Ham Radio Workbench Podcast

In this episode we meet Roger Coude, VE2DBE, the author of Radio Mobile.  This amazing software package allows the user to create a cross sectional plot of a radio path between two points on Earth.  The software includes a terrain database so the path includes obstructions and the curvature of the Earth.  This software can be used to determine link paths, repeater coverage, simplex point to point link budgets and more. Roger has developed this software many years and makes it freely available to ham radio operators.  A truly generous gift to the ham radio community.

In this episode we are joined by Paul WD9GCO and Josh K7OSH, part of the HRWB family, and we talk about Hamvention 2025.  We met soooo many great people who stopped by the booth to say hello.  In this episode we recap what each of us learned at Hamvention and describe the overall experience.  We wrap up the episode with a brief roundtable discussion about our Field Day plans for this year.  

In this episode we have Eric, co-founder of Elecraft, on the show to talk about the K4 radio architecture and how it's designed to be operated remotely.  Eric talks about the design considerations, process and the various ways to control the radio for a seamless experience.  

In this special episode, we meet Steve Hicks, CTO of Flex Radio.  Steve announces a new radio in the Flex Radio product line.  This new radio is a combination of the features of the current 8000 series of radios plus a built in 500 watt power amplifier, antenna tuner and AC power supply all integrated into a package the size of the current 8000 series radios.   This remarkable new radio uses a new transmitter architecture that doubles power efficency resulting in an integrated package that is smaller, consumes less power, generates less heat, and is quieter than current equipmemnt on the market.  

In this episode, our resident expert on writing ham radio gear reviews, Thomas, K4SWL, walks us through the process of writing a good ham radio review.  How can you tell a good review from a bad one and tips for how you can write good content. Vince gives us some great tips when it comes to buying used gear.  How do you find it, evaluate it and figure out a fair price.  

In this episode we meet Len Koppl, KD0RC, the designer of the Teensy Maestro remote control head for a Flex radio.  Len is a professional software developer and project manager and brings many decades of technical experience and ham radio hands-on to his projects. In tis episode we learn about multiple projects including the Teensy Maestro, an open source hardware remote control head designed to control a Flex radio.  Based on the Arduino Teensy microcontroller, we learn about Len's journey of development and some of the interesting technical challenges he faced in this project.

In this episode we have an extended conversation with Kirk, NT0Z and Paul WD9GCO. Kirk is the Amateur Radio columnist for The Spectrum Monitor; former columnist for Monitoring Times and Popular Communications; Author of Stealth Amateur Radio (www.stealthamateur.com) and former QST Assistant Managing Editor. Paul is a news anchor for Amateur Radio Newsline and the professional announcer for the Ham Radio Workbench podcast. Kirk and Paul have some great stories and general ham radio wisdom to share with our listeners.  It's so much fun to spend time with them that this turned into the longest episode we have recorded, and that's saying something !

In this episode we meet Richard Desaulniers, VE2DX.   Richard has been licensed since 1990 and has a background in emergency communications serving at disaster events in Quebec. He enjoys hunting DX, Island Activations and DXPeditions. Richard is also an experimenter and founded VE2DX Electronics in 2020. With the founding of the company, he wanted to create inexpensive and simple electronic products to help the Ham Radio Community. Among his creations are products like TrueTTL, TrueCIV, and TrueCAT thes were implemented and applied to all VE2DX Electronics Design creation to help eliminate problems with RFI, EMI, Signal Loss and other signal issues, thanks to Heavy Shielding, RFI filtration of Power, Signals and Grounds, Signal processing, and signal automatic leveling. Join us in a great conversation with Richard VE2DX, Vince VE6LK and Thomas K4SWL.

In this episode we talk all about our second on the air operating event, Ham Radio Workbenches On The Air.  We had so much fun the last time, we decided to do it again.  We talk about whats on our workbenches and go over all the details about operating HRWBOTA. The operating event will be Sunday March 16.  For all the details go to https://hrwbota.com We meet Alan, N7AKG, the developer of the Ham Radio Instant Scoring Service, HISS, that allows operators to create their own contests and show scores in real time.  We also meet Andrew, KC2G, the developer of several interesting projects including the HRWBOTA tracker web site.

