In this episode we meet Brian, NR7Y, the author of firmware that allows you to operate CW with an inexpensive Quansheng HT.  Several other hams pioneered the idea by reverse engineering the Quansheng UV-5K and other radios then wrote firmware to add new features.  Brian picked up from there and has improved the idea with several more modifications.  

This mode has become all the rage in the POTA/SOTA community and is spreading like crazy thanks to the efforts of the Brass Knuckle Gang.  

In this episode we meet Jeremy Fielder, KK7GWY, author or AetherSDR, a software environment for controlling FlexRadio equipment.  AetherSDR runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows and provides a wide range of compelling features.

In this episode, George KJ6VU, talks about his project to design a Radio Over IP device that can be used to link repeater systems over the internett.  All of the HRWB crew talk about their personal ham radio projects in more detail.  

In this episode we meet up with Sebastian Delmont, KI2D, the author of the very popular logging application Ham2K, also known as PoLo for Portable Logger.  Sebastian has been working on the next generation of Ham2K that will support desktop OS platforms as well as phones and tablets.  The goal is to run on Windows, Mac, Linux, IOS and Android.  Sebastian gives us an update on the development process and the future direction.  

In this episode, we meet the guys from CSN Technologies, the makers of the S.A.T., the Satellite Antenna Tracker.  This amazing device connects to your radio and alt/az antenna rotor and will automatically track the satellite as it zips across the sky without the need for a computer.  Mike, Keith and Frank are not only smart and knowledgable hams but also a blast to hang out with.  This is a good introduction to the topic of satellite tracking and how their product works.  We also dip into some other cool products they make including the iGateMini, a self-contained APRS device.

In this episode we meet Jason McCormick, N8EI, one of the main developers of the AllStarLink system.  AllStar is a radio-over-IP system that allows repeaters and individuals to connect over the internet.  Jason is one of the core team of 10 develoers who volunteer their time and expertise to craft a fantastic technology that we all can use and enjoy.  AllStar software and the AllStarLink network of linked repeaters allow users to connect all over the world.  Built on the open source Asterisk PBX platform, AllStar has grown into a very capable software tool.

Iin this episode we meet Dave Gilbert, AB7E, the developer of software for diversity reception.  Dave's innovative software helps the listener pull out individual signals from the noise and clutter of busy ham radio bands.  Dave makes his software available for free for anyone to use.  We talk with Dave about the basics of diversity reception and how he went about developing his software.

In this episode we meet Becky Spiceland N4BKY, Mike Spiceland N4FFF and Barb Asuroglu WB2CBA the amateur radio operators behind the Pebble radio project.  The Pebble is a small 20m HF QRP transciever.  Becky and Mike are avid portable radio operators and wanted a low cost radio that would be great for hams doing POTA and SOTA.  They teamed up with Barb, who led the development of the Pebble radio.  Met the team and their journey from an idea to a working radio.  

In this episode we meet Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, the new president of AMSAT, the amatuer radio satellite organization.  Drew shares his passion for satellite and operating VHF and up.  With over 20 years of experience at AMSAT, Drew became the new President of AMSAT in late 2025.  Drew and his team of volunteers work tirelessly to advocate for amateur radio satellite interests, build and manage satellites and drive technology outreach.  Drew and team is making a big push to recruit young hams and potential hams to our hobby and aerospace technology.

Mike VA3MW and I will be at Ham Radio Friedrichshafen this year.  I will be demonstrating our new iShareRadio service in the Flex Radio booth.  Stop by and say hello !

George KJ6VU

In this episode we take a deep dive into Hamvention 2026.  What we did, who we met, what great products we found and more.  At the end we also share our thoughts in preparation for Field Day 2026.

In this episode we catch up with Randy, K7AGE, and talk about great gadgets for the ham shack.  Randy is a popular YouTuber and very active ham radio operator.  Randy has found some great goodies we would all like in our shack.  Grab your wallet and hover your finger over the buy button in this episode.

