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!

CQ Amateur Radio

announcements

ham radio news

zero bias: a cq editorial • New Year, New Opportunities

news bytes • WTWW Signs Off Permanently — Some Programming Moves to WRMI

Rare DX From the Heart of Italy … YU3AWA’s DXpedition to Vatican City • It’s been more than 20 years since a YL has operated HVØA, the only amateur station in Vatican City, so the pileups were even bigger than usual when YU3AWA took the mic during a brief visit last September.

CHIME and the Billion-Year-Old Radio Signal • Now, this is DX — radio signals traveling a billion light years through space — detected by radioastronomers in Canada, a branch of science that has its roots in amateur radio. Contributing Editor At-Large Martin Butera brings us the details.

120 Dipoles on 400 Acres: Grote Reber’s Final Legacy • Back in the 1930s, Grote Reber, W9GFZ,1 used his ham radio skills to build an unusual antenna to pick up even more unusual signals—radio signals from outer space. Today Dr. Reber is recognized as the father of radio astronomy. In late 2002, Jack Najork, W5FG, visited Dr. Reber just a few days before his death. Here is Jack’s story, based on his visit and additional information from Dr. Reber’s friend, Jim Davis, VK70W.

An Audio CW Regen Filter Combining Aspects of Armstrong’s Regenerative Receiver with Reber’s Radio Telescope • WØXI has token some of the earliest radio technology and merged it with radio astronomy techniques to help make your CW listening more comfortable on a noisy band.

Results of the 2022 CQ World Wide VHF Contest

Announcing: The 2023 CQ World Wide WPX Contest • Thrill in the chase of thousands of unique callsign prefixes from hundreds of DX entities in the world’s largest everyone-works-everyone radio contests.

CQ Reviews: The CODAN High Power Amplifier Controller (HPAC) • Some hams like the features of the high-end commercial CODAN Envoy transceivers, but have trouble interfacing them with anything except CODAN’s very expensive amplifier. N5SK takes a close look at the new CODAN High Power Amplifier Controller, which is designed to let the Envoy operate with the popular (and much less expensive) Ameritron ALS-1306 amplifier.

Build Your Own Low-Voltage Transformer, Part 2 • The first part of this article showed you how to build a low-voltage power source using parts that may already be in your junk box. We conclude here with tips on using your new tool and keeping things safe.

The Perverted V Antenna (Part 1) Or … The Anticlimactic Adventures of Every Woman’s Sweetheart • Returning to the ham bands after a four-decade absence, N2EWS (“Every Woman’s Sweetheart”) shares his adventures in getting back on the air without attracting the attention of his homeowners’ association. This is part one of three…

what’s new

Antenna Misconceptions • Antennas are possibly hams’ favorite topic of discussion, experimentation and misunderstanding. Countless books have been published to help us better understand these metallic marvels that make our communication possible. Yet, misconceptions persist. K3MT takes a closer look at a few of the most common.

New Tools for Using the Sherwood Tables for Transceiver Selection • The Sherwood Tables of Receiver Tests have long been valued by contesters as tools for selecting new radios. K4FMH has created several tools on...