Amateur Radio Parity Act has 93 cosponsors
ARRL Headquarters has forwarded 3,433 letters to 402 individual US House members, seeking their cosponsorship of H.R. 1301.
ARRL

Coming soon: 146.52 MHz in ARRL VHF contests
Brian Mileshosky N5ZGT, ARRL Director of the Rocky Mountain Division, reported that the ARRL has decided to remove the prohibition of 146.52 MHz in VHF contests.
K0NR

Why 30 Meter APRS?
A case study on 30m APRS vs the 2m APRS network.
The Kentucky Packet Network

Comparing RTTY, PSK and MFSK
Using the ARRL field day test message to compare RTTY, PSK and MFSK digital modes.
HamRadio.me

FUNcube Certificate of Achievement and QSL Card
Those who have successfully received telemetry from FUNcube-1 and uploaded it to the Data Warehouse are able to download these documents.
AMSAT UK

Understanding LF and HF Propagation (PDF)
This PDF is a series of features that formed a good introduction to the topic.
G0KYA, G3NYK

Raspberry Pi packet/digital mode open hardware
Ham Radio sound card interface for the Raspberry Pi or other microcontrollers.
Reddit

Android balloon tracker and modem app
Ground tracking app for high altitude balloons, complete with RTTY modem, offline mapping, online distributed listener integration, chase car location reporting and more.
Google Play

Arduino CW decoder
This is arguably the simplest part of the project. I simply downloaded the sketch and uploaded it to the Arduino.
Amateurradio.com

Icom America club station revealed
I’m pleased to report that a number of our employees are regularly getting on the air and we’re looking forward to activating a few contests as well.
Icom

How to

Google Earth with NWS and APRS using KML
I wanted to find an easy way to integrate mapping, radar data, and APRS tracking data for SkyWARN events.
Robert Andrews

Simple one-chip regenerative receiver
You might be surprised that you can convert an audio amplifier to a receiver using just a handful of components.
Hackaday

ARRL Board approves dues hike
The ARRL Board of Directors has approved a $10 increase in the League’s annual dues rate.
ARRL

My first SOTA Activation
It’s OK to screw up. After all, I’m sitting on a slab of granite, with a 5-watt radio, tapping out code on a straight key, on a fricking mountain!
KK4DSD

Working DL8DJM aeronautical mobile
Aeronautical Mobile contacts are pretty rare and the team in the gazebo fell silent as Johannes DL8DJM/AM told us that he was flying from Edinburgh to South Italy, about 100km from Amsterdam at 43,000ft.
Essex Ham

[PDF] The RF telecommunications system for New Horizons
This paper describes the design and development of the RF telecommunications system for the New Horizons mission, NASA’s mission to Pluto.
The Johns Hopkins University

USA Ham Radio License offered in UK
A group of ARRL certified Volunteer Examiners (VEs) will be hosting a USA ham radio exam night.
Southgate

Lunar Eavedropping
In 1969 Larry Baysinger independently detected signals from the Apollo 11 astronauts on the lunar surface.
Jefferson Community & Technical College

Ham fined $22,000 for malicious interference
Operator fined for causing intentional interference with other Amateur Radio communications and for failing to identify.
ARRL

PSAT PSK31 experimental software
Software allows your transmitted signal to drift exactly opposite to uplink Doppler effect.
DK3WN

Pentoo: Linux distro with GNU Radio and HackRF support
Pentoo is a Linux distribution with full support for the HackRF software defined radio and GNU Radio
Pentoo

NVIS
Near Vertical Incidence Skywave is an ionospheric skip operating technique that directs the strongest signals from a station vertically, or upward, rather than toward the horizon.
Ham Radio School

How to

EME on a budget
Moonbounce for the rest of us introduces EME and highlights operational basics and propagation.
hamradio.me

Video

Budget APRS mapping solution and portable battery box
This is one of several “homemade” APRS rigs that I cobbled together over the last year.
K7DCC

