KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

Amateur Radio in the News

Amateur radio in the news: 8 yo talks to ISS, QSLs a highlight of ham history

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This story has been making rounds, so you may have seen it already, but I think it’s still a good story…Dan

Broadstairs eight-year-old to feature on NASA website after radio chat with ISS astronaut

A Broadstairs eight-year-old has chatted with an astronaut aboard the International Space Station and a recording of the conversation will feature on the NASA website.

Isabella Payne spoke to Astronaut Kjell Lindgren as the ISS flew overhead last week.

The youngster was with dad Matthew who is a license holding amateur radio enthusiast and tutor. He and Isabella are both members of Hilderstone Radio Society.

Matthew said: “Isabella has been a member of the radio club ever since she was born and has been playing with the radio since she was six. Because I have the full licence she can sit on my knee and use the radio to speak to people as long as I am controlling it. Everyone at the club can do that. She has been involved in a few radio events, Children On The Air events, and will hopefully go for her own licence soon.

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QSL ‘calling card’ a highlight of ham radio history

BLOOMINGTON — The McLean County Museum of History works hard to collect, preserve and document the stories of the people who have contributed to and had an impact on McLean County history. This element of the museum’s mission is supported by the generosity of the many individuals who donate items to its ever-growing collection. A great example of this can be seen in the unique cartoon donated by the estate of Eugene Umstattd.

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Salt Lake Crossroads: Amateur Radio Club

No matter what the video star says, radio isn’t going anywhere for the Salt Lake Crossroads Amateur Radio Club (SLCARC). T Michael Smith, one of the founders of the club, and outreach team members James Bennett and Mike McAinsh explain the appeal of radio in preparation for their Craft Lake City DIY Festival appearance: “With so much to learn and do in ham radio, you will never become bored with all it has to offer,” they say.

SLCARC was founded in 2014 to assist Salt Lake City Emergency Management in disaster communication, but the club offers various options to explore the multifaceted hobby in depth. From helping new hams with “mic fright” to offering a location to obtain licenses, SLCARC is a space for everyone. “Whether you’ve been licensed for years or are just starting out in the hobby, you will find a welcoming community of hams at Crossroads who will help answer your questions, provide help with putting up antennas or programming that new radio and make you feel welcome on air,” the team says, emphasizing the club’s focus on making radio accessible to users with disabilities.

At the DIY Festival, SLCARC will be demonstrating how little you need to get involved, with explanations on homemade antennas and how to transform your computer into a receiver. “We hope to inspire our visitors to pay more attention to their personal and neighborhood emergency preparedness,” the club says.

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Amateur radio in the news: The birth of radio astronomy, ham radio still has a role, local club preserves radio history

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The birth of radio astronomy

Back in the 1930s radio communication was opening up the world. For the first time it was becoming technically possible for a person in any country to communicate with anyone else on the planet.

One of the companies working on this new communications frontier was Bell Labs, in New Jersey. To help them design the new system, they gave one of their engineers, Karl Jansky, the job of identifying sources of interference that could affect the new services. Over the following months he identified the radio static from thunderstorms and other natural phenomena, and the countless forms of manmade interference.

Intriguingly, he found that when this interference was absent, he could hear a steady hiss, which went away if he disconnected the antenna. He scanned with the antenna and found the direction in which the hiss was strongest, and found, to his surprise that during the day the interference peak moved from east to west. After months of work he concluded the culprit was the Milky Way, with the strongest signals coming from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. Jansky had discovered cosmic radio waves, that the Milky Way is a radio source, and the strongest emissions come from the direction of the centre of our galaxy.

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HAM radio still has a role in our modern age

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – When severe weather is in the forecast, a sometimes-forgotten group of people tune in to help relay important information. The technology behind HAM radios is about 130 years old, but the simplicity of that form of communication makes it very durable, and a reliable backup during emergencies.

“HAM Radio is pretty much if everything else fails. No cell phones, no internet, anything like that. Amateur radio can still get out and send messages to whomever would need them,” explained Brenda Krukowski, a HAM radio operator with Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES).

Local Amateur Radio Club preserves radio history

Today, most people take radio for granted as they have been able to listen to music and news like it has always been there. However, if you could to go back before the turn of the century and turn on one of today’s radios, all you would hear would be silence and static. It was only after the turn of the century when you might even hear only Morse Code dits and dahls then used to communicate as voice was not yet possible.

