KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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Amateur radio in the news: Students learn how to use ham radio, Saline resident reaches remote island, ham radio open house a success

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Saline Resident Reaches One of Earth’s Most Remote Islands

For most travelers, a trip halfway around the world is enough of an adventure. For Saline resident Dennis Ward, it was just the beginning. Ward recently returned from a rare expedition to Bouvet Island, a remote, glacier-covered outpost in the South Atlantic Ocean, where he joined a small international team of amateur radio operators seeking to connect with the world from one of its most isolated places.

read more…

I like this story for a couple of reasons. First, it was a collaboration of three different clubs. Second, the Great Bend Radio Group is about more than just amateur radio. Judging by their banner, they welcome anyone involved with any of the personal radio services. Unfortunately, the reporter got some of the details wrong…..Dan

Ham Radio Open House a big success

PARKERSBURG – Members of three regional amateur radio clubs contacted ham radio operators worldwide for World Amateur Radio Day (WARD) Saturday at Fort Boreman Park in Parkersburg. WARD, also known as the Ham Radio Open House (sic), was a collaboration of Great Bend Radio Group of Meigs County, Ohio, the Parkersburg Amateur Radio Klub and Wood County Emergency Communications. The three clubs working together on this project fulfills this year’s American Radio League (sic) emphasis on “Year of the Club.”

Man and woman hanging banner at park gazebo.
From left, Beth Edwards, WB3TH and Brian Taylor, KZ8U, from Meigs County, Ohio, hang their club banner at Fort Boreman Park.

What ChatGPT would do to attract young people to amateur radio

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On reddit, svkairos posted “Just for giggles, I asked ChatGPT (5) how to best promote amateur radio to the younger generation. ” Here’s what it had to say:

1. Shift the Narrative — From “Old Radios” to “Wireless Hacking”

Don’t sell ham radio as “talking on repeaters.” Sell it as “you can build and command your own network”:

  • Software-Defined Radio (SDR): Introduce RTL-SDRs and HackRF as gateways to decoding satellites, aircraft ADS-B, or meteor scatter. Teens into computers or cybersecurity light up when they realize ham radio is RF hacking legally.
  • Digital Modes: FT8, JS8Call, APRS, and VARA HF look a lot like data science and networking once you peel back the layers.
  • Mesh Networks: Show them AREDN or HamWAN — it’s amateur networking, not just talking.

2. Merge Ham with Maker & Gaming Culture

You can reach them where they already are:

  • 3D Printing + Electronics: Arduino-based fox hunt transmitters, custom GoBoxes, or SDR antennas they can print.
  • Field Day = LAN Party: Run a 24-hour “Signal Jam” weekend — teams compete for contacts, antenna efficiency, and power usage, streamed on Twitch or YouTube.
  • Gamify the Bands: Leaderboards for furthest digital contact, fastest emergency setup, or highest packet throughput.

3. Use Modern Platforms for Outreach

  • Short-form video: TikTok and YouTube Shorts showing cool RF experiments (ISS packet decode, decoding NOAA weather satellites, DIY antenna builds).
  • Discord servers for local clubs: Replace the dusty Yahoo group with a live chat hub, bots for DX alerts, and coordination for contests.
  • Online Mentorship: Create a “ham-bassador” program — experienced hams pair with new licensees virtually to help them get on the air the same day they pass the test.

4. Connect to Careers and STEM

Show how the hobby leads to real-world skills:

  • RF engineering, satellite ops, avionics, cybersecurity, emergency comms, IoT design.
  • Partner with local schools’ robotics or drone teams — demonstrate long-range telemetry or remote control using amateur bands.
  • Offer workshops that end with an actual project that works, like a LoRa APRS tracker on a weather balloon.

5. Reclaim the “Magic” of Radio

You can’t FaceTime a kid on 20 meters across the Atlantic — but you can let them hear their own signal bounce off the ionosphere. Do hands-on demos that:

  • Show propagation in real time using maps and beacons.
  • Let them talk through satellites or via the ISS digipeater.
  • Use portable QRP setups at parks or mountains (“Parks on the Air” is huge with younger ops).

6. Local Club Culture Reboot

You’re right — many repeaters are ghost towns or gripe-fests. Fix it at the club level:

  • Designate a “Tech-Net” night geared for beginners.
  • Host “digital night” or “field experiment day” monthly — less talk, more build.
  • Encourage Elmers to mentor, not monologue.

⚡ Tactical Idea: “Hack the Airwaves” Challenge

An event for high school or college students:

  • Teams get SDRs, antennas, and a Raspberry Pi.
  • Over a weekend, they decode a hidden beacon, track a simulated emergency signal, and transmit telemetry legally under a club call.
  • Prize: a complete starter HF rig setup.

🧭 Bottom Line

To reach the next generation, ham radio has to pivot from nostalgia to exploration. When young people see it as RF coding, STEM adventure, space comms, and emergency resilience, they’ll show up. They’re not uninterested in radio — they’re uninterested in irrelevance.

A lot of this has been mentioned before. That’s no surprise. ChatGPT isn’t really a source of creative ideas, but rather an aggregator of them. I think what’s valuable here is seeing it all in one place.

