Category Archives: AMATEUR RADIO

Keeping Your Go Bag Going.

      5 Comments on Keeping Your Go Bag Going.
survival and preparedness

When one is none. Have you ever encountered a huge radio-related hassle over one small equipment failure? Your entire radio station can be kicked off the air because of one flakey connector or a blown fuse. If you don’t have a solution, you’re done. Equipment failures may be a mere… Read more »

Turn Thinking Into Doing (But Do Some Actual Thinking First).

It’s better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. It’s been quite a summer! Flooding, extreme heat, wild fires, and (at this writing) a hurricane just tore up the Western USA and another storm is churning in the Gulf of Mexico. Every time… Read more »

QRP Alternatives: After The Funeral, What Comes Next?

QRP alternatives

Let the dead rest. Now several weeks out from being the #1 ham radio news story, the Yaesu FT-818/817 product sunset has faded from attention. Anyone not already on the Yaesu platform will have to seek QRP alternatives. Most hams were surprised, some were disappointed, and some were strangely…glad? One… Read more »

Cheap & Easy Portable Antenna Hacks!

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Revisiting an old topic. I don’t do a lot of antenna articles because there is already so much information in circulation I can’t see much ground left to cover, at least that’s what I thought until new Off Grid Ham reader Rick sent a nice email that inspired this article…. Read more »

Lithium Batteries In The Cold: A Guide.

      7 Comments on Lithium Batteries In The Cold: A Guide.
lithium batteries

Mother Nature flips the switch. Where I live in the upper Midwest USA, we were unusually lucky to have an extended warm Fall season. In early November we were still seeing highs over 70F (21C). I was raking leaves wearing shorts and a t-shirt! But ahhh yes, everyone knew the… Read more »

Check Out This Really Cool Radio Manual Database.

A moment of serendipity. Let’s face it, the internet can be a sewer. Yes, there’s quite a bit of useful information out there, but sometimes trying to find it is like sticking your hand in a toilet full of crap to fish out a hundred dollar bill. DATABASE Well, in… Read more »

Portable Antennas For The Off Grid Ham.

portable antenna

We’re not special. Off grid amateurs spend a lot of time focusing on the power source for their equipment. While that’s understandable, we musn’t be distracted from the rest of the amateur radio chain. This time we’re going to look at the other end of the system: portable antennas. To… Read more »

Lithium Batteries vs. The World!

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storage batteries

Battery envy. I recently received a very nice email from Mike in Missouri where he described converting his home off grid system to lithium batteries, at a cost of over $7000.00 USD! My own home system is still on old school flooded batteries because I have not recached a point… Read more »

Winter Ham Radio Operating Opportunities!

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WINTER HAM RADIO

Are you hibernating this winter? Where I live, and for most of you, it’s really cold! It seems like after the Christmas season is over no one is motivated to do much winter ham radio. It is a great time to keep going with radio activities. Of course, we need… Read more »

Off Grid Christmas Wish List.

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It’s closer than it seems. Off Grid Christmas Wish List.  We live in strange times. With many products out of stock and long lead times for the stuff you can get, it’s not too early to think about what you’d like to give (or get) for Christmas. An off grid… Read more »

Getting Out of the RFI Maze

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RFI

One of the hardest problems to understand. Amateur radio is full of difficult challenges, but few of them approach the hair-pulling level of radio frequency interference, or RFI. It’s a hard issue to address because there are so many variables. For example, sometimes moving a piece of equipment just a… Read more »

Buying A Ham Radio? Good Luck!

      17 Comments on Buying A Ham Radio? Good Luck!
USED RADIO

Everyone is asking. buying a ham radio As I roam the internet keeping up with others’ thoughts about ham radio, the number one theme that seems to come up, by a very large margin, is “I want to get into amateur radio, but I can’t afford it!”. The sentiment is… Read more »