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 • CQ, The “Spirit” of Ham Radio, and the War in Ukraine

We’re Back in Print!

NEWS BYTES

CQ Contests and the War in Ukraine

EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS • A Different Kind of EmComm: Amateur Radio and the War in Ukraine

Hats Off to PY Hams Providing Emergency Communications

Results of the 2021 CQWW DX SSB Contest • For me, working the world with 5 watts and a low dipole is only possible during a CQ WW weekend! – Jan, PG2AA.

2021 CQWW DX SSB PLAQUE WINNERS AND DONORS

Celebrating Our Youth Operators!

Exploring in the CQ WW from EE7K

A CQ Exclusive: Slow Website Speeds Cause Spectrum Rage • Professor Emil Heisseluft investigates how slow website speeds enhance spectrum rage, especially during DX contests.

Smoke (But No Mirrors): The Cigar Box QRP Transmitter • Inspired by Bob Heil’s “pine board project” and the blues tradition’s cigar box guitars, AB1DQ built a 5-watt vacuum tube transmitter out of cigar boxes! PT2ZDX/LU9EFO shares the story as well as an interview with the builder.

what’s new

Predicting Balun Performance Using 3-D Models • Is 3-D modeling software an accurate and useful tool for designing and optimizing baluns? K1BUK set out to find the answer and shares the results of his research with us. Plus, he’s got some tips to help you build your own.

The 21st Annual CQ World Wide Foxhunting Weekend • Saturday, May 14–Sunday, May 15, 2022

My Most Challenging Assignment • If you’ve ever built a radio from a kit, you are the beneficiary of the work of people like W6APZ, who spent the early days of his engineering career designing kits for folks like us to build. Here’s a look at the other side of the kit business.

MATH’S NOTES

THE LISTENING POST

KIT BUILDING • Four Times the Fun!

LEARNING CURVE • Winter Field Day

QRP: Low-Power Communications • A QRPer’s Approach to Winter Field Day

ANALOG ADVENTURES • The RTTY Ditty

MAGIC IN THE SKY • Does Our Future Lie In The Stars?

SPURIOUS SIGNALS

ANTENNAS • Antenna Magnets

VHF PLUS • Springtime on Six

AWARDS • DX Awards from Ecuador

DX • Winners of the Second Annual Intrepid DX Group Youth “Dream Rig“ Essay Contest

On the Cover

CONTESTING • Covid and Contesting – A Two-Year Lookback

PROPAGATION • April Propagation

BEHIND THE BYLINES… • … a little bit about some of the authors whose articles appear in this issue

Looking Ahead In

HAMSHOP