An Elmer is the ham who takes the time to show you how. This is ours, in writing.
TBARC Learn is where the Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club keeps its long-form guides — the kind that stay useful long after the meeting that inspired them. Antennas, digital modes, propagation, software, the gear on our own repeater. Written properly, and tested end to end before they go up.
Free to read. No account, no sign-up. Send them to anyone.
Guides
Use the World's Best SDR Client Without Owning a Radio
There are more than 800 KiwiSDR receivers online around the world right now — free, sitting on real antennas in quiet places you will never live. Almost everyone uses them one browser tab at a time. There is a better way, and you do not need to own a radio — two free downloads and a laptop.
The Cable-Modem Chip That Became a Ham Radio
In 2012 a single-board ham SDR transceiver cost around nine hundred dollars and put out half a watt. Its direct descendant costs $269 and puts out five. How a chip designed for cable modems became one of the most interesting radios in amateur radio — and what the “+” actually adds.
Coming
- The White Tanks repeater — how it actually works, end to end
- Getting started on digital modes without buying anything
- Reading a propagation forecast like you mean it
Elsewhere
A companion guide from one of our own, worth your time:
- Olivia Mode Guide — everything you need to work Olivia, the weak-signal MFSK mode that decodes up to 14 dB below the noise floor. Setup, gear, operating tips and audio samples.
Want something written up? Ask a board member, or catch us on the repeater.
Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club · Phoenix, Arizona · w7tbc.org