By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor

This week, Surfin’ reveals where to find the websites and software that comprise “the good stuff.”

Art Pahr, K9XJ, wrote: “I have been playing with Pileup Runner for about a month and having a blast with it. Check it out. It works only on a PC (I tried to put it on my Mac, but no luck).” This free program simulates what it feels like to be at the receiving end of a pileup. For more details and to download it, visit the Pileup Runner website.

I appreciate reader suggestions like this one from K9XJ; they make my job easier. But I also enjoy scouring the Internet, looking for new radio-related websites and software that I can write about here, as well as use myself.

If you don’t get the ARRL Contest Update, I highly recommend it, even if you are not a contester. Ward Silver, N0AX, thoroughly covers the contest scene in his bi-weekly missive, but he also uncovers radio-related websites and software that are not necessarily related to contesting. The ARRL Contest Update is published 26 times each year on every other Wednesday. ARRL members may subscribe at no cost by editing their e-mail subscription preferences on their Member Data Page on the ARRL website.

I have been subscribing to MAKE magazine since issue #1. Although MAKE is not devoted entirely to Amateur Radio, their quarterly publication and website do occasionally hit the radio target and the computer target constantly; I find them a great source for good stuff.

For example, the current issue of MAKE (issue #33) contains an excellent article, “Software for Makers: Creating Things from Atoms Is Better with Bits,” highlighting an array of websites that cover topics such as electronic design, creative coding, 3D CAD, 3D printer front-ends, website design, micro-controllers, and more.

Check out the ARRL Contest Update and MAKE magazine; you will not be disappointed.

Until next time, keep on surfin’!

Editor’s note: Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, seeks the unusual in radio. To contact Stan, send e-mail or add comments to the WA1LOU blog.