Newsline Co-Founder, Editor Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, SK
A well-known voice in the Amateur Radio news media has gone silent.
ARRL

Icom IC-7851 HF/50MHz Transceiver
With the design of the IC-7851, Icom’s engineers focused on a new Local Oscillator (LO) that drastically reduces the phase noise. As a result of this design, the purity of the LO achieves a Reciprocal Mixing Dynamic Range (RMDR) of 110dB.
Icom

ARRL June VHF Contest this weekend
For amateurs in the US and Canada to work as many stations in as many different 2 degrees x 1 degree Maidenhead grid squares as possible above 50 MHz.
ARRL

How to work a VHF contest
This is a brief introduction to operating during a VHF contest.
KØNR

[Video] June VHF Contest in action
QRP portable on top of Slide Mountain in the Catskills of New York.
K2FR

Monitoring FBI survielence aircraft with ADS-B
From reports on the internet John found out that FBI aircraft squawked with 4414 or 4415 codes, and used call signs like JENNA or JENA.
RTL-SDR.com

Summertime CBer
Strong Es on 11 meters usually heralds the possibility of 6m also opening via the same mode.
VE7SL

TV signals used to track aircraft as alternative to radar
Using special receivers, researchers said they were able to track up to 30 planes simultaneously flying at altitudes of up to 10,000ft (3km).
BBC

Dayton Hamvention – R.I.P.
The “laws of the market place” are taking care of the “Dayton as a hell-hole” problem.
With Varying Frequency

Semaphore + Morse Code + SSB + Twitter = Art
On Saturday, June 20 artist Philippe Druez ON1PHD will be performing at the Academy of Fine Arts, Ghent, Belgium with the iSemaphore installation using Chappe semaphore, Morse code and Twitter.
Southgate

Video

Tracking & receiving the LightSail cube satellite
Showing how to track the LightSail CubeSat on your own PC with free software.
YouTube

Video tour of a CubeSat satellite
AMSAT Fox-1C Engineering Model 6/6/2015
YouTube

Large plasma tubes confirmed to exist above the Earth’s atmosphere
These structures are the likely cause of unwanted signal distortions affecting both civilian and military satellite-based navigation systems.
io9

Britain’s pirate radio stations are not going down without a fight
Tied to a branch in the canopy of an old birch tree is the transmitter for Rage FM, Taunton’s only pirate radio station. Owning it could get Alfie, the proprietor, two years in prison.
Newsweek

Tytera TYT MD-380 DMR Handheld review
DMR, Digital Mobile Radio, seems to be taking off as the digital voice mode of choice, and the arrival of the Tytera TYT MD-380 DMR is great news.
Essex Ham

DMRUK: all digital worldwide TDMA repeater network
Time-Division Multiple-Access (TDMA) preserves the full channel width and divides it into alternating time slots that can each carry an individual call.
DMRUK

Switching power supply noise more common than power lines
LED-type lightbulbs that are becoming more common also can be noise-generators.
ARRL

Not all Jameco power supplies are linear and regulated
I cracked open one of these to see what was up here and sure enough it was using a MC34063A inverting switching regulator.
The SWLing Post

High performance radio – operating the Hilberling PT-8000A
The Hilberling PT-8000A Transceiver is much like a new high-end AC Cobra sports car – a classic format product fine-tuned to as close to perfection as the manufacturer can engineer, executed with near-jewelry precision & finish.
With Varying Frequency

Flex 6500: 11m band opening
I thought I had seen band openings before, but this is what I saw with the new Flex 6500 this morning.
AA6E

How to

Paper clip paddles [PDF]
The actuation is reliable and the contacts seem to be reliable as well. I plan to switch to this new paddle for at least my portable work.
K8AG / North American QRP CW Club

Ten steps to mastering Morse Code
James Altucher is one of those guys that seems to be able to do just about anything. Here’s how I’d apply his advice to mastering Morse Code.
KB6NU

Video

Testing the Yaesu FT-991 on 2m
We compare the FT-991 receiver performance on 2m with two other radios. Justin, G0KSC, from Waters & Stanton, puts them through their paces.
Waters & Stanton

Siru SDR20 Multi-Touch Software Defined Radio
Siru Innovation’s SDR20 multi-touch radio is a high performance scalable software defined radio platform for designing and deploying next generation radios.
Vimeo

Still amazes me
It still amazes me that 5 Watts of RF energy can span the globe. To quote my son Joey, “What sorcery is this?”
W2LJ

Radio Contest? Why?
The basic objective of most radio contests is to make as many radio contacts as possible. This is influenced by the scoring method used for the contest.
Ham Radio School

Interview: KGB spy who relied on numbers stations
Jack Barsky held a job at some of the top corporations in the U.S. and lived a seemingly normal life — all while spying for the Soviet Union
60 Minutes

Les Paul’s pirate radio station in Queens
Not only did he build the first solid body electric guitar and invent multi-track recording but he was responsible for creating a pirate radio station in Queens in the 30s.
glasscapsule

