It’s everything to everyone. Field Day 2024 is about a month away. It’s a contest, readiness drill, science fair, publicity stunt, geek festival, and party all rolled into one. It’s the Grand Poobah of amateur radio events. And this year my challenge to Off Grid Ham readers is not to… Read more »
Didn’t see it coming. I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt completely blindsided to hear that MFJ Enterprises, a name that is surely known by every ham radio operator, is going out of business. The end of MFJ will also result in the sunset of its subsidiary brands,… Read more »
Radio philosophy. If you see amateur radio as being greater than the sum of its parts, then you already understand where I’m about to go and will find affirmation in this article. If you value amateur radio solely for its utilitarian (communication) purposes, then you’re missing out. There is personal… Read more »
The news wasn’t shocking. One would have to be living deep in a cave not to have heard the news. Just before the new year, seemingly out of nowhere, Yaesu announced that it was discontinuing the venerated FT-817 & FT-818 radio. Although the news came as a surprise, anyone with… Read more »
There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear… Back in 2014, well before Off Grid Ham was even an Idea, I wrote the following article for another website. I’m digging it out again because after Field Day 2022, I believe the ham community could use a pep talk…. Read more »
Power to the people. A regular Off Grid Ham reader tipped me off about an effort to privately-fund shortwave broadcasts to Ukraine. After a little fact-checking, I have determined that this is not just whimsical talk. It’s going to happen. A lawyer in California has launched a crowd funded effort to… Read more »
A moral imperative. On two previous occasions (here and here) this blog published editorials calling for a shortwave radio broadcast “revival” to oppressed foreign countries with censored internet and no free speech protections. Since then, shortwave broadcasts have declined even more. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia and other world… Read more »
Примітка редакції: Ця стаття була написана не носієм української мови. З англійської його переклав google translate. Off Grid Ham заздалегідь просить вибачення за будь-які граматичні/контекстні помилки, заплутані твердження та невідповідні культурні посилання. Нічого, крім високої поваги, не надається. Моральний імператив. У двох попередніх випадках (тут і тут) у цьому блозі… Read more »
The frog in the soup pot. I believe the average Off Grid Ham reader has above-average intelligence. They also have a good grasp of what’s going on in the world. While this blog does not often delve into amateur radio politics (and even then we tread lightly), every now and… Read more »
Guilt trip. I came across an interesting discussion on an internet ham radio forum. The author, a ham, had misgivings because after being hounded (his term, not mine) to join an local emergency communications (EMCOMM) group, he finally had enough of the nagging and told them to shove it. Afterward… Read more »
Greater than the sum of its parts. Along the summer I’ve collected bits and pieces of topic suggestions and ham radio news. Any one of them by itself is not worthwhile as an entire stand-alone Off Grid Ham article, and a few are not even directly ham radio-related. But collectively… Read more »
Special author’s note: The March 19 Off Grid Ham article mentioned Radio Shack only as a minor side story. So many readers commented about their experiences with the fabled electronics retailer that I thought it was worthwhile to address the topic in more detail. I wrote the following article for… Read more »