Ham Radio And Shortwave Links

Most of this Web site is in German. But quite surprisingly my ham radio and shortwave link lists attracted quite some readers from outside the German-speaking countries. So I extracted the English-language links and moved them to this page. In the meantime this list got to large for my authoring tool. So the historical and BCL links got their own page – see on the left.

If you have some command of German you might be interested in my German link list.

Ham Radio Link Lists

Yahoo Directory: Amateur Radio: A large link list
N0HR: Mostly a large link list centered on ham radio technology
American QRP Club: Link List: QRP projecs, clubs and suppliers
AC6V: Amateur Radio & DX Reference Guide: A large, lightly commented Link List and AC6V's own content. Many links are dead or link to Web sites that have not been updated for years. If you are interested in MS Word 3.1 this is your source.
XE1BEF "More Than 20.000 Radio Links": Besides his own DX reports Héctor offers many sorted links. Beware of the ads that the Web space provider inserts as soon as you follow any of the links.

Ham Radio Blogs And Podcasts

Offgrid Ham: A blog about electric power supplies without a power grid connection.
TXfactor: "HD TV shows dedicated entirely to amateur radio"
ICQ Podcast: Ham radio news from the UK
WaveGuides: A quite unusual podcast: A group of OMs and YLs discuss a specific topic on am Echolink conference. The ham radio link is the medium as only hams may access the Echolink system due to the RF gateways. It is not the topics as they vary widely.
Practical Amateur Radio Podcast: Jerry gives practical advice.
Linux in the Ham Shack: 10 min into episode 103 I had heard *nothing* about the official topic of this podcast...
Low SWR: The first ham radio commedy I found until now. The site also has a quite extensive list of other ham radio podcasts.
With Varying Frequency – Amateur Radio Ponderings: For my taste to much talking and not enough facts.
Amateur Logic: A video blog living of visits to companies, ham fests and other interesting sites. The OMs use their medium quite good, but the file sizes are enormous from 100 MB for the lowest resolution
Solder Smoke: Soldersmoke is issued once a month or so. The author is an enthusiast but not so deep into technology; I would not discuss the death of a single small-signal transistor for 20 min. In my view the most interesting aspect was the author's view of foreign countries. As a diplomat he has seen his share of those. But since he returned to the USA this aspect has nearly disappeared.

Information And News Centered On Ham Radio

World Radio History A vast collection of documents about many fields of radio history, including magazine collections
All About Ham Radio for Beginners: An introduction page to what is ham radio about and a list of references.
VHF Propagation Map: An interesting APRS mash-up on Google Maps: Using existing data from the APRS network a worldwide VHF propagation map is created.
IARU Region 1 Monitoring System Soundfiles: Sound files of local intruders (QRM): Plasma TVs, PLC etc.
ON4LEA Ham Radio Dates, Flea Markets & Fairs: Hints about dates in quite some European coutries
Ham Radio Daily: "Your source for daily amateur radio news"
The World Trade Center Disaster - The First Emergency Communications Deployment At "Ground Zero": On 9/11 the technical infrastructure around Ground Zero broke down - either because of the damage or because it was shut down for safety reasons. This ment that all conventional means of communication broke down - a typical situation where nothing but ham radio can help. Bob Hejl (W2IK) was a first responder there for the first three days.
RSGB Propagation Studies Committee: Starting point to find present propagation information for all amateur radio bands
AC6V: Callbooks: If you have a ham radio callsign and need the respective real-world address, you might find it here. For German radio amateurs you should use the official data base of the Bundesnetzagentur.
Alltop News: Ham Radio: A news portal with a dedicated ham radio page
Hamradio Daily: A news portal for ham radio only
DA sending closing message on Night of Nights 10: A video for CW connoisseurs: Denice Stoops, nicknames DA, was the first female operator of a coast station. This YouTube Video shows her while doing a message to all at KPH 10 years after QRT of the station. DA uses a semi-automatic key: The dashes must be given by hand, the dots are produces by a spring pendulum.
Space Station Crew Uses HAM Radio to Call Earth: A YouTube video out of the ISS: That is how an astronaut does ham radio. (With a short tour through the ISS)
Texting vs. CW: What is faster?: A clip from an US TC show
WSPRnet: Weak Signal Propagation Reporter Network: This Google Maps Mashup shows current propagation paths of short wave. The data is provided by radio amateurs who operate QRP beacons using the MEPT_JT modulation scheme.
XE1BEF: Large ham radio Web site equally for DXers and technicians. Mostly a link list.
Simply phrases in European Languages: Standard QSO texts in many languages
Southgate Amateur Radio Club: A news portal for ham radio and all related to radio

Information and News Centered On Ham Radio Over Satellites

KA7FVV: Sattelites: Mostly a resource for starters and how to operate the FM satellites using a standard 20m/70cm handheld. Very helpful is a dual receiver rig that can receive on one band while transmitting on the other. This way you can hear yourself over the satellite.
N5AFV: Links to Useful Amateur Radio Satellite-Related Websites; Sattelite Antennas: This OM has gathered useful information for more than 10 years.
Live OSCAR Satellite Status Page: A compact, up-to-date overview for all active ham radio satelites, derived from reception reports.
Heavens Above: Here you find the information when you will be able to listen to a specific satelite.
DD1US: Historical Sounds From Space: Have you ever wondered what Sputnik 1 sounded like? Or what you could hear over amateur radio satellites? Here you find it!

