Holiday shopping for hams

Are you trying to find the perfect gift for your favorite amateur radio operator or perhaps you’re just looking for the perfect gift for yourself? I’ve compiled a list of the best ham radio gizmos and gadgets that I’ve come across this year to help you out. Please read on.

Cables, Connectors, and Cable Accessories

I made great strides this year in my participating in the amateur radio hobby. This was made possible mostly by discovering the HF digital modes and then learning Morse code, but also by expanding my antenna systems. A key part of any antenna system is the feed line. Here are some of the related gear I’ve found to be of great use for feeding my ever growing antenna kits.

By far, the most-used feed line in my bag is this 20-foot length of RG-316 coaxial cable with BNC-M connectors on both ends. This cable ensures that I’m packing light when operating portable using any of my low-power radios like the Elecraft KX3 and KH1. I have two of these cables. They also come in 25-foot and 50-foot lengths.
The reason I have two of the RG-316 cables is so that I can have more deployment options for my EFHW antennas. I think in most portable operations, hams who use an EFHW wire will typically find placing the feed point at the lower end of the wire to be the simplest deployment option. However, feeding an EFHW from the top end is said to increase the antenna’s efficiency and performance. The problem there is having a long enough feed line to reach a sufficiently high feed point. By connecting two feed lines together using these BNC-F to BNC-F connectors, I can ensure that I’m able to feed my EFHW at the top of my carbon fiber antenna mast. If you’re needing a comparable connection to marry two PL-259 connectors, you can try these SO-239 coupler plugs.
In order to maximize the ability to create a suitable feed line in any operating environment, it’s always a good idea to have cable adapters in your bag. These BNC-M to SO-239 adapters and BNC-F to PL-259 adapters will always be found in mine.

CW Operating Gear

I started learning the Morse code earlier this year and finally worked up the courage to make my first on-air CW contact during this year’s ARRL Field Day weekend. I haven’t worked any other mode since that day! CW operating is a pure thrill and I’ve had nothing but fun along this journey. Here are just a few things that are specific to CW operating that I’ve found useful.

You can’t watch a Youtube video of a CW operator working a POTA activation without seeing this SENROG bench block underneath their CW key. This is a wildly popular piece of kit that, while somewhat hefty, is indispensable for ensuring you can efficiently operate your portable Morse paddle without the use of both hands.
You can’t be a CW operator without knowing about CWMorse.us and their 3D-printed paddles and straight keys. These are designed to be the perfect solution for many CW operators who want a lightweight, easy to adjust, and dependable paddle or straight key that can be used in the field. I have several CWMorse paddles and straight keys and highly recommend all of them. My favorite is the SP4 POTA/SOTA paddle that is based on a design by Lawrence, NØSA.
A highly recommended online practice tool for learning Morse code and how to use your CW key or paddle is the Virtual CW Band, or VBand for short. This is an online application created by Byon, N6BG, that allows you to interface your Morse sending device with your computer’s USB port using the VBand USB Paddle Interface, which is a little circuit board with a 3.5mm TRS jack on one end and a USB-C jack on the other. Plus your paddle or straight key into the TRS jack and connect the USB-C jack to your computer’s USB port and then you can use the VBand web application to practice your CW sending. The adapter is sold by Ham Radio Solutions on the VBand website. Navigate to the “Store” link at the top of the VBand web page and place your order from there.

Ham Shack Accessories

Unfortunately, I’m not able to build the ham shack of my dreams, but I can at least approximate parts of it by using some of these accessories.

Who has more than one rig on their shack table? Raise your hand. I can’t see them from here, but I know all of you raised your hand. If you don’t already have one, using a coax switch like the CS-201A from Daiwa, which allows you to connect either two radios to the same antenna system or one radio to two antenna systems, is definitely recommended.
Part of being a ham is having a curiosity of how our radio gear and electronics in general actually work. Every ham shack should have a dependable multimeter available for testing purposes. This Fluke 17B+ multimeter can meet nearly all of your measurement needs. It even comes with a set of thermocoupler leads allowing you to measure temperature. This comes in handy around the turn of the seasons when you need to verify your HVAC system is performing as expected. Since this is a Fluke meter, you can be sure you’re getting a quality piece of test equipment that will provide accurate readings and will last a long time.
To protect that nice, fancy Fluke multimeter (or many other multimeters), why not buy a protective case to place it in? It should be a no-brainer that this multimeter protective carrying case will keep your investment protected so that it lasts. This case fits the Fluke 17B+ that I mentioned above, but also several other models of Fluke meters.
Static electricity can be a problem in any electrical environment. Whether you are working at a bench or want to have an ESD mat to place your radio on, this 12″ x 30″ ESD mat from Scientific Americas is a perfect size. The mat has a built in connector in one corner which allows you to connect the mat to a nearby ground terminal. This mat meets or exceeds requirements set in ANSI ESD-S20.20 and ANSI/ESD S-6.1. It also withstands solder splatter pretty well.

