You guys are probably tired of looking at my QSL cards from stations whose callsigns spell words, but I’m not tired of posting them. Besides, here are two of the coolest I’ve received to date, from KA9ZAP and KD8ILL:

Every September, our ham radio club, ARROW, does a construction project. In the past, we’ve done a keyer kit, J-Pole antennas, and other small projects that you can complete in an evening.
This year, we’ve decided to build a low-cost version of the Arduino microcontroller called the Bare Bones Boarduino, from Modern Device. This is a [...]

There’s a new book out called Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity. Below, are 38 of the “keys” published on the author’s blog. I don’t know what happened to the other two.
How does this relate to ham radio? Well, if you have to ask….
1. Ignore everybody.
2. The idea doesn’t have to be [...]

In the last eight days, I’ve worked three more stations whose call signs spell words. What’s more these were all great QSOs:

KA9ZAP. Art mentioned that one of his first contacts was with VU2ZAP, but he hadn’t been “ZAPped” since then.
K3DEN. Denny was operating from from a senior center, using an IC-703 running 10 W into [...]

Ned, WB4BKO, writes, “Why do we say that we’ve ‘worked’ someone when we have contacted them? For me, making contacts is a pleasure, not work. I think that we should change this bit of ham radio jargon.”
I think that Ned has a point. While it’s true that working some guys is a strain, for the [...]

Back in the old days, the really good radios used mechanical filters. Now, according to this item, we could see a whole new type of mechanical filter, this time built with a microelectromechanical (MEMS) device.
Tiny ‘MEMS’ Devices to Filter, Amplify Electronic Signals
Purdue University News (08/10/09) Venere, Emil
Purdue University researchers are developing a new class [...]

From the qrp-l.org mailing list, here’s a list of places that sell surplus electronics and other stuff that might be of interest to ham radio operators:

Mendelsons Electronics Company, Inc.
Marlin P. Jones & Assoc.
All-Electronics
BG Micro The Super Store
American Science & Surplus
Surplus Center
Electronic Goldmine
All-tronics
Web-tronics
Herbach & Rademan
Hosfelt Electronics Inc.
C and H Sales Company
Skycraft Parts & Electronic Surplus
Halted
Project-Parts.Com

In trying [...]

Hank, K8DD, posted this information (with tongue firmly planted in cheek) to the Second Class Operator’s Club:
Now is the time to upgrade your old radio.
In an effort to further revive the weak economy, the government announced that it started a new Cash for Radio Clunkers program on August 3. The program is aimed at members [...]

As many of you know, I teach One-Day Tech classes. At the start of each class, I go over the following to help focus students on what to keep in mind when taking the test.
Technical Topics
For the Tech test, the focus is on rules and safety. It is not very technical. Having said that, there [...]

When people in southern Michigan want to get away from it all, they go “up north,” which means the northern part of Michigan’s lower penninsula and Michigan’s upper penninsula. For at least the last ten years, my family—including my brothers and sisters (but mostly my sisters, and their kids and now grandkids)—have been renting a [...]