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EHAM QTH QRZ ARRL HRO ICOM KENWOOD YAESU ELBO ROOM K1TP@YAHOO.COM
FRIDAY EDITION: 15 firearms that are worth keeping for life....Controversial surveillance technology company Flock Safety has long insisted that its automated license plate readers (ALPRs) can’t recognize or track people’s faces. But they may as well be able to, thanks to a new AI tool which can reportedly identify vehicles—and their drivers—based on several other variables. STORY Entrepreneur and Amateur Radio Operator Invests in the Next Generation of Problem SolversARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® announced today a historic and transformational $1 million gift from Dr. James M. Galm, W8WTS. An entrepreneur and amateur radio operator who spent his career solving complex energy and engineering challenges, Galm is now investing in the next generation of problem solvers through his support of ARRL. The gift will directly support ARRL programs and activities, including the ARRL STEM education initiative within the Education and Technology Program, and ARRL’s work defending access to amateur radio spectrum through the Spectrum Defense Fund. He didn’t stop there, however. Dr. Galm expressed how important ARRL is to the future of amateur radio by designating a significant portion of his gift as unrestricted support to the ARRL Diamond Club, which supports ARRL’s general fund, and the Second Century Fund, ARRL’s unrestricted endowment fund, which will be invested and support ARRL operations in perpetuity. James M. Galm, Ph.D., W8WTS, is from Chardon, Ohio and is a 50-year ARRL member, a member of the ARRL Legacy Circle, and an accomplished amateur radio contester. He frequently operates from PJ2T and has served as President and Secretary/Treasurer of the Caribbean Contesting Consortium, PJ2T. He also operates a popular and reliable DX Cluster at dxc.w8wts.net with both ARC 6 and CC Cluster nodes. With his transformational gift, Dr. Galm will be inducted into the ARRL Maxim Society at the Millennium Class. He joins Margaret Valentine at this extremely generous level of giving. Valentine, along with her late husband Michael Valentine, W8MM (SK), made the first pledge of $1 million to ARRL during the Second Century Campaign. First licensed as WN8WTS in 1975, Dr. Galm has more than 40 years of experience in engineering, research, manufacturing and product development. He holds nine patents and has published many scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals. In 2001, Galm co-founded LayerZero Power Systems, Inc., which grew to become the world leader in ultra-reliable AC power management equipment for mission-critical applications, including AI and machine learning, hyperscale computing data centers, semiconductor manufacturing, and financial transaction processing. The two owners sold a majority interest in LayerZero to a global private equity firm in 2025. Dr. Galm holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics from Case Western Reserve University. He is a Professional Engineer licensed to practice in Ohio. Now retired, Dr. Galm serves on boards of directors for LayerZero and Type One Energy. Galm's gift represents a significant investment in ARRL's mission by supporting initiatives that help develop students as innovators, protecting the future of amateur radio spectrum, and strengthening the organization for generations to come. Track Bird Visitors With a Raspberry Pi and a USB MicAvian Visitors is a lovely project by [Teddy Warner] that uses a Raspberry Pi and microphone to keep track of which birds have been visiting your home, and creates a colorful illustration of recent visitors on top of it all. It reports on a web interface of its own making, but what really takes things to a new level is an optional, stylish E-Ink panel that shows the last 24 hours’ worth of visitors at a glance in a collage. The key to identification is BirdNET (GitHub here), a deep learning classifier from Cornell that can reliably identify and classify more than 11,000 species worldwide based on sound alone.
Based on that information, the system pulls bird images from a reference set for the region and creates a collage representing the breadth and frequency of visitors in a single image. The larger the image of a bird, the more frequently it was heard. That’s a cool project, but [Teddy] took things one step further by setting up a color E-Ink display to show a running summary of all the avian visitors the system identifies. [Teddy] has a knack for leveraging projects into wall-mounted art, as we saw with his generative art wall plotter. Got ideas of your own? Avian Visitors even has options for sending the latest detection to Home Assistant or over MQTT, allowing automation triggers based on specific bird species. If you decide to try it out and put your own spin on it, be sure to let us know by sending us a tip! The GitHub repository for Avian Visitors has everything you need to get set up, and the basic system needs little more than a Raspberry Pi and a USB microphone. There’s a build video embedded just below, so give it a shot if you want to get a better idea of what birds come visiting.
THURSDAY EDITION: Thanks to Joe- K1WPO for donating a Dowkey antenna relay to the club which will be used with the new Heath DX60....
SpaceX now has the dubious honor of being the first company to deface the moon, after a piece of one of its rockets crashed into Earth’s only natural satellite earlier this month. Now, NASA is offering our first glimpse at the aftermath. STORY AMSAT Canada Begins Offering Membership OptionsAMSAT Canada (AMSAT-CA) has begun offering membership options to further its mission to support amateur radio in space. Those interested in supporting AMSAT-CA through membership can learn more about membership benefits (PDF).
AMSAT-CA is expected to play a significant role in the futureGEO geostationary satellite project potentially covering portions of North America. Source: AMSAT-CA Kopernik Observatory Seeks Amateur Radio Operators to Track August 19 Balloon Flight
Amateur radio
operators in
western New York
and other
northeastern
states have an
opportunity to
help track an
educational
balloon. Drew
Deskur, KA1M,
Director of the
Kopernik
Observatory, a
public
observatory and
informal STEM
education center
in Vestal, New
York, said the
balloon was
expected to be
launched August
19 at 10 AM
Eastern (1400
UTC) with
Automatic Packet
Reporting System
(ARPS) and
slow-scan
television
(SSTV) onboard.
The flight
should last
about 2.5 hours.
Amateur radio
operators
throughout the
U.S. Northeast
are asked to
track the flight
and send
downloadable
images and
signal reports
to
k2zro@kopernik.org.
With APRS
(K2ZRO-11) for
tracking, there
will also be
SSTV
transmitting on
145.600 MHz
using Martin 1
mode throughout
the flight. The
balloon should
reach over
100,000 feet.
Last year there
were SSTV
reports from New
England, Canada,
Pennsylvania,
Ohio, and
Maryland.
WEDNESDAY EDITION: The club is open this morning for coffee and donuts if you are in the area... EMAIL: YAESU FTX-1 is 200.00 off ( 1 years old radio )
YAESU FTDX-10 is
50.00 more
expensive ( a 6
years old radio
)
YAESU FTDX-101D
is 500.00 more
expensive (a 8
years old radio
)
YAESU
FTDX-101MP
is 900.00
more
expensive (
a 9 years
old radio )
This is NOT
a sale!
Old stock
should be a
lot cheaper
to buy.
All prices
are compared
with 5/18/2026
pricing
tracking at
HRO…
This is
outrageous!
Selling a
product that
already
designed,
with little
improvements
should cost
LESS!
This should
keep the
used market
very strong.
ICOM 7300
still have
not really
fall much
since last
year 750+
from what I
was looking
at today.
Very
interesting.
W1#$% Helioclock to Debut at Huntsville Hamfest: A New All-in-One Next Generation Situational Awareness Display with live SDRReno, NV. August 17, 2026. Helioclock, a new dedicated live dashboard appliance built for amateur radio operators, EOC’s NOC’s Civil Defense and others will make its public debut at the ARRL National convention/Huntsville Hamfest, August 22–23, 2026. The product brings live HF band conditions, space weather, contest information, and a wide range of real-time situational data feeds together on a single always-on screen: no juggling browser tabs, no subscription required. Fully automated operation 24/7/365 designed explicitly to have no single point of failure risk. Further, Helioclock now features a real-time integrated SDR (Software Defined Radio) interface that serves as a standalone all-band receiver, plus offers NCDXF beacon monitoring for real-time band conditions. New: Live RTL-SDR IntegrationHelioclock’s newest release adds full support for the popular RTL-SDR USB dongle, turning any Helioclock display into a live, all-band software-defined radio receiver right alongside its propagation and space weather data. Operators get an on-screen waterfall, frequency tuning, and demodulation controls (AM, FM, SSB, and more) with no separate SDR software, no second screen, and nothing extra to buy. See It in HuntsvilleHelioclock will be shown live at the Huntsville Hamfest, August 22–23, 2026, at booth #V55. Attendees can see Best Band Now running against live band conditions in real time and talk with the developer that built it. Ready-to-run systems, bootable SD cards for Raspberry Pi 4/5 platforms, and Live USB devices will be available for purchase at the show. A Stunning Shack Display Built Around Real Time Data, Not GuessworkThe centerpiece is Helioclock's signature “Best Band Now” feature. Rather than reducing complex propagation data down to a single “best guess,” Helioclock now presents every open or marginal HF band on a live, continuously ranked leaderboard, similar to a golf leaderboard, so operators can see exactly how each band stacks up and why. Each band's score is intelligently analyzed from real DX cluster and Reverse Beacon Network spot activity, and if equipped with an SDR USB RTL-SDR dongle, real time beacon DX measurements. All are weighted by frequency and available headroom below the Maximum Usable Frequency, so a band with genuinely strong evidence can never be quietly outranked by a band with only a handful of spots. A band must hold the #1 ranking continuously for 20 minutes before it's marked CONFIRMED; until then it displays LEADING with a live countdown, so operators can watch a band call developing in real time rather than reacting to a single flip. Plus, a per-band “Band Scope” graph shows the last 60 minutes of activity for every band at a glance, and every column on the leaderboard with plain-language explaining exactly what it means and how it's calculated. Full transparency, nothing hidden behind a black-box verdict. More Than DX and PropagationBeyond Best Band Now, Helioclock's next generation screen brings together:
Flexible, Low-Cost HardwareHelioclock is designed to run on whatever hardware a ham shack already has or wants to add cheaply:
AvailabilityMore information, screenshots, features, and a live interactive demo are available at helioclock.com. Media Contact: Grant: School-Based Scaled Deployment of HF Amateur RadioAmount: $59,104 With an ARDC grant, Harbor Creek School District plans to build out a larger amateur radio program near Erie, Pennsylvania. The effort builds on the district’s existing student radio club, the Advanced Technologies Group, KC3SGV, which has already taken on major projects, including high-altitude ballooning and an ARISS contact featured on NBC’s Today show. (https://www.today.com/video/high-school-students-use-ham-radio-skills-to-contact-space-station-201408581756) This project will help equip a new radio lab for wireless technology classes and the after-school club. The lab will use multiple HF stations, remote FlexRadio systems, antennas, and school-network connections so more students can get on the air at once. Some radios will be placed at other school buildings and operated from the high school radio lab, helping reduce interference between stations. The goal is to give students regular HF operating time. They will be able to make contacts, try digital modes, test antennas, and take part in contests. Harbor Creek also plans to document the setup so other K-12 schools can see what a larger school-based amateur radio program can look like. TUESDAY EDITION: A murky start this morning.... The world’s largest electric plane takes flight
The 25,000-pound
aircraft flew
for 27 minutes.
