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Hidden talents: One thing you did not know about Cal- W1HHO, in his younger days he was quite the skilled curling player and obviously a trend setting dresser on the lakes of Maine.

VALENTINE'S DAY  EDITION: Our monthly radio club meeting is today complete with catered lunch. Meeting topic is secret radio communication by retired Air Force member, should be  good talk....

Hi Jon. Lance here...KK4DX from Northfield, CT.

I like your website [thank you!] and was looking at the WRD piece, specifically on the 'inventor' of radio.

I am passing something on to you that I read recently - from a bio on Nikola Tesla. It turns out that Tesla had documented the idea of wireless transmission and reception and apparently is credited with the invention of radio around 1893 (although Marconi filed a patent in 1897).

I include the references and you can be the judge. I am not a lawyer - a retired electrical engineer in fact - I mean, who else has time to read a bio on Tesla except maybe a retiree? I wasn't necessarily a Tesla fan either....just interested.

So, there was a patent infringement case filed by Marconi that went to the Supreme Court of the US and they issued a judgment in 1943. (link:https://www.loc.gov/item/usrep320001/)

If you don't trust the above link (I usually don't), the reference is: Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. v. U.S., 320 U.S. 1 (1943)

On page 13 of the document, it has the date when Tesla briefed the design/technology.

SpottedHam.com Adds DX Cluster Integration and Customizable Club Widgets

Following its successful launch earlier this month, the spotting and alert platform SpottedHam.com has released a major feature update driven by community feedback.

In addition to its signature POTA and SOTA real-time email alerts, the platform now integrates a global DX Cluster feed. This allows operators to filter for rare DX alongside portable activations, all within the same lightweight, mobile-first interface. Users can still set custom watchlists for specific callsigns, ensuring they never miss a “need” on the bands.

Perhaps the most significant addition is the new SpottedHam Club Widget. Radio clubs can now generate a custom HTML snippet to embed a live member activity table on their own club websites. This feature aims to help local clubs stay connected by showing at-a-glance what club members are currently on the air.

Developed by Robert Campbell (KM6HBH), SpottedHam continues to focus on a “low-bandwidth, high-speed” philosophy, making it ideal for field use or slow shack connections. The service is free to use and is already running some DX clubs pages.

Operators can explore the new DX filters, set up their first email alert, or generate a widget for their club at: https://www.spottedham.com.

 

FRIDAY EDITION: A ham from Greece was on the UFB Wires-X network this morning giving out 59 signal reports...makes you wonder....

British shower heaters operate at near 100% efficiency since the 240 volt elements are directly exposed to water, and somehow these things don't electrocute thousands of people per year. How is that? Big Clive reveals the not-so-shocking truth

Importance of World Radio Day (WRD)

Proclaimed in 2011 by UNESCO Member States and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012, World Radio Day (WRD) is celebrated every February 13. It is a Day to thank broadcasters for the news they deliver, the voices they amplify and the stories they share.

Radio is considered one of the powerful mediums that helps humanity to celebrate diversity and it offers an ideal platform for democratic discourse. It is still the most widely consumed medium globally as the UNESCO website reveals on the Statistics on Radio reveals that radio counts for 86% of the total time adults aged 25-54 spend listening to three main audio platforms. Adults are more prone to listen to AM/FM according to the website. The United Nations website insists that radio stations should serve diverse communities and they should offer a wide variety of programs, viewpoints and content reflecting the diversity of audiences in their organizations. As we know that radio targets not only people living in metropolitan areas but also in remote areas so they should offer a kind of content that gives representation to those isolated communities as well. World Radio Day appreciates radio’s services to a variety of communities and representing them in its programs.

Background

According to the UN resolution# UNESCO 36 C/Resolution 63; A/RES/67/124 which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 14 February 2014 during its 67th Session, 13 February will be celebrated as World Radio Day (WRD) every year. The tradition of celebrating this day is still in effect and the world community observes this day including the world leaders. Interestingly, the United Nations Radio was established on 13 February 1946, and the same date was designated by the international organization to observe this day.

History of  World Radio Day

Radio is an electronic machine that was invented by Guglielmo Marconi during the 1890s to offer audio news and music to audiences prior to the invention of television. It was the age of newspapers when people were accustomed to get news from unattractive newspapers. Radio appeared as an attractive invention because one or two persons were able to spread their voice to a wide range of audiences. Later on, TV was invented by a 21 years old American boy Philo Taylor Farnsworth in 1927 and it was assumed that radio would lose a large segment of its audiences because most people would prefer visuals over auditory talks and music. On contrary, the official website of UNESCO reveals that around 44000 radio stations are active throughout the world and around 70% of the world population is using radio whereas only around 28,000 TV channels are active globally even after a century of competition between these two modes of information and entertainment. Radio appears in vehicles, households, cell phones, and on work-places. Moreover, it is comparatively a cheaper mode of information and easily accessible so a large number of poor people also have this cheaper luxury in their life. People enjoy getting news updates, weather updates, route updates for everyday traveling, informative programs, and entertainment programs while working in their daily routine. Most consumers of the contemporary world are short of time, therefore, they cannot offer their full time and attention to the entertainment devices and they expect from such devices to offer their services to people while they are busy in their daily routine. Radio is an ideal option for such a kind of consumer.
For the described importance of radio, The Spanish Academy of Radio Arts and Sciences (Academia Española de la Radio) which was established to promote radio in Spain successfully promoted the establishment of World Radio Day (WRD) by UNESCO. This institution under the chairmanship of Jorge Álvarez approached UNESCO in 2008 to convince them to observe a day in the recognition of the services of radio in spreading peace, entertainment, and information throughout the world. The 36th Conference General of UNESCO has the credit to unanimously approving the Spanish proposal of designating a day in the recognition of radio services on November 3, 2011. 13 February was observed as World Radio Day (WRD) until 2014 when the UN formally endorsed this day.

World Radio Day Purpose

The purpose of this day is to acknowledge the services of radio and to spread awareness about the importance of radio offering people services regarding entertainment, news updates, and information. This day also insists the world leaders to support this medium to spread awareness and the values of democracy throughout the world.

World Radio Day Quotes

“When radio keeps silent, our ears shall never hear the real details!” — (Ernest Agyemang Yeboah)

Airman sets 17 Guinness World Records

HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  

Whirling flames as fast as possible inches from your face, while balancing on a moving board, may seem like a dubious past time, but for one Airman, it was just one achievement in a series of quirky broken world records.

Maj. Jonathan Buckingham has set 17 Guinness World Records and leads a nonprofit organization, “World Record Breakers Club,” whose members have collectively broken 27 records. Moreover, the Airman has three more records pending and continues to seek opportunities to break more.

Buckingham’s current records include:

• Fastest time to travel to all seven continents.
• Fastest circumnavigation by scheduled flights, visiting six continents.
• Fastest towed asphalt skiing.
• Most fire knife spins on a balance board in one minute.
• Fastest time to travel to all New York City ferry stations.
• Most catches of a medicine ball wearing boxing gloves in one minute.
• Most balloons burst with boxing gloves in one minute.
• Most balloons burst with feet in one minute.
• Fastest time to burst 200 balloons with a nail.
• Most alternating tennis ball catches in the plank position in one minute.
• Fastest time to put on 10 socks.
• Fastest time to set up and topple 10 books.
• Fastest time to set up and topple Guinness World Record books.
• Fastest time to break open five pinatas.
• Most museums visited in 24 hours.
• Most basketball bounces on a balance board in one minute
• Most basketball bounces on a balance board in one minute with two balls

THURSDAY EDITION: Finally made it to the hospital to have the blood work done for my physical, ...

Radio Daily: Obsolete Part 97 Rules Deleted Today

Four rules that affect amateur radio operators under Part 97 have been marked for deletion by the FCC, effective today. The following four rules include:

• § 97.27 This provision is duplicative of a statutory provision related to the FCC’s right to modify station licenses.
• § 97.29 This provision specified an obsolete procedure to replace paper licenses.
• § 97.315 (b)(2) This obsolete provision grandfathered HF amplifiers purchased before April 28, 1978 by an amateur radio operator for use at that operator’s station, and grandfathered those manufactured before April 28, 1978, for which a marketing waiver was issued.
• § 97.521(b) and Appendix 2 This rule and appendix relate to obsolete VEC regions.

Source: ARRL

Amateur Radio Software Award Nominations Open

The Amateur Radio Software Award is seeking nominations for outstanding software developed for ham radio. Nominations should promote innovative, free, and open source projects. Submissions are being accepted until February 28th.

The Amateur Radio Software Award is an annual international award for the recognition of software projects that enhance amateur radio. The award aims to promote amateur radio software development which adhere to the same spirit as amateur radio itself: innovative, free and open.

See previous award recipients, read the rules, and check out the FAQ.

WEDNESDAY EDITION: Another 4 inches of snow, I think the snow belt moved from NH to Cape Ann!. I now have over 3 feet of accumulated snow in the yard....

Hi Jon,

I just watched the battery video on your site. Here's a 12V build, this should keep the POTA guys running for a few days.

73

Bart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8bdp_boQt8

Skimming Satellites: On the Edge of the Atmosphere

There’s little about building spacecraft that anyone would call simple. But there’s at least one element of designing a vehicle that will operate outside the Earth’s atmosphere that’s fairly easier to handle: aerodynamics. That’s because, at the altitude that most satellites operate at, drag can essentially be ignored. Which is why most satellites look like refrigerators with solar panels and high-gain antennas attached jutting out at odd angles.

