2024 Blog Archive

Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) is a private foundation that exists to support amateur radio and digital communication science and technology. Hornet Amateur Radio Club’s (HARC’s) Upgrades to the USS Hornet In January 2024, the USS Hornet Amateur Radio Club (HARC), after raising ~$13,000...

With the year winding down and only a week until the fat man flies, I’m gently settling into the holidays using nothing but a straight key for the balance of this year. That will then continue into the New Year as the annual SKCC K3Y event kicks-off in January...

Back in the summer I bought a new Framework 16, the DIY high-performance 16” notebook. After I installed Ubuntu 24.10, it’s become my daily driver at home. At 16 inches it’s kinda bulky for roadwork, but it’s a solid performer with a great display in the shack. <a...

The FCC has adopted new rules to expand very-low-power device operations across all of the 6-GHz band alongside other unlicensed and Wi-Fi-enabled devices. FCC Opens Entire 6-GHz Band to Very-Low-Power Device Operations Despite opposition from the NAB and other parties who have argued that opening up the spectrum...

I was always a big fan of CQ Magazine. It was the first periodical I found when searching for more info on ham radio way back in my long ago. Having been launched in the immediate aftermath of WWII, and before ham radio was turned back “on” was a gutsy...

In the aftermath of the Great Hack of 2024 the ARRL managed to get LoTW operational after a few months of recovery efforts. What wasn’t restored at the same time was DXCC application processing. There was this announcement: The ARRL DXCC® System has been returned to service, and our...

I installed the just released, R36 firmware on my Elecraft K4 transceiver this morning. This new production release is apparently welcome news for many enthusiasts who have been longing for some new remote features to improve their experience. There must be more than a hundred reasons why so many...

A few interesting things to share, firehose style: Web Power Switch Pro from Digital Loggers. ⁍ Slick new K-POD accessory. ⁍ The 2025 DX Marathon rules have been posted. ⁍ New Long Island CW Club YouTube channel. ⁍ “While messaging Android to Android or iPhone to iPhone is secure, messaging...

While perusing the 2023 ARRL Annual Report I was struck by something President Rick Roderick, K5UR wrote: According to an ARRL study, three-quarters of Technician-class licensees (who make up 51% of amateur radio operators) are inactive 1 year after getting licensed… I knew retention was a big...

I enjoy the weekly BATC net that takes place every Thursday afternoon (my time). The net is conducted via QO-100 and is not directly accessible here in North America, however, it is streamed online. Having done this for a few years you begin to feel associated with the...

We always visit a local tree farm on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to pick out a Christmas tree. Today was no different. It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine, but it was also the coldest of the season. It was just 15F when we got up this morning...

Sometime over the last week I exceeded 2,000 contacts logged this year. Spit in the ocean for much more active operators, but another milestone for me as I have added more than 2K to the log in each of the last three years which coincides with my retirement in 2022....

Couldn’t stir up even the slightest ambition in the CQWW CW this weekend. Spent a few hours instead on FT-x. The bands were in good shape and many contacts were logged including working E51SGC on another band. This is the South Cook Islands operation and today might be...

Many subjects are verboten in the amateur radio world. So many in fact, it’s surprising we have anything to talk about at all. One particular topic that has become taboo is the issue of the testing required to obtain an amateur radio license. On this matter there are certainly strong,...

We enjoyed our first snow of the season yesterday. 2-3 inches of the fluffy white stuff fell over the entire day. Some say there will be much more of this over the course of what is expected to be an above average snow fall winter season. I remain skeptical about...

About a month or so ago a strange thing began happening with my iPhone. When I looked at the photo album collection, occasionally there would be a photo I couldn’t identify, and was certain I hadn’t taken. These would disappear after a minute or two and I joked with my...

The quest to work activators in a thousand unique parks continues, slowly. I’ve been casually hunting POTA parks for a few years when I decided that enough was enough and I was going to end the hunt, but I wanted a clean stopping point. I had about 700 uniques...

Band conditions weren’t very favorable in the pre-dawn hours this morning though a few nuggets of gold were found. I struck out on 40 CW where I could copy a POTA station (VK2IO/P) in NSW, but never received a response. Moving to 20 FT8 there were several VK’s calling but...

Longest-serving satellite OSCAR-7 marks 50 years in orbit Launched on November 15, 1974, OSCAR-7, a micro satellite, continues its mission 50 years after its launch, serving as a vital asset for amateur radio operators globally. It holds the title of the oldest operational satellite, predating the launch of...