Getting started with the HackRF SDR
Shannon starts up the HackRF to show some of it’s capabilities. Follow along and learn about this new software defined radio peripheral capable of transmission or reception of radio signals!
Hak5

Receiving New Horizons’ signal from Pluto
The 12-15 watt transmission is not a tight beam. As it travels through space, the radio waves spread out, becoming thinner and more diffuse.
CSIRO

Hamvention attendance up slightly in 2015
The official attendance at the 2015 Dayton Hamvention was 25,621. That’s an increase from the official count of 24,873 visitors last year.
ARRL

Q codes quiz
How well do you know your Q codes?
amateurradio.com

Fldigi adds FSQ mode
The FSQ implementation in Fldigi supports the directed, undirected and image modes of FSQ.
Mac Ham Radio

FSQ mode documentation
FSQ, Fast Simple QSO, is an Incremental-Frequency-Keyed mode using an offset differential modulation scheme similar to DominoEX, and Thor.
W1HKJ

More ISS SSTV July 18-19 on 145.800 MHz FM
ARISS SSTV images will be transmitted this weekend to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Mission.
AMSAT UK

Solar Cycle 25 and beyond
The one bright light is the likelihood of amazingly good low band (160, 80, 40m) conditions for many, many winters.
VE7SL

W4HH’s solar/battery setup
After calculating the Amp-hour load of my low-power radios, I decided to purchase a 12 Amp-hour battery and a solar panel that would put out enough current to charge that battery.
W4HH

Improving on FreeDV 700
Speech coding is the art of “what can I throw away.” Speech codecs remove a bunch of redundant information. As much as they can.
ROWETEL

How to

Working FO-29 semi-duplex
Going by the golden rule of manually tuning for Doppler on satellites, which is always tune the higher frequency, FO-29 can be worked with a semi duplex all mode radio.
AC0RA

Video

Introduction to DMR (Digital Mobile Radio)
Digital Mobile Radio (aka MotoTRBO) – a digital voice mode for VHF/UHF that is becoming more and more popular in Amateur Radio.
HamRadioNow

Ham donates Andy Warhol print to the ARRL
“Myths: Superman 1981” — will be sold at auction and the proceeds used to create “The Dave Bell, W6AQ, Endowment Fund” to benefit the League.
ARRL

Seen any hams on ‘new media’ lately?
What I never hear is any mention of ham radio.
amateurradio.com

HF mobile antenna installs
The single biggest factor with respect to efficiency for any mobile is ground loss, so maximizing this half of the antenna system is essential.
VE6AB

Amateur Radio becomes Primary on 1900-2000 kHz
The FCC action with respect to 1900-2000 kHz reduces the possibility that we might suffer in the future from new radiolocation deployments.
ARRL

Tracksoar: The open source APRS tracker
It has a UBLOX MAX-M8Q GPS receiver for precise high speed location data, with a compact and lightweight chip antenna.
Tracksoar

CQ World Wide VHF Contest
1800 UTC Saturday, July 18 through 2100 UTC Sunday, July 19.
CQ Communications

A “clean sweep” of the 13 Colonies
I guess a few years makes a difference. Back in 2012, as a complete ham radio newbie, I worked about 2-3 of these 13 Colonies stations.
KK4DSD

Fldigi configuration backup generator
Restoring your settings for a new or recovery installation is simple.
Mac Ham Radio

Use SSB for better VHF range on SOTA peaks
For serious VHF work, 75 miles is not that great of a distance but we were running QRP power levels with small yagi antennas.
K0NR

Hacking computers: Using an SDR receiver and a piece of pita bread
Security researchers at Tel Aviv University have demonstrated how to extract secret decryption keys from computers by capturing radio emissions of laptop computers.
Southgate

Lessons from a 10 mile hike
Unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned. This hike taught me a few lessons that I will carry forward on future hikes.
KC4LMD

