HAM Radio 101

ARRL's Amateur Radio Contesting for Beginners book cover stylized
HAM Radio 101

Ham Radio Contesting for Techs? Yes, You Can!

Feeling left out? It’s a fact that most contests take place on the HF bands, but even as a Technician you can participate. For starters, you only need your Technician […]

man holding several handheld ham radios
HAM Radio 101

Buying Your First Amateur Radio Handheld Transceiver (Video)

With many solid options available, choosing your first amateur radio handheld transceiver (HT) can be a challenge. DX Engineering’s Michael Murphy, KI8R, breaks down the questions you need to consider […]

woman unwinding coaxial cable from large spool
HAM Radio 101

Ham Radio 101: Everything You Wanted to Know About Coax But Were Afraid to Ask

Coax cable has its roots dating back to the mid-1800s, when engineers developed transatlantic cable communication. These early telegraph cables were made up of a center conductor encased in a […]

workbench with soldering iron & antenna parts crop
Antenna Tech / HAM Radio 101

Ham Radio 101: A Few Basic Tips on Building Wire Dipoles

Single-band wire dipoles are one of the easiest antennas to make. But just because they are easy to make doesn’t mean they do not work well. In fact, single-band wire […]

ham radio presentation to a club
HAM Radio 101

Get with the Program & Get More Out of Amateur Radio Club Meetings

We’ve been fortunate to have a hard-working program chair in charge of arranging our club presentations. Even when he’s wintering in Florida, he makes sure everything is ready for the […]

young ham radio operator at the controls in a station
HAM Radio 101

So You Got Your Ham License? Here’s How to Start Enjoying Amateur Radio. (Video)

It’s a sad truth: Many people in the ham radio community never explore the opportunities afforded to them by their Technician license. You pored over the ham radio study guide, […]

Picture of sun behind trees
HAM Radio 101

Ham Radio 101: The Basics of Sun and Signal—A Few Useful Resources

As a service to new hams, we’ve compiled a few resources to give you a better basic understanding of the sun and the role it plays in enabling you to […]

N8DXE radio Repeater Antenna atop a large tower
HAM Radio 101

Ham Radio 101: Understanding Repeater Speak

New hams often wonder what they’ll do or say over the radio after they get their license. All that jargon that hams use can seem like a foreign language to […]

ACOM 1000 HF + 6 Meter Linear Amplifier aom-1000_it_xl
HAM Radio 101

Ham Radio 101: Do I Really Need an Amplifier?

Everyone wants to improve their signal quality, work more DX stations, make more QSOs, and earn higher contest scores. Should you buy an amplifier or beef up your antenna system? […]

ARRL Band Plan for 60 meter band
HAM Radio 101

Ham Radio 101: What is the 60 Meter Band?

First introduced in 2002, the 60 meter, or 5 MHz, band was originally only available in a few countries: United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, and Iceland. Over […]