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Japan's "CQ Ham Radio" Magazine (??)

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John H. Klingelhoeffer

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Oct 30, 1990, 9:55:58 AM10/30/90

Subject: Japan's "CQ Ham Radio" magazine (?)

About 10 or so years ago when I was working at one of the more
famous former amateur radio manufacturers in Benton Harbor, Michigan,
we used to get a really good magazine from Japan called "CQ Ham Radio".
This periodical was about an inch thick per month (!) and had lots of
great articles (in Japanese, of course). Although I could not read
the text, the schematics, part numbers, graphs and mechanical
drawings (thanks to the metric system) were always plenty to get the
gist of the articles and also to build the equipment described. The
magazine was mainly technically oriented (or at least most of the
articles on DX and other nonsense were unreadable, anyhow) and it
really seemed at that time to be pushing the state of the art. It
also always had the announcement of radios several months before
they were available in the US.

In any case, I'm trying to find out if this magazine is still
published and if it is available somehow through subscription.
My understanding back then was that it was available but cost
".... a couple hundred dollars [US] a year.." to receive here
in the states. Perhaps most of this was the shipping. I don't
really care if it gets here by slow boat as long as the articles
are interesting technically. I'd like something to replace
"Ham Radio" magazine in my incoming mail, and "CQ" just doesn't
do anything for me. (At least "73" didn't buy it and I don't
have to read Wayne Green's drivel.)

Does anyone on the net get this or know how to get a subscription
to the magazine? I'd appreciate a reply by email or phone. Thanks.

John, WB4LNM

goh kawai - n6uok

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Oct 30, 1990, 11:39:56 AM10/30/90

John H. Klingelhoeffer (j...@saturn.acc.com) asks whether Japan's "CQ Ham
Radio" is still in press, and if so, how he could get it.

"CQ Ham Radio" is doing well. Its circulation is one of the three largest
among monthly magazines in Japan. Although "CQ Ham Radio" is not the
official journal of the Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL's official monthly
publication is "JARL News", a puny pamphlet that is widely criticized as an
ill side effect to JARL membership), "CQ Ham Radio" is "edited under
guidance of JARL". In fact, CQ Publishing has their main office is in the
same building as JARL's.

Unfortunately, it costs a fortune to subscribe to "CQ Ham Radio" directly
from the publisher (to be precise, from an overseas periodical distribution
agency which has sole rights to carry "CQ Ham Radio"), even if you use
surface mail. The most convenient way is to buy it at your local Japanese
bookstore. This only works if you live in a large city like New York, San
Francisco, or Los Angeles. That would cost about nine or ten dollars. The
second best way is to ask a friend in Japan to mail it to you. The
magazine itself costs four dollars or so, and surface shipping is about two
dollars. You'll save on money, but will be asking somebody a favor.

Since you seem to be interested in home brewing, I would recommend "Ham
Journal", a bimonthly also published by CQ Publishing. This magazine is
much more advanced. Each issue focuses on some particular technical topic,
and coverage is fairly deep. This magazine is about the same size as
"QST". "CQ Ham Radio" is for finding out the latest equipment. "Ham
Journal" is for bulding your own radio. I'm making a modularized SSB
tranceiver which appeared on "Ham Journal" several months ago.

Another less known publication that has homebrew information is "Mobile
Ham". It started out as a magazine specializing in portable and mobile
operations, when bulding small, stable, rugged radios was a major
challenge. Nowadays, they deal with advanced homebrewing techniques.
"Mobile Ham" is also a monthly, about the size of "QST".

While on the topic, let me add "Radio Life", a popular magazine slightly
wider than a paperback book that defies the twilight zone between legality
and thrill. This is a must for scanning fans. Lots of "secret
frequencies" listings appear in each issue. This is your consumer guide to
electronic surveillance. Find out what that couple is doing in the
apartment across the street! Want to modify your car so it looks like an
unmarked squad vehicle? We'll show you just how to do it -- no more
parking tickets ever! In a country where not only third party traffic is
illegal, but it is a felony punishable by two hundred thousand yen fine or
two year imprisonment or both to merely disclose a frequency used by others
for any particular purpose, this magazine has lots of guts. Quite
interestingly, among of its avid subscribers are newspapers and TV stations
-- they depend on police radio traffic to miraculously appear on the scene.
And even though police radio is now digitized, zealous "undercover
monitoring" fans have allegedly cracked the code, bringing in windfall
profits to Japan Radio Company, the major supplier of radio equipment to
public services in Japan.

Oh well, I ramble too much.

If you have any more questions, please let me know, and I'll respond.

-----------------
--- Goh Kawai --- speech research and technology program, sri international
----------------- arpanet: ka...@speech.sri.com radio: n6uok and 7l1fqe

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