Radio 2 Radio - Amateur/Ham Radio News And Current Events

Irish Radio Transmitters Society

2012-02-03T15:45:00.001Z

The Irish Radio Transmitters Society was founded in 1932 and the organization are proud to celebrate their 80th anniversary in 2012. As part of the celebrations the Society will be using the special callsign EI80IRTS.
A special certificate, available to all amateurs and SWLs, is being offered to celebrate this wonderful occasion during the period of January 1st 2012 to December 31st 2012.
This award is been sponsored by Dundalk Amateur Radio Society, full details of the award can be viewed at
http://www.ei7dar.com/ei80irts.html

EI80IRTS on The Air

Radio Waves A Boost For RNLI Life-Savers

2012-02-03T15:38:00.001Z

The John O'Groat Journal and Caithness Courier reports on the activities of the Caithness Amateur Radio Society (CARS) during SOS Radio Week.

CARS operated from the control room of the Wick harbour station on a rota basis, 10 radio hams took part between January 17 and 21.

Contact was made with 17 different countries to promote Wick, Caithness and the RNLI lifeboat station.....
RNLI on The Air

Special Calls for UK Hams in 2012

2012-02-03T15:14:00.001Z

The Radio Society of Great Britain and Ofcom have reached agreement on the optional use of special callsigns for two significant events during 2012.

For the Queens Diamond Jubilee, all UK amateur stations will have the option of applying for a variation to their licence if they wish, to use a special prefix for a five week period. This will add or substitute the letter Q in the place of the Regional identifier in the callsign.

For the period of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, a similar facility will exist for a seven week period, using the letter O.

Both the above facilities will also be available to Amateur Club licences.

Diamond Jubilee and Olympics on the air

Ham Radio In Antarctica

2011-12-01T03:37:00.001Z

Oleg, UA1PBA/ZS1ANF, will be operating as RI1ANF from Bellinghausen Base (WAP RUS-01) from February-March 2012 until the end of 2012 or the beginning of 2013.

On the way on to Antarctica (end of February) he will try to operate from the Icebreacker "Ak. Fedorov" as callsign/MM.

Alex, UA1PAW, is already at Novo Runway (WAP MNB-06) waiting the license RI1ANR. He will be there until February/March 2012.

Slava (ex-UA1PAI) is on board the "Akademik Fedorov".....

Amateur Radio on Ice

Wife Keeps In Touch With Seafaring Hubby

2011-09-23T14:56:00.002Z

An antique radio is the only link Donna Sweeney has to her seafaring husband as he sails across the Pacific. David Vincent left Nanaimo more than a year ago to island-hop across the South Pacific. He is living his dream - and Sweeney is keeping track of every detail through her home radio. She searches frequencies each morning for news he's OK. Sailing the open sea can be dangerous when you're travelling it alone.

"This is V47DSW," she says Tuesday morning, listing her call name to an operator at the Nanaimo Amateur Radio Association. "Did you hear from David last night? Go ahead."

A voice crackles over the radio: "All is well. He couldn't talk for long, but he's making his way through the islands and will reach his destination within a couple hours. Go ahead."

Ham Radio on The High Seas

Rockall On The Air

2011-09-06T14:52:00.001Z

EU-189. Once again a Belgian expedition team will be sailing to Rockall Island at the end of September. Operators mentioned as of press time are: Patrick/ON4HIL, Theo/ON4ATW, Henk/ON4AHF, Karel/ON5TN and Rudi/ON7YT.

Three of these operators have been at, not on, Rockall Island in May 2009. The team will set sail aboard the "Commandant Fourcault" on September 23rd, for a 4 day voyage to Rockall. If all goes as planned, they will be on the air as MM0RAI around September 27th or 28th. Please keep in mind that heavy seas or bad weather can delay the operation! QSL via ON4ATW (LoTW, by the Bureau or direct.

Please visit their Web site for details and updates at: http://www.rockall.be

Belgian Hams on Rockall

Waterways On The Air

2011-06-30T15:05:00.001Z

Amateur radio enthusiasts are set to stage a worldwide event at The Waterways Festival to celebrate the launch of British Inland Waterways on the Air (BiWota) – a 50-strong group of canal and amateur radio enthusiasts.

Dozens of Amateur Radio Operators (AROs) are set to take part in the group’s first ever event which aims to share the pleasures of Britain’s Inland Waterways with people across the UK and world through radio communication from boats, towpaths and even a kayak!

A special event licence has been issued by OfCom to create The Waterways Festival station. Founder of BiWota and a Regional Manager for the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB), John Rogers who will be leading the team of AROs said:.....

Ham Radio takes to water

Mayo Radio Experimenters Network

2011-06-11T18:38:00.001Z

The Mayo Radio Experimenters Network in Ireland are holding a series of practical hands-on open days throughout the summer months.

The events will start at 13.00 approx (weather permitting) and will take place on the following dates: Sunday June 12th Sunday July 10th Sunday August 14th Sunday September 11th

Anyone with an interest in radio related matters, who would like to have the opportunity to participate or observe the operation of an amateur radio station, or meet club members, will receive a warm welcome.

Amateur Radio in Ireland

OSCAR 1 and Ham Radio Celebrate 50yrs

2011-05-18T12:15:00.002Z

1961. Mercury-Redstone 2 launches into space carrying Ham the Chimp. Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space. Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space aboard Mercury-Redstone 3. Gus Grissom, piloting the Mercury-Redstone 4 capsule Liberty Bell 7, becomes the second American to go into space. OSCAR I -- Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio -- the very first Amateur Radio satellite, is launched into space.

Barely four months after the successful launch of Sputnik I, the United States launches the unmanned Explorer I on January 31, 1958. At about that same time, a group of hams on the West Coast -- Lance Ginner, K6GSJ; Chuck Smallhouse, W6MGZ; Ed Beck, K6ZX; Al Diem; Chuck Townes, K6LFH (SK), and Nick Marshall, W6OLO (SK) -- begin toying with the idea of launching an Amateur Radio satellite into orbit and organized themselves into Project OSCAR.

Ham Radio and Satellites

New Government Issues First Amateur Radio Licence

2011-03-24T12:34:00.004Z

Antonio, EA5RM, member of the Intrepid-DX/DX Friends Group planning a multi-national DXpedition to Southern Sudan, sent out the following press release this past week:

"After a long way, a lot of hard work and several successful meetings with Southern Sudan Government officials of various Ministries,just today,the first amateur radio
license has been issued by the new government.

"Southern Sudan Government officials now understand amateur radio, and they are ready to change the actual rules and regulations as soon as possible.....

Southern Sudan Radio Hams

Early Australian Amateur Radio Callsigns

2011-03-24T12:21:00.002Z

Ever wondered how the Australian amateur radio prefix VK came about?

According to "History of Australian Radio Callsigns" by K3HZ, Dave, it came from a block of prefixes beginning with the letter V, assigned to British Commonwealth countries in 1912 to commemorate the death of Queen Victoria.

The block VH - VK was allocated to Australia but these were not assigned to Australian amateurs until 1928.

1910, after representations by the WIA, the then Postmaster General's Department began issuing experimental licenses. These used a three letter call beginning with X and did not differentiate between states until 1912 when these three
letter calls were broken up into blocks according to state.

VK Callsigns

The 'Spirit' of Amateur Radio

2011-03-20T12:52:00.001Z

Moray Firth Amateur Radio Society is celebrating the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival by running three Special Event stations, one located at Strathisla distillery in Keith (callsign GB3SWF) another located at the Craigellachie Distillery (callsign GB2SWF) and a third at Glenfarclas Distillery (probably GB4SWF).

The objective of this exercise is to contact as many amateur radio stations as possible, worldwide, to promote Scotland’s iconic dram – malt whisky. Each station will operate on the Shortwave (HF) bands, principally 80m, 40m and 20m SSB, and also on VHF when possible.

Ham Radio at Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival

Ham Radio endures in a World of Tweets

2011-02-09T15:48:00.002Z

Somehow it makes little sense that amateur "ham" radio continues to thrive in the age of Twitter, Facebook and iPhones. Yet the century-old communications technology -- which demands such commitment that you must generally pass an exam to receive a licence -- currently attracts around 350,000 practitioners in Europe, and a further 700,000 in the United States, some 60 per cent more than 30 years ago. What is it about a simple microphone, a transmitter-receiver and the seductive freedom of the open radio spectrum that's turned a low-tech anachronism into an enduring and deeply engaging global hobby?

For a start, there is that thrill in establishing a magical person-to-person long-distance radio conversation that no commodified internet communication can compete with. In a world of taken-for-granted torrents of emails, instant messages and Skype video-chats, there is a purity and a richness in the shared experience of exchanging "73s" during a live "QSO" with strangers on another continent. Why, the very "ham slang" that defines the community -- 73 translating as "best regards", and QSOs as two-way conversations -- tells practitioners that they belong to a special, mutually curious and highly courteous club. And the fact that DXers -- long-distance amateur operators -- take the trouble to acknowledge received transmissions and conversations by sending their new contacts custom-designed postcards through the analogue postal service.......

Ham Radio survives

A New British Yagi Antenna Company

2011-02-09T15:34:00.002Z

On 1st March 2011, Justin Johnson, G0KSC launches InnovAntennas Limited to fill a niche in the global antenna market; high-quality design and construction in one package.

Justin has become well known globally for his LFA (Loop Fed Array) Yagi and the marked impact it has had upon specialist areas such as EME (Earth Moon Earth) communication. He also introduced the OWL (Optimised Wideband Array) Yagi to the world with its combination of high-performance and wide bandwidth to the ham community last year.

Like the many other manufacturers that have already adopted the G0KSC designs (under license), InnovAntennas will produce a wide range of these antennas in addition to the unreleased OP-DES (Opposing Phase Driven Element System) Yagi which has been specifically designed to cover individual HF bands in their entirety without the need for an ATU or antenna matching device which can badly effect the efficiency and performance of Yagi antennas.

Read more on Innovantennas

G0JHC RECEIVES ROYAL ORDER AWARD

2010-10-23T19:43:00.003Z

Neil Carr, G0JHC, has been awarded the prestigious Royal Order of
Transatlantic Brass Pounders trophy that recognizes outstanding and
consistent DX work.

The Royal Order of Transatlantic Brass Pounders trophy was first
awarded in 1924. The original Members of the Order were from those who
operated transatlantic tests from 1921 to 1924.

