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What part is she making?????

WEDNESDAY EDITION: Coffee and donut day at the weekly club gathering this morning.....Hamfesters help train Storm Spotters....

A Portable Electronics Workstation

You don’t see them as often as you used to, but it used to be common to see “electronics trainers” which were usually a collection of components and simple equipment combined with a breadboard, often in a little suitcase. We think [Pro Maker_101’s] portable electronics workstation is in the same kind of spirit, and it looks pretty nice.

The device uses a 3D printed case and a custom PC board. There are a number of components, although no breadboard. There is a breakout board for Raspberry Pi GPIO, though. So you could use the screw terminals to connect to an external breadboard. We were thinking you could almost mount one as a sort of lid so it would open up like a book with the breadboard on one side and the electronics on the other. Maybe version two?

One thing we never saw on the old units? An HDMI flat-screen display! We doubt you’d make one exactly like this, of course, but that’s part of the charm. You can mix and match exactly what you want and make the prototyping station of your dreams. Throw in a small portable soldering iron, a handheld scopemeter, and you can hack anywhere.

We’d love to see something like this that was modular. Beats what you could build in 1974.

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CAARA Prez launches balloon yesterday, its flying high at 40,000 feet
The straight line is the night time when the solar panels are not producing juice for the transmitter

TUESDAY EDITION: Track the balloon with u as it heads for Africa.....

Brandon's son holding the half inflated blloon, it will expand as it gets high above earth....he used hydrogen...

Transmitter and solar collector resting on carrying case.....

Keep Bears at Bay with the Crackle of 280,000 Volts

You might be better off to put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye....

Bears! Are they scared of massive arcs that rip through the air, making a lot of noise in the process? [Jay] from the Plasma Channel sure hopes so, because that’s how his bear deterrent works!

[Jay] calls it the Bear Blaster 5000. Right from the drop, this thing looks like some crazy weapon out of Halo. That’s because it throws huge arcs at 280,000 volts. The basic concept behind it is simple enough—a battery drives a circuit which generates (kinda) low voltage AC. This is fed to the two voltage multipliers which are set up with opposite polarity to create the greatest possible potential difference between the two electrodes they feed. The meaty combination is able to arc across electrodes spaced over four inches apart. It’s all wrapped up in a super-cool 3D printed housing that really shows off the voltage multiplier banks.

Given its resemblance to a stun gun, you might think the idea is to jab an attacking bear with it. But the reality is, if the bear is close enough that you could press this device against it, you’re already lunch. [Jay] explains that it’s more about scaring the animal off with the noise and light it produces. We’d certainly take a few steps back if we heard this thing fire off in the woods.

[Jay] does a great job of explaining how the whole setup works, as well as showing off its raw ability to spark. We’ve seen some great builds from [Jay] before, too, like this beefy custom flyback transformer.

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Marathon Monday: My friend Debbie Tupper from Rockport is running her 19th and last marathon today, go Deb!.....I wonder what possesses a guy to study this shit?.....A study published in 2022 revealed a tenuous but plausible link between picking your nose and increasing the risk of developing dementia.

Tracking the ISS Made Easy

If you made something blink, and now it’s time for you to make something move, something like a point-to-a-satellite tracker is a great idea. [Farid] made this moving arrow that always points at the ISS, and documented it nicely to boot.

And there’s a little bit of everything here, from orbital mechanics and fetching the two-line elements (TLE) from the web, to writing the code to translate that into the tabletop machine’s coordinate system. It looks like [Farid] hadn’t done much 3D CAD before, so he got a chance to stretch those muscles too. Finally, it served as an introduction to resource-constrained programming: “This was the first time I’ve had to think about the size of a compiled binary – the most frustrating part was figuring out that using a C++ stringstream was adding too much code to my binary.”

[Farid] is learning a lot here, and you might too. For instance, using pencil lead (graphite) as a lubricant on sliding 3D-printed parts is new to us, but makes sense. We’ll have to try that out.

And while this is a simple desktop tracker, with a lot more mechanical design, the same basics could be put to real use for pointing a receiver dish. Of course, who says you need fancy motors and computers to point a satellite dish anyway? If you work on your arm muscles a bit, you could become the satellite pointer.

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 FYI: The 10,000-year history of gum

Somewhere between 9,500 and 9,900 years ago, three Scandinavian teenagers were hanging out, chewing gum after a meal. Specifically, they were chewing pitch or tar made from the bark of birch trees. Many millennia removed, archaeologists analyzed the spit out wads and discovered what the teens had recently eaten (red fox, hazelnut, deer, and apple), as well as the state of their oral health (poor). The findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports in  2024. It’s among the earliest known examples of chewing gum in the archaeological record, but it’s far from the only one. 

Humans  have been gnawing on rubbery bits of indigestible gunk for a long, long time. Gum chewing independently arose across different cultures and regions at different times, says Jennifer Mathews, an anthropologist at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. In Mexico, for instance, Mayans and later Aztecs chewed chicle, a substance derived from the milky latex of the tropical sapodilla tree. Chicle ultimately led to the creation and commodification of the modern chewing gum we know today, as described in Mathews’ 2009 book, Chicle: The Chewing Gum of the Americas, From the Ancient Maya to William Wrigley. 

Aztecs also chewed natural bitumen, a petroleum-based material similar to asphalt that often washes up on shorelines, sometimes on its own and sometimes mixed with chicle. It was a central enough part of Aztec culture that they wrote up rules for it. It was considered uncouth for anyone besides young children or elderly women to chew it publicly, says Mathews. Elsewhere, people chewed on gums derived from plants like mastic in ancient Greece–which became the root of the word mastication–terebinth resin in Central Asia, or spruce gum among Indigenous Americans. 

“They’re using what they have in their environment to fix a problem,” says Mathews. Clearly, as it showed up so many times in so many places, gum served a need. 

Why we chew

In the absence of toothpaste and dentists, people found their own ways to keep their mouths feeling as hygienic as possible. Chewing gum filled in some of those gaps and its primary purpose across cultures was to clean the teeth, freshen the breath, and boost oral health, Mathews explains. Mastic and chicle alike are commonly described as having pleasant, sweet, and piney or woodsy flavors– probably a preferable smell and taste to whatever bits of food might linger between the teeth after meals. Today, sugar free gum can offer some smile benefits, according to the American Dental Association (though overdo it and you could end up with a jaw disorder).

 

EASTER EDITION: We have a Tech-in-a- Day course today at the CAARA clubhoue, it looks like ten are signed up....

Inside a Fake WiFi Repeater

Over the years we have seen a lot of fake electronics, ranging from fake power saving devices that you plug into an outlet, to fake car ECU optimizers that you stick into the OBD port. These are all similar in that they fake functionality while happily lighting up a LED or two to indicate that they’re doing ‘something’. Less expected here was that we’d be seeing fake WiFi repeaters, but recently [Big Clive] got his hands on one and undertook the arduous task of reverse-engineering it.

The simple cardboard box which it comes in claims that it’s a 2.4 GHz unit that operates at 300 Mbps, which would be quite expected for the price. [Clive] obtained a real working WiFi repeater previously that did boast similar specifications and did indeed work. The dead giveaway that it is a fake are the clearly fake antennae, along with the fact that once you plug it in, no new WiFi network pops up or anything else.

Inside the case – which looks very similar to the genuine repeater – there is just a small PCB attached to the USB connector. On the PCB are a 20 Ohm resistor and a blue LED, which means that the LED is being completely overdriven as well and is likely to die quite rapidly. Considering that a WiFi repeater is supposed to require a setup procedure, it’s possible that these fake repeaters target an audience which does not quite understand what these devices are supposed to do, but they can also catch more informed buyers unaware who thought they were buying some of the cheap real ones. Caveat emptor, indeed.

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Amateur Radio Newsline Report

HAMS GAIN EXEMPTION IN IOWA'S DISTRACTED-DRiVING LAW

JIM/ANCHOR: Our top story this week is about the distracted-driving law in states around the US that prohibits drivers from sending text messages or performing other functions with a handheld device. Iowa has just become the 31st state to add language to their law exempting licensed hams from those restrictions. Dave Parks WB8ODF tells us what that means.

DAVE: Amateur radio operators in Iowa have won an exemption to the state's new distracted-driving law that takes effect on the 1st of July. The governor signed the bill into law on the 2nd of April after both the state House and Senate passed it overwhelmingly. It bans drivers from using mobile phones or any wireless device while behind the wheel unless it is in hands-free or voice-activated mode. The bill, which was five years in the making, exempts licensed hams who are using two-way radios. Iowa joins 30 other states, including New York, Arizona and Minnesota, in granting hams permission to operate their radios while driving.

This is Dave Parks WB8ODF.

(DES MOINES REGISTER; KCCI DES MOINES; ARRL)

**
REGULATOR SEEKS COMMENT ON AUSTRALIA'S CLASS-LICENSE CONDITIONS

JIM/ANCHOR: In Australia, the communications regulator is looking for input on some minor changes in language affecting the nation's new amateur Class License, as we hear from Graham Kemp VK4BB.

GRAHAM: The Radiocommunications Licence Conditions Determination 2015, which provides conditions on the use of amateur radio assigned and non-assigned licences, is being reviewed by The Australian Communications and Media Authority before it expires on 1 October 2025. While many amateurs now operate under the Radiocommunications Class Licence 2023, existing non-assigned amateur licences will continue to exist and operate under the conditions of the 2015 Amateur LCD until they expire. The authority's goal is to fine-tune the language of the LCD so it aligns with the new amateur Class Licence. Although the ACMA is seeking comments from the public, the authority stresses that this review is not considering major changes, such as amateur access to bands, but a list of simple recommendations that are now available for viewing in draft form.

Comments are due no later than Monday the 26th of May at 5 p.m. AEST.

To see the draft document, follow the link in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org

**
SILENT KEY: BOB FAY, WBØNPN, EMERGENCY RESPONDER AND MENTOR

JIM/ANCHOR: Hams in Ohio are mourning the loss of a friend, a mentor and a familiar face to visitors at the Voice of America Museum. We learn about him from Neil Rapp WB9VPG.

NEIL: If you've ever been to the Voice of America Museum in West Chester, Ohio, it's possible you met Bob Fay, WBØNPN. He was an active member and past officer of the West Chester Amateur Radio Association which has its shack inside the museum.

Bob became a Silent Key on the 5th of April.

First licensed in 1973, Bob was especially devoted to public service and emergency communications in different states through the years. He had been active in Hamilton County Ohio ARES as well as Lake County Illinois RACES and was a special deputy sheriff for the Hennepin County, Minnesota Mobile Amateur Radio Corps. He had also been deeply involved in emergency communications in Riverside and Los Angeles counties in California.

His long tenure as a ham deepened his appreciation for radio and he especially loved sharing his enthusiasm and expertise with the next generation. A proud moment for him was his receipt of an Elmer Award in 2016 from Christopher Brault, KD8YVJ - now KK8C -- after Chris became the 2015 recipient of the Hiram Percy Maxim Award from the ARRL.

Bob was 89.

This is Neil Rapp WB9VPG.

(JOCELYN BRAULT, KD8VRX, QRZ.COM)

**
SILENT KEY: SHIRLEY HARDSTAFF, VK7HSC, INNOVATOR AND ADVOCATE

JIM/ANCHOR: Hams in Australia - especially the close-knit community of YLs in Tasmania - are grieving after one of their own has become a Silent Key. They describe as a leader, an innovator and inspiring force, as we hear from John Williams VK4JJW.

JOHN: Remembered for her leadership and her personal touch as president of the North West Tasmania Amateur Radio Club, Shirley Hardstaff VK7HSC, had been immersed in amateur radio since the first day she got her licence.

A familiar face to many in the Australian Ladies Amateur Radio Association, or ALARA, and at many gatherings in Tasmania, Shirley became a Silent Key on the 5th of April.

Her friends recalled her as someone with a leadership style that brought a personal touch to YL meet-ups, placing less of an emphasis on business and committee formalities and more focus on social interaction. In 2019, she organised and funded the Bi-Monthly Chat and Show which was held at the Penguin Rec Centre and later the Ulverstone Rec Centre, until 2021.

Her on-air presence embraced traditional HF as well as other modes, including Echolink, DMR, IRLP and SSTV. She often served as stand-in net control for the Mount Duncan Net and a big supporter of the Scouting event Jamboree on the Air.

Shirley, who was the VK7 representative to ALARA from 2010 to 2014, was elected president of the North West Tasmania Amateur Radio Club in 2010. She stepped down in 2023. She and her late husband, Max, VK7KY, were widely known for their travels and were familiar faces at ham radio events around Tasmania.

Shirley was 83.

This is John Williams VK4JJW.

(NORMA O'HARE, VK2YL, ANNE LANDERS, VK7BYL)

**
ZERO RETRIES NEWSLETTER HOSTING INAUGURAL CONFERENCE

JIM/ANCHOR: The Zero Retries newsletter, which offers readers articles on technology and innovation in ham radio, is branching out to host its first digital conference later this year. It will be held in Washington State. We have details from George Zafiropoulos KJ6VU.

GEORGE: September will be a big month for technology and innovation in amateur radio – and at the inaugural Zero Retries Digital Conference, many of the articles readers have enjoyed in the newsletter will come to life: Those attending can expect to hear about the IP400 Networking Project, and see demonstrations of the M17 Digital Voice/Data system and the MMDVM-TNC data system. Conference manager Tina Stroh KD7WSF expects to put out requests for presenters very soon and will make a sign-up sheet available online.

