Tag Archives: HAM and Amateur Radio

Baofeng UV-5RA Review – Can a $50 Ham Radio Be Any Good?

I hope you have been enjoying my series on Amateur Radio.  It’s been one of my favorite hobbies for about 20 years now, and I love sharing my knowledge with our readers. Today I am bringing you another radio review, only the second one ever for Gear Diary. Just like when I reviewed the Icom [...]

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The Origin of the Term ‘Ham Radio’

Ham Radio Origins

I hope you have been enjoying my posts on Amateur Radio.  Other than mobile tech and the typical tech stuff I am into, it is one of my most favorite things to do in the evening.  Nothing beats chatting with a group of fellow hams about amateur radio itself, the tech behind it, or other things that [...]

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RepeaterBook for Android App Review

Way back when I was first licensed in 1993 to use a HAM Radio, the first thing I wanted to do was to get on the 2m band and hop on a local repeater.  How did I find them back then?  Well I went to the local radio store and bought the latest edition of [...]

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Ham Radio to be Featured in Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing on ABC

  I’ve watched Last Man Standing all season this year and am really enjoying the series in its second year.  One of the reasons I was attracted to it was that the character Tim Allen plays, Mike Baxter, is an Amateur Radio Operator.  He has been given the tongue in cheek call sign KA0XTT.  The “XTT” stands for Ex Tim Taylor. [...]

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Quirky Ham Radio Gadgets from Yesteryear: The Wouff Hong and the Rettysnitch

Well, the Wouff-Hong is not so much a gadget, but it has been a part of Ham Radio lore since 1930′s.  What is a Wouff Hong?  According to 1930 edition of The Radio Amateur’s Handbook: The Wouff-Hong is amateur radio’s most sacred symbol and stands for the enforcement of law and order in amateur operation. [...]

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My Bag: Ham Radio Edition

Hurricane Sandy, the derecho and the upcoming winter season has had me thinking about what I carry on a daily basis. It also prompted me to consider what I might add to it to be better prepared.  In HAM lingo, we refer to this as our GO bag– the bag that serves in an emergency [...]

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Last Man Standing: Mainstream TV and Radio Connected for Special Event Today

I hope you are enjoying my continuing series of posts on Amateur Radio.  Occasionally, we get to have fun and come close to touching those who we watch on TV.  Well, not exactly but today there was a special event that almost never happens. What on earth am I talking about?  Well, today there was a very [...]

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Icom ID-31A D-star Radio Review

  I hope you have been enjoying my series on Ham Radio and its various aspects; today’s post is the first review of a ham radio on Gear Diary!  Specifically, I will be reviewing the Icom ID-31A, which is the most advanced handheld radio I have yet owned and the most advanced currently available. What this won’t [...]

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D-Star Breathes New Life into Amateur Radio

D-Star is the newest mode I have recently added to my Amateur Radio arsenal.  I bought an Icom ID-31A D-star, radio which I will be reviewing here soon, but I wanted to share a little about D-star and why it’s a cool mode before I did the review. The History of D-Star D-star is a [...]

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Before There Was Google Latitude, Foursquare or Facebook, There Was APRS

Hello!  W3RAZ again here on Gear Diary, for some more amateur radio goodness.  Today I am writing about APRS.  APRS?  What’s that?  We’ll it’s in many ways the precursor to Google Latitude and all of these apps on phones that have you checking into places, but it was invented 20 years ago by WB4APR, Bob [...]

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Talk to the World with Amateur Radio

  In my second post on Amateur Radio, I talked about getting a 2 meter/70 centimeter handheld radio as your first radio.  The main reason I suggested those kinds of radio as the first radio to buy is that you will likely need it for local public service. A dual band radio relatively inexpensive and is pretty forgiving when [...]

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Building a Simple Ham Radio Antenna without Soldering

One of the first things you might want to do after getting your Ham Radio License is talk on the radio.  However, there are many things you may have to do to get that done depending on what kind of radio you purchase. If you purchase a handheld radio, you likely already have an antenna [...]

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Amateur Radio Apps for Android

A mobile phone is a valuable tool that can be used for many things, even Amateur Radio.  I thought I would provide a short over view of some of the apps that are available on Google Play.  As there are always new apps, I will probably do another post as I come across them.  If you have [...]

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I Don’t Like Money-Grubbing Accessories, the Ham Radio Edition

I simply cannot stand money-grubbing accessories.  What is more money-grubbing than the weird connector on my handheld radio?  The above pic is of the headset connector for my Yaesu VX-7R. This radio is old but they still make it.  One unique thing about it is that it is submersible.  Yaesu had to use a different [...]

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Which Ham Radio Should I Buy?

In my continuing series on the subject of Ham Radio, I’ll now attempt to answer the great unknown question: Which ham radio should I buy?? Well What do you Want to Do? In a lot of ways, this is almost the same as asking which phone one should buy.  The first question you should be asking isn’t which [...]

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Save Big with ZAGG this Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Weekend is underway, but it won’t be until Monday that you can save big on pretty much everything ZAGG [...]

Think Tank Photo Mirrorless Mover 30i Review

Think Tank Photos Mirrorless Mover line of bags is a great way to carry and protect your mirrorless camera. The [...]

RockDoc Bluetooth by Pitbull Small in Size, Big in Sound

A few weeks ago Dr Ruth came to speak at my synagogue. She was awesome- funny, interesting, quick on her [...]

Win a Sony Xperia T from Gear Diary

Carly’s about to get a Nokia 928 running Windows Phone 8. Judie, after serving up her detailed review of the [...]

The Secret Society from G5 Tweaks Your Dopamine Reward System to the Max!

Secret Society Game Tweaks Your Dopamine Reward System

The most ‘addictive’ games are the ones that activate your ‘dopamine reward system’, which is your brains way of dealing [...]

Cozi Family Organizer for iPhone and iPad – a Blueplate Special

iPhone and iPad apps for anyone on a budget. Nothing over $.99! My kids have finally reached the age that [...]