In this episode we meet Patrick, KJ7SZU, the owner of the company that makes the digital clock and information device, Geochron.  The mechanical Geochron clock has been around for over 40 years.  When Patrick saw his first mechanical Geochron clock he was hooked !  He was so impressed with the idea that he bought the company and completely remade the Geochron as an internet connected information display device on a large screen 4K video display. Join us for this fascinating story all about Patrick's journey to the present time with the Geochron. 

In this episode we meet Rosy Schechter, KJ7RYV, ARDC Executive Director, John Burwell, KI5QKX, 44Net Program Manager and Rebecca Key, KO4KVG, ARDC Communications Manager. ARDC, Amateur Radio Digital Communications.  The ARDC manages the IP address space that starts with 44 and they are the funding source for millions of dollars in grants every year to benefit amateur radio. Learn about what the 44 Net is, how it can be used by radio amateurs and how the ARDC manages their grant funding process.

In this episode we talk about how to prepare for Winter Field Day and field operating in cold weather in general.  Winter Field Day is a great operating event for individuals and clubs.  Its a great excuse to get out and operate when it, brrrrrr, cold outside !  

In this episode we meet Vance, KV4P, the designer of a radio module that connects to your Android phone and turns it into a 2m FM HT.  Vance is a professional UX (User eXperience) designer and brought his years of design knowledge to the project.  The result is a modern take on how a hand  held 2m radio should work in addition to the convenience of intergration into your mobile phone that you carry with you every day.

In this episode the tables are turned and George, KJ6VU, becomes the special guest.  The topic is how he designed his station control system.  The station controller is used to monitor and control key components in your remotely controlled ham radio station.  The station controller can also be used to monitor and control a repeater system or any other critical equipment. We will discuss what you need for effective remote station control, how George went about designing his control system and how it works.  Topics include the system architecture, circuit and physical design and selection of key components like the microcontrollers that run the system and the node red software environment that provides the user interface. The station controller will eventually be offered as a commercial product for sale through his company Sierra Radio Systems.  

In this episode we meet Jonathan Kayne, KM4CFT, the designer of a very popular new QRP radio called the CFT-1.  Jonathan shares his journey from concept to production of his new radio design.  The truly remarkable thing about his accomplishment is that he has achieved this in less than a year.  Join us for a fun conversation and a bit of inspiration.

In this episode we give you the buyer's guide to holiday cheer.  The team put their heads together to come up with many suggestions for the workbench, ham shack and portable ops plus a few stocking stuffers.  If you are buying for a loved one, best ham radio buddy or yourself, you are sure to find many great suggestions in this show.

In this episode we catch up with our good friend Bill Meara, N2CQR, the host of the SolderSmoke podcast.  SolderSmoke is a haven for those of us interested in home brewing our own radio equipoment.  Bill shares his experiences both at the workbench and also operating around the world.  SolderSmoke was one of the inspirations behind the HRWB Podcast and we appreciate all that Bill and his team have done to bring great content to the ham radio community for the last 20 years. 

In this episode we catch up with our good friend and show regular Thomas Witherspoon, K4SWL, to find out how things are going in the disaster recovery from hurricane Helene.  We are also joined by our good frend Josh Higgins, K7OSH, from the Hoodview ARC and discuss what we should do, as amateur radio operators, to prepare for disasters.  

In this episode, our dear friend Thomas, K4SWL, tells us about the devestation in North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.  Thomas shares his family's esperience and his advice for emergency preparation.  We had so many interesting topics to talk about regarding emergency prep, workbench style, that we are going to do a follow up episode with our top tips for emergency prep sometime in the coming months.