The conference will be held on the 13th of September at the Edward D. Hansen Conference Center in Everett, Washington.

The Hansen conference center will be transformed into a kind of epicenter of digital innovation at that time. The Zero Retries conference is taking place just as GRCon 2025 wraps up. GRCon is the annual conference for the GNU Radio project and community, That conference runs from Monday September 8th through to Friday September 12th. Although the two events share the same venue, they are not connected to one another.

Invitations to the Zero Retries conference are expected to be sent out shortly.

This is George Zafiropoulos KJ6VU.

(ZERO RETRIES)

**
BIG WELCOME FOR YOUNGSTERS AT HAMVENTION ON MAY 17TH

JIM/ANCHOR: If you are a high school student, or even younger, the easiest way to attend Hamvention is to simply show up on Saturday the 17th of May at the Greene County Fair and Expo Center. Admission is free that day for youngsters. Young visitors who want an experience that's designed just for them are also able to attend the Youth Rally, a special day-long program designed to offer students a variety of hands-on experiences in amateur radio. It is led by Steve Goodgame, K5ATA, the ARRL's education and learning manager. Students get to take part in a short on-air sprint, contact a parachute mobile radio operator and learn about satellite communications. Youngsters are encouraged to bring a 2-meter HT if they have one.

Unlike admission to the fairgrounds, advance registration is recommended for the Youth Rally and costs $20.

(ARRL)

**

NOMINATE OUR NEXT YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR

JIM/ANCHOR: Each year, the Amateur Radio Newsline Bill Pasternak Memorial Young Ham of the Year Award receives nominations of promising young hams who truly impress our judges. It is time once again to give them an opportunity at the recognition they deserve. Consider nominating an amateur radio operator 18 years of age or younger here in the continental United States. Consider someone who has talent, promise and a commitment to the spirit of ham radio. Find application forms on our website arnewsline.org under the "YHOTY" tab. We are accepting nominations through May 31st.
**

FIRST YOTA JUNIOR CAMP

JIM/ANCHOR: The application period is open for Youth on the Air Junior Camp, which is makiNg its debut this year for amateur radio operators under the age of 15. Applicants must have a valid US ham radio license and will be expected to attend with a parent or guardian who needn't have a license themselves. This is a three-day version of the YOTA region wide camps for older youngsters and is modeled after the Kids on the Air program in IARU Region 1. It will take place in July at the Voice of America Museum in West Chester, Ohio. For details visit yota.org.
**

HAM RADIO TAKES 1ST JOURNEY ON FLORIDA TRAIL EVENT

JIM/ANCHOR: In the US, a recent 10-mile hike along one section of the Florida Scenic Trail became a journey of discovery, not necessarily for the hikers who know the trail well - but for the activity’s organizers. They learned the value that amateur radio can bring to the experience for everyone. Jack Parker W8ISH tells us more about it.

JACK: A group known as the Tropical Trekkers has been celebrating the anniversary of a 10-mile stretch of the Florida Scenic Trail since it was opened to hikers 7 years ago. With mobile phones in hand, the organizers have traditionally tracked the celebration's hikers with as much accuracy as intermittent cellular service would allow. That is, until this year.

In late March, seven amateur radio operators were dispatched to checkpoints every 3 or so miles along the trail and used VHF simplex to ensure that no hikers became lost, injured or in need of assistance during this annual event. Mike Gormley, WA8VEC, a longtime trail supporter, told Newsline that the presence of radio was a natural for the trail event - and he was relieved when his offer to bring a team of volunteers was accepted.

Mike has known the needs of trail life well. For years he has been known as “Water Boy” for his regular placement and replenishment of fresh water jugs along a 30-mile stretch of trail during hiking season. So far this year, he has already distributed 195 gallons.

He also volunteers with the Tropical Trekkers, his chapter of the Florida Trail Association, to help with the physical maintenance of 70 miles of trail.

Nine months before this year's event, Mike and his team of radio volunteers - some of whom are also part of ARES or activate POTA - started developing written forms and a protocol for tracking the hikers’ whereabouts. On the day of the hike, they even provided return shuttle service for those who finished at the far end of the trail.

This is not the journey's end, however. The team has been invited back and is already planning for next year. Mike said that perhaps next time they’ll make use of Winlink too.

This is Jack Parker W8ISH.

(MIKE GORMLEY, WA8VEC)

**

RSGB HONORS 2 FROM HAMSCI FOR PROPAGATION STUDIES

JIM/ANCHOR: The Radio Society of Great Britain has recognized achievements of two key members of the US-based citizen science investigation team, HamSCI. Jeremy Boot G4NJH tells us more.

JEREMY: Congratulations to Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, and Gwyn Griffiths, G3ZIL, whose studies of ionospheric propagation with Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation, or HamSCI, has been honoured by the Radio Society of Great Britain.

The Les Barclay Memorial Award has been given to Nathaniel for HamSCI's contributions in elevating amateur radio-based citizen science to a higher profile. The award is being given to him by the RSGB Propagation Studies Committee. He is the founder of HamSCI.

Gwyn is the author of a series of articles published in several issues of the RSGB magazine, RadCom, in 2024. She has been recognised through the society's Wortley-Talbot Trophy which recognises in particular her article, "Height of Reflections at HF," that appeared in the August 2024 magazine issue. She is a longtime member of the HamSCI community.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(HAMSCI)

**

WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, Andy, G7SQW, is operating as EJ/G7SQW from Arranmore Island, IOTA number EU-121, on the 19th and 20th of April. Andy will be on the HF bands using SSB and the digital modes. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

Members of the Rede dos Emissores Portugueses will be activating three callsigns marking World Amateur Radio Day between the 18th and 24th of April. Listen for CR1IARU from the Azores, IOTA number EU-175, CR3IARU from Madeira, IOTA number AF-014 and CR5IARU from mainland Portugal. QSLs via CT1REP.


Peter, PD1RP, is celebrating the 80th anniversary since the end of the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II. He is on the air as PD80FREE until the 30th of June. All QSOs will be confirmed automatically via the bureau.

(425 DX BULLETIN)

**
KICKER: THE SUMMIT OF EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

JIM/ANCHOR: Emergency preparedness comes in many shapes. It can be an organized drill, a regularly scheduled net or, as three hams in California recently found out, it can be as simple as leaving your 2-meter rig on and monitoring it. Ralph Squillace brings us this week's final story - a tale of rescue following serious injury on a snow-encrusted SOTA summit..

RALPH: Greg Davidson, KF6CNS, recalls sitting in his garage with a friend in late March when a call for help came over on the 2-meter simplex calling frequency. Vincent LeVeque KF6FLJ had been hoping for a day of SOTA on Mt. Williamson in the Angeles National Forest when his hike ended in a 150-foot slide down the hillside and a bone-breaking crash into a tree. Vincent had dropped his mobile phone; his emergency beacon had little power remaining - but he was able to call for help on his handy talkie. Greg received that call 50 miles away thanks to a large commercial antenna at home. His immediate telephone outreach eventually led him to Will Richards KJ6JJB, operations leader of county sheriff's Montrose Search & Rescue. Will dispatched a helicopter and stayed on the phone with Greg who was maintaining radio contact with Vincent. Pinning down the location's coordinates precisely posed a challenge for the helicopter but Vincent was soon spotted, his bright orange windbreaker standing out against the snow.

Vincent told Newsline he was airlifted to the nearest trauma center for surgery on his femur and he is now recovering. He said Greg's attentiveness to the calling frequency that day may well have saved his life. Will quickly noted, however, that Vincent himself did some emergency preparedness too: the dashboard of his parked car held a map of his intended hiking route -- and another option to track him down. He said that both Vincent and Greg "did everything right."

FRIDAY EDITION:    TRUMP SOLVES EGG PROBLEM......Ten-year-old Lee Allen, a fifth-grade student at Gentry Intermediate School with a mind to remember technical details, earned his amateur radio technician class license, receiving his official FCC license and call sign, KJ5KXW, on April 15....Brit soldiers tune radio waves to fry drone swarms for pennies....

Teardown of Casio Credit Card-Sized Radio

These days we don’t get too fussed about miniaturized electronics, not when you can put an entire processor and analog circuitry on a chip the size of a grain of sand. Things were quite different back in the 1980s, with the idea of a credit card-sized radio almost preposterous. This didn’t stop the engineers over at Casio from having a go at this and many other nutty ideas, with [Matt] from Techmoan having a go at taking one of these miniaturized marvels apart.

On the chopping block is the FM stereo device that was featured in a previous episode. Out of the four credit card-sized radios in that video, the one with the rechargeable battery (obviously) had ceased to work, so it was the obvious choice for a teardown. This mostly meant peeling off the glued-on top and bottom, after which the circuitry became visible.

In addition to the battery with a heavily corroded contact, the thin PCB contains a grand total of three ICs in addition to the analog circuitry. These were identified by [Spritetm] as an AM/FM tuner system IC (TA7792), an FM PLL MPX (TA7766AF) and a headphone amplifier (TA7767F), all of them manufactured by Toshiba.

Although [Matt] reckons this was a destructive teardown, we’re looking forward to the repair video where a fresh cell is soldered in and the case glued back together.

Blog – Hackaday Read More

 

THURSDAY EDITION: Sunny and brisk here on Cape Ann....

Could the airship be the answer to sustainable air travel – or is it all a load of hot air?

anywhere that has a flat space large enough for them, which could be somewhere as simple as a field, providing there is something to tether it to. This also means that they can help rescue people people in the event of natural disasters, where internet and telephony may be knocked out.

The New England QSO Party on May 3rd and 4th is a great time to check out antenna systems and offers a moderately paced opportunity to work new states and countries. You'll find a wide variety of participants, from newcomers to experienced contesters, all interested in making contacts with New England stations.

Our goal is to get every one of the counties in New England on the air so we hope you will encourage your members to join in the fun! Even if you can join the fun for a couple of hours, we'd appreciate it!  Will you be QRV? Let us know with a message to info@neqp.org

The New England QSO Party is 20 hours long overall, in two sections with a civilized break for sleep on Saturday night.  It runs from 4 pm Saturday until 1 am Sunday, then 9 am Sunday until 8 pm Sunday.  Operate on CW, SSB and/or digital modes on 80-40-20-15-10 meters.  For each QSO you'll give your callsign, a signal report and your county/state.  Top scorers can earn a plaque and everyone who sends in a log with 25 QSOs or more will get a certificate.  The goal is to work stations anywhere in the world - and their goal is to work New England stations, so you'll be very popular!

Hello ARRL Public Information Volunteers,

You are invited to join members of the ARRL Public Relations Committee as we host a live, interactive, workshop to help your club get ready for 2025 ARRL Field Day.

The event will be live on Zoom Wednesday, April 23, 2025, at 8:30 PM EDT.

Please register at this link, as advance registration is required.

We’ll cover:

• How to build a social media strategy to engage members of your local community.
• Press releases and media strategy to get the news to help you promote the event.
• Tips for doing great interviews and media hits.
• Getting a proclamation from your local officials.
• Building your club’s visual asset library to help promote next year (and throughout the year)
• Much more!

You’ll have a chance to get your questions answered by veteran PR experts from around the ham radio community. If you can’t join us for the live event, a replay will be posted after.

If you haven’t already, please download the 2025 ARRL Field Day Public Relations Kit [PDF]. It will give you a toolkit to get started – including a press release template that you can use for your activation.

We’re seeing a lot of lift for ham radio from this month’s ARRL Ham Radio Open House program, let’s continue that momentum into the largest amateur radio event – ARRL Field Day!

I look forward to seeing you in the workshop!

73,

Sierra Harrop, W5DX

ARRL Public Relations and Outreach Manager

sharrop@arrl.org

 An Artificial Sun In A Manageable Size

The sun is our planet’s source of natural illumination, and though we’ve mastered making artificial light sources, it remains extremely difficult to copy our nearby star. As if matching the intensity wasn’t enough, its spectral quality, collimation, and atmospheric scattering make it an special challenge. [Victor Poughon] has given it a go though, using a bank of LEDs and an interesting lens system.

We’re used to lenses being something that can be bought off-the-shelf, but this design eschews that convenience by having the lenses manufactured and polished as an array, by JLC. The scattering is taken care of by a sheet of inkjet printer film, and the LEDs are mounted on a set of custom PCBs.

The result is certainly a very bright light, and one whose collimation delivers a sun-like effect of coming from a great distance. It may not be as bright as the real thing, but it’s certainly something close. If you’d like something to compare it to, it’s not the first such light we’ve featured.

WEDNESDAY EDITION: I love this hobby, it takes he place of work!....Nearfest tickets available at HRO in Salem, it's just around the corner....

EMAIL:

Heath’s First Amateur Radio Kits

Heath’s first Ham rig, the AT-1 transmitter, was introduced for Christmas of 1951 at $29.50. That’s equivalent to about $390.00 today, which is still a low-priced piece of amateur radio equipment as things go. The AT-1 was a pretty simple radio. There was a 6AG7 oscillator and a 6L6 amplifier. Of course you needed a rectifier, and that was the 5U4, developing a few hundred volts for the 6L6 amplifier and 6AG7 crystal oscillator. The radio covered 80, 40, 20 and 10 meters. It was CW only, with a whopping 12 to 16 watts of output power. It had a socket on the back for a VFO. As you can see from the photograph below, the main source of frequency control was a crystal, housed in the old FT-243 style case. The AT-1 was a very popular product, and its sales certainly sent a message within Heath Company: Ham radio equipment was going to be a big market for kits.

