CQ Amateur Radio

CQ is the magazine for active hams, with a focus on the practical. Every article is clearly written and aimed at involving you, the reader...whether it's a story of operating from some exotic location, an article to deepen your understanding of ham radio science and technology, or a fun-to-build project that will have practical use in your ham shack. Join us on our monthly journey through the broad and varied landscape of the world's most fascinating hobby!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CQ Amateur Radio

HAM RADIO NEWS

ZERO BIAS: A CQ Editorial

NEWS BYTES • NJ Club Loses Towers and Antennas to Ida

A Report on YOTA Camp 2021 in Ohio • The first Youth on the Air camp program in the Western Hemisphere was held this summer, after a year’s delay due to the Covid pandemic. Participants KD9POK and KE8KWZ provide a first-hand report.

Emergency Communications Special: EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS • CQ Interviews: ARRL Emergency Communications and Field Services Committee Chairman George W. “Bud” Hippisley, W2RU Plus: Hams in Haiti Need Donations of Equipment for EmComm

Emergency Communications Special: LEARNING CURVE

Was New Orleans Ready for Another Strong Hurricane? • As we went to press, Louisiana, Mississippi, and many other states from the Gulf Coast to New England were just beginning to recover from Hurricane Ida, which struck New Orleans as a category 4 storm 16 years to the day after the city was swamped by Hurricane Katrina. Back in 2005, KB5AVY’s repeater was one of the only operating radio links between “the Big Easy” and the state capital in Baton Rouge. Now, Roberto offers this first-person report from New Orleans immediately after Ida.

SATERN and the Patriot North 2021 Exercise: Planning IS Required! • Prior planning is essential to effective emergency communications. But real emergencies rarely go according to anyone’s plan. W9JU shares the lessons learned when planning snafus required his SATERN group to respond flexibly, even in an exercise.

Ham Radio in the Year of Covid • The Covid-19 pandemic provided hams with a new and different way to provide public service and emergency communications. This time around, the “served agency” was us, and the emergency is ongoing. AA2AV explains how his club responded.

Decoding NOAA Weather Satellites • During a weather emergency, if the internet is down at your emergency operating center or incident command post, you can use your computer-connected radio to download and decode the latest weather satellite images from NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. KDØWUQ explains how to do it.

MAGIC IN THE SKY

GORDO’S SHORT CIRCUITS

CQ CLASSIC • Remembering 9/11 20 Years Later

Public Service • Public Service and Emergency Communications

Automatic Antenna Relay for Lightning Protection • Here’s a simple circuit to protect your station equipment from voltage spikes caused by nearby lightning strikes or even a direct hit on your antenna system.

55th Edition: CQ World-Wide DX Contest All-Time Records

55th Edition: CQ World-Wide DX Contest All-Time U.S.A. Records

Using a Downloadable Program or RF Power-Density Meter to Comply with the FCC’s New RF Exposure Evaluation Requirements • Following up on last month’s detailed report on the FCC’s new rules for analyzing your station’s compliance with RF safety standards, RF exposure expert N6NB offers his perspective and two practical methods of complying with the rules, noting that it is now often easier to do an actual evaluation than to figure out if you’re exempt.

MATH’S NOTES

THE LISTENING POST

READER FEEDBACK

KIT BUILDING

QRP: Low-Power Communications • Four State QRP Group’s Bayou Jumper … A QRP Spy Radio

ANALOG ADVENTURES •...