Is ARRL a Company? The Surprising Truth About Who Runs Ham Radio’s Biggest League
Is the ARRL a for-profit company? Why does it have a CEO? A plain-language look…
FT8 and CW Duty Cycle: What It Does To Your Transceiver
A plain language look at FT8 vs CW duty cycle, what 100% duty cycle really…
FT8: The Little Digital Mode That Quietly Took Over the Bands
A relaxed look at FT8, the digital mode that lets a wire antenna and 20…
W1AW — The Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station: The Voice of Amateur Radio
The story of W1AW — the ARRL's Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station in Newington, Connecticut…
FISTS CW Club: Keeping Morse Code Alive on the Air
FISTS CW Club and FISTS East Asia: Keeping Morse Code Alive on the Air "When…
QRP Amateur Radio: The Art of Operating with 5 Watts or Less
QRP is the art of doing more with less. In a world where amateur radio…
PMR446 in Malaysia: The Complete Guide to License-Free 446 MHz Walkie Talkies
⚠ Disclaimer & Ongoing Updates: This article is intended as an informational summary of PMR446…
Can an Unlicensed Person Transmit on Amateur Radio? A Legal Breakdown (Malaysia & US)
⚠ Disclaimer & Ongoing Updates: This article is intended as an informational summary of amateur…
The APRS Foundation: Carrying Bob Bruninga’s Vision Forward
How a volunteer-led organization is working to keep the Automatic Packet Reporting System open, interoperable,…
How to Start Your First CW QSO: A Beginner’s Guide
So if you learned the Morse code alphabet. You can copy letters at 10, 12,…
FT8 over LoRa: a novel rehousing of the FT8 protocol onto a LoRa physical layer
A new project by Leandro Soares Indrusiak (G5LSI), published under the name ft8-lora, does something…
Running FT8 from your phone in the field: a look at FT8TW
If you've ever done a SOTA or POTA activation, you know the gear creep. You…
Finding North with an Analog Watch: The Sun Clock Trick
Every so often a survival tip circulates online that sounds too clever to be true:…
MCMC Rolls Out Digital Apparatus Assignment Certificates Starting 1 July 2026
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has officially begun issuing Apparatus Assignment (AA) certificates…
APRS-WTSAPP: Sending WhatsApp Messages from Amateur Radio via APRS
For amateur radio operators, APRS has long been one of the most useful tools for…
Soviet Amateur Radio Call Signs: USSR Prefixes from 1926-1991
The history of amateur radio call signs in the Soviet Union is complicated because the…
Worldwide Amateur Radio Frequency Allocations by IARU Region
IARU / ITU Regions RegionArea CoveredRegion 1Europe, Africa, Middle East, Russia, northern AsiaRegion 2North America,…
CW and Modern Amateur Radio: How Much Did Morse Code Really Shape the Hobby?
Continuous wave telegraphy, universally known among operators as CW, is often credited as the foundation…
Why CW Abbreviations Still Live on Voice Modes
Amateur radio carries more than technology from one generation to the next. It carries a…
From VS1 to VT1: British Empire Amateur Radio Prefixes and Their Legacy
Explore the history of British Empire amateur radio prefixes from VS1 to VT1, including Malaya’s…
HAM TV for Ham Radio Operators | Live Roku Channel for QSOs, DX Spots and Propagation
Turn your Roku into a live ham radio station channel. HAM TV shows your QSOs,…
9M2PJU SOTA Bot: SOTAwatch Spots and Alerts on Telegram
If you are active in Summits on the Air, you already know how useful SOTAwatch…
Emerson Knives: The American Tactical Knife Brand Built for Extreme Use
Emerson Knives is one of the most recognized names in American tactical knives. Founded by…
Android Memory Extension: Should You Turn It Off or Set a GB Value?
