About HamJam

HamJam 2024 is an effort by North Fulton Amateur Radio League (NFARL) to promote amateur radio in the southeast US by bringing respected contributors to amateur radio to our local community.

Net proceeds will be donated to the NFARL youth scholarship funds.

The 2024 event builds on thirteen previous HamJams.

  • The inaugural edition in 2009 featured Joel Hallas W1ZR.  His presentation, "The Doctor is In", was based on his QST Magazine column of the same name.  Over 200 people attended the event which was held at the Roswell Georgia City Hall.  Joel's stimulating presentation was well received and we received many requests to hold a similar event in 2010.
  • HamJam 2010 was expanded to three speakers, and the Southeastern DX Club teamed with the North Fulton Amateur Radio League to put on the event.  It was held at the Georgia Institute of Technology College of Management's LeCraw Auditorium.  HamJam 2010 featured:
    • Joe Taylor K1JT who presented "Advances in Weak Signal Communication"
    • Ward Silver N0AX who presented "What Does it Mean", and
    • Hal Kennedy N4GG who gave a short introduction and demonstration of his Blue Lightning spark gap transmitter.
  • Over 300 people attended these stimulating presentations.
  • HamJam 2011 was another success -- the speakers were excellent, attendance set a new record, and the gathering provided attendees with an opportunity to reacquaint themselves with friends from the Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee clubs represented at the event.  HamJam 2011 was held at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center.  Three speakers shared their perspectives on ham radio with us:
    • Kay Craigie, N3KN of Blacksburg, Virginia and President of ARRL was our lead-off speaker.  She presented her views on the future of amateur radio.
    • Tom Rauch, W8JI of Barnesville, Georgia spoke on Antenna Myths.  Tom is in his 49th year of ham radio, and has recently focused his efforts on transmitting antennas.  See some of his work at his web site: http://www.w8ji.com/
    • Eric Swartz, WA6HHQ of Aptos, California and one of the two founders of the Elecraft Company spoke on "Starting a Ham Radio Company".
  • Two albums of photos from the event are available -- click here to see the first album  containing photos by W4OO (SK) and K4YJJ, and here to see the second album containing photos by Steve KS4KJ.
  • HamJam 2012 took place at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, GA.  Three outstanding speakers provided an opportunity to hear interesting and diverse perspectives on amateur radio.
    • Gerald Youngblood K5SDR of Austin, TX.  CEO and President of FlexRadio Systems, Gerald spoke on the future of amateur radio.  He has been a ham since 1967 as WA5RXV, KE5OH, AC5OG, and holds an Extra Class license as K5SDR.  In April of 2003 he founded FlexRadio Systems to market the first Software Defined Radio products to the Amateur Radio market.
    • Stephen Galchutt, wG0AT of Monument, CO.  Stephen spoke on SOTA (Summits on the Air) and his mountain top adventures.  He has been a ham since the mid 50s.  His main focus over the years has revolved around QRP, building his own gear, and operating outdoors. His pack goats Rooster and Peanut are his trail buddies and help carry his gear.
    • Doug Grant, K1DG of Windham, NH.  Doug spoke on Contesting Ethics and the World Radio Team Championship (WRTC).  He is an experienced contester and currently holds the USA record in the CQWW SSB and CW contests and the CQ160 Meter contest.  He is a Director of Contest University at Dayton Hamvention and Chairman of the 2014 WRTC, a multi-national contest in which 50 two man teams from around the world compete every 4 years.
  • HamJam 2013 took place at the Metropolitan Club in Alpharetta, GA.  Three outstanding speakers shared their insights into ham radio: Bob Allphin, K4UEE; Dan Henderson, N1ND; and Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH.
    • Bob Allphin, K4UEE, has been a ham for over 55 years. He is one of the best known operators and DXers in the world, and has significantly impacted the DX side of ham radio with his abilities as an organizer and participant in numerous expeditions, 9 of which received the coveted "DXpedition of the Year" award.  Bob shared some of his highly interesting "Behind the Scenes" stories at HamJam.  For more information on Bob please click here.
    • Dan Henderson, N1ND, has been a ham for over 43 years, and is currently the ARRL's Regulatory Information Manager, where he strives to help hams operate legally, safely and appropriately. Dan has been involved in many facets of the hobby, which supports his broad range of interests in general. Dan shared some of his insights into the fascinating hobby we share in a most compelling way at HamJam. For more information on Dan, please click here.
    • Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, has been a ham since 1960 and after earning his law degree served in several capacities with the FCC, from which he retired in 2008. In his words "I enjoyed every day of my career at the FCC, but my last 10 years there in the Amateur Radio enforcement segment was the greatest privilege of my life and gave me an opportunity to pay back in some way all of the joys and rewards Amateur Radio gave me". Riley has many interesting stories from his days at the FCC, and shared some of them at HamJam. Please click here for more information on Riley.
  • HamJam 2014 took place at the Metropolitan Club in Alpharetta, GA.  As in past years, three outstanding speakers shared their insights into ham radio: Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA; Martin F. Jue,  K5FLU; and Carole Perry, WB2MGP.