In this episode we meet Lynn Hansen, KU7Q, owner of Lynovation, makers of innovative ham radio control accessories.  Lynn's clever design of remote VFO and control panels for many different models of ham radio gear from all the big radio suppliers is wildly popular.   A lifelong builder and home brewer, now retired from a career working in operations management for the electrical grid, Lynn can now focus on creating wonderful ham radio products that make operating fun !

In this episode we meet Conrad Trautmann, N2YCH, Technical Editor at the ARRL.  Conrad had a distinguished career as a broadcast engineering executive and now works for the ARRL and is responsible for techincal content in QST and other publications.  Conrad's extensive experience in electronics, radio, antenna systems, station construction and management gives him a great perspective on everything from determining what would make for a good technical read to the technical details.  We learn about his role at the ARRL and some of them most interesting topics he has worked on.  

We had such a great time with Conrad, we will have him on in future episodes.

In this episode we meet Andy, N0APX, one of the key people behind the amazing logging software called World Radio League.  Andy tells us all about WRL and the future of contact logging and building ham radio community.

In this episode we talk about portable HF antennas for POTA / SOTA / travel and general operating in the great outdoors !  The HRWB team is very active in portable operating.  We all have our favorite antennas and provide advice for the ham radio operator new to portable operating.

In this episode we meet Aaron, AE0LZ, owner of Modern Morse, a manufacturer of portable morse code keys.  Aaron is professional mechanical design, precision CNC programming and machining, and a very creative guy.  Modern Morse keys are popular for POTA, SOTA, travel and anytime you want a portable high quality CW key.  Aaron shares his journey through the design and manufacturing process for making  his keys.  

In this episode we meet Don WB9CYY and Bob WO6W.  Both avid CW operators with a love of the old style mechanical "bug" radio telegraph keys.  Feeling that the existing CW paddles and keyers sent code that was too highly accurate and lacked any sort of personality, they came up with a very novel way make a modern paddle sound like a bug. 

As an introduction we talk about the differnet paddle and key types and then take a deep dive into the development of the bug emulator.

In this episode we meet Paul Wesling, KM6LH, a Silicon Valley veteran and a chronicler of it's history and the ham radio operators who shaped it.  Paul tells us about some of the key figures from William Eitel and Jack McCullough (EiMac) to Charles Litton (Litton Industries), Steve Wozniak (Apple).  The valley has been a fertile ground for invention and engineering for over 100 years.  Paul walks us through some of the most significant people and inventions that impact our world today.

In this episode, Grayson Evans, KJ7UM, joins us again to talk about designing and building ham radio gear with tubes, or as he refers to them: thermatrons.  Grayson is the author of Hollow-State Design, a book all about tube-type radio equipment.  Grayson also provides basic tube radio kits.

Grayson is a great mentor and shares his love for all things thermatron !

In this episode we meet Sebastian Delmont, KI2D, the author of the wildly popular portable logging software Ham2K PoLo (Portable Logger).  Sebastian has a passion for portable operating and has built a very modern, feature rich logging application that runs on cell phones and tablets.  The application started out focusing on the portable op doing SOTA and POTA.  He has added many features including templates for many contests, operator lookup, location sensitive data look up and more.  Sebastian plans to expand the scope of software offerings to include desktop versions as well in the future.  We had a great time talking with Sebastian as you can tell from the length of the episode.  By the end we felt we just scratch the surface.   

In this episode, our very own Paul Braun, WD9GCO, our show announcer, becomes the special guest.  Paul tells us all about his big POTA rove and how he operated HF remotely from a cruise ship.

This show also features a large crowd of regulars with an extended workbench segment.

In this episode we meet Hans Summers, founder of QRP Labs, the makers of the wildly popular QCX, QDX and other great portable HF QRP radios.  Hans tells about his journey through the design process and all details on his latest creation the QMX multi-band transceiver.

