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OnAllBands and DX Engineering offer a hearty huzzah to one of amateur radio’s most accomplished DXing and contesting organizations—the Araucaria DX Group (GADX). Let’s join together in congratulating them on 50 years of inspiring the amateur radio community with their supreme skills and unwavering ambassadorship to the world’s best hobby.

Named after the Araucaria pine tree found in southern and southeastern Brazil, the group has roots that spread far and wide, with 300 members representing Brazilian states and five continents. Members today operate several high-profile multi-operator contest stations across South America.

Watch DX Engineering CEO Tim Duffy, K3LR, celebrate the Araucaria DX Group’s 50^th anniversary in this video:

Based out of Curitiba in Paraná, Brazil, the group was established in 1976 by prominent Brazilian and international amateurs, including Atilano de Oms, PY5EG; Peter Sprengel, PY5CC; Donald Murden, PY5ZBU; Jim Hoffman, N5FA; Vani Emanuel, PY5VM; and Nelson Otavio Maia, PY5CA. In 1994, PY5EG, representing GADX, was inducted into the CQ Contest Hall of Fame.

The GADX’s main objectives, as stated on their website, include improving the quality of amateur radio in Brazil, encouraging young people to take up amateur radio, promoting and improving the image of amateur radio across all segments of society, and creating a center of excellence for amateur radio.

The group established the GADX Hall of Fame to recognize those who had made major contributions to the ham radio community.

In addition to supporting major DXpeditions like KP5/NP3VI Desecheo Island, the GADX has run several landmark operations of its own, including St. Peter and St. Paul Rocks (PT0S) in November 2012 and Fernando de Noronha (ZX0F) in October 1999.

The GADX also created and sponsors the 24-hour CW/SSB/RTTY World Wide Iron Ham Contest (last full weekend of December), as well as sponsoring awards for the DX Marathon and other competitions.

On behalf of the entire amateur radio community, here’s to another 50 exceptional years on the air!

73!

The post Happy 50th Anniversary to the Araucaria DX Group! appeared first on OnAllBands.

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The proposed federal legislation prevents HOAs from enacting restrictive antenna rules. Use the link in the article to send your letters of support. It’s quick, easy, and will make a difference.

Also, we’ve included a link at the bottom so non-hams can send letters as well.

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If you haven’t done so already, now’s an important time to let your representatives in Washington, D.C. know how homeowner’s association (HOA) antenna limitations negatively impact the vitality of amateur radio and could have serious consequences when emergency communication is needed during a disaster.

In September 2025, the ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® launched a nationwide letter-writing campaign to support the passage of the Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act, which was reintroduced in February 2025 by U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Richard Blumenthal, D- Conn., and Representatives August Pfluger, R-Tex., and Joe Courtney, D-Conn. 

As of June 2026, more than 156,000 letters had been sent. John Robert Stratton, N5AUS, ARRL West Gulf Division Director, talks about the importance of continuing this letter-writing effort in this video.

The bipartisan House and Senate bills would prevent restrictive HOA rules that currently prohibit or severely limit the installation of amateur radio antennas, even when these antennas are hidden in trees, placed in attics, mounted on vehicles, or look like flagpoles, per the ARRL. The passage of the legislation would grant amateur radio operators the same rights to install antennas on their property as those enjoyed by users of TV antennas, wireless internet, and flagpoles.

Click on these links to read the bills:

• H.R.1094 in the House
• S.459 in the Senate

From the ARRL, passage of the bill would:

• Prohibit HOAs from outright banning amateur radio antennas
• Establish an approval process for installation
• Create a federal right of action for hams in disputed cases

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The ARRL is encouraging every radio amateur in the U.S. to send letters to Washington via this form.

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You do not have to be an ARRL member to use the form. Just enter your call sign, name, address, and email address, and click “Send My Letters” to add your voice to this important issue. The letters will automatically be sent to your elected officials, encouraging them to support the bills.

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New! Share this blog post with non-hams so they can support the legislation as well!

The ARRL has now made it simple to let your non-licensed friends and family lend their support.

They can send letters to lawmakers using the form for non-hams here.

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The post Tell Your Lawmakers to Back the Amateur Radio Preparedness Act (Now, Non-Hams Can Also Easily Lend Their Support Too!) appeared first on OnAllBands.

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When I got my amateur radio license in 2019, I was a very shy ten-year-old who probably would have been nervous giving a presentation to her class at school. Somehow, getting an amateur radio license helped me become a much more confident and independent version of myself that the shy ten-year-old would never recognize.

The hobby has taught me countless lessons and has led me to become much more independent than I ever imagined I would have been at this point in my life.

The learning process of amateur radio begins with the exam. I got my license before I had taken so much as a formal algebra class—and long before I had exams that mattered for very much. My amateur radio license exams taught me how to study, which is a skill I have used almost every day since. Passing your licensing exam is something that you work for and earn, and the process helps instill a sense of independence in you. This continues even after getting your license. After you’re allowed to get on the air, it’s time to start assembling your station. While you may get some help from other hams, this is really your own project. Quite a bit of initiative is needed to be successful.

As you get more involved in the hobby, you must figure out what parts of amateur radio you want to pursue more deeply. This encourages—and almost forces—a sense of independence because you’re making decisions for yourself about what you want to pursue and how you want to do it. You have to take ownership of your learning and time, which helps build independence.

Amateur radio opens doors for those who are independent and motivated. There are seemingly endless opportunities for young people in the hobby, but one needs to be independent to take advantage of them. Nobody will work to get you where you want to be in the hobby other than yourself. Even though this can be challenging, it is a process full of lessons to be learned.