The world’s largest, fully battery-powered jet officially completed its maiden flight. The successful test run marks a noteworthy step forward for long-awaited electric aircraft and battery technology broadly, but don’t expect to book a fully battery-powered flight anytime soon. Manufactured by Los Angeles-based Heart Aerospace, the plane is called the X1. It has a 106-foot wingspan, measures 76 feet from nose to tail, and weighs more than 25,000 pounds, roughly the weight of an empty school bus. The 30-seat plane took off earlier this week from a regional airport in upstate New York, and flew for 27 minutes on battery power alone, reaching an altitude of 1,100 feet. It didn’t carry passengers, just a single pilot. This week’s flight was an early test run for Heart’s broader commercial ambition: a hybrid-electric plane called the ES-30, which the company ambitiously hopes to bring into service by 2031. That model has already garnered interest from major airlines including United, Air Canada, and JSX, drawn in by the promise of lower maintenance costs and insulation from volatile jet fuel prices. “With the first flight of X1, Heart Aerospace has demonstrated electric flight at the scale of a commercial airliner,” Heart Founder and CEO Anders Forslund said in a statement. Heart Aerospace was founded in Gothenburg, Sweden, but officially relocated to Los Angeles in April 2025 as part of its effort to get its regional hybrid-electric plane off the ground. It’s one of several aviation companies capitalizing on rapid innovation in battery tech in recent years to try to reshape air travel, or a small, regional segment of it at least. The potential benefits are two-fold. On one hand, battery-powered planes, especially those drawing electricity from renewable sources, offer a cleaner alternative to environmentally harmful jet fuel. Aviation broadly accounts for an estimated 2.5 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. Worse still, planes produce other harmful heat-trapping emissions like nitrogen oxides. The aviation industry set a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, but even with innovations in sustainability and cleaner fuel, that target seems almost certain to fail. Emerging electric aviation could make a dent in those emissions, but it certainly won’t transform the industry in the near future. The bigger sell for airlines comes from promised cost savings. Anyone who’s flown in the past six months likely knows that the cost of jet fuel is heavily subject to world events. Jet fuel prices averaged $3.50 per gallon a week prior to the test flight. That’s up 63 percent from last year. Beyond just fuel, though, electric motors also have fewer moving parts, which, in theory at least, means they should require less costly maintenance and repair. Automakers have made similar arguments when advocating for electric vehicles. Heart claims that a combination of less fuel and maintenance combined should make their eventual ES-30 40 percent cheaper to operate than conventional regional aircraft of similar sizes. Going further, the company claims that all electric X1 test flights used just $5 of electricity. That sounds impressive at first, but it’s worth noting what that eye-grabbing figure leaves out. That single-figure dollar only measures the raw energy costs and not other operating costs like crew, airport fees, maintenance fees, long-term battery degradation, and other expenses. How much airlines actually save if they switch the hybrid eclectic plane, and whether any of those savings get passed on to travelers, remains somewhat unclear. “Electric commercial aircraft have the potential to fundamentally reshape airline economics and, ultimately, lower the cost of air travel for passengers,” Forslund added Whatever Happened to the Computer of Tomorrow, Anyway? The Xerox Alto Story
You’ve almost certainly heard of the Xerox Alto, the machine that pioneered the desktop-mouse-keyboard interface and inspired Steve Jobs to produce the Apple Lisa and Macintosh computers. It wasn’t just having a desktop, though– so much of our modern computing paradigm was invented on these machines. Given that, why aren’t we all using Xerox clones instead of Apples or PCs descended from the IBM compatibles? [Ctrl+Alt+Fail] has a video that answers the question: whatever happened to the computer of tomorrow, anyway? It goes through the whole story of the Alto, from its introduction at Xerox PARC in the 1970s to its demise. At the introduction, the engineers showed of the What You See Is What You Get word processor, networked the machines together to show off e-mail and that anyone could use the office laser printer. It all seems very familiar now, but at the time, it was a revolution. An expensive one. The monitor sitting on the desk wasn’t the computer, after all: that was a large filing-cabinet sized desk sitting underneath. Only about 2000 were ever built, so what happened? It wasn’t just that the first units cost twelve grand USD to build in 1973 money– about 90 large today by CPI, or for the gold bugs that’s 96 oz or 2.7 kg. It wasn’t worth its weight in gold, but it was close. Still, that wasn’t the problem: later models would be cheaper. The problem was that Xerox refused to sell the thing in the 70s. They saw the potential of a paperless office, and it scared them. Sure, they could sell a computer, once. They wouldn’t get a monthly service fee, nor the cost of the toner, drums and other consumables the Alto wouldn’t need. So they sat on it, and let others like Steve Jobs who didn’t have an existing business empire to lose take their ideas and run with them. It seems shortsighted, but Xerox had already lost millions on big iron computing around the same time the Alto came along, and every business decision after that was carefully weighed on its projected revenue. Compared to a copier that printed money for Xerox as surely as it printed paper, the Alto just didn’t look like it could pay for itself. It looked likely to lose them a lot of money, which, in fact the adoption of the personal computer ultimately did. Hindsight is 20/20 and it’s easy to play Monday Morning Quarterback and say these developments were inevitable and Xerox should have run out in front, but [Ctrl+Alt+Fail] does a good job of explaining the logic from the Xerox boards’ point of view, which makes the video very much worth a watch. If you can’t get enough Alto, we can also point you to what it takes to restore one, what almost killed one, and why you shouldn’t mine bitcoin with one. Blog – Hackaday Read More Canton Recruiting New Emergency VolunteersCanton CERT is recruiting volunteers for free emergency response training and year-round community preparedness activities.CANTON, CT — The Town of Canton is seeking new volunteers for its Community Emergency Response Team, which trains residents to assist the community before, during, and after emergencies and disasters. No previous emergency response experience is required to join Canton CERT, according to the town. Basic training is free, runs throughout the year, and is offered in Canton or surrounding communities. The Federal Emergency Management Agency CERT basic training curriculum consists of about 20 hours of instruction covering disaster preparedness, CERT organization, disaster medical operations, fire safety and utility controls, light search and rescue operations, team organization, disaster psychology and terrorism awareness. Monday Edition: Although I drove to the HamExpo on Saturday, I never went in! Pictures whow the perfect weather, attendance looked great....I wish the hell I had made the time to go in after driving down there..
Perfect weather for the hamfest but I was just down for a special pickup...
I picked up a DX60B and matching HG10 vfo which the club members are going to love and enjoy this Wednesday morning. Thank you Joe for getting it down to Marlborough! I am going to pair it with a Hallicrafter receiver we have and I would like to have it all operating for our clubs 50th anniversary party at the October meeting. FRIDAY EDITION: : Reminder: HamExpo in Marlboro, MA is Friday and Saturday. $20 admission good for both days ... hamlife.jp reports that both Kenwood and Uniden have announced significant anniversary milestones to be celebrated at Ham Fair 2026 in Japan. Both companies are teasing new radio equipment intended to be showcased at the event on August 29th. Kenwood will celebrate 80 years in production with a special musical event at their booth. The recently announced TM-D750S and TM-D750 will also be on full display and available for attendees to interact with. Uniden is celebrating 60 years in production and is teasing what appears to be a new handheld transceiver to be revealed at Ham Fair. Details are thin, including whether or not this radio will be marketed outside of the Japanese market. Uniden will also showcase wide-band receiving equipment targeted to users in Japan.
