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...
Participation has been down recently in several of the popular QRP outdoor activities. I suspect attention to Parks on the Air has whetted the usual large appetite for more radio in the field type work. Nevertheless, here is advanced notice of the Annual Summer Flight of the Bumblebees which takes place on Sunday, July 26, 2026, during the four-hour daytime window, from 1700 to 2100 UTC. This casual QRP CW event consists of hundreds of ‘Bumblebees’ who are operating portable stations at outdoor locations, and other stations who try to work as many of these ’Bumblebees’ as possible. Bumblebees must...