In this episode we meet David Gleason, NR9V, who makes radio interface devices to connect to AllStar and other Radio Over IP applications.  We introduce you to AllStar, talk about some of the technical details of the system, and explore the pros and cons of digital voice CODECs.  David's company AllScan offers a veriety of radio interfaces, computers and accessories.

In this episode we talk about our workbench projects AND take a deep dive into gift recommendations for your favorite ham.  Topics include gifts for the workbench, the shack, portable operations and stocking stuffers.

Warm up your wallet !

In this episode we meet Paul, KI7ADC, and Raoul, W7RPS, both avid users of the Icom IC-905 VHF/UHF/SHF radio.  We talk about what attracted them to operate on the microwave bands and what it took to get their portable stations all set up.  Paul and Raoul live in the Portland metro area and have had experience on the ground and mountain topping with the IC-905.  They have explored using SSB, FM, D-STAR and ATV modes on 1.2 GHz, 2.4 and 5.6 GHz.

If you have ever been interested in moving up the frequency spectrum to the microwave bands, the IC-905 is a very easy way to get up and on the air.

In this episode we meet Richard Dillman, W6AWO, one of the key people responsible for putting historical shore station KPH back on the air.  In this fascinating interview, Richard tells us about the history of KPH, when it was decomissioned and his efforts to put the station back on the air.  This project is managed by the Maritime Radio Historical Society.  Today KPH is on the air using commercial HF marine frequencies and on the ham bands as K6KPH.

Many thanks to our good friend Kevin Mattison, KM6WUM, for pulling this show together.  You can hear more about Kevin and his portable satellite tracker project in HRWB episode 120.

In this episode we meet Tony, K1KP, the developer of polar modulation that is being used in the new Flex Radio Aurora radio.  Polar modulation is a technology breakthrough that allows Flex Radio to make an integrated 500 watt HF/6m transciever, power supply and antenna tuner in a small light weight package.  With better than 80% efficiency, the Aurora produces less heat, consumes less power and is smaller than conventional radios. 

Tony, K1KP, has been developing this technology for over 10 years.  In this episode we will hear about Tony's journey as he pioneered polar modulation in amateur radio.

In this episode we meet Keith Elliott, W6KME, from the Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club.  Keith has been ordanizing the club's Field Day event for the past 5 years and has learned a lot about how to set up a very large, multi-transmitter station.  Keith shares both the technical tips and tricks as well as management ideas to make everything run smoothly.  Running a class 24A station, the Conejo Valley ARC has one of the largest Field Day stations on the air.

Keith is very active with Ventura County's ARES and ACS (Auxilliary Communication Service), as an Assistant Emergency Coordinator and frequent participant in public events.  He has been recently elected as the new Section Manager of the ARRL's Santa Barbara section, including Ventura, Santa Barbara aand San Luis Obispo Counties.

In this episode, we meet Simon Wilton, G7HCD / VA3SII, a prolific designer, tinkerer and ham radio operator.  Simon describes some of his projects including 3D brackets for radio control heads and his design tools of choice. 

Simon is also the originator of the phrase "Good after-evening-noon" often heard on our show.

In this episode our good friend Pat Hensley, W5WTH, joins us to talk about his latest super creative electronics projects and his design process.  Pat comes up with some of the coolest ham radio projects as he explores the world of electronics and microcontrollers.  

From his software that makes a modern Flex Radio sound like an old unstable tube radio from the 50's to his beer can CW key, Pat comes up with projects that are really fun.  He publishes all of his projects as open source on his blog web site whiskeytangohotel.com

In this episode we talk with Eric Guth, 4Z1UG, the host of the popular QSO Today Podcast.  Eric has produced over 500 interviews with interesting and influential amateur radio operators creating an amazing repository of ham radio history.  Eric's body of work informs, entertains and inspires us while we all create our own ham radio journey.  Eric's work is a valuable gift to the amateur radio community.

Eric shares his own personal ham radio journey and plans for the future.  We were all very happy to hang out with Eric and talk radio.