As such, Neil Carr, G0JHC joins a small group of elite U-K operators
who have earned this honor. RSGB President Dave Wilson, M0OBW and HF
Awards Manager, John Dunnington, G3LZQ will visit G0JHC shortly to
present the award. (RSGB)

CW Award...and more Amateur News

Amateur Radio Bands To Be Used For London 2012 Games

2010-10-23T14:42:00.003Z

Ofcom has published an updated spectrum plan for wireless communications at the London 2012 Games. This includes an update on the various demands for spectrum and how they will be met.

Frequencies in a number of bands allocated on a Secondary basis to the Amateur Service will be used at Olympic venues, among them are 70cm, 23cm and 13cm bands.

Regarding the 430 MHz band the plan says:

"The 430-440 MHz band is managed by the MOD and is used by Radio Amateurs. Ofcom notes RAYNET’s support for the St John’s Ambulance, Red Cross and other similar users as well as Amateur Special Event Stations for cultural events linked to the London 2012 Games.....

Ham Bands Used For 2012 Olympics

Rare IOTA Activation

2010-05-25T14:50:00.001Z

The MSØINT team are embarking on a DXpedition as part of this event to try to activate the remote North Atlantic island group of the Flannans, 20 miles northwest of the Outer Hebrides.

Icom UK have loaned 2 IC-7000 HF/50MHz/VHF/UHF mobile transceivers to the team for use at the station.

Activated in 1989, 1995, 1999 and 2002, the mysterious Flannan Isles 20 miles north west of the Outer Hebrides are a much needed and hard to reach IOTA. As one of the rarest prefixes in Europe (EU-118), MSØINT has only been “claimed” by 31.9% of participants in IOTA so the team will have their work cut out!

The MSØINT DXpedition team, consisting of SMØMDG Bjørn Mohr (Sweden), EA3NT Christian Cabre (Spain), EA2TA George Moreno (Spain), EA1DR Oscar Luis Fernandez (Spain), F4BKV Vincent Colombo (France) and leader MMØNDX Col McGowan (Scotland) will try to be on the air from Friday the 18th of June until Monday the 21st of June.
There will be two 24 hour stations operating on all bands from 160-10 meter (both SSB and CW). They will be situated on the highest point of the island Eilean Mòr, some 88 metres (290 ft) above sea level.

Col McGowan explains the journey that the team will have to take to reach the remote islands off Britain’s north coast, “Firstly we’ll fly from Edinburgh to Stornoway and then we’ll cross the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides by car. From the west coast of the Isle of Lewis we’ve got to jump in a fast sea RIB and head 20 miles out into the Atlantic to finally reach the Flannan Isles.”

When asked why they were undertaking such an ambitious Dxpedition, Col commented, “We are all very keen enthusiasts of the RSGB/Icom UK sponsored "Islands On The Air" (IOTA) program, which promotes ham radio expeditions to any island. The Flannans are a group of islands which haven't been on air for nearly 10 years and due to the lack of on air activity from there, the island group is now becoming one of the world's most needed islands to make contact with. We have high hopes of putting Flannans on the air.”

So why did the team approach Icom for use of some IC-7000 HF/50MHz/VHF/UHF mobile transceivers ?
Col explained, “Due to the fact that the Flannan isles are very hard to land on (and only while having excellent weather/sea conditions) the team has focused on having the lightest gear they could get whilst still securing the standards of quality in order to achieve the highest possible number of radio contacts around the world.

Col added, “We must emphasize we need near perfect weather conditions and good seas. This is why we chose the month of June - it's generally and historically calmer seas that time of year. If we fail to have good weather, the team may decide to go to another island, possibly even St Kilda Archipelago - although all actions will be undertaken following advice from our RIB skipper.”

Island Name: Eilean Mor
Coordinates: 58° 17.0' N, 007° 35.0' W
GRID: IO68EH I
OTA: EU-118 I
OSA: OL-01
SCOTIA: DI-25
WAB: NA74
WLOTA: LH-0023
ARLHS: SCO-084

Flannan Islands DX-Pedition

Guglielmo Marconi - The Nobel Prize in Physics 1909

2010-05-24T11:22:00.002Z

Guglielmo Marconi was born at Bologna, Italy, on April 25, 1874, the second son of Giuseppe Marconi, an Italian country gentleman, and Annie Jameson, daughter of Andrew Jameson of Daphne Castle in the County Wexford, Ireland. He was educated privately at Bologna, Florence and Leghorn. Even as a boy he took a keen interest in physical and electrical science and studied the works of Maxwell, Hertz, Righi, Lodge and others. In 1895 he began laboratory experiments at his father's country estate at Pontecchio where he succeeded in sending wireless signals over a distance of one and a half miles.

In 1896 Marconi took his apparatus to England where he was introduced to Mr. (later Sir) William Preece, Engineer-in-Chief of the Post Office, and later that year was granted the world's first patent for a system of wireless telegraphy. He demonstrated his system successfully in London, on Salisbury Plain and across the Bristol Channel, and in July 1897 formed The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company Limited (in 1900 re-named Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company Limited). In the same year he gave a demonstration to the Italian Government at Spezia where wireless signals were sent over a distance of twelve miles. In 1899 he established wireless communication between France and England across the English Channel. He erected permanent wireless stations at The Needles, Isle of Wight, at Bournemouth and later at the Haven Hotel, Poole, Dorset.

In 1900 he took out his famous patent No. 7777 for "tuned or syntonic telegraphy" and, on an historic day in December 1901, determined to prove that wireless waves were not affected by the curvature of the Earth, he used his system for transmitting the first wireless signals across the Atlantic between Poldhu, Cornwall, and St. John's, Newfoundland, a distance of 2100 miles.

Between 1902 and 1912 he patented several new inventions. In 1902, during a voyage in the American liner "Philadelphia", he first demonstrated "daylight effect" relative to wireless communication and in the same year patented his magnetic detector which then became the standard wireless receiver for many years. In December 1902 he transmitted the first complete messages to Poldhu from stations at Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, and later Cape Cod, Massachusetts, these early tests culminating in 1907 in the opening of the first transatlantic commercial service between Glace Bay and Clifden, Ireland, after the first shorter-distance public service of wireless telegraphy had been established between Bari in Italy and Avidari in Montenegro. In 1905 he patented his horizontal directional aerial and in 1912 a "timed spark" system for generating continuous waves.

In 1914 he was commissioned in the Italian Army as a Lieutenant being later promoted to Captain, and in 1916 transferred to the Navy in the rank of Commander. He was a member of the Italian Government mission to the United States in 1917 and in 1919 was appointed Italian plenipotentiary delegate to the Paris Peace Conference. He was awarded the Italian Military Medal in 1919 in recognition of his war service.

During his war service in Italy he returned to his investigation of short waves, which he had used in his first experiments. After further tests by his collaborators in England, an intensive series of trials was conducted in 1923 between experimental installations at the Poldhu Station and in Marconi's yacht "Elettra" cruising in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and this led to the establishment of the beam system for long distance communication. Proposals to use this system as a means of Imperial communications were accepted by the British Government and the first beam station, linking England and Canada, was opened in 1926, other stations being added the following year.

In 1931 Marconi began research into the propagation characteristics of still shorter waves, resulting in the opening in 1932 of the world's first microwave radiotelephone link between the Vatican City and the Pope's summer residence at Castel Gandolfo. Two years later at Sestri Levante he demonstrated his microwave radio beacon for ship navigation and in 1935, again in Italy, gave a practical demonstration of the principles of radar, the coming of which he had first foretold in a lecture to the American Institute of Radio Engineers in New York in 1922.

He has been the recipient of honorary doctorates of several universities and many other international honours and awards, among them the Nobel Prize for Physics, which in 1909 he shared with Professor Karl Braun, the Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts, the John Fritz Medal and the Kelvin Medal. He was decorated by the Tsar of Russia with the Order of St. Anne, the King of Italy created him Commander of the Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus, and awarded him the Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Italy in 1902. Marconi also received the freedom of the City of Rome (1903), and was created Chevalier of the Civil Order of Savoy in 1905. Many other distinctions of this kind followed. In 1914 he was both created a Senatore in the Italian Senate and app ointed Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in England. He received the hereditary title of Marchese in 1929.

In 1905 he married the Hon. Beatrice O'Brien, daughter of the 14th Baron Inchiquin, the marriage being annulled in 1927, in which year he married the Countess Bezzi-Scali of Rome. He had one son and two daughters by his first and one daughter by his second wife. His recreations were hunting, cycling and motoring.

Marconi died in Rome on July 20, 1937.

Guglielmo Marconi and Amateur Radio

ARRL Sends Ham Aid Equipment To Haiti

2010-01-26T16:22:00.003Z

Even though the communications infrastructure in earthquake-ravaged Haiti is being rebuilt, there is still need for Amateur Radio communications.

To assist in this effort, the ARRL's Ham-Aid program is providing equipment for local amateurs to use.

On Friday, January 22, the League sent a programmed Yaesu VHF repeater with a microphone, as well as ICOM handheld transceivers, Yaesu mobile 2 meter rigs with power supplies and Kenwood mobile 2 meter rigs.

Comet antennas, Larsen mobile antennas with magnet mounts, coax and batteries were also included in the package that was shipped to the home of the President of the Radio Club Dominicano (RCD) for distribution. All items were donated by their manufacturers.

Amateur Radio Comms in Haiti

HF International Emergency Operating Procedure

2009-11-24T14:32:00.002Z

1. General
Amateur radio is one of the radio communication services set up by the International Telecommunication Union. In all these services emergency traffic has absolute priority over their normal operation.

Emergency operation requires an efficient forwarding of traffic. Efficiency of communication is not self-evident in amateur radio so each operator has to think about how he should react in case of emergency and should obtain as much preparedness as possible.

2. Measures in case of emergency

If you hear the word "emergency", "welfare-traffic" or the abbreviation QUF - stop transmitting and listen.

If you receive such traffic - stand by, observe it and write down all you hear.
don't leave the frequency before you are sure that you cannot help and somebody is helping.

Don't transmit before you are sure that you can help.
Follow the instructions the traffic controlling station (if there is one) is giving you. The traffic is controlled by the station in emergency or the station appointed by the station in emergency.

Keep messages short - don't transmit useless information.

