Ham Radio News

…because we don’t live in a vacuum

MFJ to Celebrate 50th Anniversary

MFJ Enterprises, an amateur radio electronics manufacturer and retailer, will celebrate 50 years in business this October. Martin Jue, K5FLU, founded the company in 1972 after building a CW filter kit that sold for less than $10. Since 1990 the company has made five acquisitions, including Hy-Gain and Cushcraft antennas. MFJ Customer Services and Public Relations Manager Richard Stubbs says the company continues to grow with the popularity of amateur radio and currently manufactures over 2,000 products. "I've been with the company for 28 years and the numbers are good," said Stubbs. "Amateur radio continues to grow worldwide." Quite a few of MFJ's employees have worked there for years, such as MFJ Product Representative Phyllis Randle, who will be retiring in September after 45 years with the company. She started working there when she was a teenager in 1977, and she is now the Product Representative for all MFJ dealers. MFJ Enterprises Founder Martin Jue, K5FLU. Jue graduated from Mississippi State University with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, and he earned a master's degree in electrical engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). He served as a professor of electrical engineering at Mississippi State University from 1972 until 1979, but abandoned his doctorate in 1977 because of MFJ's growth. Currently, because of COVID-19 concerns, the company does not have any plans for a special event to celebrate the anniversary, although Stubbs said that may change in the months ahead.

New ARRL Radio Lab Inspires Innovation in

the Ham Shack

ARRL has unveiled its new Radio Laboratory, W1HQ, in a video released on August 4, 2022. In the video, Jherica Goodgame, KI5HTA, a summer intern at ARRL Headquarters, tours viewers through the station. "The ARRL Radio Lab is an innovative test space designed to reshape the way we imagine and build a ham radio shack," said Goodgame. The station is intended to inspire members to build, organize, and equip their own stations in innovative ways. "From a decluttered workspace and a digital user interface, to being able to remote into the equipment from anywhere, W1HQ is a step towards the future of amateur radio stations," Goodgame added. The station includes a new tower and antennas atop the main administrative building at ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut. Inside the station, three operating positions provide an interface to rack-mounted and computer- controlled transceivers, amplifiers, antenna switches, and rotators. Goodgame explained that the Radio Lab will also support equipment testing and QST Product Review. "An extension of product reviews in the future will be to take that piece of gear that we're testing, put it on this test bench, and see how it integrates with a station that's already under full automation and control," she said.

Young Amateurs Radio Club to Host

Inaugural Special Event

The Young Amateurs Radio Club (YARC) will host their first annual youth- organized special event from September 1 - 15, 2022. Using their call sign, WY4RC, the event is known as "Worked All YARC Zones (WAYZ)." Operators will be activating WY4RC stations from all 10 US call zones. Different awards are available for youth operators who activate a station, and for those who contact at least six WY4RC stations. Any young amateur or club interested in operating during the event can find the rules and additional information at the Young Amateurs Radio Club website. YARC, founded in 2017, is an international amateur radio club with a focus on promoting adoption and innovation in amateur radio among young people. In 2018 the club was officially recognized by the FCC as an official amateur radio club under the call sign WY4RC. YARC has over 1,000 members on their Discord server as of 2022, and has been changing its structure to bring back community events and increase engagement.