Many Android phones now include a feature called Memory Extension, RAM Expansion, Virtual RAM, RAM…
deskHPSDR: SDR Frontend for OpenHPSDR Transceivers
Software-defined radio has given amateur radio operators a level of control, visibility, and flexibility that…
BHI: Cleaner Receive Audio for Amateur Radio Operators
In amateur radio, not every problem is solved with more power or a bigger antenna.…
Heil Sound: Why Ham Radio Operators Trust This Legendary Audio Brand
In amateur radio, your signal matters, but your audio matters too. A strong signal with…
LDG Tuners: The Box That Makes HF Life Easier
If you spend enough time around amateur radio operators, especially those working HF, you will…
Best Radio Test Equipment for Amateur Radio
Good radio test equipment helps you understand what is happening in your station. Without test…
Oscilloscope Usages for Amateur Radio
An oscilloscope is one of the most useful test instruments an amateur radio operator can…
How to Read a Smith Chart for Amateur Radio
Yes. I’d tighten it. The original is accurate overall, but a bit long and repeats…
Amateur Radio Units Explained: dB, dBm, Watts, SWR, SNR, SINAD, dBi and More
Amateur radio is full of numbers: watts, volts, ohms, decibels, megahertz, microvolts, SWR, SNR, SINAD,…
Measuring Radio Noise and Interference in Amateur Radio: Field Strength Meter, Gauss Meter, and Better Tools
Noise is one of the biggest enemies of amateur radio. A station can have a…
The W5GI Mystery Antenna: A Practical Multiband HF Wire Antenna
The W5GI Mystery Antenna is one of those amateur radio antennas that attracts attention because…
9M2PJU Amateur Radio EmComm Dashboard: A Practical Tool for Emergency Communications
When emergency communications work becomes active, the biggest challenge is rarely just getting on the…
The Best NEC2 Antenna Simulator for Linux
If you do antenna modeling on Linux, xnec2c is the tool to know. It is…
Why Amateur Radio Buyers Ask If Gear Comes From a Non-Smoking Shack
Learn why ham radio buyers ask whether used transceivers, microphones, and accessories come from a…
RF Current, Grounding, and Interference: Guide for Amateur Radio Operators
Amateur radio is a hobby built on invisible energy. We launch signals into the air,…
Amateur Radio in Malaysia: A Practical Hobby, A Technical Skill, And A Public Service
Amateur radio is often misunderstood from the outside. To some people, it looks like an…
WARC Bands: Origin, History and the Gentlemen’s Code
In amateur radio, not all HF bands are equal. Some are wide, crowded, and heavily…
The Dunning-Kruger Curve: What Amateur Radio Reveals About Overconfidence, Toxic Authority, and the Cost of Never Learning
There is a peculiar moment that most licensed amateur radio operators can recall with either…
Mencari Arah Kiblat dari Semenanjung Malaysia Menggunakan Kompas Bearing Oleh 9M2PJU
Mengetahui arah kiblat yang tepat adalah tanggungjawab setiap Muslim sebelum mendirikan solat. Di zaman serba…
Malaysian Coordinate Systems: Kertau, Datum, Map Projections, GDM2000, and GDM2020
Introduction If you have ever tried to overlay an old Malaysian topographic map onto a…
Amateur Radio and the Spirit Behind It
Amateur radio is often misunderstood by modern society, especially in countries where technology is seen…
The Anatomy of a Lid: History, Psychology, and Evolution of Amateur Radio’s Ultimate Insult
In the close-knit world of amateur radio, reputation is currency. Across the bands, operators are…
Why “Model First, Then Measure” Beats Guesswork in Amateur Radio Antenna Design
Have you ever built an antenna, and it didn't work as well as you thought?…
The Ultimate Handheld Walkie-Talkie Guide for Amateur Radio Beginners
Whether you call it a Handy Talkie (HT) or a walkie-talkie, a handheld transceiver is…
Learning CW for the Beginner Amateur Radio Operator: Hear the Music, Not the Math
Learning Morse code, or CW, feels like learning a new language. And it is. The…
Why a Lie Repeated Often Can Become “Truth”: A Psychological Breakdown
Ever heard the saying, “A lie told a thousand times becomes the truth”? It is…
HamLink – A Modern All-in-One Mobile Toolkit for Amateur Radio Operators