But for all the advantages that the lack of meaningful drag on a vehicle has, there’s at least one big potential downside. If a spacecraft is orbiting high enough over the Earth that the impact of atmospheric drag is negligible, then the only way that vehicle is coming back down in a reasonable amount of time is if it has the means to reduce its own velocity. Otherwise, it could be stuck in orbit for decades. At a high enough orbit, it could essentially stay up forever.

There was a time when that kind of thing wasn’t a problem. It was just enough to get into space in the first place, and little thought was given to what was going to happen in five or ten years down the road. But today, low Earth orbit is getting crowded. As the cost of launching something into space continues to drop, multiple companies are either planning or actively building their own satellite constellations comprised of thousands of individual spacecraft.

Fortunately, there may be a simple solution to this problem. By putting a satellite into what’s known as a very low Earth orbit (VLEO), a spacecraft will experience enough drag that maintaining its velocity requires constantly firing its thrusters.  Naturally this presents its own technical challenges, but the upside is that such an orbit is essentially self-cleaning — should the craft’s propulsion fail, it would fall out of orbit and burn up in months or even weeks. As an added bonus, operating at a lower altitude has other practical advantages, such as allowing for lower latency communication.

VLEO satellites hold considerable promise, but successfully operating in this unique environment requires certain design considerations. The result are vehicles that look less like the flying refrigerators we’re used to, with a hybrid design that features the sort of aerodynamic considerations more commonly found on aircraft.

ESA’s Pioneering Work

This might sound like science fiction, but such craft have already been developed and successfully operated in VLEO. The best example so far is the Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE), launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) back in 2009.

To make its observations, GOCE operated at an altitude of 255 kilometers (158 miles), and dropped as low as just 229 km (142 mi) in the final phases of the mission. For reference the International Space Station flies at around 400 km (250 mi), and the innermost “shell” of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are currently being moved to 480 km (298 mi).

Given the considerable drag experienced by GOCE at these altitudes, the spacecraft bore little resemblance to a traditional satellite. Rather than putting the solar panels on outstretched “wings”, they were mounted to the surface of the dart-like vehicle. To keep its orientation relative to the Earth’s surface stable, the craft featured stubby tail fins that made it look like a futuristic torpedo.

Even with its streamlined design, maintaining such a low orbit required GOCE to continually fire its high-efficiency ion engine for the duration of its mission, which ended up being four and a half years.

In the case of GOCE, the end of the mission was dictated by how much propellant it carried. Once it had burned through the 40 kg (88 lb) of xenon onboard, the vehicle would begin to rapidly decelerate, and ground controllers estimated it would re-enter the atmosphere in a matter of weeks. Ultimately the engine officially shutdown on October 21st, and by November 9th, it’s orbit had already decayed to 155 km (96 mi). Two days later, the craft burned up in the atmosphere.

JAXA Lowers the Bar

While GOCE may be the most significant VLEO mission so far from a scientific and engineering standpoint, the current record for the spacecraft with the lowest operational orbit is actually held by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

In December 2017 JAXA launched the Super Low Altitude Test Satellite (SLATS) into an initial orbit of 630 km (390 mi), which was steadily lowered in phases over the next several weeks until it reached 167.4 km (104 mi). Like GOCE, SLATS used a continuously operating ion engine to maintain velocity, although at the lowest altitudes, it also used chemical reaction control system (RCS) thrusters to counteract the higher drag.

SLATS was a much smaller vehicle than GOCE, coming in at roughly half the mass. It also carried just 12 kg (26 lb) of xenon propellant, which limited its operational life. It also utilized a far more conventional design than GOCE, although its rectangular shape was somewhat streamlined when compared to a traditional satellite. Its solar arrays were also mounted in parallel to the main body of the craft, giving it an airplane-like appearance.

The combination of lower altitude and higher frontal drag meant that SLATS had an even harder time maintaining velocity than GOCE. Once its propulsion system was finally switched off in October 2019, the craft re-entered the atmosphere and burned up within 24 hours. The mission has since been recognized by Guinness World Records for the lowest altitude maintained by an Earth observation satellite.

A New Breed of Satellite

As impressive as GOCE and SLATS were, their success was based more on careful planning than any particular technological breakthrough. After all, ion propulsion for satellites is not new, nor is the field of aerodynamics. The concepts were simply applied in a novel way.

But there exists the potential for a totally new type of vehicle that operates exclusively in VLEO. Such a craft would be a true hybrid, in the sense that its primarily a spacecraft, but uses an air-breathing electric propulsion (ABEP) system akin to an aircraft’s jet engine. Such a vehicle could, at least in theory, maintain an altitude as low as 90 km (56 mi) indefinitely — so long as its solar panels can produce enough power.

Both the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the United States and the ESA are currently funding several studies of ABEP vehicles, such as Redwire’s SabreSat, which have numerous military and civilian applications. Test flights are still years away, but should VLEO satellites powered by ABEP become common platforms for constellation applications, they may help alleviate orbital congestion before it becomes a serious enough problem to impact our utilization of space.

Retrotechtacular: RCA Loses Fight to IBM

If you follow electronics history, few names were as ubiquitous as RCA, the Radio Corporation of America. Yet in modern times, the company is virtually forgotten for making large computers. [Computer History Archive Project] has a rare film from the 1970s (embedded below) explaining how RCA planned to become the number two supplier of business computers, presumably behind behemoth IBM. They had produced other large computers in the 1950s and 1960s, like the BIZMAC, the RCA 510, and the Spectra. But these new machines were their bid to eat away at IBM’s dominance in the field.

RCA had innovative ideas and arguably one of the first demand paging, virtual memory operating systems for mainframes. You can hope they were better at designing computers than they were at making commercials.

In 1964, [David Sarnoff] famously said: “The computer will become the hub of a vast network of remote data stations and information banks feeding into the machine at a transmission rate of a billion or more bits of information a second … Eventually, a global communications network handling voice, data and facsimile will instantly link man to machine — or machine to machine — by land, air, underwater, and space circuits. [The computer] will affect man’s ways of thinking, his means of education, his relationship to his physical and social environment, and it will alter his ways of living. … [Before the end of this century, these forces] will coalesce into what unquestionably will become the greatest adventure of the human mind.”

He was, of course, right. Just a little early.

The machines were somewhat compatible with IBM computers, touted virtual memory, and had flexible options, including a lease that let you own your hardware in six years. They mention, by the way, IBM customers who were paying up to $60,000 / month to IBM. They mentioned that an IBM 360/30 with 65K was about $13,200 / month. You could upgrade with a 360/30 for an extra $3,000 / month, which would double your memory but not double your computing power. (If you watch around the 18-minute mark, you’ll find the computing power was extremely slow by today’s standards.)

RCA, of course, had a better deal. The RCA 2 had double the memory and reportedly triple the performance for only $2,000 extra per month. We don’t know what the basis for that performance number was. For $3,500 a month extra, you could have an RCA 3 with the miracle of virtual memory, providing an apparent 2 megabytes per running job.

There are more comparisons, and keep in mind, these are 1970 dollars. In 1970, a computer programmer probably made $10,000 to $20,000 a year while working on a computer that cost $158,000 in lease payments (not to count electricity and consumables). How much cloud computing could you buy in a year for $158,000 today? Want to buy one? They started at $700,000 up to over $1.6 million.

By their release, the systems were named after their Spectra 70 cousins. So, officially, they were Spectra 70/2, 70/3, 70/5, and 70/6.

Despite all the forward-looking statements, RCA had less than 10% market share and faced increasing costs to stay competitive. They decided to sell the computer business to Sperry. Sperry rebranded several RCA computers and continued to sell and support them, at least for a while.

Now, RCA is a barely remembered blip on the computer landscape. You are more likely to find someone who remembers the RCA 1800 family of CPUs than an actual RCA mainframe. Maybe they should have throw in the cat with the deal.

Want to see the IBM machines these competed with? Here you go. We doubt there were any RCA computers in this data center, but they’d have been right at home.

 

TUESDAY EDITION: A quick haircut and a spin over to the accountant to give him my tax documents...AWT receives about 11,000 hit per week, just for general knowledge out there in radio world...

Lead Acid Battery Upgraded to Lithium Iron Phosphate

Lithium batteries have taken over as the primary battery chemistry from applications ranging from consumer electronics to electric vehicles and all kinds of other things in between. But the standard lithium ion battery has a few downsides, namely issues operating at temperature extremes. Lead acid solves some of these problems but has much lower energy density, and if you want to split the difference with your own battery you’ll need to build your own lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) pack.

[Well Done Tips] is building this specific type of battery because the lead acid battery in his electric ATV is on the decline. He’s using cylindrical cells that resemble an 18650 battery but are much larger. Beyond the size, though, many of the design principles from building 18650 battery packs are similar, with the exception that these have screw terminals so that bus bars can be easily attached and don’t require spot welding.

With the pack assembled using 3D printed parts, a battery management system is installed with the balance wires cleverly routed through the prints and attached to the bus bars. The only problem [Well Done Tips] had was not realizing that LiFePO4 batteries’ voltages settle a bit after being fully charged, which meant that he didn’t properly calculate the final voltage of his pack and had to add a cell, bringing his original 15S1P battery up to 16S1P and the correct 54V at full charge.

LiFePO4 has a few other upsides compared to lithium ion as well, including that it delivers almost full power until it’s at about 20% charge. It’s not quite as energy dense but compared to the lead-acid battery he was using is a huge improvement, and is one of the reasons we’ve seen them taking over various other EV conversions as well.

