By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor

This week, Surfin’ unearths online indices and archives for the “Big Four” in ham radio periodicals.

It seemed like forever that QST, CQ, Ham Radio and 73 were the big four Amateur Radio periodicals. I subscribed to all four until Ham Radio expired and 73 lost its mojo for me.

I still have back issues of the “Big Four,” but finding something in the stacks is either painful or impossible. That is, until I received an e-mail from Steve Lampereur, KB9MWR, informing me that he had created an online index for 73.

Cool! I moseyed on over to Steve’s 73 Magazine index and gave it a whirl. I searched on “WA1LOU” and found the first article I ever wrote – “TT Pad for the Wilson HT” -- published in the July 1976 issue.

I wondered if there were any other indices online for the Big Four. Of course, I am aware of the ARRL’s searchable database for QST, QEX, Ham Radio and NCJ; I use it often. By the way, ARRL members can also access the online archives of QST for years 1915 through 2006.

The difference between searching the index and accessing the archives is that the results of an index search allows you to view the particulars of an article (its issue date, page, title and author), whereas accessing the archives allows you to view the actual article as a pdf.

I poked around the Internet and found CQ’s index for their issues, dating 1980 through 2009. I also found another 73 index, the 73 Magazine -- Table of Contents Database brought to you by Tom Green, W1SDM.

Ham Radio also has multiple online representations. Bill Griffith, VE3WGX, has his Ham Radio Magazine Index, while Mike Yancey, KM5Z, has An Index for Ham Radio Magazine.

Until next time, keep on surfin’!

Editor’s note: Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, writes Surfin’ 520 times a decade. To contact Stan, send him e-mail or add comments to his blog.