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EHAM QTH QRZ ARRL HRO ICOM KENWOOD YAESU ELBO ROOM COMMENTS WEEKEND EDITION: Next Wednesday the annual Christmas Party at the HRO super store in Salem, NH organized by Joe- K1JEK, all are welcome!....ARRL membership is still on the decline, I am not sure they can get themselves out of this mess with the currrent leadership. I don't think they are in touch with reality. We need the ARRL to represent us but they need some outside the box discussions.... Highlights of ARRL Executive Committee MeetingThe following are summaries and excerpts from the minutes of the November 2025 ARRL Executive Committee Meeting. The purpose of this post is to highlight in-progress items that ARRL might not normally promote through marketing channels, but hams might be interested in learning more about. Readers are encouraged to view the entire document for additional context. Pass the Bill Membership
Products & Outreach
IARU
Restructuring
The previous proposal would have eliminated ARRL’s power to nominate the IARU President and Vice President, leaving the task to the individual member societies. ARRL is expected to retain nomination authority, but consult with a new nomination committee made up of regional society members.
Additional Topics
Amateur Radio
Newsline Report FRIDAY EDITION: Coldest morning of the year, 8 degrees, but its not all that bad....Regarding the solar panel article below, we have three of those panels donated to us. They all work great, we just haven't connected them up yet to a system that the club could use.... Winners of the 2026 HamCation Awards AnnouncedFor 2026, there are three award categories: the Gordon West Ham Ambassador of the Year, the Carole Perry Educator of the Year, and a new category, the Amateur Radio Hero of the Year. The quality of candidates nominated for these awards was outstanding, and the Hamcation team is very excited to announce the winners. The 2026 Gordon West Ham Ambassador of the Year Award goes to Tony Milluzzi, KD8RTT, located in Lenexa, KS. The award recognizes his focused, long-term support and promotion of the Collegiate Amateur Radio Program (CARP). The 2026 Carole Perry Educator of the Year Award goes to Dr. Nathaniel Frissel, W2NAF, located in Spring Brook, PA. The award recognizes his outstanding work with the HamSCI education program he created, grew, and continues to expand. The Amateur Radio Hero Award goes to Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA, located in West Bengal, India. The award recognizes his outstanding support of local and national emergency operations and law enforcement during life-threatening events where lives were saved by his actions. Each of these nominees has demonstrated outstanding dedication to promoting Amateur Radio by using radio to share knowledge, educate, and provide vital communications. The HamCation team congratulates each of them for their award and the contribution they have personally made to Amateur Radio. Links to each award category with details of their criteria can be found at https://www.hamcation.com/award. HamCation 2026 will be held on February 13th, 14th & 15th, 2026. Source: HamCation After Trucking Them Home, Old Solar Panels Keep On Trucking
The fact that there exist in our world flat rocks that make lightning when you point them at the sun is one of the most unappreciated bits of wizardry in this modern age. As hackers, we love all this of techno-wizardry–but some of us abhor paying full price for it. Like cars, one way to get a great discount is to buy used. [Backyard Solar Project] helped a friend analyze some 14-year-old panels to see just how they’d held up over the years, and it was actually better than we might have expected. The big polycrystalline panels were rated at 235 W when new, and they got 6 of them for the low, low price of “get this junk off my property”. Big panels are a bit of a pain to move, but that’s still a great deal. Especially considering that after cleaning they averaged 180 W, a capacity factor of 77%. Before cleaning 14 years worth of accumulated grime cost about eight watts, on average, an argument for cleaning your panels. Under the same lighting conditions, the modern panel (rated to 200 W) was giving 82% of rated output. That implies that after 14 years, the panels are still at about 94% of their original factory output, assuming the factory wasn’t being overoptimistic about the numbers to begin with. Still, assuming you can trust the marketing, a half a percent power drop per year isn’t too bad. It’s also believable, since the US National Renewably Energy Laboratory (yes, they have one) has done tests that put that better than the average of 0.75 %/yr. Of course the average American solar panel lives in a hotter climate than [Backyard Solar Project], which helps explain the slower degradation. Now, we’re not your Dad or your accountant, so we’re not going to tell you if used solar panels are worth the effort. On the one hand, they still work, but on the other hand, the density is quite a bit lower. Just look at that sleek, modern 200 W panel next to the old 235 W unit. If you’re area-limited, you might want to spring for new, or at least the more energy-dense monocrystalline panels that have become standard the last 5 years or so, which aren’t likely to be given away just yet. On the gripping hand, free is free, and most of us are much more constrained by budget than by area. If nothing else, you might have a fence to stick old panels against; the vertical orientation is surprisingly effective at higher latitudes.
THURSDAY EDITION: I tested the Yasesu FL7000 yesterday, it put out 700 watts with 50 watts in on 20 meters. A beautiful amplifier for HF, we are thinking about $775 for a mint unit. The unit is wired for 110 and we had a ft1000 hooked up to it on the same 20 amp circuit no problems.....
All Handheld Antennas Are Not Born The Same
If you own a handheld transceiver of any type then the chances are it will come with a “rubber duck” style antenna. These flexible rubber-coated antennas are a compromise in performance, being significantly smaller than a wavelength at their frequency of operation. [OM40ET] has an interesting video in which he investigates this by tearing down a cheap rubber duck antenna and an even cheaper fake. These antennas usually have a flexible upper section and a bulge at the bottom over the connector. The fake one has nothing in the bulge except the antenna wire and thus has a very high SWR, while the “real” one has a loading coil. This coil is an interesting design, because it’s designed such that the antenna has two resonant points at the 2 metre and 70 centimetre amateur bands. On paper it’s a tapped coil fed at the tap through a capacitor for matching, but a more detailed appraisal will tell you that the two halves of the coil are designed to return those two resonances. It’s still a not-very-good antenna, but the fact that it works at all is something. If you want something better at VHF and haven’t got much space, all is not lost. We recently featured a VHF magnetic loop.