If you’re interested in the topic, read the comments to the reddit post. They’re valuable, too. Then, comment below.

YOTA hosting silent auction, KI2D wins award for Portable Logger

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Here are a couple of items that have landed in my inbox that I think you might find of interest…

YOTA is hosting a silent auction!

electronic watchThe folks at Youth on the Air (YOTA) write:

Thanks to Garmin, we are raising funds for YOTA Americas with a silent auction for a Garmin Vivoactive 5 GPS Smartwatch! The auction begins on May 12th at 12:00 AM EDT and will end on May 31st at 9:00 PM EDT.

All proceeds go towards supporting YOTA camps in the Americas.

Click here to bid on the watch.

KI2D wins 2025 Amateur Radio Software Award

The Amateur Radio Software Award (ARSA) committee has selected Ham2K Portable Logger, a groundbreaking project led by Sebastian Delmont (KI2D), as the winner of the 2025 annual Amateur Radio Software Award. This award celebrates software projects that enhance amateur radio and promote innovation, freedom, and openness in amateur radio software development.

Ham2K Portable Logger stood out among a competitive field of nominations for its transformative approach to field operations. Designed with intuitive, user-friendly interfaces and a suite of convenient features, the software empowers operators to log, analyze, and share their on-the-go radio activities seamlessly. The Award Committee believes encouraging adventurous portable operations, Ham2K Portable Logger has redefined how enthusiasts engage with the hobby—whether from mountain summits, parks, or impromptu field setups.

PoLo, short for Portable Logger, is a mobile application for amateur radio operators to log their contacts on the go. It is designed to be simple, fast, and easy to use, with a focus on the most important features for logging contacts. It supports multiple activation types such as: POTA – Parks On The Air, SOTA – Summits On The Air, WWFF – Worldwide Flora & Fauna, Field Day, Winter Field Day, and many more.

Sebastian Delmont, the project’s lead developer, emphasized the community-driven ethos: “I’m deeply honored to receive this award on behalf of the entire community behind the Ham2K project. We set out with the goal of pushing the boundaries of what good amateur software could be, and to do it through open source and community building. This recognition is an incredible validation that we’re on the right track.”

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

Personally, I used PoLo on my POTA activations and love it. It’s very easy to use and works great. Kudos to Sebastion on the award.

Amateur radio in the news: A teen’s passion for radio, a ham’s view of the Boston Marathon, pico balloon makes it to Italy

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A Stroudsburg teens’ passion for radio

[Stroudsburg, Monroe County, PA (WBRE/WYOU)] In this week’s Here’s to You Kid segment, 28/22 News met a young ham radio operator. It’s not only his hobby, what he does also involves helping save lives.

Young man operating a radio.
Samuel Thrall, W3GZ, has a passion for radio.

14-year-old Samuel Thrall, W3GZ,  is a member of the Eastern Pennsylvania Amateur Radio Association (EPARA.) He passed three levels of the FCC Amateur Radio Licensing exam and now helps at the Monroe County Public Safety Center.

What interested him in ham radio in the first place is simple. “The scientific aspect of it is very interesting because it’s a technology we use on a daily basis. Our phones are all powered by radio just with computers built into them,” Samuel explained.

…read more and watch the video

As a ham radio operator, Lacy, of Middleburgh, had interesting perspective on Boston Marathon

[Middleburgh, MA] There are an estimated half a million spectators along the Boston Marathon course in any given year. If you’ve run the race, you know what a half-million voices stretched over 26.2 miles of Massachusetts roads sound like.

Of the over 9,000 volunteers that work Boston, over 300 serve as the voice of the marathon in their own way, but also serve as the eyes and ears. For the last two years, Matt Lacy of Middleburgh has been one of them. On Monday, he took up his assigned station at Mile 11 as one of the amateur (ham) radio operators who play an important role from start to finish by providing a communication network that supplements the other public safety personnel and resources vital to this massive enterprise.

“For the ham radio folks, it’s the premiere public service event, the chance for us to get the experience doing one of these events, having to report to whatever levels we need to, working within the confines of whatever section of the course we’re on,” Lacy said on Wednesday.

…read more

TAG students launch solar-powered balloon

[Iowa Falls, IA] Riverbend Middle School TAG (Talented and Gifted) students launched a solar-powered balloon on April 5 from the school, after a presentation and help from amateur ham radio operator Jim Emmert of Pella. The balloon named PENS-p22 traveled across Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, the Atlantic Ocean, Morocco, Algeria the Mediterranean Sea, Italy, and the Adriatic Sea.

The “pico balloon” launched by the students made it all the way to Italy.

“I am constantly on the lookout for guest speakers, fascinating projects or unique things that we could learn about,” TAG teacher Amanda Fjeld said. “I value exposing students to new topics and projects of any kind. I am constantly brainstorming ideas and often ask others for engaging project ideas. My friend Jen, who is from Pella, told me about Jim’s Solar Balloon program, so I reached out to him. I was especially excited because I lack knowledge in the world of solar technology and weather patterns but want to expose students to more science-related opportunities.”