Radio call saves SOTA climber following fall
A Littleton, Colorado, radio amateur and mountaineer was happy to have his hand-held transceiver along on May 17 after he slipped and fell from an icy ledge in Berthoud Pass while snowshoeing.
ARRL

29 MHz – the forgotten frequency for amateur radio satellites
Hans van de Groenendaaal ZS6AKV writes in the EngineerIT magazine about the potential for 29 MHz as a satellite uplink band.
AMSAT UK

Photos from the Voice of America Museum
Immediately after packing up our table at the Dayton Hamvention, my buddies Eric (WD8RIF), Miles (KD8KNC), and I made the 30 minute journey to Bethany, Ohio, to visit the VOA Bethany museum.
The SWLing Post

Video

Elecraft K3S Transceiver demo
First details of the new K3S transceiver, presented by Peter Waters G3OJV.
Waters & Stanton

How to wind a toroid inductor
The real trick is often how to hold the toroid core while doing the winding of the wire.
W2AEW

How to

3D print: 3 element 2m (145 MHz) ultra portable yagi
MakerBotThingiverse

Using the Raspberry Pi as an RTL-SDR streaming server
Do you have an unused Raspberry Pi lying around your bench somewhere and just can’t figure out what to do with it? You could build a wireless RTL-SDR streaming server.
/dev/thrash

WsprryPi: Raspberry Pi WSPR transmitter
The I/O pins provide access to a clock signal and it is possible to modulate this clock signal via software.
Gerolf Ziegenhain

FCC eliminates Amateur Radio vanity call sign fee
“The Commission spends more resources on processing the regulatory fees and issuing refunds than the amount of the regulatory fee payment.”
ARRL

Dayton 2015
The Hara Arena we all know and love continues to be, well, Hara Arena. The good news is renovations are in the works. A Hamvention official told me it’s for real and probably a three to four year project.
Radio Artisan

Pirate SSTV over US Navy satellites
Radio pirates often make use of the Fleetsatcom satellites to send and receive slow scan television (SSTV) pictures over a wide distance.
RTL-SDR.COM

Liquid metal antenna
Boffins have made a liquid metal device which can alter its shape through voltage alone, removing the need for clunky external pumps previously used to arrange such material.
The Register

Wireless door bell adventure [PDF]
433 MHz ASK signal analysis.
Paul Rascagnères

Fox-1 Operating Guide
Fox-1 Operating Guide released at the 2015 Dayton Hamvention. FM transmitter capability on 435 MHz and FM receiver capability on 145 MHz. A full-duplex radio (capable of receiving and transmitting simultaneously) is recommended.
AMSAT

Can I use my Ham Radio on public safety frequencies?
It is widely known that many amateur radios can be modified to transmit outside the ham bands. The answer to this question used to be that amateur radio equipment cannot be used legally on public safety channels because it is not approved for use under Part 90 of the FCC Rules.
K0NR

Enough already!
It’s yet another rant about how most hams nowadays dress like slobs and need to take a bath. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really sick of this kind of talk.
KB6NU

How to

How to replace a noisy wall power supply
When you purchase a replacement power supply, you must make sure that several properties match that of the device it will power, else you could cause damage.
The SWLing Post

Video

First look at the Flexradio Maestro at Dayton
An early look at the new Flexradio Maestro interface for flex radios. All in one over Wi-Fi touch screen with two waterfalls and physical control interfaces.
YouTube

Dayton livestream from W5KUB
W5KUB broadcasts live from Hamvention all weekend long.
W5KUB.com

Dayton livestream from Icom
Icom will be streaming a number of D-STAR related forums as well as the Youth Forum
Icom

Elecraft announces new K3S [PDF]
“We’ve upgraded nearly every subsystem, improving performance and adding many new features.”
Elecraft

Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2015: 55 cosponsors — and climbing
This weekend’s Dayton Hamvention will offer an opportunity for ARRL to speak with individual radio amateurs and encourage them to seek their House member’s support.
ARRL

Browser-based SDR software: OpenWebRX
OpenWebRX is a multi-user SDR receiver software with a web interface.
OpenWebRX

Public service operating notes
ARROW, our amateur radio club here in Ann Arbor, was asked to help out with crowd control and parking. Here are some observations.
KB6NU

HF mobile, a different kind of radio shack
Mobile HF radio adds yet another dimension to Ham Radio. This is my second go at HF Mobile operation.
AmateurRadio.com

US Naval Academy CubeSat launch to include next APRS satellite
Sometime on or about May 20, the next US Naval Academy satellites and Brno University PSK31 transponders head into space from Cape Canaveral on an Atlas 5 launcher and into an approximately 50° orbit.
ARRL

How to

Reverse engineering a radio weather station
Decoding messages from a 433 MHz weather station using an RTL-SDR.
atx

Altoids tin solder fume extractor
Candy tin device helps keep your air clean and your lungs healthy.
Make:

US Amateurs: How to print out your license
Following these steps will allow you to print the official copy, not just the reference copy.
W2LJ