WEDNESDAY EDITION: No snow here to report but we got 50+mph gusts last night, 32 this morning.... Extra carbon in the atmosphere may disrupt radio communicationsHigher levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth’s atmosphere could harm radio communications by enhancing a disruptive effect in the ionosphere. According to researchers at Kyushu University, Japan, who modelled the effect numerically for the first time, this little-known consequence of climate change could have significant impacts on shortwave radio systems such as those employed in broadcasting, air traffic control and navigation. “While increasing CO2 levels in the atmosphere warm the Earth’s surface, they actually cool the ionosphere,” explains study leader Huixin Liu of Kyushu’s Faculty of Science. “This cooling doesn’t mean it is all good: it decreases the air density in the ionosphere and accelerates wind circulation. These changes affect the orbits and lifespan of satellites and space debris and also disrupt radio communications through localized small-scale plasma irregularities.” The sporadic E-layerOne such irregularity is a dense but transient layer of metal ions that forms between 90‒120 km above the Earth’s surface. This sporadic E-layer (Es), as it is known, is roughly 1‒5 km thick and can stretch from tens to hundreds of kilometres in the horizontal direction. Its density is highest during the day, and it peaks around the time of the summer solstice. The formation of the Es is hard to predict, and the mechanisms behind it are not fully understood. However, the prevailing “wind shear” theory suggests that vertical shears in horizontal winds, combined with the Earth’s magnetic field, cause metallic ions such as Fe+, Na+, and Ca+ to converge in the ionospheric dynamo region and form thin layers of enhanced ionization. The ions themselves largely come from metals in meteoroids that enter the Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrate at altitudes between around 80‒100 km. Effects of increasing CO2 concentrationsWhile previous research has shown that increases in CO2 trigger atmospheric changes on a global scale, relatively little is known about how these increases affect smaller-scale ionospheric phenomena like the Es. In the new work, which is published in Geophysical Research Letters, Liu and colleagues used a whole-atmosphere model to simulate the upper atmosphere at two different CO2 concentrations: 315 ppm and 667 ppm. “The 315 ppm represents the CO2 concentration in 1958, the year in which recordings started at the Mauna Loa observatory, Hawaii,” Liu explains. “The 667 ppm represents the projected CO2 concentration for the year 2100, based on a conservative assumption that the increase in CO2 is constant at a rate of around 2.5 ppm/year since 1958.” The researchers then evaluated how these different CO2 levels influence a phenomenon known as vertical ion convergence (VIC) which, according to the wind shear theory, drives the Es. The simulations revealed that the higher the atmospheric CO2 levels, the greater the VIC at altitudes of 100-120 km. “What is more, this increase is accompanied by the VIC hotspots shifting downwards by approximately 5 km,” says Liu. “The VIC patterns also change dramatically during the day and these diurnal variability patterns continue into the night.” According to the researchers, the physical mechanism underlying these changes depends on two factors. The first is reduced collisions between metallic ions and the neutral atmosphere as a direct result of cooling in the ionosphere. The second is changes in the zonal wind shear, which are likely caused by long-term trends in atmosphere tides. “These results are exciting because they show that the impacts of CO2 increase can extend all the way from Earth’s surface to altitudes at which HF and VHF radio waves propagate and communications satellites orbit,” Liu tells Physics World. “This may be good news for ham radio amateurs, as you will likely receive more signals from faraway countries more often. For radio communications, however, especially at HF and VHF frequencies employed for aviation, ships and rescue operations, it means more noise and frequent disruption in communication and hence safety. The telecommunications industry might therefore need to adjust their frequencies or facility design in the future.” “Space Sailors” Seeking Download Help from Ham Radio OperatorsA group of students at Cornell University is seeking participation from radio amateurs who are equipped with satellite stations for help in listening for signals from a retroreflective laser sail that is scheduled to be deployed later this week. The sail is currently attached to a 1U CubeSat that was launched early Tuesday, December 2, 2025, from the International Space Station, but will separate and become its own free-flying spacecraft equipped with four tiny “ChipSat” flight computers that will transmit telemetry data back to Earth. This is the first flight of their ChipSats, and it is this data that the students seek help detecting, according to Ph.D. candidate Joshua Umansky-Castro, who has an amateur radio license; call sign KD2WTQ. The light sail’s ChipSats will be transmitting data using the LoRa® digital protocol on 437.400 MHz. The sail, stowed within the CubeSat, is expected be released a couple of days after deployment — tentatively this Thursday, December 4 — and will likely function independently for no more than 48 hours due to the drag created by the sail. Additional information, including LoRa parameters and links to a list of compatible receivers and the decoder file, may be found at alphacubesat.cornell.edu in the ChipSat Ground Station Guide (docx). It is hoped that the ChipSat and light sail will become the trailblazer for future missions around the solar system, and one day to our closest stellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri.
TUESDAY EDITION: The talking heads on TV he tried to make the snow storm today a major calamity in the game of life. It's New England, it snows, we plow, and life goes on- stop with the drama on TV and all the dope that run to the market to buy food like there is no tomorrow. ....I got a complaint from a neighbor about my trapping squirrels, I had 4 traps filled and left them behind my truck for delivery off the island later in the day. Their kids saw them and were horrified and asked if I would not leave them so the kids can see them. I wonder if these worldly kids know how beef and turkeys are slaughtered, they will probably be checking in with the school shrink today....the horror of it all! EvoHam Provides Resources for Digital Voice OperatorsEvoHam.com recently launched as a resource for amateur radio operators interested in digital voice modes. The new site focuses on DMR, D-STAR, Yaesu Fusion, P25, NXDN, M17, and FreeDV with how-to guides, reviews, and tutorials.
Example articles include M17 for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide for New Hams and FreeDV for Beginners: Get Started with Digital Voice on HF. Source: EvoHam.com futureGeo Resource Page Now LiveAmateur Radio Daily has compiled a futureGEO resources page to further promote the geostationary satellite project. The centralized resource is designed to make it easy for interested hams to learn more about the project. Currently, the resource page provides links to presentations, proposals, articles, and other relevant content. Additional information will be linked as it becomes available. futureGEO is a proposed geostationary amateur radio satellite that is projected to provide coverage across significant portions of Europe and North America. The project is being spearheaded by the European Space Agency and AMSAT Germany. The initial proposals mimic payloads similar to that of QO-100 but may include additional technology such as SDR and laser based communication experiments. Source: Amateur Radio Daily open_in_new futureGEO Special Event Celebrates Father of Wireless Communication, Jagadish Chandra BoseSpecial event station AU2JCB will be paying homage to the Indian scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose November 28 through December 15 2025. Considered the "Father of Wireless Communication," Bose was a pioneer in microwave optics, and demonstrated wireless communication as early as 1895. The special event will operate on the following modes and frequencies (kHz):
MONDAY EDITION: I downloaded FREEDV but still haven't got it configured right on my laptop, back to square one later today....I don't want to ee another turkey based meal for a long time, I have eaten it more ways than Forest Gump prepared shrimp.... Max Headroom signal hijackingThe Max Headroom signal hijacking (also known as the Max Headroom incident) was a hijacking of the television signals of two stations in Chicago, Illinois, on November 22, 1987, that briefly sent a pirate broadcast of an unidentified person wearing a Max Headroom mask and costume to thousands of home viewers.[1][2][3][4] The first incident took place during the sports segment of independent TV station WGN-TV's 9:00 p.m. newscast and featured a person wearing a mask swaying erratically in front of a semi-swiveling corrugated metal panel, apparently meant to resemble Max Headroom's animated geometric background. Unlike the later intrusion, the only sound was a loud buzz. In total, the interruption went on for almost 30 seconds before engineers at WGN were able to regain control of their broadcast tower. The second incident occurred about two hours later during PBS member station WTTW's broadcast of the Doctor Who serial Horror of Fang Rock. With nobody on duty at the affected tower, this signal takeover was more sustained and included distorted but audible speech. The masked figure made reference to the real Max Headroom's advertisements for New Coke, the animated TV series Clutch Cargo, WGN sportscaster Chuck Swirsky, "Greatest World Newspaper nerds", and other seemingly unrelated topics. The video concluded with the masked figure presenting his bare buttocks to a woman with a flyswatter while yelling "They're coming to get me!", with the woman responding "Bend over, bitch!" and lightly spanking him with it as the figure was crying and screaming. At that point, the hijackers ended the pirate transmission, and normal programming resumed after a total interruption of about 90 seconds.[5] A criminal investigation conducted by the Federal Communications Commission in the immediate aftermath of the intrusion could not find the people responsible; further, despite many unofficial inquiries and much speculation over the ensuing decades, the culprits have yet to be positively identified.