Heath’s next move in amateur radio products was to start introducing various accessories: the VF-1 VFO, built around a 6AU6, appeared in 1952. It was very popular. I had one of them as a young high school student. The AC-1 antenna coupler (the first of the Heathkit antenna tuners), consisted of a coil with switched taps and a variable capacitor, and it used a neon bulb as a tuning indicator. It sold for a whopping $14.50, so it made a great little Christmas present. Heath also offered a grid-dip meter called the GD-1. That was one of the first kits that I owned, and I still have it somewhere. The GD-1 went from 2 to 250 megacycles, and it would go down to 350 KHz, whoops, kilocycles as it was called in that time, with optional accessory coils. It used a 6AF4 or a 6T4, and I suspect the tube that was shipped in the kit depended on inventory on hand.

In the first two years, Heath sold more than 15,000 of those little grid-dip meters. Very quickly, Heath realized that test equipment for the Ham market was going to be a very good product line. The tube-based grid-dip meter was replaced in 1960 by a grid dipper that used a tunnel diode. Clearly, some of these Ham products lasted a long time, considering that the original grid-dip meter lasted eight years.

Another big and very, very well-known transmitter kit was the DX-100, which Heath introduced in 1955. It sold for $189. I didn’t do a long-term pricing on that one, but it’s got to be up there in the many, many hundreds of equivalent dollars. It covered 160 through 10 meters, including 11 meters. It boasted 100 watts on AM, and 120 watts on CW. This radio represents a very early use of dual 6146 final output tubes. Heath pioneered that area.

Heath was beginning to do some pretty innovative circuit design in the mid-1950s. The DX-100 had built-in VFOs and four crystal positions. It also weighed a hundred pounds. That was unbelievably heavy when you think of today’s modern transceivers. The original DX-100 had a copper-plated steel chassis. Later Heath introduced an upgraded version with a couple of changes. The copper-clad chassis became a plated-steel chassis. The number of crystal positions was reduced to one, and I think that one crystal may have been internal to the unit because it was becoming very clear that Hams wanted a VFO.

By 1956, one Heath flyer had 22 pages of products, and Heath was mailing three or four flyers a year. By now, at least two pages of each flyer were devoted to amateur radio. The key product, the DX-100, was the big headliner. Heath had also introduced a receiver, the AR-3. The VF-1 VFO was still a big seller. You couldn’t put an AC-1 antenna tuner on the DX-100 because it could not handle the DX-100’s output power.

The DX-35 transmitter was aimed at novices. That was my first commercial transmitter. It was crystal-controlled, selling for $56, but you could connect a VFO to it. It was a good novice transmitter. The AM-1 was an antenna meter, which allowed you to measure antenna impedance. You could put the QF-1 Q-Multiplier on a receiver, which allowed you to sharpen the tuning or null interfering signals. And, of course, there was the GD-1 grid dip meter, which went through several small design variations.

Heath offered nine amateur radio products and 42 test equipment kits in 1956. The real focus was on service instruments at that time. Black and white TVs based on vacuum tubes were going into everyone’s home, and their reliability was questionable at best, so there was a huge need for lots of test equipment. Many people were running small service shops, especially part time, out of their homes and basements, and they all needed test equipment.

Twisting Magnetism to Control Electron Flow

If you ever wished electrons would just behave, this one’s for you. A team from Tohoku, Osaka, and Manchester Universities has cracked open an interesting phenomenon in the chiral helimagnet α-EuP3: they’ve induced one-way electron flow without bringing diodes into play. Their findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The twist in this is quite literal. By coaxing europium atoms into a chiral magnetic spiral, the researchers found they could generate rectification: current that prefers one direction over another. Think of it as adding a one-way street in your circuit, but based on magnetic chirality rather than semiconductors. When the material flips to an achiral (ferromagnetic) state, the one-way effect vanishes. No asymmetry, no preferential flow. They’ve essentially toggled the electron highway signs with an external magnetic field. This elegant control over band asymmetry might lead to low-power, high-speed data storage based on magnetic chirality.

If you are curious how all this ties back to quantum theory, you can trace the roots of chiral electron flow back to the early days of quantum electrodynamics – when physicists first started untangling how particles and fields really interact.

There’s a whole world of weird physics waiting for us. In the field of chemistry, chirality has been covered by Hackaday, foreshadowing the lesser favorable ways of use. Read up on the article and share with us what you think.

 

TUESDAY EDITION: Times sure have changed in Boston....

Answer: Plastic Pocket Protector

It's been years since I've seen a plastic pocket protector, but it was designed to slip into your shirt pocket and hold your ink pens. Geek fashion dictated that you not only have a plastic pocket protector, but also have multiple pens tucked into it.

ARRL Files Comments Responding to FCC Request for Input

Extended Hours for Voice of America Museum During Hamvention

Editor's Note: I highly recommend taking the time to stop by the museum on the way into Hamvention. Wonderful collections and exhibits, and great insight into VOA history.

The following press release is from the National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting:

The National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting in conjunction with the West Chester Amateur Radio Association announce expanded hours for the museum during the 2025 Hamvention.

We will be open for the following;

• Thursday May 15th from 12:00 to 9:00 PM
• Friday May 16th from 12:00 to 9:00 PM
• Saturday May 17th from 12:00 to 9:00 PM
• Sunday May 18th from 12:00 to 5:00 PM

Admission is $10.00 at the door. Our Amateur Radio station WC8VOA will be on the air to operate. The museum is a short drive from Hamvention down either Interstate 75 or Route 42 from Xenia. GPS use Crosley Blvd. New exhibits include a dedicated room for vintage Amateur Radio and shortwave equipment. See the first transmitter for the VOA from 1942. Amateur Radio shack with state of the art equipment from Yaesu, Icom and Elecraft. Docents and ARS operators will be available to enhance your visit to the museum. The museum has recently undergone a major renovation with many upgrades to our galleries including a newly paved parking lot.

For further information you can visit us at voamuseum.org or wc8voa.org on the web. You can also find us on Facebook at National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting. Our regular hours are Saturdays and Sundays 1:00 until 4:00 PM.

We are located at 8070 Tylersville Road, West Chester, Ohio 45069. Phone at 513-777-0027.

 

MONDAY EDITION: Sunny start here on the isle, we haven't seen sun in days....South Korea has a statutory workweek of 52 hours, which might be insufficient for Samsung as its rivals are outpacing it in the semiconductor race because the technology giant became the first company in the region to receive approval from the government to increase its weekly working hours to 64. This extension will be applied to the firm’s R&D staff focused on chip making, with the change expected to propel Samsung’s competitiveness in the industry.  ARTICLE...

For immediate release

At its meeting on March 27, 2025, the Board of Directors of Radio Amateurs of Canada voted unanimously to cancel RAC’s plans to operate a booth at Hamvention (Dayton) in Xenia, Ohio in May. This decision was not taken lightly and was made with deep regret as our members and volunteers always look forward to attending this significant international event. 

Lors de sa réunion du 27 mars 2025, le Conseil d’administration de Radio Amateurs du Canada a voté à l’unanimité l’annulation du projet de RAC de tenir un kiosque à la “Hamvention” (Dayton) organisée en mai à Xenia, en Ohio. Cette décision n’a pas été prise à la légère et a été rendue avec un profond regret, car nos membres et bénévoles ont toujours hâte d’assister à cet important événement international. 

The relationship between Canada and the United States has become increasingly strained due to recent trade disputes and tariffs imposed by the US government. Adding to these challenges, controversial remarks from US leaders, including suggestions of Canada becoming the 51st state, have heightened concerns about Canadian sovereignty. 

Les relations entre le Canada et les États-Unis sont de plus en plus tendues en raison des récents différends commerciaux et des tarifs douaniers imposés par le gouvernement américain. En plus de ces défis, les remarques controversées faites par divers dirigeants américains, au nombre desquelles les suggestions selon lesquelles le Canada deviendrait le 51e État, ont accru les inquiétudes concernant la souveraineté canadienne.

For Canadians, these tensions have had tangible impacts and there has been a decline in cross-border travel and tourism.

Pour les Canadiens, ces tensions ont eu des répercussions tangibles et se sont notamment traduites par une réduction des voyages transfrontaliers et du tourisme.

It is a complex and evolving situation, but it is our hope that we will be able to return to Hamvention in future years and we hope that Canadian Amateurs who do attend the event will have a safe and enjoyable experience.

Il s’agit là d’une situation complexe et susceptible d’évoluer d’heure en heure, mais nous espérons que nous pourrons retourner à la “Hamvention” dans les années à venir, et que les amateurs canadiens qui assisteront à cet événement vivront une expérience agréable en toute sérénité.

Allan Boyd, VE3AJB/VE3EM
RAC President / Président de RAC

Effort to Save Marconi Towers in Canada – Public Invited to Vote on Project

WEEKEND EDITION: The club has its meeting today with plans to organize Field Day.....Nearfest is in the horizon as well, New Englands best hamfest....

RTL-SDR with Only a Browser

Surely by now you’ve at least heard of RTL-SDR — a software project that let’s cheap TV tuner dongles work as a software-defined radios. A number of projects and tools have spun off the original effort, but in his latest video, [Tech Minds] shows off a particularly unique take. It’s a Web browser-based radio application that uses WebUSB, so it doesn’t require the installation of any application software. You can see the program operating in the video below.

There are a few things you should know. First, you need the correct USB drivers for your RTL-SDR. Second, your browser must support WebUSB, of course. Practically, that means you need a Chromium-type browser. You may have to configure your system to allow raw access to the USB port, too.

Watching the video, you can see that it works quite well. According to the comments, it will work with a phone, too, which is an interesting idea. The actual Web application is available as open source. It isn’t going to compete with a full-fledged SDR program, but it looked surprisingly complete.

These devices have grown from a curiosity to a major part of radio hacking over the years. Firefox users can’t use WebUSB — well, not directly, anyway.

Amateur Radio Newsline Report

MOUNT ATHOS CONTACTS DEEMED VALID TOWARD DXCC

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Our top story brings us the resolution of a question that had been simmering since the Mt. Athos DXpedition team terminated its activation suddenly this past January amid controversy. If you contacted the team, there is some good news for you, as we hear from Jim Damron N8TMW.

JIM: The DXCC Desk of the ARRL has determined that contacts made with the SV1GA/A team at Mt. Athos this past January meet the criteria for counting toward the DXCC award program. The ARRL made the announcement on its website on Friday, the 4th of April. DX chasers had been waiting to hear whether their QSOs counted ever since the team's planned 10-day operation was quickly and unexpectedly halted amid controversy. Local authorities challenged whether the hams had obtained the appropriate permission to be there.

Mt. Athos, an autonomous region governed by the monastic community in northeastern Greece, is a World Heritage Site and 28th on the ClubLog Most Wanted List.

The ARRL ended its announcement by saying: [quote] "Any future operations by this team from Mt. Athos will require additional documentation for securing accreditation for DXCC credit." [endquote]

This is Jim Damron N8TMW.

(ARRL)

**
HAMS INVITED TO MONITOR METEOR SCATTER EVENTS

SKEETER/ANCHOR: There will be April showers - meteor showers, that is - and volunteers are needed to monitor an event this month that is known as the Lyrids shower. Andy Morrison K9AWM has the details

ANDY: This is a big year for meteor-scatter experiments to be conducted by HamSCI during the Perseids showers in August and the Geminids showers in December. For hams who are hoping to participate in either or both of the Meteor Scatter QSO Parties taking place during those events, there is important work to be done this month.

The citizen science research group is encouraging operators to get ready by setting up your equipment now in time for the Lyrids shower, which will be peaking on the 21st and 22nd of April. The days before and after those dates are also expected to provide good opportunities to take advantage of meteor scatter. Radio operators may participate either actively by calling CQ or passively, by monitoring and reporting.

Operators may use MSK144 within the WSJT-X software on both 10 and 6 metres. SWLs and hams may also participate passively by monitoring via PSK Reporter to send in their findings.

Details about HamSCI’s plans for the meteor-scatter investigations can be found at the link that appears in the text version of this week’s newscast at arnewsline.org

This is Andy Morrison K9AWM.

DO NOT READ hamsci.org/msqp-poster

(HAMSCI)

**
HAMS WEIGH IN ON FCC INVITATION FOR REGULATION COMMENTS

SKEETER/ANCHOR: With Friday, April 11th, as its deadline for initial comments, the US Federal Communications Commission will begin reviewing public suggestions on what regulations to cut to reduce unnecessary agency burdens - regulations covering everything from commercial broadcasting to consumer wireless devices to satellite operation. Outside the commercial sector, ham radio operators have weighed in too, as we hear from Paul Braun WD9GCO.

PAUL: Suggestions varied widely among hams who responded to the FCC’s invitation – but for the most part there appeared to be a strong call for continued regulation of amateur radio with no changes to the three-tier license system or testing. Some hams did request changes - either that the license system be streamlined - or simply be eliminated.

The spectrum appeared to be a major concern, as some hams pressed the FCC to retain amateur privileges on the current bands. The FCC has set April 28th as the deadline for reply comments. All filings on the FCC website should be made in reference to Docket Number 25-133.

This is Paul Braun WD9GCO.

(FCC, RADIO WORLD)

**
'MUD MOSEY' IS A RAIN OR SHINE EVENT

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Using the communications style of a tactical net, a team of hams in Pennsylvania has become a reliable source of reassurance at an event known as a "Mud Mosey." Travis Lisk N3ILS explains.

TRAVIS: The forecast for Saturday, April 12th is irrelevant. Under gray skies or sun, the second annual Great Marsh Mud Mosey and Mud Walk moves forward in Pennsylvania.

