TSM Reviews: Icom IC-7610
By Mark
Haverstock K8MSH
At Hamvention 2017, we got our first
official peek at the IC-7610. It was billed as the next big thing in amateur
radio transceivers, containing a more advanced set of features than the
IC-7300. And, it’s loaded: An Ethernet port to run the radio remotely; an onboard
RS-BA1 server means no PC or software is required; left and right speaker
outputs; USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports; built-in RTTY/PSK on-screen decoder and encoder;
TX memory means you can do basic QSO or contest operations without using an
external device or software. And that’s just to start! Mark puts this rig
through its paces.
‘De-Frankensteining’
Electricity: Life and Work of Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry
By Georg
Wiessala
There are significant parallels between the lives and careers of
Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry: They lived in times when gases and
electricity fascinated people and were among the first to work by scientific
method, through controlled experiments and experimental science. More
generally, both researchers were born in poverty and seriously troubling family
backgrounds. Both were apprenticed at a young age, both became eminent
scientists and outstanding science communicators, educators and lecturers.
Georg examines the lives of these two giants of electricity.
Facing the Challenge of Making Ends Meet at Nonprofit Radio
Stations
By Richard Fisher KI6SN
The
world of Low Power FM (LPFM) radio is a far cry from the well-heeled world of
their distant cousins—powerful noncommercial radio stations in big cities.
Instead of feasting on highly organized quarterly fundraisers that can bring in
hundreds of thousands of dollars, LPFMs can often be heard pleading for
day-to-day funds to fix air conditioners, CD players, even transmitters.
Richard looks into this seldom reported part of American radio.
Yaesu FTM-3207DR
By Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV
While prototypes of the FTM-3207 were shown at the Dayton
Hamvention in 2017, it was not until nearly the end of the year that the radios
started shipping. This happened for several reasons – not the least of which
was the reveal of System Fusion II – with new features, a new repeater and
upgraded firmware for existing radios. Understandably, upgrading and enhancing
the “System” part of System Fusion took precedence over the release of a new
radio. The upside is that when the FTM-3207 was released, it had some
unexpected and welcome new features making it fully System Fusion II- ready and
then some. Cory takes a look at the Yaesu FTM-3207 and speculates on the future
of Digital Voice on the VHF/UHF amateur bands.
Channel Master’s
New Over-the-Air TV Tuner/DVR with Interactive On-Screen Guide
By Ken Reitz
KS4ZR
The landscape has been ripe for a digital OTA-TV tuner with
recording capabilities and interactive guide. Channel Master has previously
released similar products, which we have reviewed in years past, but in order
to compete with TiVo or an Over-the-Top (OTT) device such as Roku and deliver a
more cable/satellite-type viewing experience, Internet connectivity would be
required. That brought the company to launch its latest effort in March—the
CM-7600 Stream+ Media Player, an OTA-TV/Internet set-top box. We take a look at
how this new Channel Master product works today.
Scanning America
By Dan Veeneman
DeKalb County, Illinois and New
Additions to P-25 Phase II
Federal
Wavelengths
By Chris Parris
Software Defined
Radio and Federal Monitoring
Milcom
By Larry Van
Horn N5FPW
225-400 MHz
Military Aircraft Band Overview
Utility Planet
By Hugh Stegman
NV6H
Whew! (Busy Month on the Radio)
Shortwave
Utility Logs
Compiled by Hugh
Stegman and Mike Chace-Ortiz
VHF and Above
By Joe Lynch
N6CL
The Lyrids
Meteor Shower
Digitally
Speaking
By Cory Sickles
WA3UVV
Analog FM – Half
Off
Amateur Radio
Insights
By Kirk
Kleinschmidt NT0Z
You Can't Keep a
Good Antenna Down
Radio 101
By Ken Reitz
KS4ZR
Baseball on the
Radio 2018
Radio
Propagation
By Tomas Hood
NW7US
How to Beat the
Low Sunspot Numbers
The World of
Shortwave Listening
By Rob Wagner
VK3BVD
A Little Knowledge
of Propagation Can Really Help!
The Shortwave
Listener
By Fred Waterer
Blues on
Shortwave; BBC Programming for April
Maritime
Monitoring
By Ron Walsh
VE3GO
Radio Active
Spring
The Longwave
Zone
By Kevin O’Hern
Carey WB2QMY
PIM/272 is Back (Sort of)!
Adventures in
Radio Restorations
By Rich Post
KB8TAD
Hallicrafters
S-85: Another Scarce Model
Antenna
Connections
By Dan Farber
AC0LW
Move
Toward the Light: Antennas Above 144 MHz, Part One