[6][7][8][9] WTTWThat same night, at about 11:20 p.m., the signal of local PBS station WTTW was interrupted during an airing of the first part of the Doctor Who serial Horror of Fang Rock. The culprit was apparently the same Max Headroom impersonator, this time audible through distorted audio.[8][11] The masked figure spent the next minute or so making a quick series of brief and seemingly unrelated comments and cultural references interspersed with excited noises and exclamations. He was first heard to make a comment about "nerds", then called WGN sportscaster Chuck Swirsky a "frickin' liberal", held up a can of Pepsi while referencing the "Catch the wave" slogan from a recent ad campaign for Coca-Cola featuring the real Max Headroom[1][8], and held a middle finger near the camera inside what appeared to be a hollowed-out dildo.[15] After some random moaning, the masked figure sang the phrase "Your love is fading"; hummed part of the theme song to the 1959 animated series Clutch Cargo, and said, "I still see the X!" (a reference to the last episode of that show, which is sometimes misheard as "I stole CBS.") He also feigned defecation (complaining of his piles), claiming that he had "made a giant masterpiece for all the Greatest World Newspaper nerds" (WGN's call letters stand for "World's Greatest Newspaper"), and put a knitted glove on one hand while commenting that it was dirty and his brother "had the other one".[1][11][8] After a crude jump cut, the main figure appeared mostly offscreen to the left with his partially exposed buttocks visible from the side, with a female figure wearing a French maid costume and what appears to be a mask appearing on the right edge of the frame. The (unworn) Max Headroom mask was briefly held in view while the voice cried out, "Oh no, they're coming to get me! Ah, make it stop!" and the female figure began spanking "Max" with a flyswatter.[8] The image faded briefly into static, and then viewers were returned to the Doctor Who broadcast after a total interruption of about 90 seconds.[8][11] Technicians at WTTW's studios could not counteract the signal takeover because there were no engineers on duty at that hour at the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower), where the station's broadcast tower was located. According to station spokesman Anders Yocom, technicians monitoring the transmission from WTTW headquarters "attempted to take corrective measures, but couldn't".[16] Air director Paul Rizzo recalled that "as the content got weirder we got increasingly stressed out about our inability to do anything about it".[6] The pirate broadcast ended when the hijackers unilaterally ended their transmission. "By the time our people began looking into what was going on, it was over," said Yocom.[12] WTTW received numerous phone calls from viewers who wondered what had occurred.[17] MethodsThe broadcast intrusion was achieved by sending a more powerful microwave transmission to the stations' broadcast towers than the stations were sending themselves, triggering a capture effect. Experts have said that the stunt required extensive technical expertise and a significant amount of transmitting power, and that the pirate broadcast likely originated from somewhere in the line of sight of both stations' broadcast towers, which were atop two tall buildings in downtown Chicago.[12] While the prank was difficult to accomplish in 1987, it became almost impossible to replicate after American television stations switched from analog to digital signals in 2009.[9] InvestigationsNo one has ever claimed responsibility for the stunt. Speculation about the identities of "Max" and his co-conspirators has centered on the theories that the prank was either an inside job by a disgruntled employee (or former employee) of WGN or was carried out by members of Chicago's underground hacker community. However, despite an official law enforcement investigation in the immediate aftermath of the incident and many unofficial investigations, inquiries, and online speculation in the ensuing decades, the identities and motives of the hijackers remain a mystery.[6][7][8][9][18][excessive citations] Soon after the intrusion, an FCC official was quoted in news reporting that the perpetrators faced a maximum fine of $100,000 and up to a year in prison.[1][12] However, the five-year statute of limitations was surpassed in 1992; as such, the people responsible for the intrusion would no longer face criminal punishment should their identities be revealed.[1] Cultural impactThough the incident only briefly caught the attention of the general public, it has been overtly or subtly referenced in a variety of media over the ensuing decades, with Motherboard claiming that it has been an influential "cyberpunk hacking trope".[9] The first reference came soon after the initial events when WMAQ-TV, another Chicago TV station, humorously inserted clips of the hijacking into a newscast during Mark Giangreco's sports highlights. "A lot of people thought it was real – the pirate cutting into our broadcast. We got all kinds of calls about it," said Giangreco.[19] In the season 3 episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast titled Freakshow, a broadcast intruder, who goes by the name of Commander Andy (played by Andy Merrill), constantly interrupts the feed while Space Ghost (voiced by George Lowe) tries to conduct his interview. The episode itself pokes fun of pirate hijackings on television, and while Moltar (voiced by C. Martin Croker) is trying to cancel the intrusion to get the show back to normal, a brief clip of the Max Headroom Incident is shown on his monitor. YOTA Month: Listen out for GB25YOTOYoungsters on the Air (YOTA) Month officially begins on Monday, 1 December 2025. Listen out for special event station GB25YOTA throughout the month as young radio amateurs get on the amateur bands. Sandringham School and the 2nd Marlborough Scout Group start the event on Wednesday, 3 December 2025. On Friday, 5 December 2025, Bracknell Amateur Radio Club will host GB25YOTA, as well as Jon, M0NOJ who will be operating later in the afternoon. Cambridge University Wireless Society will be hosting the call sign on both Friday and Saturday. Also on Saturday, 6 December 2025, you’ll be able to work South Durham Radio Club who are active using the GB25YOTA. Looking forward to Sunday, 7 December 2025, listen out for the 2nd Marlborough Scouts and Cray Valley Radio Society. Details of operating times, bands and modes can be found on the YOTA Month web page. Take the time to encourage a young radio amateur by having a QSO with them. LIVE YouTube Telethon to Support ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless TechnologyDon’t miss it! The annual YouTube telethon to raise money for the ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology will be held on Saturday, November 29, 2025, beginning at 3 PM EST / 12 PM PST, on the Ham Radio Crash Course YouTube channel, hosted by Josh Nass, KI6NAZ. Join Nass and several other amateur radio contributors for a fun and entertaining livestream. They’ll cover a variety of amateur radio topics and technology. ARRL Director of Education and Learning Steve Goodgame, K5ATA, will discuss the impact of the Teachers Institute on the educators who have attended the professional development sessions, and how they carry the experience back to their schools to inspire students every day. Use the following link to visit the YouTube page and set a reminder for Saturday’s livestream: www.arrl.org/telethon. The ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology is a donor-funded program designed to help classroom teachers elevate their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) programs through the use of wireless technology. Last year’s telethon raised over $41,000 for Teachers Institute. There were 14 sessions held throughout 2025, with even more planned for 2026.
WEEKEND EDITION: I am going to download and install FREEDV, and give it a whirl today on 20 meters. A new digital voice mode, I tried it at the club the other day and was impressed. FreeDV is a suite of digital voice modes for HF radio. Our flagship mode is the Radio Autoencoder (RADE). You can run RADE using a free GUI application for Windows, Linux and macOS that allows any SSB radio to be used for high quality digital voice. Why FreeDV?Amateur Radio is transitioning from analog to digital, much as it transitioned from AM to SSB in the 1950s and 1960s. How would you feel if one or two companies owned the patents for SSB, then forced you to use their technology, made it illegal to experiment with or even understand the technology, and insisted you stay locked to it for the next 100 years? That’s exactly what was happening with digital voice. But now, hams are in control of their technology again! FreeDV is unique as it uses 100% Open Source Software, including the speech codec. No secrets, nothing proprietary! FreeDV represents a path for 21st-century Amateur Radio where Hams are free to experiment and innovate rather than a future locked into a single manufacturer’s closed technology. I see a few decent deals at Black Friday HRO in Salem, NH Assistive Radio Tells You What You Can’t SeeWe think of radios as audio devices, but for people who are visually impaired, it can be difficult to tell which channel you are listening to at any given time. [Sncarter] has a family member with vision impairment and built a radio to help her. Unfortunately, it was difficult to replicate, so he decided to try again. The result is an FM radio that provides audible status notifications about power and frequency. Check it out in the video below. This isn’t just some hacked-up commercial radio, but a ground-up design that uses a TEA5767 with an ATMega328 for control. There is an LCD for when someone else might use the radio and an audio amplifier. He built the prototype on a breadboard, but moved the finished product to a PCB. It isn’t just the electronics and the sound that are assistive. The case has raised bosses to help the user find things like the switch and rotary encoder. The Arduino can speak frequency announcements, although the quality of the voice is something he wants to tackle in the next revision. Read more – Hackaday: https://bit.ly/3M4YYU1 THANKSGIVNG DAY EDITION: I am glad I wasn't born an American Indian, they got the shit end of the stick....I remember hunting up in Colebrook, NH forty years ago and stayed at a motel with a bar attached, I will never forget the Indian who came in for a hard drink. The bartender knew him and yelled at him 3.2 beer only for Indians, I thought he was shitting around. He meant it!....
