Comparison

NODE+ vs Ham Engineering

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

NODE+

Connect to a range of wireless sensors and interact with their data. This utility app allows users to access and manage information from various NODE+ sensors.

Highlights
  • Interact with NODE+ wireless sensors
  • Access full sensor lineup
  • Manage sensor data
Features
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Interact with the full lineup of NODE+ wireless sensors.

About

Ham Engineering

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Ham Engineering is the engineering bench for amateur radio — antenna and feedline maths, circuit design, propagation and a deep reference library, all completely offline. No account, no ads, no tracking, and not a single network call. ANTENNAS • Half-wave dipole with adjustable k (velocity) factor, quarter-wave and 5/8-wave verticals, ground-plane radials, end-fed half-wave, random wire, full-wave loop and a 3-element Yagi estimator • Matching: L-network, Pi-network, quarter-wave transformer, balun/unun ratios and stub matching • Antenna Lab — a live elevation radiation-pattern plot with directivity, realized gain, takeoff angle, beamwidth, front-to-back, mismatch loss, feedline loss and system gain, each explained • Grid Compass that rotates with your phone, showing beam bearing and distance from your grid to a target grid • Antenna gallery — every common type drawn as scalable vector art, with what it is, what it is for and what to watch out for FEEDLINES & RF • Coax loss by cable type, frequency and run length; velocity-factor electrical length • SWR from forward/reflected power, plus return loss and mismatch loss • Antenna A/B comparison and receiver noise-floor estimation • RF power conversions: dBm, watts, ERP and EIRP • Propagation: free-space path loss, radio horizon and Fresnel-zone clearance • NanoVNA and tinySA quick-start guides, and a coax + connector gallery CIRCUITS • Ohm's law, series/parallel resistance, voltage dividers, RC and RL time constants • Reactance, LC resonance, Q and bandwidth, stored energy • RC and LC filter cutoffs, a constant-k Pi/T filter designer, a bandpass/notch calculator and a Butterworth low-pass designer • Resistor, capacitor and inductor code decoders, an AWG wire table and a 555 timer calculator • A live RLC resonance lab and a 50-part component gallery REFERENCE & EXTRA • Filterable amateur band plan for ITU Regions 1, 2 and 3 • Unit converters including watts, dBm and microvolts • Comparison tables for coax, connectors, antennas and batteries • Tools-and-gear and rig-controls galleries — what every knob and button is called across manufacturers • Maidenhead grid tools and great-circle beam headings • 300+ searchable tips, 40+ formulas, a rich glossary and a constants reference • Curated external links to major retailers, brands and references BUILT FOR THE BENCH • Nearly 200 illustrations drawn as scalable vector art — nothing to download, everything sharp at any size • Works fully offline. The app makes no network calls at all • Export any panel or diagram as a theme-aware image to share or file • An (i) explanation on every panel — this is a tool and a guide, not a quiz • Light and dark themes, adjustable font size, weekly tips and in-app version history • Your callsign, grid and email stay on your device and are never transmitted PERFECT FOR • Licensed operators designing, building and tuning antennas • Anyone putting up a first dipole or vertical and wanting the numbers right • Homebrewers and kit builders working with filters, matching and components • SWLs and newcomers who want the reference material without the exam drill • Club elmers and anyone teaching antenna and RF fundamentals PRIVACY • Your callsign, grid and email are stored only on your device. • No account, no sign-up, no ads, no analytics SDKs, no advertising ID and no tracking of any kind. 73 de A41UX Yousuf AL Balushi — Unixeer, Oman

Screenshots

NODE+4 screens
Ham Engineering4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Ham Engineering at every 3 weeks against NODE+'s every 6 weeks. NODE+'s advantage is iOS requirement (8.1 vs 13.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NODE+ ships an update every 6 weeks, Ham Engineering every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
NODE+ versus Ham Engineering: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNODE+Ham Engineering
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS8.1 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVariable Technologies LLCYousif AL Balushi

In-app purchases

None

NODE+

No in-app purchases

None

Ham Engineering

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is NODE+ free?
NODE+ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ham Engineering free?
Ham Engineering is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do NODE+ or Ham Engineering have ads?
Neither NODE+ nor Ham Engineering shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NODE+ or Ham Engineering?
NODE+ ships an update every 6 weeks, and Ham Engineering every 3 weeks. Most recently, NODE+ was updated on October 22, 2026 and Ham Engineering on October 25, 2026.

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