My CQ Digital Wireless Columns Now Online

This is a “refugee” article from my SuperPacket blog whose host - Typepad, is shutting down on 2025-09-30 that I’m parking on Zero Retries because I often refer to it in Zero Retries. In this reposting, I’m leaving the original links in place, but adding the files inline per Substack’s methodology. This blog post was dated 2023-02-01. CQ’s last issue was 2023-10.

My CQ Digital Wireless Columns Now Online

Beginning 2000-09 and ending 2002-06 (two decades ago - wow...), I wrote thirteen "Digital Wireless" columns in CQ Magazine. Many of these columns were similar themes as this blog and my newsletter Zero Retries.

In the September 2000 issue of CQ, I received a nice introduction from Editor Richard S. (Rich) Moseson W2VU:

Introducing N8GNJ

I was first introduced to Steve Stroh, N8GNJ, a little more than a year ago, when someone forwarded to me a copy of Boardwatch magazine with his "Wireless Data Developments" column, which that month was subtitled "Amateur Radio and the Future?" In it, Steve talked to his audience of commercial wireless data folks about not only the continued relevance of amateur radio as we enter the 21 st century, but also its importance as an adjunct to formal technical training. "I've met an astonishing number of degreed Electrical Engineers who've never held a soldering iron," he wrote. "If you have a son or daughter who plans on a technical career, getting them involved in amateur radio will be a godsend."

Steve also had nice things to say about CQ VHF magazine, which I was editing at the time, so I dropped him an e-mail and we began to correspond occasionally by e-mail and phone. We had the opportunity to meet in person last year at the ARRL/ TAPR Digital Communications Conference and talked about future trends in amateur digital wireless, as well as his burgeoning writing career.

Thus, after the departure a couple of months ago of long-time CQ Packet Editor Buck Rogers, K4ABT, Steve became an obvious choice to succeed him. N8GNJ is joining our staff as of this issue with a new column entitled "Digital Wireless." It will cover the full spectrum of amateur digital communications, with a particular focus on new and developing technology. Steve is chairman of the 2000 Digital Communications Conference, so he certainly has his finger squarely on the pulse of technical innovation within the amateur community. It is our privilege to be able to share his knowledge with you. Welcome aboard, Steve!

...

I had long forgotten about that particular Wireless Data Developments column in Boardwatch Magazine.

My agreement with CQ was that my content would first appear in CQ, and after it was published in CQ, I was free to use it elsewhere.

I will eventually do a "revisit" post about these columns. Some of my writing there aged well. Some of it hasn't :-(

September 2000 - Meet The New Guy - PDF

September 2000 - Meet The New Guy
4.13MB ∙ PDF file
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CQ Magazine Digital Wireless Column 2000-09 By Steve Stroh N8GNJ Filename: n8gnj_cq_2000-09.pdf
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  • Intro

  • IP Everywhere

  • 2000 Digital Communications Conference in September

  • High-Speed Wireless

  • TCP/IP and 9600 Baud - Painlessly!


October 2000 - Amateur Radio Networks and the Internet - PDF

October 2000 - Amateur Radio Networks and the Internet
4.06MB ∙ PDF file
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CQ Magazine Digital Wireless Column 2000-10 By Steve Stroh N8GNJ Filename: n8gnj_cq_2000-10.pdf
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  • Content

  • Relevance

  • Solves Nagging Problems

  • Technical Training

  • Emergency Services Support

  • Some Examples

  • New Breed Amateur Radio Clubs (and Amateurs)


November 2000 - Why I Like Linux, and Other Tales - PDF

November 2000 - Why I Like Linux, and Other Tales
4.01MB ∙ PDF file
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CQ Magazine Digital Wireless Column 2000-11 By Steve Stroh N8GNJ Filename: n8gnj_cq_2000-11.pdf
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  • TCP/IP Without Tears

  • Wouldn't It Be Cool if...

  • Resources


December 2000 - ARRL and TAPR 19th Annual Digital Communications Conference - PDF

December 2000 - ARRL and TAPR 19th Annual Digital Communications Conference
4.16MB ∙ PDF file
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CQ Magazine Digital Wireless Column 2000-12 By Steve Stroh N8GNJ Filename: n8gnj_cq_2000-12.pdf
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  • On the Agenda

