A 20-minute QRP End-Fed Half-Wave antenna coupler
It was almost time to make lunch but I had an idea that just wouldn’t wait. I figured I had 20 minutes to zip down to the basement shack/development lab and throw a simple circuit together on the workbench. I had been re-reading (for the 1000th time) AA5TB’s website about using a parallel tuned circuit…
My FT-891 has been retired from POTA service … why?
Following high level, wide-ranging, bilateral talks with senior management (XYL) a far-reaching, binding agreement was today handed down to me. The focus of the agreement is contained in the executive summary which reads: “ya got enough radios already”. And it’s true I own more radios than I really use. Nearly all of my radios are…
KD5ZZU’s very elegant build of “Old Barebones” – a Z-match tuner
Back in October 2024 I wrote a post with the title “Old Barebones” – A QRP Z-match Builder Project. The project’s purpose was to construct a simplified version of the Norcal Z-match tuner (which I also owned) to use with my QRP Labs QMX transceiver. The Norcal tuner included some features that I simply did not…
The ultimate rebuild of an ancient Yaesu FT-817.
I think it was a couple of years ago now I ordered a QRP Labs QMX transceiver. It quickly, but temporarily, became my favorite radio for portable field operations. I have written before about why I believe the QMX is a mighty fine piece of miniaturized technology but is less suitable for the rigors of…
Great ideas from Ham Radio Outside the Box subscribers
I developed QRV to be the ham app that I always wanted. There are a lot of great tools for amateur operators: QRZ, HamQSL solar conditions, PSKReporter, and more; they just were scattered and some are not mobile friendly. My goal was to consolidate everything into a single app for Apple users. Some of the…
Corrupted post
A corrupted version of the post “This is still a hobby, isn’t it?” was published this morning. Please accept my apologies. The post has been edited and the corrected version is now available at HamRadioOutsideTheBox.ca
This is still a hobby, isn’t it?
Ham Radio continues to change. Whether you believe the changes are good or bad depends on a lot on your perspective. But, no matter if you are a traditional brass pounder, or you believe the Internet is the future of ham radio, one question stands out as we enter another year. Is ham radio still…
A Year End Compendium of Outside the Box Antenna Ideas
We have reached the end of another year of crazy ideas here at Ham Radio Outside the Box and a repeat of last year’s severe winter has gotten underway in southern Ontario. The daily temperature high remains well below freezing and the ground is buried under a thick blanket of snow already. I have tried…
What really determines the efficiency of an antenna?
Is it Standing Wave Ratio (SWR)? It is common knowledge that when an antenna has high SWR some of our transmitted power is wasted instead of being transmitted. But is this really true? The trouble with “common knowledge” is that it spreads without further scrutiny. “It must be true because that’s what everybody thinks”. But…
4:1 Balun or 4:1 Unun – how to choose?
Perhaps one of the greatest confusions in the hobby of ham radio is wrapped around the subject of baluns and ununs. What are they, where should they be used and what do they do? At Ham Radio Outside the Box several antennas that need a 4:1 impedance matching device have been described. Since I had…
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