Amateur Radio
Newsline Report THURSDAY EDITION: : Reminder: HamExpo in Marlboro, MA this Friday and Saturday. $20 admission good for both days ... Ham Fair 2026 Updates: Kenwood and Uniden to Showcase New Radioshamlife.jp reports that both Kenwood and Uniden have announced significant anniversary milestones to be celebrated at Ham Fair 2026 in Japan. Both companies are teasing new radio equipment intended to be showcased at the event on August 29th. Kenwood will celebrate 80 years in production with a special musical event at their booth. The recently announced TM-D750S and TM-D750 will also be on full display and available for attendees to interact with. Uniden is celebrating 60 years in production and is teasing what appears to be a new handheld transceiver to be revealed at Ham Fair. Details are thin, including whether or not this radio will be marketed outside of the Japanese market. Uniden will also showcase wide-band receiving equipment targeted to users in Japan. The Impact of LiFePO4 Batteries on Ham RadioThe use of Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries has changed ham radio for the better. These eco-friendly batteries last longer, stay cooler, and pack more power than old batteries. This makes them perfect for ham radio energy storage. They’re also good for the planet. LiFePO4 batteries are crucial for keeping ham radio running, especially in emergencies. When regular power is gone, these batteries keep things going. They let operators count on a steady power source, making communications more reliable. LiFePO4 batteries are changing the ham radio scene. They’re not just powerful and dependable; they’re also light and easy to move. This lets users take their radios just about anywhere, making the hobby more diverse and fun. 
Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries also help decrease ham radio’s environmental impact. They’re better for the air and produce less waste than older batteries. By choosing LiFePO4 batteries, ham radio fans show they care about the Earth while enjoying their hobby.
LiFePO4 batteries are a must-have for ham radio setups. With their long life, efficiency, and green benefits, they enable better communication while caring for the planet. WEDNESDAY EDITION: Never a dull moment around here. I caught a skunk last night in my trap and I have to attempt to release it without getting me or the house sprayed.....pictures later, wish me luck! The 15th annual NJQRP Skeeter Hunt will take place this Sunday on August 16th. The objective of the event is to encourage QRP hams to get out of the shack and operate outdoors. Operators may use CW or SSB. There are a number of rules and bonus points which are explained here. Colombian Emergency Network Activated Following EarthquakeARRL received the following report from Carlos Alberto Santamaría González, CO2JC, Emergency Communications Coordinator, International Amateur Radio Union, Region 2 (IARU R2). Monday, August 10, 2026 This morning, several regions of Colombia were shaken by an earthquake. According to data from the Colombian Geological Service, the quake occurred at 07:34 local time, with its epicenter located in the municipality of San José del Palmar, Chocó (at coordinates 5.04°N, -76.34°W). The event registered a magnitude of 7.4 and a depth of 96 km. Subsequently, there were several aftershocks exceeding magnitude 2.0, including one of 4.8 at 08:18 local time. Minutes later, we made contact with Faber Mosquera (HK6F), the emergency coordinator for the Colombian Amateur Radio League. He informed us that damage assessments were underway in the departments of the Coffee Axis and the Colombian Pacific coast—the areas most severely affected—and that he was already coordinating with the National Disaster Risk Management System. From the very beginning, we were also in contact with emergency coordinators from Guatemala, Cuba, Venezuela, Honduras, El Salvador, and Ecuador—as well as Greg Mossop (G0DUB), the emergency coordinator for Region 1 of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU R1, covering Europe and Africa)—to provide information and assistance. By gathering information from the Colombian government, the press, and amateur radio operators, we have obtained data regarding the impact of the earthquake. Abelardo De La Espriella, the Colombian president who recently took office, provided a preliminary assessment of the casualties and damage caused by the event: 111 dead, 87 injured, 1,575 homes damaged, 37 homes completely destroyed, 61 buildings collapsed, 18 health centers damaged, 52 educational centers damaged, 17 community centers damaged, 18 roads damaged, 6 airports with infrastructure damage and no commercial flight operations, and another air terminal with runway damage. Members of the [Liga Colombiana de Radioaficionados -- LCRA] are already deploying alongside the Colombian Red Cross to provide communications support in the wake of the disaster. In Colombia, the [LCRA] uses the International Amateur Radio Union Region 2 (IARU R2) frequencies for emergency communications, as follows: 80 m: 3985
kHz We will share further information as it becomes available. TUESDAY EDITION: Reminder: HamExpo in Marlboro, MA this Friday and Saturday. $20 admission good for both days ...
In 1934, an
inventor climbed
to the 85th
floor of the
tallest building
in the world and
started
broadcasting a
completely new
kind of radio
signal, one
designed to
eliminate the
static that had
plagued
listeners for
decades.
Edwin Armstrong,
a Columbia
University
engineer who had
already
revolutionized
radio once
before with his
regenerative
circuit, spent
years developing
frequency
modulation, or
FM, as a
solution to the
persistent
static problem
inherent in
standard AM
broadcasting.
With help from
his old friend
David Sarnoff at
RCA, Armstrong
moved his
equipment to the
Empire State
Building's 85th
floor in March
1934, running
large-scale
field tests
through October
1935, including
a famous public
demonstration
where he
broadcast an
organ recital
simultaneously
in AM and FM,
letting
listeners hear
the
static-filled AM
signal give way
to clean, rich
FM sound.
Despite the
technology's
obvious
superiority, RCA
had already
committed its
resources to
developing
television
instead, and in
1935 the company
quietly barred
Armstrong from
continuing to
use its Empire
State Building
facilities.
Undeterred,
Armstrong built
his own 400-foot
transmitter
tower across the
Hudson River in
Alpine, New
Jersey,
launching the
country's first
regular FM
station, W2XMN,
on July 18,
1939. FM
broadcasting
spread rapidly
from there, and
Armstrong's
tower still
stands today,
briefly pressed
back into
emergency
service by major
New York
broadcasters
after September
11th, when the
World Trade
Center's own
antenna was
destroyed.
Follow Forgotten
New York, and
tell us: did you
know FM radio's
earliest tests
happened from
the observation
floors of the
Empire State
Building?
Old-school ham radios can save lives when hurricanes hit cell towers, phone lines (South Carolina)A teenaged Florida girl listening to her ham radio probably heard Amelia Earhart’s final desperate Mayday call after the legendary pilot crashed onto a tiny island inhabited by gigantic carnivorous crabs in the Pacific Ocean 800 miles from the nearest airport. The 15 year-old wrote down what the woman said; rising tides were flooding her plane. Her navigator was badly hurt. “Send help.” The Navy was conducting a massive search for Earhart — nine ships, 66 airplanes covering 150,000 square miles. But when the young ham operator’s father alerted the Coast Guard, the message was dismissed as a hoax. That was in 1937. Today, much more is known about physics, and scientists believe a Florida ham radio could easily have captured Earhart’s plea from the other side of the Earth. Navy veteran and Charleston Amateur Radio Society president Rick Valentine has forwarded Mayday calls from boats in the Pacific to the Coast Guard — which takes them dead seriously. When hurricanes approach South Carolina, Valentine heads to Charleston’s Emergency Operation Center to help first responders. If cell towers are destroyed, phone lines and satellites knocked out, “a ham radio operator can still report downed power lines, flooded streets” and neighbors needing wellness checks, he told The Post and Courier. In rural areas, after storms or floods, hams can relay messages to distant, worried relatives that locals are safe. Read more – Post and Courier: https://bit.ly/4hoE14m
MONDAY EDITION: The August issue of the local radio club.....Reminder: HamExpo in Marlboro, MA this Friday and Saturday. $20 admission good for both days and it is worth the money especially if you go to any of the free seminars, the large flea market, and the indoor commercial vendor displays. I hear Joe-K1JEK and Cobra Antenna will be there.... Amateur Radio and Citizen Science: Helping Advance Science One Signal at a TimeNational Science Week, Australia’s annual celebration of science and technology, will be held from 15 to 23 August 2026. Across the country, thousands of events will showcase how science improves our lives and how everyday Australians can become involved in scientific discovery. It is the perfect opportunity to recognise that amateur radio has been contributing to citizen science for more than a century. While many people think amateur radio is simply about talking to other operators around the world, it has always been much more than that. Radio amateurs build equipment, conduct experiments, collect data and work alongside universities, research organisations and government agencies to better understand our world. Many amateurs are scientists, engineers, teachers, technicians and IT professionals in their working lives, while countless others make significant scientific contributions simply through curiosity, experimentation and a willingness to learn. Across Australia and internationally, amateur radio operators are involved in an extraordinary range of citizen science activities. They monitor HF propagation and the changing ionosphere through projects such as HamSCI, receive weather satellite imagery from polar-orbiting satellites, track amateur satellites and CubeSats, contribute observations to meteor scatter research, experiment with microwave propagation, participate in weak-signal studies using WSPR, FT8 and Q65, and help develop new digital communications techniques. Others contribute to radio astronomy, environmental monitoring, high-altitude balloon projects, electronics design, software-defined radio development and emergency communications research. Read more – Wireless Institute of Australia: https://bit.ly/4fYeE6W How dorky Segways power today’s scooters
The device that
was supposed to
revolutionize
was both 'too
ambitious and
not ambitious
enough.’