Video

How to operate FO-29 using a single Yaesu FT-817
How-to video demonstrating the basic concept of working amateur radio satellite FO-29 semi-duplex using a single Yaesu FT-817 2m and 70cm all mode transceiver.
YouTube

Field Day 2015 round-up

All female amateur radio group on Field Day
The Southern Mississippi YL Amateur Radio Club formed in 2008 to encourage women to get more involved.
WLOX

W3AO Field Day
Wind and rain cannot stop us from broadcasting. Even a “little” rain, like close to four inches on Saturday. Our annual weekend emergency ops practice, aka Field Day, went on as planned.
W3AO

(photos) W3AO Field Day 2015
W3AO

(video) Field Day 2015 – QRP with the Yaesu FT-817 in the pouring rain
How many contacts can be made with QRP SSB during Field Day using a modest station in bad weather? Join me and let’s find out.
YouTube

Field Day Results
Field Day is not really about A-list operators, it’s an event for the every-man.
KE9V

(video) Chattanooga Amateur Radio Club practices in event of crisis
It’s mostly for fun, but this radio field day has a purpose too, and that’s to keep everyone prepared in the event of a crisis.
WRCB

Top links

FCC invites comments on rules for new LF and MF amateur allocations
The FCC is inviting comments on its recent proposals to authorize Amateur Radio operation on two new bands – an LF allocation at 135.7 to 137.8 kHz (2200 meters), and an MF allocation at 472-479 kHz (630 meters).
ARRL

FreeDV 700
We’ve just released FreeDV v0.98 GUI software, which includes the new FreeDV 700 mode. This new mode has poorer speech quality than FreeDV 1600 but is far more robust, close to SSB on low SNR fading HF channels. Mel Whitten and the test team have made contacts over 1000 km using just 1 Watt!
ROWETEL

Hawaii, Washington State QSO on 2 meters
The difficult and rare path between Washington state and Hawaii has been worked in the past … lastly in 1995, when some alert ‘7s’ found themselves in KH6HME’s logbook.
VE7SL

HamShield for Arduino (VHF/UHF transceiver)
The HamShield supports both voice and packet radio modes through a wide range of VHF and UHF frequencies: 2 meter (144-148 MHz), 1.25 meter (220-225 MHz), and 70 centimeter (420-450 MHz).
Kickstarter

A Maker’s introduction to Ham Radio
First, you’re a Maker, so you already have a lot in common with the ham radio community. Hams are tinkerers, builders, fixers, and inventors by nature.
Make:

RF Breakout Kit for the Raspberry Pi
An expansion board supplied as a self-assembly kit, designed for experiments with the Raspberry Pi as a radio frequency source or radio transmitter using the programmable clock generator built into the Pi’s processor.
Kickstarter

(podcast) 100 Watts and a Wire
100 Watts and a Wire is a program celebrating amateur radio through the eyes of a new ham. The show will feature topical conversation and interviews, news and an entertaining look at the adventures of a ham trying to figure it all out.
K0STH

Senate sponsor of Parity Act said bill promotes equality
US Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), who sponsored “The Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015” in the Senate, had said the bill he introduced, with original cosponsor Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), would allow for transparency and equality in the regulatory process.
ARRL

How to

Building an APRS IGate
Setting up an IGate is an easy way to contribute to the strength and utility of the APRS network without overwhelming the RF side of things.
WCARES

Using the RTL-SDR as a transmitter
After performing the hack the RTL-SDR is able to output a signal anywhere between 1.8 GHz to 3 GHz.
RTL-SDR.com

2015 Field Day locator
Field Day is June 27-28, 2015. This page is intended to show public Field Day sites that members of the public and media can visit.
ARRL

How do you choose where to go for Field Day?
The “get on the air” station is designed to get new hams and members of the general public on the air and let them make contacts.
KB6NU

