Recent Posts

kenwood ham radio transceiver and power supply, with tuner
Technical Articles

7 Tips on Buying/Selling Used Ham Radio Gear

Amateur Radios are a lot like automobiles. You can buy stripped-down basic models at lower cost or splurge on full-featured models with all the bells and whistles. And, just like […]

Geochron world clock with daylight display
HAM Radio 101

Word of the Day (Gray Line): What is Gray Line Propagation?

The gray line, or daylight/darkness terminator, is a constantly moving circle around the earth where a daylight/darkness transition is taking place. When this circle is over your QTH, potentially enhanced […]

ham radio operators in a large contesting station
HAM Radio 101

Word of the Day: (Elmer): Why Do We Call a Ham Radio Mentor “Elmer?”

Say the word “Elmer” to a non-Ham and two thoughts spring to mind: glue for elementary craft projects and a bald-headed rabbit hunter who has trouble pronouncing his Rs (see […]

wire wrapped ferrite choke
Technical Articles

Ferrite Chokes, What are They, Anyway?

In other OnAllBand entries, we’ve covered what ferrites are, how their behavior varies with frequency, and some of their applications in the ham station.  This time, we’ll focus on their […]

Amateur Radio World Map & DXCC Country List
HAM Radio 101

Word of the Day (Band Map): What is a Band Map?

In contesting, a graphical, real-time display of stations arranged by frequency presented by most popular contest logging software. The map is either populated by telnet/packet spots from clusters and skimmers, […]

FW5JJ QSL Card from Wallis and Futuna
Events

It’s All in the Cards! A Look at Wallis and Futuna QSLs

Every month, DX Engineering features QSL cards from our team members’ personal collections. To highlight upcoming DXpeditions, we’ll be displaying a few of our favorite cards along with details about […]

large yagi antenna in the sky
HAM Radio 101

Word of the Day (Yagi Antenna): What is a Yagi Antenna?

Invented in 1926 by Shintaro Uda and Hidetsugu Yagi of Japan, the Yagi-Uda, most often shortened to “Yagi,” refers to a type of directional antenna with a single driven element […]

Green county fair welcome sign
Events

How to Get the Most out of Hamvention

This year’s Hamvention is fast approaching and operators worldwide are making travel plans to attend this year’s impressive event. With over 500 indoor exhibits and over 2,500 outside you’ll have […]

ham radio operator at large station
HAM Radio 101

Word of the Day: Scheduled or Skeds

In contesting, schedules are advance arrangements to make QSOs with specific stations at specific frequencies and times. Schedules are often made during a contest to try to work additional multipliers […]

illustration of a morse code telegraph key
HAM Radio 101

Word of the Day (CW): What Does CW Stand For?

If you’re new to Ham Radio, you’ve probably asked yourself: Why can’t these people just say what they mean? A lot of the fun of being an Amateur operator is […]