HamLink - Ham Radio Toolkit is a mobile application designed for licensed amateur radio operators…
Top 5 Best Watch Battery Brands
A watch is only as reliable as its power source. Whether it is a high-end…
DNS Propagation: How the Internet Learns Where Your Website Lives
The modern internet depends on the Domain Name System, better known as DNS. Every website…
RadioMail 1.5: Off-Grid Email for Amateur Radio
RadioMail 1.5 is an iOS email app that sends and receives messages over amateur radio…
How to Read Latitude and Longitude on a Topographic Map
Topographic maps from JUPEM show coordinates like 101°59'0"E and 3°10'0"N along the border. Those are…
9M2PJU Map & Compass: The Navigation Tool Amateur Radio Operators Need
Navigation and position reporting form the backbone of effective amateur radio operations. Whether you're coordinating…
Navigating Offline: Why Guru Maps is the Ultimate Tactical Tool for Amateur Radio Field Operations
For amateur radio operators (hams), the core of the hobby lies in making connections across…
BSD License vs GPL License: What Peoples Need to Know
Open source software relies on licensing frameworks that define usage rights and obligations. The two…
LightAPRS Gateway 1.0: A Standalone APRS Digipeater and iGate in a Small Box
The LightAPRS Gateway 1.0 is a purpose-built Linux-based APRS gateway board that combines an SA818V…
VARAtrack: A Compact APRS-over-VARA Tracker Built on a Windows Stick PC
For decades, the Byonics TinyTrack has been the go-to hardware for simple APRS tracking. Connect…
VARA Modem for APRS: What It Is and Why It Matters
VARA is a Windows-based soundcard software modem developed by EA5HVK in Spain. It comes in…
Off-Grid Navigation for Hams: Magic Earth App for Field and EmComm Operations
Amateur radio field operations demand absolute reliability from every piece of equipment in an operator's…
9M2PJU Amateur Radio Bearing Finder: A Practical Tool for Ham Radio Operators
Every amateur radio operator has been in this situation: you hear a station calling CQ…
Akita MeshTAK: An ATAK Plugin for Off-Grid Mesh Communication
When conventional networks go down, or are simply not an option, teams operating in the…
9M2PJU Lat Long to Kertau RSO Malaya Converter
If you work with mapping, emergency communications, forestry, or land surveying in Peninsular Malaysia, you…
Radio Messenger Is What Ham Radio Chat Should Have Been All Along
Amateur radio operators have been sending digital messages since the 1980s. Decades of packet radio,…
The Tactical Deployment of OsmAnd in Search and Rescue Operations
When a missing person incident escalates into a wilderness Search and Rescue (SAR) operation, standard…
Best Firewall & Router OS for Raspberry Pi, HTPC, and Mini PC
Whether you're a home lab enthusiast, a privacy-conscious user, or a small business owner, turning…
Graywolf: A Modern APRS Station That Actually Keeps Up With the Hardware It Runs On
If you've spent any time in the amateur radio packet world, you know the landscape.…
APRSdroid NA7Q Edition: The Most Feature-Rich APRS Client for Android
For years, APRSdroid has been one of the most widely used APRS applications available for…
The Iconic aprs.fi App Finally Lands on Android!
For a solid decade, a running joke in the amateur radio community went something like…
Navigating the Unseen: The Science, History, and Mastery of the Magnetic Compass
For thousands of years, traveling across vast oceans or featureless deserts was a gamble against…
The ClusterDuck Protocol (CDP): Architectural Analysis of an Open-Source, Ad-Hoc LoRa Mesh Network
The resilience of communications infrastructure is frequently tested by extreme weather events and natural disasters.…
The Copper-Wire Internet: How Ham Radio Conquered Real-Time Data and Global Spotting Before the Internet Wielded Its Might
Today, tracking a rare DX station or viewing the live movement of a portable radio…
The Swiss Army Multi-Tool: From Military Origin to 50 Practical Everyday Uses
The Victorinox Swiss Army Knife (SAK) is one of the most recognized design icons in…
Can an Apple AirTag Actually Save You If You Get Lost in a Forest With No Cell Service?