Good operating habits on Field Day
Give a listen and notice how K5PO keeps the contacts short and to the point, clearly communicating using phonetics.
K0NR

Significant solar event may impact Field Day
SWPC has issued a Moderate (G2) geomagnetic storm watch for June 27 and 28. This is significantly weaker than the storm that peaked at Severe (G4) levels earlier this week.
Indiana Section ARES / NOAA

W1AW Field Day Bulletin schedule
All classes of Field Day stations can earn 100 bonus points for copying the special Field Day bulletin transmitted by W1AW.
ARRL

MF demonstration for ARRL Field Day 2015
Many of us that are active Part 5 stations on 630 meters are planning on repeating the Field day greeting event during ARRL Field Day.
NJDTechnologies

Field Day publicity
Club members attempting to tell what’s happening at their Field Day site need to avoid ham radio jargon. “Be ‘less hammy’ about it.”
ARRL

ISS voice contacts for Field Day 2015?
Possibly no FM voice contacts like we enjoyed last year for Field Day, but program Region 1 and Region 2/3, Packet, and SSTV and be ready–just in case!
Southgate

Camping and talking this weekend during Field Day
Hams, who set up radio stations outdoors and run them on generators, will try to contact as many stations as possible during a 24-hour period.
The Advertiser

Video

2014 Field Day
Contacts were of a secondary concern this year, as we all focused on experimentation with radios, power, and antennas.
KF7IJZ

Field Day from space
Astronaut Reid Wiseman (KF5LKT) describes his experience working Field Day from space.
AMSAT UK

2014 Field Day ISS contact
Surrey Amateur Radio Club makes contact with ISS during last year’s Field Day event.
YouTube

FCC announce agreement to scale back field office shutdowns
Offices already slated to remain open are New York City; Columbia, Maryland — the site of the Bureau’s HF Direction-Finding Center; Chicago; Atlanta; Miami; Dallas; Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
ARRL

Old VHS recorders could cause long delay echoes
Over the next few weeks, Tommy heard several LDEs, some with separations as much as 3 or 4 days and during this time made several recordings of the events.
VE7SL

A look inside the NR5M super-station
The sun was just setting and I’m sure I had a stupid look on my face as I saw the towers rise over the horizon. What a sight to behold.
W0EA

Another June VHF Contest In the Bag
6m had sporadic-e openings very late both evenings, about the time I was ready to give up. Fortunately, I stuck with it and made quite a few contacts late into the evening.
K0NR

The MS Bike Tour on APRS
Each of the mobiles that were assigned to the various checkpoints with an APRS tracker on board had their APRS trackers programed with a tactical callsign that appeared on the screen of my netbook running APRSIS32 with open-street-maps.
VE6AB

Texas Ham Com – A nice fest that should be the country’s biggest
Look at Hara and then tell someone: “It’s an exciting hobby, just look at this, our biggest event of the year!”
K5PO

When all else fails
The chaos that would ensue would be mind boggling. Not a happy thought.
W2LJ

Baofeng battery test results
The tests were conducted to determine the best long life back-up AA battery solution for the Baofeng HT.
Fo Time! The Other Ham Radio Podcast

Letters to Congress offer biggest boost to Amateur Radio Parity Act
The most useful action radio amateurs can take is to contact their members of Congress, urging them to sign on as a bill cosponsor.
ARRL

Ham Radio can bring Morse Code back to the high seas
Recently, the FCC granted amateurs access to a portion of the historic maritime radio band where most Morse code communication took place. This grant means that people will once again communicate regularly using Morse code around maritime channels at 472, 476, and 478 kHz.
KC4LMD

How to

APRS configuration and testing for a balloon project
We have developed a Pi add-on board and software that together add APRS capability to the Pi In The Sky telemetry board.
Pi in the Sky

Video

Amongst the kilowatts: 14 MHz SSB QRP DX with a delta loop
Have we stumbled across one of the great low-cost antennas for over water portable QRP DXing?
VK3YE