W2PH Radio . . . Offering the best in Classic Rock from the Space Coast in FloridaWe are a premier internet radio station featuring Classic Rock/Oldies 24/7 streaming in 192k HD Stereo along with scheduled programs on Amateur Radio To listen to W2PH Radio, click on the right triangle in the music player below. LIVE YouTube Telethon to Support ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless TechnologyDon’t miss it! The annual YouTube telethon to raise money for the ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology will be held on Saturday, November 29, 2025, beginning at 3 PM EST / 12 PM PST, on the Ham Radio Crash Course YouTube channel, hosted by Josh Nass, KI6NAZ. Join Nass and several other amateur radio contributors for a fun and entertaining livestream. They’ll cover a variety of amateur radio topics and technology. ARRL Director of Education and Learning Steve Goodgame, K5ATA, will discuss the impact of the Teachers Institute on the educators who have attended the professional development sessions, and how they carry the experience back to their schools to inspire students every day. Use the following link to visit the YouTube page and set a reminder for Saturday’s livestream: www.arrl.org/telethon. The ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology is a donor-funded program designed to help classroom teachers elevate their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) programs through the use of wireless technology. Last year’s telethon raised over $41,000 for Teachers Institute. There were 14 sessions held throughout 2025, with even more planned for 2026. WEDNESDAY EDITION: My favorite holiday of the year tomorrow, family, friends and a great meal. Both of my sons live within a few miles of us which makes it even nicer, no travel time!...Going over the club this morning and will try to get to the Yaesu FL7000 amplifier, I wouldn't mind having a no tune solid state amp that runs on 110 myself, hmmmmm..... Inside a Germanium Transistor
The first transistors were point contact devices, not far from the cats-whiskers of early radio receivers. They were fragile and expensive, and their performance was not very high. The transistor which brought the devices to a mass audience through the 1950s and 1960s was the one which followed, the alloy diffusion type. [Play With Junk] has a failed OC71 PNP alloy diffusion transistor, first introduced in 1957, and has cracked it open for a closer look. Inside the glass tube is a small wafer of germanium crystal, surrounded by silicone grease. It forms the N-type base of the device, with the collector and emitter being small indium beads fused into the germanium. The junctions were formed by the resulting region of germanium/indium alloy. The outside of the tube is pained black because the device is light-sensitive, indeed a version of this transistor without the paint was sold as the OCP71 phototransistor. These devices were leaky and noisy, with a low maximum frequency and low gain. But they were reliable and eventually affordable, so some of us even cut our electronic teeth on them. Meshtastic: A Tale of Two Cities
If I’m honest with myself, I don’t really need access to an off-grid, fault-tolerant, mesh network like Meshtastic. The weather here in New Jersey isn’t quite so dynamic that there’s any great chance the local infrastructure will be knocked offline, and while I do value my privacy as much as any other self-respecting hacker, there’s nothing in my chats that’s sensitive enough that it needs to be done off the Internet. But damn it, do I want it. The idea that everyday citizens of all walks of life are organizing and building out their own communications network with DIY hardware and open source software is incredibly exciting to me. It’s like the best parts of a cyberpunk novel, without all the cybernetic implants, pollution, and over-reaching megacorps. Well, we’ve got those last two, but you know what I mean. Even though I found the Meshtastic concept appealing, my seemingly infinite backlog of projects kept me from getting involved until relatively recently. It wasn’t until I got my hands on the Hacker Pager that my passing interest turned into a full blown obsession. But it’s perhaps not for the reason you might think. Traveling around to different East Coast events with the device in my bag, it would happily chirp away when within range of Philadelphia or New York, but then fall silent again once I got home. While I’d get the occasional notification of a nearby node, my area had nothing like the robust and active mesh networks found in those cities. Well, they say you should be the change you want to see in the world, so I decided to do something about it. Obviously I wouldn’t be able to build up an entire network by myself, but I figured that if I started standing up some nodes, others might notice and follow suit. It was around this time that Seeed Studio introduced the SenseCAP Solar node, which looked like a good way to get started. So I bought two of them with the idea of putting one on my house and the other on my parent’s place down the shore. The results weren’t quite what I expected, but it’s certainly been an interesting experience so far, and today I’m even more eager to build up the mesh than I was in the beginning. Starting on Easy ModeI didn’t make a conscious decision to start my experiment at my parent’s house. Indeed, located some 60 miles (96 km) from where I live, any progress in building out a mesh network over there wouldn’t benefit me back home. But it was the beginning of summer, they have a pool, and my daughters love to swim. As such, we spent nearly every weekend there which gave me plenty of time to tinker. For those unfamiliar with New Jersey’s Southern Shore area, the coastline itself is dotted with vacation spots such as Wildwood, Atlantic City, and Long Beach Island. This is where the tourists go to enjoy the beaches, boardwalks, cotton candy, and expensive rental homes. But move slightly inland, and you’ll find a marshland permeated with a vast network of bays, creeks, and tributaries. For each body of water large enough to get a boat through, you’ll find a small town or even an unincorporated community that in the early 1900s would have been bustling with oyster houses and hunting shacks, but today might only be notable for having their own Wawa. My parents are in one of those towns that doesn’t have a Wawa. Its very quiet, the skies are dark, and there’s not much more than marsh and water all around. So when I ran the SenseCAP Solar up their 20 foot (6 m) flagpole, which in a former life was actually the mast from a sailing catamaran, the results were extremely impressive. I hadn’t had the radio up for more than a few hours before my phone pinged with a message. We chatted back and forth a bit, and I found that my new mesh friend was an amateur radio operator living on Long Beach Island, and that he too had just recently started experimenting with Meshtastic. He was also, incidentally, a fan of Hackaday. (Hi, Leon!) He mentioned that his setup was no more advanced than an ESP32 dev board sitting in his window, and yet we were reliably communicating at a range of approximately 6 miles (9 km). Encouraged, I decided to leave the radio online all night. In the morning, I was shocked to find it had picked up more than a dozen new nodes. Incredibly, it was even able to sniff out a few nodes that I recognized from Philadelphia, 50 miles (80 km) to the west. I started to wonder if it was possible that I might actually be able to reach my own home, potentially establishing a link clear across the state. Later that day, somebody on an airplane fired off a few messages on the way out of Philadelphia International Airport. Seeing the messages was exciting enough, but through the magic of mesh networking, it allowed my node to temporarily see networks at an even greater distance. I picked up one node that was more than 100 miles (160 km) away in Aberdeen, Maryland. I was exhilarated by these results, and eager to get back home and install the second SenseCAP Solar node installed. If these were the kind of results I was getting in the middle of nowhere, surely I’d make even more contacts in a dense urban area. Reality Comes Crashing HomeYou see, at this point I had convinced myself that the reason I wasn’t getting any results back at home was the relatively meager antenna built into the Hacker Pager. Now that I had a proper node with an antenna bigger than my pinkie finger, I was sure I’d get better results. Especially since I’d be placing the radio even higher this time — with a military surplus fiberglass mast clamped into the old TV antenna mount on my three story house, the node would be around 40 feet (12 m) above the ground. But when I opened the Meshtastic app the day after getting my home node installed, I was greeted with….nothing. Not a single node was detected in a 24 hour period. This seemed very odd given my experience down the shore, but I brushed it off. After all, Meshtastic nodes only occasionally announce their presence when they aren’t actively transmitting. Undaunted, I made plans with a nearby friend to install a node at his place. His home is just 1.2 miles (1.9 km) from mine, and given the 6 mile (9 km) contact I had made down the shore, it seemed like this would be an easy first leg of our fledgling network. Yet when we stood up a temporary node in his front yard, messages between it and my house were only occasionally making it through. Worse, the signal strength displayed in the application was abysmal. It was clear that, even at such a short range, an intermediary node would be necessary to get our homes reliably connected. At this point, I was feeling pretty dejected. The incredible results I got when using Meshtastic in the sticks had clearly given me a false sense of what the technology was capable of in an urban environment. To make matters even worse, some further investigation found that my house was about the worst possible place to try and mount a node. For one thing, until I bothered to look it up, I never realized my house was located in a small valley. According to online line-of-sight tools, I’m essentially at the bottom of a bowl. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I noted that the Meshtastic application was showing an inordinate number of bad packets. After consulting with those more experienced with the project, I now know this to be an indicator of a noisy RF environment. Which may also explain the exceptionally poor reception I get when trying to fly my FPV drone around the neighborhood, but that’s a story for another day. A More Pragmatic ApproachWhile I was disappointed that I couldn’t replicate my seaside Meshtastic successes at home, I’m not discouraged. I’ve learned a great deal about the technology, especially its limitations. Besides, the solution is simple enough — we need more nodes, and so the campaign to get nearby friends and family interested in the project has begun. We’ve already found another person in a geographically strategic position who’s willing to host a node on their roof, and as I write this a third Seeed SenseCAP Solar sits ready for installation. At the same time, the performance of Meshtastic in a more rural setting has inspired me to push further in that region. I’m in the process of designing a custom node specifically tailored for the harsh marine environment, and have identified several potential locations where I can deploy them in the Spring. With just a handful of well-placed nodes, I believe it should be possible to cover literally hundreds of square miles. I’m now fighting a battle on two fronts, but thankfully, I’m not alone. In the months since I’ve started this project, I’ve noticed a steady uptick in the number of detected nodes. Even here at home, I’ve finally started to pick up some chatter from nearby nodes. There’s no denying it, the mesh is growing everyday. My advice to anyone looking to get into Meshtastic is simple. Whether you’re in the boonies, or stuck in the middle of a metropolis, pick up some compatible hardware, mount it as high as you can manage, and wait. It might not happen overnight, but eventually your device is going to ping with that first message — and that’s when the real obsession starts.