Software For Radio Amateurs

Software that could not be attributed to any other topic is mentioned there. Therefore this section mentions overview pages. It relieves the technology section.

Multipsk by F6CTE: A program that can decode a LARGE number of digital modes, beides several time signals like DCF77.
NL9222: Site of a Dutch SWL with lots of ham related software. Some of it is quite old.
Request an Azimuthal Map: "Tom Epperly's Collection of Ham Related Tools" offers much more than computing a map for your loacation that shows the directions to the rest of the world.
Afreet Software: VE3NEA writes software for radio amateurs. Especially DX Atlas and CW Skimmer are quite impressive. Most programs are distributes as shareware; you can test them for a month before you need to pay. A few simpler programs are freeware.
KC8UNJ: Radio Programming Software: Jim's software allows to extract configuration information from some VHF/UHF handheld transceivers in CSV format. You can use these standard-format files to backup this information. Or you can use your favorite spreadsheet program to modify it. Afterwards the software allows you to update the information in your handheld transceiver.
EA3QP: Ham Software Index: A large link list sorted by topics
CT2HGA: Downloads: A very large link list, mostly with ham-radio specific downloads
Mantaro Impedance Calculator: The ultimate answer for questions like characteristic impedance, impedance measurement etc.! This is more than a formula collection. This is more than a standard Javascript calculator. For example, you even find reasonable presets for relative dielectric constants. Someone thought it all through.
Circuit Sage: "a complete source of information to help you design great circuits fast." Links, literature hints, assorted texts and especially software support to calculate circuits. Many data sets are Mathcad compatible. They also run in an appropriate viewer, the only limitation being no save feature.
N9ZIA: Perl Scripts / Interactive Design / Software: A large list of online calculators for many purposes: dB calculation, Fresnel zone, air-wound coils etc.

Antennas

(Some sites could not be attributed to this topic. You find them in the following topic technology

Bernd Waniewski: Antennas and More: An antenna engineer discusses his own designs of long wave and medium wave antennas
Antenna Theory: "This website is intended to be a source of knowledge for learning about and understanding antennas." You need some knowledge of engineering mathematics to really understand the contents of this site. It is for the professional, not the standard ham radio operator.
YC8DDU: Download Antenna Software: A commented link list for software downloads for antenna calculation and related topics
HB9MTN Antenna Projects and more...: A few remarkable antenna recipes, e.g. the HB9RU beam there one half is missing.
N4SPP: Frank's Antenna Pages: Frank lives in a penthouse where he is to use invisible antennae. He tries to cope with a minimum of theory.
The WB0DGF Antenna Site: References to antenna simulation programs (NEC/MININEC) and compatible antenna models
4NEC2: "NEC based antenna modeler and optimizer by Arie Voors". Looks like a good entry point.
M. Walter Maxwell, W2DU/W8HKK: Another Look at Reflections: A complete book about antenna matching, importance of SWR etc. from 1974
Antennas By N6LF: Several articles from QEX about low-band antennas and more. Very good!
K1TTT Technical Reference: David operates a "farm that grows steel and alumium". In other words: Complete contest crews may visit him and use his infrastructure for a weekend. You can expect a lot of shortwave information. The site is a joy to read.
Antennas By N6LF: Rudy has done lots of measurements and experiments on shortwave antennas, e.g. optimizing of ground plane radial systems. Short form: A few radials a few inches above ground are as good as 64 radials in the soil. And if you use only few radials, they should also be shorter.
VE3SQB Antenna Design Programs: A larger collection of specialized programs that allow to compute the element lengths of various antenna types.

Technology

The large fits all section.

