''National Communications Magazine'' is a weekly

publication To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Convention, articl ...

citizens band radio Citizens band radio (CB radio) is a land mobile radio system, a system allowing short-distance one-to-many bidirectional voice communication among individuals, using two-way radios operating near 27 MHz (or the 11-m wavelength) in the high freq ...

, the

General Mobile Radio Service The General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) is a land-mobile FM UHF radio service designed for short-range two-way voice communication and authorized under part 95 of the US FCC code. It requires a license in the United States, but some GMRS compa ...

(

GMRS The General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) is a land-mobile FM UHF radio service designed for short-range two-way voice communication and authorized under part 95 of the US FCC code. It requires a license in the United States, but some GMRS comp ...

), the

Family Radio Service The Family Radio Service (FRS) is a walkie-talkie radio system authorized in the United States since 1996. This personal radio service uses channelized frequencies around 462 and 467 MHz in the ultra high frequency (UHF) band. It does n ...

( FRS) and the

Multi-Use Radio Service In the United States, the Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS) is a licensed by rule (i.e. under part 95, subpart J, of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations) two-way radio service similar to the Citizens band (CB). Established by the U.S. Federal Co ...

(

MURS Murs may refer to: People * Marc Athanase Parfait Œillet des Murs (1804-1878), French ornithologist * Olly Murs (born 1984), English singer-songwriter * Murs (rapper) (born 1978), American rapper Places * Murs, Indre, France * Murs, Vaucluse, Fr ...

). It converted from a bimonthly

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ...

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

publication to a paid newsletter in April 2023 and from print to online PDF publication at the end of 2012. The current editor and publisher is Chuck Gysi.

Early history

''National Communications Magazine'' traces its beginnings to 1988, when Norm Schrein of

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

created a

newsletter A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of ...

for radio enthusiasts. A four-page ''The Radiogram'' carried a date of September–October 1988 and carried articles about monitoring the

high seas The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regiona ...

and Fox Marketing leaving the scanner radio business. The September–October 1990 issue of the Bearcat Radio Club membership newsletter contained seven pages and articles about scanning

cordless phones A cordless telephone or portable telephone has a portable telephone handset that connects by radio to a base station connected to the public telephone network. The operational range is limited, usually to the same building or within some short ...

, frequency lists and questions from readers. The November–December 1990 issue was called ''Scanning Confidential'' and carried articles about

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

scanning,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

scanning, frequency lists and new products. It contained 12 pages. The March–April 1991 issue carried the title ''National Scanning Report'' and Norm Schrein was joined in the operation by Larry Miller of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Miller served as editor while Schrein continued as president of the Bearcat Radio Club. The edition was labeled as Volume 2, Number 2 on its masthead and contained 36 pages. The November–December 1993 issue dropped "Report" in its name and became ''National Scanning'', or ''NatScan'' for short. The September–October 1995 issue was the last to carry Larry Miller's business listing in the publication and Jim Sutton was named the magazine's new editor in the November–December 1995 issue. The magazine began using color photos on its covers. The magazine still seemed to be produced by Larry Miller's business during this time, though. The May–June 1996 issue of ''National Scanning'' saw the return of Larry Miller on the masthead with Joe Nooney as editor. The September–October 1997 issue of the magazine saw the last change in the name of the publication to ''National Communications'', or ''Nat-Com''. It still was being produced by Miller. The July–August 1998 issue of ''National Communications'' showed that complete operation of the

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

was under Norm Schrein, with Larry Miller gone from the publication agreement. The publication not only was a benefit of the Bearcat Radio Club, but also the National Citizens Band Center, both operated by Schrein.

Recent history

The July–August 2014 issue of ''National Communications'' (now nicknamed ''NatCom'' without the hyphen) saw two changes. Chuck Gysi, a

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

for the magazine since 1996, became the publication's new owner,

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

and

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

as Norm Schrein retired from the publication. In addition, the offices for the magazine were moved from

Kettering, Ohio Kettering is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. It is an inner suburb of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton. The city had a population of 57,862 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous suburb in the Dayton metr ...

, to

Aledo, Illinois Aledo is a city and the county seat of Mercer County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,633 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Aledo was established in the 1850s when the railroad was extended to that point. It ...

. In April 2023, the

discontinued PDF-produced issues on a

bimonthly {{Short pages monitor