  • Attending the DCC

  • TAPR Board Meeting

  • APRS Symposium

  • Main Session

  • DCC Audio

  • A Note about DCC Papers

  • TAPR Annual Meeting

  • Dinner Speaker and Prizes

  • Sunday Technical Seminar

  • The Fun

  • DCC 2001


January 2001 - A Visit to PacComm Packet Radio Systems - PDF

January 2001 - A Visit to PacComm Packet Radio Systems
5.51MB ∙ PDF file
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CQ Magazine Digital Wireless Column 2001-01 By Steve Stroh N8GNJ Filename: n8gnj_cq_2001-01.pdf
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March 2001 - Packet is Dead! Long Live Packet! - PDF

March 2001 - Packet is Dead! Long Live Packet!
4.2MB ∙ PDF file
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CQ Magazine Digital Wireless Column 2001-03 By Steve Stroh N8GNJ Filename: n8gnj_cq_2001-03.pdf
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  • WA7NWP NetSIG Message

  • N8GNJ NetSIG Message

  • Comments

  • Linux Update

  • Green Bay Professional Packet Radio

  • APRS at 9600 Baud

  • News From TAPR

  • New Toys at N8GNJ

  • www.packetradio.com

  • Major Events on My Calendar


April 2001 - N8GNJ Elected to TAPR Board of Directors - PDF

April 2001 - N8GNJ Elected to TAPR Board of Directors
4.24MB ∙ PDF file
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CQ Magazine Digital Wireless Column 2001-04 By Steve Stroh N8GNJ Filename: n8gnj_cq_2001-04.pdf
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  • Pioneering History

  • An SDR in Your Future?

  • Amateur Radio and Wireless Technical Education

  • More on 802.11

  • Web Pages of the Month

  • Major Events On My Calendar


May 2001 - Seattle Earthquake Shakes Things Up - PDF

May 2001 - Seattle Earthquake Shakes Things Up
2.91MB ∙ PDF file
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CQ Magazine Digital Wireless Column 2001-05 By Steve Stroh N8GNJ Filename: n8gnj_cq_2001-05.pdf
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  • Misleading News Coverage

  • Lessons Learned

  • Web Pages of The Month


August 2001 - Dayton 2001 - Briefly - PDF

August 2001 - Dayton 2001 - Briefly
5.69MB ∙ PDF file
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CQ Magazine Digital Wireless Column 2001-08 By Steve Stroh N8GNJ Filename: n8gnj_cq_2001-08.pdf
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  • Vendor Highlights

  • Packet Bash and More

  • Digital Wireless Field Day

  • The Bigger Picture

  • Publishing Notes

  • Web Pages of the Month


October 2001 - Sometimes We're Our Own Worst Enemy - PDF

October 2001 - Sometimes We're Our Own Worst Enemy
4.48MB ∙ PDF file
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CQ Magazine Digital Wireless Column 2001-10 By Steve Stroh N8GNJ Filename: n8gnj_cq_2001-10.pdf
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  • Lyle Johnson, Prophet

  • The Death of Metricom


December 2001 - Some Thoughts on Amateur Radio Digital History - PDF

December 2001 - Some Thoughts on Amateur Radio Digital History
2.63MB ∙ PDF file
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CQ Magazine Digital Wireless Column 2001-12 By Steve Stroh N8GNJ Filename: n8gnj_cq_2001-12.pdf
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  • Digital History


April 2002 - Broadband Wireless Internet Access and Amateur Radio - PDF

April 2002 - Broadband Wireless Internet Access and Amateur Radio
5.32MB ∙ PDF file
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CQ Magazine Digital Wireless Column 2002-04 By Steve Stroh N8GNJ Filename: n8gnj_cq_2002-04.pdf
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  • 56K Packet Radio

  • In 2002...

  • Why

  • 802.11

  • The 2002 Digital Communications Conference

  • The Big Gotcha

  • In Closing...


June 2002 - Blue Sky Amateur Radio Networking Starting from Scratch - PDF

June 2002 - Blue Sky Amateur Radio Networking Starting from Scratch
7.06MB ∙ PDF file
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CQ Magazine Digital Wireless Column 2002-06 By Steve Stroh N8GNJ Filename: n8gnj_cq_2002-06.pdf
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  • Some Detailed Explanation

  • The Ongoing Project

  • Other Potential Networking Approaches

  • Correction and Update

  • Seattle Software Radio Specs version 0.1 per AC7FT

  • Digital Conference and "Coming Soon"


CQ Magazine Archives Online

I was able to retrieve these columns thanks to the CQ Magazine Archives Online service of Buckmaster International LLC / HamCall.net. They offer various plans for viewing / downloading pages of CQ
... from its first issue in January 1945 up to present, excluding the past 24 issues by agreement with CQ.
The interface takes a bit of getting used to, but eventually I was able to navigate reasonably well to find what I was looking for.

Thanks for reading!

Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Bellingham, Washington, USA
2023-02-01