KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

Videos: HS ham club in NH, yet another Heathkit history, Cruz thanks ham radio

May 25, 2026 By Dan KB6NU Leave a Comment

Students go hands on with ham radio

Here’s a nice news story about a new ham club at a high school in New Hampshire.

Yet another Heathkit history

Here’s another YouTube video on the history of Heathkit. The author has disabled embedding, so you have to watch it on YouTube.

Senator Ted Cruz on Ham Radio

In this short video, Cruz thanks ham radio operators for their service. This has gotten some people excited because I believe that Cruz is the chair of the Senate committee working on the Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act. I’d be more excited if Cruz would sign on as a co-sponsor, but he has not yet. So, at this point, these are just words.

Dayton Hamvention 2026: Day 3, Friday, May 15 – Forums

May 24, 2026 By Dan KB6NU Leave a Comment

The forums at this year’s Hamvention were pretty good—and I’m not just saying this because I was on the schedule. I spent most of Friday morning cruising the vendor booths and schmoozing with people I know. I stopped by the CWops booth, the Amateur Radio Digital Communication (ARDC) booth, and the Youth on the Air (YOTA) booth. In the afternoon, though, I spent most of my time attending the forums.

The first talk I attended was the Long Island CW Club (LICW) presentation, “Our CW Journeys.” I was interested in this talk because I’m in the process of updating my CW book and wanted to learn more about their process.

The presentation consisted of several “testimonials” from members how they learned Morse code by taking LICW classes and participating in LICW activities. The stories were very intriguing, and kudos to LICW for helping people have fun with Morse code.

Next, I stopped by the “Amateur Radio and the Law” forum to say a quick hello to Fred, K1VR, and Bob, K3RF. I didn’t stop to hear the talk, though, as my next stop was the “Hackers in Ham Radio” forum.

This forum was a panel discussion, led by Jeremy, KD8TUO. The discussion was a bit unorganized, but they did talk about how the hacker and ham radio communities intersect. I think that these two communities should intersect even more, and as part of Ham Radio Village, I’m helping to do that. Hackers are the kind of people that we want in ham radio.

The final forum of the day for me was “The Latest from ARDC: Grants and 44Net.” At this forum, folks from ARDC talked a great deal about their latest development, 44Net Connect. It’s taken ARDC a while to get to this point, but it looks to me like they’ve made connecting to 44Net a lot easier than it has been in the past, and I’m looking forward to see what use hams make of it.

There were also short presentations by a couple of their grantees, including the Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications (DLARC) and AMSAT. It’s always great to hear what other grantees are doing. ARDC has made a real difference in amateur radio, and I’m happy to say that it looks like they will continue to do so.

Dayton Hamvention 2026: Day 3, Friday, May 15

May 21, 2026 By Dan KB6NU Leave a Comment

I feel a little guilty. I haven’t paid for a Hamvention ticket in several years. When I worked for ARDC, I had a vendor pass. That was nice because I could park in the vendor parking lot directly behind the fairground buildings. Last year, I finagled a media badge as a member of the ICQ Podcast. This year, I was issued a speaker’s badge (more about my talk in an upcoming post).

Not having to pay for a badge is not what makes me feel guilty, though. Aside from perhaps the media badge, I certainly gave back to Hamvention in some way. They got their money’s worth.

A line of people waiting to get into Hamvention. — This is just part of the line waiting to get into Hamvention 2026 on Friday morning. Credit: W2NNN.

What does make me feel a little guilty is not having to wait in line until 9 am to get in. When you have a speaker badge or vendor badge, you can just walk right in.

This year, I arrived at the Greene County Expo Center a little before 8:00 am, parked my car, walked right up to the speaker/vendor window and picked up my badge, then walked right into the fairgrounds. How cool is that?

This worked out really well. A friend of mine wanted me to visit the HRO booth and purchase a radio for him, and since I got in early, I was able to beat the crowds. The guys behind the counter were a little miffed at first as they weren’t quite ready for customers, but they accommodated me, and I was very thankful to them for that.