In case of interference by other stations, the traffic controlling station or other stations appointed by it should transmit the word "emergency", "welfare-traffic","stop sending" or the abbreviation QUF to the interfering station....read on

Ham Radio Emergency Ops

The Man Who Trains Astronauts To Be Hams

2009-08-31T13:01:00.002Z

Since 1983 many orbital space missions have taken along amateur radio gear.

The first ham in space was Owen Garriott, W5LFL. He was followed by Tony England, W0ORE, after which ham radio in space was formalized. First, under the title of the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment or SAREX and today as ARISS or Amateur Radio on the International Space Station. And with amateur radio a part of the astronauts training, someone on the ground has to teach them.

Recently, Amateur Radio Newsline's Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, had a chance to meet and talk with the man who really is the ham behind the ham radio operators in space: Nick Lance, KC5KBO:

Do you remember where you were when NASA embarked on the Apollo space program that culminated with U.S. astronauts landing on and exploring the moon? Nick Lance, KC5KBO, does.

He joined NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston at the time of Apollo 7 in the late 1960s. He was there through that historic Apollo 11 mission and worked for some 40 years for the space agency until his retirement Aug 1.

Space Station on Ham Bands

Are Sunspots Disappearing?

2009-08-31T12:57:00.002Z

TWO ASTRONOMERS PREDICT SUNSPOTS WILL SOON COMPLETELY DISAPPEAR!

Are sunspots disappearing for good? Two solar researchers say this is the case. Amateur Radio Newsline's Norm Seeley, KI7UP, has more:

Most hams users know that there is a direct correlation between sunspots and high frequency propagation conditions. In general, the more sunspots there are, the more DX you will be able to work. This usually happens in 11 year cycles with the last solar maximum having taken place in 2000.

The current Solar Cycle which is Cycle 24 should peak in roughly next year in 2010. Only one problem. There have been few sunspots this year and very little easy to work DX. And now there may be an answer as to why.

Spaceweather.com reports that astronomers Bill Livingston and Matt Penn of the National Solar Observatory in Tucson, Arizona, have found that sunspot magnetic fields are definitely waning. Not only that. They say that sunspots could completely disappear within decades.

Livingston and Penn have been measuring solar magnetism since 1992. Their technique is based on a complex system called the Zeeman splitting of infrared spectral lines emitted by iron atoms in the vicinity of sunspots. They reached their conclusion by extrapolating their already collected data into the future.

Where has all the DX gone?

Radio Hotline Launched

2009-08-13T13:25:00.001Z

Most often than not, amateur radio operators have come to people’s rescue during natural or manmade disasters, providing relief to those marooned during floods, earthquakes, building collapse and others.

To provide this reliable mode of communication, the Amateur Radio Society of India and the Indian Red Cross Society have joined hands to establish a radio hotline here on Wednesday. It was inaugurated by Governor of Karnataka, H R Bhardwaj in the premises of the Red Cross Society here.

K N Rajaram, Secretary of Amateur Radio Society said the need of amateur radio during the crucial golden hour is invaluable in rescue missions.

Emergency Ham Radio help in India

Amateur Radio Station Featured in National Commercial

2009-08-11T14:33:00.003Z

WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, Florida, is featured in a 60 second radio spot for Duracell batteries.

The commercial, which begins airing this month, highlights the efforts of an all-volunteer army of ham radio operators for WX4NHC.

Narrated by actor Jeff Bridges, it describes the important role that radio amateurs play during severe weather conditions -- enabling communications with emergency medical teams, police and fire departments -- when the power goes out.

The narration underscores the importance of a reliable battery to power the portable ham radios, which are crucial to WX4NHC's work.

WX4NHC National Hurricane Centre

Bletchley Park History

2009-08-05T11:55:00.000Z

With the declaration of peace, the frenzy of codebreaking activity ceased.

On Churchill's orders, every scrap of 'incriminating' evidence was destroyed. As the Second World War gave way to the Cold War, it was vital that Britain's former ally, the USSR, should learn nothing of Bletchley Park's wartime achievements.

The thousands who had worked there departed. Some continued to use their remarkable expertise to break other countries' cyphers, working under a new name: the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).

The site became home to a variety of training schools: for teachers, Post Office workers, air traffic control system engineers, and members of GCHQ. In 1987, after a fifty-year association with British Intelligence, Bletchley Park was finally decommissioned.

For decades, the codebreakers would remain silent about their achievements. It was not until the wartime information was declassified in the mid-1970s that the truth would begin to emerge. And the impact of those achievements on the outcome of the war and subsequent developments in communications still has not been recognised fully.

Amateur Radio at Bletchley Park

More wired Chinese tuning into Amateur Radio

2009-07-21T09:27:00.001Z

BEIJING (Reuters Life!) - When it comes to high-tech, China has it all. But in the country with the most Internet users in the world, some are choosing to stay in touch through an older device: the radio.

Armed with antennas, transmitters and receivers, a growing number of Chinese amateur radio operators, or radio hams, send out encoded messages and simple broadcasts in the hope of getting a response.

Of the world's three million amateur radio operators, up to 90,000 are in China, according to the Chinese Radio Sports Association which oversees licensing for hobbyists in the world's most populous country.

The number has been steadily growing in recent years, the association said, despite mobile phones and the Internet becoming commonplace in nearly all the country.

Chinese Hams grow in numbers

EI2GBW/GB2EI Celebrate Maritime Return

2009-07-13T13:32:00.006Z

Fastnet Line reinstitutes ferry service between Cork and Swansea beginning in 2010.

The Ei2GBW and GB2Ei special event stations celebrate the return of this historical link between Ireland and Wales. The service provided by six ferry ships each named Innisfallen began in 1896.

Pictured above (see link below) is the third Innisfallen, which served the route from 1948 to 1967 (I've sailed on it myself, Radio Guy). This ship, known affectionately to locals as D'Innis, brought a new style and class to the route.

The sixth Innisfallen, pictured in link below, is an even larger 21,699 gross tons and begins regular service on 1 March 2010.

Special Event Station Swansea-Cork Ferry

Mountain Top Ham Radio

2009-07-13T13:15:00.005Z

A lot of people may already know of Diana Eng. She was one of the contestants, the so-called "fashion nerd", on the second season of Project Runway.

She's also been a guest blogger on CRAFT and is the author of the new book Fashion Geek: Clothes Accessories Tech. And Diana Eng is no poser nerd. To prove it, she's here to talk about... ham radio?

That's right, Diana is a licensed ham! She loves the hobby and is excited about introducing a new generation of amateurs to it. She'll be contributing some posts here about ham, like this convention report, and doing some radio projects.

Diana Eng talks Ham Radio

World Amateur Radio Prefixes

2009-06-14T19:09:00.004Z

Radio callsigns for the world are set by the ITU – the UN Agency which coordinates all radio activity.

The ITU allocates a block or blocks of prefixes to each country, and all callsigns must begin with the specified prefix.

This applies to all radio amateurs, aircraft, ships, broadcast, commercial stations etc.

This must be the most comprehensive list I've ever seen in my 18yrs as a Radio Ham.

Many thanks to Rod Dinkins, AC6V, for taking the time to put this together.

Ham Radio World Prefix List

UK Amateur Radio Call Signs

2009-06-14T19:00:00.001Z

There are a large number of different prefixes used for UK, British amateur radio callsigns or call signs. From a knowledge of these ham radio call signs it is possible to learn something about the licencee - the type of amateur radio or ham radio licence held and also when it was issued.

As the types of ham radio licence available have changed over the years, and different call sign series were issued for each one, it may be difficult to identify what the callsigns mean without a table and explanation.

Current UK amateur radio licences.

Within the UK, there are three types of amateur radio licence that can be obtained, namely the Foundation Licence, Intermediate Licence and the Full Licence. Each of these ham radio licences offers different privileges in a form of incentive amateur radio licence scheme through which all new UK radio hams must progress to achieve the full licence.

The different ham radio licences reflect the experience of the operators, the Foundation Licence offering entry level privileges while the Full licence offers the highest power levels and the greatest number of bands.

Ham Calls in The UK

25 Years of Amateur Radio in Space

2008-12-04T13:30:00.007Z

Astronaut Own Garriott, W5LFL, during STS-9 training with ham radio.
[Image courtesy of NASA]

Twenty-five years ago this week, Owen Garriott, W5LFL, made history by being the first Amateur Radio operator to talk to hams from space. His historic flight on STS-9 on board the Space Shuttle Columbia was launched on November 28 and landed on December 8, 1983.

Garriott's ham radio adventure on that mission ushered in a host of what Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, called "outstanding outreach activities that continue today with the ARISS program."

Radio Hams celebrate Space Station contact

Radio Hams Get Younger

2008-06-03T18:28:00.001Z

Six-year-old Cameron Hasson's world just got a little larger.

The amateur radio license he recently earned puts him in touch with folks from all over.

He's a bona fide “ham” – probably the youngest in North Carolina and maybe the U.S., according to his instructor, Joe Hullender with the Gastonia Area Amateur Radio Club.

All that talk going on out in radio land – endless conversations about the weather and gas prices and whatever – Cameron takes it all in.

A Boy's Passport To The World of Amateur Radio

Chinese Olympic Special Event Stations Get Ready

2008-05-20T16:48:00.001Z

Special Event stations for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will begin operating on Sunday, May 18 through September 17.

Five special calls, representing the five rings of the Olympic flag, will be on the air: BT1OB, BT1OJ, BT1OH, BT1OY and BT1ON. The last letter of the call sign corresponds to the color of each of the rings of the Olympic flag -- Beibei (Blue), Jingjing (Black), Huanhuan (Red), Yingying (Yellow) and Nini (Green).

Zheng Feng, BA4EG, will be the QSL manager for all stations. QSLs can be sent either direct or via the bureau and will begin to be answered in October.

Chinese Hams start before The Games

May Day, May Day, May Day........

2008-05-02T13:34:00.000Z

Mystery, intrigue as well as misinformation surrounds the origin and use of maritime distress calls.

The general populace believes that "SOS" signifies "Save Our Ship." Casual students of radio history are aware that "CQD" preceded the use of "SOS." Why were these signals adopted? When were they used? Why did one replace the other? What is one likely to find by digging a little deeper?

The practical use of wireless telegraphy was made possible by Guglielmo Marconi in the closing years of the 19th century. Until then, ships at sea out of visual range were very much isolated from shore and other ships. A ship could vanish from the high seas, and no one would know until that vessel failed to make a port connection.