As Tom Costello, KC3TMT, told Newsline: [quote] “It’s rain or shine, that’s why they call it the Mud Mosey.” [endquote]

Tom is at the helm of a collection of hams from Remote Communications and Command – or RCOMM for short. This is the second year they are serving as communications support for this fundraiser, which benefits the Great Marsh Institute, a 700-acre natural and scientific environment and ChesCo Search Dogs, a nonprofit group that works with search and rescue operations.

The job for the team of 15 amateurs at the Mud Mosey is to keep the line of communications open on 2-meter simplex through a modified tactical net for the benefit of the 80 to 100 runners or walkers on the 5-kilometer path. The trail – like the event name suggests – can get more than a little bit down and dirty, even for the more mellow participants who tackle their shorter route as a 1-mile walk. Tom said that next year's operations may be conducted with the addition of a mobile repeater.

The day is serious business but in a light, family-friendly party atmosphere. The Mud Mosey hour passes quickly and then the focus turns to the search-dog demonstrations, the DJ and the food and beverage trucks. That makes it all – hopefully – more fun-packed than mud-packed.

This is Travis Lisk N3ILS.

(TOM COSTELLO, KC3TMT)

**
HAM RADIO NEWS PRESENTER RETIRES AT 101

SKEETER/ANCHOR: From time to time, we here at Newsline like to acknowledge some of our colleagues in amateur radio media, people who - like us - work to keep hams around the world informed. One of them is retiring from the GB2RS newscast in the UK at the age of 101 - and we are about to learn more about him from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY: Happy birthday and happy retirement to Peter Valentine, GØNQZ, who upon reaching the age of 101 on the 12th of April, has decided to take things a little easier…..but only just a little. Peter is still an active radio ham and participant in regular nets, including the HF nets of the International Short Wave League and the Radio Amateurs Old Timers’ Association. Peter has to his credit an enviable record as a presenter for the Radio Society of Great Britain’s GB2RS report. Best wishes and see you on the air, Peter!

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(RSGB)

**
NOMINATE OUR NEXT YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Each year, the Amateur Radio Newsline Bill Pasternak Memorial Young Ham of the Year Award receives nominations of promising young hams who truly impress our judges. It is time once again to give them an opportunity at the recognition they deserve. Consider nominating an amateur radio operator 18 years of age or younger here in the continental United States. Consider someone who has talent, promise and a commitment to the spirit of ham radio. Find application forms on our website arnewsline.org under the "YHOTY" tab. We are accepting nominations through May 31st.

**
THE WORLD IS MARKING WORLD AMATEUR RADIO DAY

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Hams around the globe are marking World Amateur Radio Day on April 18th and ham radio clubs and other groups have been devoting a day - or even the whole month - to a variety of activities to celebrate the 100th year since the founding of the International Amateur Radio Union in Paris, France.

The IARU has declared the theme of this year's celebration - "Entering the Next Century of Amateur Radio Communications and Innovation."

Although the theme of the anniversary is forward-looking the IARU urged hams to appreciate the gains made in previous decades too. A message on its webpage noted that this is [quote] "a time to reflect on our achievements." [endquote]

Member societies in each region of the IARU will be marking the occasion in a variety of ways. Some are hosting open houses to demonstrate amateur radio to the public; others have already been on the air this month activating special event stations with callsigns ending in the suffix "W A R D." In Canada, the mayor of the capital city of Ottawa has issued the first municipal proclamation ever of Amateur Radio Day, as the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club and West Carleton Disaster Relief present demonstrations for the public at several locations

**
MONTANA CLUB GIVES HAM RADIO BOOKS TO REGIONAL LIBRARIES

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Avid readers might argue that the best books are the ones with a happy, or at least a pleasantly unexpected ending. A number of public libraries in Montana just received a new collection of donated books that contain no endings at all - just beginnings that hold promise. Ralph Squillace KK6ITB picks up the story from here.

RALPH: The possibilities are endless in amateur radio and so are the new books in the newest collection on the shelves of the Great Falls Public Library and other public libraries in Montana. The books were donated by the Great Falls Masonic Amateur Radio Club, which received a grant from the ARRL to provide library patrons with study guides for the Technician, General and Amateur Extra exams administered by the FCC.

John Ross, KD7HKF, the club's vice president, said the Great Falls library's bookmobile will also carry a set of the books. The ARRL grant has also funded collections of books for Montana's Cascade Library, Fairfield Library and the library at the Malmstrom Air Force Base. Meanwhile, the library and the club have agreed that ham radio orientation sessions will be held at the Great Falls library if enough community members are inspired to learn even more.

The relationship between amateur radio clubs and libraries in the US is a strong one. Previous such gifts of books have occurred at other libraries around the US, including the Jackson Amateur Radio Club, which donated books last year to the Madison County Library System in Mississippi and the Cowley County Amateur Radio Club, which made a similar donation earlier this year to the Arkansas City Public Library.

This is Ralph Squillace KK6ITB.

(GREAT FALLS MASONIC RADIO CLUB, ARRL)

**
THIS BATTERY LOOKS GOOD ON PAPER BECAUSE IT'S PAPER

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Whoever said that in this electronic age we are becoming a paperless world obviously hasn't been introduced to some of the newest technology in batteries. Several of these highly portable sources of energy are still experimental. They do boast of being environmentally friendly -- and all make use of paper as a key ingredient. Kent Peterson KCØDGY tells us about them.

KENT: Researchers are developing batteries that are made partially of paper and the results have been showing varying degrees of promise, though none of them appear ready yet for portable ham radio. In France, a company called BeFC is pioneering what it considers to be a single-use, eco-friendly alternative to the small button battery that is fully compostable when the user is done with it. More of a paper-based bioenzymatic fuel cell than an actual battery, it releases energy when moisture is released and comes into contact with the sugar and enzymes that are infused into a layer of paper between the unit's carbon electrodes. Generating only .75 (point seven five) volts, it still has a long way to go before it can power more than perhaps a sensor or medical device someday.

In Singapore, researchers at the startup company, Flint, claim that they have a rechargeable battery-in-the-works that will ultimately replace lithium batteries for use in grid storage and electric-vehicle power. Like the French battery, it too is designed to be compostable and it makes use of the cellulose in paper for the transfer of ions.

Ten years ago, researchers in the US, at Binghamton University in upstate New York, developed what they called "microbial paper-based batteries," that is, they derive their power from bacteria's metabolism. Like its French counterpart, however, the output has been deemed too low for practical use.

So the research continues. To scientists, for now, it all looks good on paper.

This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY.

(YOUTUBE, NEWATLAS.COM, BINGHAMTON.EDU)

**
WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, Nobu,JAØJHQ, is on the air as T88PB from Koror, IOTA number OC-ØØ9, Palau on the 11th through to the 13th of April. Nobu is also participating in the CW portion of the Japan International DX Contest that weekend. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

Two special callsigns are being activated to mark special occasions for hams in Cyprus. The callsigns 5B5ØCARS and 5B100IARU will be on the air to mark the 50th anniversary of the Cyprus Amateur Radio Society and the Centenary of the International Amateur Radio Society, respectively. Activity is expected on the 15th and the 18th of April and again on the 25th and 26th of April. The hams are also celebrating the 75th anniversary of IARU Region 1. See QRZ.com for QSL and certificate details.

Listen for Luke, ZS6LUK, using the callsign A25LUK on the air from Botswana until the 30th of April. Luke is operating SSB, FT8 and JS8Call on 40, 30, 20 and 10 metres. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

Markus, DJ4EL, is on the air holiday style as IF9/DJ4EL, from the Egadi Islands, IOTA number EU-Ø54, from the 13th through to the 23rd of April. Markus will operate SSB on 40-10 metres from SOTA and POTA sites on the islands of Favignana, Levanzo and Marettimo. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

(425 DX BULLETIN)

**
KICKER: HAMS' STEADY CLIMB TO SUCCESS FOR FM RADIO STATION

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Who understands the pain of not being able to get on the air better than an amateur radio operator? So when a small community broadcast station in Australia developed an issue that hampered their ability to transmit, some local hams came in to help them troubleshoot. Graham Kemp VK4BB has our final story for this week.

GRAHAM: The friendly voice of WAY-FM, along with its news and music, had been silent for too long. The Christian-based, listener-supported community station needed even more support - in this case, amateur radio support - to get back on the air. The problem was twofold, both with the 10 metre high base link antenna and at the broadcaster's remote transmitter station. The cause wasn't completely clear though until Hayden, VK7HH, and his friend Nicholas hiked up a rugged mountain 1100 metres above sea level in Tasmania on the 29th of March, repaired the solar powered, FM-Band transmitter station by installing a temporary, self-built, antenna and got the station back on the air.

Hayden told Newsline in an email that all they had to do was swap the feed lines over to another set of antennas for the studio-transmitter link to the remote site and install the temporary main transmitter antenna.

The existing antennas were showing a bad SWR resulting in the transmitter folding back the power to protect itself.

The two-hour drive up - and another 1.5-hours back - plus the 3-km hike afterward up steep slopes was well worth the effort.

A Hacker’s Approach to All Things Antenna

When your homebrew Yagi antenna only sort-of works, or when your WiFi cantenna seems moody on rainy days, we can assure you: it is not only you. You can stop doubting yourself once and for all after you’ve watched the Tech 101: Antennas webinar by [Dr. Jonathan Chisum].

[Jonathan] breaks it all down in a way that makes you want to rip out your old antenna and start fresh. It goes further than textbook theory; it’s the kind of knowledge defense techs use for real electronic warfare. And since it’s out there in bite-sized chunks, we hackers can easily put it to good use.

The key takeaway is that antenna size matters. Basically, it’s all about wavelength, and [Jonathan] hammers home how tuning antenna dimensions to your target frequency makes or breaks your signal. Whether you’re into omnis (for example, for 360-degree drone control) or laser-focused directional antennas for secret backyard links, this is juicy stuff.

If you’re serious about getting into RF hacking, watch this webinar. Then dig up that Yagi build, and be sure to send us your best antenna hacks.

Interesting ARRL Ham Radio Open House Locations

Effort to Save Marconi Towers in Canada – Public Invited to Vote on Project

Which Browser Should I Use In 2025?

Over the history of the Web, we have seen several major shifts in browsing software. If you’re old enough to have used NCSA Mosaic or any of the other early browsers, you probably welcomed the arrival of Netscape Navigator, and rued its decline in the face of Internet Explorer. As Mozilla and then Firefox rose from Netscape’s corpse the domination by Microsoft seemed inevitable, but then along came Safari and then Chrome. For a glorious while there was genuine competition between browser heavyweights, but over the last decade we’ve arrived at a point where Chrome and its associated Google domination is the only game in town. Other players are small, and the people behind Firefox seem hell-bent on fleeing to the Dark Side, so where should we turn? Is there a privacy-centric open source browser that follows web standards and doesn’t come with any unfortunate baggage in the room? It’s time to find out.

It’s All In The Engine

If you look at the breadth of standards which a modern web browser has to support, it’s clear that writing a web browser is a Herculean task. Many browsers take the route of not trying to implement everything, for example minimalist browsers such as Dillo or NetSurf concentrate only on rendering web pages. For the purposes of this piece we’re looking at full-fat browsers capable of being a daily driver though, and for that a browser needs some very capable software. Many development teams are not capable of writing such a browser engine, and thus use one developed for another browser. Despite there being many names on the table then, peering under the hood there are surprisingly few options. The Apple Webkit and Google Blink family of browsers dominate, followed by Mozilla Gecko and its Goanna fork, and then by promising bit-part players such as Servo, or the Ladybird browser’s LibWeb. Having so much of the web’s browser software dominated by Apple and Google is not an ideal situation, but it’s where we find ourselves.

So Where Did Hackaday Land?

Over the course of writing for Hackaday it’s inevitable that a bunch of different browsers will find their way on to my bench. Some of them like Ladybird or Servo I would love the chance to use as my daily driver, but they simply aren’t mature enough for my needs. Others such as Brave have too much of a whiff of controversy around them for someone seeking a quiet life of open-source obscurity. As I write this I have a preposterous number of browsers installed on my machine, and if there’s one thing which the experience has taught me it’s that they are much more the same than I expected. In three decades our expectation of a browser has homogenised to the extent that I’m hard pressed to tell between them. How do I pick one, without blindly throwing a dart at a corkboard covered in browser logos?

In the end, I looked for two candidates, one each from the Firefox and Apple/Google orbits. I tried them all, and settled on LibreWolf from the former, and Vivaldi from the latter. LibreWolf because it’s done a fine job of making Firefox without it being Firefox, and Vivaldi because its influence from the early Opera versions gave it a tiny bit of individuality missing in the others. I set up both with my usual  Hackaday bookmarks, tabs, and shortcuts, changed the search engine to the EU-based Qwant. I’m ready to go, with a bit more control over how my data is shared with the world once more.

A refugee from the early Web writes…

It’s a fairly regular occurrence, that I will Do a Linux Thing in my hackerspace, only to have one of my younger friends point out a much newer and better tool than the one I know, which I probably learned to use some time in the mid-1990s. I’ve fond looking at web browsers to be in some respects a similar experience even if the browsers are much closer to each other than I expected, because for a couple of decades now I’ve been a Firefox user simply because Firefox was the plucky upstart open-source browser. Mozilla’s previous attempts to take Netscape 6 and make it the only piece of Internet software you needed were horribly bloated, and Firefox, or “Phoenix” as it launched, was an easy choice. Just as my operating system journey taught me about software complacency a couple of years ago, so I’ve now had the same awakening in the browser. The Web will never look the same again.

