Inside EtherHam: February 2026

Read Time: 8 minute(s)

This month, I’m starting a semi-regular column about what is happening behind the curtain at EtherHam. Some of the content will be about radio topics, some will be about the EtherHam website/brand, and some will be entirely personal.

I believe that we gain deeper appreciation of each other when we get a glimpse into the human side of our hobby. I also know that for many radio amateurs, their interest is in the radio world, so I know this information will not fit with everyone’s expectations.

Digital Radio

I’m enjoying some of the systems I’m experimenting with:

• The Ampersand-ASL Server project is moving along nicely.
• Now that a DVstick 30 device has arrived, I’m learning of several ways I can utilize it. Along the way, I also learned of the ThumbDV device (an AMBE3000 vocoder very similar to the DVstick 30) from Steve Stroh N8GNJ.
• I have a variety of tiny/mini PCs waiting on the bench to fiddle with. The tried-and-true platform is the Dell Wyse 3040 thin client but I also use old Dell and Lenovo tiny PCs.
• The jury is still out for me when it comes to PoC (push-to-talk over cellular) devices. I’ve encountered some problems as I’ve poked at PoC devices. I think this will become a thing, but right now, it’s not quite mature enough for widespread adoption.

Branding

When I was researching domain names, I did a lot of searching. I started with domain names because that’s really where this activity was going to be centered — if an appropriate domain name wasn’t available, then the brand name wouldn’t work. I also looked at trademark records online to try to avoid stepping on someone else’s intellectual property.

Therefore, the domain name would become the brand name. It had to be short and this often created issues because short domain names are often priced astronomically high. I found some domain names I liked that failed the pricing test or the trademark test.

In my mind, I wanted the name to somehow connect amateur radio and the internet. That’s a tall order. As you now know, I eventually focused on a word mashup, combing part of “ethernet” with ham radio = EtherHam.

Interestingly, as I settled in on EtherHam as the name, searches kept returning information about Ethereum, a cryptocurrency. They kinda sorta sound similar and both words have the same number of letters, so I suppose this makes sense. I hope that nobody confuses EtherHam with crypto, though!

Marketing

I really haven’t done much with marketing EtherHam. I had purchased the domain name just when my wife had a life-changing medical event, and because of the high level of care she needed, I shelved EtherHam for several months. When I did pick it up again, I was focused on building and launching the website, not on marketing.

I’m using my Random Wire subscriber base as the word-of-mouth marketing army for EtherHam. While that may not be the most effective way to spread the word, it is working.

I’ve adopted EtherHam as one of my identifiers in my personal email signature, so as I respond to people, they are seeing that identity. I’m also lightly mentioning EtherHam in the Random Wire Facebook page but given the small number of followers there, the impact of this is essentially nil.

Please do let your radio friends know about the Random Wire newsletter and about the EtherHam website.

Generating Revenue

Everything costs, it seems. Renting the EtherHam.com domain name (I can’t say owning, because there is no sense of permanent ownership with a domain name) costs. Purchasing and renewing the web hosting service costs. Custom email costs. Certain security plugins and other website additions cost.

Given the total expense of running the website, it would be natural to use subscriptions as a way to generate revenue. I don’t want to do that. I resent how many services have adopted the subscription model, so the last thing I want to do is add another subscription to the world. I suppose there is a future where premium content could be offered via the Random Wire or other service via the subscription model, but I am trying to avoid that option.

Instead of subscriptions, I adopted a far less lucrative approach: use Amazon affiliate links. In calendar year 2025, this generated enough revenue to pay for the website as well as the domain names associated with the Random Wire newsletter and the EtherHam website. There wasn’t anything left over, but I’m okay with how this is working to cover fundamental expenses.

I don’t publish Amazon affiliate links for products I have not used. If I include a link, it means I’ve used that product and find it serviceable. Rarely, a product will get called out with a “Random Wire Recommended” moniker. I reserve this for the best of the best products. By the way, purchasing through affiliate links does not raise your cost at all. That’s a win-win, in my book.

The Buy Me A Coffee button has also been helpful. I deeply appreciate every person who has decided that what I produce has enough value for them to part with a few dollars. I am grateful for this helpful support.

To generate additional revenue, I am considering offering some EtherHam-branded items like mugs, T-shirts, hats, and similar custom-printed things. To make this viable, I’ll need to create a stronger connection with EtherHam for those radio amateurs who wish to share that identity. I’m also going to need help designing a better EtherHam logo — I am not a graphics designer! Got skills? I’d love to review some design ideas.

My guess is that custom apparel and other items would generate about as much revenue as comes in from Amazon affiliate links, but this is a bit chancy, given that we hams tend to hold onto our dollars tightly. I like that this provides some resiliency in that if Amazon revenue drops, it might be made up by branded items.

When Do I Write?

You might wonder when I find time to write. I’ve been asked this by several folks. Well, the reality is I often wake up in the wee hours of the morning with my mind already filling with worries for the day. That’s when I boot up the laptop and refocus my mind on writing about amateur radio and technology. A lot of what I’ve published was written between 3 and 6 am.

I do find this pre-dawn time to be pretty productive. The only distractions are those in my head. The phone isn’t ringing. Important emails don’t generally arrive at that time of day. I can concentrate on writing content without disturbing anyone else. This works for me.

Having said that, I wrote this piece during lunch. Off to the side, I’m monitoring AllStar node 55915 with my experimental Ampersand-ASL Server setup (this is AllStar without Asterisk). It’s great to hear people talking radio!

At The QTH

Daily life at our QTH — temporarily in Grapeview, Washington — is challenging. My wife has had two major brain bleeds, one in May 2025 and the other in October 2025. She lost her ability to sit, stand, speak, and swallow. Our daughter and I do all the medicating, hydrating, feeding (through a stomach tube), and personal care for my wife. There is no scenario where my wife gets better. Her brain bleeds are related to a progressive condition that has no known cure. We do our best to keep her calm, happy, and healthy.

On top of this, I continue to work full time in my conservation job. I have to, because the medical costs that were not covered by Medicare or by my group health insurance have piled up to a startling level. I have to pay for those costs somehow, and continuing to work seems like the way to do it. This issue of uncovered costs is something that I had not previously considered to be a financial exposure, but it is real and the weight of it is heavy.

We have a QTH in Portland, Oregon, but I can’t leave my wife long enough to do any work there. I need to devote at least a day a week for the next several months to get that space ready for her, but I’m struggling with figuring out how I can do that, care for her, work full time, experiment with radio, and publish weekly.

As I write this, it’s below freezing outside. We got a whiff of snow last night and more may be on the way. You can tell by how I’m dressed that we are trying to stay warm and comfortable.

Despite these tasks and pressures, I remain hopeful. I think I’m fundamentally an optimistic person and that helps me face each day, taking things as they come. I’m glad to have amateur radio to help keep my mind positive and busy, and particularly glad to know so many great radio operators. Believe me when I say it helps. Feel free to reach out and let me know what is going on in your world!

73, and my best wishes to you in all you do.