The Technical Answer: No. Here Is Why. There is a growing misconception that a RM129…
OSMand: The Complete Guide to Offline Navigation with OpenStreetMap
OSMand is a mobile navigation application built on OpenStreetMap data. The name stands for OpenStreetMap…
APRStac: A Modern APRS Suite in a Single Binary
APRStac is an APRS web client, digipeater, I-Gate, BBS, fileshare host, email gateway, and multi-protocol…
When Amateur Radio Meets Search and Rescue: LoRa APRS in the Search for Missing Hiker Jaslinda
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2TUYJ63BOM When people hear the words amateur radio, many still picture hobbyists talking over the…
SARTrack: From Ham Radio Hobby to Life-Saving Search and Rescue Command System
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ABUuiv8prU If you have ever wondered how modern search and rescue teams coordinate dozens of…
Linux and FreeBSD Operating Systems: Characteristics and Use Cases
1. Definitions and Project Structure 1.1 What Is Linux Linux refers to a kernel created…
Top Amateur Radio Open Source Projects in 2026
Open source software runs a huge part of modern amateur radio. From FT8 contacts to…
Can You Use a Malaysian PMR Walkie Talkie Overseas?
Short answer: You can bring it, but you can’t always use it.Your PMR446 walkie talkie…
Best Amateur Radio Logging Apps for Android and iOS in 2026
If you operate portable, do IOTA, POTA, SOTA, or just want to log QSOs without…
Why Your Phone Battery Health Drops And The Real Difference Between Li-ion, Li-Po, and LiFePO4
Brand new phone. Battery health: 100%. One year later, it shows 92%. After two years,…
The M5Stack Cardputer-Adv and Amateur Radio: 15 Real Possibilities Worth Exploring
Every ham knows the feeling: you see a new gadget and immediately think, "How can…
Understanding ARRL’s Clean Signal Initiative: What It Means for Every HF Operator
If you have spent any time on the HF bands, you have probably noticed the…
Why Do Japan’s APRS-IS Servers Run on FreeBSD? A Deep Dive Into status.aprs2.net
Introduction: What Is APRS-IS and Why Does The OS Matter? If you open https://status.aprs2.net/ right…
How FreeBSD and Ham Radio Still Shape the Future of Wireless Communication
A deep dive into Diane Bruce VA3DB’s “Amateur Radio and FreeBSD” from FreeBSD Journal July/August…
What’s Buzzing on the Bands? 4 Massive Ham Radio Trends Hitting 2026
If you have spun the VFO dial lately or checked out the latest field activations,…
Malaysia’s License-Free Walkie Talkie Frequencies: The 2025 MCMC Update You Need to Know
If you use walkie talkies for convoys, hiking, events, or work sites in Malaysia, the…
Tracking HamRadio.my Projects Uptime with uptime.hamradio.my
If you use any tools or services by 9M2PJU, there’s one link you should bookmark: https://uptime.hamradio.my/status/9m2pju…
APRS.world: The Browser-Based APRS Map That’s Changing How Hams See the World
If you are in amateur radio, you know APRS. Automatic Packet Reporting System lets us…
Why CW and Morse Code Still Thrive in Amateur Radio in 2026: Data, Physics and Practice
Introduction In an era of FT8, satellites, and 5G, the oldest digital mode still accounts…
The Net Control Station’s Secret Weapon: How NetControl.app Is Changing the Way Hams Run Nets
If you've ever sat behind the mic as net control, you know the drill. You…
The TIDRADIO TD-H9 APRS in Black: A Deep Dive into the Most Feature-Packed Handheld Radio Under $70
When it comes to handheld radios, the market is flooded with options that promise the…
Beyond the VPN: The Deep Engineering of Tailscale vs. Twingate
The traditional VPN is a centralized bottleneck. If your server is in New York and…
What is NextDNS?
For anyone serious about privacy, speed, and security, the "Modern DNS" debate usually boils down…
Transforming Your Old Raspberry Pi into a Smart Home Hub with DietPi
Do you have an old Raspberry Pi gathering dust? Instead of letting it go to…
9M2PJU Amateur Radio Contesting Clock
Precision Timing and Propagation Intelligence for Modern Ham Radio Operators When every second counts in…