ARRL reports over a million contacts made during Field Day 2024… Results are published, and the numbers are in. They paint a picture of a very active 2024 ARRL Field Day. Nearly 1.3 million contacts were reported during the 24-hour event. That is up from 2023’s 1.25 million contacts....

“We remember those who were called upon to give all a person can give, and we remember those who were prepared to make that sacrifice if it were demanded of them in the line of duty, though it never was. Most...

An ‘Old Friend’ arrived this week. That is the direct conversion transceiver kit from Midnight Design Solutions (designed by K1SWL). I ordered the same day they became available only to find that first round sold out in a few hours and I missed the cut. I got into the <a...

Bram Moolenaar is best known for developing VIM, a powerful, screen-based text editor. Released in 1991, Vim was originally a port of the Stevie editor for Amiga and has since become an indispensable tool for developers worldwide, available across multiple platforms. Moolenaar released Vim as “charityware,” encouraging users to...

We attended an NHL hockey game in Columbus, Ohio last week. The crowd enjoyed the game, at least until the visiting team kicked it into high gear. Sitting in Nationwide Arena I winced in pain from the noise. The raucous crowd, PA announcer, piped-in music at every stop in...

Life continues it’s march to some conclusion here. We are past the leaf-peeping season in this area. Nothing but dark oranges and browns left to see and these breezy days and gravity are conspiring to bring a lot of them to the ground. We’ve only picked up a few bags...

Amateur radio is imbued with hundreds and hundreds of organizations representing the many varied interests of its adherents. These seem to grow like weeds in springtime and some of them are as old as the hobby itself. Local clubs, contest clubs, DX organizations, service organizations, etc. A LOT of busy...

Chatting with a friend yesterday when the subject of the SolderSmoke podcast came up. It seems there is some possibility of that long-running program going QRT. While I enjoy it, it isn’t published on any sort of regular basis so I’m usually always behind a few episodes, only checking...

My ham shack exists in what was touted to be a “sunroom” when the realtor showed the house to us. It’s a new addition to the back-end of the house and is a very nice, modern space with seven windows to the backyard. With just a few of those opened...

I took some time off from using the digital FT modes. 40 days and nights away from the keyboard. It was good to get time off from it, and that span seemed about right. I need to do this every year or more often when warranted. During that span I...

Walter Massie, a Remarkable Wireless Radio Pioneer It was a cold, windswept February night in early 1905. Only a small amount of warmth made its way into the second floor room through a floor grate leading to the first floor where there was a Glenwood stove. Periodically, the...

I worked W7T yesterday who was calling “CQ BF” on 20 meters which got me just curious enough to call him back - and then figure out the “BF” was BIGFOOT… National Sasquatch Awareness Day Special Event Station Oct 15 - Oct 21 The Radio Club of Tacoma...

I’ve been a ham forever. I thought I’d lost interest in radio, but it turned out that I’d only lost interest in post-modern radio. It’s all boring chitchat on over designed, mass-produced toys that are obsolete every 9 months. It’s fun to keep inventing new modes, but a bit...

Enjoying a steaming cup of Earl Grey with a splash of milk along with a bowl of danish cherry tobacco in a Peterson free-hand pipe this morning. I’ve made an appointment to have the furnace people out for annual maintenance. They can’t get here until November 20th which is okay,...

Happy Columbus Day - chilly in the Heartland this morning, 44F now headed up to 58F for a high today. Autumn has arrived. Plenty of lawn work left to be done along with gathering of leaves that have been falling rapidly. I’ve had a hankering for boiled peanuts lately, so...

Old Sol has been spewing some of its angry energy towards Earth again with the result being yet another Northern Light show here in parts south of the normal viewing areas. While not spectacular in Indiana, we did get a glimpse last night and the heavenly performance didn’t disappoint....

We have been enjoying the nice autumn weather in these parts. 70 degree days, dry with very low humidity, endless sunshine, and 40 degree nights. It doesn’t get much better than that. The farmer’s have been taking full advantage as harvest time is well underway with all the fields being...

Tuning on 20 meters this morning looking for weather traffic related to the hurricane set to make landfall in Florida, I caught special event station W1A celebrating the 67th International Airstream Rally in Sedalia, Missouri: Welcome to W1A. The purpose of this special event station is celebrating the...

I heard K5M calling CQ yesterday on 20 CW and returned the call. Turns out a small operation was taking place on Marsh Island thanks to AD5A, AB5EB and K0AP. According to QRZ, they intend to be there again today so I haven’t yet emailed to ask who I worked,...

