Welcome to KI8JI – An Inquiry into Amateur Radio

In the summer of 2026, I found myself returning to amateur radio after a hiatus of more than 25 years.

As I’ve been reacquainting myself with the hobby — antennas, modeling, boatanchors, homebrew — I’ve been struck by something familiar and yet newly interesting: how much practical wisdom exists in these communities. People know what works, and what doesn’t. They’ve tried things, built things, compared notes over years and decades, and in the wonderful tradition of amateur radio, freely shared their knowledge and helped others with their projects.

And yet, every now and then, I would come across a claim or a rule of thumb that made me pause — not because it was obviously wrong, but because I found myself wondering: why does this work? Under what conditions? What is actually happening physically?

Perhaps this is what happens when you return to something after a long time — and after a few more years of life experience. The questions shift. It’s no longer just about what works, but why.

In recent years, I’ve been exploring that kind of inquiry more broadly in my writing — questions about how we come to understand things, and what it really means to “know” something. It turns out that those same questions show up, quite naturally, in amateur radio as well.

That realization led me to revisit some of the fundamentals I hadn’t thought about in years, and to try to reconnect them into a coherent picture. Not as a formal treatment, but as something closer to a fireside conversation — one idea leading to another, gradually revealing how the pieces fit together.

What follows is a series of essays that grew out of that exploration. Each one starts with a simple question and follows it as far as it naturally leads.

They are not meant to be definitive. They are meant to be clear. And, perhaps, to invite the reader into the same line of inquiry.

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering not just what works, but why — pull up a chair.