Technical Articles

woman tuning a portable ham radio station at park bench
Field Day

What Transceivers Did You Use During Field Day 2024?

There is no shortage of thoughts on what’s the ideal rig for making more QSOs when operating away from the home station, especially with the soaring popularity of POTA, SOTA, […]

Ocean Beach Scene with Seaweed
Technical Articles

The Saltwater Amplifier Effect (& How it Impacts Your Amateur Radio Station Performance)

For Guglielmo Marconi, the great challenge was to transmit wireless signals across the Atlantic and to all the ships at sea. He built stations at Poldhu, England; Glace Bay, Nova […]

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 […]

dx engineering radial plate with radial wire installed
Antenna Tech

Ham Radio Tech: RF Ground—The Un-Ground

When it comes to ham radio, there are grounds…and then there are grounds. Here are three types we typically find with radio systems: Safety grounds protect you from a shock […]

close up of a swr rf gauge meter
Technical Articles

Get up to Speed on Amateur Radio RF Exposure Rules

Did you know that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) now requires all amateur radio stations in the U.S. and possessions to be evaluated for RF exposure? It’s been a little […]

moh-arco-115v_hu_xl rotator controller
Antenna Tech

Doing a Good Turn: Choosing the Right Rotator for Your Amateur Radio Station

A rotator is a handy device used in ham radio communication systems to change the orientation of an antenna. Rotators have two parts, the rotator unit and the controller. The […]

Samlex Solar Portable and Foldable Solar Battery Charging Kit sxa-18161_sn_xl
Technical Articles

Backup Power for Home & Field

Power. It is one of the most important aspects of running an operation. But what if you don’t have access to AC power or a storm knocks out all power […]

two half hitches knot tied around table leg
Technical Articles

Ham Radio Tech: Knots & Slings

Antenna and tower work are never far from our minds as hams. Most amateur loads are considered light by professional installers, but they can be heavy enough to cause injuries […]

field day ham radio station
Field Day

Effective Field Day Operating

Operating at Field Day is lot different than operating a home station—and that’s more than half the fun. It’s also one of the main reasons Field Day exists, so that […]

screengrab of a map displayed on a computer
Field Day

Noise Management on Field Day

Here comes Field Day and all of your careful equipment connections and filtering go out the window as the station is disassembled and hauled off to the operating site. Be […]