Marconi, seeing that wireless would not compete with wire telegraphy for land based communication, concentrated his efforts on ship to shore communications. Ships equipped with wireless were no longer isolated.

The first use of wireless in communicating the need for assistance came in March of 1899. The East Goodwin Lightship, marking the southeastern English coast, was rammed in a fog in the early morning hours by the SS R. F. Matthews. A distress call was transmitted to a shore station at South Foreland and help was dispatched.

CQ...SOS...CQD. CQ used by Hams

Welsh Amateur In Space?

2008-04-30T17:28:00.000Z

Ken Eaton GW1FKY had always dreamed of one day flying in space, now, thanks to the Technical University of Delft, GW1FKY is orbiting the earth.

When the team building the Delfi-C3 satellite, attended the AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium they made a very generous offer to help boost AMSAT-UK’s satellite building fund.

They decided to allow one Amateur's callsign to fly in space onboard their satellite. This chance to have your call sign fly on the satellite was auctioned at the Annual AMSAT-UK Dinner and there was fierce bidding to win this privilege.

Ken Eaton GW1FKY was the winner with a bid that will greatly boost the satellite building fund and his call sign was put into Delfi-C3 and has now been launched into Earth orbit.

Amateur Radio 'Around' The World

Hams Of All Ages Are Licenced

2008-01-26T15:53:00.000Z

ANOTHER dozen people have gained examination qualifications as a result of the latest course run by the Scarborough Amateur Radio Training Group.

They ranged in age from school-age to the retired and the exam was for the UK intermediate transmitting licence. It was taken at Crossgates Community Centre, which is where the training group also holds its periodic training courses for the three grades of UK licence exam now on offer.

The training group – which is affiliated to Scarborough Amateur Radio Society – is to break new ground with its next course.Morse code has now largely disappeared from the airwaves, but amateur radio remains a last bastion of it – some hams still finding it useful, especially when communication conditions are poor. Morse can still get through when static defeats the human voice.

Scarborough Hams On The Air

New RSGB Qsl Bureau Sub-Manager

2007-10-28T16:11:00.001Z

As from October 2007 there is a new Qsl Sub-Manager for the group of call-signs M1EAA - M1EZZ. That Sub-Manager is myself. The following message has been sent out to as many in that Group as possible:

"My name is Chris, G7NRO. I've been licensed since 1992, and former RLO (Regional Liaison Officer) for the RSGB for Cleveland until its demise in 1996.

The Bureau address is:

RSGB QSL Bureau
PO Box 5
Halifax
HX1 9JR
England

Any Radio Ham can use the incoming mail facility at The QSL Bureau. So if you know of anyone in the M1E Group who DX-es or just chats around the UK or mainland Europe who thinks they may have had cards sent to them, ask them to get in touch.

I am an avid DX-er myself, a member of the WAB, WAI and IOTA Groups, and a collector of SOTA locations.

Finally, although I have been involved with The RSGB before, I have never been a QSL Manager. So if I drop a clanger, get it wrong, apologies now. Let me know, though, and it will be right next time around.

Thanks for reading this. I look forward to hearing from you and getting cards away ASAP.
73, de Chris, G7NRO."

Ham Radio Trio Arrive At Space Station

2007-10-19T12:12:00.000Z

Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson, KC5ZTD, Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP, and spaceflight participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, 9W2MUS, have arrived at the
International Space Station.

Their Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft docked to the Earth-facing port of the station’s Zarya module at 10:50 a.m. EDT Friday. The station’s new residents and their Malaysian guest launched at 9:22 a.m. EDT Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, RN3FI, and Flight Engineers Oleg Kotov and
Clay Anderson, KD5PLA, welcomed the new crew aboard the station when the hatches were opened at 12:22 p.m.

9W2 Transmits From Space Station

News For Ham Radio Prefix Hunters

2007-10-09T10:24:00.000Z

By Giorgio Minguzzi IZ4AKS

The call sign 1A3A will be used during the CQWW SSB Contest [ October 27-28, 2007].

This call sign, 1A3A, is a new prefix using for the first time the number "3" from the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

All activity prior and after the contest will use the call sign 1A4A.

There will be both SSB and CW activity on the WARC bands using the 1A4A call during the contest period.

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta

Summits on the Air - In Germany

2007-08-03T18:33:00.000Z

Summits on the Air (SOTA) is an award scheme for radio amateurs and shortwave listeners that encourages portable operation in mountainous areas.

SOTA has been carefully designed to make participation possible for everyone - this is not just for mountaineers! There are awards for activators (those who ascend to the summits) and chasers (who either operate from home, a local hilltop or are even Activators on other summits). Click here to see what is happening with SOTA in real-time via the SOTAwatch portal.

The Association Reference Manuals contain a list of qualifying summits, together with their locations. Each summit earns the activators and chasers a score which is related to the height of the summit. Certificates are available for various scores, leading to the prestigious "Mountain Goat" and "Shack Sloth" trophies.

An Honour Roll for Activators and Chasers is maintained at the SOTA online database.

An example of an active Summits operator can be seen here in this link. With many thanks to Klaus, DF2GN, for some outstanding shots from various locations.

Summits On The Air in Germany

SEANET Convention 2007 - Lampang

2007-08-01T08:31:00.000Z

You are invited to exotic Lampang in northern Thailand in November this year for four fun-filled days when the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand (RAST) is hosting the 35th annual Southeast Asia Net (SEANET) Convention.

With activities that include an opportunity to take part in a traditional wedding ceremony on elephant-back - either as the bride or the groom, or as a well-wisher - the organisers are sure that you will have a memorable 'ham-holiday' and will enjoy mingling with over 100 like-minded radio amateurs from Thailand and around the world between November 8 and November 11, 2007.

Lampang is Thailand's fourth-largest city, and is some 200 years older than the better-known northern capital Chiang Mai (an hour away by car) and which dates back to the 11th Century.

Radio Hams meet in Thailand........read on

Italy Gives Radio Hams Access To 70 MHz

2007-07-14T18:32:00.000Z

It looks as though there will soon be some experimental Amateur Radio activity from Italy on 70 MHz.

From http://www.70mhz.org/

Upon request of Luca Ferrara IK0YYY, the Italian Ministry of Communications, in coordination with the Ministry of Defense, is willing to kindly authorize an amateur radio experimental campaign on the 70-MHz band (4 meters) up toDecember 31, 2007. Activities will however only be possible after the authorization has actually been signed.

Such campaign is being carried out under the technical coordination of Piero Tognolatti I0KPT, Full Professor of the Electromagnetic Fields Group and Director of the Electrical Engineering and Information Theory Department of the University of l’Aquila.

Italian Hams experiment on 70mhz

Ireland On The Air

2007-07-11T16:21:00.000Z

Get our News Headlines for your Website: http://www.southgatearc.org/rss/index.htm

Great interest is being expressed worldwide in the Irish Radio Transmitters Society's 75th Anniversary Contest - CQIR, which will take place on the last weekend in September.

The contest is a celebration of Ireland and the Irish, throughout the world, and with 40 million people in the United States alone claiming Irish forefathers, we expect that CQIR will be one of the largest 'one-off' contests ever aired on the Amateur Radio bands.

It is a 24-hour single operator contest with the emphasis on participation rather than winning and to this end every participant gains an entry ticket for a spectacular draw for every 75 QSO’s made during the Contest.

The ticket drawn out of the EI/GI drum will win an all expenses paid long weekend in New York City for two people. ARRL have confirmed that this will include a visit to their national headquarters hosted by ARRL.

Irish Radio Transmitter Society's 75th Anniverary

First Ham Sat QSO Using D-STAR Digital Voice

2007-07-06T18:57:00.000Z

What is believed to be the first Amateur Satellite QSO using the new Digital Voice Mode D-STAR took place on July 1st between Michael N3UC and Robin AA4RC using the AO-27 Amateur Satellite.

This report from http://www.ao27.org/

On July 1st, 2007 during the 20:00 UTC pass over North America, AO-27 was again providing a new round of enjoyment for Amateur satellite experimenters.

Thirteen years ago, AO-27, which coined the term "Easy Sat" by employing an FM bent pipe in space, provided many hams the ability to use a satellite without the expense of multi mode radios.

Digital QSO via D-STAR

Kenwood Says 'It's Here To Stay'

2007-07-06T15:18:00.000Z

Once again the bloggers are wrong.

Contrary to what some hams have conjectured on the Internet, Kenwood Communications has no plans to leave the ham radio marketplace. Amateur Radio Newsline's Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, has the rest of the story:

Kenwood, which has just announced that is acquiring famed consumer electronics manufacturer JVC from Matsushita Electric, says that it sees ham radio as an important part of its overall future business plan.

And in a letter to the Amateur Radio community, Phil Parton, N4DRO, who is the Kenwood's National Sales Manager for Amateur Radio Products makes it clear that the company is in ham radio to stay.

Ham Radio and Kenwood

Amateur Logic TV

2007-06-28T16:20:00.000Z

Peter Berrett VK3PB is a member of the Eastern & Mountain District Radio Club, a member of the Wireless Institute of Australia and is a keen ATV enthusiast famous for his electronic Fish Bowl on Melbourne’s VK3RTV repeater.

This month Peter joins the team at Amateur Logic TV as their Australian news presenter and Australian news reporter. Amateur Logic TV is a Television program made by Radio Amateurs for Radio Amateurs.

It is an IPTV program, which in simple terms means you download it from the internet and watch it on your PC.

Amateur Radio TV

Summits On The Air In South Africa

2007-06-13T18:34:00.000Z

SOTA for short - is an international Amateur Radio awards program that was launched in March 2002. SOTA issues certificates to amateurs who contact or activate a certain number of mountain summits. It is especially suited to South Africa since although we have relatively few islands we do have plenty of mountains, as well as excellent hiking weather throughout the year.

SOTA encourages portable operations by summit activators. Operations from vehicles are not permitted, and although a vehicle may be used to get to the mountain the method of final access to the summit must be "person powered" (e.g. hiking, mountain bike etc.) and all equipment must be carried to the site by the activator team. QRP operations are the rule, so this is a wonderful opportunity for all you homebrew and QRP enthusiasts to show off your portable equipment and operating prowess.

