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THURSDAY EDITION: Bright and breezy....

Audio Sound Capture Project Needs Help

When you are capturing audio from a speaker, you are rarely capturing the actual direct output of such a system. There are reflections and artifacts caused by anything and everything in the environment that make it to whatever detector you might be using. With the modern computation age, you would think there would be a way to compensate for such artifacts, and this is what [d.fapinov] set out to do.

[d.fapinov] has put together a code base for simulating and reversing environmental audio artifacts made to rival systems, entirely orders of magnitude higher in cost. The system relies on similar principles used in radio wave antenna transmission to calculate the audio output map, called spherical harmonic expansion. Once this map is calculated and separated from outside influence, you can truly measure the output of an audio device.

The only problem is that the project needs to be tested in the real world. [d.fapinov] has gotten this far but is unable to continue with the project. A way to measure audio from precise locations around the output is required, as well as the appropriate control for such a device.

Audio enthusiasts go deep into this tech, and if you want to become one of them, check out this article on audio compression and distortion.

Blog – Hackaday Read More

ROC-HAM Radio Network Celebrates Hedy Lamarr Day

The following is a message from ROC-HAM Radio Network:

ROC-HAM Radio Network celebrates Hedy Lamarr Day 2025 with a special event station N9H

For the 10th straight year in a row the ROC-HAM Radio Network is proud to put on this special event station to celebrate her 111th Birthday.

Check out QRZ page N9H for more info.

This special event net will take place on November 9th at 9am est, (14:00 UTC)

As we celebrate her technological advancements in Ham Radio and of course her silver screen roles in many movies she did throughout her career.

Join us and have fun and check in:

• Eecholink on the ROC-HAM Conference Server Node 531091
• AllStar Nodes 2585, 47620, 47918
• DMR TGIF Talk Group 2585
• DMR Extended Freedom Network Talk Group 2585
• Extended Freedom Network SIP Portal 2585

Come join us and help celebrate 10 years of this event, and of course wish Hedy Lamarr a Happy Birthday!

The net which will run for 4 hours or longer depending on the number of stations checking in.

We will be doing an HF side for this net. If you have access to HF you can join me on 20M OR 40M to celebrate Hedy Lamarr Day. Stop by and check in and get a QSL Card. We will be using Netlogger for this event so look for Hedy Lamarr Day 2025

We will have 25 amazing facts that you probably never knew about Hedy Lamarr.

See you there.

Speaking of checking in, a SPECIAL event QSL Card will be available upon request. Just tell the net controller and they will put you down for one and of course to obtain your special event QSL Card.

Send a S.A.S.E. (self addressed stamped envelope) to W2JLD, my address is good on QRZ.

Ham Radio Operators to Support Indian Ocean Tsunami Exercise

WEDNESDAY EDITION: Seasonally cold....raw....

Radio Apocalypse: Clearing the Air with SCATANA

For the most part, the Radio Apocalypse series has focused on the radio systems developed during the early days of the atomic age to ensure that Armageddon would be as orderly an affair as possible. From systems that provided backup methods to ensure that launch orders would reach the bombers and missiles, to providing hardened communications systems to allow survivors to coordinate relief and start rebuilding civilization from the ashes, a lot of effort went into getting messages sent.

Strangely, though, the architects of the end of the world put just as much thought into making sure messages didn’t get sent. The electronic village of mid-century America was abuzz with signals, any of which could be abused by enemy forces. CONELRAD, which aimed to prevent enemy bombers from using civilian broadcast signals as navigation aids, is a perfect example of this. But the growth of civil aviation through the period presented a unique challenge, particularly with the radio navigation system built specifically to make air travel as safe and reliable as possible.

Balancing the needs of civil aviation against the possibility that the very infrastructure making it possible could be used as a weapon against the U.S. homeland is the purpose of a plan called Security Control of Air Traffic and Air Navigation Aids, or SCATANA. It’s a plan that cuts across jurisdictions, bringing military, aviation, and communications authorities into the loop for decisions regarding when and how to shut down the entire air traffic system, to sort friend from foe, to give the military room to work, and, perhaps most importantly, to keep enemy aircraft as blind as possible.

Highways in the Sky

As its name suggests, SCATANA has two primary objectives: to restrict the availability of radio navigation aids during emergencies and to clear the airspace over the United States of unauthorized traffic. For safety’s sake, the latter naturally follows the former. By the time the SCATANA rules were promulgated, commercial aviation had become almost entirely dependent on a complex array of beacons and other radio navigation aids. While shutting those aids down to deny their use to enemy bombers was obviously the priority, safety demanded that all the planes currently using those aids had to be grounded as quickly as possible.

Understanding the logic behind SCATANA requires at least a basic insight into these radio navigation aids. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has jurisdiction over these aids, listing “VOR/DME, ILS, MLS, LF and HF non-directional beacons” as subject to shutdown in times of emergency. That’s quite a list, and while the technical details of the others are interesting, particularly the Adcock LF beacon system used by pilots to maneuver onto a course until alternating “A” and “N” Morse characters merged into a single tone, but for practical purposes, the one with the most impact on wartime security is the VOR system.

VOR, which stands for “VHF omnidirectional range,” is a global system of short-range beacons used by aircraft to determine their direction of travel. The system dates back to the late 1940s and was extensively built out during the post-war boom in commercial aviation. VOR stations define the “highways in the air” that criss-cross the country; if you’ve ever wondered why the contrails of jet airliners all follow similar paths and why the planes make turns at more or less the same seemingly random point in the sky, it’s because they’re using VOR beacons as waypoints.

In its simplest form, a VOR station consists of an omnidirectional antenna transmitting at an assigned frequency between 108 MHz and 117.95 MHz, hence the “VHF” designation. The frequency of each VOR station is noted on the sectional charts pilots use for navigation, along with the three-letter station identifier, which is transmitted by the station in Morse so pilots can verify which station their cockpit VOR equipment is tuned to.

Each VOR station encodes azimuth information by the phase difference between two synchronized 30 Hz signals modulated onto the carrier, a reference signal and a variable signal. In conventional VOR, the amplitude-modulated variable signal is generated by a rotating directional antenna transmitting a signal in-phase with the reference signal. By aligning the reference signal with magnetic north, the phase angle between the FM reference and AM variable signals corresponds to the compass angle of the aircraft relative to the VOR station.

