Articles written by: Ward Silver, N0AX

Amateur Radio News

Spurious Emissions

No, not THAT kind! Sendin’ code againJust can’t wait to be sendin’ code againThe life I love is runnin’ pileups with my friendsAnd I can’t wait to be sendin’ code […]

ARRL Grounding and Bonding Book
Technical Articles / Weatherproofing and Grounding

Grounding and Bonding for Portable Amateur Radio Stations

Operating from a temporary setup—in a park, on a summit, from a rare grid or county, or for a special event—has become very popular. This is a great thing for […]

Single-Country DX Contests czech radio club
Events

The Benefits of Single-Country DX Contests—Whether Inside or Outside!

The contest calendar is just packed with DX contests! And so are the bands—you can hear “CQ Contest” every weekend, on phone and CW and digital modes. You can enter […]

Low Band Vertical
Antenna Tech / Technical Articles

Improving Your Low-Band Vertical

Here we are, just past the solar minimum with Cycle 25 just getting started. Fall is a great time for HF propagation as we’ve discussed earlier. Should you focus on […]

CW Open Contest logo
Events

Fall HF Contests at the Start of Cycle 25

May the flux be upon us! The buzz is definitely all about Cycle 25 getting underway and the long-delayed anticipation of plentiful long-distance QSOs on the upper HF bands. Endless […]

low band pistol antenna diagram
Antenna Tech / Technical Articles

Little Pistol Low-Band Antennas

Some of the biggest challenges presented to the Little Pistol, especially one who wants to become a Medium Gun, are the low bands. This generally means 10 MHz and lower, […]

hf Propagation pattern diagram
Technical Articles

HF Propagation at the Equinox

All things being equal… Here comes fall, the time of year when the northern hemisphere emerges from the summertime HF doldrums. At the same time, the southern hemisphere hams are […]

ham radio operator working from a Volkswagen beetle
HAM Radio 101

First Field Day for NØAX

Well, this is different! When you are just getting started in ham radio, this “Field Day” thing is a Big Mystery. Sometime in late winter, the club chatter starts up […]

world RF Wave propagation layers illustration
Technical Articles

Propagation Paths–The Long and Short of It

Getting Around on the Bands This article focuses on one of my favorite interests: How HF signals get around. When asked the question, “Why are you into ham radio?” I […]

How to calculate height with geometry diagram
Technical Articles

Brushing Up On Math: Some Basic and Handy Calculator Tools for Hams

Uh-oh, just lost half the audience at the title! Don’t despair, you needn’t be an engineer to do the simple calculations we all encounter in ham radio, sooner or later. […]