In this episode we meet Adam Kimmerly, K6ARK, and avid outdoorsman, hiker, and ham radio operator.  Adam has achieved Mountain Goat status by earning over 1,000 points in the Summits On The Air program.  In addition to his outdoor adventures, Adam, a professional mechanical engineer, has designed some very innovative antennas, CW paddles and other cool ham radio accessories.  Adam also has a very good YouTube channel.  You can find him by going to "K6ARK Portable Radio" on YouTube.  You can find Adam's products on his web site at k6ark.com  

In this episode we meet Pat Hensley, W5WTH, a prolific designer and project builder.  Pat has made several intersting radio and non-radio related electronic projects and he features them on his blog site WhiskeyTangoHotel.Com Some of Pat's projects are very useful and some are just plain fun.  Many projects are a blend of hardware (Arduinos, Raspberry Pis, etc) and software (c, Python, etc).  Pat publishes all of his source code for us all to learn from.  If you want to be inspired to build your first project you have come to the right place. 

In this episode we bring back Rick England, KC6UFT, the designer of the 18650 battery tester.  In a previous episode, Rick told us all about the need to test 18650, and other batteries, under load to determine their health.  Rick has refined his tester design and shares his experiences and learnings with us on this episode.  You will learn all about the proper way to test these popular lithium batteries and plans for making the testers available.

In this episode we meet Morten LB0FI, Kjetil LB4FH, Tobias DL3MHT, and Bård (Bob) LB5JJ from the European Ham Radio Show on YouTube.  Walt, K4OGO, was not able to make the show this time. The European Ham Radio show is hosted by Morten and the team talks about many aspects of ham radio on their weekly YouTube show.  Topics include radios, antennas, homebrew and a big dose of portable operating.  We were invited to join them on their show a few months ago and had such a great time, we wanted to introduce them to our HRWB audience.  We hope you enjoy the discussion of ham radio from a European perspective.  

In this episode we talk with Alan Wolke, W2AEW, an expert in electronic test equipment.  Alan has a fantastic YouTube channel where he educates us about test equipment, circuit design and electronics theory.  Alan talks about the projects on his bench and discusses the use of various types of electronic test equipment and has advice for setting up your own electronics workbench.

In this episode we meet Scott, N1VG, the owner of Argent Data Systems.  Scott is a long time maker and innovator that has brought several ham radio and commercial communications products to market including TNC's (Terminal Node Controllers), APRS trackers, weather stations and even a LED illuminated hula hoop ! We talk about Scott's inspiration, design and manufacturing process and learn what it's like to start up a ham radio businses from scratch. 

In this episode we meet famous YouTuber, Randy, K7AGE, and Hoodview ARC VP Josh, K7OSH, to talk about our Field Day experiences and what makes a good club Field Day event.  Josh is the Field Day Chairman of the Hoodview ARC and organized a great FD event.  Randy came up to join us for the FD weekend, did some operating and shot some great videos of the event.   The rest of the HRWB crew described their Field Day experiences from mobile to portable.  We discuss what worked and what could be improved. Hoodview ARC Randy K7AGE YouTube channel

In this episode we bring back our good friend Dan Quigley, N7HQ, to talk about restoring older radio equipment.  Should you return an old radio to it's original state or repurpose the chassis for a more modern project with the look and feel of a classic radio of the past?  We explore various approaches to restoring radio equipment including tools, test equipment and process. Dan is the director of strategic programs at Flex Radio and brings decades of professional engineering and ham radio experience to the discussion.

In this episode we meet Colin Vallance, KC8DHY, a professional network engineer who also manages the WiFi network at DefCon and other events.  We talk with Colin about how to set up your network in the ham stack.  We also have a round table discussion about our plans for Field Day 2024.