More modern Doppler VORs, or DVORs, use a ring of antennas to electronically create the reference and variable signals, rather than mechanically rotating the antenna. VOR stations are often colocated with other radio navigation aids, such as distance measuring equipment (DME), which measures the propagation delay between the ground station and the aircraft to determine the distance between them, or TACAN, a tactical air navigation system first developed by the military to provide bearing and distance information. When a VOR and TACAN stations are colocated, the station is referred to as a VORTAC.

Shutting It All Down

At its peak, the VOR network around the United States numbered almost 1,000 stations. That number is on the decrease now, thanks to the FAA’s Minimum Operational Network plan, which seeks to retire all but 580 VOR stations in favor of cockpit GPS receivers. But any number of stations sweeping out fully analog, unencrypted signals on well-known frequencies would be a bonanza of navigational information to enemy airplanes, which is why the SCATANA plan provides specific procedures to be followed to shut the whole thing down.

SCATANA is designed to address two types of emergencies. The first is a Defense Emergency, which is an outright attack on the United States homeland, overseas forces, or allied forces. The second is an Air Defense Emergency, which is an aircraft or missile attack on the continental U.S., Canada, Alaska, or U.S. military installations in Greenland — sorry, Hawaii. In either case, the attack can be in progress, imminent, or even just probable, as determined by high-ranking military commanders.

In both of those situations, military commanders will pass the SCATANA order to the FAA’s network of 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC), the facilities that handle traffic on the routes defined by VOR stations. The SCATANA order can apply to all of the ARTCCs or to just a subset, depending on the scale of the emergency. Each of the concerned centers will then initiate physical control of their airspace, ordering all aircraft to land at the nearest available appropriate airport. Simultaneously, if ordered by military authority, the navigational aids within each ARTCC’s region will be shut down. Sufficient time is obviously needed to get planes safely to the ground; SCATANA plans allow for this, of course, but the goal is to shut down navaids as quickly as possible, to deny enemy aircraft or missiles any benefit from them.

As for the specific instructions for shutting down navigational aids, the SCATANA plan is understandable mute on this subject. It would not be advisable to have such instructions readily available, but there are a few crumbs of information available in the form of manuals and publicly accessible documents. Like most pieces of critical infrastructure these days, navaid ground stations tend to be equipped with remote control and monitoring equipment. This allows maintenance technicians quick and easy access without the need to travel. Techs can perform simple tasks, such as switching over from a defective primary transmitter to a backup, to maintain continuity of service while arrangements are made for a site visit. Given these facts, along with the obvious time-critical nature of an enemy attack, SCATANA-madated navaid shutdowns are probably as simple as a tech logging into the ground station remotely and issuing a few console commands.

A Day to Remember

For as long as SCATANA has been in effect — the earliest reference I could find to the plan under that name dates to 1968, but the essential elements of the plan seem to date back at least another 20 years — it has only been used in anger once, and even then only partially. That was on that fateful Tuesday, September 11, 2001, when a perfect crystal-blue sky was transformed into a battlefield over America.

By 9:25 AM Eastern, the Twin Towers had both been attacked, American Airlines Flight 77 had already been hijacked and was on its way to the Pentagon, and the battle for United Flight 93 was unfolding above Ohio. Aware of the scope of the disaster, staff at the FAA command center in Herndon, Virginia, asked FAA headquarters if they wanted to issue a “nationwide ground stop” order. While FAA brass discussed the matter, Ben Sliney, who had just started his first day on the job as operations manager at the FAA command center, made the fateful decision to implement the ground stop part of the SCATANA plan, without ordering the shutdown of navaids.

The “ground stop” orders went out to the 22 ARTCCs, which began the process of getting about 4,200 in-flight aircraft onto the ground as quickly and safely as possible. The ground stop was achieved within about two hours without any further incidents. The skies above the country would remain empty of civilian planes for the next two days, creating an eerie silence that emphasized just how much aviation contributes to the background noise of modern life.

Ham Radio Operators to Support Indian Ocean Tsunami Exercise

TUESDAY EDITION: Not much news to report, cold as hell and windy here this morning...

Emporia State Faculty ‘Over the moon’ regarding rare opportunity for local students to make contact with International Space Station

Students in Emporia and Lyon County will have an out-of-this-world opportunity, quite literally, very soon, thanks to Emporia State University.

ESU announced this past Tuesday that, thanks to a partnership with the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, it will be one of four schools selected for an opportunity for students to speak in real time with astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Proposing the opportunity were ESU associate professor in the School of Science and Mathematics Erika Martin, STEM Outreach Coordinator Daphne Mayes, and Peterson Planetarium Director, Mark Brown and outreach and engagement coordinator for the Prophet Aquatic Research and Outreach Center, Alexandra Hayes.

Brown, Martin and Mayes recently joined KVOE’s Morning Show to discuss the recent announcement, with Brown explaining exactly how the opportunity came about.Martin says it is not uncommon to have a chance to learn about space exploration from those who have experienced it firsthand, but to be able to do so as they are actually in the middle of a mission is something that doesn’t happen every day.

The exact date for when the university will make contact with the ISS has yet to be determined; however, leading up to that moment, the university will be working closely with local schools, venues and businesses to provide several educational seminars and activities. Mayes says she is very excited for the partnerships that have already developed and those that will over the course of the next several weeks.

MONDAYEDITION: An enjoyable weekend of fooball. BC got their assses kicked again, NE Patriots squeaked out a win, and KC got run over by the Bills. You can't ask for more other than having the bands open...

Forgotten Internet: The Story of Email

It is a common occurrence in old movies: Our hero checks in at a hotel in some exotic locale, and the desk clerk says, “Ah, Mr. Barker, there’s a letter for you.” Or maybe a telegram. Either way, since humans learned to write, they’ve been obsessed with getting their writing in the hands of someone else. Back when we were wondering what people would do if they had a computer in their homes, most of us never guessed it would be: write to each other. Yet that turned out to be the killer app, or, at least, one of them.

What’s interesting about the hotel mail was that you had to plan ahead and know when your recipient would be there. Otherwise, you had to send your note to their home address, and it would have to wait. Telegrams were a little better because they were fast, but you still had to know where to send the message.