A Beacon On a Budget

Hello and Welcome. This page contains the information for the KD4MZM beacon. Here at the shack I run a 10-meter radio beacon. The beacon is a homebrew design. Most of the system is a converted CB Radio system. The radio is a Cobra 148 GTL 40 channel AM/SSB unit. The radio has been modified to the 10-meter band. This is a real easy task with this unit. A quick retune of the output and the VCO and it will perform well.

After moving it up in frequency, I reduced the power output on SSB to about 1.5 watts total output. This is done so as the radio can transmit 24/7 without a problem. To confirm that this radio could and would perform 24/7, I placed a jumper on it so as to make it transmit 24/7 on AM into a dummy load for thirty (30) days solid. After this simple test, I then placed a 1000hz tone into the mic circuit and ran the test again for thirty days. I did this so that if I decide to relocate the beacon to a remote site I wouldn't have to worry about it quitting. To help maintain a cooler heatsink and radio I removed the 4" speaker and installed a 4" muffen fan. I then removed the front meter movement. This allowed a forced air type cooling system. I can say that the radio doesn't even get warm to the touch doing this.

The next part was the CW ID'er. This was pretty much an easy task. With all the new digital voice holding projects out there a simple run to Radio Shack and that was done. I came about this system while looking around the local R/S store. The project comes with all the parts and paperwork to get it running. Now as hams we just have to make it work for our needs. The voice circuit is R/S part 276-1326, and sell for about $20.00 bucks. Now unless you want to run it on batteries, and I didn't, a simple 7805 voltage regulator will fix that.

The next thing to do was to program the ID string into it. With only 20 seconds of record time I had to come up with a beacon string. I worked on a few and finally came up with the current one I use now. It takes 15 seconds to send at 20 WPM. The project device has 2 push button switches on it to make it work. After recording the ID, you only need to push one to start the program string. I was able to use a shareware CW program from the computer to make the ID string with. After doing this I then took the output from the sound card and feed it into the voice project bypassing the project mic. I had to use a dropping resistor so as not to over drive the unit. You may have to try this many times before getting the right tone, loudness etc. I know I did. After you feel you have that done you can then move on to the next step.

So far everything going together as planned... hihi

The next thing I needed was a simple timer to set the beacon cycle with. I was going to use a 555 timer, but again Radio Shack pulls thru on this one. While reading the catalog making a parts list, I found that they sell a 555 timer circuit with relay, board and all the parts, plus it has adjustments for the timing. After comparing a parts list to that, the kit was the way to go. It is R/S part #RSU 12127114 and sell for $9.99. The timer runs on 12 volts DC. This is just right as now the radio, ID'er all run on 12 volts too. The next thing to do was to hook the radio to the timer circuit and test the keying cycle. This takes a few tries before you get it going. I needed at least 15 seconds of key time so that the ID'er beacon could send its message. After getting that, I then set the unkey time. Once that is done you are then ready to hookup the ID'er.

Using the same relay contacts for the keying of the radio you hookup the ID'er. Now what happens is that when the timer cycle starts it will key the radio and start the ID'er sending it's message. If everything is right you are good to go on the air with it. But we all know that don't always happen. Back to reprogramming the ID'er, what was happening was the ID'er was wanting to start as soon as the 555 timer said start. Well the radio was just a touch behind. So I reprogrammed the voice project starting with about 1/2 second blank spot. Now when the 555 timer starts it gives the relay and radio about a 1/2 second to balance out before it starts sending.

Now to get the CW to go out on the air I feed the audio from the digital voice board into the mic jack as normal. Then by putting the radio into USB mode it sends it as modulated CW. The real freq is moved up by zero-beating effect. As for my 10-meter beacon, the radio transmits on 28.275, but zero-beats at 28.277.

This whole setup was then placed into a controlled on-the-air cycle. I ran a working beacon for another 30 days into the dummy load again. Along the way I would check power output, heat build up, and the frequency output. After the 30 days passed I felt the beacon was ready for the airwaves. The beacon went live on April 1st., 2000. It has now been over 1 full year and I've had a zero down time with it. The system is still producing the 1.5 watts it started with and stays rock solid. I have gotten reports via QSL cards, emails, and voice QSO's about it. The beacon has been heard in all parts of the USA and world. This just shows that if the band is open a QRP station can work the world.

This beacon project was a result of a close friend having the Cobra 148 GTL radio that went bad. The radio's receive was out and damaged further than what he wanted to invest to repair it. After seeing and hearing about the freebanders using this same type of radio to invade 10 meters with I got the idea to use it for something good, as the transmitter still worked fine. The moving of the frequency output can be found almost any where on the Internet. I then got a 3-amp power supply to run the radio, timer and digital voice project with. I was then given an Antron A-99 antenna. I then had about 75 feet of RG-8x coax that I used to feed the antenna with. The antenna is up about 15 feet to the base.

If you would like to have your own 10 meter beacon and need more information feel free to email me at kd4mzm@arrl.net I'd be glad to help or provide more information from what I learned making mine. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of this project as of yet. I'm planning on taking a few and loading them.

73 de Eric, KD4MZM

MONDAY EDITION: The best team won and the Patriots are still winners with the season they had. We have lots of good things going to happen in the future with this team.....

HamSCI 2026: Discovering Science Through Amateur Radio

Registration for HamSCI 2026 is now open. The 9th annual workshop will take place at Central Connecticut University March 14-15.

This year's theme, "Discovering Science Through Ham Radio", celebrates the community's achievements, including Personal Space Weather Station deployments, meteor scatter propagation studies and the promotion of WSPR as a propagation sensing tool. The workshop is expected to feature more than 50 poster and oral presentations, plus invited tutorials, and a banquet with a keynote address by a prominent member of the community.

Notable speakers and talks include:

• Dr. Rob Suggs NN4NT, "Meteor Scatter Tutorial"
• Dr. Kuldeep Pandey, "Solar Eclipse Through Ham Radio: What the Bands Revealed"
• Jonathan Rizzo (KC3EEY), "Remembering and Honoring Paul Nicholson G8LMD: Passionate VLF Enthusiast and Master"

Tours of ARRL and operation of W1AW will be available during the event. More information is available on the HamSCI website.

Polish Amateur Radio Union Celebrates Gdynia 100th Anniversary

The Polish Amateur Radio Union (PZK) is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the city of Gdynia in Poland. Between February 7th and 22nd, six unique call signs will be on the air:

• SP100G
• SQ100D
• SO100Y
• SN100N
• HF100I
• 3Z100A

eAwards are available in PDF format as well as a limited number of printed QSL cards.

Source: Polish Amateur Radio Union

 

SUPERBOWL WEEKEND: 0 degrees out with a wind chill factor -15 degrees....We are testing at the club this morning, I wonder if the three that signed up will show up....Cal tells us on 3928 that there is a curling arena up his way- who would guess it is such a popular sport? Oh yes! There are over 25,000 people who curl in the US. In Maine, there are several curling clubs that invite folks from all skill levels to come together and enjoy this fun winter sport.

The main station at N1XW is clean and compact. Notice the mint Kenwood TS-520 and the vintage Yaesu Amplifier....

ARRL Joins America250 as a Supporting Partner for the Nation’s 250th Anniversary

ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® announced today that it is a Supporting Partner of America250, joining the nationwide celebration of the 250th anniversary of our country in 2026.

America250 is the national, nonpartisan organization charged by Congress to lead the commemoration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a milestone that marks America’s Semiquincentennial. Through education, engagement, and service, America250 seeks to bring Americans together to reflect on the nation’s history and renew commitment to the ideals that unite us.

As a Supporting Partner, ARRL will contribute to America250’s mission by highlighting the historic and ongoing role of amateur radio in connecting people, supporting public service, and strengthening civic engagement across the United States. Since its founding in 1914, ARRL and its members have played a vital role in technical innovation, emergency communications, and volunteer service in communities.

“Amateur radio has been part of the American story since the earliest days of wireless communication,” said ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR. “For more than a century, the Amateur Radio Service has advanced the nation’s communications capabilities by fostering technical innovation, developing a pool of trained and skilled operators, strengthening emergency and public service communications, and promoting international goodwill. These enduring contributions reflect why amateur radio continues to serve the public interest as a uniquely resilient and volunteer-driven national resource.”

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

The Windows Interface You Didn’t Like, For Linux

If you were asked to pick the most annoying of the various Microsoft Windows interfaces that have appeared over the years, there’s a reasonable chance that Windows 8’s Metro start screen and interface design language would make it your choice. In 2012 the software company abandoned their tried-and-tested desktop whose roots extended back to Windows 95 in favor of the colorful blocks it had created for its line of music players and mobile phones.

Consumers weren’t impressed and it was quickly shelved in subsequent versions, but should you wish to revisit Metro you can now get the experience on Linux. [er-bharat] has created Win8DE, a shell for Wayland window managers that brings the Metro interface — or something very like it — to the open source operating system.

We have to admire his chutzpah in bringing the most Microsoft of things to Linux, and for doing so with such a universally despised interface. But once the jibes about Windows 8 have stopped, we can oddly see a point here. The trouble with Metro was that it wasn’t a bad interface for a computer at all, in fact it was a truly great one. Unfortunately the computers it was and is great for are handheld and touchscreen devices where its large and easy to click blocks are an asset. Microsoft’s mistake was to assume that also made it great for a desktop machine, where it was anything but.

We can see that this desktop environment for Linux could really come into its own where the original did, such as for tablets or other touch interfaces. Sadly we expect the Windows 8 connection to kill it before it has a chance to catch on. Perhaps someone will install it on a machine with the Linux version of .net installed, and make a better Windows 8 than Windows 8 itself.

Blog – Hackaday Read More

Amateur Radio Newsline Report

DELAY FOR BOUVET ISLAND 3YØK DXPEDITION

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Our top story is the Bouvet Island. The DXpedition to the most remote uninhabited island on our planet is facing a delay. Graham Kemp VK4BB picks up the story from here.

