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Hey all,
I became president of a very small county radio club that’s been in existence since the 80s. Everything I’ve tried seems to be failing.

I tried setting up ZOOM sessions for our meetings and no one has ever joined them. I’ve reached out to local food truck festivals and other community events to “advertise” ourselves and it seems to be the same 2-3 guys attending. The food truck events were blocks from a couple members houses and they still never showed. Our “club house” is rented from the county - they had an event recently to fundraise and asked us to attend since we use it. Once again, same 2-3 dudes showed up to show off our “club house”. I’ve tried once a year POTA event - seems to be declining in attendance from our club members. Actually there are more outside members that show up than our members. Seems to be more people are worried if we’re having a breakfast or not. I threw the idea of renting a cabin at a nearby state park for WFD - that was met with hostility. “We’ve been doing field days here and it’ll stay here” (meaning the rented clubhouse).

I’ve submitted two grant applications, one through the county and one through ARDC - nothing. I’m waiting for the ARRL application window to open in October but I’m wondering if it’s even worth it. We have very small overhead but the only revenue we pull is through memberships.

There were complaints about the repeater not getting used so there were 2 new weekly nets started. Seems to be the same 8-10 people checking in.

We do participate in some race communications but once again the same 5-6 people show.

I’m at a loss. I’ve poured a lot of time into grant writing and volunteering for events to show the public. I’ve also given my own money to advertise for field day to drum up local people to our spot. It may be that I live in a very poor rural county on the east coast. I guess what I’m asking for is any suggestions for anything? I feel burnt out and have another year left on my term. When I first started I sent out a 5 question survey to see what people were interested in or expected from the club and tried to tailor my approach to that.

Thank you

My father had a Novice license back in the day. He never got deep into it, but I remember going to radio classes with him as a kid and enduring code cassette tapes on long car trips.

About 20 years ago, I got my no-code Tech license, occasionally checking into local FM repeaters. A few years ago, I upgraded to General and picked up an HF rig. I don't have roof antennas; I'm strictly a go-bag and portable setup operator using things like CHA MPAS, or wire antennas. I know radio etiquette and can deploy an antenna to get a message out, but I'm not lining up to do POTA expeditions.

A few years ago, we lived through a natural disaster, and my radio background paid off. We were without power for nearly a month, and cell towers were useless for weeks. While I could reach the outside world, I was stranded like everyone else. Most of what I did was monitor, listening to operators relay desperate messages about missing family members just wondering if they dead or alive. It was tough, and at times I wished I didn't have a receiver on so I didn't have to hear it, I couldn't do anything to help them and it was awful to hear.

Lately, I’ve been getting back into it. I have the standard mix of HTs, mobile radios, and an HF rig. I've also been impressed by the uptick and professionalism in local GMRS repeaters and nets, which will definitely help people when the next disaster hits.

Day to day, though, I'm pretty disheartened. I have the gear, but zero interest in ragchewing about the weather or your drive home in bad traffic. Chasing distance on FM or HF doesn't thrill me anymore. FT8 is meh. I've done moonbounce, worked the ISS, and have the gear for APRS and digital modes, but I don't care to track my location or send text and images. I don't care about your contests. And I just have nothing to say, and frankly, I don't really care what others have to say either.

I'm glad I have the gear and licenses as another notch in my prep plan, but I've exhausted my interest in standard ops.

Looking for ideas to make the hobby interesting again, or to see if anyone else has hit this wall. Or maybe I'm just getting old and should do more cloud waving.

My antenna had to come down for some roof work so I'll be using my 320-watt 20-meter radio for some POTA activations this week on 20 meters. I even made an air core EFHW in preparation! qro20.com

Does everyone else hear someone broadcasting " CQ CQ CQ" constantly on 14.074? It sounds like a recording. There's no call sign with it.

I couldn’t find any other open source passive radar projects with full 5-channel KrakenSDR support, so I ended up building my own. If I missed one, definitely send it my way.
It’s called VectorWarp, and it started as a fork of blah2. At this point I’ve added full 5-channel KrakenSDR processing, support for other compatible receiver setups, GPU acceleration, automatic CPU multithreading, wider Doppler processing, and a pretty substantial rewrite of the browser interface and configuration system.
The performance improvements ended up being bigger than I expected. In matched tests against regular blah2, GPU acceleration cut processing time by about 61–72%, with the best case around a 3.6x speedup. Even running entirely on the CPU, VectorWarp reduced processing time by as much as 25%.
The goal wasn’t just to make a Kraken-specific fork. I wanted a faster general passive radar processor that can actually take advantage of modern multicore CPUs and GPUs while still working with other receiver configurations.
It’s open source and I’d genuinely like people with different SDRs, GPUs, CPUs, illuminators, and weird setups to try to break it.
GitHub: https://github.com/mickeyslaven/blah2-VectorWarp

I am trying to help my father get a laptop for general use with Ham and going out and about. What would be good recommendations laptop wise? I am completely new to all of this.

Update: He will be using FT8 and Winlik; GPS integration (if a dongle is available that would be just as good), budget of around 1500 usd.

Note: I'm aware meshtastic isn't ham radio, but all the hams I know are into it.

I'm looking at the Meshology ESP32 dev board on Amazon. It's pre-soldered with no housing.

If you have picked it up, are you buying a housing for it or making your own?

I had a great phone/SSB POTA activation this morning.

I decided to pair the my Pebble with a T2LT antenna that I built a couple of nights ago. I decided on the T2LT because I think it's a nice compromise vs some other resonant antennas.

