Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio

If you enjoy the challenge of portable ham radio operations and, specifically, activating Parks on the Air, you should watch this fast-paced summary of a 4-day POTA trip to coast of Maine. The video includes insight into the various unique parks that were activated (13 total), radio and antenna setup, and operating results. If you're planning a trip to Maine, this video will provide you some persp...

Fred Dennin, WW4LL, has been part of the ham radio community the majority of his life. He's an avid DXer, competitive contester, and co-owner of BeLoud. US, providing remote access ham radio super stations located around the world. Fred was first licensed as a kid in Muncie, Indiana and spent lots of time operating with his best friend Steve Narducci, W9SN. Decades later, after many successful con...

Seasoned ham radio contesters, Chris Hurlbut KL9A and Dan Craig N6MJ, were able to join me late Monday night for our weekly Contest Crew discussion. They responded to questions posed by a couple of relative newcomers to the contest world, N0GJW and M6ECG. Per usual, their answers and perspective are useful reminders of what to do, and not to do, when working the pile-ups. Despite being undisputed...

Max George NG7M was one of the ten W8S ham radio operators to activate Swains Island in October 2023. Despite elaborate planning that spanned years and continents, their path included damaged crates, missing gear, delayed boat transport, debilitating illness, relentless mosquitoes and unbearable, sweltering heat. With thousands of QSO's in their logs, and the team safely back home, Max talks about...

Philipp Springer, DK6SP, was only 10 years old when he was first licensed (2008) and immediately became hooked on ham radio contesting. The specific interest took him to the 2018 World Radiosport Team Championship in Germany where he operated as Y82D. Although Philipp continues to study for his Master of Science degree in Logistics and Digitalization, he finds time to engage in ham radio leadershi...

Established in 1964, long before the internet revolutionized our world, the mechanical Geochron world clock stood as a marvel. It elegantly anticipated sunrise and sunset times worldwide, while also displaying the current global time. Notably, President Ronald Reagan presented a Geochron to Mikhail Gorbachev, symbolizing American innovation. This remarkable timepiece even made an appearance in the...

Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, serves as the Director of Marketing and Innovation at the ARRL - The National Association for Amateur Radio. Bob has been a valuable member of the ARRL team since 1991, accumulating three decades of experience at the Newington headquarters. His extensive background uniquely qualifies him to provide insights into the organization's past and future trajectory. Bob is credited...

There are many hams who can claim five decades of amateur radio but there are few who have been immersed in so many facets of the hobby as Gerry Hull, W1VE. Gerry is active throughout his native Canada with several VE callsigns, he's well known for his expertise in the remote ham radio space, he's consulted for and operated the AA7JV Radio-in-a-Box project, and was instrumental in creating the onl...

Dan Craig N6MJ and Chris Hurlbutt KL9A are phenoms in the ham radio contesting world. They’ve competed 9 times at the World Radiosport Team Championships and have been on the podium together twice - Gold in 2014 and Bronze in 2018. I caught up with Dan and Chris just days after their 1st (N6MJ) and 2nd (KL9A) place finishes in the 2023 CQ Worldwide CW contest in the very competitive Single Operato...

Kris Misa YL3JA has been interested in ham radio contesting since he was first licensed as a teenager. In fact, for years his only QSO's were in contests. Kris has trained with some of the best in Europe while watching them do their magic at multi-op efforts at D4C, ES5TV, ES7A and being mentored by giants such as Roly LY4A and Tonno ES5TV. When Kris attempted to qualify for the WRTC 2002 in Italy...

Andy Cook, G4PIQ, got his start in amateur radio contesting with competitive weak signal VHF. In an operating category where a single dB can make or break success, Andy honed his skills in station design. He took those skills into HF when his friend, and operating buddy, Bob Carpenter G4BAH (SK), decided that the M6T contest station needed to be a reality. It’s no surprise that WRTC 2026 Chariman,...

Dr. Scott Wright is a cardiologist with the Mayo Clinic and a member of the team that developed the use of convalescent plasma as one of the first treatments for Covid-19. That significant contribution to world health during the great pandemic, combined with his history as a DXer, serious contester, and stint as the editor of the National Contest Journal, earned Scott an induction to the CQ Hall o...

