February 10, 2025

This Week in Amateur Radio

North America's Premiere Amateur Radio News Magazine

Wyoming

Ham Radio Still Alive And Kicking In Wyoming

Surrounded by the green grass tranquility of Hot Springs State Park, a temporary ham radio antenna reached into the sky.

Here, amateur radio operator Casey Freund sat in the shade at a park picnic table along with his ham radio, laptop and portable power supply. He was ready to communicate on a device that had its start more than 100 years ago, and was essential to civilization before Wi-Fi and smartphones.

The National Association for Amateur Radio (ARRL) reports that ham radio began at the turn of the 20th century.

In 1873, James Clerk Maxwell had presented his theory of the electromagnetic field and, nearly 30 years later in 1901, Guglielmo Marconi communicated across the Atlantic with a radio device using high-powered enormous antennas.

With a much smaller antenna, Freund used the same technology that Marconi pioneered. Coaxial cable was strung from the radio across the grass to his homemade antenna that extended about 20 feet into the air. The rabbit antenna, along with his 100-watt radio, can receive and transmit radio signals from coast to coast and beyond.

Read more – Cowboy StateDaily: https://bit.ly/3Tu3a0L