The Enduring Yaesu FT-817 and FT-818 Transceivers
By Thomas Witherspoon K4SWL
In a hobby where the ‘latest and greatest’ usually captures all the attention, why is an amateur transceiver first introduced more than 20 years ago still a hot item? Thomas explores the many uses for the Yaesu FT-817 and 818 transceivers from QRP HF base station to amateur radio satellite operating to man-pack and bicycle mobile. It turns out that this rugged little workhorse answers to a lot of ham on-air action.
Adventure Radio Society’s Annual ‘Flight of the Bumble Bees’
By Richard Fisher KI6SN
Since 1996, the last Sunday of July finds some 100 low-power (QRP) enthusiasts spread out into the hinterlands for a four-hour on-air event known as the Flight of the Bumble Bees. With very simple rules and very simple equipment, these Bees try to work as many other Bees as they can from remote locations. It’s a challenge on all levels: battling the elements, battling band conditions, and battling the big guns that tend to spread out across the bands on the weekends.
Buying the Right Portable Radio for AM DX
By Loyd Van Horn W6LVH
The DX season is upon us and medium wave DXers are planning to make the most of the longer nights with fewer electrical storms to sift through the frequencies that make up the AM band. Loyd’s recommendations are based on decades of practical experience and here’s a hint: the most expensive portable radios may not be the obvious choice. It comes down where you are, what you are trying to receive and how much effort you want to put into the chase for AM DX.
Using Ferrite Bar Antennas and Loops
By Georg Wiessala
Many would-be low band DXers come away from the basement band frequencies disappointed. They’ve got radios that tune down to 50 kHz but all they hear are static crashes, local line noise and an occasional nondirectional beacon, buried in the hash. Georg lets us all in on the secret of his low frequency success—it’s all about the antennas. Using some exotic ferrite bar and loop antennas, there’s little that he can’t hear.
The Medium Wave Circle/Barry Davis Memorial Receiver at Clashmore, Scotland
By Scott A. Caldwell
The Medium Wave Circle is an international club for radio enthusiasts and medium wave DXers with its own prestigious publication and now a web-based receiver attached to a number of Beverage antennas fanning out across the Scottish seaside aimed at all corners of the globe. Scott shows us how this receiver set up works and how it’s possible for others to join in.
100 Years of Radio: Radio Comes to Chicago
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR
Chicago has always been a bit rough-hewn and in 1922, at the dawn of the broadcast radio era, “the windy city” hosted a number of newly licensed radio stations—big and small—that served a city and the entire Midwest with programming of every sort. The city was also the seat for what would now be called ‘startups,’ companies, such as Zenith, setting out to make an international name for themselves. While many stations never survived the Great Depression, a surprising number are still around.
Scanning America
By Dan Veeneman
Washington State Patrol Update
Federal Wavelengths
By Chris Parris
Federal Radio IDs
MilCom
By Larry Van Horn N5FPW
U.S. Air Force Base Tour
Utility Planet
By Hugh Stegman
HF ‘Numbers’ Continue in 2022
Shortwave Utility Logs
By Mike Chace-Ortiz and Hugh Stegman
The World of Shortwave Listening
By Andrew Yoder
Shortwave Pirates Through the Years
The Shortwave Listener
By Fred Waterer
Shortwave Honors the Queen
Radio 101
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR
Cord Cutting and All That Jazz
Antenna Connections
By Robert Gulley K4PKM
Hunting Foxes
Adventures in Radio Restoration
By Rich Post KB8TAD
The All-Metal Transoceanic Clone: National NC-66
Amateur Radio Insights
By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z
CQ EQ!
VHF and Above
By Joe Lynch N6CL
Arecibo Update: Two Years after the Destruction