Recently, Highland Amateur Radio Association member Dr. David Gunderman notified the Club his father, Robert, needed to relocate to a smaller residence and wanted to donate his early “home-brewed” radio equipment to an organization who would not only honor those early radio pioneers but preserve the equipment he designed and built for future generations (with an interest in early radio history) to enjoy and appreciate.

Thus, a different and challenging project was undertaken by the Highland County Club.

Amateur radio in the news: Post Field Day 2022 edition

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It’s nice to see so many clubs get publicity for their Field Day operations. Here are links to a bunch of them that have passed through my inbox.

Amateur radio in the news: Don’t mess with firefighters, club receives national recognition

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FCC Proposes to Fine Ham for Firefighting Interference

The Federal Communications Commission is proposing to fine an amateur radio operator for alleged interference with firefighting efforts in Idaho last year.

It said Jason Frawley, WA7CQ, apparently interfered with radio communications that were guiding fire suppression aircraft working the “Johnson fire” near Elk River. Frawley later told the FCC he was only trying to help.

The $34,000 fine would the largest of its kind, the commission said in issuing its notice of apparent liability. All four commissioners approved the NAL. Frawley now has the opportunity to respond, and the FCC would then consider final action.

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Ham radio group receives national recognition 

(ABC 6 News) – A ham radio group in Iowa is being recognized for their work, both on and off the airwaves.

You may not know it, but amateur radio or ham radio operators play a big part in our lives. They work with the National Weather Service during severe weather and also assist with disasters like wildfires and emergencies like search and rescue operations.

The Northland Amateur Communications group was named the top ‘non-profit’ in the state through a poll on the site ‘great non-profits’.

The group is being recognized for raising money for various charities like Alzheimer’s research, Walk MS, and RAGBRAI.

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Fostering connections around the Sound, around the world

Photo by David Pan.

Puget Sound Repeater Group Vice President Jack Wolfe hosts a remote net or call-in program with amateur radio operators from across Puget Sound and the world.

Mikel Edwards initially became interested in amateur, or ham radio, more out of necessity than anything else.

Edwards owns an off-the-grid cabin that has no cellular service or electricity. But with ham radio, Edwards is able to communicate with fellow amateur radio operators.

Ham radio uses the radio frequency spectrum for the non-commercial exchange of messages, private recreation, and emergency communications.

“I can communicate 40, 50 miles from my cabin in the event there was a forest fire or some other kind of emergency,” Edwards said.

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Amateur radio in the news: Field Day, Hamvention celebrates 70th year, Mills on the Air

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Ham Radio Operators On the Air for Nationwide ARRL Field Day Event

Ham radio operators from the Portage County Amateur Radio Service will be in Freedom Township  participating in a national amateur radio exercise for a full 24 hours  from 2:00 pm on Saturday until 2:00 pm on Sunday, (June 25 – 26) at the Freedom Township Community Park (corner of State Route 700 and Streeter Road ). The event is Field Day, an annual amateur radio activity organized since 1933 by ARRL, the national association for amateur radio in the United States.

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Hams from across North America participate in Field Day by establishing temporary ham radio stations in public locations to demonstrate their skill and service. Their use of radio signals, which reach beyond borders, bring people together while providing essential communication in the service of communities. Field Day highlights ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent, wireless communications network.

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Dayton’s amateur radio ‘Hamvention’ returns for 70th anniversary

XENIA, OH — Following a two-year hiatus as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dayton Hamvention returned to celebrate 70 years of what is now considered the largest amateur radio convention in the world, according to organizers.

“Amateur radio is a very interesting hobby of service that people all over the world communicate with,” said Michael Kalter, spokesperson for the Dayton Hamvention.

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Amateur radio enthusiasts mill about at John O’Groats

The ham radio enthusiasts gather outside the John O'Groats Mill.
The ham radio enthusiasts gather outside the John O’Groats Mill.

Members of the Caithness Amateur Radio Society (CARS) took part in a contact event at the weekend in the British mainland’s most northerly mill at John O’Groats.

Plans to transform John O’Groats Mill into a visitor attraction and community hub had a further boost with the visit by CARS members to use the historic building for contacting other ham radio enthusiasts.

Nigel Mansfield, CARS club secretary, said: “Called Mills on the Air, clubs all over the UK and Europe, operating from all types of mills, tried to raise as many contacts as possible through the medium of amateur radio.

