How to Choose a Wattmeter
Got Meter? Choosing the Right WattmeterRF inline power meters, or wattmeters, are used by many hams to measure the power flowing from the transceiver to the antenna–and also in the […]
An Amateur Radio Blog by DX Engineering Technical Articles
Technical Articles
Technical Articles
Making the CI-V Connection
CI-V stands for Computer Interface V (V representing the Roman numeral for 5 ). This is Icom’s name for its rig interface to a computer or to another rig. Other […]
Technical Articles
How to Use RF Gain, Noise Blanker, and Other Transceiver Features to Improve Copy
There will always be some kind of ambient noise on the HF bands. It may be either man-made (QRM) such as pulse noises from vehicle ignitions or natural (QRN) like […]
Technical Articles
Choosing a Coax Switch
When it comes to ham radio, one radio is never enough. The same thing goes for antennas–multiple bands usually mean multiple antennas. Soon, you’ve got a maze of coax connections […]
Technical Articles
Using the Icom IC-705 in the Field
Now that summer is here and the pandemic is winding down, grab some radio gear and head outdoors. It’s the season for portable operations and finally getting out of couch-potato […]
Technical Articles
Building a Light Box for Ham Radio Photos
I enjoy sharing my experiences and projects by writing articles for several different amateur radio periodicals. All of the pictures used for my articles recently have been taken with my […]
Technical Articles
What is LoTW, Why Should You Sign Up for it, and How Do You Use it?
When I started out in Amateur Radio 40 years ago this summer, there were basically three ways to exchange a written confirmation of a contact (a QSL card): Mail your […]
Antenna Tech / Technical Articles
Antenna Traps—A Way to Cope With Limited Space
The downsizing of real estate these days reminds me of Halloween candy. Candy bars used to be big, but now they’ve shrunk to something they call “fun size.” Today’s properties […]
Technical Articles
HAM Radio Tech: How Headphones and Headsets Can Improve Your Copy
Are you tired of spending time on the air struggling to copy the person on the other end of the conversation? Do barking dogs and noisy kids distract you from […]
FT8 / Technical Articles
Using the FT8 DXpedition Mode (a.k.a. Fox and Hound)
In an earlier article, “Top 10 Tips for Succeeding in FT8 Mode,” I explained how understanding special operating modes is one of the keys to using FT8. In this article, […]
