the ham notebook

For those of you with very long memories, yes, this is a reprise of Wayne’s “Ham Notebook” column in the November 2014 issue of CQ. It’s a topic that needs to be revisited at least once each decade as new hams join our ranks and need to learn the best way to attach connectors to antenna feedlines. - W2VU

I firmly believe that there are some “hardware” skills all amateur radio operators need to possess, in order to keep their stations operating efficiently. The first and most major skill is soldering. Soldering is what holds all electronic parts together. Knowing how to solder properly will enable you to doit-yourself, and to save yourself both time and money, two very precious commodities these days.

The skill and art of soldering is not hard to master, and will provide you with a tool to increase your enjoyment for a lifetime. You youngsters out there may even develop a career path from all of this ham radio activity, like a lot of us “old folks” already have.

Very good tutorials on soldering and building electronics projects appear in the building> and Elecraft <>.