CQ Magazine Highlights

June 2010
The June issue of CQ starts out with "A Quick Visit to China" by W5KFX, who offers tips on getting on the air from a DX location, even if your trip is brief. Next we visit the world of cosmic rays and how they interact with radio waves in the ionosphere in NM7M's "On Forbush Decreases and 160-Meter Propagation." Back here on the surface, we have the results of last year's CQ DX Marathon and the rules for this year's CQ World Wide VHF Contest (July 17-18), as well as a project article for CW enthusiasts, as WA8SME shows us how to "Build a Capacitive Touch Paddle." Actually, it's a great read even if you're not interested in building a keyer, since Mark offers a wonderful tutorial on the basics of capacitance and capacitors. If you've never really understood how capacitors work, read this article. WA8FOZ reviews Richard Bartlett's scholarly book, The World of Ham Radio, 1901-1950: A Social History. It Professor Bartlett's name sounds familiar, that's because he's the brother of the late Forrest Bartlett, W6OWP, who devoted decades to providing on-air code practice and ran the ARRL's West Coast Qualifying Runs for advanced code proficiency. The relationship also provided Richard Bartlett's connection to ham radio. Speaking of ham history, we continue with our 65th anniversary "Timeline of Ham Radio History" series this month, covering 1974-1979. Among our June columns, "Math's Notes" editor Irwin Math, WA2NDM, describes the advantages of fiber-optic transmission systems; "Washington Readout" editor Fred Maia, W5YI, looks at the FCC's National Broadband Plan and its impact on hams; and Public Service Editor Richard Fisher, KI6SN, reports on the emergency communications skills that were polished in preparing for flooding that turned out not to happen along the Red River in Minnesota and North Dakota. "Kids' Korner" editor Brittany Decker, KB1OGL, is our tourguide on "The Teen Radio Journey;" "Learning Curve" editor Rich Arland, K7SZ, examines "Old School Digital Communications" (better known as Morse code); our new QRP Editor, Cam Hartford, N6GA, introduces himself and the Ft. Tuthill 80 low-power transceiver; and Kit-Building Editor Joe Eisenberg, K0NEB, offers tips on desoldering tools and techniques. Digital Editor Don Rotolo, N2IRZ, takes an inside look at USB (that's Universal Serial Bus, not Upper Sideband), those ubiquitous connectors that link various peripherals to our computers; and New Products Editor John Wood, WV5J, tackles “Essential Peripherals” for your ham shack. Awards Editor Ted Melinosky, K1BV, provides tips for county-hunters on using eQSL; "VHF-Plus" editor Joe Lynch, N6CL, reports on live video of ham radio balloon launches; DX Editor Carl Smith, N4AA, looks at the resurgence of DXing activity as increasing numbers of sunspots help bring the HF bands back to life; Contesting Editor John Dorr, K1AR, examines using another language (besides English) when contesting; and Propagation Editor Tomas Hood, NW7US, looks at two highlights of on-air activity in June -- ARRL Field Day and the annual return of sporadic-E propagation on the upper HF and VHF bands. That's a brief look at what's coming up in the June issue of CQ magazine, which should be on newsstands and in subscribers' mailboxes by late May. For information on becoming a CQ subscriber, click the "Click Here to Subscribe" button at the top of this page.