Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 432

Amateur Radio Weekly

Family of KY student says deputy seized child’s radios without warrant. They’re suing
A Somerset family has filed a lawsuit against the county’s school board and local law enforcement, alleging a deputy wrongly seized two-way radios from a student without a warrant.
Lexington Herald Leader

The integrity question: Inside the WRTC 2026 Multiplier Investigation
Public log analysis has raised serious questions about suspected pirate callsigns, disputed multipliers, and how the world’s premier radiosport competition should respond.
Q5 Magazine

MODEM73
An open source software modem that works with any HF, VHF, or UHF radio capable of 2400 Hz of bandwidth.
MODEM73

Expanding Technician privileges: The fix needs a push
There’s a real, already-written fix for one of Technician licensees’ most common complaints — and it’s been sitting in an FCC docket since 2018.
EtherHam

What’s new at Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications — July 2026
DLARC has significantly expanded the AMSAT Symposium archive, adding about 250 new items from AMSAT Space Symposium events. Newly archived material includes audio recordings of the 2007-2008 presentations.
Zero Retries

SDRoxide: Software-defined transceiver
A powerful SDR transceiver client with a GPU panadapter, dual VFOs, neural noise reduction, built-in skimmers, a full stack of digital modes and a live 3D space-weather globe — wrapped in a cyberpunk interface and running native on Linux, macOS & Windows, or streamed to any browser.
SDRoxide

Reticulum
The appeal of reticulum is that it seems to extend the LoRa thing to include mini web pages and a different way of interacting. A cross between packet, the general internet, and normal messaging.
G7KSE

Zero Retries Digital Conference 2026 call for papers
A typical technical paper for ZRDC is a short (typically 5-10 pages) but in-depth explanation of a project, experiment, or new technique.
Zero Retries

I made an AFSK RTTY encoder for the Sony PSP
The PSP is acting purely as an encoder, generating the RTTY audio tones which are then received and decoded externally.
Reddit

TunerScope: A browser app to help optimize HDTV antenna positioning with an RTL-SDR
TunerScope has a few interesting features, including the use of spectrum stitching to visualize the full 6 MHz + wide ATSC signals as the RTL-SDR only provides 2.56 MSPS max.
RTL-SDR

Olivia spotting
View live on-air station spots, filter by mode/band, and spot station activity in real-time.
OliviaDigitalMode.org

Feds hunting for German spy found a 12-year-old radio genius instead
Francis “Frank” Ryder, whose remarkable talent for radio led federal agents to his Brooklyn home during World War I before he went on to found the Suffolk County Radio Club.
South Shore Press

A visit to Nashville’s WSM AM
Photos from the transmitter site of the station that birthed the Grand Ole Opry.
RadioWorld

Video

This 3D printed trailer hitch antenna mast mount is awesome
Printed on Bambu P1S with Bambu PETG, 10 walls, 40% infill.
Ham Radio Tube

40M V Dipole vs 130′ EFHW
The results are not what you expect.
Hounds and ham

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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 431

Amateur Radio Weekly

APRS On the Air
Let’s create a new Amateur Radio activity and supporting software that brings the activator-and-chaser game of Parks on the Air and Summits on the Air to APRS.
K0TFU

China is using Ham Radio in its territorial claim over the South China Sea
An article goes into great depths to use decisions by the ARRL in the 1990’s and a multi-national DX-petitions to give legitimacy to its claim.
Andrew Woodward

FT8 on CB Channel 26
FT8 has taken over Channel 26 USB (27.265 MHz) as an incredibly efficient way to rack up 11-metre DX contacts on the CB band.
EA5IYL

FT8 Is a fad, and other heresies
People are growing weary of too much tech. Digital detox is trending in the non-radio world.
KE9V

Contact the ISS
Some ISS crew members make random, unscheduled, Amateur Radio voice contacts with earth-bound Radio Amateurs.
ARISS

