Field Notes from N1JUR

Real-world ham radio tips, portable operating lessons, gear thoughts, and activation stories from the field to the shack.

What You’ll Find Here

This blog is where I go deeper than a YouTube description. You’ll find practical ham radio guides, activation lessons, gear breakdowns, and field notes from real operating experiences.

Some posts are beginner-friendly. Some get a little more technical. And some are just honest lessons from the field — because not every activation goes perfectly, and that’s usually where the good stuff happens.

  • Portable operating tips

  • POTA, SOTA, and location-based activation ideas

  • Gear and antenna experiments

  • Beginner-friendly ham radio guides

  • Field stories and lessons learned

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My Top 5 Ham Apps for iOS

What Ham Radio Apps are on your smartphone? I take a quick dive into what I use and the features that keep them on my home screen.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT PART 2 HERE FOR ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS

I was planning a short talk for my local club on some of my favorite Ham Apps I use on IOS.

I also wanted to share them with my “Ham-ily,” knowing it might help spark a conversation.

If you have a favorite I didn’t touch on, feel free to share it.

Here are my top 5 Ham Apps I use.

HamAlert -This is the portable version of the spotting dx cluster. If you ever want to be notified of callsigns that you need to complete a WAS or DXCC, then this is an app you want to have.

SolarHam - we all want to know the solar/band conditions well; this site is packed with detailed maps and up-to-the-hour stats on rf conditions.

EzyQTH - if you do pota or are always outside playing the radio, you’ll love this app. Many of my logging apps aren’t GPS or grid square aware but fear not; this app will take your GPS coordinates and tell you your Lat/Lon, grid square, and maidenhead without input.

Pota. App - this isn’t so much a universal app but is one you want to make part of your smartphone. I refer to it daily, whether hunting or activating, as it’s a great site to stay abreast of the latest activations.

Radar Scope - this isn’t so much a ham app, but it has been helpful for me to keep tabs on weather conditions and lightning. I hope to automate this someday, but until then, I need to disconnect my antennas when lightning is on the horizon manually.

Those are my five favorites. What ones do you use to take up coveted screen space? Let me know in the comments.

I've also updated my YouTube playlist for those interested in other apps I recommend.

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