In this episode we meet Hamilton Carter, KD0FNR and his daughter, Hamie Carter, KO6BTY.  This amazing father / daughter team have build and deployed multiple creative radio projects.  One in particular, Project TouCans, puts a QRP transciever right at the dipole antenna feed point eliminating coax cables and communicates with the operator's station over Bluetooth. Follow along on thier radio adventures on their blog page at https://copaseticflow.blogspot.com    

Kirk Kleinschmidt, NT0Z, has a deep background in radio and communications having spent over 30 years writing about radio.  Kirk is a former Assistant Managing Editor for QST by the ARRL, aughor of the book Stealth Amateur Radio and has been a regular columnist for Monitoring Times and Popular Communications.  You can follow Kirk today in his regular columns appearing in the Spectrum Monitor electronic magazine.  Kirk offers up his perspective on amateur radio in this episode.

This is a special edition featuring Mike Walker, VA3MW from Flex Radio, telling us all about the newly announced Flex 8400 / 8600 radios.  Mike is at Hamvention 2024 and took a few minutes out of his busy schedule to tell us all about the new radios.

In this episode we have our good friend, Dr. Doug Millar, K6JEY, join us to talk about multi meters, what they do and buying recommendations.  Every ham radio operator or DIY electronics fan needs a good multi meter.  But should you spend $20 or $200 on a meter and what's the difference?  Doug explains it all.

In this episode we meet Daniel Winn, WV1T, a very active portable ham radio opertor.  Daniel was searching for a way to filter out strong local signals when operating in the field and he started building stub tuned filters with coaxial cable.  This simple and cost effective approach is a great way to build notch filters that can significantly reduce unwanted interference from transmitters operating at the same location but in other HF bands.  This is a great technique for Field Day and similar activities.  Daniel holds an extra class amateur radio license and is a professional electrician.

In this episode we meet our good friend, Dr. Charles Powell, NK8O.  Charles is medical doctor specializing in neonatal infant care.  In addition to his professional accomplishments as a doctor, musician, and head of a medical non-profit organization, Charles is an avid portable radio operator and has logged many thousands of contacts from all over the US while participating in POTA and World Wide Flora and Fauna events and from exotic locations while living in Africa. Charles is an inspiration to us on many levels and a great friend.

In this episode we meet Mark Herbert, G1LRO, designer of the Universal Radio Controller.  We talk all about ham radio project building and Mark's journey of discovery as he envisioned the URC.  Taking an idea, overcoming challenges and turning it into something that people can use and be inspired by.  

In this episode we have two great interviews.  We kick things off with Dr. Scott Wright, K0MD, who clues us in on the latest hapennings in the world of contesting.  Technical innovations, operating tips and ways to encourage new hams to take up contesting.  Scott is a great ambassador and spokesperson for amateur radio.  We also interview Don Johanneck, a technican at Digikey, who redesigned the original Digikeyer project kit designed by the founder of Digikey, Ron Stordahl 50 years ago.  Digikey is one of the largest electronics parts distributors and is named after Ron's keyer project.  

In this episode we meet Ben, VE6SFX, who was licensed just a year ago and has already pushed the bounderies of antenna design and construction with an energetic and creative approach.  As a professional special effects and prop maker for the movie and TV industry, Ben has come up with novel construction methods including a cloth J-pole, mobile slot and other interesting antenna ideas.

In this episode we meet Ara Kourchians, N6ARA, a real life professional aerospace robotics expert and avid portable ham radio operator.  Ara has engiuneered some really cool products that he makes available through his web site N6ARA Electronics at www.n6ara.com

In this episode we talk with Eric Guth, 4Z1UG, the host of the QSO Today podcast and good freind of the show.  We get an update on Eric's ham radio activites and celebrate passing the 200th episode milestone of the HRWB podcast.  We also get an update on HRWBOTA, Ham Radio Workbenches On The Air.

In this episode we are joined by many close friends of the show to celebrate our 200th anniversary.  We kick things off with Jeremy KF7IJZ co-founder of the show along with George KJ6VU.  We are also joined by Dan  N7HQ, Paul WD9GCO, Troy K4JDA, Vince VE6LK, Mark N6MTS, and Thomas K4SWL.  We take a look back over the first 200 episodes and look to the future of the podcast.

