DIY: The Home-Brewer’s Primer
By Richard Fisher KI6SN
Building transmitters, shortwave receivers, antennas and station
accessories is an art dating to the late 19th Century—the earliest days of
radio. Almost every radio operator of the era was a builder, because
commercially made radio gear was either nonexistent or, at the least, quite
expensive. The term “home-brewer,” those who toiled at the workbench in order
to tune in shortwave or get on the ham bands, would become a badge of honor and
part of the lexicon of amateur radio. Home-brewing radio equipment is as vital
to today’s radio amateurs as ever!
The Newcomers Net: Bringing together Newbies and Old-Timers
By Robert Gulley AK3Q
Like so many things in life, amateur radio is caught just as much as it
is taught. Elmers (amateur radio mentors) and Newcomers really do feed off of
each other, and excitement tends to generate more excitement. Whether it is
trying new things or rediscovering long-lost passions, both newbies and
old-timers alike grow from their shared experiences. Robert writes about the second
anniversary of The Newcomers and Elmers Net, a weekly, on-air meeting of the OH-KY-IN
Amateur Radio Society, geared toward pairing newcomers to the hobby with Elmers
willing to offer them advice and the benefit of their experience. What they’ve
done can be applied nationwide.
Digitally Speaking: Digital Voice on 220 MHz?
By Cory GB Sickles WA3UVV
Our amateur radio allocation at 222-225 MHz is among
those that have been left out of the “Digital Voice Club.” As this is a band
exclusive to the Americas, manufacturers are less inclined to invest in
producing gear than for UHF. Currency fluctuations and lowered levels of
interest limit the potential payoff for commercially produced gear. Cory
ponders the question, “What will it take to get digital voice on 220 MHz?”
Southern Amateur Radio
Hospitality: N4H and WA4USN Special Event Stations
By Ron Walsh VE3GO
Canadian TSM Maritime
Monitoring columnist, Ron Walsh, encounters “southern hospitality amateur
radio” when he signs up to help man WA4USN aboard the US Navy battleship, the
USS North Carolina, based in Wilmington, North Carolina and N4H near the site in
South Carolina where the Civil War-era submarine, H. L. Hunley, sank after
having been the first such vessel to sink another ship, the USS Housatonic, in
battle. Ron had the opportunity to study US Naval history and operate two
special event stations during his annual southern winter holiday.
TSM Reviews: TitanSDR
By Thomas Witherspoon K4SWL
After discovering the power of software-defined radios (SDRs) a few
years ago, Thomas has been hooked, and now does 95 percent of his home
listening and monitoring via various SDRs in his collection. In this issue he
turns his attention to a newly released military-grade SDR called the TitanSDR.
He’s impressed with its performance, but will this super-sophisticated SDR live
up to its military budget price tag?
Scanning America
By Dan Veenaman
Allentown, PA, FCC Field Offices
and Dayton
Federal Wavelengths
By Chris Parris
GAO Report on CBP Radio System Problems
Utility Planet
By Hugh Stegman NV6H
U.S. Veterans Department Signs HF Contract
Digital HF: Intercept and Analyze
By Mike Chace-Ortiz AB1TZ/G6DHU
Decoding Russian MFA and Intelligence Signals
HF Utility Logs
By Mike Chace-Ortiz and Hugh
Stegman
Amateur Radio Insights
By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z
A Tale of Antennas and
Instrumentation
Radio 101
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR
Training your Replacement
Radio Propagation
By Tomas Hood NW7US
Sporadic-E—The Magical Summertime
Sizzle
The World of Shortwave Listening
By Jeff White, General Manager WRMI and
Chairman HFCC
Shortwave
Broadcasters Descend Upon Oman: The A15 High Frequency Coordination Conference
in Muscat
The Shortwave Listener
By Fred Waterer
Monitoring International News via
Shortwave
Amateur Radio Astronomy
By Stan Nelson KB5VL
Detecting Meteor Activity with Digital TV Carriers
The Longwave Zone
By Kevin O’Hern Carey WB2QMY
More on Natural Radio
Adventures in Radio Restoration
By Rich Post KB8TAD
Powering the "Real McCoy" 75 watt Novice transmitter
The Broadcast Tower
By Doug Smith W9WI
The Big Get-Together
Antenna Connections
By Dan Farber AC0LW
Houston, We have a Downlink:
Spacecraft Antennas