Generators are commonly used to power portable stations, and are the best option for long-term use. These may be supplemented by deep-cycle batteries to bridge over periods where the generator must be shut down for refueling, maintenance, or quiet hours. QST magazine published a review of gasoline-powered generators back in June 2012. (You must be…

Situations a long extension cord or power cable will be needed to reach the generator or other power source. Voltage drop is also an important consideration when selecting or fabricating a power cable for DC-powered equipment. We’ll provide advice on DC power cables later in this article. For now, let’s focus on power cables for…

You can buy an inexpensive hockey puck GPS receiver for about $30. It comes with a short cord and USB plug. It appears to the computer as a COM port and delivers the GPS data as an RS-232 bitstream. At this price point, you don’t get the 1 pulse-per-second output, but you do get reasonably…