VHF for Parks On The Air?
Don’t overlook the VHF bands, especially 2m FM.
K0NR

School students successfully launch high-altitude balloon into the atmosphere
The Hutt Valley Amateur Radio Club helped with the transmitters inside the payload.
RNZ

Move Meshtastic up on your list
The worst kept secret in communications.
Off Grid Ham

A look at DXpedition funding
Let’s go over these different funding sources, why each is important, and how they come together to make a DXpedition go.
OnAllBands

ARRL June 2025 VHF Contest replay
Video map version.
K5ND

How Amateur Radio built the Indonesian Internet
PaguyubanNet, packet radio and the pioneers of 1986-1994.
HamRaio.my

Video

SOTA by bicycle in Puerto Rico
Elecraft KX2 + AX1.
WP4TZ

RV Ham Shack
My complete RV Ham Radio setup explained.
KM4ACK

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News: Olivia Digital Modes on HF

Greetings Olivia and digital mode operators,

GREAT NEWS! WEBSITE UPDATE!

Here are the big three new features:

Live spotting is now available!

Live spotting is now available!

  1. Live Olivia spotting. Just like on POTA and other sites, this is a live show and tell of your activity either by self spotting, or spotting stations you copy. Dedicated live spot page, you can view even on a cell phone.

    We are excited to announce a major new feature now live on OliviaDigitalMode.org: an interactive Live Station Spotting tool designed specifically for our digital HF community. Inspired by popular spotting platforms like DXWatch and POTA.app, this system makes it easier than ever to see who is active on the bands, find open Olivia QSOs, and share your own station reports in real time.

    Come Join the Live Spotting of Olivia Digital Mode

    Whether you are hunting for a contact or tracking band openings across different bandwidths and tone counts, the new spotting tool brings several powerful capabilities straight to your browser:

    • Real-Time Live Feed: The spotting page automatically refreshes every 15 seconds, ensuring you always see the latest on-air activity without needing to manually refresh the page.
    • Smart Spot Grouping: When multiple operators spot the same station, the system automatically groups those reports together into a single clean line. Instead of duplicate entries cluttering your view, you will see the station, frequency, mode, and a list of all operators who spotted them.
    • Timeframe Visual Highlighting: You can easily filter for fresh activity. By selecting a window of 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or 1 hour, brand-new spots are visually highlighted so you can jump on active signals immediately.
    • Flexible Display Options: On the dedicated spotting page, you can choose how many spots to display at once (from 10 up to 250 rows) and toggle between a grouped callsign layout or a detailed chronological log.
    • At-a-Glance Homepage Widget: A lightweight summary widget on the main homepage shows the top 5 to 10 most recent spots the moment you arrive on the site.
    • Fast Performance and Historical Archives: Active spots stay on the main board for 12 hours to keep queries ultra-fast. After 12 hours, spots automatically move to a historical archive where they remain available for band activity research and propagation analysis.

    To keep the spotting board reliable and free of spam, posting new spots will require a simple, free operator account. When you register, you will just need to include a short note for the site administrators to verify your callsign and approve your posting access. Once approved, you can log in anytime and share spots whenever you are on the air.

  2. Live Calendar of Olivia Events. I have now put live the active calendar functionality on the site, and seeded it with possible calendar events. I will start planning our upcoming events – which require YOUR input on such things as, monthly sprints, special events that you want to do, and, our quarterly QSO parties.
  3. Feedback form. This is a community website. Now, you can leave feedback; what would you like on the website. What should be different? What is not working? What is working? Please leave us feedback.

Come be a part of this conversational digital mode!

Part 2 of….. Antenna solve one problem to only create another.

