N9SAB Antenna Care Package Unboxing
N9SAB sent over a care package filed with lightweight, efficient, stealthy antennas for portable and fixed station ham radio use. Let’s unbox them together!
emergency communications
My Off-Grid & Grid Down Comms Energy strategy
The off-grid ham shack is fully energy self-sufficient, utilizing solar, wind, and other power sources, with a focus on low current devices for sustainable communication.
Building a Solar Powered Ham Radio Station
The Off-Grid Ham Shack series discusses creating a self-sufficient ham radio station or ‘Ham Shack’ capable of operating on solar power during any grid down scenario, emphasizing the importance of an energy strategy for off-grid communications. This system includes solar panels, a charge controller, battery, and power distribution system. Key elements are the use of photovoltaic (PV) panels to harness solar energy, a solar charge controller to regulate energy flow and prevent battery overcharging or damage, and a battery to store energy for later. As well, power distribution ensures the allocation of power to multiple devices simultaneously. A grid-down energy strategy is crucial to any communication-related emergency, be it CB, FRS, GMRS, MURS or PMR radio, UHF CB, DMR, DStar, Meshtastic or LoRa communications.
Retevis RA79, RA89 & HD1 GPS
Retevis, a renowned radio brand, has introduced budget-friendly and feature-rich dual-band HTs, the Retevis RA89 and the RA79. The RA89 is IP68 waterproof and dustproof, boasts a USB-C charging port with an optional dock, and provides clean clear audio. The RA79 offers wide reception from 50Mhz to 600Mhz and a unique functionality to swap batteries without powering down the radio due to its USB port placement on the radio case. These radios are on sale during the Retevis’s Black Friday event ending on 24 November.
Power Queen LiFePO4 Black Friday sale
Power Queen, a supplier of LiFePO4 battery packs, is having a Black Friday sale from November 14th to 24th, offering discounts on their North American and European websites. The author, who has had a positive personal experience with the product, endorses the batteries for off-grid use cases such as ham radio stations. The promotions also include giveaways on social media (Instagram and Facebook).
Networking
Hello Operators. As I sit here enjoying the last week of my summer holiday, the disaster in Maui is an important reminder of maintaining our network […]
Snake oil The promise of License free Off-Grid Comms
There are no shortcuts in Survival Radio
73
Julian oh8stn
#hamradio
The Ultimate 80 meter ham radio antenna
After two years with the Chameleon 80 meter Skyloop, how’s it doing?
Stealth QRP Transmitter in Berlin
Operating a stealth QRP transmitter in a Berlin hotel room was an interesting ham radio experiment. Far away from home or even in a foreign […]
Starting point: Off Grid Survival Radio
One of the most asked questions in off grid ham radio for preparedness is “Where to start?” I’ll try to answer that question. Hello Operators.If […]