 

THURSDAY EDITION: Local ham Jim-K1TT launched a balloon this morning from Rockport and it is out over the Atlantic at 11,000 feet last I tracked it. Link is Spot Search Dashboard - Traquito.....expand the screen over the ocean by Boston and you will see a trail, it transmits every so many minutes, click on the circle and it tells altitude, temp, and wind speeds. It uses WSPR to track on 20 meters...

RAC Votes to Cancel Attendance at Hamvention

Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC), the national association for amateur radio in Canada, has voted to cancel plans to attend and operate a booth at Hamvention in Ohio. The organization cited heightened tensions between Canada and the United States as contributing to its decision.

The relationship between Canada and the United States has become increasingly strained due to recent trade disputes and tariffs imposed by the US government. Adding to these challenges, controversial remarks from US leaders, including suggestions of Canada becoming the 51st state, have heightened concerns about Canadian sovereignty.

RAC hopes to return to Hamvention in the future.

 

WEDNESDAY EDITION: Sunny and cold and a good showing of hams at the club this morning for coffee and donuts....

The ARRL Repeater Directory® — 2025 Edition Now Powered by RepeaterBook

 So What is a Supercomputer Anyway?

Over the decades there have been many denominations coined to classify computer systems, usually when they got used in different fields or technological improvements caused significant shifts. While the very first electronic computers were very limited and often not programmable, they would soon morph into something that we’d recognize today as a computer, starting with World War 2’s Colossus and ENIAC, which saw use with cryptanalysis and military weapons programs, respectively.

The first commercial digital electronic computer wouldn’t appear until 1951, however, in the form of the Ferranti Mark 1. These 4.5 ton systems mostly found their way to universities and kin, where they’d find welcome use in engineering, architecture and scientific calculations. This became the focus of new computer systems, effectively the equivalent of a scientific calculator. Until the invention of the transistor, the idea of a computer being anything but a hulking, room-sized monstrosity was preposterous.

A few decades later, more computer power could be crammed into less space than ever before including ever higher density storage. Computers were even found in toys, and amidst a whirlwind of mini-, micro-, super-, home-, minisuper- and mainframe computer systems, one could be excused for asking the question: what even is a supercomputer?

Today’s Supercomputers

Perhaps a fair way to classify supercomputers  is that the ‘supercomputer’ aspect is a highly time-limited property. During the 1940s, Colossus and ENIAC were without question the supercomputers of their era, while 1976’s Cray-1 wiped the floor with everything that came before, yet all of these are archaic curiosities next to today’s top two supercomputers. Both the El Capitan and Frontier supercomputers are exascale (1+ exaFLOPS in double precision IEEE 754 calculations) level machines, based around commodity x86_64 CPUs in a massively parallel configuration.

Taking up 700 m2 of floor space at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and drawing 30 MW of power, El Capitan’s 43,808 AMD EPYC CPUs are paired with the same number of AMD Instinct MI300A accelerators, each containing 24 Zen 4 cores plus CDNA3 GPU and 128 GB of HBM3 RAM. Unlike the monolithic ENIAC, El Capitan’s 11,136 nodes, containing four MI300As each, rely on a number of high-speed interconnects to distribute computing work across all cores.

At LLNL, El Capitan is used for effectively the same top secret government things as ENIAC was, while Frontier at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) was the fastest supercomputer before El Capitan came online about three years later. Although currently LLNL and ORNL have the fastest supercomputers, there are many more of these systems in use around the world, even for innocent scientific research.

Looking at the current list of supercomputers, such as today’s Top 9, it’s clear that not only can supercomputers perform a lot more operations per second, they also are invariably massively parallel computing clusters. This wasn’t a change that was made easily, as parallel computing comes with a whole stack of complications and problems.

The Parallel Computing Shift

The first massively parallel computer was the ILLIAC IV, conceptualized by Daniel Slotnick in 1952 and first successfully put into operation in 1975 when it was connected to ARPANET. Although only one quadrant was fully constructed, it produced 50 MFLOPS compared to the Cray-1’s 160 MFLOPS a year later. Despite the immense construction costs and spotty operational history, it provided a most useful testbed for developing parallel computation methods and algorithms until the system was decommissioned in 1981.

There was a lot of pushback against the idea of massively parallel computation, however, with Seymour Cray famously comparing the idea of using many parallel vector processors instead of a single large one akin to ‘plowing a field with 1024 chickens instead of two oxen’.

Ultimately there is only so far you can scale a singular vector processor, of course, while parallel computing promised much better scaling, as well as the use of commodity hardware. A good example of this is a so-called Beowulf cluster, named after the original 1994 parallel computer built by Thomas Sterling and Donald Becker at NASA. This can use plain desktop computers, wired together using for example Ethernet and with open source libraries like Open MPI enabling massively parallel computing without a lot of effort.

Not only does this approach enable the assembly of a ‘supercomputer’ using cheap-ish, off-the-shelf components, it’s also effectively the approach used for LLNL’s El Capitan, just with not very cheap hardware, and not very cheap interconnect hardware, but still cheaper than if one were to try to build a monolithic vector processor with the same raw processing power after taking the messaging overhead of a cluster into account.

Mini And Maxi

One way to look at supercomputers is that it’s not about the scale, but what you do with it. Much like how government, large businesses and universities would end up with ‘Big Iron’ in the form of mainframes and supercomputers, there was a big market for minicomputers too. Here ‘mini’ meant something like a PDP-11 that’d comfortably fit in the corner of an average room at an office or university.

The high-end versions of minicomputers were called ‘superminicomputer‘, which is not to be confused with minisupercomputer, which is another class entirely. During the 1980s there was a brief surge in this latter class of supercomputers that were designed to bring solid vector computing and similar supercomputer feats down to a size and price tag that might entice departments and other customers who’d otherwise not even begin to consider such an investment.

The manufacturers of these ‘budget-sized supercomputers’ were generally not the typical big computer manufacturers, but instead smaller companies and start-ups like Floating Point Systems (later acquired by Cray) who sold array processors and similar parallel, vector computing hardware.

Recently David Lovett (AKA Mr. Usagi Electric) embarked on a quest to recover and reverse-engineer as much FPS hardware as possible, with one of the goals being to build a full minisupercomputer system as companies and universities might have used them in the 1980s. This would involve attaching such an array processor to a PDP-11/44 system.

Speed Versus Reliability

Amidst all of these definitions, the distinction between a mainframe and a supercomputer is much easier and more straightforward at least. A mainframe is a computer system that’s designed for bulk data processing with as much built-in reliability and redundancy as the price tag allows for. A modern example is IBM’s Z-series of mainframes, with the ‘Z’ standing for ‘zero downtime’. These kind of systems are used by financial institutions and anywhere else where downtime is counted in millions of dollars going up in (literal) flames every second.

This means hot-swappable processor modules, hot-swappable and redundant power supplies, not to mention hot spares and a strong focus on fault tolerant computing. All of these features are less relevant for a supercomputer, where raw performance is the defining factor when running days-long simulations and when other ways to detect flaws exist without requiring hardware-level redundancy.

Considering the brief lifespan of supercomputers (currently in the order of a few years) compared to mainframes (decades) and the many years that the microcomputers which we have on our desks can last, the life of a supercomputer seems like that of a bright and very brief flame, indeed.

 

TUESDAY EDITION: All quiet here on the island...

Special Event to Honor the Victims of 9-11

It was 25 years ago but We Do Remember You as if it was yesterday and always will.

Special Event to Honor the Victims of 9-11: New York City Shanksville PA. and Washington D.C.

Begin: September 06, 2025 00:01 GMT / 7:00 PM Central time
End: Thursday September 12, 2025 23:59 GMT / 6:59 PM Central time

Many members of the Alabama Contest Group will activate K4A for the fifth year. This year’s event will be called “9-11 We Do Remember.” We will operate all modes SSB, FT8, CW, and RTTY. We will try to be on all bands 160 through 10 meters, including WARC bands.

This year a new special QSL and certificate “We Do Remember” theme will be available.

To those who contact K4A on 3 bands using any combination of bands/modes we will offer a full color glossy certificate on heavy paper which will be mailed in a full size Manila envelope all postage paid by the Alabama Contest Group, even if you are DX.

If you qualify for the certificate send your QSL to WA1FCN. Put each QSO information on your QSL. We request a $3.00 donation to help cover cost of Special Event.

Or, for our QSL only (no certificate), send your QSL and your SASE to Bob Sarnecki NF7D.

Hacking a Heavyweight Philco Radio

There’s something magical about the clunk of a heavy 1950s portable radio – the solid thunk of Bakelite, the warm hum of tubes glowing to life. This is exactly why [Ken’s Lab] took on the restoration of a Philco 52-664, a portable AC/DC radio originally sold for $45 in 1953 (a small fortune back then!). Despite its beat-up exterior and faulty guts, [Ken] methodically restored it to working condition. His video details every crackling capacitor and crusty resistor he replaced, and it’s pure catnip for any hacker with a soft spot for analog tech. Does the name Philco ring a bell? Lately, we did cover the restoration of a 1958 Philco Predicta television.

What sets this radio hack apart? To begin with, [Ken] kept the restoration authentic, repurposing original capacitor cans and using era-appropriate materials – right down to boiling out old electrolytics in his wife’s discarded cooking pot. But, he went further. Lacking the space for modern components, [Ken] fabbed up a custom mounting solution from stiff styrofoam, fibreboard, and all-purpose glue. He even re-routed the B-wiring with creative terminal hacks. It’s a masterclass in patience, precision, and resourcefulness.

If this tickles your inner tinkerer, don’t miss out on the full video. It’s like stepping into a time machine.

MONDAY EDITON: A good weekend for me watching college basketball, Duke lost and UConn women won....Thought you'd like to share this safety hazard on your web site, Greg W1ECB https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8YdOG9biKU

MFJ Repairs

Please note that we are severely backlogged at the moment, a lack of techs and parts problems on repairs. Expect three month delays in some cases/product type.

Send unit, letter of explanation and a copy of your in-warranty purchase receipt to: MFJ Enterprises, Inc., Repair Department, 300 Industrial Park Road, Starkville, MS 39759.

MFJ charges $22.00 Fedex Home Delivery for repairs over 30 days from purchase date.  If new defective, under thirty days, return shipping will be covered.

If out-of-warranty, you will be charged $80 labor per hour plus parts and return shipping. 

Please put all pertinent contact information in your letter of explanation.  Cell phone, house phone, email address are all important information to have so we can contact you regarding your repair.

 300 Comments Submitted in response to In Re Delete, Delete, Delete

RadioWorld reports close to 300 comments filed in response to the recent FCC Public Notice, In Re: Delete Delete Delete (PDF). Responses related to amateur radio vary from keeping the status quo to eliminating amateur radio licensing completely.

A number of the comments received so far have focused on amateur radio and the fear that ham radio could be at risk. The possible loss of spectrum is among the concern

Read the RadioWorld article for a sampling of comments.

Hams have until April 11th to file comments related to the public notice. Reply comments will be accepted until April 28th. The ARRL is also expected to file comments taking into consideration feedback from its members.

ARRL DXCC Statement on Mount Athos Operation SV1GA/A

Tennessee Hams Rise Up: Amateur Radio Gains Traction After Deadly Tornadoes

As Tennessee communities begin recovery efforts following the devastating tornado outbreak on April 2–3, 2025, which resulted in at least seven fatalities and widespread destruction, a renewed interest in amateur radio—commonly known as ham radio—is emerging across the Volunteer State.

The storms produced multiple tornadoes, including an EF-3 in McNairy County that severely impacted the town of Selmer (Action News 5). The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) reported extensive damage in Fayette, Hardeman, and McNairy counties (Tennessee.gov). At the height of the storms, more than 300,000 customers were without power statewide (AP News).

In the aftermath, the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) played a critical role when conventional communication systems failed. ARES volunteers relayed emergency messages between local officials and hard-hit communities. This mirrors the response following Hurricane Helene in 2024, when ARES operators provided over 1,000 hours of emergency communications in areas where cell towers were down (ARRL.org).

The public has taken notice. In Kingsport, the Tri-Cities Amateur Radio Club reported an increase in licensing inquiries, while the Chattanooga Amateur Radio Club is offering a “Ham 101” session to meet growing interest. In Knoxville and Bristol, local clubs are also fielding calls from newcomers interested in emergency radio use.

 

FRIDAY EDITION: Only one month to Near-fest in NH, the best New England ham activity for years in its new location of course....

The Capacitor Plague of the Early 2000s

Somewhere between the period of 1999 and 2007 a plague swept through the world, devastating lives and businesses. Identified by a scourge of electrolytic capacitors violently exploding or splurging their liquid electrolyte guts all over the PCB, it led to a lot of finger pointing and accusations of stolen electrolyte formulas. In a recent video by [Asianometry] this story is summarized.

The bad electrolyte in the faulty capacitors lacked a suitable depolarizer, which resulted in more gas being produced, ultimately leading to build-up of pressure and the capacitor ultimately failing in a way that could be rather benign if the scored top worked as vent, or violently if not.

Other critical elements in the electrolyte are passivators, to protect the aluminium against the electrolyte’s effects. Although often blamed on a single employee stealing an (incomplete) Rubycon electrolyte formula, the video questions this narrative, as the problem was too widespread.

More likely it coincided with the introduction of low-ESR electrolytic capacitors, along with computers becoming increasingly more power-hungry, and thus stressing the capacitors in a much warmer environment than in the early 1990s. Combine this with the presence of counterfeit capacitors in the market and the truth of what happened to cause the Capacitor Plague probably involves a bit from each column, a narrative that seems to be the general consensus.

