So, how are you doing?

The answer to that question is of course it depends. If you are in the bottom 90% of Americans, the answer maybe not so well.

I asked Copilot to assess the effect of the Big Beautiful Bill of 2025 and given the tariffs, a war with Iran, and the employment situation how does it look for lower income and middle-income Americans.

It is the end of the month, and I can tell the disposable income is just not there. Thus, the question to Copilot and the response.

Final Verdict: Are lower‑ and middle‑income Americans losing?

Yes — when you combine:

• ✔️ Tax cuts from the One Big Beautiful Bill (positive)

with

• ❌ Tariffs (negative)

• ❌ Inflation on essentials (negative)

• ❌ War‑driven energy spikes (negative)

• ❌ Rising unemployment (negative)

• ❌ Cuts to safety‑net programs (negative)

…the net effect is negative for both lower‑income and middle‑income households.

This is not a political interpretation — it is exactly what the distributional models show.

So, for the majority who voted for you know who, time to vote your wallet in the mid-terms.

Today you are faced with a tough choice of either putting 3 gallons of gas in your car or buying a $20 Pixie Transceiver.

Them that know, survive!

73's

Pete N6QW

The N6QW Blog Demographics

A YL Ham who went from no License to Extra Class in a short period of time has a very active You Tube channel with over 8K followers and over 50 videos in just a few months of 2026. To this YL ham, a tip of the cap and well done. Her videos individually get thousands of views.

Then I thought about my You Tube channel that has less than a third of her followers and has been around over 15 years and has 360 videos. The number of views has of late been tepid. I said to myself... self you must be doing something terribly wrong.

So, I asked Copilot to characterize the typical "look" of an N6QW Blog Viewer. Using data from You Tube and my Blog I fed that info into the AI input form,

One of the N6QW Blog Readers!*

The difference is quite clear as the stuff I do and the videos, I make are out of step with the majority of ham ops today. The YL's videos have frequently covered POTA and SOTA ops. Yet another piece of evidence that the ARRL has been successful in shifting the total focus of the hobby to contests and operating.

But our typical reader would know things that the YL would never know and that knowledge is a rich tapestry of thing past and lets explore some of those.

One of the co-founders of the ARRL was Hiram Percy Maxim, W1AW. Those of you who are NRA members (and those who may be affiliated with organized crime) genuflect and kiss the ring as W1AW also invented the silencer. His dad invented the Maxim Machine Gun. Those with a degree from MIT also genuflect... he got his ME Degree from MIT at age 17.

W1AW

Of import in this photo is that W1AW is wearing a pair of "cans" AKA headphones. Our blog reader would know about cans.

Often hams of old would end a QSO (contact) by saying I am going to QSY (change frequency) to a "cold 807". The 807 was a popular transmitting tube akin to an IRF510 on steroids. The photo below shows the similar appearance of an 807 to a beer bottle (before canned beer). Yes, he is going to have a cold beer.

807

When our blog reader says he has a box of rocks the reference is to Crystals that enable frequency agility. Rocks pre-date analog VFO's and Si5351's.

Other terms like "fire in the wire" (a healthy dose of RF into the antenna) or "my ears" (the station receiver when all stations were separates) will never be uttered by the YL in a POTA run. 

In fact, all the POTA information exchanged is 5X9 and Park Number 12345. We will never know she is sitting with her car trunk open running an expensive appliance box, a similarly expensive portable vertical antenna and collecting the information on a Apple IPad. There is an absence of cold 807's in sight

The current ARRL subliminal message with CSI, is that you cannot do contests and operating unless you have a CSI sticker on your radio.  I can never hope to achieve her numbers staying in the home-grown lane. I also wonder if W1AW, the old man himself, would approve of what the ARRL is doing today. Given how the ARRL came into being I suspect W1AW would disapprove and so should you.

Them that know, survive.

73's

Pete N6QW

* The AI generated the image and is just that. Any similarity to any person living or dead is purely coincidental.

One Half the Peace Sign Salute to the ARRL CSI

 

Hermes Lite 2.0

Whether you like it or not, eventually you will be forced to have a CSI "stickered" appliance box in your shack. The Nerds from Newington likely will lobby the FCC to make CSI a regulation and law of the land. Time to dump your membership! This effort by the ARRL Lab will kill home grown radios and force you to dump anything other than CSI appliance boxes.