GRAHAM: If you’re keeping your ears tuned for the start of the 3YØK DXpedition to Bouvet Island, the thing you’re going to need more than good propagation, sufficient power, a good antenna and, of course, good timing is…patience. The team’s plans have been delayed by about two weeks, according to their website. Their sailing vessel is undergoing additional maintenance to secure it for the journey to the remote island. The team writes: [quote] “While this delay is disappointing, the safety of our team remains our highest priority.” [Endquote]

According to the team, nothing else about the team’s game plan has changed and after three years of planning, they are looking forward to being QRV before too long.

**
4 HAMS AMONG THOSE CHOSEN TO TRACK ARTEMIS 2 FLIGHT

SKEETER/ANCHOR: The Artemis 2 crewed test flight, which was to have lifted off sometime early this month, has been delayed by NASA after the discovery of several issues, including hydrogen leaks in the space-launch system tanks. Meanwhile, as the agency conducts a review and reschedules a launch for March, the space agency has announced that its newly chosen group of volunteers to track the Artemis 2 includes four amateur radio operators. Don Wilbanks AE5DW tells us who they are.

DON: Thirty-four volunteers from around the world have been chosen by the US Space Agency to track the Orion spacecraft and its crew of four astronauts during the scheduled Artemis 2 test flight. NASA has said that this mission, which includes a trip around the moon, plays a vital role in setting the stage for a return to exploration of the lunar surface. The mission is also viewed as paving the way for the first crewed Mars mission.

Four amateur radio operators are among the 34 observers chosen by NASA in a group that also includes universities, government agencies and private companies. The Canadian Space Agency and the German Aerospace Center are among those chosen. Von Storch Engineering in the Netherlands and Intuitive Machines in Houston, Texas are among the commercial entities selected. Academic institutions include the University of Zurich's Physics Department in Switzerland and the University of New Brunswick in Canada.

The four hams are Chris Swier [pron: SWEER], K1FSD of South Dakota; Dan Slater, AG6HF, and Loretta Smalls, AJ6HO, both of California; and Scott Tilley, VE7TIL of British Columbia, Canada. The hams will be using their radio equipment to track transmissions from the Orion over the course of its 10 days in space.

**

AN OPEN-SOURCE EFFORT TO SALVAGE HAMCLOCK

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Fans of the HamClock shack accessory are still shaken by the death of its developer - and now they are working hard to preserve his legacy, as we hear from Kevin Trotman N5PRE.

KEVIN: With last month's tragic death of HamClock developer, Elwood Downey, WBØOEW, the clock is ticking - quite literally - on a way to salvage this popular shack accessory so it remains useful beyond its scheduled sunset in June.

Brian Wilkins, KO4AQF, the developer of an open-source alternative, has posted his work-in-progress on the GitHub website in the hopes of providing realtime HamClock data feeds from publicly available locations, such as PSK reporter, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The final iteration of HamClock is version 4.22. With no further maintenance possible on its Internet backend, news, propagation updates, DX and other data will no longer be delivered to the device after it sunsets.

Brian was not involved in the creation of the original HamClock but said that this replacement project, a free, open-source, Linux-based system, is an outgrowth of [quote] "my own motivation and passion." [endquote]

He told Newsline in an email that [quote] "the goal is preservation, not reinvention - keeping HamClock working exactly as intended for years to come." [endquote]

**
BRAZIL'S HAMS MARK ANNIVERSARY WITH SSTV, SPECIAL EVENT STATION

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Hams in Brazil are marking the anniversary of the national organization that represents them with a slow-scan TV event and a separate monthlong activation of special anniversary callsigns. We have those details from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

JEREMY: When the Liga de Amadores Brasileiros de Rádio Emissão, or LABRE, the league of Brazilian Amateur Radio Transmitters, was created in 1934 to represent its national radio amateurs, it would be almost three decades before anyone would have the use of amateur radio satellites. Now, however, hams in Brazil have a choice of many such satellites - and to celebrate the 92nd anniversary of the league's founding, they have chosen the Russian CubeSat UmKA-1, or RS40S, to transmit SSTV imagery between the 6th and 9th of February.

The transmissions are on 437.625 MHz and the SSTV mode is Robot36 sent every three minutes. Any operator who receives the imagery will be eligible for a special certificate.

Hams with a more terrestrial interest are being invited to chase 28 special anniversary callsigns that are on the air from the 1st of February through to the 1st of March. The callsigns represent each region of Brazil and, according to a Facebook post, present [quote] " a unique opportunity for fellowship, cultural and technical exchange, and friendship—values that have always been at the heart of LABRE." [endquote]

**
TROPHY EVENT CELEBRATES HISTORIC SATELLITE QSO

SKEETER/ANCHOR: With the QSO they made via the OSCAR III satellite in March of 1965, a ham in Switzerland and a ham in Germany changed the shape of satellite QSOs to come: It was a first for amateur radio - and one that AMSAT-HB in Switzerland is again honoring with the HB9RG Trophy. John Williams VK4BB has those details.

JOHN: There was not yet a global satellite community when Hans Rudolf Lauber, HB9RG, and Alfons Haring, DL6EZA, made their pioneering satellite QSO in 1965. That moment gave rise to a new era for ham radio and in the years that followed, as more satellites populated the skies, the international community developed a zest for working "the birds."

AMSAT-HB's trophy, which bears Hans Rudolf Lauber's callsign, is an honour conferred for achieving DX via ham radio satellite between the 2nd and the 15th of March. The competition is timed to coincide with the original two-day contact made on March 10th, 1965. Only QSOs via
low- medium- and highly elliptical earth orbit satellites will be permitted. On the final day, hams will be permitted to use a geostationary satellite for a single contact with HB9RG, the bonus station.

**
WINTER FIELD DAY: FROM SIMULATION TO ACTIVATION

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Like the ARRL's annual Field Day, Winter Field Day provides an opportunity for portable operation only in winter environments during the last weekend of January. For Amateur Radio operators in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, however, simulation changed to activation while participating in this year’s event. Randy Sly W4XJ tells us more.

RANDY: Eddie Misiewicz, KB3YRU, was with a group of fellow hams for Winter Field Day on Sunday, January 25th, when he was notified by the Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the Pittsburgh Weather Forecast Office to activate SKYWARN for Winter Storm reports.

Eddie, who is a SKYWARN coordinator and volunteer, told Newsline that stations from 35 counties across the region got on the air, averaging 150 snowfall and condition reports from each of the counties. Amateur participation came from Central Ohio, Western Pennsylvania, as well as the Northern and Northern Panhandle of West Virginia.

Of course, this is why drills like Winter Field Day exist. The activation went QRT on Monday evening, January 26th, after 15 continuous hours of being on the air.

**
YLRL MAKES HIGHER-ED SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

SKEETER/ANCHOR: The Young Ladies' Radio League is looking to award scholarships to promising YLs who want to advance their education. Jack Parker W8ISH has the details.

JACK: For the next two months, the Young Ladies Radio League will be reviewing scholarship applications from qualified YLs who are pursuing advanced degrees, preferably in subjects relevant to communication or radio. The application period opened on the 1st of February and closes on the 1st of April. YLs holding valid amateur radio licenses anywhere in the world are eligible for any of three scholarships. Preference is being given to YLs who are members of the YLRL.

The Ethel Smith, K4LMB, Memorial Scholarship and the Mary Lou Brown, NM7N Memorial Scholarship both provide $2,500 each toward a student’s full-time pursuit of a bachelor’s or graduate degree at any accredited university.

Students who are enrolled in part-time studies can apply for the Martha Wessel, KØEPE, Memorial Scholarship. Those students must be involved in full-time work or have roles as family caregivers or stay-at-home parents.

For details or an application form, visit the YLRL website at ylrl.net and search for “scholarships.”

**
WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, Heli, DDØVR is on the air as D4VR from Cape Verde throughout February. He will operate QRP with "high efficient antennas" from Boa Vista, IOTA Number AF-086, on the 6th through to the 11th of February and again on the 19th through to the 21st. Listen for him operating from Sao Tiago, IOTA Number AF-005, on the 11th through to the 18th of February.

Michael, OE6MBG, is using the callsign 3B8/OE6MBG from Mauritius, IOTA Number AF-049, until the 23rd of February. Listen for him on 80 and 40 metres, where is he using CW, SSB and some FT8/FT4.

A team of operators using the callsign 8R1WA will be active from Guyana from the 19th through to the 27th of February. The team includes Alex IZØEGA, Paolo IZØEVI, Diego IZØEWJ and Luca IZ6DSQ. They will operate SSB and FT8 on 160-6 metres.

Phill, FK1TS is on the air as C21TS from Nauru, IOTA Number OC-031, until sometime in July. He is operating mainly FT8 but may try some SSB.

**
KICKER: A STATION WELL-GROUNDED BY A GROUNDHOG

SKEETER/ANCHOR: Just like amateur radio operators, Punxsutawney Phil, the famous American weather-predicting groundhog, needs the sun's cooperation to do his job every February. This year, as every year since the 1960s, hams in Pennsylvania were with him every step of the way. Jim Davis, W2JKD, ends our newscast with with this tribute to the weathercasting rodent.

