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If you stopped by to see the latest from DX Engineering at Dayton Hamvention® 2026, it wasn’t hard to spot the Momobeam booth at the end of one of DX Engineering’s rows in Building One at the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center in Xenia, Ohio—especially if you were in the market for a high-performance HF directional antenna.

Why was this premier amateur radio provider from Sicily, Italy, positioned so close to DX Engineering? Well, it wasn’t by accident. DX Engineering began selling Momobeam’s world-renowned Yagis; end-fed wire antennas; and choke baluns, RF chokes, and RF choke line insulators through an agreement with the company in 2025.

“Momobeam antennas are trusted by amateur operators everywhere for improved contesting, optimized DXing, and an exceptional on-air experience,” said Tim Duffy, K3LR, DX Engineering CEO. “DX Engineering is excited to bring these finely engineered and well-built antennas to our customers. Our team looks forward to a long and successful relationship with the professionals at Momobeam.”

Here’s a summary of the three Momobeam HF directional Yagis that drew attendees to their Hamvention booth:

• PENTA10 Five-Band HF Yagi: This popular antenna offers a compact footprint while delivering full-size performance across 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meters—all through a single feedline. Optimized element spacing ensures exceptional gain, directivity, and on-air results. Plus, enjoy long-term durability and a clean, professional appearance.

Quick Specs: 10 elements, 12.8-foot boom length, 19.35-foot turning radius, 10kW power handling, 3kW RF choke balun included.

• DUO7 6/10M Dual-Band HF Yagi: This Yagi for 6 and 10 meters has an antenna boom length of 6.88 feet and weighs only 17.6 lbs., making it ideal for portable operations and installations where space is limited. Enjoy hassle-free setup with no calibration and excellent performance, with SWR below 1.5:1 across both bands. Its no-compromise design has seven elements fed through a single feedpoint.

Quick Specs: 9.84-foot turning radius, 10kW power handling, no balun included.

• Mono3-6P 6 Meter Yagi: This antenna for operation on the Magic Band weighs only 4.2 lbs. and has a boom length of 3.6 feet. Its field-ready design makes it perfect for POTA and SOTA activations. It offers impressive gain, excellent front-to-back performance, and a flat SWR curve of less than 1.5:1 across the 6M band. Designed for rapid deployment, it uses wing nuts to enable fast, tool-free assembly and disassembly.

Quick Specs: 3 elements, 5.6-foot turning radius, 3kW power handling, no balun included.

Mark Pride, K1RX, Momobeam North American representative,

graciously took a few minutes with OnAllBands to discuss the world-class mechanical design elements that separate Momobeam’s directional antennas from the competition.

“One of the major elements in the mechanical design is we use a square boom,” said K1RX. “With a square boom_, depending on the type of antenna, if it’s a large multi-element Yagi it might be a four-inch size or less, like a two-inch for the Penta. The square boom in combination with stainless steel hardware and the precision-machined components really does differentiate us from all the other people out there.”

“Something also to note is the plates that hold the elements to the boom. The bolt holes are set up such that when you put a bolt right next to the wall of the square boom, there’s no gap, so it eliminates any kind azimuth type of rotation off the boom. And if you put the plate on wrong, you’ll end up with a situation where the bolt holes don’t line up and you’ll know immediately that, okay, that’s not done properly. But the instructions are such that it’s very clear that you won’t make that mistake.”

“There’s high-quality UV-rated materials on the insulators for all the elements. Elements are suspended below the boom, which is probably the best mechanical method for mounting elements.”

“There’s properly telescoped tubing. The mounting of the elements, the way they’re connected through the telescopic plate, is we use a single bolt—stainless steel—and the outer tubing has a larger diameter than the inside tube. The objective there is you want to be able to pull one wall of that tubing against the other, as opposed to trying to put a bolt through the entire element. What happens is you end up with a loose element. It doesn’t quite compress, but by having a larger hole where the head of the bolt will actually sit, it causes the two walls to compress with no issue at all.

“So, you have an excellent electrical connection. And, of course, that in combination with Penetrox or a conductor grease, which DX Engineering sells, it’s again another perfect marriage. That’s a good recipe for success.”

Also, take a moment to watch this video of Mark, K1RX, being interviewed by Tim, K3LR:

The post A Few Words from Momobeam about the Mechanical Design of Its HF Directional Antennas appeared first on OnAllBands.

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After finishing my exchange year in Germany in the second week of June, I spent a few days at home and then boarded a flight to attend the biggest amateur radio convention in Europe—Ham Radio Friedrichshafen, June 26-28, 2026.