Next, I stopped by the Linux in the Ham Shack booth. This has become a tradition with me, and I always enjoy saying hello to Cheryl, W5MOO; Bill, NE4RD; and in the past, Russ, K5TUX. Unfortunately, Russ is no longer with us, but it was still nice to check in with Bill and Cheryl.

After visiting with the LHS crew, I tromped around the flea market for a bit. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but I always like to see what people are selling.

I was kind of interested in a device that one guy was selling – a Gonset Model 3022 3-Way Code Oscillator. I’d never seen one of these before. It’s really a multi-purpose station accessory. It can be used as a code practice oscillator, but also as a CW sidetone generator or an AM phone monitor. The guy was asking $30 for it, though, and it was still pretty early, so despite his heavy sales pitch, I passed on it. I told him that I might be by later to see if he still had it.

I found another guy who was selling ham radio coffee mugs. There were a couple of those that I found amusing, including one that read “FT8” inside the international no symbol. He also had one that read, “Education is important, but ham radio is importanter.” Since I knew that my wife would kill me if I brought home another coffee mug, I passed on those, too.

Other than that, I didn’t really find anything that I wanted to buy in the flea market. Perhaps one reason is that there seemed to be fewer flea market vendors this year. There were big gaps between vendors in some of the aisles. I’m thinking that with such high gas prices this year, many sellers decided to skip Hamvention altogether.

More about Day 3 in my next blog post.

Dayton Hamvention 2026: Day 2, Thursday, May 14

May 20, 2026 By Dan KB6NU Leave a Comment

Four Days in May is an activity of QRP-ARCI.

Day 2 started out pretty early. The Four Days in May (FDIM) seminar starts at 8 am!

After a short drive from my hotel, I arrived at the DoubleTree Hotel a little after 7:30 am, expecting to sail in and claim a seat. I was, however, was surprised to see a line snaking down one of the hallways. Apparently, they weren’t letting people in yet.

As I walked down the hallway to take my place at the end of the line, I came across my friend Tom, W8TJB, who graciously let me take cuts. As it turned out, there were plenty of seats, though, so that was not a big deal. Here’s a short description of the talks I heard:

A Homebrewer’s Journey: How I got to where I am. Harold Smith, KE6TI, gave the first presentation of the day. He detailed his journey, from his high school days in the early 1960s to today. Harold’s talk included a lot of useful tips, but my big takeaway was, “When you’re homebrewing, you’re building for yourself.” With that in mind, Harold advised to not worry so much about how a project looks, or even how well it works. Focus on the enjoyment you had building something and what you learned from working on it.
Life is NOT Too Short for QRP if You Know a Few Tricks. Anthony Luscre, K8ZT, was responsible for this talk. He provided many, many tips for successfully operating QRP including how to select equipment, what antenna to use, what bands top operate, what modes to operate, and what times to operate. He also gave quite a few tips on operating technique. One tip that I plan to follow up on is his tip to use the 4X4XM Propagation Tools to better understand propagation.
The CFT1: the design philosophy and lessons in good user interface. Jonathan Kayne, KM4CFT, a young ham who recently graduated from Virginia Tech, told us the story of how he came to design the CFT1, a five-band, QRP transceiver. In this very interesting talk, he detailed his reason for designing the radio (a very noisy QTH which drove him to operate portable) and the entire design process. I enjoyed this talk so much that I thought that I might even buy one of his radios, but the kit cost $320, and since I still haven’t finished building my QMX, I decided not to.
Post-Hurricane Helene: The Role of Practical Preparedness and Community in Emergency Communications. Well-known QRPer, Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL, lives in the mountains in western North Carolina, right in the path of Hurricane Helene. He spoke about how the hurricane affected him and his family, but perhaps more importantly, how the people of his community bonded to get through the crisis. As he was talking to an audence made up of hams, he talked quite a bit about the importance of communications in keeping that community together. “In a disaster,” he said, “communications is not just about passing information. It’s about holding a community together when everything else falls apart.”
Learn CW Like a Boss. In this talk, Jerry Weisskohl, AC4BT, gave us some tips on how to improve our ability to send and receive Morse code. He strongly recommended the use of Morse Runner and detailed how he used the program to get better at receiving.
Vibe (AI) Coding for Radio Amateurs. AI is all the rage these days, and Dr. Stewart Bryant, G3YSX, showed us how we might use it for developing software for amateur radio projects. After introducing some of the concepts behind the current AI chatbots, he gave some examples of its use, including coding a VFO using an AD9851 and developing a GNU Radio script to display the spectrum of an audio input. Bryant is very big on the technology and urged us all to try it. I may just do that.