In this episode we talk with Brian, AB6D, about his software development project SOTAMAT (pronounced sota-mate).  SOTAMAT has many features that allow you to spot yourself over the air, send messages, and even remotely control hardware.  This is a very interesting discussion with Brian who is a professional engineer and high tech executive who started out trying to solve a problem to spot his activations without access to the internet.  For more information check out the SOTAMAT web site https://sotamat.com 

On this episode, George KJ6VU, Thomas K4SWL, and Vince VE6LK are invited to join Morten LB0FI and crew on the European Ham Radio Show on YouTube.  We had a great time getting to know eachother and talking about all things ham radio. Check out their channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@hamshoweu 

In this episode we talk with Gaston, KT7RUN, about his software development project called EmComm tools.  Gaston hosts a very popular YouTube channel called The Tech Prepper.  Check it out.  https://www.youtube.com/@TheTechPrepper  

In this show we talk about what is on Dan's workbench and the increased demand for HF spectrum.  Dan is a wealth of knowledge on ham radio and electrical engineering in general.  We cover a wide range of topics in this show.

In this episode we talk about great gifts for your spouse, friends, yourself or even the HRWB staff !  (Just sayin') We talk about our top picks for radios, tools, test equipment, and even non-radio gear for the shack and the field.

Yes you heard that right.  The very first HRWB live on the air operating event will be Sunday December 3rd from 10 AM to 2 PM PST.  We will have multiple stations operating on multiple bands and modes.  Come join the fun ! For more details go to https://hrwbota.com/

In this episode we meet Caryn KD2GUT, Paul WD9GCO and Skeeter N5ASH of the Amateur Radio Newsline.  The AR Newsline has been the premier amateur radio news source for decades.  Founded by Bill Pasternack, the AR Newline carrys on Bill 's legacy with a team of news and media professionals who bring their talents and time to serve the amateur radio community.  Best of all, the AR Newsline team are a real pleasure to hang around with and talk ham radio.   Amateur Radio Newsline™ is a 501(C) (3) tax-exempt corporation operating as a public service.  It primarily survives on contributions made by listeners (and readers of the text version) such as you. Any shortfall has traditionally been paid out of pocket by their team members. Please consider making a donation to keep AR Newsline in operation !   

In this episode we met Rex Harper, W1REX, a prolific designer and builder of ham radio projects.  Rex is famous as the owner of QRPme.com where he sells a huge nubmer of ham radio kits.  Rex is famous for the Tuna Tin 2, a version of Rockmite transciever and MePADs, a system for construction projects with small pieces of PCB mateiral.  We talk about what's on Rex's bench and the origin of some of his cool kits.

In this episode we interview Derek, KD9MEQ, president of the Purdue University Amateur Radio Club.  Derek and his fellow club members have created a very successful amateur radio club that has grown significantly in the last few years.  The combination of welcoming leadership and a LOT of hands-on projects have made this an outstanding college radio club.  The club has built antennas, radio, rotors and many other projects.  Join us in this episode as we explore what makes for a successful club, how to attrack young people to our great hobby and we learn about a lot of cool projects along the way.

In this episode we talk with Rex, KE6MT, the SOTA (Summits On The Air) program manager for California.  Rex gives us an update on the SOTA program and why you should be interested in this great aspect of ham radio.  In the last segment we talk about the Wilderness Protocol and how, while it's a good start, its just not very practical.  We define a new proposal called the Adventure Radio Protocol which uses CTCSS tones to signal various type of activity on the air on a common frequency of 146.580 MHz.  Of course, as a HRWB episode, we also turn this into a hardware project that is a PCB that can handle the tone decoding and alerting.  The Adventure Radio board can be used at a base station, remote receiver or on a repeater system to alert listeners for traffic or emergencies. Check out adventureradio.info for more details.  

We are coming to you live, well recorded live actually, from the QSO Today Academy.  On this episode we are joined by our favorite mega-fan Troy K4JDA and the regular crowd including Vince VE6LK, Thomas K4SWL, Mike VA3MW, Mark N6MTS and host George KJ6VU.  We talka bout all sorts of ham radio workbench related projects and topics.