hen the two-wheeled, self-balancing Segway Personal Transporter (PT) was revealed to the public in December 2001, it was heralded as a once-in-a generation technology that just might replace the automobile. Fast-forward to today, a handful of embarrassing, high-profile crashes and even worse sales, means the vehicle that was supposed to revolutionize transportation is maybe best recognized as the goofy contraption propelling Kevin James forward in the film Paul Blart: Mall Cop. But 25 years on from the machine’s first nationwide reveal, the underlying technology behind the segway is essential to the millions of shareable e-scooters winding their way through dozens of countries. And while the so-called “micromobility movement pushed forward by brands like Lime, Spin, and Veo isn’t bursting with as much hype as it once had, these small shareable scooters have become an unshakable feature in urban transportation, and they are here to stay. As of last year, the U.S. Department of Transportation estimated there were over 199 e-scooter systems operating spanning 133 cities. Segway, it turns out, might have the last laugh after all. “I think Dean Kamen [Segway’s founder] got a lot of people thinking about the art of the possible with human-scale form factor,” micromobility expert, former Biden Administration official, and Adapt/Impact LLC founder Gabe Klein tells Popular Science. “He was both too ambitious and not ambitious enough: we didn’t need to replace walking but we did need small donating electric vehicles. I think you could say that Vespa, Segway, Zipcar and the ebike all came together to give the formula for what we have today.” From wheelchairs to mall copsSegway was the brainchild of Dean Kamen, a New Hampshire–based inventor and entrepreneur. Kamen had previously patented numerous medical devices, including a portable, wearable insulin pump and a first-of-its-kind portable dialysis machine. His shift toward wheeled vehicles began in 1999, when his company DEKA Research & Development introduced the iBOT, a wheelchair-like device that used gyroscopic stabilizers to climb stairs. As author Steve Kemper writes in his 2005 book, Reinventing the Wheel, this underlying innovation in gyroscopic, self-balancing technology (pioneered with the iBOT) would provide the foundation for the Segway, and arguably for a whole family of scooters that followed it. The iconic looking original Segway had two wheels connected by a self-stabilizing platform, with separate motors in each wheel. It stood 45 inches tall from base to handlebars and weighed about 100 pounds. Later models were powered by lithium-ion battery packs, innovative at the time, that could fully charge in around 4-6 hours. It could attain a top speed of around 12 miles per hour and topped out at anywhere between 15 to 24 miles before it would need a recharge. What really made it stand out for the time though was its self-balancing tech. Taking a page from the iBOT, the PT used gyroscopic sensors and tilt sensors to continuously measure the device’s relative pitch. That was critically important because the PT didn’t have a pedal or a throttle. Instead, riders controlled acceleration and deceleration by shifting their weight forward and back, something that was unheard of at the time. The onboard sensors detected shifts in a rider’s center of gravity and would power motors to catch up with it, keeping the entire thing balanced in the process. To steer, riders would tilt left or right on the handlebars, which weren’t rigidly fixed to the rest of the device. “It does what a human does,” Kamen explained during a December 3, 2001 Good Morning America appearance where he revealed the Segway. “It has gyros and sensors that act like your inner ear. It has a computer that does what your brain does for you. It’s got motors that do what your muscles do for you.” The device went on sale for $5,000, about as much as a used car at the time and about one sixth of the average American’s annual income. And while the general public viewed the device with equal parts curiosity and bewilderment, tech leaders and analysts were hooked. Then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs believed the Segway PT would transform city landscapes and could rival the personal computer in cultural impact. John Doerr, a prominent venture capitalist whose firm had backed Netscape and Amazon, even predicted it would be bigger than the internet (sound familiar?). Kamen himself reportedly estimated the company would sell 10,000 Segway units per week, which works out to over 500,000 per year. And yet, six years after its official release, Segway had reportedly attained just 1 percent of its sales target. In its entire lifetime, the Segway only ever sold 140,000 units. Fancy tech with no clear purposeFrom its inception, the original Segway had a kind of identity crisis. Klein, a lifelong cyclist and Vespa rider who served as the Executive Director of the U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation under the Biden Administration and previously held a commissioner role in both Chicago and Washington D.C’s Department of Transportation, and said he had a somewhat confused reaction when he first stepped onto a Segway. It was unclear what use case the Segway really served. The self-balancing tech was genuinely impressive at the time he noted, but its bulk heavy design and lack of speed made it a cumbersome tank to lug around. More than that, though, it carried with it an undeniable dork factor. “You looked silly [riding it]” Klein tells Popular Science. “It was replacing walking, not driving, so it had limited use cases and it was expensive.” And while Segway supporters envisioned one charging in everyone’s garage, the actual audience ended up far more niche. Aside from a cohort of wealthy tech-focused early adopters, the PT mainly ended up attracting tour guides and, yes, mall cops. But price and dork factor weren’t the only problems. The Segway was also a gaffe magnet. In 2003, then-President George W. Bush embarrassingly stumbled off a Segway while visiting the family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. Years later, a cameraman riding a Segway barreled into sprinter Usain Bolt during his victory lap at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. But certainly the worst fall of them all came in 2010, when British entrepreneur Jimi Heselden, who had just recently purchased the struggling company, rode his Segway off a cliff and died. Segway’s transformationSegway went through three different owners before finally landing with the then budding Chinese transportation robotics startup Ninebot. The relationship started on shaky ground. Just months prior, Segway had filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission, claiming Ninebot had infringed on Segway’s patents for self-balancing technology. Contentious though it was, Segway’s absorption by Ninebot would save the company and arguably steer the e-scooter industry toward what it is today. “Ninebot reinvented Segway,” Kelin says. Ninebot wasn’t a household name when it acquired Segway in 2015. The Segway brand (and its pioneering tech tech) gave Ninebot the credibility and intellectual property it needed to push into the U.S. market. Ninebot would continue selling mobility devices under the Segway name, but the actual product and mindset were flipped on their head. The fancy Segway was largely put on the back burner, and replaced with an assortment of much cheaper, less ambitious scooters coming in at under $1,000. Those cheap, durable scooters are what companies like Bird and Lime would soon buy up by the thousands to build the shared e-scooter fleets that took over American sidewalks. While less visually striking than the Segway, Klein says the smaller form factors offered numerous clear advantages. These scooters were less bulky, far zippier, much less expensive to produce, and required less storage space. Battery technology also improved markedly in the preceding decade, making them more efficient and capable of offering greater range. The timing proved to be perfect. Within about two years, a handful of e-scooter startups started popping up in California, vying to take another stab at Segway’s micromobility vision. This time, the public was ready. Lime and Bird in particular saw explosive growth in 2018. Seemingly overnight, cities across the country, from San Francisco to Austin, were filled with cheap, kick-scooter-style vehicles zooming down roads and sidewalks—often to the chagrin of fuming pedestrians. ”With the advent of bikeshare and then the Chinese dockless innovation, then the Jump bike, and then the Bird scooter concept (buying Segways off the shelf) everything aligned for the newly purchased Segway,” Klein says. While these e-scooters were nowhere near as impressive as the PT released nearly two decades earlier,their success was made possible by the underlying tech infrastructure around them. The digital sharing economy, made popular by Uber, meant curious riders no longer had to shell out big bucks to own a scooter outright. Ubiquitous smartphones and cellular connectivity also meant anyone with a mobile device could simply scan one of the scooters scattered around town and be off to the races. This new breed of so-called micromobility devices saw levels of adoption that the Segway could have only dreamed of. According to the National Association of City Transportation Officials, Americans took about 35 million trips on shared bikes and scooters in 2017. Just two years later, that figure had ballooned up to 136 million trips. Supporters of the micromobility movement echoed many of the same talking points introduced by Segway’s founders. These easy-to-use electric devices, the argument goes, filled a niche for people who didn’t want to drive a car in areas lacking strong public transit. Supporters of the scooters say they’re part of a larger push toward electrification that cuts down on fossil fuel emissions. They also say people opting to take a scooter rather than a car decreases overall car traffic on city streets. And while researchers have closely scrutinized just how true both of those claims really are in practice, the scooter undeniably succeeded at becoming a mainstay on city streets, both in the U.S. and around the world. The transition isn’t without downsides, though. Just like Uber before it, micromobility companies sped up their adoption in part by flooding into municipalities before local lawmakers could figure out how to regulate them. The ensuing chaos led numerous cities to ban app-based e-scooters altogether. Riders also weren’t exactly prepared for the responsibility the new wheels entailed. E-scooter-related injuries involving riders and pedestrians have climbed sharply in recent years, due partly to a lack of requirements for helmets. Still the future?Still, checkered as the rollout has been, it’s hard not to see an echo of Segway’s original vision in it. The platform is cheaper, less glamorous, and more controversial than what was imagined in 2001, but it’s also far more effective. And Segway is quite literally attached to it.Take a look at Bird scooters propped up on sidewalks in Austin, Texas, today and you’ll see a “Powered by Segway” label adorning the platform. At the height of e-scooter mania in 2018, former Segway lead engineer Doug Field drew a through line during an interview with CNN. “We knew this was the way future transportation products would work,” Field told CNN. “Anyone standing on something that’s powered by electricity and a computer is a Segway descendant.” While micromobility as a catchall transportation solution has attracted many critics in recent years, supporters like Klein describe a vision that sounds noticeably similar to what Segway’s early engineers hoped for. “It’s the future for cities, Period,” Klein says. “Micromobility is just much more efficient and therefore affordable and we have an affordability crisis in America.” Whether or not that vision becomes a reality, or whether e-scooters are destined for the same scrap pile housing so many other Segway PTs, remains to be seen—possibly from behind the wheel of the next generational-defining big bet on movement. WEEKEND EDITION: No news is good news I guess, it's been busy around here with everything but ham radio. I am going to start a program at the high school launching trackable balloons this fall and I am in the process of obtaining what we need- balloons, helium,, transmitters, solar panels, etc.....
