Which magazines?

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MikeRz

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I just passed my technician and upgraded to general today. Waiting for the FCC database to come back up. My question is: Which ham organizations are worth joining and which magazines are worth subscribing to? Or do hams today just visit online sites? Also I would like to receive a few manufacturer's catalogs but see that most have gone online. Still like to browse through paper catalogs..

thanks,
Mike
 

w2xq

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gewecke

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I used to subscribe to qst and 73, but any more I tend to do a lot of my reading from monitoring times and popular communications.
The arrl got way too political for my taste in past years.

73,
n9zas
 

zz0468

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Political or not, QST is far and away the most interesting and diverse of the various magazines. 73 is long gone, CQ is ok, but a bit thin. One of the most interesting parts of a ham magazine are the ads, and probably 1/3 of QST is ads. If you're looking for something highly technical to see what the state of the art in ham radio is, get QEX.
 

AK9R

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I just passed my technician and upgraded to general today.
Congratulations!

I believe that the larger ham radio dealers, such as AES and Ham Radio Outlet, periodically download the license data from the FCC so they can pick up on new licenses. My guess is that you'll receive an AES or HRO catalog in the mail within a month or two. Or, you could just go to their web sites and request a catalog.

As for magazines, I am a life member of the ARRL, so I get QST. There is usually a wide range of articles in each issue from product reviews to projects you can build to stories about on-air operations plus regular columns on technical issues, public service, contesting, DXing, etc. QST will soon be available in a digital edition that you can read on your computer or tablet.

CQ magazine is still going strong, though the technical articles are sometimes a bit weak. It's not unusual for CQ to have a product review that focuses on how to use the product in real life while merely reiterating the manufacturer's specs. The in-depth technical review will often show up few months later in QST. Nonetheless, I subscribe to CQ so I can get a different perspective on the issues facing amateur radio rather than just reading the ARRL party line in QST. CQ is available in a digital edition.

I also subscribe to CQ VHF. This is a quarterly magazine that focuses on operating above 30 MHz. If you have an interest in VHF-UHF weak signal work, satellites, VHF-UHF contesting, moonbounce, etc., then you may be interested in this magazine.

I also pick up Monitoring Times every once in a while. Their articles cover a broad range of monitoring topics from VLF beacons, through shortwave listening, AM and FM broadcast monitoring, to various types of scanning. My pet peeve with MT is that is is published by Grove Enterprises who also is a dealer of shortwave and scanner radios. It's not unusual to see a product review in MT followed by a full page ad from Grove advertising the reviewed product. Draw your own conclusions. MT is available in a digital edition.
 

krokus

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QST is the de facto publication in the US. I also subscribe to Popular Communications, and will pick up copies of CQ and Monitoring Times, as covers grab my attention.

QST does more "build this" articles than I have seen in the others, which is nice.
 

MikeRz

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Thanks for all the replies, folks. I'm still trying to setup my antenna for my Kenwood TS-570D. I picked it up used but I think it will serve my needs in the beginning. I had a license back in 1973 but let it expire so I had to take the tests over. My son wanted to become a ham and thought this would be a good 'father-son' project so here I am (he aced the Tech and now is going for his Gen.) A lot has changed in almost 40 years. Everything digital. Thought I might get caught up by subscribing to some good mags....

Hopefully I'll be talking to some of you on the air soon..

Mike
 

gewecke

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I forgot to mention the weekly amateur radio newsline reports that are rebroadcast by many repeaters across the u.s. and can be read online here,

AR Newsline - News


73,
n9zas
 
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