While that is the death knell for ugly construction and home-grown crystal filters there is much to be said for the Thetis Software and a reasonably priced commercial SDR transceiver. The Hermes Lite 2.0 costing about $500 in a finished form plus shipping coupled with the Thetis software is an eye-popping experience. I have one and the Thetis front end is superb. A microsecond with the Noise Reduction functionality will convince you.

With an outboard RF Sampler (about $100) you now have the Pure Signal Functionality of the Apache Labs radios. You can add a 100-watt amp and have something rivaling the ICOM and Yaesu SDR radios and still have some change in your pocket. I have a CCI AN762 amp and so I am there.

For us OT's, The HL2, Thetis and an Amp would be like having Bridget Bardot as a close friend... a really close friend with benefits.

Copilot explains...

Here’s a clean, high‑impact overview of the Hermes‑Lite 2.0 HF SDR transceiver, pulling together the most authoritative details from the latest sources. This gives you the essentials fast, then dives into the technical depth you appreciate.

⭐ Hermes‑Lite 2.0 — What It Is

The Hermes‑Lite 2.0 is a low‑cost, open‑hardware, open‑source HF SDR transceiver covering 130 kHz–30 MHz with 5 W output, built around the AD9866 modem chip and a Cyclone IV FPGA. It’s essentially a compact, Ethernet‑connected, ANAN‑style radio designed for experimenters and serious SDR operators.

📡 Core Technical Specs

• HF Coverage: 130 kHz → 30 MHz

• RF Output: 5 W QRP

• Architecture: Direct down/up‑conversion SDR

• Main ICs:

• AD9866 broadband modem

• Altera Cyclone IV FPGA (same family used in ANAN 7000)

• Interface: Gigabit Ethernet for low‑latency I/Q streaming

• Form Factor: Single‑board SDR (HL2+ variants add I/O features)

🧰 Operating Modes

• CW

• SSB

• AM

• FM

🔧 Advanced Capabilities

PureSignal / Adaptive Predistortion

• Full support for PureSignal, just like Apache Labs ANAN radios.

• Requires an RF sampler feeding back into the radio (typically via RF3).

• Thetis analyzes the sampled RF and applies real‑time linearization.

Upgradeable Gateware

• SparkSDR and other tools can load new FPGA gateware.

• Custom gateware required for HL2+ companion boards.

Open‑Source Everything

• Hardware, firmware, and software are fully open.

• Active community, group buys, and ongoing development.

🖥️ Compatible SDR Software

The Hermes‑Lite 2.0 speaks the OpenHPSDR protocol, so it works with:

• Thetis (most advanced UI + PureSignal control)

• PowerSDR

• SDR Console

• SparkSDR (also loads gateware)

• Quisk

• PiHPSDR

🧩 Optional Add‑Ons

Filter Board

• Required for proper TX harmonic suppression

• Includes RX high‑pass filter to reduce <2 MHz broadcast overload

I/O Board

• Relay control

• Antenna switching

• PA control

• Sampler input for PureSignal

Hermes‑Lite 2+ Companion Board

• Local mic jack

• Local headphone jack with sidetone

• Iambic keyer

• AH‑4 tuner interface

• Hardrock‑50 PA control

(From Makerfabs and community documentation.)

💡 Why Operators Love It

• ANAN‑like performance at a fraction of the cost

• Open‑source ecosystem encourages experimentation

• PureSignal support gives exceptionally clean transmit audio

• Gigabit Ethernet means low latency and high bandwidth

• Huge software flexibility across platforms

🧭 If you want, I can also help you with:

• A Hermes‑Lite 2.0 vs ANAN 7000/8000 comparison

• A step‑by‑step PureSignal setup for your HL2 + Thetis

• A POTA/SOTA‑optimized HL2 portable setup

• Choosing the right sampler, filter board, or PA

Just tell me where you want to go next.

To run the Pure Signal functionality, you must have the I/O Board installed (about $53) so order that too!

