Radio Waves Weekly — Issue #008 presents a comprehensive overview of the latest developments in the field of radio communications. This issue highlights significant advancements and trends that are shaping the industry. As always, Radio Waves Weekly remains committed to providing readers with insightful analyses and expert commentary to enhance their understanding of the evolving landscape. We invite you to delve into this edition for a deeper exploration of contemporary topics in radio technology.
1. Discovery Drive — KrakenRF’s Plug-and-Play Az/El Antenna Rotator Is Live on Crowd Supply SDR HARDWARE
KrakenRF launched its Discovery Drive campaign on March 12. It is a fully weatherproof, ready-to-mount azimuth/elevation rotator powered by an ESP32-S3 — no external controller needed. Connect it to Wi-Fi and SatDump, GPredict or Look4Sat talks to it directly. Under 10 W draw, so a single PoE+ cable can power the rotator, a Raspberry Pi and an RTL-SDR at the mast head. $699 during the campaign; ships August 2026.
Campaign page → crowdsupply.com/krakenrf/discovery-drive
2. xSDR — Wavelet Lab’s M.2 2230 SDR with LMS7002M and Artix-7 FPGA SDR HARDWARE
A 30 × 22 mm M.2 card that drops into any laptop or embedded board with an A+E-key slot and gives you 2×2 MIMO, 30 MHz–3.8 GHz tuning and up to 122.88 MSPS. Works with GNU Radio, SoapySDR and srsRAN, plus wsdr.io for browser-based SDR with no driver installation. The campaign reached its goal in February; orders placed now ship July 15, 2026. $549 standalone, $89 extra for the PCIe breakout board with four SMA cables.
Crowd Supply campaign → crowdsupply.com/wavelet-lab/xsdr
3. NanoFarfield — Portable Antenna Radiation Pattern Measurement Coming to Crowdfunding ANTENNA TOOL
Antenom Antenna Technologies has published its pre-launch page on Crowd Supply for NanoFarfield — a backpack-sized motorised rotation platform that pairs with your NanoVNA or LiteVNA to plot full 360° radiation patterns outdoors. Frequency range 50–6000 MHz, 1° angular resolution, integrated 26 dB wideband amplifier. Open hardware under CERN-OHL-S licence; Windows measurement software included. Pricing not yet announced — sign up on the Crowd Supply page for launch notification.
Pre-launch page → crowdsupply.com/antenom-antenna-technologies/nanofarfield
4. Half Square Antenna — No Radials, No Tuner, Real Low-Angle DX Gain on HF ANTENNA BUILD
Two quarter-wave vertical legs connected at the top by a half-wave horizontal phasing wire, fed with plain 50Ω coax at an upper corner. No ground connection, no radials, no ATU required. Current maxima sit high on the verticals where they do the most good, producing a strongly low-angle broadside radiation pattern with a consistent real-world advantage over slopers. Full build guide with cut dimensions for 40m, 20m, 17m, 15m and 10m is on vu3dxr.in.
Full build guide → vu3dxr.in/the-half-square-antenna-low-profile-dx-wire-for-hf-bands/
5. Half Loop Antenna — 80, 40, 20 and 15 Metres from One Wire, No ATU ANTENNA BUILD
28.1m of wire shaped into a vertical half-loop off a single mast, fed at the base with 75Ω coax — no tuner required. Resonant on four harmonic bands: NVIS-friendly on 80m, balanced pattern on 40m, low-angle DX performance on 20m and 15m. Developed and field-proven by Ukrainian operator UR0GT. An honest multiband workhorse for operators with one mast and limited real estate. Full construction details on vu3dxr.in.