In addition to visiting a telegraph office, or post office, to send a note somewhere, commercial users started wanting something better at the early part of the twentieth century. This led to dedicated teletype lines. By 1933, though, a network of Teletype machines — Telex — arose. Before the Internet, it was very common for a company to advertise its Telex number — or TWX number, a competing network from the phone company and, later, Western Union — if they dealt with business accounts.

Fax machines came later, and the hardware was cheap enough that the average person was slightly more likely to have a fax machine or the use of one than a Telex.

Computers

It is hard to remember, but through much of this time, you were probably more likely to have access to a fax machine than a computer that was connected to anyone outside of your immediate office. In 1962, MIT’s Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) had a way for users to share files, and, of course, they did. By 1962, the IBM 1440 could send messages from terminal to terminal. Not really email, but it was a start.

People sharing files on CTSS led to a MAIL command by 1965. Each user had a local file called, in a fit of originality, MAIL BOX. Anyone could append messages to the file, but only the owner could read or edit it. Other early systems got the idea quickly.

By 1971, ARPANET — the granddaddy of the Internet — got SNDMSG to handle mail between networked computers. It could also transfer files. Each address had a local part and a remote hostname. In between? The “@” sign. The first message went between two PDP-10 machines that were in sight of each other. The developer, Ray Tomlinson, is often credited with inventing modern email. He would continue to drive mail innovation as part of the International Network Working Group.

Tomlinson’s program caused an explosion of similar mail programs. Unix had one. IBM was developing what would eventually become its office suite for mainframe computers. The University of Illinois had PLATO IV, which offered, among other things, mail.

The Rest of the World

In 1978, CompuServe started offering mail, primarily aimed at commercial customers. In the next year, they’d launch MicroNET, allowing people to dial into a computer to, among other things, send and receive mail.

By 1981, Compuserve rebranded its mail service as EMAIL, although it probably wasn’t the first to coin that term. That same year, IBM rolled out its internal system to the rest of the world. PROFS was widely used in the business world, and it wasn’t uncommon to hear people say they “sent you a PROFS.”

The biggest differentiator, of course, was if you could send mail to other people using your (presumably big) computer, other people on your network, or anywhere. There were plenty of schemes to get local mail off the local machine, like UUCP, for example.

The 1980s saw an explosion of LANs that had their own servers, and these usually offered, at least, local mail services. Of course, you could also buy software from Microsoft, Lotus, or others to provide mail.

The Internet

Back then, normal people didn’t have access to the Internet. That’s how companies like CompuServe, and their main competitor The Source, managed to entice people to sign up for services. They would often have gateways to other mail systems and, eventually, the Internet, too. But 1985 would see the formation of Quantum Link. Never heard of them? Maybe you’ll remember in 1989 when they changed their name to America Online and, later, AOL.

For whatever reason, AOL took over that market. By 1995, AOL had around three million active users, and its signature “You’ve got mail!” audio clip, voiced by the late Elwood Edwards, was a cultural icon. In addition to email, it pioneered instant messaging and flooded the market with free trial disks.

Of course, people started getting access to the actual Internet, so all the specialized mail providers suffered.

Milestones

The first head of state to send an email? Queen Elizabeth II, back in 1976. Jimmy Carter was the first known presidential candidate to use email in 1976. Astronauts on the Space Shuttle (STS-43 in 1991) were the first to send email from space. It was pretty complicated, as Scott Manley discusses in the video below.

Less inspiring, Gary Thuerk sent the first spam message over ARPANET in 1978. The topic? A new product for DEC.

Modern Mail

Modern mail primarily relies on SMTP, IMAP, and, sometimes POP. Surprisingly, these protocols date back to the early 1980s, but were mostly part of the ARPANET until the Internet opened up.

Of course, the protocols have changed with time. E-mail needed to adapt to TCP/IP and DNS. Today, the protocols have provisions for validating senders to help stop spam, as well as to encrypt messages. But at the core, the technology that moves mail around the Internet is mostly unchanged. The nice thing: you can send to someone without knowing where they’ll be and when they’ll be there. Mr. Barker doesn’t have to get a packet from the front desk anymore.

ROC-HAM Radio Network Concludes 200th Anniversary of Erie Canal Special Event

ROC-HAM Radio network concludes the 200th anniversary of the ERIE CANAL special event station W2R

We recorded 2600 contacts, 29 activation’s of US-6532 Erie Canalway Corridor National Heritage Area.

We gave away a certificate for the 1st 1000th contact – W8BDS and a certificate for the 2nd 2000th contact – W2VDZ. Thank you for your support.

The special event station ran from Sept 1st – Oct 26, which incidentally is the official finish date of the ERIE CANAL.

While W2JLD endured the in climate weather in Rochester, NY, he did manage to achieve a record for the most contacts in one single day, he clocked in more than 100 hours of radio time.

It was a great pleasure to promote that special event and to inform people of the historic relevance of that Canal system and the importance of it in the date of time.

It shaped communities and the way we transported goods and services, people struggled during its building. Lives were shaped by its construction. It was a huge endeavor of its kind, and thanks to the vision of the then governor Clinton, he took a risk and knew it would be a huge benefit to the towns and cities along the way.

Here in upstate New York we cherish the history and significance of it.

Again Thank you to all that supported this special event and be sure to check out the qrz page:W2R and grab a qsl card to boldly display it in your ham shack.

On behalf of the ROC-HAM Radio network THANK YOU

WEEKEND EDITION: Sunny and windy good day for getting outside...away from the radio

Why Does the FCC Care About Computers?

Unless you are over a certain age, you probably take it for granted that electronic gadgets you buy have some FCC marking on them. But it wasn’t always true. [Ernie] submits that the FCC’s regulation of the computer industry was indirectly the result of the success of CB radio in that same time period.

Today, there is a high chance you don’t watch TV directly over the airwaves or even consume audio from a traditional radio station. Even if you do, the signal is increasingly likely to be digital. But only analog radio and TV were highly susceptible to interference. When a professional radio station or the power company interfered with you watching I Love Lucy, you could count on them to resolve it. Even ham radio operators, a small segment of the population, would, in general, graciously help you if their transmissions interfered with your equipment.