I had the opportunity to attend the fair for the first time in 2024 with my father. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to come back this year after spending the year in Germany. This allowed me to compare the experiences before and after having learned to speak German.

For anyone wondering how the fair compares to Dayton Hamvention® or HamCation, it’s very similar, although completely indoors. It’s slightly smaller (especially on the swap end of things) than these two, but a little larger than the Huntsville Hamfest.

One of the biggest differences is how culturally diverse it is in comparison to the hamfests and events that take place in the US. While major gatherings like Hamvention and HamCation have at least a little bit of international attendance, this is exponentially higher in Friedrichshafen due to the simplicity of travel between countries in Europe. It’s completely normal to stroll through the event and hear conversations in four or five different languages as you walk past, which is, for me, one of the coolest parts of the conference.

The youth hostel is also a big difference from the structure of hamfests in the US, but for good reasons. Like in 2024, I stayed in the youth hostel (“HamCamp”) that is offered at the fair. The event is held at a retired Zeppelin hangar, which makes the facility perfect in the sense that it has multiple halls for various parts of the event (e.g., forum halls, vendor halls, swap meet halls, and one dedicated specifically to hosting young attendees).

While the accommodations aren’t the most luxurious, they do make the trip much more affordable for young people who would like to attend. Even more importantly, this arrangement helps you meet lots of other young attendees and get to know them. I met numerous young hams who I’ve been friends with on Instagram for years or have talked to on the air but never met in person. This is always one of my favorite parts of the weekend.

To make the most out of the weekend, I arrived on the Thursday before the conference started.  After “moving in” to the hostel, I went out and grabbed dinner with some of the others who were staying in the HamCamp. After dinner, we went for a walk by Lake Constance and enjoyed ice cream as we caught up with old friends and made new ones.

Friday morning came with an early wakeup call so we could get ready for the day and be there before the halls opened to the public. We made it right on time and finished setting up the YOTA (Youngsters on the Air) booth before the fair opened. I made sure to say hello to all my acquaintances before fitting in the YOTA contest and camp announcement ceremonies. After the fair closed, we finished off the day with the YOTA dinner at a nearby restaurant and headed back to the hostel to chat with each other a bit more.

Saturday was just as exciting, with the official YOTA meeting taking place. Many new youngsters joined the hostel since they were done with school for the week. After a full day of enjoying the conference, most of us headed to the Bavarian Contest Club (BCC) dinner and then went out for a bit of sightseeing by the lake. On Sunday, we all got up early to enjoy the last few hours of the conference before heading our separate ways—at least until WRTC (World Radiosport Team Championship) the next week…or the YOTA camp in Austria!

While Ham Radio Friedrichshafen is very different from the conferences that I’ve attended in the US, there are always a few constants. The most important one (to me, at least) is the atmosphere of finally being together with friends from all over the world who share your interests and hobbies. After attending an event like Friedrichshafen, I always find myself looking forward to the next radio event and wanting to get on the air more, which I know is the case for many other young operators.

While it was definitely not necessary for me to enjoy the conference, my German language skills made this year especially fun. I’m already looking forward to attending (hopefully) in 2027!

The post Looking Back at Ham Radio Friedrichshafen 2026 appeared first on OnAllBands.

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For the last several years, my emphasis in amateur radio has been on activating parks for the National Parks on the Air (NPOTA), Parks on the Air® (POTA), and World Wide Flora & Fauna (WWFF) programs. While I maintain a station at home, it seems to be used surprisingly rarely.

That all changed this summer, thanks to a couple of surgeries—one planned, the other not so much. Suddenly, my portable operating adventures were put on hold, and I found myself spending a lot more time at home.

So, I decided it was time to flip the script and talk about transitioning from activating to hunting.

This won’t be an all-inclusive “how-to-do-it” type of article. Instead, I’ll be sharing thoughts on hunting from my perspective, along with some tips on setting up a home shack, finding the time to operate, and a few of the tools and utilities I’ve found useful along the way.

Of course, hunting from your perspective may be quite different. That’s one of the things I enjoy about amateur radio—there’s rarely only one way to do something. But perhaps you’ll pick up a tip or two that will help you.

The Home Shack

This section assumes that you may not already have a home station, so if you do, feel free to skip ahead.

The home shack is wherever you can set it up. One of my friends uses his kitchen table. It works very well for him, but I consider myself extremely blessed to have a dedicated room that serves as both my office and my ham shack.

Over the past 40-plus years, I’ve set up stations in basements and on above-ground floors of the house. I must say, though, that I much prefer having a window to the world. There’s just something about being able to see outside while I’m working or on the air.

