HOBBY RADIO CRAZE
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A Journal of Random Hobby Radio Snippets
02-24-2026 - 6:00 AM - Good Morning! It's Tuesday, and I have a fireplace video going on the big-screen TV. I have a real fireplace, but it's at the other end of the house. One of my area Amateur (ham) Radio clubs will hold their weekly net tonight on the club repeater. I never check in, even though non-members are welcome. I have nothing of value to add to their proceedings, so I see no reason to waste their time. I might flush my water heater today. That chore has been on the list for a month or so. As for Hobby Radio, let's see what the day brings. Right now, my coffee is ready!
--- 7:00 AM - I'm listening to FAA Air Route Traffic Control on the frequency of a nearby RCAG (Remote Communications Air/Ground) station, and someone has a stuck mic. This is a good example of why the FAA uses AM instead of FM. Even with a stuck mic, you can hear other aircraft trying to make a call. With some, you can understand what they're saying. With the FM capture effect, most of those would be 100% blocked. You wouldn't even know they were there.
--- 7:15 AM - There was a time, in a galaxy far away, when "non-substantive" communications could earn you a "nastygram" from the FCC. I haven't heard any "non-substantive" communications lately. Have you?
--- 8:30 AM - A construction crew in my area is using Family Radio Service walkie talkies. FRS walkie talkies are a great communication solution due to their price and low risk of interference. Hopefully, those kids playing "cops and robbers" are more than a few blocks away. I don't know if they're using "bubble pack" radios or Baofeng units. I would think they would use bubble pack units from Walmart. Why fool with programming a Baofeng? Workers need a ready-to-go radio. Leave the programming to radio hobbyists.
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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?
--- 2:30 PM - Our local school bus drivers are building up courage for the afternoon run. Okay, most routes are not full of Hellions, but they do exist. It's cheap entertainment if your school system uses radios and you have a scanner radio. The smaller of our two districts uses cell phones, which means there is zero situational awareness because drivers can't hear each other's issues in real time.
--- 4:15 PM - Three local Ham Radio guys are having an in-depth discussion about wines. I could really get into it, if I weren't a bourbon & Coke guy.
--- 6:30 PM - Our local city transit bus drivers sometimes shift into the "CB Radio" mode on weekends and evenings when the "adult supervision" has gone home for the day. I've heard them talk about doctor appointments, baseball games, backyard barbeques, and even diarrhea! Keep it coming because it's all entertaining to me.
--- 7:00 PM - I've been hearing "testing" on 462.600 MHz the last few weeks. This is one of the GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) repeater output frequencies. If this system goes "live", I think it will be the first in my city.
--- 8:00 PM - If you follow social media posts related to Hobby Radio, you'll see posts from people who deny the possibility of Amateur (ham) Radio Operators making contacts with the International Space Station using a handheld radio and a cross-polarized handheld antenna. These same people don't have a problem with "satphones" making contact with low-earth-orbit satellites at 400 - 1000 miles, or geostationary birds at 22,000 miles.
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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.