    • Carl Luetzelschwab is a recognized expert on solar topics and propagation. He retired last year after 41 years of RF Design with Motorola and Raytheon (formerly Magnavox). Carl has been licensed since 1961 and his interest in propagation goes back to his college days at Purdue University.  His website contains selected articles about propagation from his monthly Propagation column in WorldRadio (now Practical Propagation in CQ Plus) and from his contributions to other amateur radio publications.  Carl has graciously made his presentation slides available to us.  Click here to download a PDF file containing the slides.  Note that it is a 10mb file.
    • Martin F. Jue is the founder and owner of MFJ Enterprises, a worldwide business that also includes such prominent brand names as Ameritron, Mirage, Vectronics, Cushcraft and Hy-Gain.  Martin founded MFJ in 1972 and has seen the company grow into a dominant force as an amateur radio equipment supplier.  He holds electrical engineering degrees from Mississippi State University and Georgia Tech, and has seen the company he started in a small hotel room in downtown Starkville, Mississippi, grow into an international concern with more than 200 dealers in the United States, 10 in Canada and 40 elsewhere in the world. In addition, MFJ is represented at about 25 hamfests every year.  [Videos of Martin's presentation at HamJam 2014 are available to be viewed -- click here for links.]
    • Carole Perry is the highly recognized Youth Programs liaison for the ARRL and other organizations.  Carole has moderated the Youth Forum and the Instructor's Workshop at Dayton Hamvention for many years. She is a popular keynote speaker and seminar leader at numerous teacher and radio conventions across the country.  Carole taught school on Staten Island from 1981 until her retirement in 2004, and created a curriculum to introduce amateur radio into the classroom. Her contributions to amateur radio have benefited hundreds of schools and thousands of students over the years.  She also was an executive vice president for 16 years for Rapidcircuit, a Brooklyn-based electronics company. When the company relocated, Carole went back to her first love of teaching.
  • HamJam 2015 again took place at the Metropolitan Club in Alpharetta, GA.  Three outstanding speakers shared their insights into ham radio: Jamie Dupree, NS3T of Cox Radio; Mike Corey, KI1U of ARRL; and Glen Popiel, KW5GP.
    • Jamie Dupree, NS3T is the Radio News Director of the Washington Bureau of the Cox Media Group and writes the Washington Insider blog.  A native of Washington, D.C., Jamie has covered Congress and politics in the nation’s capital since the Reagan Administration, and has been reporting for Cox since 1989. Jamie has covered 11 national political conventions, with his first being the 1988 Democratic Convention in Atlanta.
    • Mike Corey, KI1U, joined the ARRL HQ staff in April 2010 as Emergency Preparedness Manager. Prior to joining League staff he worked in law enforcement in Indiana and Mississippi. He has also served as an emergency management volunteer, disaster response volunteer, reserve police officer, law enforcement academy and public safety instructor, and on emergency operations center staff. Mike has been licensed since 1988 and holds an Amateur Extra class license.
    • Glen Popiel, KW5GP of Southaven, MS is the author of ARRL’s “Arduino for Ham Radio”. By day, he is a Network Engineer and Technology Consultant for Ciber, Inc. and the Mississippi Department of Education, specializing in Open Source solutions. First licensed in 1973 as WN4FTX, and later WA4FTX, Glen holds an Extra Class license and has worked in the computer and electronics field for over 40 years. He is currently working with ARRL on a second Arduino book and other projects. His talk "High Adventure with the Arduino" will introduce the basics as well as many advanced uses of this incredible device.  Glen made his presentation via Skype, a first for HamJam.
  • HamJam 2016 took place at the Metropolitan Club in Alpharetta, GA.  Three outstanding speakers shared their perspectives on ham radio: Ruth Willet, KM4LAO; Paul Newberry, N4PN; and Jay Slough, K4ZLE.
    • Ruth Willet, KM4LAO spoke on what attracted her to ham radio, her adventures with ham radio, and what she learned along the way.  Ruth is a young ham and her comments reverberated well with audience members of all ages.  She earned her Technician license in June of 2015, her General in January of 2016, and her Extra in May of 2016.  She takes advantage of every opportunity to operate CW and treats every contact as a learning experience that can teach her more about becoming a better ham radio operator.
    • Paul Newberry, N4PN worked an amazing 73 countries as a rover in the 2016 Georgia QSO Party.  He is a legendary caconteur and we enjoyed hearing him weave his insights from the Georgia QSO Party and other ham events into good lessons for the audience.  Paul operates most contests including most state QSO perties.  He is a member of the DXCC/CQ Honor Roll (383 countries) and DXCC #1 Honor Roll.
    • Jay Slough, K4ZLE talked about the VP8 DXpedition.  He has operated from about 50 different DXCC entities.  He wrote a column for The DX Magazine called DXegesis in an attempt to help new DXers short circuit the learning curve to becoming a proficient DX operator.  He has made several technical presentations at QRP ARCI's Four Days in May conference, and has been the long term moderator for the DX forum at Hamvention® and Emcee for the DX Dinner held on Hamvention® weekend.
