A generational split. There’s good chance those under the age of 50 live in a home without a traditional, hard-wired dial up phone. If you’re under the age of 40 you probably never, not once in your life, called through an operator, dialed 411, or used a payphone. Do you… Read more »
As common as air. Handheld transceivers, or HT, is ubiquitous in amateur radio. For many hams, it’s their first radio. For others, they may operate only one “main” base or mobile radio but have several handhelds. And for some hams, perhaps a lot of them, it’s the only radio they… Read more »
Special note: I’m taking time off to spend Christmas with friends and family. Please enjoy this personal favorite Off Grid Ham article from November 15, 2020. May God richly bless you in the new year! As basic as it gets. If you do not own at least one good multimeter,… Read more »
Two benefits for the price of one. Radio amateurs who operate off grid already know that their pastime has a secondary benefit of being very valuable in times of disaster. In some cases it’s the other way around. Many people get involved with amateur radio primarily for its usefulness during… Read more »
An idea is born. Back in May I discouraged new hams from buying the cheapest, most low end equipment possible. That article subsequently linked to a solar controller that, as best I could determine, was the absolute cheapest solar controller on all of Amazon. A few weeks and a reader… Read more »
If you just tuned in… Off Grid Ham has been reporting on the progress (or lack of) perovskite solar developments for many years now. As this OGH article from November 2024 explains, research-to-market can sometimes take decades. This may seem intolerably slow, but it aligns with the development of other… Read more »
Both sides now. Anyone who experienced even modest exposure to amateur radio has probably seen many articles and videos about how to get started, what equipment to buy, reading material, etc. Whether or not this advice is good is outside our purpose here. I recently noticed that of all the… Read more »
The evolution is complete. The affordability of solar energy in the last twenty years or so has been nothing less than remarkable. What used to be a prohibitively expensive niche power generation method is now mainstream. The price of solar has reached a point where any radio amateur can implement… Read more »
Been there, done that. Back in February 2020 we first discussed perovskite solar here on Off Grid Ham, and then again in July 2023. What has happened since then? At first glance the latest news seems frustrating and stagnant. The chatter continues but several years on we still have no… Read more »
Everyone orders off the same menu. Anyone who has not been living under a rock since the pandemic knows full well that pretty much everything is getting crazy expensive. That would be bad enough except very few of us have increased our income accordingly. This is not a political statement…. Read more »
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 »