Legendary is the word most often associated with the PJ2T contest station in Curacao. This ham radio station which is located 12 degrees north of the equator, in what is informally referred to as a magical propagation zone, has a very long and rich history of well known operators. The PJ2T story begins with hotelier Chet Brandon PJ2CC who is credited for first noticing the unique HF conditions in...

When I first spoke to Mike Giannaccio W5REZ six months ago, he was at the very early stages of creating a new ham radio antenna company. REZ Antenna was more than just an idea, but not much more than that. Mike was working hard on creating a quality production plan, he had built some prototypes and even sold those prototypes to a few lucky operators. From the beginning, it was clear that Mike was...

California QSO Party chairman Dean Wood N6DE is passionate about his state’s QSO party for good reason. With over 1200 submitted logs, the CQP easily tops the list of state QSO parties for participation. What’s their secret? Start with the fact that the CQP is sponsored by contesters - the Northern California Contest Club - making this one of the few QP’s run by a contest club. Their other unique...

Max George NG7M has many, many pursuits within ham radio but there is one consistent thread - an abiding love for CW. He can’t explain what it was about this mode back in his earliest memories of ham radio but his passion for morse code, and the thrill he gets from running stations, drives his choices. Whether learning contesting under the tutelage of W7CT, setting an Expedition Single Op record i...

Within weeks, ham radio competitors hungry for one of only 50 team slots in the WRTC 2026 will have their first chance to earn qualifying points. The CQ Worldwide DX SSB contest in late October is the first of only fifteen contests over the next couple of years where points can be earned. In this interview with London area contester and WRTC chairman, Mark Haynes M0DXR, you'll learn more about how...

What's it take to win the Ham Radio Olympics? Yuri, VE3DZ, would suggest that luck is a big factor and, at this level, he's likely correct. Then you learn that Yuri has participated in 8 of the 9 World Radio Team Championships telling us that experience and proficiency are also very important. When he explains that his WRTC teammate, Yarik, UW7LL is a technical wizard, one can easily see the compe...

The US Islands program is a nationwide initiative that promotes amateur radio operations from various islands across the country's inland waterways and coastal regions. The program encourages hams to set up stations on these islands and for others to contact them. The program maintains a comprehensive list of designated island reference numbers, aiding operators in identifying specific islands for...

On October 4th 2023, a band of ten experienced ham radio DXpeditioners will be QRV from Swains Island in the South Pacific. This is a much sought after QSO as Swains is ranked #27 on the Club Log most wanted DXCC list. DX Hall of Famer, and W8S teammate, Adrian Ciuperca KO8SCA explains their entire operation in detail including the team’s unique relationship with the island owners, the Jennings fa...

Clipperton Island, the atoll in the eastern Pacific Ocean, has a storied history of presidential visits, castaways waiting to be rescued, government squabbles over ownership and, of course, ham radio DXpeditions. In January 2024, the Perseverance DX Group will add their names to the history of this rare entity that is #38 on the Clublog's most wanted list. In this conversation, PDXG co-founder and...

Katie Campbell, KE8LQR, is 15 years old and clearly not the image of ham radio that has everyone worried about an aging hobby. Not only is she a licensed and active ham radio operator, Katie holds positions as the Assistant Youth Section Coordinator for Ohio, is a correspondent for the Young Ladies Radio League (YLRL), and is the assistant PR manager for Youngsters on the Air (YOTA). She has prese...

26,679. That’s the number of QSOs that teammates James Gallo KB2FMH, Hal Turley W8HC, and Yuri Sushkin N3QQ, put in the log over their 16 days in American Samoa as KH8RRC. From all accounts, it was a well-executed DXpedition with operations on multiple bands, in multiple modes, and providing credit for the DXCC entity, a Parks on the Air park and the IOTA island. Social media was alive with report...

Michael Martens, KB9VBR, is on a “mission to inspire and educate the amateur radio community.” With over 545 videos that have been viewed nearly 7 million times, it appears that he’s accomplishing his goal. What distinguishes Michael’s content above most others is the high production quality so it wasn’t surprising to hear that he has a film and creative story telling background. In our conversati...