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Amateur radio in the news: WTWW broadcasting to Ukraine, ME couple listen to Ukrainian invasion on SW radio, Fillmore SkyWarn

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East Boothbay couple listening to Ukrainian invasion on shortwave radio

[WISCASSET, ME] An East Boothbay couple is hearing about the Russian invasion of Ukraine a little sooner than most. For the past month, Al and Shirley Sirois have been glued to HF (high frequency) or shortwave radio transmissions between people around the world and Ukrainians. On March 4, they heard conversations between the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and Ukrainians during the attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant which caught on fire. The Siroises listened until transmission propagation began to wane. In Maine, Al says the best time to listen is between 3 to 6 p.m.

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Fillmore Skywarn — local weather spotters

With spring approaching, many of us begin thinking more about the possibility of severe weather. Thanks to Fillmore Skywarn, a volunteer storm spotting group, we can rest a little easier. The storm spotters stress safety as the highest priority as they look for storms; people are placed to the side or in back of storms and never cross a bridge without knowing there is another way out of the area. Their job is to observe the storm and report it to the proper emergency authorities. Club leader Jim Miller emphasized that they are NOT storm chasers. Brian Stockman added, “We try not to become a victim!”

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Amateur radio in the news: Hams tune into ionospheric waves, Australian radio hams help out after floods

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Ham Radio Operators Tune In to Giant Waves in the Earth’s Ionosphere

The very upper layer of our atmosphere is electrically charged and sometimes the electrons up there clump up and form giant waves larger than Texas that zip around the Earth faster than a jet plane! A team of researchers from NASA’s Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) has observed these giant waves, called Large-Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances, or LSTIDs, for the first time. Volunteers from the amateur radio community collected the data.

The distance that amateur radio operators can communicate
with each other changes over time, tracing a wave-like
pattern (red dots). Credit: Frissell et al. 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2022GL097879

This new technique for observing these LSTIDs and vividly demonstrates their effect on radio communications. It can help us understand where these waves come from, and how the layers of our atmosphere interact. These results were published in the American Geophysical Union journal Geophysical Research Letters. If you love amateur radio and like to get involved with the HamSci citizen science project, visit https://hamsci.org/.

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Gorham residents among those reaching out to Ukrainians

Support from all over Maine is being sent to Ukraine as residents of the Pine Tree State pitch in with donation drives, benefit dinners and concerts to help the victims of the Russian invasion of its Eastern European neighbor.

One Gorham resident has lent moral support through direct contact with a Ukrainian man. Ham radio buff Bob Parsons got through this week to Volody Leshkulich, who was somewhere in the area of Kyiv, the capital city under attack by Russian forces. Leshkulich speaks English.

“They are hanging in there. That’s just about all he said. He wasn’t going to elaborate,” said Parsons, who broadcasts from his home via an antenna on a 55-foot tower using the call letters KA1KSQ.

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Australian radio hams help out after floods

When natural disasters hit, amateur radio operators can be the first to transmit calls for help to the rest of the world. But in recent weeks, radio amateurs in flood-affected areas have watched helplessly as all their vital gear has been washed away.

However, a club on the New South Wales-Victoria border has stepped up to help. “We saw a need,” North East Victoria Amateur Radio Club (NEVARC) secretary Frank Scott VK2BFC said.

“So we’ve created a fund to try and assist these operators who may have lost all their equipment and in some way try and replace it.”

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Amateur radio in the news: Erie (PA) ham charged with making bomb threats, British hams urge Ukrainians to stay safe,

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Erie man charged with airing bomb threats, bogus weather reports waives misdemeanor counts

An amateur radio operator in Erie accused by county authorities of using a radio emergency frequency to broadcast threats and false weather reports waived two misdemeanor charges to court on Thursday after the bulk of the charges he faced in two criminal complaints were withdrawn at his preliminary hearing.

Richard L. Wagner, 61, waived to court one first-degree misdemeanor count of terroristic threats in a criminal case filed against him in October, and one first-degree misdemeanor count of terroristic threats in a criminal case filed on Feb. 14, according to online court docket information.

Wagner remained in the Erie County Prison on $250,000 bond in the second case late last week.

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Harborough radio enthusiasts urge their airwave comrades in Ukraine – please stay safe

Worried radio enthusiasts in Market Harborough and across south Leicestershire are urging their airwave comrades 1,600 miles away in war-torn Ukraine – please , stay safe. The heartrending plea is being sent out to besieged radio hams fearing for their families and their lives in the devastated Eastern European country days after the Russian military invasion.