  If you have not read Part 1 of this post, go HERE and then make your way back. To recap, I was having an issue with my Hustler 4BTV vertical antenna, and I discovered that water was making its way into the 15m trap. Once I had the antenna reassembled and back in the upright position, I went into the house to check the SWR. I like to do this whenever I work on the antenna. To my surprise, the minimum SWR was 2.4:1 on 15m, but10m, 20m, and 40m were all ok. I had taken my time putting the antenna back together, so I really wasn't sure what had happened.
My new SWR on 15M
  I got my NanoVNA out and performed a sweep from below the 15m band through the entire band 15m band. The results showed that the antenna was resonant at around 20.540 MHz instead of in the 15m 
amateur band, so something was definitely wrong with the trap. I knew that on Hustler vertical antennas the outer trap tubing can be moved up or down to adjust the resonant frequency. I double-checked my trap adjustment marks, and they were exactly where they should have been. I needed some time to think this one through, so for the time being I let the automatic antenna tuner (ATU) in my Icom 7610 took care of the high SWR. The only thing I had changed on the antenna was adding silicone. That got me thinking about the old saying, "less is more." I had wanted to make absolutely sure the plastic cap on the 15m trap wouldn't allow water to get inside. I was convinced that I had applied too much silicone, and I decided to investigate the following day. My theory was that I had somehow changed the electrical characteristics of the 15m trap with the excess silicone. When I took the trap apart the next day, my question was answered. I had been very generous with the silicone—so generous, in fact, that it had bridged the gap between the main antenna tube and the trap's adjustable outer tubing.
Issue found.
  Silicone is not a conductor, but it also does not have the same dielectric properties as air. By filling that air gap, the silicone increased the capacitance of the trap and shifted its resonant frequency. I disassembled the trap once again, carefully cleaned all of the excess silicone from inside the tubing, and this time remembered that less is more when applying silicone. Once the antenna was reassembled and back upright, I checked it again. This time the SWR was exactly where it should be.
Lesson learned the hard way—but I'm glad I was able to figure it out.

Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 430

Amateur Radio Weekly

HAMgpt
New platform combines an operator’s license, station, location and live band conditions to answer a practical question: “What can I do with my radio today?”
HAMgpt

In-depth series: Ham Radio
A podcast series on a wide range of Ham Radio topics.
Hacker Public Radio

What does a Ham Radio antenna look like on the International Space Station?
Here’s a peek at part of the gear that helps keep us running in space.
ARISS

APRSMap – Cross platform APRS client
Messaging, offline maps, and ADS-B support.
DC6AP

Paper logging
If anyone would like to use my template, they can download it from my server.
RZ01

Jamoncito FX: My Casio FX870P Logbook software
Logging QSO’s on a calculator. Does it add up?
EI3LH

Exploring the art and science of spectral painting with SDR
Spectral painting is the art of drawing pictures directly on the spectrum waterfall.
RTL-SDR.com

Introduction to DMR: The four wheels on the car
Get all four wheels turning and you’re on the air.
EtherHam

The original social media: Ham Radio connects Rhode Island to the world
The group is composed of Amateur Radio operators ranging from ages 16 to 92, who meet weekly to practice and develop their radio expertise together.
Warwick Beacon

16-year-old ARRL member wins 2026 student coding competition
He designed a mobile application to help users prepare for their Amateur Radio license examinations.
ARRL

Video

DIY folding antenna for military satcom made from trash
I wanted to copy the Trivec style of portable Satcom antennas used by Western militaries. Usually the commercial version costs $1,500 or more.
saveitforparts

Wow that’s a tall vertical antenna
Portable Ham Radio with a vertical dipole for 20 meters.
Coastal Waves & Wires

This is why every Ham Radio operator should attend a Hamfest
Join me as I take you on a complete walkthrough of the 2026 Greater Nashville & Middle Tennessee HamQuest.
KM4ACK

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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 429

Amateur Radio Weekly

Help us save MeshCore
We’ve now started a crowd funding campaign, in an attempt to raise the required funds to continue the legal challenge.
MeshCore

QuadRF can spot drones and see WiFi through my wall
A phased-array radio built around a Raspberry Pi 5 and an FPGA board with picosecond-level timing. It does advanced signal processing and beamforming.
Jeff Geerling