I say this every year, but FDIM really inspires me to be more of a builder/homebrewer/hacker. Maybe if I get more serious about it, I could even give a talk next year.

Let’s hit the park!

After sitting through these six talks, I was getting a little antsy, and seeing that the last two talks didn’t really interest me all that much, I decided to escape and activate a park. The park that looked the most promising was the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park (US-0732). At first I was a bit confused about the actual location of the park. The park actually consists of a couple of different locations, including the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center and the Huffman Prairie Flying Field. The POTA map shows the location of the Huffman Prairie Flying Field, which is out near Fairborn. Fortunately, I chose to go to the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center, which is in the Germantown section of Dayton. There is a nice, little park there next to the museum, which is perfect for POTA.

Man sitting in front of a radio on a picnic table. — It was a beautiful day for a POTA activation at the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.

As I pulled into the small parking lot, I noticed a ham (whose call I don’t remember, unfortunately) there already. I got out of the car and walked over. He was trying to make some contacts with an Elecraft KH1 and and AX-1 antenna. He said that he wasn’t having much success but encouraged me to set up and give it a try, so I went back to my car and got my stuff. We chatted a bit more while I was setting up, and he seemed interested in my doublet antenna. After I got on the air and made a couple of contacts, he left.

Not long after, a group of four hams—N3AIR, N3VQH, K3MET, and KC3RMC—exited the museum and walked over. They had driven in from Pennsylvania and were taking in the sights. They were a fun bunch. We did the HT thing, and I got a park-to-park QSO with all of them on both 2 meters and 70 cm. Then, one of them took the picture above. I wish I’d gotten a selfie with them all.

We were joined by another ham—a W6—and they chatted while I operated. Like the first fellow, I didn’t have a whole lot of luck on 20 meters, but when I switched to 40 meters, I started making quite a few contacts. That’s one advantage of having a full-size antenna like my doublet.

After the Pennsylvania contingent took off, I operated a while longer by myself. All in all, I managed to make 45 contacts in about an hour and a half. Not a bad afternoon’s work.

Meeting the CWops

Two older men and a woman smiling at the camera. — At the CWops Dinner, I met, Howard, W1HRB, and his wife, Barbara.

My next stop was the CWops dinner. I met a lot of great operators there, many of whom I’ve worked on the air and/or swapped email with. Just before dinner was served, I found a seat between Steve, KJ5T, and Howard, W1HRB. Howard, and his wife, Barbara are shown in the photo above.

Howard, as it turns out, lives not very far from me, and I tried to recruit him to operate at one of our Field Day stations. He was unsure of his availability for Field Day, but said that he’d try to come to one of our club meetings. I think he’d make a great ARROW member, so I really do hope he comes to a meeting.

The dinner broke up about 9:30, and I head back to the hotel to get some rest for Hamvention the following day.

