Collaborate Disseminate
For the amateur radio operator with that on-the-go lifestyle, nothing is more important than having your gear as light and packable as possible. If you’re lugging even a modest setup …read more Continue reading Wago Terminals Make This Ham Radio Dipole Light and Packable
Funny things can happen when a security researcher and an electronics engineer specializing in high-speed circuits get together. At least they did when [Limpkin] met [Roman], which resulted in two …read more Continue reading Current-Based Side-Channel Attacks, Two Ways
Most ham radio operators will build an antenna of some sort when they first start listening or transmitting, whether it’s a simple dipole, a beam antenna like a Yagi, or …read more Continue reading Don’t Let The Baluns Float Over Your Head
So far in the $50 Ham series, I’ve concentrated mainly on the VHF and UHF bands. The reason for this has to do mainly with FCC rules, which largely restrict Technician-level licensees to those bands. But there’s a financial component …read more
Continue reading The $50 Ham: A Cheap Antenna for the HF Bands
Radio may be dead in terms of delivering entertainment, but it’s times like these when the original social network comes into its own. Being able to tune in stations from across the planet to get fresh perspectives on a global event can even be a life saver. You’ll need a …read more
Continue reading Homebrew Loop Antenna Brings the Shortwave World to You
A few summers of my misspent youth found me working at an outdoor concert venue on the local crew. The local crew helps the show’s technicians — don’t call them roadies; they hate that — put up the show. You unpack the trucks, put up the lights, fly the sound system, help run the show, and put it all back in the trucks at the end. It was grueling work, but a lot of fun, and I got to meet people with names like “Mister Dog Vomit.”
One of the things I most remember about the load-in process was running …read more
It’s a dilemma many hams face: it’s easy to find yourself with a big spool of RG-11 coax cable, usually after a big cable TV wiring project. It can be tempting to use it in antenna projects, but the characteristic impedance of RG-11 is 75 Ω, whereas the ham world is geared to 50 Ω. Not willing to waste a bounty of free coax, one ham built a custom 1:1 current balun for a 75 Ω dipole.
Converting between balanced and unbalanced signals is the job of a balun, and it’s where the device derives its name. For hams, baluns …read more
Continue reading Snazzy Balun Lets Ham Use Off-The-Shelf Coax