In this episode, our very own Vince, VE6LK, walks us through the process of figuring out how to build your go kit.  Whether your are building a kit for mission critical emergency communications or casual field operating, Vince has practical advice about how to approach the process highlighting how defining your goals up front can help guide you to a successful build.

In this episode we meet Steve and Tina Stroh.  Steve is the editor of the Zero Retries newsletter where he writes about all things digital communications related to ham radio.  Steve has a wide range of interestes include emerging technologies like the IP400 networking project, M17 the digital voice project and regulatory efforts to bring ham radio into modern times.  

Tina Stroh, a medical professional, is very interested in public service communications and in organizing and running digital communications events.  Together they are organizing the Zero Retries Digital Conference which will be held for the first time in Washington state this fall.

Tina and Steve give a lot to the amateur radio community and encourage hams to push the limits of amateur radio technology.  Check out the Zero Retries newsletter at zeroretries.org

In this episode the whole team gets together and talks about our Field Day 2025 experience.  Everyone's Field Day was a bit different.  From casual mobile operating to big club events, we all had a great time and learned things along the way.  We share tips and tricks to make your Field Day a great success.

In this episode we meet Carlos from Parts Candy.  Carlos is an experienced electronics technician and he shares his life-long love of electronics and his technical skills reparing electronic equipment.  Seeing a need in the market for high quality test leads, Carlos started his own company, Parts Candy, where he makes high quality test leads at a reasonable price.  Join us in our conversation with Carlos as we learn about his electronics journey and his company.

Warning:  Grab your wallet !  You are going to want to buy some of Carlos' products. 

In this episode we meet Roger Coude, VE2DBE, the author of Radio Mobile.  This amazing software package allows the user to create a cross sectional plot of a radio path between two points on Earth.  The software includes a terrain database so the path includes obstructions and the curvature of the Earth.  This software can be used to determine link paths, repeater coverage, simplex point to point link budgets and more.

Roger has developed this software many years and makes it freely available to ham radio operators.  A truly generous gift to the ham radio community.

In this episode we are joined by Paul WD9GCO and Josh K7OSH, part of the HRWB family, and we talk about Hamvention 2025.  We met soooo many great people who stopped by the booth to say hello. 

In this episode we recap what each of us learned at Hamvention and describe the overall experience.  We wrap up the episode with a brief roundtable discussion about our Field Day plans for this year.

In this episode we have Eric, co-founder of Elecraft, on the show to talk about the K4 radio architecture and how it's designed to be operated remotely.  Eric talks about the design considerations, process and the various ways to control the radio for a seamless experience.

In this special episode, we meet Steve Hicks, CTO of Flex Radio.  Steve announces a new radio in the Flex Radio product line.  This new radio is a combination of the features of the current 8000 series of radios plus a built in 500 watt power amplifier, antenna tuner and AC power supply all integrated into a package the size of the current 8000 series radios.  

This remarkable new radio uses a new transmitter architecture that doubles power efficency resulting in an integrated package that is smaller, consumes less power, generates less heat, and is quieter than current equipmemnt on the market.  

In this episode, our resident expert on writing ham radio gear reviews, Thomas, K4SWL, walks us through the process of writing a good ham radio review.  How can you tell a good review from a bad one and tips for how you can write good content.

Vince gives us some great tips when it comes to buying used gear.  How do you find it, evaluate it and figure out a fair price.

In this episode we meet Len Koppl, KD0RC, the designer of the Teensy Maestro remote control head for a Flex radio.  Len is a professional software developer and project manager and brings many decades of technical experience and ham radio hands-on to his projects.

In tis episode we learn about multiple projects including the Teensy Maestro, an open source hardware remote control head designed to control a Flex radio.  Based on the Arduino Teensy microcontroller, we learn about Len's journey of development and some of the interesting technical challenges he faced in this project.

In this episode we have an extended conversation with Kirk, NT0Z and Paul WD9GCO.

