Stories you’ll find in our March, 2016 issue:

2016 TSM Air Show Special
By Brian and Jo Marie Topolski

Monitoring the action in the air at any of North America’s many air shows can be daunting. You have to know where to listen and when to listen to fully enjoy the spectacle. Veteran air show attendees and TSM contributors, Brian and Jo Marie Topolski, give us some valuable hints about air show action. Don’t forget to bring your scanner, camera and ear protection—it’s going to get really loud!

Flying with Fat Albert and Sean D. Tucker
By Kevin Burke

Longtime air show attendee, photographer and veteran air-band monitor, Kevin Burke, has found himself in several uncomfortable situations, all in pursuit of a great shot of some of the world’s most advanced aircraft in action. Whether it’s a nausea-inducing ride in a C-130 doing aerobatic maneuvers or hanging from a seatbelt in a support plane watching Sean D. Tucker tear up the skies in his 400-horsepower biplane, Kevin is in the game!

How to Track Military and Civilian Aircraft on your Home Computer
By Larry Van Horn N5FPW

Monitoring military and civilian aircraft activities via your scanner has come a long way. Not too long ago it was the domain of well-heeled hobbyists with highly honed technical skills. Now, thanks to off-the-shelf receivers and readily available software, you can personally keep track of almost anything that flies, almost anywhere in the world. Veteran milcom monitor, Larry Van Horn, shows us how it’s done.

A Beginner’s Guide to Monitoring Aviation
By Dave Kelly

Air comms in the sky aren’t just for private and commercial aviation; the military provides some of the more interesting action you can hear. And, it’s not just VHF and UHF frequencies you need to monitor. Dave walks us through the basics of aviation monitoring with tips on where and when to tune in. And, here’s a hint, you don’t have to live near a major airport or military base to hear something interesting.

2016 TSM Air Show Guide

From March through November the best precision aircraft and skydiving teams will be in the air at an airbase near. Here are the 2016 schedules for the US Air Force Thunderbirds; the US Navy Blue Angels; the Canadian Forces Snowbirds; US Army Golden Knights; Breitling Jet Team; Team Oracle Presents Sean D. Tucker, and GEICO Skytypers as provided by each team.

Scanning America
By Dan Veenaman
Michigan Interoperability System; Rebanding Progress

Federal Wavelengths
By Chris Parris
Federal Monitoring at Super Bowl 50

Utility Planet
By Hugh Stegman NV6H
ALE: The Mode that Linked the World

Digital HF: Intercept and Analyze
By Mike Chace-Ortiz AB1TZ/G6DHU
Is an Egyptian HF Diplomatic Network Overhaul Underway?

HF Utility Logs
By Mike Chace-Ortiz and Hugh Stegman

Digitally Speaking
By Cory Sickles WA3UVV
What Else Can You Do With It?

VHF and Above
By Joe Lynch N6CL
The History of the VUCC Award

Amateur Radio Insights
By Kirk Kleinschmidt NT0Z
Forgotten Antenna Fundamentals and Other Curious Tidbits—Part 3

Radio 101
By Ken Reitz KS4ZR
The Goodwill Radio Connection

Radio Propagation
By Tomas Hood NW7US
The Somersaulting Sun

The World of Shortwave Listening
By Keith Perro​​n​
Radio Netherlands: Archiving Shortwave Radio History

The Shortwave Listener
By Fred Waterer
DJs, The Bard, and “My Favorite Country”

Amateur Radio Satellites
By Keith Baker KB1SF/VA3KSF
AMSATs Then and Now

The Longwave Zone
By Kevin O’Hern Carey WB2QMY
News, Mail, and Updates

Adventures in Radio Restoration
By Rich Post KB8TAD
Another Lafayette Radio: New Life for an HA-230

Antenna Connections
By Dan Farber AC0LW
Antenna Stealth: A Working Philosophy

Radio Horizons
Teak Air Show Guide 2016 17th Edition by Larry Van Horn N5FPW

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Rob Wagner, VK3BVW, gives an interesting and visually appealing tour of the antennas at his home in Mount Evelyn, Victoria, a small town in southeast Australia near the beautiful city of Melbourne.

His backyard features mostly wire antennas — 3 are double bazookas (or coaxial dipoles) — and includes a Par SWL End-Fedz antenna.

In addition to creating well-done ham radio videos, VK3BVW writes a blog called the Mount Evelyn DX Report.

Tower climber Kevin Schmidt is captured by Prairie Aerial’s multi-rotor drone ascending the 1,500-foot KDLT TV tower in Salem, South Dakota.

Although the tower wasn’t in active use at the time the video was made, the lightbulb atop it still needed to be changed. It gives you new appreciation for the work these men and women do maintaining these amazing structures.

The video below, which recently surpassed six million views on YouTube, was recently chosen to be featured in the New York City Drone Film Festival being held next month.

The resurrected Heathkit company has launched a dual band antenna.  As much as I want them to succeed is this the best they can do?

They absolutely have to produce decent kits at decent prices or they will not survive. Their offerings so far do not exactly set the world alight. No, the offerings so far have not excited me. Years ago I started out with a Heathkit  Electronics Workshop. Years later I had an HW8 which gave me loads of contacts with small wire antennas.

Please, think of your potential customer base, think about prices, and look at your competitors. I have no doubt a few loyal USA customers will support you, but far far more is needed in the competitive world of the 21st century.

Kenneth, W6KWF, used to dump all of his N, BNC, and PL-259 RF adapters in two quart-sized Ziploc bags. Now all of his connectors are organized by rows in this Plano 1258 tackle box from Bass Pro Shops.

He mentioned a great old trick for keeping track of your connectors at group events. He paints a little dot of nail polish on each one. Now he always gets them back! 🙂

Check out the video below and lots more at his blog, The Life of Kenneth.

How do you organize all of your RF adapters and connectors?

Life is too short, that’s why in my opinion you should try to work QRP, hi!

This Friday afternoon me and my friend Stan UA3LMR (also RD2A) gave it a try again from Moscow park named “Fili,” a very nice and quiet place. This time my catch on the 20-meter-band wasn’t big at all in comparison with the previous outing which you can see in the video below.

In my point of view, the results of working QRP may sometimes be unlucky, but you will be always happy with the process!

73 and see you on the bands!
Peter R2ABT