Articles written by: OnAllBands

wire antenna components illustration
Antenna Tech / Technical Articles

How to Choose Your First HF Antenna

DX Engineering receives many questions from new (or new to HF) amateurs, and one of the most common is: “What kind of antenna should I use as my first HF […]

dx engineering paddle pad
Products & Product Reviews / Technical Articles

How to Keep Your CW Paddle in Place

Some hams with nice radio tables find that their CW operations tend to move the paddle around a bit. Chasing the paddle during a contest can be aggravating as all […]

serial to usb adapter cable
Technical Articles

Tech Tip: Guide to Choosing RS-232 USB Adapter Cables

On new equipment and old, we often need to connect a transceiver or other device with a legacy RS-232 serial port to our modern computer that has only USB ports and no […]

compact ham radio paddle set
Technical Articles

Tips for Hooking Up a Keyer Paddle

If you are interested in operating CW but have never hooked up a key or keyer paddle, or if it has been a long time since you’ve done it, here are […]

VP6DX ham radio QSO card from Ducie Island
Events

It’s All in the Cards! The DX Engineering Team Shares Some of Its Favorite QSLs

Ducie Island Every month, DX Engineering will be featuring QSL cards from our team members’ personal collections. Some of our favorites are displayed on the cover and inside our Fall/Winter […]

ham radio loop antenna
Technical Articles

Tech Tip: How to Receive Weak Amateur Radio Stations

Receiving weak stations with very low signal levels on frequencies from below the AM broadcast band up through the shortwaves of HF often requires the use of a specialized antenna […]

ameritron antenna tuner
Technical Articles

Quick Tip: Using Your Transceiver Antenna Tuner Can Cause Damage to Your Amplifier

If you have an amplifier connected to your transceiver output, do not use your transceiver’s antenna tuner.  Even if your amplifier is turned off or in bypass mode don’t do […]

Ham Radio coaxial cable Lightning protector
Technical Articles / Weatherproofing and Grounding

How to Test RF Lightning Protectors with Indicators

RF lightning protectors are designed to protect RF equipment by equalizing the potential difference between the center pin of the coax cable and its shield. The majority of RF protectors do […]

Broken bolt with nut
Technical Articles

Why Should I Use Anti-Seize on Brand-New Stainless Hardware?

With high quality stainless steel alloys, thread galling and cold-welding can make the hardware seize and fail. Although most hams don’t understand why anti-seize is recommended, it is vital to […]

UHF Ham Radio Antenna mounted high on mast
Technical Articles

How to Ensure Better UHF Coaxial Feed Lines

HF users really don’t have many coax issues. As long as power levels aren’t breached, just about any feed line will work without much concern. Even DXE-8X coax (Mini 8) can be […]