TUESDAY EDITION: The 121 best Amazon Black Friday tech and gadget deals (updated)..... In 2019, Rodolfo Novak sent a Bitcoin transaction from Toronto to Michigan without internet or satellite. He used a ham radio, the 40-meter band, and the ionosphere as his relay. Nick Szabo called it "Bitcoin sent over national border without internet or satellite, just nature's ionosphere." The transaction was tiny, the setup finicky, and the use case borderline absurd. Yet, it proved something: the protocol doesn't care what carries its packets. Tor represents the middle ground between the regular internet and exotic radio. Since Bitcoin Core 0.12, nodes automatically start a hidden service if a local Tor daemon is running, accepting connections via .onion addresses even when ISPs block known Bitcoin ports. Ham radio sits at the far end of the spectrum. Beyond Novak's ionosphere experiment, operators have relayed Lightning payments via amateur radio frequencies. These tests involve manually encoding transactions, transmitting them over HF bands using protocols like JS8Call, then decoding and rebroadcasting on the other side. LINK FUNcube-1 Celebrates 12th Birthday
On November 21, 2013 FUNcube-1 (AO-73) was launched from the Yasny launch base located in the Orenburg Region, Russia on a Dnepr Launch Vehicle into a 600 km, 97.8º inclination sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite is a 1U cubesat featuring an SDR receiver, transponder, and telemetry system all of which continue to function for amateur operators today. Hams can interact with AO-73 on the following frequencies:
Source: AMSAT Amateur Radio Daily – Read More MONDAY EDITION: Whew, the Patriots just squaled by on Sunday. it shows how fragile the team is in depth and experience. The goal line offense needs a lot of work!.....BC lost, now 1-10 record...... Earhart Search Records DeclassifiedIt has been 88 years since Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan disappeared over the South Pacific. But until now the records of the search have remained classified. In September, President Donald Trump ordered the details of the 1937 disappearance declassified, making them available from the National Archives. The files consist of photostats and copies of photostats of records relating to plans for the around-the-world flight, including a letter written by Earhart to President Franklin Roosevelt, where she outlines her proposed route and notes she will need to refuel over the Pacific. Earhart was friends with the Roosevelts, in particular Eleanor, the first lady. On one occasion, the pair ducked out of a state dinner to go flying—both dressed in evening gowns. In the letter dated November 10, 1936, Earhart describes the airplane she has obtained through Purdue University. The purpose of the letter was to ask the president to use his influence to gain the cooperation of the U.S. Navy during her flight. …the last “authentic” transmission for Earhart, according to the report, came at 0855: “Heading north and south.” In the days that followed, there were reports of ham radio operators on the West Coast and as far inland as Montana picking up radio transmissions allegedly from the Lockheed Electra. Some were more credible than others—one received by the HMS Achilles 225 miles north-northwest of Howland was reported as “Putnam __ fly kite,” which was encouraging because part of the safety equipment aboard the Lockheed was a bright orange box kit with a special antenna to boost radio signals. The radio calls were scrutinized and if found credible, search crews were sent to the area. The Lockheed company was skeptical of the reports that stated the airplane was in the water, as although the aircraft was designed to float with empty fuel tanks, provided they were not compromised, the aircraft’s normal radio power supply would not work if the airplane was in the water. Read more – Flying Magazine: https://bit.ly/4ifDhwF Space mystery: Amateur radio sleuth detects secret signals from SpaceX military satellitesWhen space enthusiasts set up antennas in their back gardens, they usually expect to pick up signals from known weather satellites or maybe track the International Space Station as it sweeps across the night sky. What they don’t expect is to stumble upon radio messages from a classified U.S. government fleet quietly circling Earth. But that’s exactly what has happened – and the discovery has begun causing a stir across the scientific community. Unexpected transmissions spotted – and no one is explaining whyScott Tilley, a Canadian amateur known for rediscovering a NASA satellite once thought lost, was scanning frequencies recently when he noticed something strange – a radio signal where there simply shouldn’t have been one. A quiet patch of spectrum, normally reserved for Earth-to-satellite communication, was suddenly alive with traffic coming the other way — from orbit down to us. “I was surprised
to hear anything at
all,” he told fellow
observers. The signals traced back to Starshield, a covert branch of SpaceX’s satellite empire designed exclusively for U.S. governmental and military use – a cousin to the much larger, civilian Starlink network. Over 170 satellites appear to be transmitting in this off-limits band. Even more worryingly, they’ve been doing it routinely, not by accident or during testing. Why are these satellites talking on forbidden frequencies?International rules are strict when it comes to satellite radio use. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – a United Nations agency – assigns each frequency for a specific purpose. Starshield’s activity doesn’t match the permissions on record. Experts say that’s not a trivial oversight. Radio astronomer Benjamin Winkel, speaking to Live Science, confirmed the transmissions are not authorised for this direction of communication — a potential violation that raises both regulatory and technical concerns. So why use this band?
Kevin Gifford of the University of Colorado noted that, so far, no harmful interference has been publicly recorded. But if such a large constellation keeps transmitting this way, the risk will grow: thousands of devices in orbit are already jostling for clean signal space. Starshield: the quiet rise of military mega-constellationsNot long ago, most defence satellites were huge, expensive and limited in number. Starshield flips that model entirely. Backed by a $1.8 billion contract, SpaceX has been launching satellites at a pace only a private giant could manage. Many of them are believed to be operated by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), one of America’s most secretive intelligence agencies. Small, numerous and fast to replace – these satellites can:
A former U.S. Air Force General, Terrence O’Shaughnessy, now oversees the programme – underlining how the line between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon has all but disappeared. This is the new space race: not exploration – domination. Are we heading toward a crowded – and contested – sky?At this moment, over 60% of all active satellites belong to SpaceX. And that number is growing every month. Some projections estimate that by 2050, over 100,000 SpaceX satellites could be orbiting Earth. That presents three huge challenges:
So, when signals begin to appear where they shouldn’t, it’s more than a quirky discovery. It’s a warning that the regulatory framework built for a different era is struggling to keep up. Listening to the futureFor now, there’s no conspiracy confirmed – no scandal, no confrontation. Just questions. Very big ones. WEEKEND EDITION: I have been using WSPR daily on different bands checking propagation, if you have not used it you should give it a try, it free...... Cheap VHF Antenna? Can Do!The magnetic loop antenna is a familiar sight in radio amateur circles as a means to pack a high performance HF antenna into a small space. It takes the form of a large single-turn coil made into a tuned circuit with a variable capacitor, and it provides the benefits of good directionality and narrow bandwidth at the cost of some scary RF voltages and the need for constant retuning. As [VK3YE] shows us though, magnetic loops are not limited to HF — he’s made a compact VHF magnetic loop using a tin can. It’s a pretty simple design; a section from the can it cut out and made into a C shape, with a small variable capacitor at the gap. The feed comes in at the bottom, with the feed point about 20 % of the way round the loop for matching. The bandwidth is about 100 MHz starting from the bottom of the FM broadcast band, and he shows us it receiving broadcast, Airband, and 2 meter signals. It can be used for transmitting too and we see it on 2 meter WSPR, but we would have to wonder whether the voltages induced by higher power levels might be a little much for that small capacitor. He’s at pains to point out that there are many better VHF antennas as this one has no gain to speak of, but we can see a place for it. It’s tiny, if you’re prepared to fiddle with the tuning its high Q gets rid of interference, and its strong side null means it can also reduce unwanted signals on the same frequency. We rather like it, and we hope you will too after watching the video below.
2!
