Wally was always a cautious man. Some say paranoid, but Wally preferred the term “electromagnetically responsible.” After a close call involving static discharge and a half-melted SWR meter, he vowed never again. It started with a single ground rod. Then came two more “just in case.” Then a ground grid, imported from a decommissioned Navy radar station….
COMING IN LIGHT: Why Today’s Ham Radios Are So Small You Might Inhale Oneby NN4Y, still grounded If you’ve opened the latest catalog from GiggleTech, you may have noticed something odd in the specs for their new Model 3.965 MineField HF/VHF/UHF/WiFi/ESP/NapMode transceiver: Dimensions: 2.6 cm × 1.8 cm × “oh no, I dropped it”Weight: 1.1 grams (including anti-static sneeze…
REMOTE CONTROL: How Ham Radio Saved My Sanity, My Mortgage, and Possibly My Paroleby someone operating remotely, obviously In the golden age of amateur radio, operators wore slacks, smoked a pipe, and warmed up their rigs like carburetors. They sat at dedicated desks with maps, keyers, and cats perched on warm linear amplifiers. But those…
THE RESISTOR OF DIVERSITYA True-ish Tale from the Semiconductor Front Lines When management at the WaffleTech Semiconductor Plant announced they were launching a Diversity & Inclusion Initiative, most employees figured it would involve a potluck lunch, a suspiciously vague PowerPoint, and maybe someone putting googly eyes on the HR printer. They were wrong. What began as…
TELL ME A STORY: The Secret Weapon of Liars, Leaders, and Legendary Hamsby NN4Y (National Narrator for Your amusement) If you want to make friends, sell an idea, get elected, win a liars’ contest, or confuse a whole net, there’s only one thing you truly need: A story. Not a fact. Not a chart. Not…
It started like any other morning on 3.965. Coffee cups clinked, signals faded in and out like sleepy eyelids, and the old-timers checked in one by one—each with a good morning, a signal report, and a half-hearted joke about the price of eggs. Then someone casually mentioned they had a doctor’s appointment the next day….
ITREASURED RESOURCESA tale of strange call signs and even stranger operators It started—as these things often do—with a busted rig, a cheap cup of gas station coffee, and a 3 a.m. band opening on 75 meters. That’s when I first heard it:“QRZ, QRZ, this is N0CIA calling CQ on 3.965… come back if you’re not already on…
THE LEGEND OF NODDY JOE, 3.965 MHzAs told by those who’ve tried to wake him Joe Ferguson—NN4ZZZ—was once known as a solid CW man, an early adopter of SSB, and the kind of ham who could tune a Drake TR-4 with his elbow while eating chili and fixing a fan dipole in the rain. But…
Traveling to far-off destinations may be exciting, but sometimes the most meaningful and rewarding travel experiences can be found right in our own backyard. THE BURROW FREQUENCY: One Man’s Quest to Chat with the Underground In the quiet town of Red Hill, Alabama, nestled between the Appalachian foothills and a particularly chatty squirrel population, lived…
As travelers, we have a responsibility to minimize our impact on the environment and preserve the beauty and diversity of the destinations we visit. By adopting sustainable travel practices, we can reduce our environmental footprint and contribute to the preservation of the planet. One way to travel sustainably is by choosing eco-friendly accommodations. Look for…