Technical Articles

close up of a dx engineering connector on coaxial cable
Field Day / Technical Articles

Preparing for ARRL Field Day 2023 (Part 1): How Are Your Coaxial Cables Looking These Days?

Could there be anything about ham radio less exciting than a coaxial cable? If your heart skips a beat and your eyes widen at the sight of the latest SDR […]

outdoor portable ham radio station
Technical Articles

Working Through and Managing Pileups During Park and Summit Activations

Park and summit activating has grown in popularity over the past few years. Indeed, it’s to the point that pileups are not at all uncommon. Here in the U.S., I […]

hustler radials on an antenna system
Technical Articles

Getting the Most from Portable HF Antenna Systems

Portable operating—in parks, on islands, atop summits—has become delightfully popular over the past few years. It’s not hard to figure out why, either. You get to combine visiting new places, […]

Yaesu FT-991 ham radio transceiver, front
Technical Articles

Five Mistakes New Ham Operators Make (Bonus Article, Part 6): Searching for the Magic Bullet

Our society seems obsessed with the “all-in-one” concept. Last Father’s Day we purchased a pen that had 22 functions. I have a jump box in my Jeep with nine functions. […]

a ham radio antenna set up on an outdoor tripod
Technical Articles

Ham Radio Emergency Preparedness: Winter Field Day

Winter Field Day (WFD) is a communications exercise loosely modelled after ARRL Field Day. It is held the last full weekend in January. This may not be too bad for […]

Battery powered soldering iron
Technical Articles

Ham Radio 101: Soldering Tips

Learning how to solder using proper techniques is a fundamental skill every ham should master. Whether you’re attaching connectors to a coaxial cable or constructing a balun, knowing how to […]

Transworld Antenna Adventurer package
Technical Articles

WARC Bands: What are They and How Can I Take Advantage of Them?

If you’re new to ham radio, you’ve certainly been inundated with a flood of acronyms and codes from A to Z, or APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) to ZUJ (a […]

mobile ham radio backpack kit
Technical Articles

QRP Operation: How Low Can You Go?

This game could go on forever. In my previous articles I talked about portable operations. We looked at things like Field Day, International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend, Parks on the […]

Icom IC-705 set up on a picnic table
Technical Articles

Are ATUs Necessary for a Field Radio Kit?

In Parts One and Two of our field antenna series we looked at a sampling of resonant and non-resonant field antennas. One of the practical differences between resonant and non-resonant […]

graphic EQ display for a ham radio
Station Accessories / Technical Articles

Ham Radio Equalizers | Getting the Most from Your Ham Radio’s Equalizer

Got a TX problem? Audio working against you? Chances are your radio has a solution built into its menu. Some call it transmit bandwidth (TBW) while others know it as […]