Video

Climbing a 1,500′ TV Tower
This is tower climber Kevin Schmidt making the climb to the very top of the now inactive KDLT TV analog broadcast antenna near Salem, SD.
Prairie Aerial

Transatlantic beacon reception on 144 MHz
The 144.436 MHz beacon D4C in the Cape Verde Islands HK76mv was received at PJ4VHF in Bonaire, Caribbean EM95qc on May 6 over a distance of 4686 km.
Southgate

Dayton Hamvention – Welcome to the Big Show
In amateur radio it doesn’t get any bigger, or any busier, than the Dayton Hamvention.
Icom

What will we see at Dayton 2015?
Hard to imagine that Dayton Hamvention 2015 is just a week away!
K9ZW

Dayton Hamvention livestream schedule May 13-17 2015
Wednesday May 13th 1300 UTC, we go live beginning with the drive from Memphis, Tennessee to Dayton, Ohio.
W5KUB.com

Extreme DX satellite contact between UK and Texas
On April 27, 2015 at 1901 GMT, Cuban radio amateur Hector Martinez W5CBF/CO6CBF achieved a 7537.8 km DX contact with UK amateur Peter Atkins G4DOL via FO-29, possibly a world record for the satellite.
AMSAT UK

ISS HamTV now transmitting on 2395 MHz
The Ham Video transmitter on board the Columbus module of the International Space Station was powered on and started transmitting in “Blank Transmission” (BT) mode.
AMSAT UK

Radio Buoys operating in the 160 meter Amateur band
It is an unfortunate situation that people who make a living from commercial fishing are caught in the middle of such a regulatory discrepancy.
KC4LMD

Arduino: Under the hood
Ever wonder how the Arduino IDE translates your code into instructions for the processor?
SparkFun

Android app tracks ADS-B signals
Track ADS-B signals from Android with a compatible SDR device.
Google Play

Digital Mode: SIM_PSK 31/63
Integrated Structured Message BPSK31
ON4NB

How to

How to build a 10 meter dipole
The Technician class has access to a part of the 10 meter amateur radio band. They can operate CW, digital and phone. Antennas for 10 meters are small and easy to build. A dipole antenna is one of the easiest antennas to build.
K7AGE

70cm Moxon Antenna
Contesting for beginners with a bent coat hanger.
G3XBM

A crude skew planar wheel antenna for GPS L1
The skew planar wheel antenna is a circularly polarised omnidirectional antenna, exactly what you want for satellite reception. It might not be as optimal as a QFH but it is definitely easier to construct even when you are in a pinch and only have gardening wire available.
/dev/thrash

Plans for 3D printing a QFH antenna
I designed this for 145mhz for ISS, and amateur radio. Great for satcom or APRS. It seems to work ok for NOAA APT sats as well.
Thingiverse

Video

Linrad waterfall and weak signals
Here Linrad is set up to produce waterfall graphs with high sensitivity for extremely weak signals. An RTL-SDR dongle is used to receive SK4MPI on 144.412 MHz.
sm5bsz

The hidden FM radio inside your pocket, and why you can’t use it
You may not know it but most of today’s smartphones have FM radios inside of them. But the FM chip is not activated on two-thirds of devices. That’s because mobile makers have the FM capability switched off.
NPR

Google Shakeup & Amateur Radio Clubs
We take a quick look at how these changes may impact amateur radio websites, and how without action, some of our amateur radio club websites may be even harder to find after this change by Google.
Essex Ham

Rookie Roundup roundup
The South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club ran a station for the ARRL Rookie Roundup.
W2LJ

ITTY: Internet Teletype
With today’s streaming audio over the Internet, George, W7TTY has come up with a scheme that allows him to broadcast teletype news over the Internet 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
rtty.com

Tinkering with the Credit Card Crystal Radio
All that is required is connecting the high-impedance earphone, earth/ground and aerial/antenna to the board. Since all of these components can be connected with the supplied alligator clip cables, getting it on the air took all of 20 seconds.
SWLing Post

ISS 2395 MHz Digital Amateur TV blank transmission test
Please monitor the 2395 MHz at 2.0 Ms/s frequency and tell everyone as soon as you observe it.
AMSAT UK

How to

Turning a wireless router into an SDR
OpenWRT is a special custom Linux based firmware designed to create a fully functional Linux system on a internet router by replacing the stock firmware. Since OpenWRT is Linux based, it is possible to install the RTL-SDR software and run it on the router itself.
rtl-sdr.com

Video

Ham Radio Mobile in 1984
The late Don Wallace, W6AM, was interviewed in 1984 by Wayne Overbeck, N6NB, for the PBS series, “Radio Collector.”
California Historical Radio Society

D-STAR and the Icom RS-MS1A Android App
Our latest video about D-STAR features Don Turner (G4TKR) who is being interviewed by Bob McCreadie (G0FGX) of TX Films.
Icom

Arduino comparison guide
Thinking about getting started with Arduino but not sure where to start? Look no further! We’ve put together this handy guide to help you pick the right microcontroller for your project.
SparkFun Electronics

Homebrew D-STAR repeater
YouTube