Cale, K4HCK noted in his latest edition of Amateur Radio Weekly the availability of an online archive of CQ Magazine. This is some sort of mash-up between the publication owner and the old Buckmaster International, LLC. who now runs HamCall.net. What they are offering includes a few different ways to get at the goods. Being a ham radio history buff who has promised to stop bringing piles of old books and magazines into our home, an online archive of this history is highly valued. I quickly sent them the sixty-bucks they wanted for year-long access to the magazines, all the...
Richard “Dick” Sherwood Smith, W4RSS, 84, passed away peacefully on March 1, 2026, at Ball Memorial Hospital after a very short illness. Dick and I became friends about eight years ago when he and his wife, Liz, moved to nearby New Castle, Indiana, to be closer to their kids. His granddaughter attended Ball State University so he was acquainted with the area, was a radio amateur, and one day happened across my blog. He told me he wanted us to get together sometime. I told him my wife and I were planning to attend a talk at the University that...
The bands haven’t seemed to me to be in the best shape recently, though I’ve got to tell you that everyday this week when I’ve called CQ my puny signal is being reported by reverse beacon station, ZL4YL, on both 20 and 30 meters. Every time. An impressive 8200+ miles direct. According to details online the receiver used for skimming CW is an SDR, a Red Pitaya, about it all I can say is “bravo!” Field Day is this weekend and fingers are crossed all over the States for decent weather. I’m not completely certain what I will do in...
It was nice and cool when I awoke today so I decided to take advantage of it by taking a long walk at first light. The brutal heat of another Indiana summer is just around the corner. Technically the season is just getting underway though by my reckoning it’s almost half over. I count summer as beginning on Memorial Day and wrapping up on Labor Day which means the 4th of July is the midpoint. And that’s just a week away. Allow me my silly delusions, I hate hot weather. Our neighborhood is right on miles of paved walking trails...
It was long ago, but not so long that your grandparents would have missed it. The pioneering days of radio and the amateur radio service was detailed nicely by author, Charles William Taussig, an associate member of the Institute of Radio Engineers in 'THE BOOK OF RADIO' published in 1922. Look around online if you want to download the entire book, it's loaded with history of the pioneering days of radio. Presented here is one small part taken from Chapter XV, 'What the Amateur Has Done in Radio'. When, just prior to the formulating of the present radio laws, in...