For me, the most valuable lessons in independence that amateur radio has taught concern traveling and my relationships with others. I was around twelve years old when I first began to travel for amateur radio. My parents took me on trips to various hamfests on the condition that I planned all of them. I was responsible for finding a hotel and rental car, if we needed one; figuring out the logistics of how long transportation would take; calculating how much the trip would cost and how much we could save; and creating our itinerary.

This was quite a challenge for the first trip or two, but it became significantly easier. I ended up enjoying planning the trips and traveling so much that it eventually led me to go on a study abroad program. Since then, I’ve traveled quite a bit independently, although never really “solo” thanks to the wonderful and supportive community of amateur radio operators around the world.

Regarding the amateur radio community mentioned above, one of the most important lessons in independence is how to form and maintain all sorts of relationships with people, especially in situations where it’s not simple to do. Many of my friends are now people I’ve met through amateur radio, which means most of them do not live anywhere near me. This has taught me how to manage relationships that are not fueled by the convenience of seeing each other every day.

Perhaps even more importantly, amateur radio has taught me how to make connections and form/maintain professional relationships with others. Most teenagers don’t have a good (or any!) chance to start networking before they are a few years into college, but those who are involved with amateur radio have the perfect opportunity to do so. Networking and forming relationships with mentors are aspects of amateur radio that nobody can do for you—you need to be independent about it.

Amateur radio itself won’t automatically make young people independent, but it gives them opportunities to develop that trait themselves. The environment to develop and practice independence is one that is not common for youth these days, and it’s incredibly important to help young people develop real skills in today’s world.

The post Ways Amateur Radio Fosters Independence in Young Hams appeared first on OnAllBands.

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For today’s product spotlight, we turn to the amateur radio experts at Hamplus, a Brazilian company founded by Celso, PP5CFS, and Marcus, PP5MS. The company’s well-built and smartly engineered products have been making the operation of multi-antenna stations simpler and more convenient for contesters and DX enthusiasts since 2008.

DX Engineering is the exclusive North American distributor of Hamplus amateur radio gear. Find the full lineup of Hamplus desktop and remote antenna switches, HF beam antenna stacking switch combos, antenna control system components, band data interface cables, and more at DXEngineering.com.

Let’s Take a Look at the Hamplus AS-603WL Black Automatic Remote HF + VHF 6 x 3 Antenna Switch 

This intelligent, three-transceiver interfaceable dual-relay smart control communicates wirelesslywith a six-port remote antenna relay via the coaxial cable.

The upgraded AS-603WL Smart Control Console, with a new black finish, controls the AS-61WL weatherproof outdoor relay box with no control cable required (the WL stands for “wireless”). Select any one of three radios to connect or bypass the single amplifier I/O in the shack.

The AS-603WL supports one antenna connected to one radio at a time. Manual or automatic selections of antenna and radio are confirmed with illuminated pushbuttons. Transceivers interfaced with optional cables provide frequency data for memorized automatic antenna selections. Interface cables are available for Elecraft, Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu transceivers which support frequency data for specific antenna selections by band segment. It also features an RS-232 serial port for PC-controlled remote operation.

The AS-603WL system operates from 1.8 to 150 MHz and handles up to 3,000 watts PEP under 1.5:1 SWR. The back panel of the console includes SO-239/UHF Female connectors for all three radios; an In/Out pair to use one linear amplifier, wattmeter, or both; and the telemetry and RF combined output to the AS-61WL. See the instruction manual in the Documentation section at DXEngineering.com to learn more about this remote antenna switch.

More features of the Hamplus AS-603WL Black:

• No multi-conductor control cables required. Commands go over the RF cable.
• Connect one of six antennas to one of three transceivers and one amplifier with bypass.
• Any of the six antennas can be designated as a “receive only” antenna that can be selected separately and toggled away from during TX with Split function.
• LED indicators for DC Power, Send PTT, Amp PTT, and Split operation.
• Illuminated pushbuttons indicate Antenna (1-6) and Radio (1-3) selections, and menu selections of transceiver type, baud rate, band segments, split ops, and amp.
• Manual pushbutton selection of any antenna for any radio, interfaced or not interfaced.
• Automatic intelligent frequency specific antenna selection decoder with “Last Selected Band Segment” antenna memory for each radio.
• Automation supported by interface capabilities with Icom (CI-V); Kenwood (COM RS-232) and Flex (RS-232, USB adapter required); Elecraft (RS-232 and BCD); Yaesu (RS-232 and BCD to CI-V); and other transceivers that use one of these communication protocols. See Recommended Parts for applicable Hamplus Interface Cables.
• “Last Selected Band Antenna” supports LAN remote transceiver operation without the need for a LAN or PC antenna switch interface.
• PC interface is not necessary for automatic antenna selection. RS-232 serial port for remote operation with download from Hamplus RC for Windows.
• RF Power (max.):3,000 watts HF SSB PEP with SWR less than 1.5:1
• Port to Port Isolation:72 dB at 30 MHz; 58 dB at 50 MHz
• Insertion Loss:Less than 0.1 dB at 30 MHz
• Unselected Relays: All antennas and radios are switched to ground when not in use.
• Short circuit protection:On RF cable

Read more about the Hamplus AS-603WL Black and order it for your station here.

The post New Product Spotlight: Hamplus AS-603WL Black Automatic Remote HF + VHF 6 x 3 Antenna Switch appeared first on OnAllBands.

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