Never mind that, in many cases, it was the cheap TV or some other problem on the receiving end. Then there was another source of potential interference: CB radio. At first, you were about as likely to encounter a CB operator as a ham radio operator. But then in the 1970s, CB exploded, becoming a cultural phenomenon, and you can hear what a state it was in by watching the contemporary TV report in the video below.

This explosion of operators who did nothing more than apply for a license (if they even bothered to do so) and bought their equipment at a local store had no idea how to help curb interference, even if they wanted to. In 1977, the AP reported that 83% of the FCC’s TV interference complaints involved CB radio.

Early computers were also very noisy on the radio bands. So much so that early attempts at computer audio output were simply modulating the radio frequency interference. Again, at first, this wasn’t a huge problem. But as computers became more common, so did computer-related interference, and the FCC didn’t want to deal with another CB radio-style explosion.

The rest is, as they say, history, and [Ernie] covers it all in the post. Getting a product approved by the FCC isn’t trivial, but if you have to do it, we have some advice.

Blog – Hackaday Read More

 

FRIDAY EDITION: I went from no leaves to being knee deep in leaves in just one night! The winds howled last night on the island and now I have some work to do! Another week and I will have a beautiful ocean view for the winter....I hate to bring up 7200 but who is the asshole who broadcasts all day with the foul mouth? Is the FCC deaf?

Local Ham Radio Operators Help Keep Thruway Safe During Halloween

It’s almost Halloween — and that means it’s time for the Pumpkin Patrol!

Amateur radio operators — or “Hams,” as they like to be called — from the Drumlins Amateur Radio Club in Wayne County and the Skenoh Island Club in Ontario County are teaming up once again with State Police Troop T for the 49th year of this Halloween tradition. These volunteers will be stationed on bridges over the Thruway tonight and Friday night, keeping an eye out for any tricks that could turn dangerous — like vandalism or debris being thrown onto cars. They stay in touch with a central coordinator, who can alert 911 in seconds if anything suspicious pops up.

Drumlins Club President Dave Taylor says Hams all across New York will be out there helping to keep drivers safe — and it’s worked: there hasn’t been a single serious vandalism incident on the Thruway since the Pumpkin Patrol began nearly five decades ago.

Ham radio offers St. Joseph School students lessons in science, math and communication

“CQ, CQ, CQ, school roundup. This is kilo charlie zero lima kilo victor.”

A St. Joseph School student released the button on the side of the ham radio’s microphone. Within seconds came a response through the radio’s crackle.

“This is kilo foxtrot three delta juliet,” the man on the other end of the receiver called out.

Andrea Nunziante took over the microphone, introducing his new contact — Ronald Reiff (KF3DJ), a retired radio announcer from Columbus, Pennsylvania — to students at St. Joseph in Cottleville, who eagerly watched the amateur radio demonstration.

On an October afternoon, students took turns contacting other ham radio operators across the country as part of the American Radio Relay League’s School Club Roundup, a twice-yearly event for ham radio clubs at elementary, junior high, high schools and colleges that gives them experience exchanging information with other amateur radio stations.

Nunziante, St. Joseph’s technology director and an amateur radio operator (KCØLKV) for more than 25 years, introduced students to ham radio this school year to show how the technology can connect people in new ways. Lessons in math, science and language arts have also emerged from their discussions.

“It is cross-discipline because you can use it for geography, you can use it for language, you can use it for science,” he said. “So there are several ways that the teacher can integrate that into the curriculum. The overall goal is to get them interested in a way of communication that it’s different than cellphone and computer.”

Students have learned basic radio concepts, including frequencies and propagation (the way some radio signals travel from one amateur radio station to another), and operating etiquette when contacting other hams.

Connecting with other amateur radio operators depends largely on solar and weather conditions, Nunziante explained to about two dozen students who stayed after school to participate in the roundup event. The occurrence of a solar flare — a burst of radiation from the sun’s surface caused by the release of built-up magnetic energy — can interfere with high-frequency signals, causing a sudden loss in communication.

“When there is a big magnetic flare and you turn on the radio, it’s just quiet — really quiet,” he said.

Seventh grader Joey Risley made contact with a radio operator at Red River Gorge, Kentucky, who was participating in Parks on the Air, a program that promotes communications from national and state parks.

“It’s really cool that you can talk to people, it’s just really fun,” said Joey, who plans on exploring more with ham radio as part of a Scouting merit badge on radio. “It’s a new perspective, just like talking on the phone. We do that every day. But this is a bit more like, you don’t know who you’re going to talk to next or where they’re from. So I just find it really exciting.”

Throughout the afternoon, students made contact with ham radio stations in other states, including Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas, as well as one in Canada. Nunziante explained that proper etiquette involves listening before transmitting, avoiding monopolizing a frequency and being respectful of other operators. CQ (pronounced “seek you”), for example, is a general call used by an operator to invite other stations to make contact.

“Is the frequency open?” Nunziante called into the microphone. Turning to students, he said, “Let me ask you a question: Do you know why I did that? I’ll show you,” as he walked over and wedged himself in between two students sitting on a bench. “Was that good? No. But if I come over and say, ‘May I come over and join you in this seat?’ That’s polite, right?”

Students made contact with Andrew Piper (KI5AIE), an 80-year-old operator from Calera, Oklahoma. Fourth grader Marianna Dwyer asked him what he likes most about ham radio. Piper told her that he enjoys taking apart radios and putting them back together and has been a ham radio enthusiast since he was 10 years old.

Nunziante hopes the school eventually will form a ham radio club and apply for a club station license. But for now, he hopes that students will grow in their enthusiasm for ham radio.

People have told Nunziante that ham radio generally attracts older enthusiasts, but he said it’s really a hobby for any age and is easy to learn. “This is something that the kids can actually do,” he said. “You start with the tech class (entry-level license), and then you can go out from there.”

What is Amateur Radio?

It is a form of communication, a hobby, a community service and a vital service in the event of an emergency.

It could be a teacher in Nova Scotia making friends over the radio with another Radio Amateur in New Zealand; an Alberta teenager using her computer to upload a chess move through her radio which is retrieved by a fellow chess fan in Florida via an Amateur Radio space satellite; or a truck driver in Manitoba contacting Radio Amateurs in a hundred countries during a single weekend contest.

