amateur radio enthusiasts may choose to modify this to say, “Warmer weather brings us together…on the air!” Unfortunately, gentle showers aren’t the only climatic occurrences that affect amateur radio and our neighborhoods […]
Advice for Parents and Grandparents on Getting a Young Person Interested in Amateur Radio
When I got my amateur radio Technician license in March 2019, most of my family were not licensed, the exceptions being my mom, who had held her Technician class license since her middle school years, and my grandfather, who had an Advanced license. However, neither of them was very active, aside from the occasional listen […]
REZ Antenna Systems Amateur Radio Gear Now Sold Exclusively Through DX Engineering
Texas-based REZ Antenna Systems, specialists in antennas for portable operating, announced that all sales of its amateur radio products will now be done through DX Engineering. “After careful consideration, we have made the decision to transition all of our sales and order processing to the experts at DX Engineering,” wrote REZ Antenna Systems owner Mike […]
VA3EKR’s Experiments in Capturing Clean Audio in the Field
Many thanks to Scott (VA3EKR) who shares the following guest post which was originally posted on his blog: Mar. 29, 2025, Troubleshooting Audio Capture with Voice Recorder by Scott (VA3EKR) When I activate a park for POTA, I always use HAMRS, running on a tablet as I get better battery life than a laptop, and I […]
Stout Beer, Mean Time, a Duped Reporter & One of History’s Best April Fool’s Jokes
Most hams love a good joke. Go to any hamfest or spend some time with a group on Field Day and you’ll soon learn that talk of frequencies is often interspersed with frequent, good-natured laughter. DX Engineering gets into the spirit, too. Want to draw a few chuckles from your amateur radio buddies? We suggest […]
The SOTA Phone: Say Hello to the KH1’s Bold New Rival!
My buddy Ara (N6ARA) shares another incredible innovation: Click here to view (and subscribe to SOTA+!) on YouTube.
It’s All in the Cards! QSL Cards from DXCC Entities on the Air in April 2025
There’s a lot to be excited about this April if you’re hoping to add entities to your list of DXCC conquests. For our end-of-March QSL card post, we’re highlighting a few April 2025 activations along with QSL cards from the avid DX chasers at DX Engineering. Suriname The 40-10M SSB/CW/Digital PZ5IP DXpedition from Papegaaien Island […]
Xiegu X6200: CW Keyer Timing Issues Addressed
Some of you might recall that I tested both an early prototype and a production model of the Xiegu X6200—both arranged to be sent to me on loan by Radioddity. One of the biggest issues I had with the X6200 was that the keyer timing was off. These keying issues were most noticeable when operating […]