LED Light Bulbs
LED light bulbs are ‘bright’ alternatives to make ridiculously small table lamps provide useful illumination while maintaining low radio interference. The name brands have less RFI.
LED Ceiling Lights
I check the tendency for Phillips LED Lights to generate radio frequency interference (RFI) and how XYL friendly they are.
Baofeng UV-5R HT – Low Cost, High Value
The Baofeng UV-5R provides modest quality with a low price yielding high value. This HT can literally be a Christmas stocking stuffer.
This Balun Chokes
Jim (K9YC) Brown’s toroid winding recipes provide a superb RF choke balun for 30-10m using RG316 and a #43 toroid.
Hatteras Ham Shack
I took the asymmetrical hatted vertical dipole to Hatteras beach to activate NA-067. I wasn’t very successful, but made a couple QSOs. Despite mixed results, the setting was spectacular. The vertical dipole worked.
Vertical Dipole at Lighthouse
The asymmetrical hatted vertical dipole (AHVD) provides a quick setup HF antenna at Hatteras lighthouse.
Build this Vertical Portable HF Antenna
The Asymmetrical Hatted Vertical Dipole (AHVD) prototype is an easy to build, portable alternative to other freestanding vertical HF antennas such as the Buddipole.
Asy Hat Vertical Dipole
We re-introduce the theory and origins of Cebik’s (W4RNL) Asymmetrical Hatted Vertical Dipole (AHVD) antenna with the hope to facilitate a vertical polarization portable 20-10m aerial for portable operations.
40m Mastless NVIS Antenna
Yet another 40m Cloud Burner design featuring a folded dipole driven element plus one reflector wire to facilitate 40m NVIS contacts without need of a tall mast. The design uses electric fence posts for support and needs no balun.
EME on a Budget – Part 3
Moonbounce for the rest of us, part 3 of 3, introduces first steps to take in 144 MHz EME operation.
40m Loop Ground Wire Test
In the name of science I cut the wire laying on the ground underneath my 40m fullwave horizontal loop to see what would happen.
EME on a Budget – Part 2
Moonbounce for the rest of us, part 2 of 3, showcases a basic 144 MHz EME station including equipment costs.
EME on a Budget – Part 1
Moonbounce for the rest of us, part 1 of 3, introduces EME and highlights operational basics and propagation.
LiFePO4 – The New Normal?
The Lithium Iron Phosphate battery chemistry is my replacement of choice for my old 7AH lead acid gel cells.
Of Horses and Hams
One example of how amateur radio provides safety and service to the pubic providing otherwise impossible communications using the “Magic Band.”
Counting Kilowatt-Hours
Monitor your home’s power use with the Efergy E2 wireless clamp-on style whole house power monitoring system.
Wideband 80m Dipole
A 1/4 wavelength of 75 ohm coax inline with a full wavelength of 50 ohm coax is all one needs to make a simple 80m dipole become a wideband dipole antenna.
Watch for Wires
Video of tree against power line reminds us why we should always consider the falling arc, pardon the pun, of any antenna structure.
Honda Generator Hour Meter
Maintain your Honda EU2000i (or any) generator on schedule with the addition of an aftermarket hour meter and bracket.
Vehicular Power Bus – Hell on Earth?
Connecting a piece of gear to an automotive bus is a terrible thing to do… unless the gear manufacturer understands the perils that await including spikes, surges and dips. Fortunately, military specifications consolidate decades of observations to help us understand the vehicle power bus.
Superbowl HDTV Antenna
Build the venerable Hoverman TV antenna and watch digital broadcast high definition HDTV television this weekend. This version of a HDTV antenna uses amateur radio antenna building techniques to make a lightweight structure.
First SOTA Activation – Using VHF FM
My first journey to the mountains as SOTA activator was a success using minimalist VHF FM gear.
LOTW Import gets around ADIF Mode Limits
Logbook of the World accepts non-ADIF-compliant mode values to ensure compatibility with contests like Field Day.
SWR of Several Mobile Antennas
I had occasion to test four popular amateur radio mobile antennas. Here are the results of SWR and Return Loss of a Diamond SG7900ANMO, Larsen NMO 2/70, Cushcraft CS-270M and Laird QW144.