Our team (T2C in 2023 and P29RO in 2022 and other activities in the years before COVID) has decided to announce its next DXpedition. We will return to the pacific and travel to Nauru (C2) in October 2024. We are planning to operate with 5 stations, 24/7 from 160 to...

Having convinced myself that QSL cards are indeed an important detail in our daily amateur radio lives, the question becomes how can this practice be saved and restored? Assuming the cost of a printed QSL card purchased in bulk is around 30 cents each, and an optional envelope 20 cents,...

Thanks to those who replied with comments about part one of this series about QSL cards. The consensus seems to be that broadcast stations initiated the practice of sending post cards that hams eventually emulated. That’s a good enough explanation for me, though I prefer to believe it was more...

Just a few years after CW displaced King ‘spark’ as the radio amateur’s mode of choice, Mac Anderson began to build his first radio station. Having just turned 15 years of age money was tight and it wasn’t easy collecting the parts required for such an endeavor, but he finally...

It’s been raining all morning, nice and gentle, so far. Made sleeping-in an extra hour too easy. The parched lawn is soaking every bit of it up right now. I’ve got a couple of windows open here in the shack and the sound of falling rain is better than music...

All of hamdom has by now seen the video (16:10) where one ARRL Director revealed a few additional details surrounding the cyber attack on the ARRL. The lack of competence at the IT level is shocking, the lack of management oversight even more so. I wrote a scathing post...

A message popped up on the QRP-L mailing list yesterday from Dave Benson, K1SWL with news of a new offering from the former Small Wonder Labs alchemist. I’ve been wondering what Dave might be up to these days and it seems he’s been keeping the cobwebs at bay with another...

I remember not long after my Dad turned 80 he decided it was time for a new roof on his house and I recall him saying that given the 20-25 year expected service life, it would be the last roof he would ever have to deal with. That kinda stuck...

Based on the listed bios of most radio amateurs, chewing the rag is a favorite pastime. Or at least the desire for a good “rag-chew” session is a consistent hope. It’s nearly impossible to pin down exactly what that means as the actual definition is pretty fuzzy. I’ve listened to...

Having the KX3 out and in operation for a few days this week was a bad idea. Using it always reminds me of how good it is and how it could so easily anchor my ham shack. And it’s not even the best Elecraft radio I own. That title...

I caught a message about the Run for the Bacon event being last night. I’m not a member of the Flying Pigs but I was looking for something to do after a lazy afternoon of football watching. I setup the long neglected KX3 powering it with a slowly failing...

We have a lovely Farmer’s Market here in Yorktown every Friday evening during the summer months. An easy walk from my house. I thought last week was the final installment for the season, but we happened to be driving by the meadow where it takes place after dinner last...

Here’s hoping you’re not superstitous on this Friday the 13th, the first of two Friday the 13ths (the other one is in December) in 2024. If you’re a little worried about it, here’s help. Good luck! The next full Moon will occur on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 at 10:34...

I spent some time yesterday deleting every social media account I can recall ever having. That’s not really a big deal when you consider I haven’t expended much energy in that direction in a long time. Deleting those accounts was mostly symbolic and for my own benefit. It was about...

From chapter one of CALLING CQ, written by Clinton B. DeSoto and published in 1941: Calling CQ! Calling CQ to any amateur radio station!” A thousand times a night that call goes ringing out over the crowded amateur air lanes. It is the general call to any station–an invitation...

Imagine if you will… In the year 2030, Forest Adams was in a car accident that left him comatose for an entire decade. To everyone’s surprise, he awoke in 2040 and proceeded to make an incredible recovery and soon returned to his old life. His hobby had been fishing,...

Revisiting why hyperlinks are blue I found myself enjoying my morning coffee, reading through hate mail from my first article, as one does. I sifted through this dung heap as a prospector pans for gold, scanning for the faintest hint of gold to help me continue my journey...

Nothin’ but blues and Elvis and somebody else’s favorite song… The Beginnings of FM Radio Broadcasting In the early and mid-1930s, radio communication was confined to the Low Waves (100-500 kHz), Medium Waves (500-1500 kHz), and the Short Waves (1,500 to 30,000 kHz). The frequencies above that, referred...

The search for life in the cosmos has been an ongoing human interest for the ages, but since the advent of radio, the way we search the heavens has evolved. I found it interesting that just one hundred years ago, within the lifetime’s of many of our parents, something this...

The National Traffic System has been around for 75 years. From the current (September) NTS Letter, Bud Hippisley W2RU writes in the first of a two-part article on the history of the network: October 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the National Traffic System®. When I peruse net bulletins...