Build guide → vu3dxr.in/half-loop-antenna-for-80-40-20-and-15-meter-ham-radio-bands/
6. LARCSet — Assemble a Complete SSB/CW Station in One Day for $59 QRP BUILD
VU2ESE Ashhar Farhan’s LARCSet is an all-analog 40m SSB/CW transceiver kit based on the proven BITX40 circuit — prewound toroids, illustrated assembly manual, and GPL v3 schematics included. No microcontroller, no digital tuning: every stage is discrete analog, making it the ideal kit for understanding superheterodyne design, balanced modulators and RF filtering from first principles. Ships from India via 7-day DHL. A group-buy option (five kits for $175 including shipping) is available for club orders.
Order and full specs → hfsignals.com/index.php/larcset/
7. QRPGuys — Budget Ham Radio Kits Designed for an Evening on the Bench QRP KITS
A US-based group of hams offering a growing range of low-cost, quick-build kits: portable Z-match and EFHW tuners, DSB and CW transceivers, a five-band WSPR beacon, SWR/power meters, and portable verticals. Every kit ships board-only to keep costs down and includes a fully illustrated PDF manual. Difficulty is rated on a 1–5 scale so you can match a project to your experience level. PCB files and schematics are openly available for all designs.
8. CQ WPX SSB — 48 Hours of Prefix Hunting, March 28–29 UPCOMING CONTEST
CQ WPX SSB runs 0000 UTC Saturday March 28 to 2359 UTC Sunday March 29 on 160–10m. Every unique prefix in your log is a separate multiplier, and with over 35,000 active prefixes worldwide, the hunt is relentless. Key 2026 rule change: logs must be submitted within 48 hours of the contest end, no later than 2359 UTC March 31. Indian operators have a strong shot at South America, Europe and Japan on 15m and 10m during the peak of Solar Cycle 25.
Rules and log submission → cqwpx.com/rules/
9. VOACAP Online — Point-and-Click HF Propagation Path Prediction PROPAGATION TOOL
With Solar Cycle 25 running near its predicted peak and Sporadic E season six weeks away, now is a good time to model your propagation paths before the bands open wide. VOACAP Online lets you enter transmitter location, antenna type and power to generate hourly reliability maps or point-to-point SNR charts for any HF band. Free, no account needed, and the underlying ITU engine is the same one used by military and broadcast frequency planners worldwide.
Propagation path predictor → voacap.com
10. DXMaps.com — Live DX Cluster and Sporadic E Propagation Maps DX TOOL
DXMaps overlays real-time DX cluster spots on an interactive map, showing active propagation paths between continents at a glance. Its Sporadic E map is the fastest way to see whether Es is open right now — clusters of 6m and 10m spots light up the map the moment a patch forms. Sporadic E season for VU stations typically begins in April on 10m and peaks in June on 6m. Bookmark this page now and check it daily from April onward.
Live propagation map → dxmaps.com
11. WA7BNM Contest Calendar — The Definitive Online Ham Radio Contest Schedule CONTEST TOOL
Bruce WA7BNM’s contest calendar is the most complete and consistently maintained schedule of ham radio contests on the internet. It covers every serious HF and VHF/UHF event worldwide, searchable by date, mode, band or sponsor. You can filter for single-operator, QRP or VHF-only events, subscribe to an iCal feed for your phone calendar, and view detailed rules links for each contest. An indispensable weekly-check resource for any active contester or POTA/SOTA operator planning their schedule.
Contest calendar → contestcalendar.com
12. Hamvention 2026 — The World’s Largest Ham Radio Event, Xenia Ohio, May 15–17 UPCOMING EVENT
Hamvention returns to the Greene County Fairgrounds in Xenia, Ohio for its 75th year, May 15–17, 2026. More than 25,000 attendees are expected. The flea market alone spans hundreds of vendor tables of surplus gear, components and test equipment. Major manufacturers typically use Hamvention to debut new products. Online badge registration is open now; pre-registration saves both time and money at the gate. Even if you are not travelling, the product announcements and forum talks are usually livestreamed or published within days.
Registration and event info → hamvention.org
Want to contribute? Found an interesting circuit, a new SDR software, a helpful radio blog, or breaking ham radio news? Email me or leave a comment below. Your link might be featured in next Sunday’s digest!
