This past weekend I experienced first hand how Amateur Radio can be used in an emergency situation when other methods of communications fail. A routine off road trip turned into a rescue situation as I came across a rollover accident on a trail. Special thanks go to the Alford Memorial Radio Club and the participants of the “Turnip Truck Net” on their W4BOC repeater.
Amateur Radio often conjures the image of an individual sitting in a dark room, surrounded by antique equipment making ominous beeping sounds, trying to hear another voice through a wall of static. With the advent of Social Media, Smartphones, and online chat rooms, isn’t this method of communication obsolete? What keeps Amateur Radio relevant?
Contesting in Ham Radio is a great way to test your station setup, and see how well your signal is getting out. It can give great experience in both managing pile-ups and getting through to a station in pile-up situations, depending on whether you’re calling CQ or hunting for stations. This article lays out some general operating tips for successful contesting.
With the US Government still in shutdown, and no end in sight, how does this affect Amateur Radio operators, or new operators looking to start in the hobby?
The International Space Station is currently running a special SSTV event to celebrate the Russian Cosmonautics Day. Amateur Radio operators are able to receive images from the ISS with nothing more than a VHF radio.
So I started playing around with FT8 the other day, and have had pretty good success with contacts in North America and out towards Europe. Noticed a few little quirks that I thought I’d address for anyone looking to get into this mode.