The RF Sampler (about $100) can be had from the Ukraine at this link.

You are stuck with CSI and so aside from flashing half the Peace Sign, you can get a radio that has Pure Signal functionality. The HL2 is a semi kit as you will have to install the boards in a case... but it is more like LEGOs and no soldering required.

I have had my HL2 for about 5 years and actually the bonus benefit is its use a piece of test equipment. Many a time I was able to evaluate a conventional home-grown rig to look at the spectrum and check for any spurs and best of all to see if I really was 30 Hertz low.

Them that know, Survive and I just flashed half the Peace Sign to the ARRL.

73's

Pete N6QW

Build, Test, Enjoy, Ignore the ARRL

Something for the notebook. In the course of things, displaying 1/2 the Peace Sign to the ARRL CSI.

Them that know, survive.

73's

Pete N6QW

Who is in Charge?

We live in the era of poor service. Count how many times a week where you have an expectation of service (and paying dearly for same) only to experience the short shrift. 

I want to share an example of such an event. Income Tax time and this year I had a good news bad news story. The good news no Federal Tax as I had made provisions for such but on the state income tax, I did owe a small amount to the State of California. My accountant filed my taxes electronically.

You have options for paying the State Tax and if you use a Credit Card there is a hefty fee. I chose to use a check (no fee) but did send the payment via the USPS Priority Mail so I would have tracking of the receipt. That fee was $12. 

It took eight days to travel from Newbury Park to Sacramento a distance of maybe 450 miles. If I had sent the tax return via Priority Mail on April 8, 2026, I would have been delinquent. In another instance a Priority Mail letter to Florida took over a week. Who is in charge?

We might ask the same question about the Iran war as it appears that certain actions taking place may have been influenced by a TV Host's comments or individuals leading a podcast. Who is in charge?

I am a fan of WWII action movies, and one obscure movie has a radio twist. That movie is the American Guerilla in the Philippines staring Tyrone Power. In the movie Power is an Ensign and an Officer on a PT Boat who has his boat literally shot out from in under him on December 8, 1941. He ends up in Cebu and gets pressed into service setting up a guerilla radio network. It was so cool to see the building of a radio transmitting station all from scrap parts. Luckily there was no ARRL rep standing around complaining about not having a clean signal. No question Power was in charge.

The real answer is we are in charge and we can accept or reject what is currently happening. Old what is his name needs to hear from us if we do not agree with his policies as that is the foundation of democracy. In a few short months we will also get a chance to clean offices of those who represent us who are not doing their job and giving us the short shrift. Time for us to be in charge and clean house.

Them that know, survive.

73's

Pete N6QW

More Breaking News about the ARRL CSI

Some have asked why the Brouhaha about the Clean Signal Initiative being touted by the ARRL. That is a genuine question that needs a full investigation. 

One current argument: this is no big deal as it only affects commercial equipment. What are you smoking as in time this opens the door to ALL equipment including kits and home-grown radios. 

There is no such thing as compartments and so it is a big deal. It also suggests that in the future the only compliance will be SDR based radios with pre-distortion algorithms. Read a significant incremental cost to appliance boxes driven not by the FCC but by the ARRL Laboratory.

The ARRL is a business, and businesses must survive to stay in business. This survival always causes a shift in the internal Mission Statement versus that which is the openly suggested Mission Statement.

From Copilot...

🎯 Official ARRL Mission Statement

“To advance the art, science, and enjoyment of Amateur Radio.”

This is the long‑standing, formally published mission statement used across ARRL sections and official documents.

🆕 Updated Mission Language (2024 Board Discussion)

ARRL leadership recently highlighted a refined version emphasizing youth and future growth:

“ARRL’s mission is to promote and protect the art, science, and enjoyment of amateur radio, and to develop the next generation of radio amateurs.”

This updated phrasing appears in ARRL Board communications and reflects strategic priorities but does not replace the classic mission statement in all official materials.

Now the problem is just how does one execute that; well, we certainly know the demonstration of emphasizing youth and future growth: From no license to no class Extra Class in 45 minutes. No technical expertise required which seems to violate the original Mission Statement about advancing the art and science of the hobby.