The appeal of Amateur Radio is the ability to communicate across the country, around the globe, and even with astronauts on space missions. Many Radio Amateurs build and experiment with radio.

Do you?

• enjoy the thought of communicating with people around the world without the use of phones or the Internet?
• like experimenting with electronics?
• like interfacing radio transmitters with your computer?
• want to serve your community at social events or during serious emergency situations?
•  
• want to talk to astronauts in the International Space Station?
• look forward to developing new relationships and learning what is going on around the world through the airwaves?

If you answered maybe or yes to any one or a few of these questions, then Amateur Radio may be for you!

New Book Release: Small Antennas for Small Spaces 3rd Edition

THURSDAY EDITION: Good morning...Rumor has it the new 7300 receiver is what you find in the current 7610, not bad

Today we received exciting information from Icom regarding the price of the new Icom IC-7300MK2! We expect this radio to launch at $1,499.95 USD.

FCC certification is still pending and we do not have a firm date on when to expect IC-7300 Mark II to arrive at our warehouse currently. From what we understand, there may be limited units available by the holiday season 2025, but readily available stock may not arrive until after the new year.

Key New Features of the Icom IC-7300MKII

• Improved RMDR and Phase Noise Characteristics

• Lower Heat Generation and Lower Power Consumption

• HDMI™ Port for an External Display

• Built-in CW Decoder

• Simplified RS-BA1 Remote Control with Ethernet connector

• USB Type-C™ with Dual COM + Audio

• RX Antenna IN/OUT Connectors

Hurricane Melissa Update

Operation HELO, Triad HAM radio operator step up to help Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa tears through island

 

WEDNESDAY EDITION: The U.S. tried permanent daylight saving time—and hated it, this is an interesting read....I listened to the hurricane net on 20 meters yesterday, not much info of any interest while I was listening....

If China declares war, these ham radio enthusiasts could be crucial

TAIPEI, Taiwan — On Tuesday nights, BX2AN sits near the Xindian River, motionless but for his thumb and middle finger, rhythmically tapping against two small metal paddles. They emit a sound each time his hand makes contact — from the right, a dit, or dot; from the left, a dah, or dash, the building blocks of the Morse code alphabet.

“Is anyone there?” he taps.

The replies come back in fits and starts: from Japan, then Greece, then Bulgaria. Each time, BX2AN, as he is known on the radio waves, jots down a series of numbers and letters: call signs, names, dates, locations. Then he adjusts a black round knob on his transceiver box, its screens glowing yellow in the dark.

There can be no doubt that this is his setup. That unique call sign is stamped across the front of his black radio set, scrawled in faded Sharpie on his travel mug and engraved in a plaque on his car dashboard. On the edge of his notepad, he’s absent-mindedly doodled it again, BX2AN.

In the corporeal world he is Lee Jiann-shing, a 71-year-old retired bakery owner, husband, father of five, grandfather of eight and a ham radio enthusiast for 30 years. Every week, he is the first to arrive at this regular meeting for Taipei’s amateur radio hobbyists.

They gather on a small, grassy campground on the city’s southern border, where Lee hunches over his radio from the back of his van, listening to the airwaves as the sun goes down. He doesn’t talk much; he prefers the dits and dahs to communicate. By 8:30 p.m. he has corresponded with six other operators in various countries.

U-R-N-A-M-E, Lee asks a contact in Bulgaria. G-E-K, the operator replies, adding a location, S-O-F-I-A. Lee taps out L-E-E, and his city in response.

As more members of the Chinese Taipei Amateur Radio League, or CTARL, trickle in, two other operators are setting up stations several yards away. One of them, like Lee, starts tapping. The other prefers a handheld voice transmitter, tuning into some indistinct chatter across the Taiwan Strait.

In the age of smartphones and DMs, amateur radio has become a niche hobby in Taiwan. Participants like Lee, many of whom are older than 50, tinker with electronics, exchange postcards with new contacts and compete to see who connects with the most far-flung places.

But ham radio might turn out to be more than just a pleasant pastime.

The self-governing island, about 100 miles east of China, is weighing wartime scenarios in the face of growing military aggression from its vastly more powerful neighbor. If cell towers are down and internet cables have been cut, the ability of shortwave radio frequencies to transmit long-distance messages could become crucial for civilians and officials alike.

The recreational use of wireless radios, which transmit and receive messages via electromagnetic signals, became popular in the early 20th century, starting in the U.S. Since the federal government began issuing licenses in 1912, the number of noncommercial radio operators in the country has surpassed 846,000, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

Amateur radio operators (also known as “hams”) tend to use the high radio frequencies, a measure of the oscillation rate of electromagnetic waves. Such shortwave radio signals are able to traverse great distances by bouncing off particles in the Earth’s atmosphere. (Never heard of it? Ham radio still occasionally pops up in movies and TV — “A Quiet Place,” “The Walking Dead” — as a communication channel of last resort.)

The technology proved useful during World Wars I and II, when countries such as the U.S. and Britain limited civilian airwave activity but enlisted skilled hobbyists to help send and intercept covert messages. More recently, during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the BBC used shortwave radio to broadcast its news service after communication towers were attacked. Ham radio operators were also able to listen in and interrupt communications among Russian soldiers.    FULL STORY

 

TUESDAY EDITION: Cloudy, windy, and 45 degrees...not a great day to work on the leaves...I don't think ham radio is going to save the day in Jamaica, pray for them. Montego Bay is going to be a memory....Some inept hikers got humg up on Mt. Washington and had to be rescued and taken down the mountain on the Cog Railway. Word has it they are being charged for the rescue.....

Ham Radio’s Most Ambitious DXpedition to Remote Bouvet Island

Few places on Earth are as inaccessible—and as coveted by amateur radio operators—as Bouvet Island. Located in the South Atlantic, this uninhabitable rock has long been regarded as the “Mount Everest of DXpeditions.” According to the DXCC Most Wanted List, Bouvet ranks near the very top of sought-after contacts, making every attempt to activate it a historic event. With renewed momentum after a 2023 attempt, the 3Y0K team is back, bringing with it high stakes, innovative planning, and rigorous safety protocols.

