I was sad to discover that the ARRL produced Eclectic Tech podcast series came to an end after 67 episodes. The program was produced by Steve Ford, WB8IMY the long-time Editor-in-Chief of QST magazine who retired in 2020 and produced the podcast during his retirement.

Beginning in 2020, the biweekly Eclectic Tech podcast offered news, interviews, and commentary about technology and science – all with an amateur radio twist!

The program highlighted the nooks and crannies of amateur radio not explored by mainstream hobbyists. And on this point I must confess that my lifelong interest in ham radio has included the notion that some day, after I retired, I would explore more esoteric radio activities like microwaves, amateur television, high-altitude ballooning, bouncing radio signals off the surface of the moon, trails of meteors, raindrops, snowfall, etc.

There is so much I’ve yet to discover and these alt-facets of the hobby are exciting and offer a new beginning after 45 years of doing the same things. And now that I’ve moved into the “bucket list” era of life I want to sample one of everything prior to assuming room temperature.

Just my luck, here I am ready to get my eclectic tech on and the podcast by the same name draws to a close. I’m even more saddened by this development because it’s unlikely to ever be replaced. Amateur radio podcasting consists mostly of regurgitated news, beginner tutorials, and endless product reviews.

Eclectic Tech stood out as a unique report on things only found on the road not taken. I hate to see it go, but I understand that Steve Ford wants to move on with his retirement too. And there are 67 episodes in the vault and at least these will continue to be available for some period of time.

The podcast series ended with episode 67 on August 25, 2022. However, you can still listen to any of the episodes by browsing this archive.