Amateur Radio
Newsline Report
FRIDAY EDITION: Loving this hot wx..... FCC Plan to Share Wi-Fi Bands With Satellites Raises Interference AlarmsA US plan that could let satellites supply data to laptops and smartphones using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radio bands is facing some pushback over concerns about interference. Last month, the Federal Communications Commission introduced a novel proposal to enable satellites to beam data to consumer and IoT devices already equipped with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips. This includes harnessing the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands commonly used by Wi-Fi routers. However, resistance is emerging among wireless internet service providers (WISPs) that use radio signals to deliver broadband to local homes and businesses. "Alas, this proposal does not align with the laws of physics or with the public interest," Laurence Brett Glass, an electrical engineer who founded the WISP Lariat in Wyoming, told the FCC last week. It's an "existential threat" to users of the radio spectrum. The Association for Broadband Without Boundaries, which represents WISPs, has also been urging the FCC to revise the proposal, which tentatively concludes that opening up the spectrum "will not present an increased harmful interference risk to authorized services." "This tentative conclusion is unsupported and lacks any tangible study. Without support, there is no way to know that adding widespread use of D2D (Earth-to-space) would or would not 'present an increased harmful interference risk to authorized services,'" the group told the FCC. "If the language is not removed, then the tentative conclusion should be framed as a question on which the Commission seeks comment." Glass also pointed to the interference risk from SpaceX's Starlink, which is among the satellite internet providers that could benefit from the FCC's plan. "The tens of thousands of watts of interference from satellites (Starlink alone has more than 10,000 satellites in orbit, and each would be allowed 4 watts of EIRP, or effective power) would disrupt WISPs' service to millions of customers, especially those in rural areas," he told the FCC. The National Association for Amateur Radio is also raising concerns, telling the FCC, "Amateur radio terrestrial operations would be uniquely impacted by any interference resulting from adoption of the proposals." In addition, Intel and Cisco chimed in, urging the FCC to only seek proposals that won't disrupt access to existing consumer devices and equipment, "and not proposals for new satellite D2D operations to receive preferential treatment over terrestrial unlicensed operations." The FCC will vote on whether to adopt the proposal on Thursday. But if approved, the order would only "explore new avenues" using the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth spectrum, including soliciting public comment, before potentially floating concrete changes, including a licensing framework. Despite the opposition, SpaceX is pushing the FCC to expand the proposal with a more "open-ended approach." This includes accepting comments "on additional frequency bands," and framing the questions "to elicit a full record on how best to expand the total amount of usable spectrum for next-generation satellite systems." "Facilitating hybrid and complementary terrestrial and satellite networks is an essential element of the 6G network future, including breaking down artificial barriers between satellite and terrestrial, licensed and unlicensed, to deliver a ubiquitous consumer experience," SpaceX says.
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Due to popular demand, miniCTU is coming back to <https://hamxposition.org/> HamXposition in 2026. Registration now is OPEN! Mini-Contest University, or miniCTU, is based on K3LR's popular <https://www.contestuniversity University, which has been featured at the Dayton Hamvention since 2007 and has been presented in 15 countries to over 10,000 participants. The miniCTU program held on Friday, August 14, 2026, at <https://hamxposition.org/> HamX in Marlborough, MA, is a local single-track version of the 4-track Contest University program held during the week of the Dayton Hamvention (see <https://www.contestuniversity This will be the third year of miniCTU at HamXposition, and is organized this year by Doug Grant, K1DG, and Ed Parish, K1EP. The program will appeal to new and veteran contesters alike who are looking to hone their skills. Presenters drawn from the Northeast area will cover general contest operations, contesting skills, and will describe many resources and tools to allow you to have more fun in contesting. The agenda is as follows: 08:30 09:00 Registration 09:00 09:15 Introduction K1DG 09:15 10:00 Ethics and Our Radio Sport K1AR 10:00 10:45 Moderate Station Contesting NN1SS 10:45 11:00 Coffee Break 11:00 11:45 Effective Contest Antennas Without Towers N1PGA 11:45 12:30 Engineering a Fantastic Field Day K2TR/K1EP 12:30 13:30 Lunch Break 13:30 13:45 Eyeball QSO K1DG 13:45 14:30 Strategies for Maximizing Score and Fun K1KP 14:30 15:15 Digital Contesting W1UE 15:15 15:30 Coffee Break 15:30 16:15 Portable Contesting KI2D 16:15 17:00 Multiop Team Building & Youth in Contesting K3LR 17:00 Door prize drawing <https://docs.google.com/form <https://docs.google.com/forms https://docs.google.com/forms/ There is no charge for miniCTU but you must have a HamXpo ticket. <https://ticketing.hamxpositi tickets online! Please feel free to forward to your local club and anyone who might be interested in attending. Hope to see you there! 73, Doug K1DG Dear AS THE WORLD TURNS, Have you ever received a message directly from a satellite? SpinnyONE (HADES-SA) continues to transmit from orbit, giving amateur radio operators the opportunity to receive FSK text, SSDV images, and CODEC2 digital voice. Whether you're an experienced satellite operator or just getting started, it's a fun and rewarding way to put your station to the test. Through the Catch a Message from Space challenge, you can:
We'd also love to invite your club to create a channel on icMercury to share satellite activities, interesting receptions, and club events with the wider space community. Learn more
about the challenge
and decoding
resources: The icMercury app is now available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. We hope you'll join the challenge—and we'd love to see what your club catches from orbit. 73, The icMercury Team icMercury — Your Personal Messenger to Space An operating platform of Interstellar Communication Holdings, Inc.
THURSDAY EDITION: Building a Portable Weather RadarIf you run a large meteorology bureau, then you probably have access to a wonderful weather radar for scrying the heavens. The rest of us aren’t so lucky. If you find yourself bereft of such hardware, though, you could build your own, taking your lead from [Koakno]’s fine example. The build uses a satellite dome salvaged from an old RV that [Koakno] scored for just $5. Specifically, a Winegard Carryout Anser GM-5000. The motorized parabolic dish was designed to track TV satellites, but here it’s been repurposed into a scanning radar antenna for X-band signals. It’s paired with a cheap SDR—you can use several on the market—which injects an 850 MHz signal, which is up-converted to 10.4 GHz by the low-noise block (LNB) in the GM-5000 and sprayed out towards the weather. Echoes come back from rain, hail, and debris, and get down-converted by the LNB back into an 850 MHz signal that the SDR can capture. The echoes are then plotted on a Plan Position Indicator (PPI) display, showing what’s going on in the atmosphere around the dome. [Koakno] reckons detection ranges span out to 40 km for things like heavy rain, while a supercell hail core could be spotted at up to 60 km in the right conditions. It’s worth noting something important, though. [Koakno] explains that this system is currently in violation of FCC regulations (and probably others around the world), and shouldn’t be used without the proper licenses to access given spectrum. It’s a useful study of how to build a weather radar, but perhaps not something you can just wire together and fire up without getting in a spot of bother. If you’re a die-hard tornado chaser or you’ve just always longed to stare meaningfully at a PPI display, this could be the build for you. We’ve featured other DIY radars before, too. SSTV Special Event from QMR-KWT-2 SatelliteThe Kuwaiti satellite QMR-KWT-2 will transmit special SSTV images celebrating the 5 year launch anniversary of the QMR-KWT-1 satellite.
