Thank’s for joining me on my annual countdown of the best amateur radio videos of 2019. This past year has again seen some tremendous growth to this channel with almost one million views‚ 65 thousand hours of videos watched and over 11‚000 new subscribers added. But I really couldn’t have done it without you‚ the viewer‚ so again thank you. Your support has helped drive things of what I feel is one of the best produced amateur radio channels on Youtube. My goal this next year is more and better videos so please stay tuned. But for now lets take a look backwards and get into the countdown of the top ten amateur radio videos of 2019
Ham Radio Q&A Live
Number 10 on the list is my livestream from August of last year: Ham Radio Q&A Live may not have had the largest number of views but it did net one of the highest levels of engagement on my channel. Joe and I are grateful to everyone that tuned in that evening and we look forward to producing another live show soon
Should a Baofeng be your First Ham Radio
Number nine on the list is: Should a Baofeng be your first ham radio. Baofengs are a popular choice for the beginning amateur radio operator. But are they good choices? I break down the good and the bad of these inexpensive Chinese radios so you can make an informed decision of whether or not to pick one up.
Chameleon Emcomm III Portable Antenna (Winter Field Day)
Number 8 is the Chameleon Emcomm III portable antenna. Chameleon products was gracious enough to provide several of their antennas for review and review them we did. So our first one was their Chameleon Emcomm III portable which we put through its paces during Winter Field Day. I think this was also one of the coldest videos that I made- shooting outdoors with temps in the low single digits.
How to be a net control operator
Number 7 is How to be a Net Control Operator. A great way to provide a public service and maintain your skill as an operator is to be net control station. Being net control is rewarding and not overly difficult and in this video I give you some tips for success and take you through the steps of running a simple net.
Chameleon MPAS 2.0 Modular Portable Antenna System
Another antenna review video pops in at number 6 with my video on the Chameleon MPAS 2 Modular Portable Antenna System. This is such a full featured antenna system that in order to demonstrate all its capability I actually did several videos. But this is the first in the series. For another fun MPAS video be sure to also check out my Parks On the Air Activation video that also featured the MPAS 2. You’ll find the link up in the the corner there.
Chameleon EMCOMM III Base Antenna
And number 5 is actually my favorite of the Chameleon Antenna review videos. In this one Joe and Dr Lori Randall join me to install the Chameleon Emcomm III base antenna in a 100 year old monastery. This video shows the installation and operation of the antenna in this very unique setting where a low visibility antenna system is desired
Retevis RT97 UHF Portable Repeater
Number 4 on the list is my review of the Retevis RT97 portable repeater. This compact UHF portable repeater has full duplex capabilities and 10 watts of output so it is perfect as a potable‚ temporary‚ or personal repeater. In this video I look at the features of the RT97 but if you are interested in it’s operation you will certainly want to also watch my demonstration of the repeater. That video didn’t make the list but you can watch it in the link above.
Why are the repeaters so quiet?
Number 3 is a video exploring that common question: Why are the repeaters so quiet? Older hams will remember when VHF and UHF was a flurry of activity but now it seems more like a wasteland. Why is this? and what can be done to fix it. I give my opinions in this piece.
Changes Coming to the Technician License?
I think one of the most polarizing videos I did in the last year was this on done last April about a petition for Rule Making submitted by the ARRL to the FCC to open up more HF spectrum to Technician Class license holders. The comment period for the petition close long ago and unfortunately no action has yet been taken on this issue. But the wheels of government move very slow so hopefully we will see a positive outcome on this issue in the coming year.
Portable HF Operation Kit
And finally the number one video. Topping the list for 2019 is my video where I take you through the parts of my portable HF operation kit. Since making this video back in June‚ I have made some minor adjustments to my kit but the core components still remain the same. and this kit continues to perform very well for portable operations and park activations I’ve done over the last year.
There you have it- the top ten amateur radio videos of 2019? Did you favorite make the list? Feel free to share which one you liked the best in the comments below. A playlist of all ten videos can also be found in the video description below so you can sit back and watch all ten at your leisure. But what’s in store for 2020? This last year I did about one video a week and I’m planning to keep that pace up. You can expect more outdoor and portable operation videos- those are my favorite to produce and as always I’ll keep up with my monthly Your Questions Answered series. So keep on sending those questions and of course video ideas to me.
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