JIM: A shadow was cast over the scene on February 2nd as Punxsutawney Phil, newly emerged from his burrow, looked down with sleepy eyes and saw the dark outline of his likeness. By tradition, that signals six more weeks of winter here in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Punxsutawney Area Amateur Radio Club, K3HWJ, who get on the air each year for a special event to mark this winter ritual, did what Phil could not: they were able to stay warm and comfy in their burrows. Judy Smith, KC3JAS, who operated from home on Monday - Groundhog Day - told Newsline that her husband reported temperatures, including wind chill, of minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit - that's minus 23 Centigrade - on the final day of the three-day activation. He told the seasoned POTA operator that she needed to stay indoors. She told Newsline [quote] "I was disappointed, to say the least." [endquote]

Phil's wintry prediction also disappointed many observers, including hams who were either snowbound or tired of the freezing cold, Phil was not winning a popularity contest anywhere.

The event itself did not disappoint anyone, however. Judy said that she and the other three operators, Bill Latta, KA3MKY, Dale Wood, KC3NFD and Mike Brennan KC2EGI, found the bands "amazing" for some of the time. The club logged a total of 556 contacts, most of them on SSB.

For the groundhog, this was nothing to lose sleep over: With the event over, Phil reportedly went right back into hibernation. and you our listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. We remind our listeners that Amateur Radio Newsline is an all-volunteer non-profit organization that incurs expenses for its continued operation. If you wish to support us, please visit our website at arnewsline.org and know that we appreciate you all. We also remind our listeners that if you like our newscast, please leave us a 5-star rating wherever you subscribe to us.

FRIDAY EDITION: 28 and murky here on Cape Ann, looking like more snow...again..Today's dumbass goes to....48 years ago today, the Blizzard of 78 reared its ugly head....

Holy shit- $730....sticker shock for me, I had no idea they were so expensive

Dipole Basics with Steve Stearns, K6OIK

The presentation The dipole is the most basic of antennas. A proper understanding of dipole properties and characteristics is essential to understanding many other antennas including complementary antennas such as slots. In this webinar, Steve Stearns, K6OIK, explains the basic characteristics of dipoles for transmitting and receiving. Some surprises await as we learn that a […] – Read More

ARRL Joins America250 as a Supporting Partner for the Nation’s 250th Anniversary

Thailand marks space milestone with successful deployment of KNACKSAT-2 satellite

BANGKOK, Thailand – Thailand’s space sector reached a new milestone with the successful deployment of KNACKSAT-2, a satellite developed by King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, from the International Space Station. Released from the Japanese Kibo module, the satellite entered orbit as part of a multi-CubeSat deployment and began transmitting signals shortly after separation.

KNACKSAT-2 is a 3U CubeSat built with 98 percent Thai-made components, demonstrating strong domestic capability in satellite engineering and space technology. The project advances Thailand’s role in space activities while serving as a practical platform for technology testing and human resource development.

A key function of KNACKSAT-2 is its space-based resource-sharing system, which allows multiple organizations to place instruments and experiments on a single satellite. The platform supports missions such as Internet of Things data relay, Earth observation, railway tracking, and amateur radio services, lowering barriers for space access and experimentation.

Local HAM radio club finds modern uses for old technology

 

THURSDAY EDITION: Another 2-5 inches this weekend, this global warming has to be dealt with, it's killing me here....Remember the Nash automobile?....Good discussion on EV vehicles this smornng on 3940, I still do not see any reason to buy one. My F250 gets 12 mpg and I only drive 5000 miles a year, my xyl's Volv hets 27 mpg and it is only droven by me about 2000 miles a year. I bought it new in 2019 and it has 20k on it...I have no payments on either vehicle, change the oil and drive. My ham friend leased a new VW electric car an hates it. In this frigid weather and VW locking down charging to just 80 percent, he can go 150 miles with headlights and heat on. It cost him $1500 to put a charger in the driveway....how the hell is this saving the world or your pocketbook? If you want to drive to Florida you are screwed....The EV chargers in the Stop and Shop lot are 110 volt chargers, you would have to wait all day to charge.

WEDNESDAY EDITION: I am glad HamClock will be kept going, it is a nice source for ham ops....

open-hamclock-backend Aims to Keep HamClock Ticking

A group of ham radio operators have stepped up to keep HamClock operating beyond it’s scheduled sunset in June. An open source replacement for the backend processes required to keep the popular HamClock project alive is well under way.

Developed by Brian (KO4AQF) and Austin (KN4LNB), open-hamclock-backend is designed to be a drop-in replacement for the backend server that populates HamClock with its signature set of 40+ data points and visualizations.

From Brian (KO4AQF):

HamClock relies on an internet backend to provide live space-weather, propagation, DX, and news data. With the passing of its original developer, that backend is no longer being maintained, which means many HamClocks will gradually lose live functionality even though the devices themselves still work.

An open-source replacement backend is now being developed that recreates the same data feeds HamClock expects, using publicly available sources such as NOAA, space-weather services, PSK Reporter, and DX information sites. From the HamClock’s point of view, nothing changes — it connects to the same paths and receives the same data formats, without any firmware modification. We are very close to replicating nearly every possible data source and making slight improvements along the way.

The system is free, open-source, and designed to run locally on a small Linux system, allowing individual hams or clubs to keep existing HamClocks fully operational. The goal is preservation, not reinvention — keeping HamClock working exactly as intended for years to come.

Currently, open-hamclock-backend is designed to be self-hosted, requiring any user wishing to extend HamClock’s usefulness beyond June to run the software themselves. However, options are being considered for a centralized version to be stood up for all HamClock users to take advantage of.

Source: open-hamclock-backend

Hamvention 2026 Theme and Logo Announced

Hamvention has released the theme and logo for the 2026 Dayton Hamvention show that will take place May 15-17.

This year’s theme is “Radio Adventure” referencing exploration of the many avenues ham radio offers.

Radio has always been about exploration — of ideas, technologies, distances, and possibilities. From the earliest spark-gap pioneers to today’s digital experimenters, satellite operators, contesters, emergency communicators, and outdoor enthusiasts, amateur radio continues to be a gateway to discovery.

Hamvention will take place at the Greene County Fair and Expo Center in Xenia, Ohio.

Source: Hamvention

TUESDAY EDITION: It was nice to hear Arthur- K1PGH from Cape Cod on 3928 yesterday. Arthur goes back to licensed in 1957  and has done it all. Commercial fishing, started an Ice Cream Shop on the Cape, an going excavation company,  and even restores cars.....a wealth of knowledge and one hell of a fine man....

Lenore Kingston was an actress, known for The Twilight Zone (1959), The Beverly Hillbillies, General Hospital and an accomplished Ham Radio Operator W6NAZ.

ARRL to announce winner of Icom® Dream Station at HamCation®

MONDAY EDITION: My wife has not really been out of the house for over a month yet somehow caught Covid, she went over to Urgent Care for x-ray and tests to find the news. We both have it and I brought it in to the house from wherever....I wondered why I was weak and felt like a bag of shit, it didn't feel like a cold really, the coughing was brutal....anyways we are all on the mend or not, life is a crapshoot, ask the fisherman from Gloucester.

Taking a Look at Variable Vacuum Capacitors

Variable capacitors may be useful, but the air gap that provides their capacitance is their greatest weakness. Rather than deal with the poor dielectric properties of air, some high-end variable capacitors replace it with a vacuum, which presents some obvious mechanical difficulties, but does give the resulting capacitor a remarkable quality factor, high-voltage performance, and higher capacitance for plate area than their air-gapped brethren. [Shahriar] of [The Signal Path] managed to acquire a pair of these and took a detailed look at their construction and performance in a recent video.

The vacuum capacitors don’t use quite the same parallel plate design as other variable capacitors. They instead make the plates out of interlaced concentric metal rings mounted in a vacuum tube. Both sets of rings are connected to terminals, one fixed and one capable of being pulled in or out on a threaded rod surrounded by an accordion-pleated copper seal. A nut on the outside pulls the rod out, and the interior vacuum pulls it in toward the other set of plates. Unfortunately, since the mobile terminal needs to be mechanically connected to some adjustment mechanism (such as someone’s hand), it can’t really be at a floating voltage. The mobile terminal needs to be grounded for safety. Alternatively, for automatic control, one of the capacitors had a chassis with a motor, gearing, and a positional encoder.

[Shahriar] also tested the capacitors with an impedance analyzer and lock-in amplifier. They had fairly low capacitance (for the one he tested, 36 pF at maximum and 16 pF at minimum), but the dissipation factor was so low and the DC impedance so high that they couldn’t be meaningfully measured. He also tested one at 5000 volts and found almost no dissipation.

We recently saw another video going over a lesser-known feature of normal air-gap variable capacitors and another new non-standard variable capacitor design. On the opposite end of the fanciness spectrum might be this variable capacitor built out of aluminium cans.

Explore the Stratosphere With a DIY Pico balloon

SUNDAY EDITION: It's snowing, already an inch from the ocean effect at 7am, the storm arrives later and lasts all day. We used to never get snow, what the hell happened around here? Global Warming my ass....

The ARRL Solar Update

Register Now for HamSCI 2026, Hosted by ARRL

ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® will host the 9th annual Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Workshop on March 14 – 15, 2026, with primary activities held at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) in New Britain, Connecticut, and additional events at ARRL Headquarters in Newington. The international workshop brings together radio amateurs, scientists, educators, and students to explore how amateur radio serves as a practical tool for scientific research and citizen science.

Organized by the HamSCI community, the 2026 workshop carries the theme “Discovering Science Through Ham Radio.” Presentations and discussions will highlight real-world research enabled by amateur radio, including ionospheric and space weather studies, meteor scatter propagation, radio-based sensing technologies, and the growing use of Personal Space Weather Stations. The program emphasizes how these efforts not only advance scientific understanding, but also directly inform and improve amateur radio operating and technology.