 

This is at Sun 'n fun in Lakeland FL towing a1946 Grumman Mallard. Kriss-KA1GJU at the airshow

THURSDAY EDITION: If China declares war, these ham radio enthusiasts could be crucial...Russian women 'only marrying soldiers to claim HUGE payout when they're killed on frontline'.....Teacher goes above and beyond for a biology lesson by wearing an anatomically correct suit

Solar-Powered E-Reader With No Buttons

Modern e-readers such as the Amazon Kindle are incredible pieces of engineering, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for improvement. A device custom-built to your own specifications is always going to provide a more satisfying experience than something purchased off the shelf. That’s why [fel88] put together this custom e-reader which offers a number of unique features, such as a solar panel on the back and button-free operation.

One issue with modern e-readers, at least as [fel88] sees it, is that they have a lot of unnecessary features. This project removes most of them, stripping down the device to its core functionality: a straightforward menu for selecting books and gesture-sensing for navigating the menu as well as changing the pages. The only physical input on the device is a small reed switch to turn the device on. A 3D printed case holds the e-ink display and encloses the inner workings, driven by an Arduino Mega 2560 and powered by three lithium-ion capacitors (LICs) and a small solar panel.

By dropping all of the unnecessary features, the device doesn’t need to waste energy with things like WiFi or Bluetooth and can get around 880 pages on a single charge, not counting any extra energy coming in through the solar panel while it’s operating. The LICs will also theoretically improve its life cycle as well. If you’re still stuck with a paperweight when you formerly had a working e-reader, though, there are plenty of ways to bring old devices back to life as well.

Understanding the Basics of APRS and How to Get Started in APRS

Over the weekend, I got the chance to go to the Chattanooga Hamfest where the focus this year was “Preparedness Through Communications & Self-Reliance”. I was caught off guard (camera not setup very good for recording) and pleasantly surprised with the presentation on APRS given by Kenny Witt, KC4OJS and Bill Lewis, KM4KMO. This was a very informative presentation (see video below). More video clips on that presentation and another coming out soon.

1. What is APRS?

APRS stands for Automatic Packet Reporting System. It is a system that has been used by amateur radio operators to transmit real-time data about their position, speed and direction. If you desire more can be sent and received, like weather, messages and emergency information.

A basic station consist of a capable transceiver that is mounted in a vehicle and used to transmit the information over VHF. This allows it to be tracked on a map in near-real time.

2. What do you need to get started with APRS?

**For basic operation, an amateur radio operator who wants to use APRS just needs a capable radio and antenna.

Some APRS capable mobile transceivers (I am not recommending these, do your own research and please watch the video below) are:

• Yaesu FTM-400XDR
• Yaesu FT-2DR C4FM
• Kenwood DM-D710G
• Kenwood TH-D72A
• Anytone AT-D868UV
• Anytone AT-D578UVIII (I own this one)

The radio is used to transmit and receive the APRS signal.

For anyone wanting a more sophisticated and fully functional station you'll need more than just a radio and antenna. To build a fully capable APRS station you'll need a laptop, sound card and transceiver. It can be done very inexpensively. More on that later.

3. Where can you find a map of the world's current active stations?

The aprs map is a collection of all the active stations with their call signs and location. You can find an aprs map online. Go to APRS.fi.

4. How do I find my own position on the map?

In this section, we will explore how to use APRS.fi to find your location on map.

For Hams that use APRS this is a very common task, but most people may not know how to do this. So, how do we use APRS.fi to find our position on a map?

5. What is an example of useful data that can be provided by an APRS station?

An example of useful data that can be provided by an APRS station is the location of an accident or the location of an emergency shelter.

APRS stations transmit data over a radio network. They are popular among amateur radio enthusiasts as they provide a way to share information about their location and status with others who may be nearby. The station transmits information about its location, speed, heading, and altitude.. You can also find out more on their website.

 

WEDNESDAY EDITION: I found sme LMR400 and made the jumper I needed for the duplexer Y connection, all is well.....Coffee and donuts  at the club this morning...Review of the Shack Master 600 power supply

Dwingeloo to Venus: Report of a Successful Bounce

Radio waves travel fast, and they can bounce, too. If you are able to operate a 25-meter dish, a transmitter, a solid software-defined radio, and an atomic clock, the answer is: yes, they can go all the way to Venus and back. On March 22, 2025, the Dwingeloo telescope in the Netherlands successfully pulled off an Earth-Venus-Earth (EVE) bounce, making them the second group of amateurs ever to do so. The full breakdown of this feat is available in their write-up here.

Bouncing signals off planets isn’t new. NASA has been at it since the 1960s – but amateur radio astronomers have far fewer toys to play with. Before Dwingeloo’s success, AMSAT-DL achieved the only known amateur EVE bounce back in 2009. This time, the Dwingeloo team transmitted a 278-second tone at 1299.5 MHz, with the round trip to Venus taking about 280 seconds. Stockert’s radio telescope in Germany also picked up the returning echo, stronger than Dwingeloo’s own, due to its more sensitive receiving setup.

Post-processing wasn’t easy either. Doppler shift corrections had to be applied, and the received signal was split into 1 Hz frequency bins. The resulting detections clocked in at 5.4 sigma for Dwingeloo alone, 8.5 sigma for Stockert’s recording, and 9.2 sigma when combining both datasets. A clear signal, loud and proud, straight from Venus’ surface.

The experiment was cut short when Dwingeloo’s transmitter started failing after four successful bounces. More complex signal modulations will have to wait for the next Venus conjunction in October 2026. Until then, you can read our previously published article on achievements of the Dwingeloo telescope.

TUESDAY EDITION: Anyone out in NH have a few feet of RG214 doubleshielded cable I can buy. I need a new jumper for the duplexer on 2 meters, thought I had some but can't find it....

The robot that captures Cold War radio stations via wi-fi

A desk companion that intercepts and plays encrypted radio communications—once popular during the Cold War era but still in use today.

Small and colorful, Cipherling is a gadget designed for radio enthusiasts. Using a Wi-Fi internet connection, this mini robot can pick up number stations scattered around the world and play their transmissions.

Number stations are encrypted radio broadcasts that have fascinated amateur radio operators, historians, and espionage enthusiasts for decades. Their operation is both simple and mysterious: a synthetic or human voice recites long strings of numbers, letters, or sounds, often accompanied by musical cues. 

Read more – Domus: https://bit.ly/4hZRhJb

An Interview with ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA

Caribe Wave 2025 Tsunami Exercise in Puerto Rico

MONDAY EDITION: I spent some time playing with the LDG AT1000 pro2 auto tuner over the weekend. It works fine but is one noisy tuner while finding the lowest swr. I find it a lot noisier and not as quick as my MFJ 986. I suppose with the memory it will learn the frequencies I use the most and proved an instant tune like the MFJ does. I bought it used from QRZ classified for $400 and so far I guess I m satisfied. I do have a few other LDG tuners for low power that I am very satisfied with. That leave my reliable manual Palstar 2K on the block, no more manual tuners in the shack, the Palstar tuner is a beauty but it  takes a little time going from band to band with the crank inductor but it will tune anything.....

Did Yankees' physicist-designed 'torpedo' bats play role in 9-HR power surge vs. Brewers?

The New York Yankees teed off on the Milwaukee Brewers at will Saturday, with some interesting equipment.

Amid a nine-homer, 16-hit demolition of the Brewers' pitching staff — which started with three straight homers off old friend Nestor Cortes and ended with a final score of 20-9 — YES Network broadcaster Michael Kay explained that at least a few of the Yankees were using a new type of bat.

Apparently, the Yankees have crafted a new sort of bat that reallocates some of the wood lower down on the barrel, putting more mass in the area that actually strikes the ball. It basically makes the end of the bat more shaped like a bowling pin.    ARTICLE

AMSAT-OSCAR 7: the Ham Satellite That Refused to Die

When the AMSAT-OSCAR 7 (AO-7) amateur radio satellite was launched in 1974, its expected lifespan was about five years. The plucky little satellite made it to 1981 when a battery failure caused it to be written off as dead. Then, in 2002 it came back to life. The prevailing theory being that one of the cells in the satellites NiCd battery pack, in an extremely rare event, shorted open — thus allowing the satellite to run (intermittently) off its solar panels.

In a recent video by [Ben] on the AE4JC Amateur Radio YouTube channel goes over the construction of AO-7, its operation, death and subsequent revival are covered, as well as a recent QSO (direct contact).

The solar panels covering this satellite provided a grand total of 14 watts at maximum illumination, which later dropped to 10 watts, making for a pretty small power budget. The entire satellite was assembled in a ‘clean room’ consisting of a sectioned off part of a basement, with components produced by enthusiasts associated with AMSAT around the world. Onboard are two radio transponders: Mode A at 2 meters and Mode B at 10 meters, as well as four beacons, three of which are active due to an international treaty affecting the 13 cm beacon.

Positioned in a geocentric LEO (1,447 – 1,465 km) orbit, it’s quite amazing that after 50 years it’s still mostly operational. Most of this is due to how the satellite smartly uses the Earth’s magnetic field for alignment with magnets as well as the impact of photons to maintain its spin. This passive control combined with the relatively high altitude should allow AO-7 to function pretty much indefinitely while the PV panels keep producing enough power. All because a NiCd battery failed in a very unusual way.

Blog – Hackaday Read More

WEEKEND EDITION: Received my  LDG 1000 auto tuner today and will box up my Palstar 2K, I am done with manual tuning on all my radios...

Fram2Ham SpaceX SSTV Event Starts March 31st

Scheduled to launch on Monday March 31st, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry the Fram2 mission to space. Comprised of four astronauts, the mission is designed to take a polar orbit around Earth for a 3-5 day period. During that time, astronaut and amateur radio operator Rabea Rogge (LB9NJ/KD3AID) will be transmitting SSTV images from the Dragon spacecraft between 435 and 438 MHz. (A simulation conducted from the International Space Station in February occurred on 437.550 MHz utilizing mode PD-120.)

Fram2Ham is an experimental radio competition open to high school and university ages. Rogge will send pictures of three geographical locations via an onboard ham radio, but here’s the twist: they’ll be cut into pieces and mixed up! Participants will receive only fragments of the locations and need to guess where on Earth they are and what their role in polar history was.

Visit the Fram2Ham website for more information or join the Discord server.

 I never knew NH and ME had so many radio clubs...

Maine Ham Radio Clubs

We know your favorite ham radio club will always be the Wireless Society of Southern Maine, but if you live outside the area, or if you just want to explore some others, here's a listing of Amateur Radio Clubs in Maine and New Hampshire:

Androscoggin Amateur Radio Club - Amateur radio club serving the Lewiston / Auburn area

Aroostook Amateur Radio Association - Amateur radio club serving Aroostook County since 1976

Augusta Amateur Radio Association - Amateur radio club serving the greater Augusta area

Bagley Amateur Radio Club - Home of the 147.000 K1WQ repeater, in Lincoln, ME

Bass Hill Repeater Group - Amateur radio club serving Franklin County

Ellsworth Amateur Wireless Association - Amateur radio club serving Ellsworth and surrounding areas

Lincoln County Amateur Radio Club - Serving Lincoln County, ME

Maine Amateur Radio Foundation -  Supporting recreational amateur radio and Emergency Communications throughout Maine

Maine Ham Radio Society - Amateur radio club based in Milbridge, ME

Merrymeeting Amateur Radio Association - Amateur radio club serving the greater Brunswick area

New England Radio Discussion Society - Amateur radio technical discussion group, based in the Kennebunk area

Pen Bay Amateur Radio Club - Amateur radio club serving the Midcoast

Pine State Amateur Radio Club - Home of the Hermon Hamfest

Piscataquis Amateur Radio Club - Amateur radio club serving the Maine Highlands since 1994

Portland Amateur Wireless Association - Maine's oldest Amateur Radio Club

Saint Croix Valley Amateur Radio Club - Amateur radio club serving Washington County, ME, and Charlotte County, NB

St. John Valley Amateur Radio Association - Amateur radio club serving Aroostook County and the St. John Valley

Waldo County Amateur Radio Association - Amateur radio club centered in Waldo County, ME

Waterville Area Wireless Association - Amateur radio club based in the Waterville area

Wireless Society of Southern Maine - Maine's most active ham radio club, serving greater Portland and Southern Maine

York County Amateur Radio Club (YCARC) Serving York County

New Hampshire Ham Radio Club

CCDX Amateur Radio Club - Amateur radio club serving the Monadnock Region and Cheshire County, NH

Central New Hampshire Amateur Radio Club - Serving Central New Hampshire, home of the Gunstock Mountain repeater

Contoocook Valley Radio Club - Amateur radio club serving the Henniker, NH and Contoocook Valley area since 1959

Granite State Amateur Radio Association - Amateur radio club serving the greater Manchester, NH area

Interstate Repeater Society - Amateur radio repeater society serving parts of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts

Lakes Region Repeater Association - A non-profit, rural amateur radio association located in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire.