Portable Antennas and Antenna Accessories

As a large part of my operating (at least during the warmer months) tends to be portable, I need antennas that are easily to deploy and take down and that can fit into a box, bag, or at the very least, my car’s trunk. Over the year, I’ve found the following items to be the most useful for how I operate.

One of my first HF antennas I purchased was the Wolf River Coils Silver Bullet Take-It-Along, which is comprised of their infamous Silver Bullet coil, a collapsable stainless steel whip, and a coupler which accepts a feed line as well as screw-in stainless steel tripod legs. This is a great antenna and breaks down small enough to easily be used as a portable antenna for your next POTA activation. However, the kit does not come with a carrying case. To fill that void, I found this 24-inch padded tripod case from ProMaster to be the perfect solution.
I use EFHW antennas quite a bit because they are easy to deploy and because I don’t have enough room at my QTH to put up anything better. I found these stainless steel cable clamps to be indispensable in the EFHW build and tune process.
Speaking of EFHW antennas, I use this 18 AWG stranded tinned copper wire from BNTECHGO for almost all of my wire antenna needs. The brand is pretty popular throughout the ham community and for good reason, their wire is easy to work with and dependable.
If you want a carbon fiber antenna mast that can be collapsed into a small footprint so that it’s easily portable and quick to deploy, look no further than the POTA 33 and POTA 20 masts from Explorer, which may be exclusive to Gigaparts since I’ve never seen them sold elsewhere. These masts are strong enough to heft the unfed end of an 18 AWG EFHW wire up without breaking. I use the 33ft mast at home and the 20ft mast for portable QRP operating. Both are perfect solutions for getting a wire into the air in areas where tossing a throw line into a tree isn’t possible.
Speaking of QRP operating, consider these 49:1 EFHW transformers from David, W5CWT, which he sells on his Etsy store. I have three of these and I love them!

Ham Stocking Stuffers

Sure, some of these things may not fit nicely into a stocking, but they will definitely be found useful by your favorite ham, or yourself!

The Anderson Powerpole has become the defacto standard for power delivery in the ham shack. If you’re like me, you’re putting Powerpole connectors on the ends of all your power cords. You could just buy prefabricated cables with the ends already on them, but where’s the fun in that? This Powerpole crimp tool is the right tool for the job and is capable of crimping 15, 30, and 45 amp connectors.
Are you a maker or know someone who is? Get them or yourself a pair of aluminum heat clips which help to dissipate heat while working on soldering projects. I have a set of these and they work well.
Soldering irons work best when the solder tip is nice and clean. This brass wire sponge helps to keep your solder tips primed for best use. This kit comes with a holder and three brass sponges, which should probably last you the rest of your life.
For quick, low-power radio testing, a compact and effective dummy load is a big help. This DL30A compact dummy load from Diamond Antennas is small enough to be used in many different test scenarios. This dummy load is rated for up to 15 watts continuous, or up to 100 watts for short periods, making it a perfect pairing for most of our radios.
Depending on a number of factors, you’re either a mosquito magnet or have built-in repellant. I’m unfortunately the former. I struggle with outdoor activities of any sort in the warmer months due to near constant attacks from these flying nuisances and harborers of disease. These OFF! Deep Woods brand repellant wipes come in individually wrapped packs that can easily be shoved into a pocket on your clothing or in your gear bag. I keep these in stock at my house at all times.
Likewise, for longer outings, I typically go with a Permethrin treatment of all of my clothing that I’ll be wearing. This is one of the best ways to prevent unnecessary insect bites that could leave you with health issues for the rest of your life. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say.
When I bought my QRP Labs QMX transceiver earlier this year, I needed to find a dependable 12V power source. This rechargeable 12V 6,000mAh / 5V 12,000mAh battery pack from TalentCell is just what I needed. The battery pack charges fairly quickly and can provide the 12 volts that my QMX requires for many POTA activations before needed to be recharged.
RFI chokes are sometimes necessary. If you want an easy to deploy choke look no further than these HamRadioSupply inline RFI chokes made by Brian, KF8ASE, which he sells on his Etsy store. He uses top of the line Messi & Paoloni coax and connectors paired with genuine Fair-Rite cores to build these.

I wish you all a very happy holiday season. Thank you very much for being a visitor to my blog. I very much appreciate it.

73,
Matthew, K2MAS

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