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

SATURDAY EDITION: Sadly, Gloucester lost another trawler yesterday 20 miles offshore. The Lily Jean, its captain, Gus Sanfilippo, and his crew were featured in a 2012 episode of the History Channel show “Nor’Easter Men.” Sanfilippo is described as a fifth-generation commercial fisherman, fishing out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, in the Georges Bank. The crew is shown working in dangerous weather conditions for hours on end, spending as many as 10 days at sea on one trip fishing for haddock, lobster and flounder.

Amateur Radio Newsline Report

SILENT KEY: ELWOOD DOWNEY, WBØOEW, CREATOR OF HAMCLOCK

PAUL/ANCHOR: As Newsline went to production, we learned of the sudden death of Elwood Downey, WBØOEW, the developer and creator of the popular open-source HamClock software. The popular Linux-based digital information display has been a mainstay in amateur radio shacks, where hams have eagerly awaited updates and new versions.

The revelation that Elwood had become a Silent Key on Thursday, the 29th of January, was accompanied by a message on his clearskyinstitute.com website. It announced his death, adding that the final release of HamClock is version 4.22. All HamClocks are to stop functioning in June of this year. In a separate posting on Facebook, Bruce Kempf, KC3JS, announced that he was halting all sales of turnkey HamClocks until there is a functioning replacement. He asked for fellow HamClock enthusiasts to help find a means to get a functioning server and edit the code to allow this to work.

**

HAM RADIO BUSINESS OWNER KILLED IN PLANE CRASH IN AUSTRALIA

PAUL/ANCHOR: The pilot of a private plane that crashed North of Australia's Gold Coast has been identified as an amateur radio operator and successful businessman. He was well-known for the ham-radio equipment business he built decades earlier from a garage-based operation. We hear about him from Graham Kemp VK4BB.

GRAHAM: The single-engine plane had just taken off from a private airstrip on Tuesday, January 27th, when it came down, killing the pilot and his passenger at the scene. The pilot was identified as Greg Ackman, VK4BBX, owner of Mobile One Australia. Various news reports described him as an experienced aviator. His passenger was said to be from Sydney. According to media reports, the two were on their way to New South Wales.

Greg designed much of the amateur equipment sold by the company he founded. A ham since 2021, he was a visible presence at amateur radio events throughout Australia. At the time Newsline went to production, investigators were still trying to determine the cause of the crash.

**
HAMS MARK 96TH ANNIVERSARY OF PLUTO'S DISCOVERY

PAUL/ANCHOR: Do you want to come visit Pluto? It doesn't involve space travel - it just means you're committed to helping mark yet another anniversary of its discovery -- by the uncle of one of the special event operators! Randy Sly W4XJ tells us what we need to know.

RANDY: Amateur radio operators will be on the air as W7P from February 14th through the 22nd to celebrate the 96th anniversary of the discovery of Pluto and to continue the countdown to the 100th anniversary in 2030.

This year the event sponsors are hoping to have a number of visiting operators join the fun! Bob Wertz, NF7E, told AR Newsline <quote> “The Northern Arizona DX Association invites out-of-state ham radio clubs and operators to join us as guest operators for the W7P Pluto Discovery Anniversary Special Event — operating from the very place where Pluto was discovered in 1930, the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.”

Visiting hams will need to contact Bob ahead of time to be placed on the schedule.

In addition to operations at the observatory, Doug Tombaugh, N3PDT, nephew of astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered Pluto in 1930, will lead a team of operators at W7P/Ø. Doug said that he especially enjoys making contact with other amateurs who knew his uncle or were involved in other activities related to Pluto

**
HAMVENTION CELEBRATES THE ADVENTURE OF RADIO

PAUL/ANCHOR: For ham radio operators, adventure comes in all forms - whether it means landing on a remote island for a two-week DXpedition or hiking to activate a summit in a national park. Others simply see adventure in the annual challenge to make that trip to Xenia, Ohio to attend Hamvention. Whatever your personal challenge is, it's in the spotlight this year as Hamvention organizers have just announced that "Radio Adventure!" is the theme for the three days from May 15th through to May 17th at the Greene County fairgrounds.

Even if your biggest adventure ends up being your decision on what new rig to take home with you this year, expect the gates to be open, as usual, for a reunion among friends and your ham radio family.

(HAMVENTION)

**
ANNUAL "AM RALLY" TURNS BACK THE CALENDAR

PAUL/ANCHOR: It's not time to turn the clocks just yet - here in the US, we take a one-hour leap forward in a few weeks. It is, however, time to turn back the calendar in just a few days and revisit amateur radio's first voice mode. Sel Embee KB3TZD has those details.

SEL: Long before there was Single Sideband there was AM, or Amplitude Modulation, the only HF voice mode available to previous generations of amateur radio operators.

AM operators are still on the air - holding nets and having QSOs - although AM's rich, warm tones are heard less often on the bands these days. That's about to change. From 0000 UTC on Saturday February 7th through to 0700 UTC on Monday, February 9th, everyone gets a chance to be part of this annual operating event. Any type of radio equipment will get you in the game as long as it is capable of full carrier amplitude modulation.

The action will take place on the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10 , and 6 metre amateur radio bands.

For details about the different power categories, rig categories or operating procedure, visit the website amrally.com If you are a newcomer to operating on AM, there's plenty of information there to help you get started.

**
STATEWIDE POTA ACTIVATORS' CLUB DEBUTS CALLSIGN

PAUL/ANCHOR: Even as parts of the US, including the New England states, were suffering through days of sub-freezing temperatures recently, a dedicated group of park activators in Connecticut had a good warm feeling - and they headed to the park to celebrate by getting on the air. Travis Lisk, N3ILS, tells us more.

TRAVIS: If you happened to work WB1CT on the first morning of the new year, you are part of the inaugural POTA log of the Connecticut Parks On The Air activators group. The club has been around - and growing - since its first informal activities in early 2021. Until recently, most of their hunters are more familiar with their previous callsign, K2D, the special event one-by-one callsign it shared with the Connecticut operators in the 13 Colonies Event each July. Group director Conrad Trautmann, N2YCH, told Newsline that as the group grew larger and added even more activities, it made sense to become an official nonprofit club, which is did in late 2025. The FCC granted the club callsign shortly afterward.

With a special park-to-park net that helps activators get more Connecticut parks in their logs, the club continues to evolve, both in activities and membership. The group has more than 100 POTA activators throughout the state. When they're not on the air, they keep in touch regularly via a groups.io list.

Be listening for WB1CT calling "CQ POTA" or, if you happen to live in Connecticut, join the action. You can find details on the club's page on QRZ.com

**
SILENT KEY: NOTED DXPEDITIONER DAVID ASSAF III, W5XU

PAUL/ANCHOR: A noted DXpeditioner and active member of the Intrepid-DX Group has become a Silent Key. We hear more about him from Stephen Kinford N8WB.

STEPHEN: David Assaf III, W5XU, had a long amateur radio life which began when he was still in high school. It gathered momentum - and more of a spirit of adventure -,over time. The DXpeditioner was 71 years old when in 2016 he activated South Sandwich Island with the Intrepid-DX group as VP8SGI and Thule Island as VP8STI, in a place uninhabitable except by penguins.

He became a Silent Key on January 18th, according to his online obituary.

David, who discovered ham radio as a high school electronics enthusiast, would go on to a lifetime of other discoveries and many DXpeditions, including Russell Reef, as 9MØW, and Melish Reef, 9M6MA.

An active member of the Baton Rouge Amateur Radio Club, his commitment to helping his Louisiana community spurred him into service by assisting emergency communications during Hurricane Betsy in 1965 - an action for which the city of New Orleans honored him.

David was 80.

**
ARDC GRANT FULFILLS SATELLITE, SPACE GOALS FOR N.C. CLUB

PAUL/ANCHOR: A grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications has helped one club in North Carolina fulfill its dreams of space, satellites and the ISS. We have that story from Jim Damron N8TMW.

JIM: An important terrestrial contact made recently by the Raleigh Amateur Radio Society has brought the promise of so many more contacts that can now happen in space. For this club and the youngsters at the Conn Magnet Elementary School, Friday the 30th of January will be remembered as a big day for their scheduled QSO with the International Space Station - a direct contact made via amateur radio.

The North Carolina hams have a long history of answering school and youth-group requests to assist with ham radio satellite contacts and even ISS communications. But, as club member Carl Davis, W8WZ, told Newsline, it was always challenging to assemble the necessary equipment because to answer each request, members had to dismantle and transport the appropriate radio gear from individual members’ own homes.

The club reached out successfully to Amateur Radio Digital Communications which gave them a $14,000 grant and the means to buy portable equipment dedicated for amateur satellite and ARISS contacts, such as the late-January QSO under the direction of John Brier K4EB.

Carl said that while the new equipment will help inspire the next generation to explore the power of amateur radio, it will also enable more club members to train to assist with the ARISS contacts. Within the club itself, more members will also learn to become skilled satellite operators.

**

ARTEMIS 2 LAUNCHPAD IMAGE CAPTURED BY ASTRONAUT

PAUL/ANCHOR: All eyes, it seems, are on the Artemis 2 moon rocket since its recent rollout onto the launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From high above the earth, another pair of eyes - and the lens of a camera - have been watching too, as we hear from Jack Parker W8ISH.

JACK: From his front-row seat aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Chris Williams, KJ5GEW, got the best view of all of the Artemis 2 as it awaits its crew of four. Chris was able to capture the image on camera. He posted it on the social media site, X, on Monday the 19th of January.