However since all bands and modes are permissible, you don't require a portable HF rig to activate a summit - a VHF HT is quite sufficient. There are a number of certificates for activators, culminating in the ultimate accolade - the "Mountain Goat" plaque.

For those of us who don't relish the prospect of lugging portable equipment to a windswept mountain summit there is always the challenge of various "chaser" certificates, culminating in the "Shack Sloth" plaque, which can be earned from the comfort of your favourite armchair by contacting summits. QSL cards are not required so you can apply for certificates and plaques as soon as you have earned the required number of points.

South African Hams on Summits

What is Amateur Radio?

2007-06-13T18:27:00.000Z

Allen Pitts, W1AGP.

A retired military officer in North Carolina makes friends over the radio with a ham in Lithuania. An Ohio teenager uses her computer to upload a chess move to an orbiting space satellite, where it's retrieved by a fellow chess enthusiast in Japan.

An aircraft engineer in Florida participating in a "DX contest" swaps call signs with hams in 100 countries during a single weekend. In California, volunteers save lives as part of their involvement in an emergency communications net. And at the scene of a traffic accident on a Chicago freeway, a ham calls for help by using a pocket-sized hand-held radio.

This unique mix of fun, public service and convenience is the distinguishing characteristic of Amateur Radio. Although hams get involved in the hobby for many reasons, they all have in common a basic knowledge of radio technology, regulations and operating principles, demonstrated by passing an examination for a license to operate on radio frequencies known as the "Amateur Bands."

More about Amateur Radio and it's History

Radio Hams Work All Continents

2007-06-06T14:20:00.000Z

In recognition of international two-way amateur radio communication, the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) issues Worked-All-Continents certificates to amateur radio stations of the world.

Qualification for the WAC award is based on an examination by the International Secretariat, or a member-society, of the IARU of QSL cards that the applicant has received from other amateur stations in each of the six continental areas of the world. All contacts must be made from the same country or separate territory within the same continental area of the world.
All QSL cards (no photocopies) must show the mode and/or band for any endorsement applied for.

Contacts made on 10/18/24 MHz or via satellites are void for the 5-band certificate and 6-band endorsement. All contacts for the QRP endorsement must be made on or after January 1, 1985 while running a maximum power of 5 watts output or 10 watts input.

Amateur Radio around the World

Ham Radio Operator Searches For Exraterrestrials

2007-05-28T09:34:00.000Z

Published On Tuesday, May 08, 2007 10:26 PM, By RAVIV MURCIANO-GOROFF
Crimson Staff Writer

“CQ, CQ, CQ. This is W1AF, Whiskey, One, Alpha, Foxtrot,” Clayton M. Nall calls into the microphone as he wiggles the dial on a large ham radio. Nall, a doctoral student at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, leans in toward the speaker and listens for hints of words among the crackling static.

He adjusts the 20-foot antennae atop the clubhouse of W1AF, home of the Harvard Wireless Club. After five minutes of intense focusing, Nall makes his first connection of the day with the faint calls of a radio operator in Bermuda.

In an age of cell phones, instant messaging, and video teleconferencing, there are still people like Nall who hammer away in Morse code on their ham radios, trying to see how many people they can connect with around the world—and beyond.

These two-way communication devices come in many sizes, ranging from small hand-held radios to stereo-sized machines with towering antennas. Using nothing but dots and dashes and a few volts, members of the Harvard Wireless Club—America’s oldest amateur radio club—can reach out to over two million users around the world.

Hams looking for ET....read on

Ham Operator Shoots The Moon

2007-04-22T17:44:00.000Z

Moonbounce: Ham operator from Pupukea shoots the moon.

PUPUKEA — Alex Benton aimed for the moon yesterday. His shot was heard around the world.

Benton — better known to friends as KH6YY — became the first Hawai'i amateur radio operator in more than 25 years to successfully bounce a signal off the moon and have it heard back on Earth.

After fiddling with rigged equipment that included an old 12-foot satellite television receiving dish and a World War II-era plane engine, Benton and visiting expert radio operator Bruce Clark successfully sent a signal from Benton's backyard tower in Pupukea to the moon, some 238,000 miles away.

Radio Ham in Hawaii

The Salopian Web

2007-04-19T16:21:00.000Z

Frequently Asked Questions about Amateur Radio. Roy, G8AYD.

Do I need a Licence?
In the UK, no licence is necessary to receive amateur radio transmissions, but one is needed if you want to transmit on amateur radio frequencies.

How do I get a licence ?
To obtain an Amateur Radio Licence in the UK, you must satisfy Ofcom, the UK licencing authority that you are competent to operate an amateur transmitter. ( For other countries, contact your national society for details.)
In the UK Ofcom sets the minimum standards. The Radio Society of Great Britain conducts examinations on behalf of the Ofcom to test licence applicants. You must obtain a pass in the examination(s) before submitting your licence application to them on their website. Ofcom publishes a useful document, 'How to Become a Radio Amateur' obtainable free, either on line, or by writing Ofcom. This publication includes an application form. Similar requirements exist in other countries.

What types of licence are there?
Although in many countries, licencing arrangements are similar, they vary in detail from country to country, and it is beyond the scope of this FAQ to cover them all. For further information, contact your national society.

Lots more Amateur Radio Information

Southgate Amateur Radio Club

2007-04-19T15:19:00.000Z

Since its original inception in 1936 as the Southgate and Finchley Group of the RSGB, the aim of the Southgate Amateur Radio Club has been to hold meetings, bringing together persons interested in Amateur Radio or Electronics generally, and to foster the spirit of Amateur Radio.

Providing a meeting place and forum where those with similar interests can share their experiences, discuss their problems and enthuse about their achievements.

Activities include talks on technical subjects, equipment sales, DF hunts, contests, informal meetings and demonstration stations.

Membership is open to all who are interested in any of the many facets of Amateur Radio, our numerous and various activities not being restricted to those that hold transmitting licences.

Read on for more Amateur Radio News

Civilian Space Traveler Making Ham Radio Contacts from Space

2007-04-15T18:15:00.000Z

NEWINGTON, CT, April 11, 2007.
Less than a day in space, civilian space traveler Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK, is already making contacts with the earthbound ham radio community from NA1SS.

The billionaire software pioneer and aviator arrived April 10 at the International Space Station with the Expedition 15 crew of Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin, RN3FI, and Oleg Kotov.

Yurchikhin, Kotov and Simonyi launched in a Soyuz spacecraft two days earlier from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) International Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, says he's received several reports that Simonyi has been making contacts, including some the evening of April 10 with stations in Hawaii and the US Northwest

Radio Ham Billionaire in Space

Planet Ham

2007-04-08T07:53:00.000Z

Planet Ham is a website designed to aggregate blogs produced by Amateur Radio enthusiasts. The aim is to provide a central directory of Amateur Radio blogs so that interested browsers can visit subscribers sites and read about the various aspects of the hobby in detail. I believe that the Internet is a great way to share ideas and I hope that this website can help promote this.

Please follow the hyperlinks to the blogs as Amateur Radio websites often offer a wealth of information that an aggregator will miss.

The backend of the website is based on PlanetPlanet, which fetches syndication feeds such as RSS and Atom from subscribed blogs. You can author your own blog using a service such as Blogger.

Amateur Radio Information in a Click

How Radio Ham BBC man scooped invasion news

2007-04-06T14:28:00.000Z

Walk down London's Portland Place, heading south from Regent's Park towards Regent Street,and you come to a kink in the wide road. Immediately ahead of you is the plush Langham Hotel, very expensive and also one of the most haunted buildings in London.

To your left, BBC Radio's headquarters at Broadcasting House. This busy location, on the northern edge of London's West End, was the focus of the way the story of the Falklands invasion unfolded exactly 25 years ago.

Back in 1982 I was a BBC journalist and also an amateur radio operator - I still am. That means I have a call-sign - G3UML - and some expertise in long-distance short-wave communications.

Read more of this intriguing story

International Marconi Day

2007-04-06T12:15:00.000Z

International Marconi Day
This year marks the 20th anniversary of International Marconi Day (IMD) established to celebrate the birth of Guglielmo Marconi on the 25th April, 1874 and traditionally held on the Saturday closest to the actual date.

Located just outside Chelmsford, Essex, the village of Writtle was to play an important role in the developement of public broadcasting so on Saturday 28th April 2007 there will be a special event station active from land adjacent to the original Marconi 2MT transmitter site using the callsign GB2MT.

Unfortunately the actual site is now under a housing developement.
Archive material shows the 2MT station was not operated by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company but by one of its subsidiaries, the Marconi Scientific Instrument Company.

Local Radio Hams to be involved

Syria on amateur radio April 10-27

2007-04-04T16:17:00.001Z

YK, SYRIA. Saad, N5FF, will once again be active as YK1BA. He is expected to arrive in Damascus during the evening of April 9th and should be active between April 10-27th, before returning home to Texas on the 28th. Saad informs OPDX, "As usual, the purpose of the trip is not a DXpedition, so my operating will be spotty. However, I hope to be able to operate.......

Radio Ham in the Middle East

Special Events to Commemorate 95th Anniversary of Titanic Tragedy

2007-04-04T16:17:00.000Z

NEWINGTON, CT, Apr 4, 2007 -- Several Amateur Radio special event operations are scheduled to mark the 95th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic.

The "unsinkable" White Star Line passenger vessel was on its maiden voyage from Liverpool, England, to New York City when it struck and iceberg and sank early on April 15, 1912.

More than 1500 people perished, while some 700 passengers in 19 lifeboats were rescued by the RMS Carpathia, whose radio operator copied the frantic "SOS" transmitted by MGY radio operator Jack Phillips as the Titanic foundered.

W0S/GB2MGY . Special event W0S, which stands for "White Star Line".

US and GB Ham Groups to operate Special Event Stations

Hams see dropping Morse Code as boon and threat

2006-12-27T18:54:00.000Z

Once popular communication a stumbling block for many.

By LARRY MITCHELL/MediaNews Group

Morse Code will soon be dropped as a requirement for amateur radio operators, a change that has stirred up passions among many hams, as radio amateurs are called.

Last Friday, the Federal Communications Commission issued a public notice about the impending change.

The news delights operators who couldn't or wouldn't learn code and so were prevented from using the "high frequency" bands, where long-distance communication is possible.

But many who love Morse Code hate to see the bar lowered for admission to the family of HF operators. And they worry about the future for code.