What does it take to run one of the most ambitious ham radio DXpeditions in history—on one of the harshest and most dangerous islands on the planet?

In the second installment of this special coverage from Radios in Action by Icom, host Ray Novak, N9JA, Senior Manager at Icom America, speaks with Cezar Trifu, VE3LYC, Co-Leader of the DXpedition. Together, they dive into the complex logistics, safety planning, and behind-the-scenes infrastructure that make the 3Y0K activation of Bouvet possible.

Video link: https://marketscale.com/industries/3y0k-bouvet-island/icom-powers-3y0k-ham-radios-most-ambitious-dxpedition-to-remote-bouvet-island-part-2-2

W0W amateur radio station marks "Mars Invasion" at Grovers Mill

Invaders from Mars land at Grovers Mill!

To commemorate the anniversary of Orson Welles’ infamous 1938 War of the Worlds Halloween broadcast, members of the Delaware Valley Radio Association will gather at Grovers Mill, site of the fictional Martian landing, to set up a temporary radio station and communicate with other ham radio operators around the world.

Sunday, October 26, noon to 5 p.m.

Van Nest Park picnic pavilion

218 Cranbury Rd., West Windsor Township, NJ 08550

Pictured, an unidentified Martian (most likely Glen Johnstone NK1N) and Tobi Massano AD2CD, working the radios at a prior year's event.

Visit www.w2zq.com to learn more.

MONDAY EDITION: Another great weekend of good weather, the DX contest, the Patriots winning and BC getting its big mouth  kicked on the field......My friend Jim- K1TT worked 100 countries in the contest over the weekend, how do you beat that?

Tropical Storm Melissa Update

WEEKEND EDITION: Nice day on the island, lots of tourists in the shops. A DX contest on the airwaves if you are looking for a few countries....

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about the Manhattan Project (But Were Afraid to Ask)

There have been plenty of books and movies about how the Manhattan Project brought together scientists and engineers to create the nuclear bomb. Most of them don’t have a lot of technical substance, though. You know — military finds genius, genius recruits other geniuses, bomb! But if you want to hear the story of the engineering, [Brian Potter] tells it all. We mean, like, all of it.

If you’re looking for a quick three-minute read, you’ll want to give this a pass. Save it for a rainy afternoon when you can settle in. Even then, he skips past a lot of what is well known. Instead, he spends quite a bit of time discussing how the project addressed the technical challenges, like separating out U235.

Four methods were considered for that task. Creating sufficient amounts of plutonium was also a problem. Producing a pound of plutonium took 4,000 pounds of uranium. When you had enough material, there was the added problem of getting it together fast enough to explode instead of just having a radioactive fizzle.

There are some fascinating tidbits in the write-up. For example, building what would become the Oak Ridge facility required conductors for electromagnets. Copper, however, was in short supply. It was wartime, after all. So the program borrowed another good conductor, silver, from the Treasury Department. Presumably, they eventually returned it, but [Brian] doesn’t say.

There’s the old story that they weren’t entirely sure they wouldn’t ignite the entire atmosphere but, of course, they didn’t.  Not that the nuclear program didn’t have its share of bad luck.

Blog – Hackaday Read More

Important Notice: Keep Clear of Emergency Frequencies During the Contest Weekend

Amateur Radio Newsline Report

HAMTV MAKES 1ST ARISS CONTACT IN 7 YEARS

NEIL/ANCHOR: The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program has reason to celebrate. With the help and hard work of technicians, engineers and other team members, ARISS marked the first contact in seven years that made use of HamTV - a QSO between the 1st Radford Semele Scout Group in the UK and NASA astronaut Jonny Kim KJ5HKP on the 18th of October. The digital amateur TV transmitter based in the Columbus module permits the audience to view live video downlinks during their contacts with the astronauts.

As he called up to the space station to say the team and the European HamTV ground stations were ready, Ciaran Morgan, MØXTD, ARISS operations lead for the UK, dedicated the call to Gaston Bertels, ON4WF. Gaston was at the helm of the HamTV technical team until he became a Silent Key in December 2024. He had been a key player in getting the L/S band antennas installed on the Columbus module. HamTV operated until 2018, when its failure brought it back to earth so repairs could be made. The unit was returned to the ISS in 2024. This past July, it resumed its transmissions and members of the British Amateur TV Club, who were standing by for those first signals, happily reported good copy.ing information he was requested to pass along by the UN and the US State Department.

The world heard more from Charlie in December 2004. He had been filming and providing support to the VU4 DXpedition on Andaman Island when the tsunami disaster swept over South Asia. As DXpeditioners switched to handling health, welfare and emergency communications messages, Charlie returned to Thailand, where he and his wife were living, to provide radio support for recovery efforts after the loss of conventional communication. He also provided realtime information to many of the world's media organisations, including MSNBC and CNN.

Charlie was 80.

**
SILENT KEY: AMATEUR RADIO HISTORIAN JOHN DILKS III, K2TQN

NEIL/ANCHOR: A ham who devoted his life to the celebration of amateur radio's history and evolution has become a Silent Key. We hear more about him from Sel Embee KB3TZD.

SEL: John Dilks III K2TQN so loved the old rigs, the crystal sets, the spark transmitters and the keys that he assembled a collection of them -- ham radio artifacts from amateur radio's earliest days -- and called it the John Dilks Old Radio Museum. History was so much his passion and expertise that at one point he was asked to consult and provide radios for the 2013 film, "Paranoia," featuring Harrison Ford, when it was shooting outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

John, who was first licensed in 1956 as KN2TQN, became a Silent Key on the 12th of October.

Readers of QST magazine remember his monthly column, "Old Radio," which ran in the ARRL publication from 2000 to 2014. Members of the Antique Wireless Association recall him too as a respected member. According to his online obituary, his love of history extended beyond the evolution of amateur radio. He often gave presentations that touched on great moments in history, including radio's role in the 1923 expedition to the North Pole -- and its role as well aboard the ill-fated Titanic luxury liner. In his volunteer work with the World Peace Camp in 1989, he devoted time to helping children earn their amateur radio licenses.

John was 84.