Alongside the image he wrote: [quote] "If you zoom in on the rightmost launch pad, you can see a shadow just to the left of the center of the pad. That shadow is from the rocket and launch tower that will soon take four of my friends on a trip around the moon." [endquote]

They're not just his friends and fellow astronauts - just like Chris, three of them have their ham radio licenses: Commander Reid Wiseman, KF5LKT, pilot Victor Glover, KI5BKC and mission specialist, Jeremy Hansen, KF5LKU. The fourth crew member is mission specialist Christina Koch. The crew's launch toward the moon could come as early as February.

Though Chris is scheduled to stay aboard the ISS for a few more months, once Artemis is launched, the crew won't coming by for their closeup. The journey is expected to last 10 days before it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean.

**

WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, five operators will be active during the AU7RS DXpedition to Agatti, IOTA Number AS-011, in the Lakshadweep Islands. The activation is scheduled for the 8th through to the 14th of February. Be listening on 160 through 6 metres where they will be using CW, SSB and FT8. They will also operate via the QO-100 satellite.

Andre, PD1DRE, is using the callsign PJ2/PD1DRE from Curacao, IOTA Number SA-099, until the 4th of March. He is calling QRZ on SSB and FT8/FT4.

In Placencia, Belize, listen for Walt, WØCP using the callsign V31DJ, operating CW and SSB. His wife Mary, KØZV will be using the callsign V31DK, operating FT8 and FT4. They will be on the air from the 1st through to the 27th of February.

John, W5JON, is active with the callsign V47JA from St. Kitts, IOTA Number NA-104), through to the 3rd of February. He is operating SSB and FT8 on various bands.

**
KICKER: A FAMILY OF MOUNTAIN GOATS GROWS THE HERD

PAUL/ANCHOR: People who are familiar with goats will tell you that they are strongly associated with courage, resilience and tenacity. Families of goats are almost always close-knit, social and very supportive of one another. So what do goat families have to do with Washington state's Henderson family? Ralph Squillace KK6ITB is here to explain in our final story for this week.

RALPH: In early January, 14-year-old Niels Henderson became the youngest Mountain Goat in the US in the Summits on the Air awards scheme, He did it barely one month after his 16-year-old brother, Soren, KK7UKE, set the same record on a snowy summit this past Christmas Day. Their mother, Corrinne, KK7ULL, was the first in the family to ascend to Mountain Goat heights. She achieved that status this past October after 13 months of steady SOTA activations.

With 1,000 points needed to classify a SOTA activator as a Mountain Goat, that means a total of 3,000 points between proud mom and her two sons. Corrinne told Newsline that the family decided in 2024 that amateur radio would be great to have along on their adventures as avid hikers - and so they went for it, joining her husband Jason, KC7EPG, who has been licensed since his teens. Jason had convinced them that amateur radio would add another measure of security when they were hiking in areas with poor cell service. Then, members of their ham radio club suggested that the family start activating summits, She and Jason were hooked.

Corrinne said that work commitments recently slowed Jason's climb to join his Goat family at the top but he's getting there. With Jason needing only 80 more points, she said that before too long, [quote] "We'll be our own little SOTA Mountain Goat herd." [endquote] No doubt the Hendersons will be one herd who's definitely being heard.

FRIDAY EDITION: It's been a winter here and I am for the first time feeling my age, I don't do well with the cold anymore. Yesterday I went out to uncover my wife's car and broke a windshield wiper stuck to the windshield. I then hopped in the truck to touch up the driveway and ran the plow up hard against a boulder I forgot about that was covered in the snow. I ripped off the weld and bent a piece of 1/2 plate steel from the plow mount that holds the plow in position. I went over to the shop and we heated the plate stock cherry red with the torch and wrestled it back in place with a sledge hammer and then stick welded it back to somewhat normal. 1 1/2 hours, most of the time outside, came home and went to bed....this getting old and stupid is tough to swallow...

ARDC Priority Areas of Funding Offer Opportunities for Hams

ARDC continues to accept grant applications from organizations aiming to advance the hobby of amateur radio and beyond. The next application deadline is just around the corner on February 1st, but three additional rounds of applications will be accepted later this year on April 1st, July 1st, and September 1st.

ARDC makes grants to programs and organizations that aim to advance our mission and vision, with the strategic goals of getting more people learning, experimenting, and doing with amateur radio and digital communications technology.

With the recent introduction of Priority Areas for Funding, ARDC is especially interested in projects that align with the following areas:

• Research & Development (R&D): open hardware and software systems that enable learning and experimentation (e.g. SDRs, open codec technologies, new modulation techniques).
• Space-Based Communications: projects that create or expand access to satellite communications for amateur radio (AR) and digital communications (DC), engaging communities in wireless experimentation (e.g. GEO or HEO programs, repurposed commercial satellites, space-based tools for learning).
• Open Source Education: scalable, open educational materials and hands-on projects that make AR and DC more accessible, especially for new learners and clubs (e.g. curricula, videos).

ARDC welcomes proposals across the full range of amateur radio and digital communications, but projects that align with these areas remain a priority. Learn more about applying for grants at ARDC.

THURSDAY EDITION: I have been sick as a dog with non stop coughing, fever, and cold and feeling like crap..I feel somewhat better today. I plowed the driveway after the storm but I never got to snowblowing, I dread the thought today.We got the jackpot, 27 inches and drifts over 3 feet around the house. ...On another note, I am very glad I switched the link of the 440 Gloucester fusion repeater over to the UFB New England Network, lots of activity...if you call out someone actually answers you!....Here is our tax dollar at work, sending a shitter to the moon...

Emergency officials use ham radio operators during winter storms (West Virginia)

MEIGS COUNTY, Ohio (WSAZ) – With winter weather slamming much of the region, emergency officials are activating a different kind of backup — one that doesn’t rely on cell towers or Wi-Fi.

It’s called ARES — Amateur Radio Emergency Service — and it’s full of ham radio operators trained to step in when traditional communication goes down.

Joe Barnhart with the Meigs County Auxiliary Communications said it takes a team to be prepared.

“It was a busy weekend. We started Friday setting up equipment. On Saturday, we stood up our auxiliary group. Meigs EMA asked us to have volunteers ready to deploy to warming shelter in case service or internet was down,” Barnhart said.

A team of operators checked in to the network during the weekend. They’re acting as a human link — taking calls, confirming locations, and pushing critical information up the chain of command.

“We set up an emergency communication with various services, whether its amateur radio or GMRS radio, which is the General Mobile Radio Service and that allows people with even radio service, to hear and commute with the general networks, that gives real world information for weather conditions, snow levels, the Meigs EMS wants us to send out,” Barnhart said.

Read more – WSAZ: https://bit.ly/4qbMM2h

 

TUESDAY EDITION: Two feet of snow and Dave- N1EDU got to the store and opened up for business. My mailman never showed, remeber when theycame thry rain, sleet, and snow?

Funny, our model organization for Emergency Services shuts down in a snow storm:

Winter Storm Closes ARRL Headquarters on Monday, January 26

MONDAY EDITION:  It was a great game, mainly because we won. The weather being a huge factor for both sides in the second half but despite it all, we are goingto the Super Bowl...I was gifted 24 inches of snow, some drifts of 3 feer due to the howling winds last night.

Backyard picture of the deer feeding at Mike's-N1XW

The Setun Was a Ternary Computer from the USSR in 1958

[Codeolences] tells us about the FORBIDDEN Soviet Computer That Defied Binary Logic. The Setun, the world’s first ternary computer, was developed at Moscow State University in 1958. Its troubled and short-lived history is covered in the video. The machine itself uses “trits” (ternary digits) instead of “bits” (binary digits).

When your digits have three discrete values there are a multiplicity of ways of assigning meaning to each state, and the Setun uses a system known as balanced ternary where each digit can be either -1, 0, or 1 and otherwise uses a place-value system in the normal way.

An interesting factoid that comes up in the video is that base-3 (also known as radix-3) is the maximally efficient way to represent numbers because three is the closest integer to the natural growth constant, the base of the natural logarithm, e, which is approximately 2.718 ≈ 3.

If you’re interested to know more about ternary computing check out There Are 10 Kinds Of Computers In The World and Building The First Ternary Microprocessor.

BLIZZARD OF 26 WEEKEND: Sunday 7am- 7 degrees, bitter, and murky out, looks a lot like a snow storm might be happening today...I wonder why the Patriots did not arrive a lot earlier than yesterday to acclimate to the altitude change, I hope it was not a mistake on there part...

Saturday: 3 degrees before the wind chill factor at 7am...More importantly, the NFL playoff games would should shift the storm mania over to football madness. All stocked with chicken wings, chips and dip, homemade beef stew and chicken soup, fresh Italian bread...we are ready to rock and roll...let it snow. let it snow, let it snow...

Now Shipping: the 2026 edition of The ARRL Repeater Directory® powered by RepeaterBook

FRIDAY EDITION: Let the madness begin, the talking weather heads on TV have predicted a huge storm. Yea, it's New England! It comes on Sunday and is gone Monday. The roads will be completely cleared by Tuesday morning but the mayhem at Market Basket is almost too funny, people running around grabbing shit off the shelves they will never use- why all the bread, milk, and toliet paper????

Print Your Own Standardized Wire Spool Storage

Hardware hackers tend to have loads of hookup wire, and that led [firstgizmo] to design a 3D printable wire and cable spool storage system. As a bonus, it’s Gridfinity-compatible!

There are a lot of little design touches we love. For example, we like the little notch into which the wire ends are held, which provides a way to secure the loose ends without any moving parts. Also, while at first glance these holders look like something that goes together with a few screws, they actually require no additional hardware and can be assembled entirely with printed parts. But should one wish to do so, [firstgizmo] has an alternate design that goes together with some M3 bolts instead.