Look for images to be transmitted between 6:30 UTC August 1st and 19:30 UTC August 2nd. The download frequency will be 436.950 MHz. WEDNESDAY EDITION: I heard Dave- N1EDU/MM (motorcycle mobile) this morning talking to Mike- N1XW on the UFB network....my first MM heard!... Tesla Insider Alleges Chaotic FSD Testing That Put Houston Roads at Risk
A former Tesla
manager claims
severe
understaffing
and fatigue
turned Houston's
FSD test fleet
into rolling
hazards,
culminating in a
crash after
ignored
warnings.
Combined with
ongoing NHTSA
probes into
poor-visibility
failures and
expert
skepticism, the
allegations
expose
persistent gaps
between Tesla's
safety claims
and real-world
testing.
The ARRL Solar Update
Solar activity
has remained at
low levels.
Region 4494
exhibited decay
in its trailing
spots as its
flare activity
subsided. Region
4498 rotated
into better
viewing
positioning,
revealing mixed
polarity just
behind its large
leading spot,
and was
responsible for
a handful of
low-level
C-class flares.
For more
information
concerning
shortwave radio
propagation,
see http://www.arrl.org/propagation and
the ARRL
Technical
Information Service
web page at, http://arrl.org/propagation-of-rf-signals.
For an
explanation of
numbers used in
this bulletin,
see
TUESDAY EDITION: A quick drive up to Epping, NH to pick up a ton of Biobricks ($450) in the truck this morning to start the day...The big ham event is comng up in Marlboro, MA in a few weeks. They have some fun seminars, a big flea market, and a not so big anymore inside vendor setup. MFJ took up quite a large space and many other ham vendors no longer think it is worth doing...still agood take! Launching Rockets is Hard, Bring them Back is HarderSince the first V2 rocket sailed above the Kármán line back in 1944 and right up until the modern era, the trajectory of most space-bound rockets was more or less the same: after expending their propellants they would either crash into some desolate steppe or plunge into the ocean. In either event, the rocket was disposable. The important bit up top might go on to explore the stars or send a human crew off on their mission, but the booster rocket that lifted the spacecraft out of the atmosphere was always going to be sacrificed for the cause.
But in the 1970s NASA had a wild idea: what if we didn’t smash a brand-new rocket valued at millions of dollars into the ocean every time we wanted to put something in orbit? Instead, they would build a hybrid space vehicle that blended the vertical takeoff and raw power of a rocket with the capabilities of an airplane, allowing it and whatever it was carrying to make a gentle runway landing at the end of its mission. As such, the Space Shuttle was born. With the benefit of hindsight, we now know the Shuttle wasn’t quite the spaceflight revolution that NASA had hoped for. The age of reusable rockets didn’t truly begin until 2015, when SpaceX landed the first stage of their Falcon 9. To date they’ve repeated the feat nearly 600 times, all the while increasing the reliability and speed of their operations. Today the Falcon 9 is the most prolific launch vehicle in history, and nearly every other rocket in active development is being designed to include some element of reusability. Most recently, China demonstrated that they could recover their Long March 10B rocket by gently bringing it down into what amounts to a giant butterfly net. While it might seem a bit quaint compared to rockets that land on their tails like something out of a 1950s sci-fi movie, the idea offers considerable promise. There and Back AgainBut why did it take 70+ years before we were able to regularly refly orbital-class rockets? It’s not that there’s anything inherently complex about reusing a spent rocket. Sure, there’s a case to be made that material science improvements have made the engines robust enough for repeated use. But even if you had to rebuild the engines after each flight it would still be better than slamming the whole vehicle into the ocean. Similarly, there’s nothing particularly unique about the structure of the Falcon 9 that enables it to fly multiple times — it’s a big metal tube with tanks inside of it, just like essentially every rocket that has flown before it. The revolutionary technology demonstrated by SpaceX in 2015 didn’t have anything to do with making their rocket go up, it was that they were able to safely bring it back without damaging or physically altering it. The Falcon 9 first stage that came back to Earth was in the same condition it was when it left the launch pad eight minutes or so earlier, albeit with empty propellant tanks and a layer of soot on the outside. As such, most of the variability we see when comparing the reuse of past, present, and future rockets comes not from how the vehicle ascends, but how it ultimately comes to rest back down on Earth. Splashdown is Easy, But RoughWithout question, the easiest way to recover a rocket intact is to simply slow it down before it hits the surface of the ocean using parachutes This is how all American crewed capsules, and more applicably the Space Shuttle’s Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs), have been recovered after their flights. But even when descending under multiple huge parachutes, splashdown isn’t exactly a gentle event. It could probably best be described as “survivable”, in that the vehicle and crew will come through the experience in one piece, but neither is likely to be terribly happy about it. The situation of course ends up being even worse for the rocket, as its structure is going to be subjected to the brunt of the impact force. Additionally, a complex aerospace vehicle getting partially submerged in salt water is a recipe for corrosion and electrical issues, to say nothing of the thermal shock the hot engines will experience when getting dunked. One could argue that the only reason this method of recovery worked for the Shuttle SRBs is because of their relative simplicity when compared to a liquid-fueled rocket capable of independent flight. At the risk of oversimplifying the structure of the SRB, at splashdown it was effectively a hollow tube with minimal avionics and thrust vector control (TVC) hardware that could simply be replaced before the next flight. Still, the NASA document Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) Refurbishment Practices goes over the considerable work required to bring each booster back to flight status after coming down in the ocean. Given the challenges of refurbishing the boosters, it’s perhaps unsurprising that NASA elected to forgo their reuse on the Space Launch System despite its SRBs being largely identical to their Shuttle predecessors. Teaching Rockets New TricksIn the very early days, while they were still trying to reach orbit with the Falcon 1, SpaceX had actually considered a Shuttle SRB-style recovery procedure. But in the end they decided to outfit the Falcon 9 with deployable landing legs and the rest, as they say, is history. Landing legs allow a rocket to come down on effectively any flat surface, be it a concrete pad next to the launch facility or a floating platform. But there are some fairly serious drawbacks to this approach. For one thing, the requirement for precise terminal guidance means parachutes are out of the question. The rocket needs fins, attitude thrusters, or other control surfaces to come down on the center of the pad. It also means the rocket needs to perform a propulsive landing. That is, use its own primary engines to bring its velocity on touchdown to as close to zero as possible. This in turn requires engines that can not only restart in flight — a capability that has not traditionally been required by first stage boosters — but are able to throttle down low enough to control the rocket’s descent without simply pushing it back upwards. It’s difficult to overstate how unnatural a state of operation this is for a rocket. Indeed, it’s the antithesis of how nearly every rocket has operated since the Song Dynasty started experimenting with gunpowder in the 10th century. Even if you can accomplish all that, the true cost of landing a rocket is in the extra mass. Although the legs will be stowed away and unused for 99.8% of the rocket’s flight time, it still has to lug all that weight uphill. If that wasn’t bad enough, there’s also the extra weight of whatever control mechanism is in place to guide the rocket’s descent trajectory as well as the propellant that needs to be kept in reserve for the landing burn. All told, landing a rocket on legs comes with a massive payload penalty. In the case of the Falcon 9, the rocket’s maximum capacity to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in its expendable configuration is approximately 22,800 kg (50,300 lb). But when outfitted with the hardware necessary to land, that number is reduced by nearly 25% to 17,500 kg (38,600 lb). Dropping the Dead WeightThere was a time, not so very long ago, when critics doubted the financial viability of recovering and reusing rockets like the Falcon 9. But today, reuse has gone from theoretical to standard operating procedure. Outside of a few Old Space holdouts, it’s top of mind for every launch provider and critical for remaining competitive in a fast-moving commercial market. In November, Blue Origin even managed to land their New Glenn heavy-lift rocket on only its second flight. So at this point the question isn’t whether or not future rockets will be reusable, but rather, what is the most efficient way to achieve that reusability? With that in mind, it’s easy to see the appeal of China’s net recovery. While the rocket must still perform a propulsive descent — although in theory the necessary positional accuracy, and therefore the technical challenge, is somewhat reduced — it doesn’t need to have landing legs installed. This mass savings increases the vehicle’s useful payload capacity, which in turn makes it more profitable to operate. Achieving the same end goal while being easier and cheaper is an improvement in anyone’s book. Admittedly, having the rocket come down in a huge net adds a certain amount of whimsy to the whole endeavor, but the overall logic is sound enough. It should also be said that SpaceX, for all the success they’ve had with landing their Falcon 9 on a set of deployable legs, are themselves planning on catching both the first and second stages of their next-generation Starship vehicle. Instead of a net, their goal is to pluck the rocket out of the air with a huge robotic pincer mechanism. One is reminded of the old joke about how the Americans and Russians approached the problem of writing in space: NASA spent millions of dollars developing a pen that would work in microgravity, while their Russian counterparts simply used pencils. If China can demonstrate the ability to reuse a rocket they snagged in their net, the more elaborate methods of recovery employed by American rockets may one day look like a similarly overengineered solution.
