- Today on Ham Radio Q&A,
my selection of holiday gift ideas.
They're guaranteed to please any ham,
so please keep watching for more.
(upbeat music)
Hi, I'm Michael, KB9VBR, your host for Ham Radio Q&A.
I'm on a mission to inspire
and educate the amateur radio community,
so if this is your first time watching,
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Well, so last week over the Thanksgiving holiday,
my son was home from school,
and while I was retrieving the mail, I spotted a catalog
and said, "Oh, look it's the Christmas wish book."
Boy, did his eyes light up,
and he wanted to see what I was talking about.
Well, then I showed him the old Ham Radio Outlet catalog,
and his expression completely turned.
Oh, that, radio stuff.
Well, you get the idea.
Sometimes it's hard to get your point across
of maybe what you'd like for the holidays.
Or maybe you need to shop for a ham
and you have no idea what would interest them.
Well never fear, this video is for you.
I've collected a variety of items,
from stocking stuffers to the big-ticket items
that would please just about any ham.
Many of these items have appeared in previous videos,
so this is a nice recap of some of the things
that I've found really useful over the last year.
So sit back' relax' pour yourself a Tom and Jerry
as I go through this year's holiday gift ideas for hams.
Starting off the list, I have a few stocking stuffers
that I've found really handy.
First off is Weaver Leather's throw bag.
Made by the Weaver Leather company'
this 12-ounce bag is filled with steel shot
and it has really a nice, supple feel.
It's just the right size and weight to get your line up
into a tree about 30 feet or so,
and it's perfect for hanging those wire antennas.
You can use it with paracord or mason line
if you want something super lightweight,
but I'm gonna switch out to a more stretch resistant
and lighter Dyneema cord.
It may not be cheap, but you're gonna get better throws
and less snags than you will with paracord.
Both of these items are available on Amazon,
and links for everything I'm gonna discuss today
are in the video description below.
Another stocking stuffer I find really handy
are these RG-8X jumpers.
They're available in one-foot and three-foot lengths.
This heavy-duty, 50-ohm coaxial cable is manufactured
and assembled in the US by Cable Experts.
I've been using Cable Experts cable for many years
and I find their cable to be very durable and reliable.
The connections are highly reliable.
The shorter lengths, like these little three-footers,
are perfect to use in the shack to hook up switches'
meters' and tuners, while the longer 25-foot runs
are great to take out in the field
for your next Parks on the Air activation.
I usually carry a couple of these
little barrel connectors with me.
So you can throw a handful of these into the stocking too.
Super handy for stringing line together
for your HF portable work.
And if your ham radio friend hasn't bought new cable
in maybe, say, 10 years or so,
then it's time to get them a nice fresh supply.
When I bought my Yaesu FT-891 transceiver'
my intention was to use it in the field.
But I also wanted to take care of it,
so finding some suitable protection was paramount.
The Domke F-34L 19-inch protective wrap
is made of a padded knit fabric,
and it's also got a non-scratch nylon backing.
This 19-inch wrap is perfect for smaller HF transceivers
like the FT-891, or you can use it to wrap a VHF/UHF
mobile radio if you plan to take that out into the field.
The wraps also work great for cameras' lenses'
other electronic devices.
There may be similar wraps on the market,
but the Domke products are proudly made in the USA,
so you know this is gonna be a quality item.
And they really are.
I've got a Domke camera bag, canvas camera bag,
that I've used for about 30 years ago now,
and it still works great.
A good multimeter is really handy,
both in the shack and the field.
And a meter is also really helpful
for those household repairs.
One meter I like is this Meterk.
It's the MK06 digital clamp multimeter
with non-contact voltage detect.
This auto-ranging meter will test AC/DC voltage,
AC/DC current, plus frequency duty cycle,
capacitance and resistance.
And the clamp sensor is also capable
of detecting both AC and DC currents.
Well, I admit it's no Fluke,
but it's reasonably good and accurate,
and it's perfect for simple testing'
diagnosing' and also repairs.
At a retail price of under $30,
it does the job and it's cheap enough
that I can keep an extra one in my tool kit.
Every year for my holiday gift list,
I like to pick out at least one book from the ARRL.
If you wanna build a library of resources on amateur radio'
the League's books are a solid foundation.
In the past, I've recommended the ARRL's Handbook,
but this year, I'm gonna give a nod
to the updated and expanded Antenna Book.
The 24th edition, released in 2019, is a fundamental guide
of covering antenna theory' design' and construction
along with practical treatments and projects.
You may never build your own antenna,
but the information contained in it
will give you the knowledge
and understanding of how antennas work.
The newest edition also comes two ways:
as a limited-edition, four-volume box set
with that hard slipcase,
or as a 1,024-page softcover tome.
Either way, this guide is gonna
really amp up your antenna game.
A couple of amateur radio groups that I participate with
throw some really nice holiday parties.