**
CANADA ELIMINATES EXPIRATION DATES FOR BROADCAST RADIO LICENSES

NEIL/ANCHOR: Broadcast radio station licenses in Canada will no longer have an expiration date, as we hear from John Williams VK4JJW.

JOHN: The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission will no longer require broadcast radio stations to renew their licences, as part of a rule it said it has adopted to help stations save money and shrink administrative burdens. The commission said it was hoping the action would amount to a boost for terrestrial broadcasting which, while facing challenges recently, nonetheless remains a vital source of news, information and culture.

A report on the RadioWorld website said that the open-ended licences will replace those that presently have a maximum term of 7 years. The commission will phase in the new licensing framework as the stations apply for their renewals.

In a statement, the CRTC assured broadcasters that station monitoring would still be vigilant despite the switch to the open-ended licences. Compliance reviews, which traditionally have occurred at the time of licence renewal, will instead be conducted as needed.

**
'PUMPKIN PATROL' IN ITS 4TH DECADE TO ENSURE DRIVER SAFETY

NEIL/ANCHOR: The Halloween tradition known as the Pumpkin Patrol may not be as much fun as trick-or-treating, but in a number of northern New York State counties it has become a lifesaver. Travis Lisk N3ILS tells us why.

TRAVIS: Halloween can be a time for mischief and that mischief can turn deadly, as it almost did in 1976 when an object thrown from a bridge over the New York State Thruway smashed the windshield of a truck below. The shattered glass injured the driver, who was talking on his citizens band radio at the time. The other CB radio operator heard that the trucker was in distress and decided immediately that she and two friends would bring their radios to that overpass and two others in their county and stand watch the next evening.

New York State police now conduct the Pumpkin Patrol in various counties traversed by the Thruway and for more than four decades, ham radio operators have been there too. This year the teams of volunteer radio operators will be out on the nights of October 30th and 31st, keeping in constant touch with a net control station that can call for emergency response if necessary.

They are, of course, hoping it will not be necessary.

**
ARDC PREPARES FOR NEW ROUND OF GRANT APPLICANTS

NEIL/ANCHOR: Amateur Radio Digital Communications has a mission to support the tinkerers, the dreamers and the builders who keep ham radio strong. They recently issued a reminder that they are actively looking for applicants. Kevin Trotman N5PRE tells us how your own workbench might be of interest to them.

KEVIN: Grants are available from Amateur Radio Digital Communications, which is giving top priority to projects in one of several areas: supporting satellite technology for ham analogue and digital communications; developing hands-on, open-source and educational materials and projects for learners in schools and clubs; and delving into open-source hardware and software systems that include SDRs, new modulation techniques and CODEC technologies.

ARDC said that projects outside these areas would also be welcome to apply but that these areas are closest to the core of the organization's goal of [quote] "promoting the freedom to tinker, build, communicate, and openly share information." [endquote]

YOUNG AMATEURS LEARN NEW MODES FOR EMCOMM

NEIL/ANCHOR: In various parts of the world, emergency communicators continue to promote the use of the amateur service as well as other modes and methods to the next generation. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF tells us how hams in India are continuing to make that transition.

JIM: In India, ham radio operators are focusing more on DMR - Digital Mobile Radio - as an alternative to analogue VHF, UHF and HF. Fifty young hams were recently given training in DMR programming and operating by the Indian Academy of Communication and Disaster Management and the West Bengal Radio Club, led by Jayanta VU2TFR and Soumya VU3FWK.

According to the club secretary, Ambarish Nag Biswas VU2JFA, this was the first hands-on training in DMR for radio operators who will be using DMR in the vast remote delta region known as the Sunderbans. Dipak Chakraborty, VU2TLW, the academy's vice principal, told the group afterward that DMR's potential in such remote areas has prompted the academy to plan yet another workshop focusing specifically on those challenged regions.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, members of the Ham Radio Emergency Communications Group Inc., DX1HAM, devoted part of the 68th annual Jamboree on the Air scouting activities on October 18th to teach Boy Scouts of the Philippines the basics of operating two-way radios. The hams were preparing the next generation to be familiar with the kind of radios used by licensed emergency communicators when severe storms imperil public safety in their western Pacific island archipelago.

This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.

(AMBARISH NAG BISWAS, VU2JFA, THE PHILIPPINE STAR)

**
SCOTTISH MICROWAVE ENTHUSIASTS PREPARE FOR ROUNDTABLE

NEIL/ANCHOR: In Scotland, hams who operate on the microwave frequencies are registering now for a day-long program in November where they can share ideas. Jeremy Boot G4NJH tells us what's happening.

JEREMY: Microwave fans, whether they're newcomers or longtime enthusiasts, are preparing to attend the 13th Scottish Microwave Round Table on the 1st of November at the Museum of Communication in Burntisland, Fife.

The roundtable will have available microwave test facilities available and attendees will be able to purchase components and other items. The GM4LBV Trophy will be presented as part of an annual construction competition held in memory of Scottish microwave enthusiast John Eaton. It bears the callsign of John, who became a Silent Key in 2012.

For details about the event or registration information, see the link in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

**

WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, listen for the callsign Z66IPA which is on the air through to the 3rd of November from Kosovo. It is being activated by S58MU and S5ØX on 160-10 metres. The pair will participate in the CQWW SSB contest on the 25th and 26th of October as Z68MU and Z68WW. QSL to all calls via S58MU.

Listen for operators from Argentina's Yaguarete DX Group using the callsign CP7DX from Bolivia from the 31st of October to the 10th of November. They will operate SSB and FT8 on 160-6 metres, as well as via EME.

Kazu, MØCFW will be on the air as 3B9/MØCFW from Rodrigues Island, IOTA number AF-017, from the 21st through to the 29th of October. He will participate in the CQ WW DX SSB Contest using the callsign 3B9KW.

Gil, FM5FJ, will be using the callsign J79FJ from Dominica, IOTA Number NA-101, from the 20th through to the 29th of October, using CW, SSB and perhaps some FT8. He will also participate in the CQ WW DX SSB Contest with the J75A team.

Listen for members of the Tango Alfa Ham Radio Club, YM1KE, using the callsign TC29TC through to the 29th of October. They are celebrating Republic Day in Turkey, which is on the 29th. QSL via eQSL.

For QSL details of all stations please refer to qrz.com.