Amateur Radio
Newsline Report 2 Opinion: futureGEO is the Most Important Amateur Radio Initiative of this Decade. Why is no one Talking About it?You might not know it, but plans are currently in progress to launch a geostationary amateur radio satellite that would provide multi-mode communications coverage to Europe and most of North America. Led by ESA and AMSAT, the project is currently called futureGEO and would be the pinnacle of achievement for the amateur radio hobby. futureGEO is likely to be very similar to the QO-100 satellite that covers Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and a large portion of Asia. The major difference of course would be the inclusion of North America within FutureGEO’s footprint, opening up geostationary satellite ops to one of the largest ham radio populations in the world. What makes futureGEO so compelling is the showcase of modern radio and software technology, as well as the relatively low barrier to entry to satellite communication. Like QO-100, futureGEO may feature analog and digital transponders as well as a fully integrated software defined radio stack. What that opens up is every existing ham radio mode, analog and digital, utilized through an easily accessible stationary satellite. Beyond typical ham radio activities, QO-100 supports high-definition video nets through the use of amateur digital television. Wideband digital transponders open up the possibility of great experimentation from hams with a strong technical and especially software focused background. Imagine receiving amateur radio television with similar ease to that of DirecTV or Starlink. Access to this technology is achievable. Everything required to access futureGEO from your own backyard can be possible for about the same cost as an entry level HF rig. Cheaper for those willing to build their own components. Very obtainable by the vast majority of hams. This is a technical achievement that would be out of reach for most hams just a couple decades ago due to cost. Redefining the perception of amateur radioRead just about any mainstream news article about amateur radio and it’s inevitably framed as an old technology that’s kept alive by a dedicated few. Maybe satellite based video conferencing or high-speed data transfers without the use of the internet begins to change that old narrative. futureGEO also opens up entirely new educational outreach opportunities. Think ARISS but focused on satellite communications instead of the ISS. Based on current progress and the pace at which QO-100 was implemented, we could see futureGEO become reality within the next 4-5 years. So why is no one talking about this project?Why are most of the major ham radio organizations in North America absent from the conversation? Based on a presentation from ESA in 2023, the futureGEO concept was sparked by the IARU and supported by ESA, AMSAT-UK, and AMSAT-DL. For a proposed footprint that could cover most of North America, North American entities have largely been quiet. The exception being the formation of AMSAT-CA (Canada). (But even their website features only two sentences related to futureGEO and has yet to make public the referenced paper.) AMSAT-NA has relayed updates from AMSAT-DL and contributed to a proposal in 2023, but very little promotion has been published to their website. Earlier this year I asked about futureGEO updates at the AMSAT booth at both Hamvention and Huntsville but they weren’t able to relay even basic talking points. IARU is credited with starting the conversation, but there’s no mention of the project on their website. Personally, I find this the most exciting active development in ham radio. To show my support I’ve become a member of AMSAT-UK and will continue to promote this project through both Amateur Radio Daily and Amateur Radio Weekly. If this project interests you, I’d highly encourage you to find a way to help promote it. Present about it at an upcoming club meeting. Mention it on the air on the local repeater. Post to your favorite Facebook Group. It’s up to us. futureGEO Resources
‘Nerd out’ at the Bloomington Amateur Radio Club
The Bloomington Amateur Radio Club is a place for makers and people interested in STEM fields to push themselves to make something great. Whether it’s talking to someone across the globe, contacting the astronauts in the International Space Station, or bouncing a radio signal off the moon, Ham Radio can help people develop their skills and have fun while doing it. The club meets monthly and more information can be found on their website. THURSDAY EDITION: I worked Bosnia at 7am this morning on ssb, get your rig on the air and have some fun.... SKYWARN Recognition Day 2025 CancelledThe necessary time and resources required to plan a comprehensive national event for SKYWARN™ Recognition Day 2025 are not available this year. Thus, the difficult decision was made to cancel this year's event by the NWS. The NWS will work with ARRL and SKYWARN™ spotters to brainstorm ideas to redevelop a spotter appreciation event in 2026. ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio®, which has a Memorandum of Understanding with NWS, emphasized the strength of the long-standing partnership behind the event. “ARRL is proud of the continued partnership with the National Weather Service to promote and recognize SKYWARN and the volunteers around the country. We look forward to working together to revitalize and promote SKYWARN Recognition Day again next year,” said Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, ARRL Director of Emergency Management. Established in 1999 by the National Weather Service and ARRL, SKYWARN Recognition Day celebrates the critical contributions SKYWARN volunteers make in supporting the NWS mission to protect life and property. Amateur radio operators constitute a significant portion of these volunteers, providing essential communication links between NWS and emergency management agencies when traditional communications fail. The NWS-ARRL SRD National Committee extends its appreciation to all SKYWARN volunteers for their dedication and service to their communities, and offers best wishes for a safe and happy holiday season. The Internet We Didn’t GetCollective human consciousness is full of imagined or mythical dream-like utopias, hidden away behind mountains, across or under oceans, hidden in mist, or deep in the jungle. From Atlantis, Avalon, El Dorado, and Shangri-La, we have not stopped imagining these secret, fantastical places. One of these, Xanadu, is actually a real place but has been embellished over the years into a place of legend and myth, and thus became the namesake of an Internet we never got to see like all of those other mystical, hidden places. The Xanadu project got its start in the 1960s at around the same time the mouse and what we might recognize as a modern computer user interface were created. At its core was hypertext with the ability to link not just other pages but references and files together into one network. It also had version control, rights management, bi-directional links, and a number of additional features that would be revolutionary even today. Another core feature was transclusion, a method for making sure that original authors were compensated when their work was linked. However, Xanadu was hampered by a number of issues including lack of funding, infighting among the project’s contributors, and the development of an almost cult-like devotion to the vision, not unlike some of today’s hype around generative AI. Surprisingly, despite these faults, the project received significant funding from Autodesk, but even with this support the project ultimately failed. Instead of this robust, bi-directional web imagined as early as the 1960s, the Internet we know of today is the much simpler World Wide Web which has many features of Xanadu we recognize. Not only is it less complex to implement, it famously received institutional backing from CERN immediately rather than stagnating for decades. The article linked above contains a tremendous amount of detail around this story that’s worth checking out. For all its faults and lack of success, though, Xanadu is a interesting image of what the future of the past could have been like if just a few things had shaken out differently, and it will instead remain a mythical place like so many others. Blog – Hackaday Read More What has 5,000 Batteries and Floats?While it sounds like the start of a joke, Australian shipmaker Incat Tasmania isn’t kidding around about electric ships. Hull 096 has started charging, although it has only 85% of the over 5,000 lithium-ion batteries it will have when complete. The ship has a 40 megawatt-hour storage system with 12 banks of batteries, each consisting of 418 modules for a total of 5,016 cells. [Vannessa Bates Ramierz] breaks it down in a recent post over on IEEE Spectrum. You can get an eyeful of the beast in the official launch video, below. The Incat Tasmania channel also has other videos about the ship.
The batteries use no racks to save weight. Good thing since they already weigh in at 250 tonnes. Of course, cooling is a problem, too. Each module has a fan, and special techniques prevent one hot cell from spreading. Charging in Australia comes from a grid running 100% renewable energy. When the ship enters service as a ferry between Argentina and Uruguay, a 40-minute charge will be different. Currently, Uruguay has about 92% of its power from renewable sources. Argentina still uses mostly natural gas, but 42% of its electricity is sourced from renewable generation. The ship is 130 meters (426 feet) long, mostly aluminum, and has a reported capacity of 2,100 people and 225 vehicles per trip. Ferry service is perfect for electric ships — the distance is short, and it’s easy to schedule time to charge. Like all electric vehicles, though, the batteries won’t stay at full capacity for long. Typical ship design calls for a 20-year service life, and it’s not uncommon for a vessel to remain in service for 30 or even 40 years. But experts expect the batteries on the ferry will need to be replaced every 5 to 10 years. While electric ferries may become common, we don’t expect to see electric cargo ships plying the ocean soon. Diesel is hard to beat for compact storage and high energy density. There are a few examples of cargo ships using electric, though. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t build your own electric watercraft.
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WEDNESDAY EDITION: It is a nice day to go over the club for coffee and donuts, 36 and sunny on the island. The Agony That Drove Humanity Mad: How People Tried to Cure Headaches Before Painkillers Existed
Headaches —
humanity’s
oldest curse.