Kirk is the Amateur Radio columnist for The Spectrum Monitor; former columnist for Monitoring Times and Popular Communications; Author of Stealth Amateur Radio (www.stealthamateur.com) and former QST Assistant Managing Editor.

Paul is a news anchor for Amateur Radio Newsline and the professional announcer for the Ham Radio Workbench podcast.

Kirk and Paul have some great stories and general ham radio wisdom to share with our listeners.  It's so much fun to spend time with them that this turned into the longest episode we have recorded, and that's saying something !

In this episode we meet Richard Desaulniers, VE2DX.  

Richard has been licensed since 1990 and has a background in emergency communications serving at disaster events in Quebec. He enjoys hunting DX, Island Activations and DXPeditions.

Richard is also an experimenter and founded VE2DX Electronics in 2020. With the founding of the company, he wanted to create inexpensive and simple electronic products to help the Ham Radio Community.

Among his creations are products like TrueTTL, TrueCIV, and TrueCAT thes were implemented and applied to all VE2DX Electronics Design creation to help eliminate problems with RFI, EMI, Signal Loss and other signal issues, thanks to Heavy Shielding, RFI filtration of Power, Signals and Grounds, Signal processing, and signal automatic leveling.

Join us in a great conversation with Richard VE2DX, Vince VE6LK and Thomas K4SWL.

In this episode we talk all about our second on the air operating event, Ham Radio Workbenches On The Air.  We had so much fun the last time, we decided to do it again.  We talk about whats on our workbenches and go over all the details about operating HRWBOTA.

The operating event will be Sunday March 16.  For all the details go to https://hrwbota.com

We meet Alan, N7AKG, the developer of the Ham Radio Instant Scoring Service, HISS, that allows operators to create their own contests and show scores in real time.  We also meet Andrew, KC2G, the developer of several interesting projects including the HRWBOTA tracker web site.

In this episode we meet Patrick, KJ7SZU, the owner of the company that makes the digital clock and information device, Geochron.  The mechanical Geochron clock has been around for over 40 years.  When Patrick saw his first mechanical Geochron clock he was hooked !  He was so impressed with the idea that he bought the company and completely remade the Geochron as an internet connected information display device on a large screen 4K video display.

Join us for this fascinating story all about Patrick's journey to the present time with the Geochron. 

In this episode we meet Rosy Schechter, KJ7RYV, ARDC Executive Director, John Burwell, KI5QKX, 44Net Program Manager and Rebecca Key, KO4KVG, ARDC Communications Manager.

ARDC, Amateur Radio Digital Communications.  The ARDC manages the IP address space that starts with 44 and they are the funding source for millions of dollars in grants every year to benefit amateur radio.

Learn about what the 44 Net is, how it can be used by radio amateurs and how the ARDC manages their grant funding process.

In this episode we talk about how to prepare for Winter Field Day and field operating in cold weather in general.  Winter Field Day is a great operating event for individuals and clubs.  Its a great excuse to get out and operate when it, brrrrrr, cold outside !

In this episode we meet Vance, KV4P, the designer of a radio module that connects to your Android phone and turns it into a 2m FM HT.  Vance is a professional UX (User eXperience) designer and brought his years of design knowledge to the project.  The result is a modern take on how a hand  held 2m radio should work in addition to the convenience of intergration into your mobile phone that you carry with you every day.

In this episode the tables are turned and George, KJ6VU, becomes the special guest.  The topic is how he designed his station control system.  The station controller is used to monitor and control key components in your remotely controlled ham radio station.  The station controller can also be used to monitor and control a repeater system or any other critical equipment.

We will discuss what you need for effective remote station control, how George went about designing his control system and how it works.  Topics include the system architecture, circuit and physical design and selection of key components like the microcontrollers that run the system and the node red software environment that provides the user interface.

The station controller will eventually be offered as a commercial product for sale through his company Sierra Radio Systems.