  • HamJam 2017 took place at Mill Springs Academy in Alpharetta, GA.  2017 speakers were Ward Silver N0AX, Bob Schmieder KK6EK, Dan Henderson N1ND and Daniel Davis.
    • Ward Silver N0AX is author of numerous amateur radio books and articles, including the ARRL Handbook and "Ham Radio for Dummies".  He was the Dayton Hamvention Amateur of the Year in 2008.  Ward spoke on "Radiosport - Your Ham Radio Fitness Center.
    • Bob Schmieder KK6EK participated in 16 DXPeditions over the years and led many of those.  He led the 2017 DXPedition of the Year to VK0ED, Heard Island.  Bob shared with us his thougths on "The Future of DX."  Professionally, Bob is a research physicist with about 100 publications and four patents.
    • Dan Henderson N1ND and Daniel Davis, a member of the ARRL Foundation Board of Directors, rounded out our 2017 speakers.  Dan is the ARRL Manager of Regulatory Information and Staff Liaison to the ARRL Legislative Action Program.  Dan and Daniel spoke on "Movers and Makers - Reaching the Next Generation of Amateurs."
  • HamJam 2018 took place at Mill Springs Academy in Alpharetta, GA.  Speakers were Dale Parfitt, W4OP; Rick Boulis, N4HU, and Tom Harrell, N4XP; and Jeri Ellsworth, AI6TK.
    • Dale Parfitt, W4OP,  Glenville, NC, is the owner of PAR Electronics, Inc and is the designer of the original end fed dipole series – End Fedz and the Omniangle line of horizontal omni VHF/UHF antennas.  More info: www.parelectronics.com  Dale spoke on Microwave Earth-Moon-Earth Communications.
    • Rick Boulis, N4HU, and Tom Harrell, N4XP from right here in Georgia spoke on their role in the Baker Island DXpedition in mid-2018.  Click here for details and speaker info re:  "FT-8; Baker Island and Beyond"
    • Jeri Ellsworth, AI6TK, Palo Alto, CA is a self-taught electrical engineer who works in the space industry and is heavily involved in the Maker / Hacker movement.  Check www.jeriellsworth.com; click here to view a video of Tim Duffy, K3LR interviewing Jeri.  An acknowledged speaker, she talked on "My Life in a High Tech World".
  • HamJam 2019 took place at The Metropolitan Club in Alpharetta, GA.  Speakers were Bryant Rascoll, KG5HVO; Kris Bickell, K1BIC and Jeff Stuparits, W4DD.
    • Bryant was the youngest participant in the recent World Radiosport Team Championship 2018 (WRTC 2018) in Germany and was the 2018 Bill Pasternak WA6ITF Memorial Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year (YHOTY).
    • Kris is the Lifelong Learning Manager at ARRL, where he coordinates the educational initiatives for the organization: the Education & Technology Program (ETP); support for amateur radio in the classroom through ETP station grants and an ARISS backup station; and developing ARRL's new Lifelong Learning Program, which will provide a variety of learning opportunities for new, current and prospective amateur radio operators.
    • Jeff's career includes a EE (University of Michigan) and a MBA (Old Dominion University). Recently retired from Verizon Wireless, he spent the later part of his career in the Advanced Technology Group working on spectrum issues and FCC spectrum auctions. His ham radio interests include HF, Contesting, SDR's (Flex), and improving the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) at his station with a focus on finding and eliminating power line noise. He will provide insights into how to reduce your Rx noise level. Jeff is a licensed P.E.
  • HamJam 2021 was held at The Metropolitan Club in Alpharetta, GA. Speakers were Jack, KM4ZIA and Audrey, KM4BUN McElroy; Gregg Marco, W6IZT and Stephen Hicks, N5AC.
    • Audrey and Jack's goal is to combine ballooning and Ham Radio into a tangible, hands-on, exciting STEM activity for kids. Their successes have created opportunities to share their activities at YOTA 2020, the 2020 QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo, a 2019 NFARL club meeting and be featured in CQ Magazine. Audrey and Jack spoke on the technologies behind around-the-world balloons carrying ham telemetry.
    • Gregg joined us to discuss a new approach to DXpeditioning which is based on a solution called "Rig in a Box". He is an active DXer and sometimes contester. These days more of a tinkerer. He has been a participant on several large scale expeditions including VP6R, 3Y0X, K1N and HK0NA.
    • Steve joined FlexRadio Systems in 2008. He is CTO and Vice President of Engineering. He brings over 22 years of technology experience having held posts at a number of companies including Rockwell/Collins, Digital Equipment Corporation, and Texas Instruments as well as his own software and consulting businesses. Stephen spoke on "New Technologies and their effect on Ham Radio."
  • HamJam 2022 was held at Preston ridge Community Center in Alpharetta, GA.