Author: Kris – KZ7K

  • CERT and Amateur Radio: How the Programs Overlap

    Part of our Clubs and Nets guide. CERT and ARES get confused for each other constantly, and while they are separate programs with different scopes, they overlap enough that many hams find real value in doing both. What CERT Actually Is Community Emergency Response Team training is a FEMA-backed program that teaches civilians basic disaster…

  • How to Run an Effective Club Meeting

    Part of our Clubs and Nets guide. A lot of ham radio clubs struggle with attendance not because interest in the hobby has dried up, but because the meetings themselves have become something members quietly dread rather than look forward to. Respect People’s Time Start on time, end on time, and have a real agenda…

  • Ham Radio Apps for APRS Tracking on Your Phone

    Part of our Getting On The Air guide. You do not need a radio with a built-in TNC to get onto APRS. A collection of solid phone apps lets you track, message, and monitor the APRS network directly from a device you already carry everywhere. How Phone-Based APRS Actually Works Most APRS phone apps connect…

  • Setting Up a Backup Shack Computer: Redundancy for Software-Dependent Stations

    Part of our Building Your First Ham Radio Station guide. Modern shacks lean on software for logging, digital modes, CAT control, and often remote operation, which means a dead computer can take your entire station offline just as effectively as a dead radio, and most hams have a backup plan for the radio but not…

  • Building a Backup and Sync Routine for Your Logbook

    Part of our Getting On The Air guide. Years of logged contacts represent real, often irreplaceable data, especially confirmed contacts working toward awards like WAS or DXCC, and a single hard drive failure without a backup can wipe out a decade of logging in an instant. Why This Gets Overlooked Logging software like Ham Radio…

  • Installing a Ham Dual-Band Mobile Radio in Your Vehicle

    Part of our Building Your First Ham Radio Station guide. Installing a dual-band mobile follows the same basic principles as any mobile radio install, and getting the fundamentals right the first time saves you from chasing mystery problems down the road. Power: Straight to the Battery Run power leads directly to the battery rather than…

  • Two-Radio Diversity Receive: Reducing QRM Without a Second Antenna

    Part of our Getting On The Air guide. Diversity receive is a technique borrowed from serious contest and DX stations, using a second antenna and receiver simultaneously to fight noise and interference in a way a single antenna simply cannot. The Core Idea Local noise and interference often affect two physically separated antennas differently, since…

  • VHF/UHF Weak Signal SSB: Beyond the Local Repeater

    Part of our Getting On The Air guide. Most hams experience VHF and UHF exclusively through FM repeaters, and that is a perfectly good way to use those bands, but there is an entirely different style of operating happening on the same bands that most repeater users never encounter. Why Weak Signal SSB Exists FM…

  • Field Day vs POTA vs SOTA: What’s the Difference and Which to Try First

    Part of our Getting On The Air guide. These three activities all get lumped together as portable operating, but they have genuinely different formats, goals, and time commitments, and knowing the differences helps you pick the right starting point. ARRL Field Day: One Big Annual Event Field Day happens once a year, the fourth full…

  • QRP Contesting: Making the Most of Low Power

    Part of our Getting On The Air guide. Running QRP in a contest sounds like a self-imposed handicap, and in a sense it is, but most major contests reward that handicap with scoring multipliers that make QRP a genuinely competitive, satisfying category rather than just a novelty. Why the Multiplier Matters Most contests that offer…

  • The 10-10 International Net: A Niche Award Worth Knowing

    Part of our Getting On The Air guide. The Ten-Ten International Net is a club built entirely around one band, 10 meters, and if you have caught the 10 meter bug during a good solar cycle opening, it is one of the more fun and approachable niche communities in the hobby. What Ten-Ten Actually Is…

  • Worked All Continents (WAC): The Other Big Award

    Part of our Getting On The Air guide. Worked All Continents sits in an interesting spot between Worked All States and DXCC: harder to complete than WAS since it requires genuine international contacts, but far more achievable than full DXCC since you only need six confirmations, not over a hundred. What WAC Actually Requires The…

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