Once upon a time, ham radio was all about CW and voice transmissions and little else. These days, the hobby is altogether richer, with a wide range of fancy digital data modes to play with.

Two years ago, in my home state of Kentucky, we had a devastating tornado that traveled nearly 200 miles, leveled towns, killed scores of people, and left widespread devastation. When emergency ...

Tom Beckett gestures toward a window on the third floor of the Durham County Main Library. “We’re in the middle of a geomagnetic storm,” he announces. The room chuckles. There are no swirling vortexes ...

WINCHESTER — Tim Angell twists a dial on his thick, black Yaesu radio, and hears a hiss, a crackle and a tone rising and falling like a slide whistle. He twists again, and the radio spits out rapid ...