(425 DX BULLETIN)

**
KICKER: ON DXPEDITION, A PILEUP OF THINGS GOING WRONG

NEIL/ANCHOR: Our last story this week is for all the dreamers and the do-ers whose plans don't always work out. Ralph Squillace KK6ITB takes us to the South Pacific for that story.

RALPH: Operating from the Manihiki Atoll in the North Cook Islands had been the shared dream of five hams from the Western Washington DX Club. They weren't just activating the 68th most wanted DXCC entity; they were dreaming of pileups.

The pileups they got were the unwanted pileups of malfunctions which began not long after they put the callsign E51MWA on the air on the 9th of October. Twelve hours in, their solar plant experienced a voltage loss and they were unable to start their backup generator. The team went QRT for several hours. Back on the air during the next few days, they suffered the failure of a power strip, they lost the use of one radio and then the high-power bandpass filters for 17 and 12 metres failed to work.

The final blow to their dream came on the 14th of October with a local power outage. The team got their backup generator started but then the generator and the power station's building both caught fire and were destroyed.

It was time to go home to Washington state for Rob N7QT, Brian N9ADG, James KC7EFP, Robin WA7CPA and Jack N7JP. The sixth operator, Violetta KN2P, a 21-year-old contester, was also scheduled to move on. She was headed to the PJ2T youth-led operation in Curacao for the CQWW SSB contest.

The team's plan had been to be on the air at Manihiki until October 20th. Instead they posted a message on their website on the 14th. [quote] "Without power options the team has no choice but to go QRT." [endquote] Six days ahead of schedule, it was over. As they packed, they added one more thing to their cargo: big plans that they alluded to in a message on their website. They wrote [quote] "As the team packs equipment for return shipment to the US, we are already thinking of the next DXpedition." [endquote]

FRIDAY EDITION: Not much news to post except ten meters has been very hot....

What Americans fear most in 2025

eam Fear is at it again. For the past 11 years, this dedicated group of researchers with a very cool nickname has conducted the annual Chapman University Survey of American Fears. This year, they surveyed 1,015 adult Americans on what they fear most, from sharks to heights to identity theft. 

Wondering which fear took the first slot? For the 10th consecutive year, corrupt government officials topped the list. Fears of a loved one becoming seriously ill, economic or financial collapse, and cyber-terrorism followed. Here’s the full list of what Americans fear most in 2025:

1. Corrupt government officials (with 69.1 percent of participants saying they’re afraid or very afraid of this)
2. People I love becoming seriously ill (reporting at 58.9 percent)
3. Economic or financial collapse (58.2 percent)
4. Cyberterrorism (55.9 percent)
5. People I love dying & U.S. becoming involved in another world war (both tied at 55.3 percent)
6. Pollution of drinking water (54.5 percent)
7. Russia using nuclear weapons (53.7 percent)
8. Pollution of oceans, rivers, and lakes (53.5 percent)
9. Government tracking of personal data (52.7 percent)

 

Michigan terminates controversial EV battery plant and seeks to claw back millions in incentives...another failure...

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan is demanding millions of dollars in incentives back from a Chinese company after plans to build an electric vehicle battery plant collapsed following years of pushback against the project from neighbors and members of Congress.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer supported the $2.36 billion factory in 2022, and state lawmakers approved nearly $175 million in incentives for the project. The state is now holding Gotion Inc. in default of $23.6 million, accusing the company of abandoning the project.

“While this is not the outcome we hoped for, we recognize the tremendous responsibility we have to the people we serve to make sure their hard-earned tax dollars are spent wisely and appropriately,” Danielle Emerson, a spokesperson with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, said in a statement.

Representatives for Gotion, which is headquartered in California, did not respond to multiple messages seeking comment.

In a letter dated Sept. 17, Michigan informed Gotion that it was in default of economic development grant obligations because no “eligible activities” had occurred on the site's property in over 120 days.

Amateur Radio Daily Adds Live Solar and HF Band Conditions Powered by DXLook

For readers of Amateur Radio Daily that regularly visit through a web browser, you'll notice an improved version of the solar conditions displayed in the header. In addition, readers will see a new section in the sidebar that communicates current HF band conditions.

These improvements are made possible thanks to a collaboration with DXLook, the live propagation platform created by Rodrigo Vazquez (AK6FP).

The new data feed displays continuously updated Solar Flux Index (SFI), Sunspot Number, and A- and K-indices, along with current band-by-band propagation assessments. Together, these indicators give operators an at-a-glance view of the day’s radio conditions before they get on the air.

DXLook is a community project built to share live propagation data freely with all amateurs. Partnering with Amateur Radio Daily brings that information to an even wider audience of active operators. —Rodrigo Vazquez (AK6FP)

The update reflects the collaborative spirit of amateur radio—combining independent efforts to make space-weather awareness and HF propagation insights more accessible to everyone in the hobby.

Tropical Storm Melissa Update

A hurricane watch is in effect for the southwestern peninsula of Haiti, from the border with the Dom…

Read more American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources– Read More

WEDNESDAY EDITION: Rain today, much needed....Trying to get up the steam to change the oil in the truck this week, I have the oil and filter, I just need a kick in the ass....

Give Your Twist Connections Some Strength

We’ve all done it at some time — made an electrical connection by twisting together the bare ends of some wires. It’s quick, and easy, but because of how little force required to part it, not terribly reliable. This is why electrical connectors from terminal blocks to crimp connectors and everything else in between exist, to make a more robust join.

But what if there was a way to make your twist connections stronger? [Ibanis Sorenzo] may have the answer, in the form of an ingenious 3D printed clamp system to hold everything in place. It’s claimed to result in a join stronger than the wire itself.

The operation is simple enough, a spring clamp encloses the join, and a threaded outer piece screws over it to clamp it all together. There’s a pair of 3D printable tools to aid assembly, and a range of different sizes to fit different wires. It looks well-thought-out and practical, so perhaps it could be a useful tool in your armoury. We can see in particular that for those moments when you don’t have the right connectors to hand, a quick 3D print could save the say.

A few years ago we evaluated a set of different ways to make crimp connections. It would be interesting to subject this connection to a similar test. Meanwhile you can see a comprehensive description in the video below the break.