Dayton Hamvention 2026: Day 1, Wednesday, May 13

May 18, 2026 By Dan KB6NU 2 Comments

Last Wednesday, I began my annual trek to the Dayton Hamvention. I live pretty close (three and a half hours driving), but I like to attend QRP-ARCI‘s Four Days in May on Thursday, so I head down early. I used to actually leave verrrry early on Thursday morning to get there by 8 am (and not have to pay for a night in a hotel), but I gave that up several years ago.

A couple of years ago, I started doing Parks on the Air (POTA), so I take the opportunity to stop at a couple of parks on the way. My first stop is Van Buren State Park, which is just north of Findlay. It’s right off the freeway (I-75) and very accessible. I arrived about 11:30 am.

I set up in the picnic shelter (shown above) that’s near the entrance to the park. This was my third activation, and there’s never been anyone else using the shelter when I’ve operated from there. I set up my 66-ft. doublet at the far end of the shelter, by the trees.

That was my first mistake. I was in a bit of a hurry, since I wanted to get set up quickly, so that I could eat lunch while i was operating. In my haste, however, I didn’t anchor the mast very well, and it was very windy that morning. So, of course, the antenna blew over. Not only that, one leg of the antenna got caught in one of the trees that you can see in the picture. This particular tree sported some big thorns, which made disentangling the wire a bit of a challenge.

I did manage to get the antenna back in the air—and eat my lunch—but it was very chilly with the wind and all. I squeezed out 12 contacts in about 45 minutes, then decided to tear down and hit the road.

In 2024 and 2025, my next stop was Grand Lake St. Mary’s State Park near Celina, Ohio. It’s a lovely park, which oddly enough, has a small lighthouse on it. It’s more than 20 miles east of I-75, though, so I thought I’d try a different park this year for my second activation. That honor fell to Kiser Lake State Park.

Beautiful view of a lake. — It was kind of cloudy at Kiser Lake State Park when I got there.

Getting there was a bit of an adventure. Like many people, I use Google Maps for navigation. After leaving Van Buren State Park, I got back on I-75 for about 20 miles, at which point Google decided to direct me to the back roads. The closer I got to Kiser Lake State Park, the narrower the roads became. At one point, the road was so narrow that there wasn’t even a center line. The directions were true, though, and I arrived in good time.

It was still windy and chilly, though. I set up in a picnic shelter near the park entrance, making sure this time to securely anchor the mast. I was able to make 14 contacts in about 45 minutes, and then decided to call it quits.

The nice thing about operating from Kiser Lake State Park is that the route from there to Fairborn, where I was staying is short and takes the back roads, avoiding I-75. I got to the hotel in about 45 minutes. I headed over to the FDIM hotel, picked up my badge and then headed out to dinner. Overall, this was a great start to my Dayton 2026 adventure.

New edition of my No Nonsense Technician Class License Study Guide now ready for review

May 7, 2026 By Dan KB6NU 3 Comments

The 2026 edition of my No Nonsense Technician Class License Study Guide is now available for review. I would love for you to download it, read through it, and comment on it, either here in this post or directly by email.

I’ve improved some of the explanations in the text (at least I think that I’ve improved them). But, please feel free to comment and suggest other topics that might need more explanation.

I have also added some illustrations. I was going to add more illustrations—and I may try to add more before I actually publish it—but illustrations take a lot of time. If there’s a topic that you think really needs an illustration let me know.

Finally, I’m looking for suggestions as to what to put on the cover. The last edition had a cartoon image of a young man holding a satellite antenna. That generated a little controversy about not being inclusive enough. I’m not sure it was all that bad, but I’d love to hear what you think would make a good cover.

Videos: The Heathkit story, how orchards became Silicon Valley, and a propagation monitor

May 5, 2026 By Dan KB6NU 2 Comments

The mistake that built Heathkit

I hadn’t heard the story about the boxcars of electronic components before.

How orchards became Silicon Valley

I worked in Silicon Valley right after I got out of college.It’s interesting to see how it’s changed since then.

Shortwave propagation monitor

I’m not sure how useful thing would actually be, but it’s a simple project and could be interesting.