I haven’t been chasing the CY9C operation this time around. I already had St. Paul Island in the log on 40 CW from a previous operation. Perhaps a little indifference is a secret weapon because I heard them making noise on 30 meters last night with good signals running...

Was in the shack this morning enjoying the cool weather (49F) with all the windows cranked wide-open when suddenly a transformer on a power pole about 200 yards from here let go. I saw a shower of sparks then recoiled from the loud explosion. Some neighbor(s) must surely be without...

End of the Road: An AnandTech Farewell Editor-in-chief Ryan Smith: It is with great sadness that I find myself penning the hardest news post I’ve ever needed to write here at AnandTech. After over 27 years of covering the wide – and wild – world of computing hardware,...

We’ve come to the end of another summer. I know it’s not officially over just yet, and I have no doubt that another wave of oppressive heat lurks just around the corner. But the kids are back in school and the public pools are all closing this weekend. And as...

Happy September! I saw a rumor last night concerning the popular KM3KM product line. Nothing reported on their web site yet, but the rumor is from a reliable source: I’m going to sneak some information out on an exciting new product coming in first quarter 2025 from KM3KM....

Even with the solar cycle humming along nicely it can feel like a long time between elusive ATNO’s, though sometimes serendipity lends a hand when you least expect it. Such was the case when I decided to toss a line in the water on 40 meters this morning. Mind you,...

I live on the outskirts of town in Central Indiana, out here surrounded by tall corn on every side this time of year. Happy in the Heartland, but miserable, muggy and sweaty, I just read this: Stop blaming the natural deodorant: You’re sweating because the corn is sweating. For anyone commuting...

It was in September 1974 that George Dobbs G3RJV started the wheels turning to make the G-QRP Club a reality. Fifty years later, the Club is going strong and we have had around four thousand paid up members for over a decade. To mark the anniversary we have...

When I was a kid I had two ways of making a buck. I mowed yards and I delivered newspapers. In those days, the throbbing metropolis of Muncie, Indiana had two daily publications. The Morning Star and the Evening Press were of the old style newspaper variety with ink on...

My wife and I celebrated our 46th anniversary this weekend. It sounds like a long time, and it is, but to us it seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Life is indeed like a vapor, and then it’s gone. We’ve enjoyed a lot of good years along...

I’m not certain what to think about the recent ARRL bulletin that provided more details about the cyber attack and subsequent million dollar ransom payment by ARRL. It might make an interesting story years from now after it quits chafing. After all, while mostly covered by insurance, payment of...

48F when I woke this morning. This foretaste of autumnal awesomeness is simply too good to be true for August in Central Indiana. It’s been wonderfully comfortable these last few days and it seems there is another day or two of it ahead before the heat returns. Good news -...

N1EA relays news that Schurr Morse Keys is now Bergsiek Morse Keys. Stefan Bergsiek has taken over Schurr Morse keys from Gerhard Schurr and continues to produce the keys in small series. Tomorrow (Sunday) is the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt. Here are all the <a href="https://www.qsl.net/w2lj/"...

An update a few days ago from the N5J team said that many callers were continuing to use an older version of WSJT-X that wasn’t compatible with the new SuperFox Hound mode that is being used. This, despite considerable pre-DXpedition press informing everyone that the software update would be...

Band conditions have been so abysmal that I didn’t even turn the radio on yesterday. As it turns out, too much solar maximum isn’t necessarily a good thing unless your hobby is chasing aurora. Perhaps today will be the day we escape these recent doldrums, and get back to the...

Woke to 53F again this morning and it’s shaping up to be another beautiful day in the Heartland. Windows all open and it’s almost chilly in the shack. Nice! Timmy Horton’s in a big mug and puffing on Bluegill Lake in an old Savinelli Freehand with my old buddy...

Up before the sun and in the shack with the windows wide-open. It’s 54F here this morning with a high of 76F and sunny skies expected today. And the kicker, it’s expected to stay this way for about a week. I don’t know whose weather we’re getting, or why, but...

ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA titled his most recent (September 2024 QST) Second Century editorial, Dewey Defeats Truman! a throwback reference to the exaggerated death of LoTW in the wake of the ransomware attack this summer. Dave apparently feels vindicated that there was no loss of data and...

I got word that the Jarvis N5J operation got underway last night and first thing this morning saw that they were QRV on 17 meters. I fired up the new WSJT-X software in SuperFox mode and settled in to watch the action. Copy was easy and I observed...

The last post was about the new SuperFox digital mode. Today I want to speculate (spout crazy notions) on where this could lead us without much effort. It seems a solid first shot at working the DQRM problem. Shaming the bad actors hasn’t done much good suggesting the...

