As I’ve gotten older, I’ve begun to understand that “growing-up” is sort of a nebulous (and perhaps just stupid) term. When we’re kids, we can’t wait to become adults. Then we become adults, and before you know it, you reach…
I was stoked to receive an early Christmas present from my dad: The gift of a new Icom IC-7300 amateur radio HF transceiver. After all the positive comments about the radio that I’ve gotten from hams I follow on Mastodon,…
Since getting back on the HF bands of amateur radio almost exactly two months ago, the majority of my logged contacts have been with FT8, and to a lesser degree, FT4 — digital modes introduced years ago by Joe Taylor,…
Recently, I read through a number of social posts on Mastodon that were discussing the ins and outs of leaving other social media platforms, notably Facebook, but the thread contained mentions of Instagram, Twitter (which I refuse to refer to…
My “re-entry” into ham radio has been a real journey, and a whirlwind, as I described recently. Part of that has been going from thinking I couldn’t possibly participate in HF (shortwave) bands at all, to coming-up with a stealth…
Rejoining the ranks of amateur radio operators this year has been a whirlwind. It’s been exactly 12 weeks, as I write this, since I took my Technician exam test (on July 21) that, with previous license credit, was the first…
Since returning to ham radio, I’ve now attended two different “hamfests” — basically ham-radio-centric flea market style events, for those unfamiliar. Both have been a bit of a bust for me, but the most recent event at least yielded something…
After deciding to get back into ham radio (read more here), I needed to build a stealthy antenna for the HF (high frequency, a/k/a shortwave) bands in order to get back to the ham activities I truly enjoy (CW, or…
I’ve had a slightly fraught relationship with the amateur radio hobby, better (perhaps) known as ham radio, since first getting my license as a youngster back in 1977. My various entries and exits from it resemble a depiction of alternating…
I was raving about Apple’s product quality just this week. Then this morning I see this rather disturbing article on The Verge.