The Ham Radio Lab

A first-hand field report from ARRL Field Day 2026. From troubleshooting FT8 issues on a Yaesu FT-891 in a local park to joining the McKinney Amateur Radio Club (MARC), discover why Field Day is the ultimate test of gear, patience, and community outreach.

Join me as I prepare for my first ARRL Field Day! Learn about the objectives of ham radio's biggest event, how points are scored for emergency power, and get a look at a portable FT-891 setup running on solar and batteries in a North Texas park.

A technical guide differentiating Digital Voice (DMR, Fusion, D-Star, AllStar) from Digital Data (FT8, Packet) and APRS. Discover how these modes work, their historical ties to TCP/IP, and why they are dominating the airwaves today.

Master the Read-Import-Write to seamlessly move your organized frequency lists from a spreadsheet directly into your handheld radio.

Learn how to research, organize, and program your handheld transceiver (HT) like a pro.

Like many of you, the start of Spring (or maybe just a particularly inspiring QSO!) gets me thinking about what I want to achieve in our fantastic hobby. Amateur radio is such a vast playground, and it’s easy to get distracted by all the shiny new things or venerable old boat anchors!, just read a couple of my last posts for details. So going forward, I’m trying to be more focused and intentional on what I want to do and achieve. I’ve set myself three main goals, centered around organization, operation, and exploration.

Over correcting from past activations just leads to a bad back when traveling out of the country

Winter Field Day has come and gone, and while the bands might have been buzzing, my own experience was… well, let’s call it “educational.” It wasn’t the pileups or dx contacts I was envisioning, but rather a stark reminder of the importance of preparation. Along with a splash of reality on some of my own expectations and experience. The Concept of Winter Field Day You know how it goes, we all have those grand plans, picturing ourselves sending out our callsign from some frosty vista. My vision was no different, however, my execution left a little something to be desired. Let’s just say my “operational output” this year was pretty minimal.

A Calendar to share events and Net's of interest to the ham radio communitiy

There is a lot of love for open source and Linux operating systems in Ham Radio. However there are some Windows hold outs. I hope to show you don't need both but can get by with whatever OS you like... sort of