In the 1890s,
doctors tried
something
straight out of
a nightmare:
“Vibration
therapy.”
In one haunting
photograph, a
patient sits
frozen while a
doctor strikes
an anvil beneath
a metal helmet
clamped to their
head.
The idea? That
the shockwave
would “realign
the nerves” and
make the pain
vanish.
The result?
Probably just
more pain — and
a pounding
headache loud
enough to drown
out reason.
But it gets
darker.
In the Middle
Ages, the go-to
“cure” for
migraines was
opium soaked in
vinegar, pressed
to the temples
or inhaled
through the
nose.
It didn’t heal —
it numbed. The
goal wasn’t to
stop the pain.
It was to not
feel alive
enough to care.
And when even
that failed,
humanity turned
to its oldest,
most horrifying
answer:
Trepanation.
Across ancient
Europe, Egypt,
and South
America, healers
drilled holes
into the skull
to “release evil
spirits” or
pressure.
Some survived.
Some didn’t.
But all believed
the same thing —
that the mind’s
pain had to be
set free, even
if it meant
breaking the
body.
Today, we pop a
pill and move
on.
But behind every
paracetamol lies
10,000 years of
desperation,
superstition,
and human
endurance.
Pain made us
invent medicine.
Suffering made
us invent mercy.
ARRL VEC Ready to File 2,500+ Ham Radio License Applications; FCC Extends Renewal Filing DeadlineARRL The National Association of Amateur Radio® reports that the FCC has extended the filing deadline to March 5, 2026, for amateur radio licenses that otherwise were due to expire from October 1, 2025, to March 5, 2026. The announcement is included in an FCC Public Notice (DA-25-943) released on Monday, November 17, 2025. The news follows the recent reopening of the federal government on November 13, following a lengthy 43-day shutdown. Since reopening, many federal agencies, including the FCC, have resumed activities, though reducing backlogs and rebounding to full operations may take some time. This includes continued delays in filing amateur radio license applications. The FCC Public Notice includes: For personal radio licensees (i.e., Amateur, Ship, Aircraft, GMRS, and Commercial Operator Licenses), renewal filings originally due on October 1, 2025, through and including March 5, 2026, are now due on March 5, 2026. Further, we confirm that licensees whose licenses have expired and whose renewal filing deadlines have been extended above may rely on their timely renewal filing (by the extended deadline) to support continued operation pursuant to section 1.62 of the Commission’s rules. ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (ARRL VEC) Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, explained that the announcement means that amateurs whose license expired, or will expire, between October 1, 2025, and March 5, 2026, may continue to operate upon completing a license renewal filing by March 5, 2026. Vertical Solar Panels are Out StandingIf you’re mounting solar panels, everybody knows the drill, right? Point them south, angled according to latitude. It’s easy. In a video which demonstrates that [Everyday Dave] is truly out standing in his field, we hear a different story. [Dave] has a year’s worth of data in his Solar Panel Showdown that suggests there are good reasons to mount your panels vertically. Specifically, [Dave] is using bifacial solar panels– panels that have cells on both sides. In his preferred orientation, one side faces South, while the other faces North. [Dave] is in the Northern Hemisphere, so those of you Down Under would have to do the opposite, pointing one face North and the other South. Since [Dave] is far from the equator, the N/S vertical orientation beats the pants off of East-West facing panels, especially in winter. What’s interesting is how much better the bifacial panels do compared to the “standard” tilted orientation. While peak power in the summer is much better with the tilted bifacial panels (indeed, even the tilted single-sided panels), in winter the vertical N/S panels blow them out of the water. (Especially when snow gets involved. Vertical panels don’t need sweeping!) Even in the summer, though, there are advantages: the N/S panels may produce less power overall, but they give a trickle earlier and later in the day than the tilted orientation. Still, that extra peak power really shows, and over a six-month period from solstice-to-solstice, the vertical panels only produced 77% what the tilted bifacial panels did (while tilted single-sided panels produced 90%). Is it worth it? That depends on your use case. If most of the power is going to A/C, you’ll need the extra in the warmer months. In that case, you want to tilt the panels. If you have a steady, predictable load, though, having even production winter/summer might be more to your liking– in that case you can join [Dave] in sticking solar panels straight up and down. These results probably apply at latitudes similar to [Dave] who is in cloudy and snowy Ohio, which is perhaps not the ideal place for solar experimentation. If you’re not an Ohio-like distance from the equator, you might find an East-West array is the best bang for the buck. Of course if you really want to max out power from each individual cell, you can’t beat sun tracking regardless of where you are.
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TUESDAY EDITION: We still have a few leaves on the trees, it is hard to believe with all the wind we have had....I am going over to the club and hookup the Yeasu FL7000 this morning and see how it plays....I wish it wasnt so damn heavy, 66 pounds. It must have a very heavy duty power supply. A very basic overview of Polar Modulation and the implications for Amateur RadioIn the last few months, there has been talk on the Amateur Radio media channels about something called 'Polar Modulation'. A lot of what is presented is quite technical so in this post, I'll give a very basic overview of what 'Polar Modulation' is and why it might be a game changer for Amateur Radio. First of all and to make things clear, 'Polar Modulation' is NOT another mode like AM (Amplitude Modulation) or FM (Frequency Modulation). Polar Modulation refers to how a radio transmitter operates in a newer and more efficient method. In a linear RF amplifier, the output signal should be an exact replica of what the input signal is but only larger.
Let's
say the
gain is
10dB
which is
a
multiplication
factor
of ten.
2-watts
in gives
20-watts
out,
4-watts
in gives
40-watts
out and
10-watts
in gives
100-watts
out, you
get the
idea.
With modes like CW (morse code), the signal is just one single carrier frequency and the amplifier can be non-linear. With SSB (voice) and FT8 (data) modes, there are multiple frequencies involved and there is the potential for these frequencies to mix in the amplification stage resulting in a distorted signal and splatter across the band. To prevent this distortion, the output stage must be as linear as possible. This linearity however comes at a cost and that is in terms of efficiency. A typical amateur radio transceiver with an output stage running Class AB might have an efficiency of about 55%. In other words, to give an output of 100-watts on SSB, the output stage might require something like 190-watts of DC power from the power supply. This means that roughly 90-watts of power in the form of heat needs to be dissipated in a large heatsink in the radio which in turn uses a cooling fan to reduce the temperature. This inefficiency obviously doesn't scale well. As the output power goes up then more heat needs to be dissipated with larger heatsinks and cooling fans. Polar Modulation... A radio using 'Polar Modulation' uses a completely different method to generate an output signal. With a linear amplifier, the output transistors are partially on which generates a lot of heat. In contrast, non-linear amplifiers using Polar Modulation generate less heat because the output transistors are used more like very fast switches. These can be turned on and off hard at RF frequencies and are made to saturate resulting in a very low resistance when they're on which means a lot less heat is generated. Efficiencies in the region of 90% can be achieved. To avoid the signal becoming distorted, the audio signal from the user is first digitised and is split up into amplitude and phase components. These signals are then used to modulate the power supply to the RF amplifier which then generates the SSB signal. This is no simple feat and requires quite an amount of processing power and complexity within the radio. Polar Modulation Implementation... While Polar Modulation has been used in transmitters in the commercial world for some time, it's only recently that the technology is becoming available in the amateur radio market. Flex Radio... Back in March of 2017, Tony Brock-Fisher, K1KP co-authored an article in QEX titled 'The Polar Explorer - You may never look at your “linear amplifer” the same way again.' That article goes into a lot more detail about what Polar Modulation is and you can read the PDF document HERE That project by K1EP eventually formed the basis of the new Aurora radio which was released by Flex Radio in 2025. This radio implements Polar Modulation in the transmitter and has a power output of 500-watts.
