brainwagon

I’ve been meaning to do a quick post about podcasts that I listen to that are related to ham radio, just in case there are some among you who may not have heard about them, or who may have heard about them but haven’t given them a try. Here’s a list of what I listen to, along with what I like about them:

• Soldersmoke: This podcast was recommended to me a couple of years ago by the staff at Ham Radio Outlet, and I’ve been an avid listener ever since. It’s the work of Bill Meara, N2CQR, who works for the State Department and enjoys radio as he moves around the globe. I’ve followed the podcast from London, to Italy, and now back to the States. Bill is interested in homebrew and QRP operation, and the topics generally reflect that. It’s mostly a one person affair, but Bill is a good speaker and engaging. He’s also written a book which you can get on Lulu and Kindle, detailing his adventures in radio. Despite the focus on homebrew and QRP, sometimes it drifts a bit into debugging computer equipment, travel and a fair amount of promoting his book, which may or may not bug you: check it out for yourself. I still eagerly await each episode.
• The ICQ Podcast: This is a great ham radio podcast, produced by Martin Butler, M1MRB and his son Colin, M6BOY. The format is usually a brief introduction, followed by news stories read by Colin and Martin, and then usually followed by a feature topic which Martin presents, sometimes with guests. Recently they have begun to add new content, including guest reporting and propagation reports. If you are just interested in ham radio news, this is a good podcast. What I really enjoy about the podcast is the honest enthusiasm they have for simply playing around with radios. While they are living in the UK, their news segments cover stories from Europe, the U.S. and Australia pretty regularly. The technical content isn’t super high, but I enjoy it.
• Ham Nation: A brand new podcast, as of this writing only two episodes exist, and I’ve only listened to one. Legendary ham and manufacturer of microphones Bob Heil is the host of this hour long program. In the first show, Bob was joined by musician Joe Walsh, WB6ACU and Dave Jennings WJ6W, and talked (for my tastes, somewhat vaguely) about the nominal topic of “The History of Ham Radio”, but really just talked about the history of Heil, Walsh and Jennings. It is being produced by Leo Laport’s TWiT network, and promises to be an interesting show with lots of good guests. On my commute today, I’ll listen to episode 2 on emergency communications, which has Gordon West as a guest. Keep an eye on this one.

Are there any others that people enjoy? Feel free to add them in comments below.