Want to adjust something? The STEP files are included, which we always love to see because it makes modifications to the models so much more accessible. One thing that hasn’t changed over the years is that making engineering-type adjustments to STL files is awful, at best.

If there is one gotcha, it is that one must remove wire from their old spools and re-wind onto the new to use this system. However, [firstgizmo] tries to make that as easy as possible by providing two tools to make re-spooling easier: one for hand-cranking, and one for using a hand drill to do the work for you.

It’s a very thoughtful design, and as mentioned, can also be used with the Gridfinity system, which seems to open organizational floodgates in most people’s minds. Most of us are pinched for storage space, and small improvements in space-saving really, really add up.

SpottedHam.com Launches Custom POTA and Keyword Email Alerts

SpottedHam.com Launches Real-Time Custom Keyword Alerts for Portable Operators

A new web-based tool for the amateur radio community, SpottedHam.com, has launched to provide hams with a more granular way to monitor the bands. Unlike traditional clusters, SpottedHam allows users to create custom watchlists for specific callsigns, POTA (Parks on the Air) references, or specific bands and modes.

The system monitors live spotting data and sends an immediate email notification to the user the moment a match is found. This is particularly useful for operators chasing specific park references or monitoring the activity of friends and local club members.

Developer Robert Campbell/KM6HBH designed the tool to be mobile-first, ensuring that activators in the field and operators in the shack have a clean, clutter-free interface. The service is currently free to use and supports global spotting data, including UK and European POTA references.

Interested operators can find the live spotting table, an easy way to spot themselves, and sign up for alerts at: https://www.spottedham.com

 

THURSDAY EDITION: I cycled the generators yesterday and I plan to start up the big Ariens snow blower sometime today. My plow is on and ready to go, plenty of Biobricks for the Vermont Casting stove....I just need to rush over to the market and buy a months supply of milk, bread, eggs, and toilet paper to get thru this major storm...lol of course...I have battery power for the VHF-UHF-HF rigs in a pinch

The CAARA club in Gloucester will be open for Winter Field Day on Saturday at 11AM and on with pizza served sometime. It is more of a social event for us, we are not big in going outside and freezing our ass off to play radio. Been there and done that, in a real emergency we would work out of the club with the generator running and ample heat.....

SpottedHam.com Launches Real-Time Custom Keyword Alerts for Portable Operators

A new web-based tool for the amateur radio community, SpottedHam.com, has launched to provide hams with a more granular way to monitor the bands. Unlike traditional clusters, SpottedHam allows users to create custom watchlists for specific callsigns, POTA (Parks on the Air) references, or specific bands and modes.

The system monitors live spotting data and sends an immediate email notification to the user the moment a match is found. This is particularly useful for operators chasing specific park references or monitoring the activity of friends and local club members.

Developer Robert Campbell/KM6HBH designed the tool to be mobile-first, ensuring that activators in the field and operators in the shack have a clean, clutter-free interface. The service is currently free to use and supports global spotting data, including UK and European POTA references.

Interested operators can find the live spotting table, an easy way to spot themselves, and sign up for alerts at: https://www.spottedham.com

WEDNESDAY EDITION: Is it just me, the cold weather just doesn't agree with me anymore. I see no joy when it is 10 degrees on here Cape Ann...

New Comedy Podcast Tackles Ham Radio’s “Gatekeeping Problem” With Humor and Education

Guy and Gus launch innovative series as survey data reveals 73% of new operators feel intimidated by online ham radio communities

Orlando, FL – January 20, 2025 – As amateur radio experiences a post-pandemic surge in new licensees, a troubling trend has emerged: online communities have become battlegrounds where “real radio” debates and equipment tribalism drive newcomers away from a hobby designed around experimentation and connection.

Ham Radio Gizmos is tackling this challenge head-on with an innovative solution: a comedy podcast that makes learning fun again.

The show centers on twin brothers Guy and Gus Wyre, whose constant disagreements mirror the hobby’s most heated debates. Guy champions modern software-defined radios, digital modes, and computer integration. Gus lives for vintage tube equipment, heavy iron, and radios that glow before they transmit. Their sibling rivalry becomes the vehicle for education – proving both approaches have merit while reminding listeners that ham radio is big enough for everyone.
“Somewhere between firmware updates and heated forum arguments, we forgot that this hobby is supposed to be enjoyable,” says Lee Love (N2LEE), creator of Ham Radio Gizmos. “Guy and Gus exist to prove you can laugh at ourselves while learning – and that ‘real radio’ is whatever gets you on the air.”

What Makes This Different
Unlike traditional ham radio podcasts that lecture or interview, Guy and Gus creates an entertainment experience where education happens naturally through story, debate, and good-natured brotherly warfare. The innovative production format allows for consistent weekly releases, professional quality, and creative storylines – including time travel segments, historical recreations, and exaggerated character conflicts that make technical concepts memorable.

Each episode features:

• Character-driven comedy that breaks down technical barriers
• Practical troubleshooting embedded in entertaining narratives
• Historical context connecting vintage and modern approaches
• Inclusive messaging welcoming all experience levels and equipment choices

The podcast’s philosophy is simple: Ham radio should be fun. Learning should be enjoyable. And laughing at ourselves is part of the process.

Bridging the Generation Gap
The show addresses a critical industry challenge: attracting younger operators while respecting the hobby’s deep traditions. By personifying both camps through Guy (modern) and Gus (vintage), the podcast validates every operator’s path while gently mocking the tribalism that divides communities.

“We’re not saying one approach is better,” Love explains. “We’re saying the arguments are entertaining, both sides have wisdom, and the hobby thrives when we stop gatekeeping and start experimenting together.”

Proven Educational Approach
Ham Radio Gizmos represents a fresh approach to educational content creation. The character-driven format maintains broadcast-quality consistency while exploring creative formats:

• Consistent character voices and personalities across episodes
• Time travel segments featuring historical radio operators
• Rapid-fire technical debates that clarify complex concepts
• Weekly release schedules with professional production values

Early listener feedback validates the approach: audiences report higher engagement and better retention of technical concepts compared to traditional lecture formats – proof that entertainment and education can coexist.

About Ham Radio Gizmos

Ham Radio Gizmos is a multi-platform educational initiative dedicated to making amateur radio accessible, enjoyable, and welcoming. Through YouTube tutorials, podcast episodes, and community engagement, the project serves both new and experienced operators with content that respects the hobby’s traditions while embracing innovation.
The Guy and Gus podcast releases weekly, with episodes available on all major podcast platforms and YouTube.

Disclaimer
Before tuning in, prospective listeners should know: Ham Radio Gizmos is intended for entertainment and educational purposes only. Side effects may include spontaneous enjoyment, sudden urges to buy amateur radio equipment, mysterious antenna appearances on property, and spirited discussions with spouses, neighbors, or HOAs. The hosts are not responsible for glowing gutters, questionable amplifier decisions, or increased tolerance for sibling arguments. Listen responsibly – preferably with a sense of humor.

Media Contact
Lee Love (N2LEE)
Ham Radio Gizmos
Press@HamRadioGizmos.com
HamRadioGizmos.com

Source: Ham Radio Gizmos

What Isaac Roberts Saw Without a Space Telescope

Space telescopes are all the rage, and rightfully so. The images they take are spectacular, and they’ve greatly increased what we know about the universe. Surely, any picture taken of, say, the Andromeda galaxy before space telescopes would be little more than a smudge compared to modern photos, right? Maybe not.

One of the most famous pictures of our galactic neighbor was taken in — no kidding — 1888. The astronomer/photographer was Isaac Roberts, a Welsh engineer with a keen interest in astrophotography. Around 1878, he began using a 180 mm refracting telescope for observations, and in 1883, he began taking photographs.

He was so pleased with the results that he ordered a reflecting telescope with a 510 mm first-surface mirror and built an observatory around it in 1885. Photography and optics back then weren’t what they are now, so adding more mirrors to the setup made it more challenging to take pictures. Roberts instead mounted the photographic plates directly at the prime focus of the mirror.

Andromeda

This image, captured with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, is the largest and sharpest image ever taken of the Andromeda galaxy — otherwise known as M31. This is a cropped version of the full image and has 1.5 billion pixels. You would need more than 600 HD television screens to display the whole image. It is the biggest Hubble image ever released and shows over 100 million stars and thousands of star clusters embedded in a section of the galaxy’s pancake-shaped disc stretching across over 40 000 light-years. This image is too large to be easily displayed at full resolution

Because it took hours to capture good images, he developed techniques to keep the camera moving in sync with the telescope to track objects in the night sky. On December 29th, 1888 he used his 510 mm scope to take a long exposure of Andromeda (or M31, if you prefer). His photos showed the galaxy had a spiral structure, which was news in 1888.

Of course, it’s not as good as the Hubble’s shots. In all fairness, though, the Hubble’s is hard to appreciate without the interactive zoom tool. And 100 years of technological progress separate the two.

Roberts also invented a machine that could engrave stellar positions on copper plates. The Science Museum in London has the telescope in its collection.

Your Turn

Roberts did a great job with very modest equipment. These days, at least half of astrophotography is in post-processing, which you can learn. Want time on a big telescope? Consider taking an online class. You might not match the James Webb or the Hubble, but neither did Roberts, yet we still look at his plates with admiration.

TUESDAY EDITION: 19 Degrees plus a wind-chill factor, not a good day for antenna work....The addition of our W1GLO repeater to the UFB fusion network is looking good. Thanks Bart for letting us in!... Net aurora effect on late afternoon 3828 get together yesterday...