May 2009
Articles from the
May 2009
issue
of CQ posted on our
website include:
The May issue of CQ starts out with a story of just how far some hams will go to get what they want …Scott Williamson, VY1SW, loves cars as much as he loves hamming. And he just couldn’t bear the thought of breaking the lines and styling of his Infinity G37 Coupe by sticking a 2-meter antenna on the roof and attaching a rig to the underside of the dashboard. In his article, “Invisible Mobile Installation (with a Radiating License Plate!),” Scott explains how he practically disassembled his car in order to install a radio and antenna that are invisible when not in use. Click here to see additional photos of Scott’s invisible mobile installation in progress.
Next, we have the results of last year’s CW World Wide RTTY DX Contest – another record-breaking year despite the low sunspot numbers, with log submissions up 20% from 2007 (which was itself a record-breaking year). World top scores included P49X, HI3T, CN3A, HC8N and EA8AH, while U.S. winners included W1UE, WA1Z, K4FJ, WW4LL and K1TTT. The May issue also includes the results of last year’s CQ World Wide Foxhunting Weekend and the rules for this year’s running of the event, scheduled for May 9-10 (but clubs may choose any spring weekend for their entries).
Among our columns, WA2NDM’s “Math’s Notes” for May covers simple antenna measurements; W5YI’s “Washington Readout” tells the story behind the FCC’s current method of assigning ham radio callsigns – and believe it or not, it’s full of intrigue and scandal! Bob Josuweit, WA3PZO, bids farewell to our Public Service column after a dozen years at its helm, wrapping up with a look at ham radio’s response to the Australian brushfires and at the fact that, particularly as hams, nearly every one of us knows someone who has been affected, directly or indirectly, by a disaster. Thank you, Bob, for keeping us so well-informed about ham radio emergency communications activities for so many years.
Dave Ingram, K4TWJ, continues his annual “Keys” series in May’s “World of Ideas,” taking a further look at “Cootie Keys” (don’t know what they are? Gotta read Dave’s April and May columns!). This month’s “Weekender” column follows up on another one of Dave’s long-running themes – stealth antennas – with a look by Jack Najork, W5FG, at “Refining the Invisible Antenna … or 100 Watts into a Black Thread.”
Mobiling Editor Jeff Reinhardt, AA6JR, takes a walk on the legal side this month, examining the various laws and proposed laws designed to limit cellphone use by drivers that could unintentionally make mobile hamming illegal in some states. Speaking of mobiling, and of stealth antennas, Antennas Editor Kent Britain, WA5VJB, brings the two together in his May column, devoted to low-profile mobile antennas (although not quite as low-profile as VY1SW’s!). K4TWJ takes us back to basics in his “How it Works” column, covering metric conversions and the art of reading (and understanding) your radio’s technical specifications, or specs. And “Beginner’s Corner” editor Wayne Yoshida, KH6WZ, guides new hams through the basics of choosing and purchasing that all-important first radio.
New Products Editor Anthony Luscre, K8ZT, looks this month – among other things – at three new switching power supplies and a cross-needle SWR/Wattmeter from MFJ, a new coax switch from Radiowavz, and a fascinating device called COMAX, which uses Morse code as a replacement for the keyboard on your Windows® computer. This has application well beyond ham radio for people with disabilities who cannot use traditional computer keyboards.
“VHF Plus” editor Joe Lynch, N6CL, looks this month at “Echoes of Apollo,” as we approach the 40th anniversary of man’s first landing on the Moon, detailing several on-air events on the ham bands that are scheduled to mark the anniversary; Awards Editor Ted Melinosky, K1BV, provides an update on eQSL and CQ awards, particularly the USA-CA Award, as well as telling us about a variety of operating awards from around the world. DX Editor Carl Smith, N4AA, brings us up-to-date on the K5D DXpedition to Desecheo Island and offers details of the upcoming operation from Midway Island. Contesting Editor John Dorr, K1AR, looks at the many operating categories in different contests and wonders if we have too many. Finally, Propagation Editor Tomas Hood, NW7US, offers some “Higher Frequency Hope for May,” as he gazes into his crystal ball and sees that, even with sunspots remaining low, there will be some good DX opportunities on the upper HF bands and lower VHF bands due to the seasonal increase in sporadic-E propagation, a process that begins in mid-spring and peaks in the summer.
That's a brief look at what's coming up in the May issue of CQ magazine, which should be on newsstands and in subscribers' mailboxes by late April. For information on becoming a CQ subscriber, click the "Click Here to Subscribe" button at the top of this page.
Zero Bias
Return of the Flea Market
On The Cover
Jerry Prindle, KL7HFI,
operates PSK-31 from his shack in Juneau, Alaska. (Cover photo by Larry
Mulvehill, WB2ZPI)