QRM Guru: A Web site of the Amateur Radio Society of Australia dedicated to radio interference. You find lots of information in how to eliminate any noise that degrades your reception. For my taste, it largely neglects the fact that most noise is transferred by conductors and not radiated. In your home the first measure should be to turn off ine circuit breaker after the other. After you have found the correct circuit you should turn off one unit connencted to that circuit after the other, until you find the noise source.
RF Technical Articles: VA3IUL collected a vast variety of technical ideas. Read: Ideas and background information, but no ready-to use descriptions.
Signal Identification Guide: A large collection of sample signals and their classification. If you ever wanted to know more about misterious signals on the bands...
Miklor.com: A rich ressource for the dirt cheap Chinese handheld transceivers from Baofeng, Wouxon and others
Tektronix Spectrum Allocation Poster: An overview about the major freqeunca allocations worldwide. Either print it in color on a verrry large-format printer or open it in a graphics program that allows you to probe the exact colors.
W1GHZ: Nomen est omen: Technology for the microwave enthusiast
Radio Waves below 22 kHz: A site devoted to the very low end of the frequency spectrum. Some of the signals discussed here have natural sources, others are quite specialized communication signals e.g. for submerged submarines. The site has also information about receiving systems and respective software.
Hamradio Science: A site devoted to SDR (software defined radio) trying not to get too technical.
Dobbs, G. (G3RJV): Making A Transistor Radio: This book, published in 1972, is a step-by-step guide to build your first radio. Especially the drawings are great. This is a deep link into a quite interesting private site in GB.
VK1OD: "This website is a collection of articles related to my pursuit of the hobby of Amateur Radio, my experimenter's notebook online."
I1WRQ Link Radio: A BIG link list and article base
Circuit Lab: Draw your circuits online and simulate them – analog, digital and mixed.
VK2ZAY: Alan's Lab: Lots of technical articles about electronic homebrewing – inside and outside of ham radio
SM5BSZ: Equipment For VHF DX: A wealth of information for the (very) serious VHF amateur including EME, SDR, and software
Microsemi-Watertown: The PIN Diode Circuit Designer's Handbook: A complete, 137-page book about theory and usage of PIN diodes. PIN diodes are specific RF components: A diode with a deliberately thick depleted zone (the isolation in PIN) can be used as an RF switch or in an analog attenuation circuit.
Audio Systems Group: Publications: One of the gems that are hard to find: Decades of experiences by an engineer and ham, in understandable form. Interference, ferrites, chokes and other topics in PDF documents
EB5AGV: Amateur Radio and Test Equipment Site: Here you are right if you always wished to peek into commercial measurement equipment or ham radio gear. Jose is an engineer by heart: After is day's work he relaxes by repairing equipment. His descriptions contain many high-quality pictures.
Radio Waves Below 22 kHz: Broadcasting uses 150 kHz and above, ham radio goes down until 137 kHz. Around 80 kHz there are some time signal stations. But Maxwell's equations are also valid for much lower frequencies...
RF Cafe: "Electrical / Electronics Conversions, Formulas & References"
EI9GQ homebrew radio page: Link list to home brew projects
RF Avenue Resources Directory: "RF & Microwave Resources" – a link list from Active Filters to VCO Design.
Techhnick Net: "Since 1998 Technick.net site it's a freely accessible Web site helping millions of people worldwide finding answers to their electronic and computer related problems. This website contains hardware guides, manuals, handbooks, tutorials and tools."
IW5EDI: A ham radio portal from Italy (English)
KK5DR: Tube-Type HF Amplifiers: The technical essence of several decades of QRO activity
VHF DX: Information by EA6VQ about ham radio technology, VHF and EME
Chris Trask, N7ZWY: Chris is an RF development engineer with many years of experience. He publishes tutorials and schematics.
PA0FRI: Technical Information for Hams: Frits gathered a lot of information – mostly from his own ham radio experience. Turn on your soldering iron!
W8JI: Antennas Radios Amplifiers Baluns and Receiving Systems for HF: Charles is mostly interested in the lower shortwave bands. His site contains many of his articles and references to other sites.
K0BG: A Web Site For Mobile Amateur Radio Operators: Much information about mobile operation on shortwave
ZL1BPU: Murray offers a variety of subjects, from QRSS to home-brew projects. He often uses Atmel single-chip processors.
S-Meter: A big bonanza for the technicians among the radio amateurs. Check your signal and listen to others on remote receivers. Read thousands of pages of ham radio information. Download ... radio-related design programs. There is no charge for receiver usage, any of the information, or any downloaded computer programs.
The Multimedia Electronic Literature & Learning Internet Site: Here you find lots of information to dive into electronics – from tutorials to literature hints to home-brew projects
K0BG: A Web Site For Mobile Amateur Radio Operators: The author writs from 35 years of background.
K3MT: Antenna Home-Brewing: Easy-to understand articles – e.g. about antennas that simply lay on the ground.
Clint, KA7OEI: Besides some more general topics this site is about lower frequencies (<2 MHz), direction finding, and the FT-817. Some very high frequency stuff got mixed in – from microwave to optical transmissions.
RV3APM: Software for Digital Modes: Links to ham-related software that uses sound cards