Gene Wright of Chico, a member of a small group of hams that advises the FCC, said he's of two minds about the matter.

"I hate to see it go away," he said in a telephone interview. "But, also, I'm sort of glad. I think we'll get more people in our ranks."

Hams and Morse Code

Amateur Radio 160-Meter Experiment

2006-10-07T08:49:00.000Z

160-Meter Experiment Will Explore Marconi's 1901 Transatlantic Success.

NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 5, 2006 -- A 160-meter beacon will take to the air this fall and winter from Cornwall, England, to explore how Guglielmo Marconi was able to span the Atlantic by wireless for the first time on December 12, 1901.

Radio history says that's when the radio pioneer at a receiving station in Newfoundland successfully copied the Morse code letter "s" sent repeatedly by his team in the Cornwall town of Poldhu.

The latter-day venture is a cooperative effort of the Poldhu Amateur Radio Club (PARK) in Cornwall and the Marconi Radio Club of Newfoundland (MCRN).

The Poldhu club's Keith Matthew, G0WYS, said the 2001 centenary of Marconi's achievement reopened discussion into the mechanism by which the 1901 spark transmitter signal propagated.

Amateur Radio across The Atlantic

Amateur Radio and HF Propagation Studies

2006-08-17T13:25:00.000Z

“Radiation Belt Remediation” Plan Could Affect HF Propagation, Study Suggests.

NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 15, 2006 -- A New Zealand university research group believes a US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) “Radiation Belt Remediation” (RBR) plan could cause major worldwide disruptions to HF radio communication and GPS navigation. DARPA reportedly envisions the (RBR) system as a way to protect low-Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites from damage caused by severe solar storms or even from high-altitude nuclear detonations. The New Zealand-based research group suggests, however, that policymakers need to carefully consider the implications of the project. Headed by Otago Physics Department researcher Craig Rodger, the research group says RBR could significantly affect radio propagation from several days to a week or longer.

“We’ve calculated that Earth’s upper atmosphere would be dramatically affected by such a system, causing unusually intense HF blackouts around most of the world,” Rodger said in an Otego University news release. “Airplane pilots and ships would lose radio contact, and some Pacific Island nations could be isolated for as long as six to seven days, depending on the system’s design and how it was operated.” GPS would likely also be disrupted on a large scale, he added.

HF Propagation for Radio Hams

Ham Radio Online - Who's a Ham Operator?

2006-08-04T08:50:00.000Z

Who Do You Think is A Ham Radio Operator?

Notable Ham Radio Operators Around the World.

List maintained by Dave Horsfall, VK2KFU, dave@esi.com.au

Reprinted with permission of the author.

This is a list of the "notable" Amateur callsigns that I have been gathering for some time. I would appreciate any updates - send them to "dave@esi.com.au". Of course, "notable" is purely in the eye of the beholder; I consider it as someone in the (non-Amateur) public eye.

Another way of putting it is: "Did you know that XXX is/was an Amateur?" when explaining to someone what Amateur radio is all about. Thus, people like Monk Apollo etc would be regarded as notable (who would think a monk would be an Amateur?). Note that I have deliberately left out the current crop of Astronauts - it doesn't seem to be a novelty any more. [Most of the Space Shuttle and Russian Mir astronauts are now licensed Amateur Radio operators - Editor]

They have been gleaned from various places: amateur magazines, USENET postings, and straight-out rumour :-) It is probably out of date, and most likely contains errors. However, over time it should develop into an accurate list, suitable for PR purposes. Please note that I have no way of authenticating most of these entries.

Famous Radio Hams

Cab Drivers' Ham Radio Community

2006-06-14T08:07:00.000Z

Cab drivers' ham radio community

Among Beijing's cab drivers, there is a group of amateur radio fans who have formed a "Ham Radio Community". Through their vehicular radio equipment, members of the community can talk and help each other to cope with life in the boring lane.

Zhang Tong has been a Beijing taxi driver for over ten years. But since 2002 when he was first bitten by the ham radio bug, his daily work has no longer been just about driving and making money. Now he is a member the "Ham Community" which so far has 52 like-minded Beijing cabbies in its ranks.

Zhang Tong often receives ham radio transmissions from other drivers in the ham community who seek help. And if he is available, he doesn't hesitate to drive over to offer a helping hand.

"Before, taxi drivers were quite isolated from one another and there wasn't much communication. But since joining the club, I feel like I'm surrounded by a lot of friends while driving. It's much more fun now. And I can also exchange information about ham radio with other members, thus gaining knowledge about its technology."

Ham Radio Taxis in China

World Cup Amateur Radio Special Event Stations

2006-06-14T08:01:00.000Z

World Cup Special Event Stations

German radio amateurs plan to celebrate the 2006 Football World Cup being held in their country by putting on a number of special event stations.

From now until 16 July, no less than 26 special district stations (with callsigns in the DQ2006A to DQ2006Z range) will be on the air. There will also be 12 special stadium stations with callsigns DR2006B, DR2006C, etc. The special callsign WFC06 will also be in operation throughout the World Cup.

Amateurs or short wave listeners who log these special event stations could be eligible for a series of awards sponsored by the Deutsche Amateur Radio Club.

Ham Radio and Football

W0ZW Ham Radio Logbook

2006-05-03T14:15:00.000Z

The Station Notebook, By Wayne Greaves, W0ZW.

There is a station accessory that no Amateur Radio shack should be without. It works with stations that operate HF, VHF, UHF, microwave and even moonbounce. It is useful to both "Big Gun" and QRP stations, casual operators, contesters, DXers and rag chewers alike. It doesn't matter if you operate phone, CW or data modes.

Best of all, it is readily available and costs under five bucks. This amazing addition to your shack is the Station Notebook. Every ham should maintain one for his or her station. Here's what it is and how to use it.

Quite simply, the station notebook is a collection of technical or operational details specific to your station that you document in a journal. The Station Notebook is a living document that grows over time as your station evolves. What kind of information goes into the Station Notebook? Some examples include:

Station block diagram
List of equipment models and serial numbers
Antenna descriptions and dimensions
Record of measured SWR versus frequency for each antenna
Document radio memory settings for stored frequencies and other variable settings
Station RF exposure evaluation
Results of tests and experiments
Description of changes, additions, or modifications to equipment
Your notes can be as simple or as detailed as you want, but the important thing is that they get written down!

Ham Radio logging with W0ZW

Ham Radio raucous burns HF ears

2006-04-30T11:49:00.000Z

Presenter: Vanessa Mills

HF Radio connects when modern technology fails.

HF, or High Frequency, radio has been a popular form of communication for travellers, truckies, farmers and amateur radio hams for decades.

It works when mobile or satellite phones can’t. Moreover, in remote areas HF is often the only method of communication.

But HF radio operators in the Kimberley have noticed an alarming increase in interference on the emergency RFDS channel.

Charles Gimbel has lived in Kununurra for 23 years and is a dedicated HF radio operator.

He’s often heard calls for help on the HF and acted as an intermediary between emergency services like the RDFS and police.

Ham Radio in VK Land

Marine Distress Frequency Preserved

2006-04-14T14:07:00.000Z

500 kHz Memorial.

There is a growing move amongst maritime groups world wide to preserve 500 kHz as a memorial frequency.

Of course, 500 kHz was the frequency used by the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912.

Since 1912, 500 kHz has been used by thousands of merchant ships to signal their plight in times of peace and war. 500 kHz has been the international marine Morse code distress frequency for the last 90-odd years.

More often than not, 500 kHz was witness to a ship's Radio Officer's last moments. Many Radio Officers literally died at their key as their ship fell victim to enemy action or was overwhelmed by the forces of nature.

Of course, 500 kHz was replaced by the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System or GMDSS in 1999. The frequency has fallen silent these days.

Ham interest in 500khz

Ham Radio from the Past

2006-04-14T13:52:00.000Z

Postcard from yesteryear. Undelivered mail from 1956 comes back to DeLand .

By CHRISTINE GIRARDIN, Staff Writer

DELAND -- It's been a long, mysterious journey for one little postcard.

In 1956, George Hitz dropped a postcard into his Stetson Avenue mailbox, hoping a fellow HAM radio operator in Riverside, Calif., would soon get it. No one knows whether the postcard completed its cross-country journey, but it was returned to its starting place this week bearing a 1956 DeLand postmark and a "return to sender" stamp.

Hitz, 64, doesn't even remember mailing the 3-by-5 inch card emblazoned with his call sign. The cards are an integral part of HAM radio tradition, sent almost automatically to confirm radio contacts made around the world.

The postcard's reappearance, however, is something Mack McCormick, 59, won't soon forget. He now lives at the Stetson Avenue home where the card was sent in 1956. On Monday, he pulled it from his mailbox.

QSL from the Past

Kandos Amateur Radio Group

2006-04-03T09:21:00.000Z

Amateur radio is a great pastime.

Amateur Radio is alive and well thanks to a dedicated group with headquarters in Kandos. Once known more widely as "Ham Radio", the local operators work under the banner of Amateur Radio, Kandos Group/Club – call sign VK2ARK.

If you think this is just a local band of enthusiasts, you're dead wrong. Last year the group was voted the most popular amateur radio group world-wide.

They have members from all around the globe and just recently, Group Controller and founding executive member Tom McBean from Kandos sent out a certificate to their 5000th contact.

Australian Ham Radio

ISS Commander on a Roll, Completes Another Set of Back-to-Back School QSOs:

2006-03-29T10:00:00.000Z

With Expedition 12 drawing to a close in April, ISS Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, has been working hard to speak via Amateur Radio with students at as many schools as possible. This week, he took time to thank the worldwide Amateur Radio community for its help in achieving several ham radio milestones from space. McArthur has been more active from NA1SS than any other astronaut or cosmonaut who's lived aboard the ISS since the first crew arrived in 2000. Among other accomplishments, he completed DXCC and WAS from space (the awards will be honorary). In addition, he holds the record for handling the most Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contacts of any ISS crew member--34 as of March 23.

"I would like to express my deep gratitude to the worldwide amateur radio community for your participation in this great adventure," McArthur said. "Clearly, one of the benefits for Amateur Radio is bridging the distances between us. Through your participation, you helped realize the potential for the human exploration of space to do exactly that. Thanks to you, over the past six months, the International Space Station has been more international than ever before."