Let’s meet up at Hamvention 2026

May 2, 2026 By Dan KB6NU 1 Comment

Cale, K4HCK, and I are inviting members of the Fediverse, ICQ Podcast listeners, and our readers to join fellow users at Hamvention 2026. The informal meet-up will take place Saturday, May 16th at 11:00 AM. We’ll meet in front of the Zero Retries/DLARC booth, #1506 in Building 1, aka the Maxim building. (Thanks to Steve and Kay for allowing the use of their booth as a rendezvous point!)

Cale and I will both have stickers to pass out and we hope to see you there!

What is the Fediverse and how does it relate to ham radio? The Fediverse is a collection of social networking sites that communicate with one another in a decentralized way. It’s an open source alternative to centralized social networks such as Facebook and X. I like to describe it as the nerd version of Twitter.

There are several ham radio themed Fediverse instances with thriving communities of radio amateurs, including:

You can find and follow Cale on the Fediverse at https://mastodon.radio/@K4HCK. You can find and follow me at https://mastodon.radio/@kb6nu.

Is the ARRL out of touch? You decide.

May 1, 2026 By Dan KB6NU 5 Comments

In his email announcing the publication of a Great Lakes Division newsletter, Director Scott Yonally, N8SY, usually includes a paragraph similar to the following:

So, grab a big glass of whatever makes you feel good, a sweet snack stolen from your wife’s pantry and sit back in your easy chair and have a great read!!

Now, I ask you, is Yonally out of touch or what?

First of all, many, if not most, hams look like they have had one too many “sweet snacks” already, and instead of sitting back in their easy chair, they should be out for a brisk walk.

Second, think about that phrase, “stolen from your wife’s pantry.” I guess that Yonally thinks that only married men are hams and read the newsletter. With those five words, Yonally has excluded:

teenage hams,
single hams,
female hams, and
hams (like me) that share the cooking duties with their spouses and consider the pantry “their pantry.”

I’m sure that Yonally isn’t being intentionally exclusive, but it’s the thoughtlessness that’s the issue here. It’s the same thoughtlessness that led the ARRL to think that offering the Gil mug as a membership-renewal incentive was a good idea. I’m continually amazed that the ARRL is still offering this mug.

This may be a small thing, but it’s a real thing, and I’d go so far as to say that it’s attitudes like this that are driving people away from the ARRL. People who don’t feel welcome, quit organizations when they feel excluded, and intentional or not, the ARRL certainly isn’t rolling out the welcome mat to many potential members.

Amateur radio in the news: Students learn how to use ham radio, Saline resident reaches remote island, ham radio open house a success

May 1, 2026 By Dan KB6NU Leave a Comment

Saline Resident Reaches One of Earth’s Most Remote Islands

For most travelers, a trip halfway around the world is enough of an adventure. For Saline resident Dennis Ward, it was just the beginning. Ward recently returned from a rare expedition to Bouvet Island, a remote, glacier-covered outpost in the South Atlantic Ocean, where he joined a small international team of amateur radio operators seeking to connect with the world from one of its most isolated places.

read more…

I like this story for a couple of reasons. First, it was a collaboration of three different clubs. Second, the Great Bend Radio Group is about more than just amateur radio. Judging by their banner, they welcome anyone involved with any of the personal radio services. Unfortunately, the reporter got some of the details wrong…..Dan

Ham Radio Open House a big success

PARKERSBURG – Members of three regional amateur radio clubs contacted ham radio operators worldwide for World Amateur Radio Day (WARD) Saturday at Fort Boreman Park in Parkersburg. WARD, also known as the Ham Radio Open House (sic), was a collaboration of Great Bend Radio Group of Meigs County, Ohio, the Parkersburg Amateur Radio Klub and Wood County Emergency Communications. The three clubs working together on this project fulfills this year’s American Radio League (sic) emphasis on “Year of the Club.”