MONDAY EDITION: Nothing in the news.. Hands-Free Mouse Uses Eyes And Muscles InsteadThe standard computer mouse is a perfectly useful peripheral if your hands work. If you’ve got some trouble in that area, you might appreciate an alternative input solution. To that end, [Varun Adinath Patil] created a neat hands-free solution for moving a cursor around a screen. The build is based on the Neuro PlayGround Lite, a board built for physiological signal acquisition in the Feather form factor. It’s hooked up to an IMU sensor—both a MPU6050 or BMI270 work—which tracks head movements to allow the cursor to be panned around the screen. Other biological signals are then used to activate other standard mouse functions. Clenching the jaw fires off a left click, while a triple blink fires a right click. Clicking and dragging is achieved by a double-blink. The jaw muscles are sensed via EMG signals picked up with gel electrodes on the skin, while the blinks are detected via EOG signals via the same contact points. Commercial solutions in this realm exist, but it’s great to see how such a device can be built from the ground up. We’ve looked at other neat applications of head-tracking before, too. If you’re working on your own innovative accessibility tools, don’t hesitate to let us know via the tipsline.
WEEKEND EDITION: Mike- N1XW is taking the new B class camper up to far northern Maine with his xyl for a shakedown run this week, have a hoot Mike!. Have not forgot your trip down here, medical issues causing a pause in everything here... Buying a used [modern] transceiverBuying a used modern amateur radio transceiver can be an excellent way to save money, move into a higher-performance station, or acquire a model that may no longer be available new. Today’s transceivers are sophisticated devices that combine RF engineering with software, networking, displays, SDR architectures, and computer-style integration. Because of that complexity, purchasing used equipment requires more caution than many newcomers realize. The first step is to research the exact model carefully. Do not rely only on original reviews or launch videos. Search for long-term owner experiences and technical discussions. Some radios develop recurring issues after years of use, including failing touchscreens, encoder jitter, noisy fans, display failures, USB instability, firmware corruption, Ethernet issues, or declining PA performance. In many modern radios, repairs involve replacing entire assemblies rather than individual components, and replacement boards may become unavailable quickly. Where you buy matters almost as much as what you buy. Buying from a reputable amateur radio dealer or used-equipment retailer is often the safest route. Prices may be slightly higher, but many dealers inspect equipment, verify operation, and offer at least a short warranty or return period. That extra protection can be valuable with modern radios whose problems may not appear immediately. Buying directly from another amateur operator can also work very well, especially if the seller is known locally or active within the community. In many cases, hams take excellent care of their equipment. Still, ask detailed questions about operating environment, modifications, mobile use, smoke exposure, and any known issues. If possible, see the radio operating on the air. Hamfests are different. They can offer excellent bargains, but they also carry the greatest uncertainty. Many radios are sold “as-is,” often in noisy environments where proper testing is difficult or impossible. A radio that powers on is not necessarily a fully functional radio. Displays, filters, tuners, USB interfaces, networking, or transmit chains may still have hidden faults. Unless you are technically experienced and comfortable accepting risk, it is wise to approach hamfest purchases cautiously. Online purchases require additional care because you may never physically inspect the transceiver before money changes hands. Request detailed photographs of the front panel, rear connectors, screen while powered on, firmware information, and accessories. Ask for a short video showing the radio receiving live signals and transmitting into a dummy load or wattmeter. Also clarify shipping methods and insurance, since modern radios can be damaged by poor packaging. Whenever possible, establish some kind of return agreement or inspection period, even if informal. A simple “48-hour non-DOA agreement” can protect both parties and reduce misunderstandings. Many problems with modern transceivers only become apparent after connecting microphones, computers, tuners, amplifiers, antennas, or digital-mode software. Finally, remember that accessories matter. Original microphones, power cables, brackets, manuals, boxes, and optional accessories such as filters or external displays can significantly affect both value and usability. The best used-transceiver purchases are usually made patiently, methodically, and with a healthy degree of skepticism. International Cat Day Special EventAn international group of operators will be on the air throughout the month in a mutual celebration of International Cat Day and International Dog Day. The combined special event stations will be active from the 1st of August through to the 31st of August, to call attention to the needs of abandoned, abused and homeless pets around the world – and to advocate for adoption and humane treatment. In the spirit of friendship and the shared love of animals, they will be looking to raise awareness and hear one another’s stories. The hams calling CQ are animal-lovers themselves who know the power of rescue because many have been deeply involved in organized animal-welfare efforts or have included a rescued dog or cat in their family. International Dog Day (and in the US, National Dog Day) is August 26 every year. International Cat Day is August 8. International Dog Day began as an amateur radio event in 2022 and has grown since then. Stations for dogs and cats will be on the air this year from Latvia, the UK, the US, the Netherlands, India and Germany. Throughout the US, a growing team of radio amateurs will share the callsign K0DOG, calling CQ as members of the Dog Day Radio Amateur Radio Club. All operators will be on the HF bands using CW and SSB. Dog-station callsigns will include YL1DOG, GB4DOG, VU2MGS, DLØDOG, KØDOG and PDØØDOG, among others. Cat stations will be calling CQ as DL0CAT, GB4CAT and DAØCAT. This year’s certificate for successful chasers will be a colorful downloadable document with endorsement stamps added for each unique callsign worked. A numeric counter will appear on each of the endorsement stamps for operators making more than one contact with a unique callsign. KØDOG also plans to make downloadable eEQSL cards available. The website https://hamlog.online/iddicd2026/ will give hunters for both events a chance to claim their awards as they earn them and to see who is currently on the air. Until August, the website will be counting down the days until the event begins. You may also visit the websites dogdayradio.org and catdayradio.org for updates about both events. Both websites contain information about the special-event callsigns and how to find their operating schedules -- and a chance to meet the dogs and cats who inspired them. Be aware that all special-event operators will be working like dogs – and cats – because they want to hear and share as many rescue stories as they can.
Amateur Radio Newsline Report THURSDAY EDITION: More needed rain today, grab a cw key or grab a book kind of day... Transponder ManiaIn order to not hit something, you generally need to know where that thing is. On land, the meager human eyesight tends to be sufficient. On the water, however, the prospects are more dangerous and complicated. So, technology is required to ensure safe ocean voyages in the form of the AIS transponder system. The off the shelf solutions tend to work quite well, but [peterantypas] was displeased with the commercial offerings, and built what appears to be the first open source AIS transponder called MANIA.
Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a GPS tracking system designed for maritime applications. Broadly speaking, it broadcasts GPS and other data at intervals over VHF radio. AIS is what allows the precise tracking of vessels by authorities, and online hobbyists. AIS is also often received by other vessels to augment radar improving boat to boat collision safety. Most commercial AIS transponders used by sailors are rather bulky, expensive, come with a large power budget. The MANIA project avoids these pitfalls by being entirely self-contained. The RF portion is largely made up of a STM32L4 micro controller, a SI Labs Si4460 ISM RF chip, and a Quectel L76L-M33 with a Johansson ceramic chip antenna for GPS. With such simple hardware, the PCB is easily small enough to fit inside the antenna assembly. This design eliminates the need for long runs of multiple shielded RF cables to a bulky transponder unit inside. Instead, a simple Ethernet cable is used to transfer data to and from the mast. Inside the boat, a USB decoder is used to pass the AIS data on to a PC. This whole setup is remarkably simple and reliable, with hundreds of units having been produced since the project’s start. While this is the first full blown AIS transponder we have covered, we have seen other projects utilizing the protocol. We have also seen quite a number of projects with the aircraft equivalent, ADS-B. SSTV Special Event from QMR-KWT-2 SatelliteThe Kuwaiti satellite QMR-KWT-2 will transmit special SSTV images celebrating the 5 year launch anniversary of the QMR-KWT-1 satellite.
Look for images to be transmitted between 6:30 UTC August 1st and 19:30 UTC August 2nd. The download frequency will be 436.950 MHz. WEDNESDAY EDITION: Much needed rain coing in later in the day, coffee and donuts at the club this morning....I worked W1GLO castles on the air yesterdy on 15 and 20 ssb, all of 8 mile away...they will be on again today wx permitting... Spy transmitter activity at NRCFollowing last year’s success, the ‘Find the spy transmitter’ events are back for summer 2026 at the RSGB National Radio Centre. This family-friendly activity will turn you into spy hunters as you explore Bletchley Park looking for hidden transmitters. The event runs on Tuesday, 28 July and Thursday, 30 July. Each date has two start […] Radio Society of Great Britain – Main Site – Read More Following last year’s success, the “find the spy transmitter” events are back for summer 2026 at the RSGB National Radio Centre (NRC). This family-friendly activity turns you into spy hunters as you explore Bletchley Park, looking for hidden transmitters. The event runs on Tuesday, 28 July and Thursday, 30 July 2026. Each date has two start times, one at 10.30am and another at 1.30pm. Spaces are limited to 12 groups per session and are available here. The activity is free to take part in, however entry to Bletchley Park is required. Read more – RSGB: https://bit.ly/45naX5P TUESDAY EDITION: Foggy and the forecast looks bad for vacationers for the next few days here on the island, they won't be at the beach!...
