References

The links I keep needing to look up again, collected in one place. Equipment documentation for the radios here at W9ACW first, then the general amateur-radio references I come back to most.

My equipment

Manufacturer pages for the radios in my station. The older sets are on Yaesu's legacy list; the FT-102 predates their online catalogue entirely, so the best reference for it is Fox Tango International's dedicated page.

• Yaesu FTX-1 Series — covers both the FTX-1 Field and the FTX-1 Optima. HF/50/144/430 MHz all-mode SDR.
• Yaesu FTM-400DR/XDR — 144/430 MHz C4FM/FM dual-band mobile. Legacy product page, with manuals and firmware.
• Yaesu FT-8800R — 144/430 MHz dual-band FM mobile with crossband repeat. Legacy product page.
• Yaesu FT-102 at Fox Tango International — the 1982 three-6146 tube transceiver. Service documentation, relay replacement guides, the FT-102 Survival Guide, and original brochures.

Also useful:

• Yaesu legacy products — manuals and specifications for discontinued Yaesu amateur equipment.
• Yaesu — current product line and software downloads.
• Fox Tango International — the restoration community for classic Yaesu gear, including an active mailing list.

Organizations

• ARRL — the national association for amateur radio in the US; study material, band plans, and technical resources.
• IARU — the International Amateur Radio Union, which coordinates the amateur service globally.

Licensing and rules

• HamStudy.org — free question pools and practice exams for all three US license classes.
• Find an exam session — ARRL's volunteer-examiner session finder.
• FCC Part 97 — the rules governing the amateur service in the US.
• ARRL band plan — where on each band a given mode belongs.
• ITU frequency allocations — the international allocation tables underneath the national ones.

Operating and awards

• QRZ.com — callsign lookup and operator profiles.
• Logbook of The World — ARRL's contact-confirmation system.
• Parks on the Air (POTA) — portable operating from parks.
• Summits on the Air (SOTA) — portable operating from summits.
• WA7BNM Contest Calendar — what's on the air this weekend.
• ARRL contest calendar — the ARRL's own contest schedule and rules.

Propagation

• NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center — solar and geomagnetic conditions from the source.
• HamQSL solar data — N0NBH's solar summary, the familiar band-conditions panel.
• VOACAP Online — HF propagation prediction between two points.
• DX Maps — real-time propagation maps built from spotting data.
• PSK Reporter — who is actually hearing you right now, from automatic digital-mode reception reports.
• WWV, NIST — the time and frequency standard stations, and a convenient propagation check.

Software

• WSJT-X — FT8, FT4, WSPR, Q65 and the rest of the weak-signal modes. Note this is the current home; the old SourceForge address now only redirects.
• JS8Call — conversational keyboard-to-keyboard messaging built on the FT8 modem.
• fldigi — W1HKJ's suite for RTTY, PSK, Olivia and many other modes.
• N1MM Logger+ — the contest logger most US contesters use.

Technical and homebrew

• K7MEM online calculators — dipoles, verticals, coils, filters, and impedance-matching maths.
• Amidon — ferrite and powdered-iron core data, which is what you actually need when winding a transformer.
• The DXZone — a large curated directory of amateur radio links.
• eHam.net — equipment reviews worth reading before buying used gear.
• AC6V — a long-running and enormous collection of amateur radio reference material.
• QSL.net — free hosting for club and individual amateur sites; a lot of older reference material lives here.