This is from the promo material for the Aurora from Flex Radio... "This radio boasts 80% efficiency, thanks to its use of polar modulation and high-efficiency transmitter architecture. Legacy linear amps often run around 40-60%, so this design cuts waste heat by 70-80%. What does 80% efficiency mean in practical terms? It means that out of every 100 watts of supply power drawn from the wall, about 80 watts go to your actual RF signal, and only 20 watts are lost as heat. That’s a major improvement over typical HF rigs and amps. Polar modulation is a highly efficient signal transmission technique that separates a radio frequency (RF) signal into two fundamental components: amplitude (envelope) and phase (angle) components, allowing each to be amplified independently and more efficiently. Unlike legacy linear amplification methods, which require power-hungry and heat-intensive amplifiers to preserve signal integrity, polar modulation enables the use of switching-mode amplifiers (such as Class D, E, or F) that operate with significantly higher efficiency." The new Flex Radio Aurora range is certainly at the upper end of the amateur radio market with prices ranging from $6200 - $9,600 in the US (€7000 - €10,500 in Europe and £6200 - £9600 in the UK). The main thing here is not to get side lined on the issue of price but to take note that it is the first implementation of Polar Modulation by one of the big amateur radio manufacturers. QRPLabs... Hans Summers, G0UPL of QRPLabs has implemented his own version of Polar Modulation called 'Envelope Elimination and Restoration (EER)' in his QMX product. This QRP radio with its 5-watt output power is certainly at the other end of the price spectrum in terms of cost with an assembled price of under $200. Info... https://qrp-labs.com/qmxp.html Video 1 - Hans gave a presentation of the QMX product at the RSGB convention in October of 2025. You can find the live stream link HERE Look at the video from 4:29:27 to 5:13:30 Video 2 - This is another clip titled 'RSGB 2025 Convention polar modulation: Hans Summers G0UPL, Mike Walker VA3MW, Stewart Bryant G3YSX'. Link HERE Implications of Polar Modulation for Amateur Radio??? 1) Size - One obvious attraction is that the increased efficiency means that smaller heatsinks can be installed in a typical 100-watt amateur radio transceiver which means the radio could shrink in size. This is a potential cost saving for manufacturers. 2) Power - The alternative of course is that the size and heatsinks stay the same but the newer models can be made to operate at higher powers like 150-watts giving the radios featuring Polar Modulation a competitive edge over 100-watts radios not using the technology. 3) Shortage of parts - If in the future enough companies implement Polar Modulation in their transmitter designs then there will be less demand for the high power transistors used in the traditional RF linear amplifiers. If the demand drops too much then transistor manufacturers could stop making those type of devices. Is there a potential that all radio transmitters will end up migrating to the use of Polar Modulation because of a shortage of parts in the supply chain? Downsides of Polar Modulation??? 1) Complexity - While some radio amateurs may build their own radios with linear RF outputs, it's hard to imagine many would be able to design or implement their own version of radio using Polar Modulation. 2) Dirty signals? - If a transmitter using Polar Modulation isn't designed properly, the transmitted signal may have high phase noise with increased power in the higher order intermodulation products. This means wider signals, splattering across a band and causing interference to other users. This can be mitigated by using fast digital signal processing techniques in the radio but what happens if some manufacturer tries to save costs and implements a poor design? Imagine a radio using Polar Modulation running 100-watts on the HF bands with the quality and performance of a Boafeng UV5R handheld? In conclusion... I've tried to give a brief and simplified overview of the current state of affairs as regards to Polar Modulation and where things are going. This technology has the potential to be a game changer in that we may see over time a wholescale redesign of modern amateur radio transceivers. Even if you're not that interested in what goes on inside of the radio, you should be aware of the potential pitfalls of this technology if not implemented properly. MONDAY EDITION: Another good weekend, big shot BC football lost its 9th straight game and the KC Chiefs lost....32 degrees here at 730am....
The radio club has a Yaesu FL7000 amplifier for sale in mint condition.This is a solid state, no tune, 600 watt amplifier that can be run or 110 or 220 vac. It is wired for 110 currently. I will post pictures, it weighs 66 pounds! . If you have a FT1000 or similar Yaesu radio it has the cabling to permit autoband switching but can be used with any radio as well. It also has the built in autotuner for a 3-1 or less swr. If you have any interest, email me. Connecting “Little Harmonics” And Jolly Ol’ St. Nick Via Ham RadioSanta Net is an annual December event where licensed amateur radio operators use RF and EchoLink technology to connect children with Santa Claus on the airwaves. Did you know we’re experiencing a shortage of Santas? Yep, since 2020, the number of experienced, available Santas has dropped by 10%, driven by factors such as an aging workforce, pandemic-related health concerns, and … well … performers “going to the North Pole in the sky.” At the same time, according to ABC News, there’s been a surge in demand. Event planners and families sought to make up for lost celebrations, leading to a spike in bookings for holiday Santas as COVID-19 restrictions began to ease, outpacing the number of available performers. Then there’s a less-discussed aspect: a shortage of costumes and accessories due to broader global supply chain delays, making it harder and more costly for new performers to enter the field. Read more – RF GlobalNet: https://bit.ly/4oMLVoQ HAARP Campaign Focuses on HF and VLF PropagationThe following is a press release from the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program: The High-frequency
Active Auroral
Research Program (HAARP)
will be conducting a
research This campaign is
being conducted in
support of research
proposals from the
University of Alaska The table below
contains some of the
frequencies that are
expected to be used
for these November 17
November 18
November 19
November 20
November 21
November 22
Additional Resources for Reading Ionograms Understanding HF
Propagation and
Reading Ionograms
from Bootstrap
Workbench: Reading Your
Ionogram-Keeping It
Simple from John
(VE6EY):
WEEKEND EDITION: Another cold start but nice and sunny here on the island....another day of blowing some leaves... Get On the Air for 2025 ARRL November SweepstakesAmateur radio operators throughout the US and Canada are getting ready for one of the most anticipated weekends of the year. The 2025 ARRL November Sweepstakes phone (SSB voice) contest takes place November 15 - 17, beginning at 2100 UTC Saturday and running through 0259 UTC Monday. The CW (Morse code) event was held 2 weeks ago, Nov. 1 - 3. November Sweepstakes, sponsored by ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio®, is more than just a contest -- it’s a long-standing tradition in amateur radio self-training and operating skill. Participants transmit-and-receive a unique exchange of information designed to simulate message-handling procedures. The event traces its roots back to 1930, making it the oldest domestic radio contest. After a pause during World War II, it returned stronger than ever, continuing to connect generations of radio amateurs. Each ham radio station may be contacted only once, and multipliers are limited to the 85 ARRL and RAC (Radio Amateurs of Canada) Sections; for example, CT - Connecticut, QC - Quebec. There are no changes to Sweepstakes multipliers for 2025. Contacting all of them earns a “Clean Sweep” and the bragging rights that come with the coveted Clean Sweep coffee mug — a badge of honor for many hams. Watch this new 10-minute video in the ARRL Learning Center for Sweepstakes rules, tips, and tricks! Last year’s contest saw an uptick in youth participation. Among them, Levi Jefferies, K6JO (operating as ND7K), reclaimed the top Youth Overlay position and placed seventh overall in Single Operator, High Power. Sweepstakes newcomer Max Freedman, N4ML (today, he’s a member of the ARRL headquarters staff), made a strong showing in Single Operator Unlimited, High Power, with the second-highest youth score of 158,000 points. Icom America – Principal Awards Sponsor ARRL is pleased to award a November Sweepstakes plaque to the Overall and Division Leaders in each category, thanks to Icom America -- who is the 2025 Principal Awards Sponsor of the plaques and certificates -- as well as the clubs and individuals who also sponsor some of the plaques. Certificates will be awarded in the top operator scores in each category in each ARRL/RAC Section and Division. Printable certificates will be downloadable from contests.arrl.org/certificates.php. Participation pins and Clean Sweep coffee mugs are available for purchase at www.arrl.org/shop by qualifying stations. Join the Fun! Whether you’re a seasoned contester, a casual operator, or taking part in your first major event, ARRL November Sweepstakes -- Phone -- is your chance to be part of one of amateur radio’s greatest traditions. Fire up your rig, check your logging software, and get ready to make some memorable contacts! For complete information, including full rules and entry details, visit the ARRL Sweepstakes page.
Amateur Radio
Newsline Report HAMS YOU MIGHT KNOW- ALIVE AND SK K1TP-
Jon....Editor of As The World
Turns....
SILENT KEYS Silet Key
KA1BXB-Don...Regular
on 3900 mornings....just
don't
mention
politics
to
him,
please!
wednesday
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