Hams in Space

'HMS Bounty' on the air. 150th anniversary

2006-03-29T09:47:00.000Z

Special Event Station for 'Bounty' 150th anniversary.

Special Event Station for 'Bounty' 150th anniversary
Norfolk Island VK9N is a self-governing Australian external territory, a tourist destination, and now the focus of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the descendants of the HMS Bounty mutineers.

Part of the celebrations is special event station VI9NI that will be much sought after during its month-long activation.

HMS Bounty sailed from England on December 23, 1787 with Captain William Bligh and a crew of 45 men bound for Tahiti to collect food plant samples.

Ham Radio from Norfolk Island

Knowsley Online.Hong Kong connection for school Hams

2006-03-23T15:49:00.000Z

Oakdene pupils connected with the other side of the world last week when radio ham Tony Lewis came calling.

The school had a mast erected in its grounds to allow pupils to communicate with other amateur radio enthusiasts as far away as Hong Kong.

Tony Lewis, of Rainhill Rotary Club, brought along fellow hams to help set up the connection, and children spent the day learning about radio communication as part of Science Week.

Merseyside Hams

Ham Radio Operators "True Heroes," Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR, Says in "Salute"

2006-02-10T11:45:00.000Z

US Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR), this week offered "A Salute to Ham Radio Operators" (see sidebar) on the floor of the US House. Ross, one of two Amateur Radio licensees in the House of Representatives (the other is Rep Greg Walden, W7EQI, R-OR), addressed his colleagues February 8 to recognize the contributions of the Amateur Radio community in the wake of last year's devastating hurricane season.

"Citizens throughout America dedicated to this hobby--a hobby that some people consider old fashioned or obsolete--were true heroes in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as they were often the only line of communication available into the storm ravaged areas," Ross said.

Amateur Radio in the House

Amateur Radio Offers A Window To The World

2006-01-21T21:52:00.000Z

For those with a sense of adventure and a desire to travel, there's the exciting and diverse hobby of amateur radio, an armchair approach to the world.

Sometimes referred to as ham-radio operators, amateur-radio operators are a diverse lot who are interested in "the way things work," interacting with other people and providing a community service. They are people in pursuit of a hobby as modern as it is old.

According to Bob Bastone, amateur-radio operator and past president of the Skyview Radio Society of Upper Burrell, amateur radio is a great marriage of radio and computer. Hams use computers for logging, radio control, digital-signal processing, interfacing with the Internet, digital communications and more. One of the digital-communication modes used by operators is RTTY, which encodes and decodes transmissions into information that can be seen on a computer screen.

Or, it can be done the "old-fashioned way," voice to voice over the radio.

Ham Radio from a Chair

Amateur Radio Remote Broadcast

2006-01-06T17:04:00.000Z

A team of radio fans will go to great lengths to be on the air from the ends of the Earth.

This is not the kind of trip you can book on Travelocity or Orbitz.

Later this month, a group of amateur radio enthusiasts, including two from Central Florida, will embark on a journey to a remote Antarctic island called Peter I.

The expedition might as well be going to another planet: Peter I is one of the hardest places on the globe to reach, an uninhabited, volcanic island about 280 miles west of the Antarctic mainland and roughly 8,000 miles from Orlando.

One of the biggest challenges members have faced already is explaining why on earth they're doing this.

Ham Radio in Antarctica

With Ham Radios, Santas are born

2005-12-22T21:32:00.000Z

Santa, it can be argued, is in your heart. Or riding in a sleigh through the night sky.

Or delighted, over and over and a thousand times over again to find a plate of cookies for his jolly self, and a carrot to split between his eight (or nine) tiny reindeer.

Wherever he is, you can bet this is his busiest week of the year.

Still, Santa makes time to listen to every child who needs to get through to him.

It could be at a mall, on his lap, through a wish, by a letter sent to that most precise of addresses: The North Pole. Or it could be over a ham radio, crackling with the proximity of medical machinery.

Four years ago, Dr. George Noble, a surgeon at Mary Bridge Children?s Hospital and Health Center, mused on the curative power of a conversation with Santa Claus.

Noble was a ham radio operator in his spare time, causing all who heard that to wonder how a pediatric surgeon managed to find spare time!

Santa on Amateur Radio

A Feedline Energy Analysis - Amateur Radio

2005-12-15T11:48:00.000Z

An Energy Analysis at an Impedance Discontinuity in an RF Transmission Line, Part I

Where Does the Power Go? [1] There continue to be many differing responses to the question within the amateur radio community and, so far, no one has presented the facts of the physics of power as understood from the field of optics.

Those facts from optics have been known and understood for decades and are consistent with the laws of physics and the equations governing the behavior of RF transmission lines. Light and RF waves are both composed of electromagnetic energy. Most of the following information comes from "Optics" [2]. In the field of optics, irradiance is the same thing as power in an RF transmission line if the cross sectional area of the transmission line is taken into account.

Irradiance has the dimensions of energy per unit area per unit time. If the light beam of a particular laser occupies the same cross sectional area as a particular coaxial RF transmission line then the irradiance of the laser beam is comparable to the RF power in the transmission line. The 1/4 wavelength thin-film deposited on glass to obtain a non-reflective surface performs in a virtually identical way to a 1/4 wavelength series matching section in a transmission line. Single-source RF energy in a transmission line and laser light are both coherent electromagnetic energy waves that obey the laws of superposition, interference, conservation of energy, and conservation of momentum.

Where Does Power Go?

AMSAT - The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation

2005-12-11T18:35:00.000Z

Now is the time to begin preparing your amateur radio station to receive signals from SuitSat, the most unusual Amateur Radio satellite ever orbited. SuitSat amateur radio equipment will be installed inside a surplus Russian Orlan spacesuit.

It will become an independently orbiting satellite once it is deployed by the crew of the International Space Station during an extravehicular activity, tentatively planned for late January or early February, 2006.

Running only on internal batteries within the spacesuit, SuitSat will have a limited, but interesting lifetime beaming down special messages and an SSTV image as it floats in space.

Having no external thrust to adjust its orbit after it is hand-deployed during the EVA, SuitSat will be in a free-floating, but decaying orbit around Earth. It is expected to remain in orbit up to 6 weeks after being deployed.

Amateur Radio Suit!!

Spacewalks 'Thrilling,' Astronaut Tells Students During Ham Radio Chat:

2005-12-07T11:49:00.000Z

International Space Station Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, told students gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, November 22, that taking a spacewalk is a thrilling experience.

Speaking the following day with middle schoolers in upstate New York, McArthur described space exploration as the new frontier. Both contacts were arranged by the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program.

During the Geneva contact--part of the "Science on Stage" program for European science teachers--McArthur rhapsodized about the spacewalk experience.

"It's an absolute delight, it's thrilling to be outside, it's being truly in a totally alien environment," McArthur said, "and you realize the only thing between you and vacuum is the small little spaceship that you call your spacesuit. And it is truly the most thrilling thing I've ever done."

Responding to a question involving human physiology in space, McArthur said it's theorized that bone tissue is replaced more slowly in space because it does not get stressed in microgravity.

Amateur Radio on the ISS

First Polish ham radio DX contact

2005-12-07T11:39:00.000Z

Look for special event station SP0TPAX to be active in December and then again in April.

The activity is organized by the SP DX Club. Expect activity on all bands (LF, HF, VHF, UHF) on all possible modes. QSL via SP7DQR (by the bureau or direct).

This activity is to celebrate the first Polish amateur radio contact to a ham radio station from outside Poland in 1925.

Tadeusz Heftman, using the call SP0TPAX, made a QSO with N0PM - it was a station from the Netherlands.

Polish Amateur Radio History

Amateur Radio Proposals from Argentine Hams

2005-11-27T12:14:00.000Z

IN THE CITY OF BUENOS AIRES, CAPITAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARGENTINA, THE 19TH DAY OF THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER OF 2005,

THE UNDERSIGNED COORDINATORS, MEMBERS AND SYMPATHIZERS OF AGRUPACION GRUPO ARGENTINO DE RADIOTELEGRAFISTAS GACW,

DESIRE TO EFFECT THE FOLLOWING DECLARATION RELATED TO THE ACTIVITIES, EXAMINATIONS AND QUALITIES OF THE FUTURE LICENSEES IN

THE AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE OF THE INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS UNION:

Argentine Hams and operating changes

The Magic of Amateur Radio!

2005-11-21T11:44:00.000Z

If you're like me, you remember the first time you heard hams on the HF bands.

How cool was it to be able to sit in your chair and actually talk to another person across the country?

There is something special about ham radio below 30 MHz.

And what about DX? Oh, boy!

Maybe your first exposure to DX was a gentlemanly contact where both stations followed a semi-formal protocol of exchanging information and describing the "WX" and "working conditions" before each promised to send a QSL via the bureau and sent mutual regards.

All About Amateur Radio

Ham Radio Logging Software for Macintosh

2005-11-16T18:59:00.000Z

MacLoggerDX.

MacLoggerDX logs into your favorite Telnet or TNC DXCluster and as DX Spots are received, tunes your radio to the spot, looks up the call and displays the DX station on the real time grey line Map with distance and bearing from your station.

If you decide to work the station, MacLoggerDX is ready to instantly add the QSO and your Radio's VFO information to your log and can swing your beam around to work the station Direct or Long Path. MacLoggerDX supports Cabrillo Import for Contesters and ADIF Import/Export which is fully compatible with eQSL.cc and the ARRL LOTW.

Mac Software for Hams

LF Experimentation by Radio Amateurs Continues Quietly

2005-11-04T11:41:00.000Z

NEWINGTON, CT, Nov 3, 2005--Experimentation by radio amateurs on the nether regions of the radio spectrum continues quietly and largely unnoticed outside of the LF community.

Since the FCC turned down the ARRL's 1998 petition to create an Amateur Radio "sliver band" in the vicinity of 136 kHz, some US amateur licensees have obtained FCC Part 5 Experimental licenses to research the possibilities of LF, including transatlantic and transpacific propagation.

A few hams in Canada have obtained special permission from Industry Canada to operate on LF using Amateur Radio call signs. The latest noteworthy accomplishment was a QSO between US Experimental licensees.

LF enthusiast Laurence Howell, KL1X--operating as WD2XDW--and John Andrews, W1TAG--operating as WD2XES--completed their LF contact October 29 on 137 kHz.