Littleton Area Radio Klub - Serving the Littleton, NH area

Nashua Area Radio Society - Amateur radio club serving the greater Nashua, NH area

Port City Amateur Radio Club - Amateur radio club serving greater Portsmouth and Seacoast, NH

Saddleback Repeater Association - Home of the 147.000 W1SRA repeater, in Deerfield, NH

White Mountain Amateur Radio Club - Amateur radio club serving the Mount Washington Valley region, NH

 

Fram2Ham SpaceX SSTV Event Starts March 31st

Scheduled to launch on Monday March 31st, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry the Fram2 mission to space. Comprised of four astronauts, the mission is designed to take a polar orbit around Earth for a 3-5 day period. During that time, astronaut and amateur radio operator Rabea Rogge (LB9NJ/KD3AID) will be transmitting SSTV images from the Dragon spacecraft between 435 and 438 MHz. (A simulation conducted from the International Space Station in February occurred on 437.550 MHz utilizing mode PD-120.)

Fram2Ham is an experimental radio competition open to high school and university ages. Rogge will send pictures of three geographical locations via an onboard ham radio, but here’s the twist: they’ll be cut into pieces and mixed up! Participants will receive only fragments of the locations and need to guess where on Earth they are and what their role in polar history was.

Visit the Fram2Ham website for more information

Amateur Radio Newsline Report

EARTH-VENUS-EARTH BOUNCE A FIRST FOR NETHERLANDS

PAUL/ANCHOR: Our top story this week is a first for a radio telescope in the Netherlands which succeeded in bouncing amateur radio signals off Venus - the latest such achievement by scientists around the world. Stephen Kinford N8WB brings us this update.

STEPHEN: Amateur radio signals that were bounced off Venus some 26 million miles away, have returned to Earth where they were picked up by the Dwingeloo Radio Telescope, PI9RD, in the Netherlands, according to news reports on the 25th of March.

The achievement - the second of its kind in Europe - means that amateur radio signals covered a distance that is more than 100 times greater than those that are traveled by Earth-Moon-Earth, or moon-bounce signals.

Scientists’ fascination with using Venus-bounce dates back several decades when radar was bounced off the planet from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology here in the United States. Much later, radar from the Arecibo [ARRA SEE BO] Observatory in Puerto Rico was bounced off Venus and the signal's return to Earth was picked up by the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. The radar trace was used to create imagery of the planet's surface.

It was a German observatory that achieved what is considered a first for Europe using amateur radio waves: A team from AMSAT-DL achieved bounce and successful reception 16 years ago at the ground station at the Bochum observatory sending a CW signal. Until the Dwingeloo Venus-bounce, this was the only such achievement to date of its kind.

Meanwhile, in the US, a California not-for-profit group, the Open Research Institute, has begun a project as well involving Earth-Venus-Earth experimentation. ORI asks interested hams to contact them via their website, openresearch dot institute. That’s openresearch - one word - dot institute. (openresearch.institute)

This is Stephen Kinford N8WB.

(ORI, DWINGELOO OBSERVATORY, AMATEUR RADIO DAILY, SPACE.COM, AMSAT-DL)

**
OFCOM PROPOSES DIRECT SMARTPHONE-SATELLITE CONNECTIONS

PAUL/ANCHOR: Smartphone users in the UK could soon be able to connect wirelessly to satellites under a proposal being considered by that nation's regulator, as we learn from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY: The UK is poised to have the first European telecommunications system that enables standard smartphones to send and receive signals from space. The system, known as "direct-to-device" technology, connects smartphones wirelessly to satellites. A similar permission was recently authorised in the US by the Federal Communications Commission.

The UK regulator, Ofcom, is proposing to allocate radio frequencies for use in the UK, especially for rural and other currently underserved communication network areas and is inviting comments from the public until 20th of May. Ofcom believes that this could both facilitate sending texts and internet connections during outages, and that access would be allowed to the mobile airwaves for two-way communications between smartphones and satellite operators' networks. If approved, service could begin to roll out later this year.

There has already been a promising field test of the technology in January, under a trial licence issued to Vodafone, who, using a standard smartphone, completed the first satellite video call from a remote part of Wales currently without standard mobile network coverage.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(OFCOM, YAHOO FINANCE)

**
HAMS REACH OUT TO BOOST AUTISM AWARENESS

PAUL/ANCHOR: Autism spectrum disorder is often misunderstood -- but an international effort is going on the air starting on April 2nd to change all that. We have those details from Jack Parker W8ISH.

JACK: The call for autism awareness will be heard around the world during the week of April 2nd through to April 8th. Hams will be calling "CQ Special Event Autism Awareness Week," encouraging inclusion and awareness of the autism spectrum disorder.

This event is being organized for the third year by James Gallo, KB2FMH, who believes the best impact the activation can have is its engagement of other operators in ragchews or short chats about their experiences with autism. James says that because this is not a contest, the real prize is the experience of meaningful contact and conversation - spreading the word that it's OK to be different.

During last year's event, that message traveled far and wide. According to the QRZ.com page for W2A, operators around the world logged 17,129 QSOs, with signals traveling nearly 83 million miles.

In the US, listen for the callsign W2A. Listen for other stations around the world, including GB2AA, 8A2AAW, S76A, VO1BIG/VE3 and 7A2M.

Visit the QRZ.com page for W2A to see which callsigns are participating and to learn more about the autism spectrum disorder, which is an often-misunderstood diagnosis - or may go altogether undiagnosed.

This is Jack Parker W8ISH.

(QRZ.COM, JAMES GALLO, KB2FMH)

**
VOICE OF AMERICA MUSEUM REASSURES VISITORS

PAUL/ANCHOR: Although the US administration is making cuts to the parent agency of Voice of America and other international news services, the Voice of America Museum in West Chester, Ohio is assuring visitors that it is not affected by these government decisions. The museum is a standalone not-for-profit entity that relies on support from the public - not federal funding.

The museum's executive director, Jack Dominic, released a statement reassuring concerned hams and other callers that the museum will continue to tell the story of the Voice of America, even as the news agency itself goes silent. As always, the museum looks forward to seeing hams from around the world during Hamvention this coming May. Museum hours during Hamvention will be from noon to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday - that's May 15th through to May 17th - and on Sunday, May 18th, from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door. Amateur radio station WC8VOA will be on the air so bring a copy of your license.

(JACK DOMINIC, VOA MUSEUM)

**

A CW EVENT TURNS THE CALENDAR BACK TO 1935

PAUL/ANCHOR: Many of us are familiar with the twice-a-year-ritual of turning the clocks ahead or rolling them back but … how about turning the calendar back, say, 90 years? Andy Morrison K9AWM tells us why some CW ops simply can’t wait to do that.

ANDY: It’s time to put away your software-defined rig and enjoy being behind the times - way behind the times. The George Batterson 1935 QSO Party will devote two weekends in April to rigs that were either manufactured or home brewed in 1935 or before. CW ops will be looking to make QSOs on the weekends of April 5th through 7th and April 12th through 14th to honor the Silent Key George Batterson, W2GB, who was one of the original founders of the Antique Wireless Association based in upstate New York.

The CW ops are hoping for contacts with as many other 1935-era stations as possible on 160, 80, 40 and 20 meters – and they expect that, like the rigs themselves, the experience will be a classic.

This is Andy Morrison K9AWM.

**
HAMS AID ELDERLY WIDOW LOST FOR 2 MONTHS

PAUL/ANCHOR: An annual religious pilgrimage in India ended with an additional but unintended journey for an 80-year-old widow who is unable to speak - that is, until a group of hams helped her find her way home recently. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF has that story.

JIM: The Hindu pilgrimage known as the Gangasagar Mela left an 80-year-old participant lost and alone at the end of the event this past January. She had become separated from the group she had traveled with from her home state. Unable to speak, she was eventually taken to the local police station where officers assumed she was ill and transported her to the district hospital.

That’s when another group - an amateur radio organisation known as the West Bengal Radio Club - was called in by police to solve the mystery of where she was from. The club’s members are widely known for their robust communications network which has assisted scores of displaced persons over the years. Using amateur radio and other means, the club circulated information about the woman - and sent her photograph to amateur clubs around the country. Within a few hours, the response came back that the woman was from the state of Uttar Pradesh and had traveled to the annual pilgrimage by train with a group from the district of Ballia. The hams learned that during the past two months, several people from Ballia had returned to West Bengal to look for her but without success.

The hams provided the missing pieces to the puzzle and according to Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA, secretary of the radio club, the police in her home district have since been directed by the local magistrate to bring her safely home.

This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.

(SOCIAL NEWS XYZ, AMBARISH NAG BISWAS, VU2JFA)

**
SPECIAL EVENT IS TRIBUTE TO DXPEDITIONER ZORRO, JH1AJT/SK

PAUL/ANCHOR: In Fiji, a team of hams has been honoring a friend and fellow DXpeditioner who left a lasting legacy. We hear more from Jason Daniels VK2LAW.

JASON: The DXer, DXpeditioner and humanitarian known as Zorro, JH1AJT, left enduring footprints on the planet where so many entities in Asia and Africa spelled adventure for him on his activations. His legacy reflects his commitment beyond merely calling QRZ from those locales. His many humanitarian works include the establishment of the Foundation for Global Children in 2010. He also gave an endowment to the INDEXA’s Humanitarian Aid Fund. Zorro sought to improve the lives of people wherever his travels took him, especially children.

When he became a Silent Key in March of 2022 at the age of 72, his death from cancer left a void that his friends continue to fill in the same spirit with which Zorro lived his life. The special event station, 3D2AJT, has been on the air from Fiji since the 16th of March to honor Zorro and will continue through the end of April, with operators using CW, SSB, FT4, FT8 and VARAC. Four-page QSL cards will be available after the activation, featuring a collection of photos from Zorro’s life, and the statement from him: [quote] “I shall go wherever I am needed and I shall do whatever needs to be done.” [Endquote]

Three years after his passing, Zorro - Yasuo Miyazawa - continues to be remembered with this memorial activation, even as his other good works carry on as well.

For more details, see the QRZ.com page for 3D2AJT.

**

WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, listen for the callsign 4KØT on the air from the Khizi Mountains of Azerbaijan on the 29th and 30th of March. The team will be using SSB and FT8 on 80-10 meters. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

Dave, G4OSY, is using the callsign 8P9EI from Barbados, IOTA number NA-021, through to the 6th of April. Dave can be found on CW and SSB on 40-10 metres. QSL to his home callsigns.

Listen for Alex, K6VHF, who is calling QRZ as K6VHF/HR9 from Roatan Island, IOTA Number NA-Ø57, in Honduras from the 30th of March through to the 6th of April. Alex is using mainly the digital modes on 80-6 metres. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

THURSDAY EDITION: Anything you would like to post, send it to me at K1TP@yahoo.com.... pictures of your shack, antenna farm, whatever....Since I started filling up the bird feeders, the squirrels hae been doing their best to get to the feed. I can report their are two less of the little rats in my area thanks to the Ruger revolver with 22 shorts. Facts about the invasive little shits...

Certain species of ground squirrels hibernate underground without any food or water for up to eight months of the year. It’s a super-extreme survival strategy, enabled by a complicated cascade of physiological processes, some of which we understand and many of which scientists are still trying to figure out. Helping them along is funding and interest from heavy hitters in the research world like NASA, the European Space agency, and private aerospace companies, because–since the 1960’s–those with their eyes on the stars have wondered if human hibernation could enable us to travel farther and more safely in space.

Hibernation isn’t just a long nap. It’s closer to death than sleep. While in hibernation torpor, ground squirrels’ endure up to a 95 percent reduction in their metabolic rate. Their heart and respiration rates drop to a few beats and breaths per minute. Their brain waves go flat. Their body temperatures plummet to near freezing for some species (or even below freezing for Arctic ground squirrels). 

Yet amid all of this, the squirrels stay pretty healthy: maintaining muscle mass, reversing pre-hibernation diabetes, experiencing organ regeneration, stalling aging, and undergoing physiological shifts that can ward off things like radiation damage. For these reasons and more, scientists have been studying if we can harness the power of squirrel hibernation for ourselves. It could help propel us to outer reaches of the galaxy. Even if it doesn’t, it’s poised to fuel some big Earth-bound biomedical advances. Listen to learn more about squirrel-sicles, the challenges of long-distance space travel, and the ultimate in restorative rest

What’s Wrong With This Antenna Tuner?

[Tech Minds] built one of those cheap automatic antenna tuners you see everywhere — this one scaled up to 350 watt capability. The kit is mostly built, but you do have to add the connectors and a few other stray bits. You can see how he did it in the video below.

What was very interesting, however, was that it wasn’t able to do a very good job tuning a wire antenna across the ham bands, and he asks for your help on what he should try to make things better.

It did seem to work in some cases, and changing the length of the wire changed the results, so we would guess some of it might be a resonance on the antenna wire. However, you would guess it could do a little better. It is well known that if a wire is one of a number of certain lengths, it will have extremely high impedence in multiple ham bands and be challenging to tune. So random wires need to not be exactly random. You have to avoid those lengths.

In addition, we were surprised there wasn’t more RF protection on the power lines. We would probably have suggested winding some coax to act as a shield choke, RF beads, and even extra bypass capacitors.

Another possible problem is that the diodes in these units are often not the best. [PU1OWL] talks about that in another video and bypasses some of the power lines against RF, too.

If you have any advice, we are sure he’d love to hear it. As [PU1OWL] points out, a tuner like this can’t be any better than its SWR measurement mechanism. Of course, all of these tuners take a few watts to light them up. You can, however, tune with virtually no power with a VNA.

Dwingeloo Radio Telescope Achieves Earth-Venus-Earth Bounce

The Dwingeloo Radio Telescope has successfully bounced a radio signal off Venus and back to Earth. Transmitting at 1299.5 MHz, operators transmitted a 278 second long tone. While Dwingeloo received its own signal, the Stockert Radio Telescope located in Germany also received the same signal.

