The station — National Amateur Radio Alliance

A station is a system. The radio gets the attention, but the antenna, the feedline and the noise floor decide what you actually hear. Spend money in that order — antenna, feedline, radio — and you will out-perform people who did the opposite.

Related topics: operating for what to do with it, and technical topics for why any of it works.

In this section

Laying out the shack Reach, cables, power and labels — the boring things that decide whether you operate.

Radios and transceivers Choosing and understanding the box in the middle.

Software-defined radio $30 receivers, panadapters and full SDR transceivers.

Amplifiers What more power buys you, and why it is rarely the first thing to buy.

Antennas The part of the station that determines what you hear.

Feedline, SWR and tuners What happens between the radio and the antenna.

Coax, connectors and chokes Choosing cable, installing connectors, and stopping common-mode current.

Power, supplies and batteries Feeding the station at home and in the field.

Grounding, bonding and lightning Protecting people and equipment.

Towers, masts and rotators Getting an antenna up safely, legally and only once.

RFI and noise Finding what is wrecking your receiver, and what you might be wrecking.

Portable and mobile stations Operating from a vehicle, a park bench or a backpack.

Remote operation Operating a station you are not sitting at — legally and reliably.

Test equipment What to buy first, and what you can borrow from the club.

Kits and homebrewing Building your own gear — where to start, what to buy, and how not to burn yourself.