50 years of Amateur Radio
My radio life in chronological order.
PE4BAS

The ‘absolute magic’ of Morse code that still connects people globally
Younger people are “coming with sheer curiosity and then falling in love with it.”
BBC

QSO Director
Replace multiple tools with one seamless, cross-platform application for logging, DX tracking, rig control, and more.
QSO Director

Beyond the signal: Students explore the world of Amateur Radio
As one of the student organizers, Conner worked alongside faculty to coordinate equipment, recruit participants and prepare for the event.
Augusta University

Amateur Radio team seeks world championship glory
While England’s footballers continue their quest for World Cup glory, Britain’s top Amateur Radio enthusiasts are also taking on the world in a contest which takes place every four years.
BBC

When disasters strike, cell phones and the internet aren’t always reliable
The Humboldt Amateur Radio Club is showing how Ham Radio can keep people connected when other forms of communication fail.
Redwood News

Advice from my first year of learning Morse code
If today’s resources for learning Morse code had been available to me as a child, it would have been a lot easier.
mkj’s musings

Sat tracking with EPS103 & Gpredict
The system is based on the EPS103 and my own custom-built rotor controller for Gpredict, allowing the antenna to automatically track satellites.
DC6AP

Video

LinHT
An interview with the development team.
LabCat and AlpineRadioWaves

What to expect at the 2026 Cincinnati Hamfest
The Cincinnati Hamfest has become much more than a flea market—it’s a gathering built around learning, friendships, and the future of amateur radio.
Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio

Quansheng UV-K1 + straight key
2 meter CW.
N7KOM

Tom & Ham Radio enthusiasts make contact
Tom Green and Glenn Humplick explore Amateur Radio broadcasting as a creative outlet. They connect with a listener in South Carolina through long-distance communication techniques.
The Tom Green Farm

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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 428

Amateur Radio Weekly

Empire State Building climbers force NYC FM and TV stations to backup antennas
Following protocols, the broadcasters shifted to auxiliary setups for about an hour.
RadioWorld

ORI futureGEO HAMRADIO 2026 Workshop report
Haifuraiya is a functional prototype digital regenerative multiplexing Amateur Radio satellite system, with superior voice quality and integrated voice, text, and data.
ORI

A simple ladder line antenna for portable ops
The antenna that is very small, highly portable and very efficient hasn’t been invented yet – and never will be invented because it would defy the laws of physics.
Ham Radio Outside the Box

Classic OSCARLOCATOR returns
A new browser-based recreation of the classic OSCARLOCATOR satellite tracking aid is now online and free for all Amateurs to use.
N8HM

Failed activations are (sometimes) the best activations
When missing your quota isn’t the end of the world.
EI3LH

Fuel, space, and silicon: The realities of grid-down emergency comms
The friction between FUNCOMM and EMCOMM.
ROTA-Radio

Volunteers wanted for Intruder Watch team
The team reports any unauthorised transmissions to the IARU Intruder Watch team and, where appropriate, Ofcom.
ICQPodcast

K0NR BKG114
The Brass Knuckle Gang.
K0NR

Dealing with the “Sad Ham” in our club
Once I’ve had a chance to listen, I work on finding common ground.
N1JUR

The World’s Shortwave Radio Search Engine
Search any frequency. Search any station. Search any language. Find what’s on the air right now — anywhere in the world.
ShortwaveHQ

British Empire Amateur Radio prefixes and their legacy
From VS1 to VT1.
9M2PJU

Video

Bazooka Balun
A Bazooka Balun (more commonly called a sleeve balun) is a type of 1:1 current balun made by placing a conductive tube or braided sleeve over the outside of a coaxial feedline.
Johnson’s TechWorld

I crashed 4 Ham Radio clubs For Field Day
I set out on a Field Day rove to visit as many Clubs as possible.
Ham Radio Tube

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  • Matt W1MST, Managing Editor