At its most basic, all you really need for a ham shack is a place for the radio, a source of electricity, and a way to get your antenna wires outside. That last one can be a challenge, especially for apartment dwellers. Just ask another friend of mine about that!

Electricity is usually the easy part. You no longer need to have a dedicated electrical line run to your shack just to get on the air. Today’s radios are remarkably efficient, and a typical station can operate quite comfortably from a standard household circuit.

Of course, as your ham radio addiction—and it is an addiction—progresses, you may start thinking about adding an amplifier. Whether you’re talking about an HF amplifier or something for VHF/UHF, that’s when it might be time to have a conversation with your electrician about whether your existing electrical service can handle the additional load.

As for the location, the usual rules apply. You’ll want a spot that’s somewhat removed from the noise and activity of the house, but not so far removed that the kids start asking who that person is when you wander out of the shack at dinnertime.

Normal heating and cooling are also a must. As a teenager, my first ham shack was an uninsulated attic. You couldn’t pay me to do that again!

Finding the Time

After spending so much time at home, you might think that you’d have nothing but time to operate. But isn’t it funny how quickly free time slips away as life happens?

I know what you’re thinking: Just take all the time you used to spend activating parks and hunt instead.

Yeah, I found out real quick that it doesn’t work that way.

When you’re an activator, you generally have a specific goal. You pack up the radio, drive to a park, set up your station, make your contacts, tear everything down, and head home. There’s a beginning and an end to the operation.

Hunting from home is different. The radio is always there, waiting for you. You can sit down for five minutes, or you can spend the entire afternoon. And, somehow, those five minutes can disappear without you realizing it.

Amateur radio is one of the greatest ways I know to spend time, but life has a way of sneaking in. There are always chores to be done, projects waiting for attention, and someone who needs you to do something right now.

I’m still trying to find the right balance between the things I need to do and the things I want to do. But I’m also discovering that hunting can fit into those small pieces of available time in a way that activating sometimes can’t.

And that’s probably one of the biggest advantages of having a home station.

Plug-ins & Utilities

There are plenty of tools available to help keep track of your POTA activities. For more information about some of the tools I’ve used over the years, take a look at my November 2025 article, “Ham Radio Portable Operating Insights: Plug-Ins and Utilities for Your Logs.”

The pages I use most often when hunting are pretty simple:

1) POTA Spotting Page

This is where I go to see who’s out there and what parks are currently being activated. I like to use the table view for this page, but that is a personal choice. You can enable/change views by clicking the hamburger icon (three stacked lines) at the top left of most POTA pages. Then look for the slider marked “Prefer Table View.” This will be in the left sidebar.

2) POTA My Stats Page

This is where I keep an eye on my progress and see how I’m doing as I add new parks and contacts to my hunting totals.

3) My QRZ Page

On my QRZ page, I’ve added a plug-in from WD4DAN that gives me a nice display of my current progress, both as a hunter and as an activator. You can learn more about this by going to Dan’s page here. As with any plug-in and app, clicking on the donate button helps ensure that the developer continues to support the app. In Dan’s app, there is a “Buy me a coffee” link on his page for this purpose.

Beyond those pages, there are a ton of websites and utilities popping up that can help you track your progress as a hunter. There are probably more than I can keep track of, and I’m sure that by the time you read this, there will be a few more.

To be honest, though, I tend to stick with the tried-and-true POTA account. It works, and if I ever have a problem, help is only an email to the POTA help desk away.

I’ve also used Excel spreadsheets to keep track of my progress. There’s nothing wrong with that approach, and some people really enjoy building elaborate spreadsheets to track every possible statistic.

Me? I’d much rather be operating than updating spreadsheets.

And perhaps that’s the biggest lesson I’m learning as I transition from activator to hunter: The tools are there to help you enjoy the hobby. Don’t let keeping track of the hobby become more work than actually enjoying it.

That’s where hunting is easier than activating. POTA only requires activators to upload their logs—not hunters. I’m not saying that uploading logs is difficult; it’s actually a piece of cake. But when you’re hunting, your contacts automatically appear as the activators upload their logs, making the whole process even simpler.

After this summer, have I become a super hunter, ready to sell my gear that I use for activating? Not quite. I’m counting down the days until I can get back out on the road as an activator. I find hunting a lot of fun, but I find activating more fun.

With that, I’ll end this article and wish you good DX—and Good Hunting!

73 DE WG8X

The post Ham Radio Portable Operating Insights: Transitioning from a POTA Activator to Hunter appeared first on OnAllBands.

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