Technical Articles

Extending the Life of Your Antenna System
Antenna Tech / Technical Articles

Extending the Life of Your Antenna System

Wouldn’t it be great if your antenna system would work forever without any maintenance? Put it up once and enjoy it indefinitely–no tower climbing, cleaning connections, or replacing corroded parts. […]

Coil for HF Antenna
EMCOMM / Technical Articles

EMCOMM: Antennas on the Go

The rigs are ready to go. What’s next? Choosing the right antenna is an important aspect of successful portable operations. While most people know that an antenna is key to […]

a rack mounted box for portable radio equipment
Antenna Tech / Technical Articles

EMCOMM: Preparedness and Flexibility of the Go Box

What is a Go Box? The go box–also called go kit, jump kit or EMCOMM box–is a topic that has been much discussed in the amateur radio community. Though extensively […]

Chameleon Loop Antenna
Technical Articles

Hams on the Go Part II—Making Practical Decisions Away from Home

In Part I of Hams on the Go, we discussed the basics of what you need to get on the air when you’re mobile. Now it’s time to look at […]

collection of ham radio qsl cards on a table
Technical Articles

Ham Radio Basics: QSL Card Info and Etiquette

For over a century, hams have exchanged QSL cards to confirm two-way contacts between each other. Originally used to facilitate technical details about a station’s qualities, over time they morphed […]

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 […]

Gridmaster Heat Map
Technical Articles

The Path to 488: The GridMaster Award for Satellite Operators

Those new to satellite operating are generally thrilled when they finally talk to another person through an object orbiting in space. As the number of contacts starts to grow, many […]

Antenna Tech / Technical Articles

Tuning Your Dipole Antenna Installation

You’ve gone to great lengths to make sure your antenna is cut for the proper frequency using the 468/MHz formula. You’ve measured twice and cut once, yet the SWR readings […]

dx engineering thunderbolt 160 meter antenna
Technical Articles

Operating on the Low Bands–160 and 80 Meters

There are very good reasons why you should use the 160 and 80 meter bands. They are usually the least likely to fail under adverse propagation conditions. In times of […]