The ARRL is a business, and you have to make it viable and that comes from revenue generation. At the current dues rate, all you routinely get is a digital copy of QST, and that likely is a negative impact to the revenue stream. The primary source of revenue has to be the advertising base.

From the ARRL Executive Committee Meeting Minutes of November 5, 2025, the official membership is:

🟦 1. ARRL’s Official Public Figure

• “More than 160,000 members”

This is the number published on ARRL’s own website and membership pages. This is the figure ARRL uses for public-facing materials.

At 160,000 members the dues would be about $9.44M and at 130,240 members that number is $7.68M and that folks equate to about a 19% drop in membership revenue. Ouch... no wonder they are trying to give away licenses

If this is true, there is about a 30,000 member disconnect from the published to the internal executive committee report and at say dues of $59 a year that would suggest a $1.8M decline in revenue. The Far East Radio Manufacturers certainly must have their hair on fire as that also represent 19% less readers fondling the pages of QST in search of a radio they don't need. 

So, from a business perspective you have to sell more advertising to offset those who have dumped the ARRL. [That number will likely decline further in 2026 as more members dump the ARRL as $59 is a couple of days groceries.]

So how to generate the shortfall differential. Advertisers is the likely place. So, if the ARRL Lab creates a new transmit standard where all the Far East Manufacturers would have to participate... The one hand washes the other with the manufacturers paying more for the adverts BUT can charge more for the product so they can have the sticker. This also is a boon for the manufacturers who might not spend the R&D for CSI now have an excuse to charge more and actually do it. No matter how you slice it just like the Trump Tariffs... you pay for it.

Yes, this is a brain fart conspiracy theory but no different than a plan to invade Greenland and Cuba. It is just business and mathematics. You don't have to believe me but certainly what is theorized has a certain charm to it. It is all about a Lab Grade SDR in every ham shack as that must be the ARRL View with CSI.

 Them that know, survive.

73's

Pete N6QW

Prepper #2 ~ The Antenna

OK Preppers, The Most Critical Piece = The Antenna! Tattoo that on a significant part of your anatomy. Your radio no matter how expensive has to have a good antenna for maximum performance.

Think about it as you are trying to get on the air where ostensibly there is no power, the world is in turmoil, the regular antenna systems are on the ground, and the 5th Horseman of the Apocalypse is here. [The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse are from the Bible. The Fifth Horseman is suggested as the Orange Horse and represents a person simultaneously declaring Marshall Law and President for Life.]

But your very 1st problem is getting on the air and determining a "how bad is it" status. That act requires having an antenna in place. The very first question regarding an antenna should be who the contact matrix is. Local communications likely would have greater import over some inane (stupid) ARRL QSO or DX party. 

Some antennas like the NVIS (Near Vertical Incident Skywave) ones are quite good for local communications out to 200 to 400 miles. The Linear Loaded Dipole is another option. But structures to support dipoles simply are not there and a NVIS may be a problem. Whereas a Vertical Antenna mounted on a camera tripod with an elevated ground plane, opens the range up with low angle radiation. Simplicity, and ease of deployment by a single person rank high on the desirability list.

For the long-haul communications, an elevated Vertical delivers the low angle radiation. The antenna shown below is a folding manpack antenna 285 CM (9.35 Feet) and folds into sections no longer than 12 Inches.

About $45 at Bozos

My Vertical setup includes a tapped base loading coil that on one end mounts on short camera tripod and the whip connects to the other end of the coil. Three wires each 32 feet long connect to the ground side of the coax and form a counterpoise. A "T Match" antenna tuner at the radio perks up the system. BTW the interface to the Tripod was the Jeep Wrangler Bumper Mount I fabricated on my Milling Machine. It has the 3-24 Fitting built in.

Going back to the NVIS, there are telescoping masts that would offset the lack of vertical structures, but these can be expensive. See the 46' DX Engineering pole.

 DXE-TFK46-HD ($300)

There are of course many other possibilities such a loading a rain gutter. But as I explained to a brand-new Extra recently who couldn't load his rain gutter... It has to be a metal gutter not plastic. That is what happens when there is only 45 Minutes between no license and an Extra Class.

Them that know, survive.

73's

Pete N6QW