Napoleonic semaphore was the world’s first telegraph network, carrying messages across 19h-Century France faster than ever before. Now a group of enthusiastic amateurs are reviving the ingenious system.
Before the web, before the computer, before the phone, even before Morse code, there was le systeme Chappe.
Not for the first time or for the last, at the end of the 18th Century France made an important technological advance – only to see it overtaken by newer science.
In this case, it was the world’s first ever system of telegraphy.
According to most accounts, the very word “telegraph” – distance writing, in Greek – was coined to describe Claude Chappe’s nationwide network of semaphore.
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Antenna
Wolf River Coil vs End Fed Half Wave: Brunet Island State Park, WI POTA K-1442
You asked for it, here it is: a live A/B test of the Wolf River Coil vs the Chameleon CHA-LEFS End Fed Half Wave antenna. Which will win in this Parks... Read more
Phasing Antennas for Directionality
Jared, N0SPC, is the only ham in his country, and he has a question regarding phasing. He wants to know if he can use a phased array of mobile whips t... Read more
Chameleon CHA-MPAS 2.0 Portable Ham Radio Antenna System
The Chameleon CHA-MPAS 2.0 just might be the best portable Ham Radio antenna that you can get today, due to its versatile configurations and compact s... Read more
Using FT8 to demonstrate Antenna Orientations
One man’s observation of different radiation patterns that evolved from choosing different antenna installation orientations. What are your thou... Read more
Improving Suburban HF Vertical Antennas
HF verticals are very popular for the smaller suburban gardens. How do they perform and are there any improvements you should consider? Read more
Equipment
Release the KrakenSDR!
KrakenSDR is now available for crowdfunding on Crowd Supply. Thank you to all interested parties for your patience while we navigated recent pandemic-... Read more
XPA125 Tuner – Any good?
Today I take the XPA125 Tuner and put it through its paces with a 9:1 EFRW Random Wire Antenna Read more
Xiegu X6100 HF/50MHz Portable SDR Transceiver
Xiegu X6100 is a revolutionary self-contained 10 watt HF and 6m SDR transceiver with a large color display, automatic antenna tuner and a built-in hig... Read more
QDX 4-band 5W Digi transceiver
The “QDX” (QRP Labs Digital Xcvr): a feature-packed, high performance, four-band (80, 40, 30, 20m) 5W Digi-modes trans... Read more
Tech-out of the Xiegu XPA125B Auto Tuner + Amplifier
Today we take a look at the Xiegu XPA125B QRP Amplifier and Auto Tuner hooked up to the Icom IC-705. This amp will work with a variety of QRP rigs inc... Read more
Propagation
Solar cycle 25 is here and band activity is up!
Showing a bit of what’s happening on the upper frequency bands with the solar cycle finally ramping up. Read more
An X-Flare Player Grows & A Solar Storm Heads for Earth
This Space Weather News forecast sponsored in part by Millersville University Read more
Bright Regions Emerge Too Fast To Count | Space Weather News 09.22.2021
Space Weather News 09.22.2021 Read more
Why Sunspot Cycle 25 Might Be a Big One –The Latest Research for Ham Radio Operators
Special guest Dr. Scott McIntosh explains why sunspot cycle 25 will be big Read more
Big Flare Players and Side-Swiping Storms | Solar Storm Forecast 09.12.2021
This Space Weather News forecast sponsored in part by Millersville University Read more
Digital Modes
WSJT-X version 2.5.1 released
WSJT-X version 2.5.1 releasedThe development team have announced the General Availability (GA) release of WSJT-X version 2.5.1. This release mainly co... Read more
RC WSJT-X 2.5.0-rc4 is now ready for download by beta testers
“Dear WSJT-X and MAP65 Users, We are pleased to announce that a public Release Candidate WSJT-X 2.5.0-rc4 is now ready for download by beta testers. O... Read more
JS8Call Overview and Settings 2021
JS8Call Overview and Settings 2021 Read more
FT8DMC 3rd Anniversary-Activity Days 2020
To commemorate our 3rd anniversary, special event stations will be on air during the FT8DMC Activity Days from 1. to 31. July 2020. All stations will... Read more
VHF
Radioddity DB20-G Compact 20W GMRS Radio
Let’s take a look a this mini-mobile and compact GMRS Mobile Radio from Radioddity. Rated at 20-watts, let’s test the power output and see... Read more
What Ham Radio Programming Software Should You use?
“I’m taking a 10,000 FT look at three types of ham radio programing software. There’s so much to unpack here that a quick overview i... Read more
TIDRADIO BL-1 Bluetooth Baofeng Programmer – Flawed Execution, Poor Software
“The TIDRADIO bluetooth programmer application is one of the worst aplications I have had to deal with in ham radio. Its odd and makes no sense... Read more
Best Handheld Ham Radio 2021
Today I go through my top 15 Handheld Ham Radios for 2021 – as an update to my Best Handheld of 2020 video, this is a list of both new and exist... Read more
Yaesu REVEALS the FTM-6000R Dual Band Mobile Ham Radio
Brand new from YAesu, dropping in October of 2021, is a new dual band Ham Radio, the FTM-6000r. This was announced today, so I wanted to get some rese... Read more