And you know what, our local club
had their holiday party just the other day,
and the highlight of the event
is their white elephant gift exchange.
The only rules are the more obscure
and fun the gift' the better.
And also the gift really can't cost anything,
so the cheaper the better.
I received this lovely box emblazoned with the word Radio.
And you know it's gonna be a high-quality item.
So when I opened it, sure enough.
It was a Radio-branded water bottle.
I'm sure this will keep me warm
on those cold nights in the shack.
All I can say is thank you to Tony.
You really know how to spot those oddball items.
Let's move on to some bigger-ticket items.
So now we looked at quite a few antennas over the last year,
and I do have a couple of favorites.
Of course, the Wolf River Coils Silver Bullet 1000
was in last year's holiday gift guide and I do recommend it'
so you can all certainly check out that video.
But one antenna I think makes perfect gift
this season is Chameleon's Emcomm II wire antenna.
Basically, the Emcomm II is the wire components
that you'd find in the pricier MPAS system,
but without the vertical elements.
So with the Emcomm II, you can run it as a end-fed antenna
or an inverted L or even inverted V,
or off-center-fed dipole.
All this versatility at a fraction
of the price of their more complete MPAS,
plus it packs up super small
and makes it easy to throw into your portable kit.
Joe and I have used this antenna
with excellent results on a number of occasions,
so that's gonna make an excellent gift
for a ham that really enjoys some portable work.
And my gift list wouldn't be complete
if I didn't include at least one radio.
This year's hottest rig is the handheld Yaesu FT3DR.
It's a dual-band VHF/UHF unit
with System Fusion and APRS built-in.
The radio is an improvement to their long-running FT2DR
with an ergonomic form factor and a color touch screen.
This handheld's perfect companion to your shack or vehicle
if you've already got the amazing FTM-400XDR mobile unit.
Holiday pricing is in the neighborhood of about $350,
and the nice thing is that it works
with all of your FT2DR batteries and accessories.
If you really wanna delve into amateur radio electronics'
then one piece of equipment you'll find
super useful is an oscilloscope.
Over here on the channel, our resident electronics nut
Joe prefers the Rigol DS1054Z digital oscilloscope.
This unit has 50 megahertz of bandwidth, four channels,
and really, it's the preferred unit
for schools, businesses, students, and hobbyists.
It features an intuitive user interface,
so even the O scope newcomer
will get running with it quickly.
Plus the large, seven-inch color display
has a resolution of 800 by 40 pixels,
so it's easy to view all
of the channels on the single screen.
As we near the end of the holiday gift ideas'
there is one more big ticket item
that I just have to mention.
No list would be complete without an over-the-top,
want-it-all type of thing,
and this year it's the TC Teardrops camping trailer.
Yes, you've seen this trailer
featured in a few of my videos,
and really it's the perfect accessory for the ham
looking to get away for portable radio adventures.
The TC Teardrop trailer sleeps two comfortably
on the queen-sized bed inside,
and pop open the hatch in the back
for a handy galley kitchen.
Perfect for on and off-road use,
the trailer can be outfitted with any number of accessories
and will follow you wherever adventures take you.
Add some solar, additional storage up front,
and you're gonna be totally self-contained.
When we bought our trailer, the first thing I said was,
"Hey, no more sleeping in my car at field day."
And that's totally the case.
What I like about TC Teardrops is that it's light enough
that it could be pulled with a four-cylinder vehicle,
like my Subaru Outback, plus they are custom built
in my hometown here in Wausau, Wisconsin.
Models range in price starting at about $5,000.
Finally' I'd be totally remiss
if I didn't mention my own stuff.
A KB9VBR J-Pole antenna makes a perfect
stocking stuffer for your favorite ham.
If you're new to ham radio,
this would be the perfect first antenna for VHF/UHF.
If the amateur radio hobby is old hat for you,
then one of these antennas makes
a perfect backup or as a field antenna.
You can even put one in your attic to hide it
from the home owners association,
or protect yourself so you can stay
on the air during a thunderstorm.
I make these antennas in VHF and UHF frequencies,
six meters all the way up to 70 centimeters.
This one I'm holding here,
this is my 1.25 meter or the 222 megahertz-band antenna.
Very popular model, so check those out at my website
at www.jpole-antenna.com.
Well, there you have it,
some of my favorite holiday items from the last year
rolled up into a holiday gift guide
for your favorite ham radio operator.
All of these gifts will make amateur radio hobby
more enjoyable and hopefully spur you to try new things.
Links for these items mentioned can be found
in the video description below.
And do you have anything on your holiday wish list
that I may not have covered?
Please feel free to leave it in the comments below.
And we'll continue the conversation down there,
and add to the list of holiday gift items for hams.
For more articles and information,
be sure to check out my blog at www.jpole-antenna.com.
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Well, that's it for this time.
I'm Michael, KB9VBR, have a great day and 73.
(upbeat music)