Here are a bunch of articles and videos I've created over the years outside of ARVN. I've been fortunate to have the ARRL/QST ask me to review radios for the past few years. Before that, I wrote the FM/Repeater column in CQ VHF, and I was the editor and columnist  for the SERA Repeater Journal. And I've been making videos long before I started ARVN. Once I even wrote a poem!

This stuff's all free. The QST articles are ©ARRL, so you need to go through the ARRL if you want to distribute them, but you can download your own copy. The rest you can distribute as noted.  If you've come here thru a web link, I'd like to invite you to take a look at the DVD videos I've produced as ARVN. 

Origin of the term "Ham"	Origin of the term "Ham" - a KN4AQ Exciter Article (PDF) Where did the term "Ham" come from? The question is often asked, and rarely answered, at least not correctly. Here's an article I wrote that attempts to set the record as straight as it can be set. It's from the EXciter, a newsletter I edited and wrote for the Raleigh Amateur Radio Society.
	An Introduction to Amateur Radio (Video) Oh really? Isn't that a big bite to chew? Well, yes, so Jeff AC4ZO and I took a modest swipe at it for the classes we taught back in 1999. We look at FM on VHF, and CW and SSB on HF, and a little bit on packet, contests and stuff. The video runs about 30 minutes. Now this is not ARVN! I shot it on Hi-8, with on-camera microphones and no added lighting. But I think you'll see the seed get planted that became ARVN. I invite you to how this compares this to all the other Introduction to Amateur Radio videos out there. (There's lots of other video on my 'other' YouTube channel: YouTube.com/KN4AQ2.)
	Repeaters from A to D: A D-STAR Primer (PDF) This is an extensive article I wrote for hams who know little to nothing about D-STAR, and for hams who are into it but want to understand it better. It was published in the February 2011 Repeater Journal. Feel free to pass this one around!
	Yaesu FT-7900R review (PDF download) from QST, October 2010. The 7900 is a good, basic FM OBAAT. What's an OBAAT? Read the review!. This article is copyrighted by ARRL. Permission is granted for personal use only. For any other distribution, contact ARRL (permissions@arrl.org).
	ICOM ID-880 review (PDF download) from QST, January 2010. The ID-880 is a dual-band (one band at a time) FM/D-STAR mobile radio. This article is copyrighted by ARRL. Permission is granted for personal use only. For any other distribution, contact ARRL (permissions@arrl.org).
	Kenwood RC-D710 review (PDF download) from QST, May, 2009. The RC-D710 is Kenwood's "APRS Control Head" - a graphical TNC that you can use on almost any radio. ©ARRL. Permission is granted for personal use only. For any other distribution, contact ARRL (permissions@arrl.org).
	DVDongle review (PDF download) from QST, February, 2009. The DV Dongle is a computer interface device that lets you communicate with D-STAR repeaters worldwide over the internet using your computer, without a radio. ©ARRL. Permission is granted for personal use only. For any other distribution, contact ARRL (permissions@arrl.org).
	ICOM IC-92AD review (PDF download) from QST, September, 2008. The IC-92 is ICOM's dual-band (two bands at a time) FM/D-STAR handheld.  ©ARRL. Permission is granted for personal use only. For any other distribution, contact ARRL (permissions@arrl.org).
	Operating D-STAR (PDF download). [Note: this article has its charm, but I've written a much more recent, more in-depth article – Repeaters from A to D – available above - KN4AQ]  Feature article from QST, September, 2007. This article will introduce you to the basics of D-STAR digital voice operation on VHF/UHF. It's getting kind of old, now, but holds up pretty well . ©ARRL. Permission is granted for personal use only. For any other distribution, contact ARRL (permissions@arrl.org).
	Tone, to Go (PDF Download). You probably use tone squelch in your VHF/UHF FM radio all the time. But what is it, why is it, and how does it work? And how does it not work?  This is from my FM column in the Summer 2008 CQ VHF magazine.  I retain the copyright, and you're welcome to distribute and reprint this article.
A Ham's Night Before Christmas: The Movie	A Ham's Night Before Christmas (Poem, Audio, Video) A little holiday cheer, written (or ripped off) way back in 1996. Click the link to the left for the video ("the movie") and the text. And here's the audio version, recorded by the "author." And an audio version without music that you can play on the air! The guitar accompaniment is courtesy of Don Mercz WA3AYR. Yes, you may copy and use the video, audio and text anywhere you like — you have my full permission.
Digital Dreaming - 2003 (pdf)	KN4AQ Predicts the Future (PDF) In 2010, I was doing some research for a  SERA Repeater Journal article on D-STAR, and I remembered that I'd written about it before, back when I first learned about it. When was that, and what did I say? Turrns out it was 2003, and I had made some predictions about ham radio that surprised me, now seven years later. It was fun to go back and read that column again. I think you'll enjoy it, too. Pay careful attention, and then ask yourself if we're calling FM and SSB "legacy" modes yet... You are welcome to reprint and distribute the article or the PDF.
Anatomy of an Incursion (pdf)	Riley Hollingsworth sent a warning letter to a truck driver in my area, after some local hams monitored him operating on 28.085 MHz.  I tracked him down and interviewed him. Then I visited a local CB shop that he referred me to and talked to them about some of the radios you'll find on the market.  This story was printed in the SERA Repeater Journal in 2001. You are welcome to reprint and distribute the article or the PDF.
Crossband Repeating  (pdf)	Crossband Repeat is a handy function built into many dual-band VHF/UHF radios. At first, it can be a difficult concept to grasp, and doing it "wrong" can cause some problems. I've seen some terrible articles trying to explain the ins and outs of crossband repeat. Here's another one, this time written by me. This story was printed in the SERA Repeater Journal in 2001. You are welcome to reprint and distribute the article or the PDF.
Kilocycle Kop (pdf)	Konfessions of a Kilocycle Kop. Have you ever been kalled on the karpet by a fellow ham? It could have been me! I came arcoss this article that while doing some other research. I'd totally forgotten that I wrote it. It's from the July 2002 edition of the SERA Repeater Journal. Nothing technical, just something to have fun with. You are welcome to reprint and distribute the article or the PDF.
The Friendly Repeater (pdf)	The Friendly Repeater (Parts I and II). Out there on the road, it can be hard to scare up contacts on the repeaters you pass by. At home, you consider your machine "the friendly repeater." It might surprise you that the locals think machine you struck out on is also "the friendly repeater." Here are some techniques for getting those friendly locals off their duff and on the mic. This is a set of old "Getting Started" colunms that I wrote for the SERA Repeater Journal.
Field Day/All Night Long (video)	This is a "home movie" video of the Raleigh Amateur Radio Society Field Day in 1997. It was shot on Hi-8, dubbed to Betacam and edited on Avid Media Composer. The overnight segment is cut to the Eagle's All Night Long. Because of the copyrighted music, I couldn't do anything with it except show it to the club, until YouTube came along. The link will take you to my non-ARVN YouTube channel, KN4AQ2.
	Blind Cat Video is my little production company for non-ham radio video. I've also got some more demos of my professional production and voice-over. Yes, there is more to life than ham radio, and it keeps getting in the way.
2005 Field Day/ Hurricane Katrina Video Interviews	I was interviewed by local media twice in 2005. The first was a studio sit-down at Time Warner Cable's News14 Carolina, promoting Field Day. The second was a "local" take on ham radio as Hurricane Katrina devistated New Orleans. I've added a recording of actual ham radio communictions into New Orleans to the end of that interview. This is on my YouTube channel KN4AQ2.