Mobile Radio Installation for Beginners
You can find a lot of information on any ham radio subject. People will tell you that you need to do this setup or that setup. Who should you listen […]
An Amateur Radio Blog by DX Engineering Technical Articles
HAM Radio 101 / Technical Articles
Technical Articles
Ham Radio Tech: HT Bluetooth and Phone Connection Issues
One of the biggest things I was excited about when I got my Kenwood TH-D74 was Bluetooth connectivity. I would put it in my window and use the TNC on […]
Technical Articles
Q-Section Feed Line Transformers
What the heck is a Q-section? Long a tool of antenna system designers, the Q-section is a handy way to make a single-band match between a feed line and an […]
Technical Articles
Ham Radio Tech: Winlink on iPhone/iPad!
I have previously written about ham radio software for the Mac and a companion piece about applications for iOS on the iPhone and iPad. My greatest struggle was always Winlink. […]
Technical Articles
Receivers and Busy Bands
Beginning in early fall, weekends start to fill up with “the majors”—contests that attract thousands of stations which fill the bands with strong signals. November and December are the most […]
Technical Articles
How to Improve Ham Radio Station Grounds
After antennas, station grounding is probably the most discussed topic in amateur radio. It’s also the one having the most misconceptions—or is that myth-conceptions? One of the biggest myths: Ground […]
Technical Articles
Ham Radio Tech: When 450 Is Not 450
450…where have I heard that number before? Seems familiar…Oh, right…450Ω window line! Yes, that’s the nominal characteristic impedance of the black plastic-coated parallel conductor transmission line like DX Engineering’s DXE-LL450-CTL. […]
Antenna Tech / Technical Articles
Dipoles–A Domestic Secret Weapon
The dipole is the oldest antenna—Herr Professor Heinrich Hertz used a dipole in his 1888 experiments that confirmed Maxwell’s predictions of electromagnetic waves. The dipole (the word means “two voltage […]
Technical Articles
Ham Radio Tech: Ground Screens–the “Magic Carpet”?
Operating portable is always a challenge, particularly with HF antennas that are usually close to the ground and quite a bit smaller than a full quarter- or half-wave. Verticals, especially […]
Antenna Tech / Technical Articles
Guide to Unusual Ham Radio Antennas
We’ve all heard of Yagis, dipoles, and G5RVs. But there are other antennas out there that are a bit unusual—either by name or configuration. One even grows… Carolina Windom Going […]
