By Scott Westerman – W9WSW Ten years ago this week, New Orleans was struggling to recover from the devistation wrought by Hurricane Katrina. There was no power. The traditional communications infrastructure was non-existent. How could emergency service function in such an environment? It turned out that the key contributors included…
By Scott Westerman Dr. Wayne Dyer left us this past week. But his wisdom endures. Here are some of our favorite Wayne Dyer quotes. “How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.” “You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what…
Few things in the hobby are more exciting than talking to the world with an HT. D-STAR, DMR, IRLP and Echolink have made this possible via internet connectivity but you can also do it directly, via satellite. Working the heavens is easier than you might think. Here is a great…
Feature rich. Inexpensive. And pretty good.
One of the wonderful ironies of our hobby is how everything old can be new again. I was licensed back when morse code proficiency was a requirement. I learned enough to copy the WPM needed for my ticket, but never developed that confident combination of fist and ears to inculcate…
Every now and then, there is a development that helps change our hobby for the better. 100 Watts and a Wire is precisely that. The concept began as a podcast and has used the synergy of social media to create a community. Check out the show and visit the Facebook…
Today is the anniversary of an historic solar storm, the Carrington Event On Sept. 2, 1859, a CME struck Earth’s magnetic field with such power that telegraph stations caught fire and people in Cuba read their morning newspapers by the red light of the aurora borealis. If a similar storm…
The ARRL September VHF Contest gets underway on September 12 at 1800 UTC and wraps up on September 14 at 0259 UTC. This operating event provides a chance for radio amateurs at all levels to experience contesting on the most popular VHF and UHF bands, as well as on those…
MUF helps hams decide which frequencies are best for long distance communications. The folks at Prolab provide this continuously updated shot of both MUF and the vaunted “Grey Line”. As the Gray Line, or Terminator as it’s sometimes called, pass over an area, skywave propagation is likely to be at…