HOBBY RADIO CRAZE
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A Journal of Random Hobby Radio Snippets
02-23-2026 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! That's quite a blizzard going on in the northeast. I've heard several Amateur (ham) Radio operators talking about it. They were not involved in a formal operation, just "rag chewing" about it. Radios and generators are worth their weight in gold during times like this. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 8:00 AM - I heard an Amateur (ham) Radio station that I contacted back in January, up in the air again on 146.580 MHz. I grabbed the microphone, identified myself, and thanked him for the nice QSL card he sent me showing him at the controls of a Cessna Citation jet. As soon as I unkeyed, my power supply died! I'm sending him my QSL card explaining why I suddenly disappeared. But it's not all bad news. While waiting on a new power supply - I didn't have a suitable backup - I'll do some serious re-arranging in the shack, cleaning up a nightmare of wires and cables. It's a good thing they don't still call it "wireless." Do they?
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02-22-2026 - 6:00 AM - Good Morning! It's Sunday, and the most work I have planned for today is watch a NASCAR race on TV. Maybe. I might find something better on one of the streaming services. I'm not a huge NASCAR fan. I've never attended a race. The closest I've ever been to NASCAR is the In-N-Out Burger across the street from the Texas Motor Speedway, and it wasn't even a race day. As usual, I have CW (Morse code) running in the background on the Yaesu 857D as I try to wake up. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 6:15 AM - NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 56. North wind around 7 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 28. North northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
--- 6:30 AM - At a local hospital, I hear a security officer reporting routine building checks. As you might imagine, there are always other "interesting" events discussed. Radio scanning is cheap entertainment. You buy a radio and, possibly, an outside antenna (recommended) once, and they serve you for many years.
--- 7:15 AM - Railroad radio chatter is up this morning in my area. I'm not what you would call a "railfan", but I still find their comms interesting. I've learned a few things I didn't know about the industry just by listening. Search the 159 to 162 MHz range on your scanner radio.
--- 7:45 AM - The Amateur (ham) Radio HF (High Frequency) bands are loaded with contest traffic this morning. This is normal on weekends. I'm not a "contester", but I do hand out contacts now and then.
--- 8:20 AM - I recently purchased a Champion 9000 Inverter Generator from Home Depot after an "experience from Hell" trying to get one from Lowe's. I might post the story on that one of these days. Let's say I will not be setting foot in Lowe's ever again, unless it's an emergency. The Home Depot sale was perfect from start to finish.
---12:15 PM - The latest Hobby Radio craze is Meshtastic. From Wikipedia: "Meshtastic is a decentralized wireless off-grid mesh networking LoRa protocol. The main goal of the project is enabling low-power, long-range communication over ISM radio bands." Locally, it's quite the "buzz" among Amateur (ham) Radio operators. It sounds like fun.
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02-21-2026 - 5:30 AM - Good Morning! It's Saturday, and other than playing on the radio, I have no real plans. As usual, I start the day with CW (Morse code) running in the background. The CB Radio band has yet to open, and I hear no local traffic on Channel 19. Of course, 99% or truckers pass through town without saying a word on the radio. There is an Amateur (ham) Radio group that meets informally at a local restaurant on Saturday mornings. Let's see what the day brings. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
--- 6:40 AM - I have the CB Radio on 40-channel scan, and Channel 6, the "superbowl", is trying to come alive. That channel will be booming in an hour or so. I'm not a Channel 6 operator, but I enjoy listening from time to time.
--- 7:45 AM - Long before there were WiFi wardrivers, looking for open WiFi connections, there were scanner radio wardrivers, looking for interesting VHF and UHF signals to monitor. One of the biggest prizes was the old cordless telephones in the 47-49 MHz range. Those were the days.
---- 8:00 AM - Some Amateur (ham) Radio Operators don't realize how much noise (a radio or TV in the background) their microphone picks up. I'm listening to one such operator on the two-meter band with background music. No one he talks to ever mentions it, so it's not a big deal to many. I'm in the listening mode 99% of the time, so it's not a deal-breaker, just something I've noticed.
---- 1:15 PM - Have you ever heard kids playing with those Family Radio Service walkie-talkies? What I hear, more than anything, is a battle of the "roger" beeps. For me, that takes most of the fun out of listening. Your love or hate of "roger" beeps might be different from mine.
--- 2:00 PM - In my city, the Multi-Use Radio Service is gaining in popularity. Almost every weekend, I hear several guys chasing rabbits, deer, wild turkeys, or something. I have no idea what they're chasing, or if they ever catch whatever it is. They can get frantic. I don't know if MURS falls under the "illegal to disclose content" FCC rule. CB Radio and Amateur (ham) Radio do not. Either way, if I didn't identify the radio users, no disclosure took place. That's my opinion.
--- 3:00 PM - Today, I received a QSL card from An Amateur (ham) Radio Operator confirming our contact on 146.580 FM simplex while he was aeronautical mobile in a Cessna Citation jet last month.
--- 5:00 PM - I finished the second season of Landman today. It was pretty excellent. The only thing that would have made it better would have been much more two-way radio communication. Was there any at all? I can't remember any.
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02-20-2026 - 6:00 AM - Good Morning! It's Friday, and the first day of the rejuvenated Hobby Radio Craze journal! The CB Radio band is quiet right now, but that's okay. It will be screaming later this afternoon. I haven't turned on the Yaesu 857D yet. The scanner radio is alive with the "usual suspects" for my area. The nearby state prison, the city transit buses, and the local school buses keep me entertained. As the day unfolds, I'll be gathering interesting news for your edification and enjoyment. Well, my Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready. Check back throughout the day.
--- 7:00 AM - I've had my eye on the Uniden PC78LTXFM Professional Dual-Mode AM/FM CB Radio. I really want to try FM on local communications. It should work great in my small town, where you can see from one side of town to the other.
--- 4:30 PM - The CB Radio band is in full swing this afternoon. I hear traffic on 20 of the 40 channels. Of course, the usual DX channels are loaded.
--- 5:00 PM - For the last two years, I have been making CW (Morse code) contacts in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program. As write this, I have contacted 653 unique state and/or federal parks so far. I'll start posting those as I make them.