WSJT-X 2.7.0-rc5 and later includes a new mode for DXpeditions that’s been called SuperFox and is intended to dramatically improve rates and performance. Instead of sending up to five normal FT8 streams, each 50Hz wide, the SuperFox station will be capable of transmitting a full power constant-envelope signal, 1512Hz wide,...

Just like that, and it’s time to tear another page from the calendar. Between taking time off from radio for a few weeks and dodging earth directed CME’s, my results for July trended lower. At this point in the quest ATNO’s are becoming fewer and farther between though I did...

It’s probably been since the late 1970’s when I last owned a battery powered, pocket-sized transistor radio. Yesterday I ordered the brand new XHDATA D-220 after having seen a review of it on John’s Tech Blog. I’m not certain I have a real use for it, it was just...

I spent the last month with the ham radio gear shut down and the feed lines disconnected. This, after hitting it a little too hard. I found myself burned out on radio and in need of a break. It’s a calibration issue. Despite having been retired for two years I...

Some catching up seems in order. It’s been a busy month with too much work in the yard for this old retired guy. The heat wave made things miserable for several weeks, but that broke a few days ago and the last two mornings I have enjoyed coffee and 54F...

It’s a good thing my plans for Field Day were more modest than usual else I might have been disappointed. It has become my habit to partake in the annual event from my own backyard, but the heatwave had convinced me if I did operate this time, it would be...

Field Day is this weekend. I have operated the event from my backyard using battery power for many years, but this time around I’ll be operating from inside the house attempting to make a hundred phone contacts. I’m not even going to maintain a log so this should be a...

While it’s yet a few days before the official first day of summer, the oppressive heat wave that will soon cover most of these United States dropped into Indiana over the weekend and we’re roasting enough here to cause me to declare, “close enough” it’s summertime! No fresh corn on...

NORAD has learned to check hobbyist websites to identify balloons since the US military shot down three unidentified objects in 2023. After dubious shootdowns, NORAD now checks with balloon hobbyist groups The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade is a hobbyist group that builds, launches and tracks “pico...

With more than a month of continuous downtime the only thing funny about the situation is the continued chorus of those insisting, “the data is safe” and “why is everyone getting so worked up about this?” These ditties from the evolutionary descendants...

I have been keeping an eye on the devolopment of Framework Laptops for months, so when I received an email yesterday declaring, “Framework Laptop 16 in stock” I quickly assembled a custom configuration and hit the order button. I’ve been told my new laptop will ship within 1-2 weeks....

In case you missed the news, the AMSAT mail alias service will be terminated on August 1st, 2024. The popular feature permitted mail directed to yourcallsign@amsat.org to be forwarded to any email address you chose. This feature has been a staple of satellite enthusiasts around the world for decades. A...

Wayne Green was a radio amateur and entrepreneur born in the halcyon days of hobby radio. A veteran of the Second World War, he saw first hand the impact a glut of war surplus equipment had on the amateur service. Mechanical behemoth’s from the War Department soon filled basement radio...

I ordered a new tablet a few days ago, and it’s not an iPad. Surprised? Daylight Computer is a new manufacturer with hopes of shaking up the tablet market. I like their tagline, “The computer, de-invented”. They say the new DC-1 tablet is a “new kind of computer designed...

Just a week ago I wrote about the rapidly changing future for amateur radio emergency services due to the growth of wireless internet access provided by the Starlink service and its fleet of low-earth orbit satellites. Then came dangerous flooding in remote parts of Brazil. Did amateur radio send...

The 3G0YA Easter Island DXpedition has concluded. The operation was QRV from 18-Apr-2024 thru 06-May-2024 and ended with more than 140,000 contacts having been made. Club Log reports Easter Island as 83rd on the Most Wanted list so while not particularly rare, anything in the top 100 is good...

I worked VK6AS this morning on 20 meters. This was the second time working Dr. Smith, the first being about eight months ago. He’s located in Bull Creek, just outside of Perth, on the Western Coast of Australia. My logging program pulls data from QRZ and is only as...

I recently uploaded the Cornbread Road audio series to the Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications. DLARC is a project of the Internet Archive (the not-for-profit online library best known for The Wayback Machine.) DLARC is growing into a massive online library of the past and present of...

I’ve held off writing about the passing of Bob Heil until now. We weren’t close friends, I only met him in person once, at the 2018 OzarkCon in Branson, Missouri. He was the keynote speaker at the conference and proud as he could be to show off his wooden radio...