The radio and all the software have safeguards ... a standard “hamlib” interface that many pieces of ham software use to control radios. The audio setup is a bit trickier.

Ham radio is no different ... but when you can replace the radio for $20, it hardly matters. HF radios are a different story. Thanks to software-defined radio, superpowerful computers, and ...

When I was a kid living near Grantsville, West Virginia, some of my neighbors were into amateur ham radio. I found their analog electronics and antennas and their mastery of Morse code fascinating.

The generation of single sideband (SSB) signals first came to my attention via ham radio back in the early 1960s ... receivers produced up through the 1950s would have automatic gain control (AGC) ...