The data analysis consists of correcting the received data for both the expected Doppler shift and the rate of change of this Doppler shift due to the rotations and relative motions of Earth and Venus. After channelizing the received signal in 1 Hz frequency bins, the echo of the transmitted signal should fall exactly in the predicted bin.

Dwingeloo is planning another Venus bounce in October 2026.

Source: Dwingeloo Radio Telescope

Tsunami Amateur Radio Exercise This Weekend

On March 29th LAX Northeast will partner with several regional ARES groups to conduct a tsunami exercise utilizing Winlink.

This Tsunami Exercise encourages operators to send amateur radio messages to tactical address TSUNAMI during Tsunami Preparedness Week. The exercise encourages radio operators to improve their all-hazards preparedness and practice radio operations. This exercise is a volunteer effort.

All amateur radio operators are invited to participate.

 

WEDNESDAY EDITION: Later, going for coffee and donuts at the club

TUESDAY EDITION: The sun is finally out and a 36 degree windfree day has arrived..

A Simple Antenna that is Omnidirectional, Directional and NVIS?

Our winter weather may have a few weeks to run yet, but a relatively warm spell gave me the opportunity to get out into the Big Blue Sky Shack to try out another antenna idea. Destination: MacGregor Point Provincial Park on the Ontario shore of mighty Lake Huron. The shore ice still stretched quite a long way out onto the lake in the direction of Michigan, about 100 miles away and a cold wind was blowing in off the lake. Not perfect weather for outdoor operations – but good enough.

Purpose: to find out whether a simple idea could turn a humble vertical whip antenna into something more versatile. Could this be used as a directional antenna to focus a signal into a desired target area? Could it even be used as a cloud burner to shoot a Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS) signal straight up to the F2 layer for strong local coverage? I decided to find out.

The antenna was actually not quite a simple vertical, but close. It was the Ham Radio Outside the Box Coil-Loaded End-Fed Half-Wave (CLEFHW). Its advantage over a quarter-wave vertical is that no separate counterpoise wire is required – just a short length (about 18 inches) of coax terminated in a 1:1 unun.

This was also the first outing for a new ham-made radio backpack. The radio is a QRP Labs QMX (low band), built into a steel 30cal ammo box along with a Talentcell 3000mAh Li-Ion battery, Drox buck converter (to keep the voltage down to 12 volts – the QMX gets unhappy with excessive supply voltage). The Putikeeg paddle key has strong magnets on its base that lock it into place on the steel ammo box which keeps my keying from getting too erratic!

A second identical ammo box sits below the first one and contains all the spare parts that might be needed during an outdoor ops session (standby battery, spare cables, connectors etc).

Both boxes sit on a custom aluminum frame, secured by 1-inch webbing straps. The whole pack is carried by means of a set of 2-inch webbing shoulder and waist straps. In use the radio and key sit at just the right height when the operator is perched on a camping stool so no table is needed.

Why the military look?

Well, a couple of reasons there. First, I actually like the appearance of military style radio gear. Probably nostalgia because I was first introduced to ham radio in the 1960s and the first “amateur” radio I saw was a converted WW2 surplus No.19 Wireless Set. But second, and more importantly, the military and I have similar objectives – we both need rugged gear that can withstand the rigors of rough handling out in the field. Snow, mud, wind and rain all be damned – comms must continue regardless <smile>.

The canvas parachute bag at the front contains a selection of coax cables, as well as other wire antenna options.

The radio box at the top can be sealed by replacing the detachable lid. It has a rubber gasket to keep out the elements when the radio is not in use.

The radio box can be removed from the pack frame quickly and easily. I keep a wire bail for picnic table operation, although that luxury is a rare occurrence for me.

Orienting the antenna

The whip and loading coil are attached to the pack frame by means of an aluminum bracket with a 3/8×24 to SO-239 adapter. I wish they made a 3/8×24 to BNC adapter; instead I made up a short cable with a PL-259 on one end and a BNC on the other.

The bracket is the secret to the antenna’s versatility. As you can see in the picture, the pack frame has curved shoulders. By mounting the bracket on the straight portion of the pack frame, the whip remains vertical and vertical whip antennas have an omnidirectional radiation pattern.

Now, if the bracket is mounted on the curved shoulder of the pack frame the whip becomes oriented at an angle. As we shall explore in a moment, this creates a major lobe in the radiation pattern in a direction away from where the whip is pointing.

But doesn’t the weight of a leaning 18.5ft whip cause the whole pack to topple? Actually no. It was discovered that the weight of the two steel ammo boxes and contents are sufficient to counteract any potential gravitational instability. In fact during the field trial on the shore of Lake Huron the whole pack remained entirely stable, which is vital for this operator who cannot operate a set of paddles properly unless they are very securely mounted.

It is not necessary to set the antenna bracket too high on the curve of the pack frame because the whip itself is quite flexible which enhances the lean angle.

To operate in NVIS mode all we have to do is raise the bracket a little higher on the curve of the pack frame so that the top section of the whip lays almost horizontal a few feet above the ground. This method has been used on vehicles by the military so I have to credit them as the originator of the idea. It probably won’t perform as well as a low dipole, but it benefits from being self-supporting and quick to deploy.

How did the directional antenna perform?

The Huron shore trial tested the directional properties of the antenna. The wind coming off the lake was a little too cold for a long operating session and besides I had to find a small corner of the operating area that was sheltered and clear of snow and the vast expanse of thick mud created by the early spring thaw. So, the test was focused on checking the performance of the whip oriented as a sloper. A sloper is a simple, well-established way of getting directionality out of an antenna, but is usually achieved with a wire antenna. This unique version of that method gets the same effect with an entirely self-contained whip antenna in a rapid deployment portable radio pack.

A simple antenna such as this could not be expected to rival a Yagi-Uda beam but it does exhibit a very pronounced directional radiation pattern as EZNEC reveals in detail.

The elevation pattern shows a strong low angle lobe in the direction opposite to the lean of the whip. This should produce good DX results when the propagation conditions are favorable.

If we look at the azimuth propagation we can see that it is almost omnidirectional at low angles. The front/back is only about 2dB which is less than half an S-unit.

The real power of this antenna orientation can be seen when we examine the azimuth propagation at higher angles. In the third image we can see the radiation pattern at 60 degrees elevation. The front/back is now at around 13dB which is approximately 2 S-units.

60 degrees elevation is almost in NVIS territory and should provide excellent propagation over quite a wide area.

NB: For simplicity, these results were modeled using a full-length EFHW on 20m. If anybody wishes to model the exact configuration please note that the base loading coil is 6.6 microhenries and the whip is 18.5ft long. I chose not to go this route because the curve of a sloping telescopic whip is unpredictable (especially in the wind).

Could a puny 3.5 watt signal into a compromised whip antenna cut the mustard? On the principle that you can work DX with a wet noodle on the right day, then yes. Propagation conditions were moderate with a K-index of 3 on the day of the trial, but among my other contacts I did work a station in North Dakota (from my QTH is southern Ontario). That’s a distance of a little less than 2000km; not outstanding but encouraging.

Have Li-ion Batteries Gone Too Far?

he proliferation of affordable lithium batteries has made modern life convenient in a way we could only imagine in the 80s when everything was powered by squadrons of AAs, or has it? [Ian Bogost] ponders whether sticking a lithium in every new device is really the best idea.

There’s no doubt, that for some applications, lithium-based chemistries are a critically-enabling technology. NiMH-based EVs of the 1990s suffered short range and slow recharge times which made them only useful as commuter cars, but is a flashlight really better with lithium than with a replaceable cell? When household electronics are treated as disposable, and Right to Repair is only a glimmer in the eye of some legislators, a worn-out cell in a rarely-used device might destine it to the trash bin, especially for the less technically inclined.

[Bogost] decries “the misconception that rechargeables are always better,” although we wonder why his article completely fails to mention the existence of rechargeable NiMH AAs and AAAs which are loads better than their forebears in the 90s. Perhaps even more relevantly, standardized pouch and cylindrical lithium cells are available like the venerable 18650 which we know many makers prefer due to their easy-to-obtain nature. Regardless, we can certainly agree with the author that easy to source and replace batteries are few and far between in many consumer electronics these days. Perhaps new EU regulations will help?

Once you’ve selected a battery for your project, don’t forget to manage it if it’s a Li-ion cell. With great power density, comes great responsibility.

Meshtastic Adds Wireless Connectivity to Possum Trap

Perhaps every gardener to attempt to grow a tomato, lettuce, or bean has had to contend with animals trying to enjoy the food before the gardener themselves can, whether it’s a groundhog, rabbit, mouse, crow, or even iguana. There are numerous ways to discourage these mischievous animals from foraging the garden beds including traps, but these devices have their downsides as well. False alarms can be a problem as well as trapping animals that will be overly aggravated to be inside the trap (like skunks) and while the latter problem can’t easily be solved by technology, the former can with the help of Meshtastic.

[Norman Jester]’s problem was an errant possum, but these nocturnal animals generally come out while humans are asleep, and other nighttime animals like rats can activate the trap and then escape. To help with this, a Meshtastic node was added to the San Diego mesh using a 3.5mm audio jack as a detector. When the trap is activated, the closing door yanks a plug out of the jack, alerting the node that the trap has been closed. If it’s a false alarm the trap can be easily and quickly reset, and if a possum has found its way in then it can be transported to a more suitable home the next day.

It’s worth noting that American possums (distinct from the Australian animals of the same name) are an often-misunderstood animal that generally do more good than harm. They help to control Lyme disease, eat a lot of waste that other animals won’t, don’t spread rabies, and don’t cause nearly as much disruption to human life as other animals like feral cats or raccoons. But if one is upsetting a garden or another type of animal is causing a disturbance, this Meshtastic solution does help solve some of the problems with live traps. For smaller animals, though, take a look at this Arudino-powered trap instead.

 

 

MONDAY EDITION:

Elementary School Makes Radio Contact Astronaut Aboard the International Space Station (Florida)

On December 17, 2024, at 1:49 p.m. EST, students at Sally Ride Elementary School in Orlando, Florida, made live radio contact with NASA astronaut Commander Sunita Williams aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The ISS is an orbiting science laboratory about 250 miles above Earth. It travels at 17,500 miles per hour which is about five miles per second.

The ISS is about the size of a six-bedroom house. It has sleeping rooms, science labs, bathrooms, and places to exercise. Astronauts from different space agencies conduct research and experiments on the station. Using amateur radio technology, students at Sally Ride Elementary took turns asking Commander Williams questions.

“When Sunita Williams started talking, my brain was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m talking to an astronaut!'” said Darian Rodriguez, 10, a fourth-grade student at Sally Ride Elementary. “It was amazing. Everyone at the event was really friendly, especially Sunita Williams. It was really fun to hear her talk and learn about life in space.”

Read more – Scholastic Kids Press: https://bit.ly/4bOdh8v

Skywarn Youth Special Event is on the Air

Skywarn Youth Net is operating a special event under callsign N0A. The event aims to educate hams about severe weather awareness. N0A will be active on HF across 80m, 40m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, and 10m and will utilize both SSB and FT8 modes. The event runs March 17-31, 2025.

Each spring, National Weather Service Forecast Offices hold Severe Weather Awareness weeks in their respective regions to educate the public about the dangers of severe weather and the importance of being prepared. Our goal with this special event station is to do the same within the amateur radio community.

Source: Skywarn Youth Net

HOW RARE IS YOUR PREFIX?

Get Ready for CQ WPX Contest March 29th and 30th

DP Dunn, AB2NM

Contests are an excellent way to boost your skills, test your station’s capability and add to your totals if you’re working towards DXCC or WAS, or their five-band equivalents.  The CQ WPX contest is a few weeks away.  Like most contests, the objective is to maximize your score, but the WPX has a twist: each new prefix is a score-multiplier.  To maximize your score, collect as many new prefixes as possible.

Here are a few quick definitions and highlights from an old (2016) set of WPX rules:

PREFIX: The letter/numeral combination which forms the first part of the amateur call. Examples: N8, W8, WD8, HG1, HG19, KC2, OE2, OE25, LY1000, etc. Any difference in the numbering, lettering, or order of same shall count as a separate prefix.

PREFIX MULTIPLIERS: The prefix multiplier is the number of valid prefixes worked. Each PREFIX is counted only once regardless of the band or number of times the same prefix is worked.

SCORING: The final score is the result of the total QSO points multiplied by the number of different prefixes worked.

If your call sign has a rare prefix, this may result in you being a highly sought-after station in the WPX contest.  A unique prefix has the potential to add significantly to your score.  

Now how rare is your prefix?

Let's look at the FCC's site:  https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchAdvanced.jsp

The search form is easy.  Starting from the top:

• Call Sign & Radio Services
  9. Call sign - enter the prefix of interest - e.g. NX9.
  10. No need for 'wildcards' like *, %, or ?
• Service Group
  1. From the drop-down menu, select Amateur;
  2. This includes both standard issue (HA) and vanity (HV) call signs.
• Go down the page a bit and find License Detail.
  1. Look at the first category, Status
  2. Select Active  
  3. This will eliminate all cancelled, expired, or other non-active call signs.

(4) Click the SEARCH button, located at the top or bottom of the screen.  (NOTE: don’t use the  geosearch button.)

Results will show how many active (currently licensed) US amateur radio operators hold that prefix. That's it; your tax dollars at work.

For fun, let’s look up the US license prefix NX9.  The FCC site shows only 27 active US amateur radio operators with that prefix. Remember, a unique prefix is a score-multiplier; NX9 will be popular in this contest!