This is your bi-weekly deep dive on making, DIY, electronics, and technical topics of interest to the radio amateur. Join your host George KJ6VU and the HRWB team as they discuss current developments in ham radio while introducing listeners to a plethora of topics and skills such as test equipment, 3D Printing, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and more. Ham radio is a hobby of hobbies - George and team introduce hams of all ages to experimenting and learning within ham radio, which can be one of the most rewarding aspects of the hobby. We are proudly sponsored by Autodesk Eagle PCB design tools, Flex Radio and Digikey.
Iin this episode we meet Dave Gilbert, AB7E, the developer of software for diversity reception. Dave's innovative software helps the listener pull out individual signals from the noise and clutter of busy ham radio bands. Dave makes his software available for free for anyone to use. We talk with Dave about the basics of diversity reception and how he went about developing his software.
In this episode we meet Becky Spiceland N4BKY, Mike Spiceland N4FFF and Barb Asuroglu WB2CBA the amateur radio operators behind the Pebble radio project. The Pebble is a small 20m HF QRP transciever. Becky and Mike are avid portable radio operators and wanted a low cost radio that would be great for hams doing POTA and SOTA. They teamed up with Barb, who led the development of the Pebble radio. Met the team and their journey from an idea to a working radio.
In this episode we meet Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, the new president of AMSAT, the amatuer radio satellite organization. Drew shares his passion for satellite and operating VHF and up. With over 20 years of experience at AMSAT, Drew became the new President of AMSAT in late 2025. Drew and his team of volunteers work tirelessly to advocate for amateur radio satellite interests, build and manage satellites and drive technology outreach. Drew and team is making a big push to recruit young hams and potential hams to our hobby and aerospace technology.
Mike VA3MW and I will be at Ham Radio Friedrichshafen this year. I will be demonstrating our new iShareRadio service in the Flex Radio booth. Stop by and say hello ! George KJ6VU
In this episode we take a deep dive into Hamvention 2026. What we did, who we met, what great products we found and more. At the end we also share our thoughts in preparation for Field Day 2026.
In this episode we catch up with Randy, K7AGE, and talk about great gadgets for the ham shack. Randy is a popular YouTuber and very active ham radio operator. Randy has found some great goodies we would all like in our shack. Grab your wallet and hover your finger over the buy button in this episode.
In this episode we meet Lynn Hansen, KU7Q, owner of Lynovation, makers of innovative ham radio control accessories. Lynn's clever design of remote VFO and control panels for many different models of ham radio gear from all the big radio suppliers is wildly popular. A lifelong builder and home brewer, now retired from a career working in operations management for the electrical grid, Lynn can now focus on creating wonderful ham radio products that make operating fun !
In this episode we meet Conrad Trautmann, N2YCH, Technical Editor at the ARRL. Conrad had a distinguished career as a broadcast engineering executive and now works for the ARRL and is responsible for techincal content in QST and other publications. Conrad's extensive experience in electronics, radio, antenna systems, station construction and management gives him a great perspective on everything from determining what would make for a good technical read to the technical details. We learn about his role at the ARRL and some of them most interesting topics he has worked on. We had such a great time with Conrad, we will have him on in future episodes.
In this episode we meet Andy, N0APX, one of the key people behind the amazing logging software called World Radio League. Andy tells us all about WRL and the future of contact logging and building ham radio community.
In this episode we talk about portable HF antennas for POTA / SOTA / travel and general operating in the great outdoors ! The HRWB team is very active in portable operating. We all have our favorite antennas and provide advice for the ham radio operator new to portable operating.
In this episode we meet Aaron, AE0LZ, owner of Modern Morse, a manufacturer of portable morse code keys. Aaron is professional mechanical design, precision CNC programming and machining, and a very creative guy. Modern Morse keys are popular for POTA, SOTA, travel and anytime you want a portable high quality CW key. Aaron shares his journey through the design and manufacturing process for making his keys.
In this episode we meet Don WB9CYY and Bob WO6W. Both avid CW operators with a love of the old style mechanical "bug" radio telegraph keys. Feeling that the existing CW paddles and keyers sent code that was too highly accurate and lacked any sort of personality, they came up with a very novel way make a modern paddle sound like a bug. As an introduction we talk about the differnet paddle and key types and then take a deep dive into the development of the bug emulator.
In this episode we meet Paul Wesling, KM6LH, a Silicon Valley veteran and a chronicler of it's history and the ham radio operators who shaped it. Paul tells us about some of the key figures from William Eitel and Jack McCullough (EiMac) to Charles Litton (Litton Industries), Steve Wozniak (Apple). The valley has been a fertile ground for invention and engineering for over 100 years. Paul walks us through some of the most significant people and inventions that impact our world today.
In this episode, Grayson Evans, KJ7UM, joins us again to talk about designing and building ham radio gear with tubes, or as he refers to them: thermatrons. Grayson is the author of Hollow-State Design, a book all about tube-type radio equipment. Grayson also provides basic tube radio kits. Grayson is a great mentor and shares his love for all things thermatron !
In this episode we meet Sebastian Delmont, KI2D, the author of the wildly popular portable logging software Ham2K PoLo (Portable Logger). Sebastian has a passion for portable operating and has built a very modern, feature rich logging application that runs on cell phones and tablets. The application started out focusing on the portable op doing SOTA and POTA. He has added many features including templates for many contests, operator lookup, location sensitive data look up and more. Sebastian plans to expand the scope of software offerings to include desktop versions as well in the future. We had a great time talking with Sebastian as you can tell from the length of the episode. By the end we felt we just scratch the surface.
In this episode, our very own Paul Braun, WD9GCO, our show announcer, becomes the special guest. Paul tells us all about his big POTA rove and how he operated HF remotely from a cruise ship. This show also features a large crowd of regulars with an extended workbench segment.
In this episode we meet Hans Summers, founder of QRP Labs, the makers of the wildly popular QCX, QDX and other great portable HF QRP radios. Hans tells about his journey through the design process and all details on his latest creation the QMX multi-band transceiver.
In this episode we meet David Gleason, NR9V, who makes radio interface devices to connect to AllStar and other Radio Over IP applications. We introduce you to AllStar, talk about some of the technical details of the system, and explore the pros and cons of digital voice CODECs. David's company AllScan offers a veriety of radio interfaces, computers and accessories.
In this episode we talk about our workbench projects AND take a deep dive into gift recommendations for your favorite ham. Topics include gifts for the workbench, the shack, portable operations and stocking stuffers. Warm up your wallet !
In this episode we meet Paul, KI7ADC, and Raoul, W7RPS, both avid users of the Icom IC-905 VHF/UHF/SHF radio. We talk about what attracted them to operate on the microwave bands and what it took to get their portable stations all set up. Paul and Raoul live in the Portland metro area and have had experience on the ground and mountain topping with the IC-905. They have explored using SSB, FM, D-STAR and ATV modes on 1.2 GHz, 2.4 and 5.6 GHz. If you have ever been interested in moving up the frequency spectrum to the microwave bands, the IC-905 is a very easy way to get up and on the air.