LF Experimentation by Radio Amateurs

Chelmsford Radio Amateur talks to International Space Station

2005-11-04T11:36:00.000Z

Chelmsford Radio Amateur talks to astronaut on International Space Station

Chelmsford Radio Amateur David G8OQW struck lucky when he listened to a pass of the International Space Station on 145.800 MHz on Thurday evening.

He heard NA1SS calling CQ from the Space Station, he replied (on 145.200 MHz) and had the QSO of a lifetime with Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur KC5ACR who was operating NA1SS.

This is David G8OQW's description of the contact.

ISS on VHF in Chelmsford

SSETI falls silent for Radio Hams

2005-11-02T17:59:00.000Z

After being launched into orbit last Thursday, a tiny European spacecraft built by students fell silent Friday morning and officials aren't sure if the mission can be recovered.

"Thorough analysis over the weekend indicates that a failure in the electrical power system onboard the spacecraft is preventing the batteries from charging, resulting in a shutdown of the satellite," the European Space Agency said in a press statement this morning. "There is a small but significant possibility of recovery, the likelihood of which is being ascertained by ongoing testing."

The Student Space Exploration and Technology Initiative (SSETI), began developing the SSETI Express microsatellite two years ago to serve as a motivational aid and learning tool before more complex missions are undertaken.

SSETI Satellite Falls Silent

New ISS Commander talks to Japanese Youngsters via Ham Radio

2005-10-28T10:12:00.000Z

Tomioka Elementary School students answer questions from ISS Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, at NA1SS.

Representatives of two TV stations and 10 newspapers joined the audience of some 650 people looking on for the ARISS Tomioka Elementary School contact.

Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, works with the ISS Remote Manipulator System or Canadarm2 controls in the spacecraft's Destiny Lab.

Amateur Radio in Japanese School

Ham Radio Regulatory Changes Introduced in Australia

2005-10-27T08:22:00.000Z

New Foundation License, Amateur Regulatory Changes Introduced in Australia

NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 26, 2005--Australia has introduced an entry-level Foundation Amateur Radio license and established a new overall licensing and certification structure. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) put the new regulations into effect October 19. Other rule changes combined Novice and Novice Limited licensees into a new Standard license class, and all Limited, Intermediate and Unrestricted licensees are now Advanced licensees with full amateur privileges. Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) President Michael Owen, VK3KI, welcomed the "long-awaited" changes--in particular the new Foundation license--and expressed the hope that they would encourage newcomers.

Amateur Radio Licensing in Australia

Radio Hams make it into Outer Space

2005-10-20T16:38:00.000Z

AMATEUR RADIO on the International Space Station (ARISS) is used as an educational tool, promoting space and science in the classroom.

It provides back-up emergency communications for the ISS crew as well as day-to-day contact for the crew to talk to their families on Earth.

ARISS is funded by the space agencies as well as donations derived from national amateur radio groups and amateur satellite (AMSAT) special interest groups worldwide.

Four million amateur or "ham" radio operators worldwide enjoy a global friendship through their pastime. The Amateur Radio Service is recognised by governments and international regulatory bodies and must obtain technical qualifications in order to be granted a government issued licence and unique call sign.

Amateur radio operators have been at the forefront of disaster relief operations, providing vital life saving emergency communications after the Asian tsunami and hurricane Katrina when conventional communications infrastructure failed.

Amateur Radio in Space

Space Observations with Amateur Radio

2005-10-20T06:36:00.000Z

Over the coming weeks this site will grow to provide interested visitors with information about an exciting new project in the UK Amateur Radio community.

Project SOAR (Space Observations with Amateur Radio) is still in it's infancy, and there is lots of work to do. The current UK Amateur Radio license T's & C's (BR68) prohibits the use of Amateur Radio equipment in airbourne vehicles.

It is hoped, that Project SOAR will be the first in the UK to use high altitude meteorological balloons to loft Amateur Radio payloads to altitudes in excess of 75,000 feet. The project coordinators are currently in discussions with OFCOM and the CAA and we will keep you posted of the latest news as and when it changes.

Enjoy your visit, and feel free to join this site to keep up to date. If you are interested in assisting in some way, please contact us.

Amateur Radio even higher 'on the air'

Amateur Radio and the Battle of Trafalgar

2005-10-18T11:51:00.000Z

200th Anniversary of The Battle of Trafalgar.

BREAKING NEWS.....1,578 contacts made on the first day, 17th October, 2005!

To commemorate the bicentenary of The Battle of Trafalgar on 21st October 1805, the Cray Valley Radio Society will be operating a special amateur radio station from The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich for eight days starting on Monday, 17th october, 2005.

The museum opening hours are 1000hrs to 1700hrs, and admission is free. Members of the public will be able to see the radio staion in operation, making shortwave radio contacts with locations all around the world.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to sit down and exchange greetings messages with other amateur radio stations around the UK, and with overseas countries including Gibraltar, Malta, Canada and the USA.

With the approval of the National Maritime Museum, GB200T will also be active outside of public opening hours so that as many radio amateurs around the world as possible have the opportunity of making contact with the station. In total, GB200T will be on the air from 0800hrs (0700z) until 2200hrs (2100z) daily. Outside of public opening hours, the GB200T team will operate 'DX-pedition' style.

Battle of Trafalgar and Ham Radio

Loughton & Epping Forest Amateur Radio Society

2005-10-18T10:46:00.000Z

The Loughton & Epping Forest Amateur Radio Society continues to meet fortnightly at All Saints House where we offer a comprehensive programme of activities and events. These include, lectures on a variety of amateur radio and associated subjects, as well as regular “on-air” operating sessions, and practical demonstrations.

We also stage, throughout the year, a series of amateur radio “Special Event Stations” from various public events, such as the Epping Forest Festival, as well as organizing regular field days for club members and guests.

And for those wishing to obtain a UK amateur radio licence, we provide tuition with weekend-long entry-level Foundation Licence courses at Epping, Essex.

Read more about the Club and it's Events

Ham Radio and the Military - ARMAD

2005-10-17T11:16:00.000Z

ARMAD is an annual Amateur Radio Special Event project that stands for Amateur Radio Military Appreciation Day. We work with National Military Appreciation Month during the month of May. Amateur Radio Operators from around the world team up during this joint effort to allow the people from our communities to gather at public locations such as shopping centers, parks, VA hospitals, and sporting events to express verbal positive support "LIVE" over the radio for members of the Military, Veterans, Reserves, National Guard, and military support groups. Many of us have friends, relatives, and neighbors that are active duty, and past members of the armed forces. ARMAD gives us the chance to support one another, and to express our thanks and appreciation to those that sacrifice and serve in the Armed Forces.

See it's History and Events

Amateur Radio - Worked All Britain Awards

2005-10-16T17:12:00.000Z

The Worked All Britain Awards Group (W.A.B.) was devised by the late John Morris G3ABG in 1969. This was to promote an interest in Amateur Radio in Britain and to sponsor a series of awards based on the geography of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Since its inception, W.A.B. has grown through the voluntary efforts of many individuals. W.A.B. has many aims and has the motto “To assist others”.

W.A.B. aims to create more activity on the air by British amateurs and in doing so create friendships within the country and overseas. It is true to say that many lasting friendships have arisen through W.A.B. activity.

W.A.B. aims to improve and expand geographical knowledge of Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Channel Isles. Indeed the W.A.B. programme has encouraged many people to travel to the more remote parts of the country. At the same time it has encouraged overseas interest and encouraged many people to visit Britain and have hospitality extended to them by British amateurs.

W.A.B. aims to help less fortunate amateurs and provides, when funds allow, donations to organisations like the Radio Amateur Invalid & Blind Club, QTI etc.

Read more about WAB here

Where in the world are all the Hams?

2005-10-16T16:49:00.000Z

Following an article which raised questions about the worldwide distributions of hams and engendered speculation about the possible reasons for differences in Ham populations across countries, Bob Olsen, KK7WN attempted to shed light on these issues.

He collected some demographic data from various sources including the United Nations, the IARU, and various other professional research organizations.

Find out where Amateur Radio Operators are

EchoLink and Amateur Radio

2005-10-16T16:15:00.000Z

EchoLink® software allows licensed Amateur Radio stations to communicate with one another over the Internet, using voice-over-IP (VoIP) technology. The program allows worldwide connections to be made between stations, or from computer to station, greatly enhancing Amateur Radio's communications capabilities. There are more than 162,000 registered users in 157 nations worldwide!

Take a tour and find out more

Civilian Space Traveler "Phones Home" via Ham Radio

2005-10-11T11:29:00.000Z

NEWINGTON, CT, Oct 10, 2005--During his eight days in space, Greg Olsen, KC2ONX, the International Space Station's third civilian space traveler, touched base via ham radio with students at three high schools, including his alma mater. He spoke October 5 with Princeton High School in Princeton, New Jersey, October 6 with Ft Hamilton High School in Brooklyn, New York, and October 7 with Ridgefield Park High School in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey. Olsen, who lives in Princeton, was born in Brooklyn and graduated from Ridgefield Park High School. One Princeton student wanted to know how much less time would pass on the ISS than on Earth due to relativity.

Ham Radio from Space read more Civilian Space Traveler "Phones Home" via Ham Radio

Ham Radio Operators To The Rescue After "Katrina"

2005-10-10T15:02:00.000Z

Often unsung, amateur radio operators regularly assist in emergency situations. Hurricane Katrina was no exception. For the past week, operators of amateur, or ham, radio have been instrumental in helping residents in the hardest hit areas, including saving stranded flood victims in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Read more on how they helped Ham Radio Operators To The Rescue After "Katrina"

Islands on the Air - Ham Radio for Islanders

2005-10-09T09:39:00.000Z

IOTA or Islands on the Air to give it its full name, has encouraged thousands of amateurs in recent years to get active or become more active on the amateur bands. It has created an additional real live interest in "ham radio", particularly for the many amateurs who live on islands. The aim of the programme, after all, is to encourage contacts with island stations around the world and, since so many people live on islands, its appeal has been wide-ranging and perhaps a little seductive. The advent of light, easily transportable equipment has offered a wider amateur community possibilities for having fun with pile-ups that were seldom available to them 20 or more years ago. You could share in this fun - come, join one of amateur radio's most prestigious activity programmes!

To read more about IOTA go to Islands On The Air