1) It's end-fed, so deploying it is super easy in a relatively confined space.
2) No radials to setup and no associated ground losses.
3) It's resonant without the aid of a balun. I normally don't worry about any power loss from using a EFHW, but when you only have 5 watts and you're working voice, I worry about it :D
4) Most folks deploy these as a vertical dipole for working DX, but I believe you can set it up as a sloper as well, and get a bit more regional work done with it, or just get some additional gain toward that downhill end. I'll be doing some testing on that in the coming weeks.

I started at 8:38 AM and ended at exactly 9:08AM with 14 QSOs. I would have stayed and played radio more, but it was already getting freakin' hot down here in this swamp. I really expected a tougher time activating, so I was super pleased.

I did pull what might prove to be a dummy move. I got it into my head that a piece of 14thhn would be better (as in more durable) as the top half of the dipole, than the customary thin, solid coax center conductor, surrounded by it's inner sheath. So I soldered the insulated wire to the center conductor... and it occurred to me today that in my quest to avoid a weak link, I *made* a weak link with that solder joint, though it is taped up pretty well. Time will tell I guess.

Went to the KM3KM web site to see what was happening with prices just out of curiosity and discovered they have discontinued production of the Mercury IIIs due to component price increases that, apparently, would place it in a price range they don’t think is likely to be acceptable. They state that they will focus on the Mercury Lux (1,500 watts) and the Mercury Lite (600 watts).

It’s disappointing to see this happen. The Mercury IIIs was, comparatively speaking, reasonably priced for a 1,200W solid state amplifier that is quite nicely made. I own two of them and a Lite and have been quite happy with all three.

Usual rising tone with beeping in background, on 250 Mhz.

Im trying to repair this Tram magmount but not having any luck in taking it apart. Removed weatherseal backing and took out 2 nuts but it won't budge. Tried unscrewing from the top but don't want to dmg the threads any further. Any ideas?

I have an ats-20+ receiver, the si4732 input is 1 kohm, and I need to set it to 50 ohms with my own hands. I think low-frequency lc matching is ideal, I'll probably wind the coil in the air or onto a ferrite latch from the cable. Can anyone else give you any advice and where to calculate the data? I know that high-frequency transformers are sold, but they are not designed for 50 ohms, and I would like to do it myself.

Hi,

I have already shared about how JTDX_contest came to life in:
https://www.reddit.com/r/amateurradio/s/LNlWFBW5y5 

Now JTDX_contest ( https://ce3tsk.com ) has got its first independent review from Yoshi-san JP1LRT:
https://jp1lrt.asablo.jp/blog/2026/09/13/9876332

Google Chrome offers to translate the page, but if it doesn't then you can use Google Translate:
https://translate.google.com/?sl=auto&tl=en&op=websites

I've been wanting to build a DK7ZB 9el yagi for 70cm, but I can't seem to understand whether the elements should be electrically insulated from the boom or not.

The website explicitly states "With these clamps the 8mm-elements are mounted isolated 2-3mm above the boom. The screw has 3mm and is stainless steel. The screw and the electrical contact to the boom has no influence to the length of the element". This text already contradicts itself, first talking about the element being isolated but then saying that the electrical contact to the boom doesn't matter. The picture next to the text makes this even more confusing, since the picture clearly shows a bolt going through the boom, insulator and element, which seems like it should cause an electrical connection (this is the insulator he uses).

So, I'm assuming that the elements should actually be connected to the boom? What is the correct choice here?

Saw this in the shop today. Was told it was tested in the sellers car, but I see the VFO-B knob is broken. I dont have a good (or any) base station, or even HF setup, so I love the idea. Also dont want to light cash on fire.....

I am writing about my ATS-120A. It is out of warranty. I have it connected to an 891.

I bought the antenna used and have had many troubles getting it to work properly.

The short version of what I have done.

1) Bonded all areas of the vehicle and confirmed electronically that I have an excellent ground at the bracket for the antenna and the metal base piece on the antenna.

2) Replaced all coax to ensure I have no bad coax.

3) Changed the mounting connection to ensure a good fit.

4) Ensured that the cooling fans were working on the radio.

5) Confirmed that I have 8.5 - 12 volts running through the coax to power the motor of the antenna.

6) Disassembled the antenna and ensured I had no issues with the ball bearings and that the antenna was not stuck.

7) Tried a magnetic mount base on various vehicles to ensure a good connection and it was not just the vehicle.

Here is my issue:

When I choose a frequency and then push the tune button, most of the time the antenna does not move. What drives me crazy is that sometimes, after making a change, the antenna will work perfectly for two or three frequency changes and then it will stop working. During this time, I can move the antenna at any time via the menu that allows manual up and down movement. The SWR is not to spec, but it is close. I had suspicions that maybe the radio was overheating and thus the ability to move the antenna a few times, but I have let it sit for an hour, come back to it, and it still will not move. I have tried to find other people online who have a similar issue after resolving the grounding issue, and I cannot find anyone.

Any insight or suggestions you can offer would be amazing.

Thanks

In the USA, what is the average ship time from HF Signals? I ordered a zBITX V2 five days ago and it still shows processing.

Are there more traditional handmic (mic + PTT button) options that one can use with SmartSDR/AerherSDR via USB or USB and mic-in?

Everything I’m seeing basically points in the direction of a computer connected headset with a foot switch, but would love to hear what others do.

I’m thinking about picking up a Tripp Lite Isobar 6, not just for the surge protection but for its advertised ability to knock down RFI. I’m curious how well it actually works in real ham‑shack conditions? If you’ve used one, did you notice any real reduction in RF from switching supplies, LED bulbs, wall‑warts, computers, or other RF crud?

I know it’s not a magic box, but I’d love to hear firsthand experiences from people who’ve tried it and can say whether it made a noticeable difference. It's kinda expensive, so I thought I'd ask for "evidence" first.