July 2009
Articles from the
July 2009
issue
of CQ posted on our
website include:
The July issue of CQ starts out with an update on ham radio in Saudi Arabia by Dave Kaiser, AL7HG, who has spent much of the past 25 years in the desert kingdom. He reports that it’s now easier for foreigners to get permission to operate there, but that the station that accounted for many hams’ first-ever HZ contact is permanently shut down.
Next, we have the results of the 2009 CQ WPX
RTTY Contest – the 15th running of the event -- which featured
yet another record number of entries, breaking 2000 for the first time and
falling just short of last year’s CQWW RTTY DX Contest, which set the record
for any RTTY contest. All this as “old Sol” continues his longer than usual
slumber at the bottom of the sunspot cycle. We also have the rules for this
fall's
Our July issue also features this year's inductees into the CQ Amateur Radio, Contest and DX Halls of Fame. This year, we have 15 new members of the Amateur Radio Hall of Fame as well as two new members of the DX Hall of Fame and one new inductee to the Contesting Hall of Fame. Congratulations to all!
Among our columns this month, we welcome our new Public Service Editor, Richard Fisher, KI6SN. His inaugural column covers ham radio’s response to April’s earthquake in Italy and spring floods along the Red River in the Midwest, as well as large-scale ham participation in a statewide interoperability conference in Tennessee. "Math's Notes" editor Irwin Math, WA2NDM, looks at a low-cost battery backup system; Washington Editor Fred Maia, W5YI, explores the ins and outs of the FCC’s Universal Licensing System, and "World of Ideas" editor Dave Ingram, K4TWJ, continues his annual look at mobiling, this time highlighting a motorized barstool-mobile ham station!
This month’s “Weekender” column features “The Joy of Kit-Building” by Jack Purdum, W9NMT, which looks more at the basic tools needed for building a kit than at a specific project. Antennas Editor Kent Britain, WA5VJB, shares some “SWR Meter Secrets,” and Beginner's Editor Wayne Yoshida, KH6WZ, looks at stretching your budget with used classic ham gear. "How it Works" editor Dave Ingram, K4TWJ, continues his tour of the metric system and its many applications in ham radio; "Magic in the Sky" editor Jeff Reinhardt, AA6JR, takes us to a place where the electricity we all depend on is “born,” and "What's New" editor Anthony Luscre, K8ZT, looks at a USB interface, a grab-&-go emcomm center and a voice/CW memory keyer, among other new goodies in the ham radio marketplace.
VHF Editor Joe Lynch, N6CL, discusses the use of the VHF maritime beacon network to monitor for tropospheric ducts, which often form over open water; DX Editor Carl Smith, N4AA, reports on his DXpedition to the Bahamas; Awards Editor Ted Melinosky, K1BV, looks at the CQ award checkpoint system; Contesting Editor John Dorr, K1AR, turns over his keyboard this month to young contester Cal Darula, K0DXC, for a young person’s perspective on competitive ham radio; and Propagation Editor Tomas Hood, NW7US, shows us how to gain a competitive edge in DXing during this prolonged sunspot minimum.
That's a brief look at what's coming up in the July issue of CQ magazine, which should be on newsstands and in subscribers' mailboxes by late June. For information on becoming a CQ subscriber, click the "Click Here to Subscribe" button at the top of this page.
Antenna Restrictions and H.R. 2160
2009 Inductees, CQ Amateur Radio, Contest and DX Halls of Fame
CQ WW RTTY DX Contest
On The Cover
Jim Briggs, WA9TIR, of
Bensenville, Illinois, can operate from wherever he goes with his
fifth-wheel camper.