Eventually, many of these early websites were forgotten or never updated. One man made it his mission to put together the ultimate collection of ham radio websites on his site: Rod Dinkins, AC6V. His site, AC6V.com, contains thousands of links to sites that are organized by topic.

In fact, Rod’s site was the inspiration behind what later became my own ham radio links system and others.

I learned today of Rod’s passing.  (SK = Silent Key) He’ll be missed in the ham radio websphere for his passion for maintaining a good starting place for those seeking information on the hobby of ham radio… both newbies and old timers alike.

I’m sure that Rod had devoted many hours to his site and the hobby – and that effort resulted in many newcomers finding resources that enabled them to get a license or answer a question to make the hobby more enjoyable.

73 Rod.

One of the best features of the site is the forum (Lists) archives. Within these lists, you’ll find some of the best discussions on ham radio towers, antennas, contesting, and ham radio contest software. If you are new to the hobby or to the world of contesting or station building, then chances are that you’ll find an answer to a question here.

The front page of Bill’s site is basically an organized listing of links (which you might find on other sites). That’s pretty good. But, in my mind, the real value is in the underlying pages.

Announced DX Operations

The Announced DX Operations page is probably the most accurate listing of DX operations available. Bill gathers data from multiple DX newsletters and websites to update his listing and then organizes the information by dates, entities, modes, QSL route, etc.  For a DXer, this page alone makes it worthwhile.  Users of my DXpedition Map might be interested to know that I have a script that pulls data from Bills page daily to keep my map up-to-date. (By the way, the DXpedition Map is also accessible via the HamLinks toolbar).  Ok, enough about me

Amateur Radio Contesting Resources and Information

On the contesting side, Bill offers details of DX operations that will be active during major contests. Want to know which DXpeditions will be available during CQ WW WPX SSB? Bill’s page will tell you.

NG3K.com is much more than a few pages of links to other sites. (If I wanted links to other ham radio sites, I’d start with my own). Bill’s site has unique content that makes it a valuable resource to many in the DXing and ham radio contesting community – that’s what makes it the Ham Radio Website of the Week.

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The ham radio website of the week belongs to Alan Applegate, K0BG of Roswell, NM (by the way, I wonder if his truck is ever mistaken for an alien ship). Alan’s website is the place to stop if you are new to the world of HF mobile ham radio (or VHF mobile ham radio for that matter). 

Alan’s website covers everything related to mobile ham radio – from topics that you’d expect to find on a site dedicated to the topic:

• Antenna selection and mounting
• Cabling
• Grounding
• Eliminating noise

to a few topics that are less obvious

• Insurance issues
• Hybrid vehicle issues

If you are interested in exploring what it takes to properly install a HF mobile ham radio station, take a look at Alan’s site.  If you already have a ham rig in your car, then I’ll bet that visiting the K0BG site will leave you planning future mobile improvements.

…-.-

My criteria?  Good content that interests me and acceptable web design. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but I have to want to look through more than a page or two of content and want to stop back.

For the first site, I’ll recommend CN2R.net.  This site provides a glimpse into the impressive contest station in the northern Africa country of Morocco. The site features a webcam, many photos, station information and more.  The web design isn’t professional grade – but the content more than makes up for that.

The feature that really impressed me was a contest logbook lookup utility that allows playback of the QSO audio. Wow.

For example, you can go to this link and enter a ham radio callsign to find contest QSOs with CN2R. (For example, enter N0HR). 

The team at CN2R have some impressive antennas and some logistics challenges I’m sure. So, to put out a decent website besides giving out QSOs is to be commended.

It’s worth a look.

…-.-