Radio has always been a technology of distance. Long before the internet made global communication feel ordinary, shortwave listeners, radio amateurs, maritime operators, aircraft enthusiasts and military monitors were already exploring the invisible structure of the world through electromagnetic waves. A faint voice from another continent, a Morse signal buried in noise, a weather fax…
A meeting point for Europe’s radio amateurs For many radio amateurs in Western Europe, HAM RADIO Friedrichshafen is not just another trade fair. It is the annual place where the amateur radio world becomes visible, physical and international again. For three days, the hobby moves out of shacks, club rooms, contest stations, workshops and portable…
A small USB stick that opens a large part of the radio spectrum A cheap RTL-SDR receiver is one of the simplest ways to discover that the air around us is not silent. To most people, radio still means FM broadcast, walkie-talkies, mobile phones or Wi-Fi. In reality, the radio spectrum is full of signals:…
The Balun Core Loss and Ferrite Flux Density Calculator helps amateur radio operators and antenna builders estimate ferrite core stress in baluns, ununs, impedance transformers and common-mode chokes. By entering frequency, RF power, ferrite mix, core size, turns, duty cycle, SWR and transformation ratio, the calculator provides practical estimates for choke reactance, RF voltage, RF…
For more than a century, radio operators around the world have shared a strange technical language built from just three characters at a time. These compact abbreviations survived world wars, commercial Morse telegraphy, transatlantic maritime traffic, military field operations, amateur radio contests, satellites, SDR receivers, and even the internet age itself. Long before smartphones, translators,…
The Yaesu ATAS-120A occupies a very specific and sometimes misunderstood place in the amateur radio antenna world. At first glance, it looks almost too convenient to be true: one compact antenna, automatic tuning, multi-band operation, direct control from compatible Yaesu transceivers, and coverage from HF through VHF and UHF amateur bands. For operators with limited…
