Special: 30 Years in Ham Radio with Ray Novak N9JA

Published: July 28, 2025

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWyejuRz7-w

Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2438895/episodes/17571459

Summary

A very special episode recorded live from EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Amateur radio industry veteran Ray Novak N9JA joins from his mobile setup, complete with a hex beam 35 feet in the air and authentic F-35 flyovers in the background, to share stories from 30+ years in the industry, from Mississippi farm boy to Icom America.

In This Episode

• Ray's journey from MFJ (nearly 300 hamfests!) to Icom America

• Touring Ray's Oshkosh air show setup, the tallest antenna at the field

• Special event station W9W and getting young people on the air

• Icom radio technology evolution and the engineering process

• IC-7760 remote operation: control your home station from anywhere

• The IC-705 polar expedition story and D-STAR image sharing

• Tales from tech support

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Introduction to Ray Novak N9JA

• 00:10:42 Tour of Oshkosh Air Show Setup

• 00:27:46 Special Event Station W9W Activities

• 00:40:42 Ray's Journey from MFJ to Icom

• 00:54:58 Icom Radio Technology Evolution

• 01:06:52 The 7760 Remote Operations Discussion

• 01:18:08 Icom's Engineering and Development Process

• 01:23:40 Tales from Tech Support

Guest

Ray Novak N9JA: Senior sales manager at Icom America with 30+ years in the amateur radio industry, including his early years at MFJ.

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/n9ja01/

• W9W special event station: https://www.qrz.com/db/W9W

Mentioned in This Episode

• Icom IC-7760: https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=71-004759

• Icom IC-705

• EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

• Special event station W9W: https://www.qrz.com/db/W9W

• Hex beam antennas for portable operation

• D-STAR image sharing technology

• MFJ