CAPE ANN AMATEUR RADIO CLUB ACTIVITY: This is a reminder that we will be operating a special event station at the Crane Estate on Castle Hill in Ipswich, MA, Tues. and Wed. Voltmeter-Based Floating Point Calculator Does It In Stylenot just a calculator superfan, but also a skilled builder. That much is evident in the fabulous design of Calcumator 2000, an electromechanical calculator that uses voltmeter readouts as digits (plus one at the bottom to represent decimal place). There are plenty of high-quality build images, so give it a look! Calcumator 2000 is a bit of a love letter to a time when display technology hadn’t quite yet produced anything suitable for calculator use. This resulted in calculator designs that are generally unrecognizable compared to the 7-segment display based devices we see today. The Calcumator 2000, in all its electromechanical glory, would have fit right in that era. The Calcumator 2000 has all the usual buttons one would expect from a simple calculator and drives a total of seven readouts, one of which acts as the decimal point. The idea of using voltmeters as digit displays came from [lcamtuf]’s voltmeter clock, an earlier work with a similar attention to detail in its design and assembly. We want to take a moment to admire how clean the blue panel is. [lcamtuf] made it by painting one side of an acrylic panel, cutting the letters and design out on a CNC mill, then filling with white paint. The depth of the cuts gives the white elements a nifty multi-layer effect that really complements the design. video
MONDAY EDITION: Overcast and 62 at 8am.... HAMgpt Launches as a Personal AI Copilot Built Specifically for Amateur RadioNew platform combines an operator’s license, station, location and live band conditions to answer a practical question: “What can I do with my radio today?” July 2026 — HAMgpt, a new AI assistant created specifically for amateur radio operators, is now open to the public at hamgpt.co. Unlike a general-purpose chatbot, HAMgpt is built around the real operating situation of each ham. It can take into account the operator’s license class, country, grid square, radios, antennas and operating history, then combine that station profile with live propagation, space weather, DX activity and current on-air conditions. Read more – Amateur Radio Daily: https://bit.ly/4wnvDGG SDRoxide: Software-Defined Radio TransceiverThe following is a message from Josef (OE3JJS): SDRoxide is a completely new project written in Rust, supporting many SDR interfaces (CAT/Audio, CAT/IQ, SoapySDR, HPSDR, TCI) and with loads of features built in that used to require extra programs: FT8/FT4, SSTV, RTTY, PSK, OLIVIA, THOR, FSQ, a CW/RTTY/PSK skimmer, there's dx cluster and sota/pota spotting, a logbook with integrations for QRZ.com, HamQTH, eQSL, LoTW, there's neural-network noise reduction, a 3D "hamclock" that visualizes QSOs, satellites, Aurora, CME cones, with up-to-date images of the sun's surface, and you can run the client locally, remote with native binary, or remote via the web (WASM). Future plans include a TCI Server (so it can act as a Anything-to-TCI bridge for example), Hellschreiber, and eventually digital voice modes for HF. The current version is v0.5.0, the project is open source and is looking for testers on Windows and Mac.
FRIDAY EDITION: Another beauty of a day...This is an awful thought but I need to get up to NH and buy a ton of Biobricks....  4-1 balun you can make yourself and not pay Balun Designs $100 GREAT SEA STORY (Trivia)
The passenger
steamer SS
Warrimoo was
quietly knifing
its way through
the waters of
the mid-Pacific
on its way from
Vancouver to
Australia. The
navigator had
just finished
working out a
star fix and
brought Captain
John DS.
Phillips, the
result. The
Warrimoo's
position was LAT
0º 31' N and
LONG 179 30' W.
The date was 31
December 1899.
"Know what this
means?" First
Mate Payton
broke in, "We're
only a few miles
from the
intersection of
the Equator and
the
International
Date Line".
Captain Phillips
was prankish
enough to take
full advantage
of the
opportunity for
achieving the
navigational
freak of a
lifetime.
He called his
navigators to
the bridge to
check & double
check the ship's
position. He
changed course
slightly so as
to bear directly
on his mark.
Then he adjusted
the engine
speed.
The calm weather
& clear night
worked in his
favor. At
mid-night the SS
Warrimoo lay on
the Equator at
exactly the
point where it
crossed the
International
Date Line! The
consequences of
this bizarre
position were
many:
The forward part
(bow) of the
ship was in the
Southern
Hemisphere & in
the middle of
summer.
The rear (stern)
was in the
Northern
Hemisphere & in
the middle of
winter.
The date in the
aft part of the
ship was 31
December 1899.
In the bow
(forward) part
it was 1 January
1900.
This ship was
therefore not
only in:
Two different
days,
Two different
months,
Two different
years,
Two different
seasons
But in two
different
centuries - all
at the same
time!
DXer and DXpeditioner Kan Mizoguchi, JA1BK, Silent KeyKiyoshi “Kan” Mizoguchi, JA1BK, a well-known DXer, DXpeditioner, CQ DX Hall of Fame member, and former Director of International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 3 passed away in May 2026 at the age of 93. He was a member of the ARRL Maxim Society at the Fellow Class. First licensed in 1952, Mizoguchi became involved in the creation of IARU Region 3, which covers most of Asia and the Pacific, and served as a Director from 1968 to 1975. His interest in DXing included both chasing and being the DX, and he is credited with identifying new entities and helping put them on the air for the first time. Some of those places include the Marquesas, the Australs, the Chesterfield Islands, Ducie Island, and Swain’s Island. Mizoguchi built a competitive DXing station and achieved success as a DXer, reflected in his award achievements in the ARRL DX Century Club – DXCC. He reached 383 countries in the Mixed DXCC category, 382 on phone (within the top ten in the world), and 354 on CW. He was on the Top of the Honor Roll with all 340 current entities on Mixed, Phone, and CW. He is perhaps best known for his impressive total of 271 countries on the 6-meter band – 8th place in the world and 1st in Asia. Mizoguchi also reached 3,252 countries in the popular DXCC Challenge – 9th in the world. As he gained interest in the Challenge, Mizoguchi began chasing down missing confirmations from his old logs and learned that many other stations’ logs had been discarded or lost. He sought a way to try to save some logs, especially those from unique or rare operations, and, in 2014, funded the DX Log Archive, operated by ARRL, which collects, catalogs, and digitizes such logs (Major ARRL Second Century Campaign Gift from JA1BK Will Support DX Log Archive, ARRL News, 8/24/2014). Mizoguchi was a frequent presenter at DX conventions and was inducted into the CQ DX Hall of Fame in 1987. Bill Kennamer, K5FUV, who retired from the ARRL staff in 2000, wrote: "I first met Kan over 30 years ago, and we had a close friendship over many of those years. We operated several DXpeditions and attended several conventions together. He was behind many of the major DXpeditions over the years, giving strong financial support, and he was a strong financial supporter of ARRL. He gave all of us ‘new ones’ at various times over the years, and he will be missed." Mizoguchi earned an engineering degree from Tokyo University in the early 1950s and started a company with the rights to import all semiconductor manufacturing machinery in Japan. He retired from that company at age 60 and gave the company to his employees. He then started a one-man engineering design firm called Kan Technosonics which operated for several years. Mizoguchi is survived by his wife Reiko and daughter Keiko. THURSDAY EDITION: A beautiful day on Cape Ann, 67, no humidity, and sunny....I have been missing the 4pm 75 meter group and enjoying the wx, I have to get back on! ...
Launch an antenna up or knock a bear down.... The Seemingly Impossible OscillatorBack in the days when an integrated circuit meant a simple but expensive device such as a 741 or a 555, most electronics enthusiasts made do with discrete transistor circuits. The common emitter amplifier and its variants are the most familiar, but the humble 3-legged device can do so much more. A particularly obtuse circuit is the subject of examination by [lcamtuf], the reverse avalanche oscillator. A 2N2222, a capacitor, an LED, and a resistor, the transistor is the wrong way round, and there’s nothing on its base. Yet the LED flashes, what on earth is up! The answer lies in avalanche breakdown, the behavior of a reverse biased diode junction as the voltage across it increases. Eventually the electric field reaches the point at which an avalanche of electrons crosses the depletion layer, and the junction conducts. When connected across an RC circuit, the voltage in the capacitor slowly rises to the point at which avalanche breakdown occurs, and the capacitor abruptly discharges. As the voltage falls the avalanche conduction stops, and the cycle repeats itself. It’s a relaxation oscillator. We’re treated to an explanation of why a transistor behaves this way and why a simple diode doesn’t, due to a “hump” in its I/V curve, and why the emitter-base junction has a lower breakdown voltage than the collector-base. It’s one of those circuits which looks as though it shouldn’t work, but never fails to oscillate. Want to know more about transistors? Do we have the series for you!
HAMS YOU MIGHT KNOW- ALIVE AND SK K1TP-
Jon....Editor of As The World
Turns....
SILENT KEYS
Silent Key:
K1BNH-
Bill- Used to
work for a
bottled gas
company
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