This afternoon Peter Rivers, 67, secretary of Welland Valley Amateur Radio Society, told the Harborough Mail. It’s obviously a very worrying situation out there at the moment. Our hearts go out to our amateur radio colleagues in Ukraine.”

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New emergency communications hub installed

The Redwood Coast Seniors facility in Fort Bragg now has both an amateur radio station and an amateur radio repeater covering the North Coast Area. It already hosts MCN’s community WiFi and a KZYX satellite studio. The advantage of amateur radio is that it works even when the phone, cell service, and internet are down. These radios link to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the sheriff’s department in Ukiah, and since the Senior Center has its generator, this amateur radio communications facility can operate when power, phone, and internet are unavailable.

The most recent addition is the repeater station, previously housed in a private residence. Jonathan Peakall and Dennis Kelly, long-time amateur radio licensees, and John Skinner from the Senior Center installed the equipment and the antenna last month. “This is a great location for the repeater, and we are pleased that the Senior Center can host it for the community,” says Peakall.

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Amateur radio in the news: Province supports ham club, radio romance, MN QSO Party

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Canadian hams should check out this source of funds for their club projects.

Province supports the New Westminster Amateur Radio Club.

The New Westminster Amateur Radio Club is among the 250-plus not-for-profit organizations across B.C. that are receiving community gaming grants to support environmental conservation and public safety programs.

According to the New Westminster Amateur Radio Club website, the group was created to promote the hobby of amateur/ham radio and emergency communications. It has received an $8,000 community gaming grant for emergency radio communications.

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Radio romance: the hidden lives of amateur radio enthusiasts and the power of DIY connection

The discovery of radio waves revolutionised human interaction. Radio’s genius lies in its simplicity. Anyone with a little science knowhow and access to electronics can build a set at home, allowing them to contact others across countries, continents — and even in outer space — from their kitchen table.

In the USSR, amateur radio networks were particularly cherished for the uncensored contact they provided, even across the Iron Curtain. Photographer Vladislav Kuchinskiy journeyed across Russia to meet the dedicated radio amateurs continuing that legacy — unearthing the messages that still travel via radio wave.

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Minnesota QSO Pary brings together ham radio operators from all over

On top of the west ridge outside La Crescent local ham radio operators took to the airwaves in a friendly competition.

Now, that’s a comms vehicle!

…read more and see the video

Amateur radio in the news: ham profiles

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This edition of “Amateur radio in the news” features profiles of hams just doing their thing. I like this. I think that news stories about amateur radio  focus too much on emergency communications, which as we all know, is only a part of amateur radio……Dan

Paul Brandt: The POTA guy

STEUBENVILLE, OH — “What are you doing?” is a question Paul Brandt has gotten used to being asked ever since he’s been “a POTA guy” going to parks.

An acronym for Parks on the Air, POTA is a nonprofit organization founded in 2010 that supports the use of amateur radio operators being in state and national parks and communicating with other operators, wherever they may be.

It’s something the local resident got interested in as recently as last summer — an effort that involves going to a park, getting set up and hoping to make at least 10 contacts with other operators for POTA credit.

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Telling Alaska’s Story: John Bury talks about 67 years as a ham radio operator

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – If one drives by John Bury’s house in West Anchorage, they can’t help but notice the huge antennas that seem to reach to the sky. Bury’s “antenna farm,” as he calls it, is his link to communicating with people from all over the world.

Bury has been a ham radio operator for 67 of his 80 years. Originally from Wisconsin, Bury was introduced to ham radio as a young teen by his father. In 1966, Bury, his wife Susan and their young daughter headed north to accept a job teaching in rural Alaska. They brought their ham radio equipment with them and, over the next 10 years in the bush, were glad they did.

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Freeport ham radio operator gets thrill from being part of airwaves

FREEPORT, IL — On any given day, John Mitchell sits in front of his amateur ham radio set up in his home, stares up at a video screen showing all the places where he could have a conversation with someone and wonders what the world has in store for him.

Mitchell is a ham radio operator who loves sharing his love for radio, something he learned as a teen after he grew out of walkie-talkies.

He used a ham radio for the first time when he was 14 and has been fascinated ever since with the technology that dates back more than 100 years.