What a difference a year and a move make, along with them a too-long hiatus from amateur radio. My wife and I have settled into a new home in a new state -- New Mexico. To celebrate that, I initially opted for a new-old call, WB5BUP, a nod to my Novice call WB1BUP. That makes me ex-WB1BUP, ex-N1ABS (twice), ex-KC1JB, ex-W1PNS...

It’s Spring! Daffodils and forsythia are blooming. And its the season for an annual ham-radio operating event, QRP to the Field. This year, the event’s sponsors opted for a native-American theme: On April 25, operate from a location whose name has a native-American origin. “Piece of cake,” said I. Be it street, park, school,...

I’ve seen and used some slick Morse code keys over the years, and collected several of them. When I read that Steve Roberts, W1SFR, had designed a new straight key based on a torsion bar, however, I scratched my bearded chin. My last exposure to the concept of torsion bars came in junior high school, when I dabbled oh so slig...

Last summer, I had the pleasure of building an Elecraft K1 — quite a relaxing change from the KX1, with its tighter spaces and height restrictions for some of the components.

Not so much with the K1. It has lots of space to work with. And once finished, what a quiet receiver! The AGC mod I made during construction (thanks for...