Emmert is a retired teacher who lives in Pella and travels to different schools teaching students about amateur radio, earth science, balloons, and GPS technology. He also launches Pico balloons and gives predictions and tracking to the students.

“Our students spent about three hours on the morning of April 5 learning and launching the balloon,” Fjeld said. “It was one of the few times I have had all of the students in TAG in 6th, 7th and 8th grade come together on one project, so it was encouraging to see them interact and work together.”

…read more

Amateur radio in the news: STEM students get licenses, eclipse news

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I’ve been falling a bit behind in my “amateur radio in the news” posts. These are from the beginning of April, but still worth blogging about, I think……Dan

STEM Club Members Earn HAM Radio Licenses

[GREENVILLE, IL] Members of the Greenville Junior High School STEM Club have obtained their Amateur HAM Radio licenses, after attending sessions led by the Okaw Valley Amateur Radio Club.

The students immersed themselves in learning radio communications principles, regulations, and practical skills. Okaw Valley members believe the partnership by the two groups showcases the importance of community collaboration in enriching educational experiences.

Attainment of the licenses not only equips students with valuable skills, but also opens doors to opportunities in emergency communication and public service.

Earning their licenses were Milan Hustedde, Jay Neer,  Ryder Johnson, Nolan Prater, Lukas Simmonds,  Ezra Van Middendorp,  Jackson Wood.

…read more

Tooele students have out-of-this-world conversation with astronaut

TOOELE, Utah — Excitement filled the air as students from the Tooele County School District had the extraordinary opportunity to connect directly with astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Thanks to the amateur radio on the stations, students from the district gathered at Blue Peak High School and posed questions Monday to astronaut Mike Barratt in live ham radio contact.

…read more and watch video

see also “Utah students use ham radio to connect with astronaut during eclipse”

BBC – Total solar eclipse: The 4-minute window into the Sun’s secrets

About halfway down is this section:

Radio listening party

The Sun’s activity can disrupt almost all our communications, including the humble long-wave radio. Energy from the Sun charges a region in the upper atmosphere called the ionosphere, which helps radio transmissions whizz around the planet. But when the Moon blocks the Sun, the ionosphere is affected.

To test what that does to radio, hundreds of amateur radio operators will join a listening party and send signals to each other across the world, competing for the most connections. They might communicate in Morse code or even speak.

The results could help scientists better understand radio communications used by emergency workers, airplanes, and ships, as well as GPS, according to Nathaniel Frissell at University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, who is running the party.

…read more

Amateur radio in the news: young ham to pursue engineering career, young people still drawn to ham radio in Ohio, ham club sends aid to Ukraine

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I often think that instead of emcomm, we should be playing up the educational aspect of amateur radio and how it encourages young people to get into engineering…..Dan

Ham Radio Inspired This Scranton University Student to Pursue Engineering

Many college students participate in sports, listen to music, or play video games in their spare time, but IEEE Student Member Gerard Piccini prefers amateur radio, also known as ham radio. He’s been involved with the two-way radio communication, which uses designated frequencies, since his uncle introduced him to it when he was a youngster. His call sign is KD2ZHK.

Piccini, from Monroe Township, N.J., is pursuing an electrical engineering degree at the University of Scranton, in Pennsylvania. The junior is president of the university’s W3USR amateur radio club. He’s also a member of Scranton’s IEEE student branch, the IEEE Club.

…read more

Here’s another story about young people in amateur radio….Dan

The Athens County Amateur Radio Association finds that young people are still drawn to old-school communication

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Long before cell phones and the internet, ham radios were linking people around the world. And this old-school technology continues to fascinate hobbyists of all ages in the Athens County Amateur Radio Association.

“What really brought me into radio is the fact it’s such a unique hobby,” said Josh Senefeld. “Everyone uses (wireless communications) every day without even realizing it.”

Senefeld first became interested in the world of amateur radio at age 13 after he became a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol. Four years later, he got his amateur radio license. Now 20, Senefeld is one of the younger members of the Athens County Amateur Radio Association, though it is open to people of all ages.

…read more

I like this story a lot because, as the article points out, we are the Amateur Radio Service, and that  amateur radio and has a “unique ability to enhance international goodwill” (§ 97.1(e))…..Dan

The Bosque Amateur Radio Club is connecting people in Ukraine. Here’s how.

There’s a reason the Federal Communications Commission refers to HAM radio operators as the Amateur Radio Service. If you ask Bosque Amateur Radio Club members Bill Kent, Larry Elkin, Art Nichols, Terry Zipes and the club’s president, Jerry Aceto, the answer is rooted in a shared fundamental belief: to help those in need.

“We have a saying,” Kent explained. “When all else fails, HAM radio works.”

But it’s not just the radios that work on behalf of the public; their operators do as well. For nearly the past two years, the Bosque Amateur Radio Club has been working on behalf of Care4Ukraine.org, providing the group with radios and instructions on how to build handmade antennas so its members can communicate in the field.

…read more

Random thoughts: The case for paper, CB for youth engagement, POTA/SOTA safety

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The case for paper

As most of you know by now, the ARRL is going to start charging extra for the print version of QST in January—even if your membership expires after that date. While I am generally in favor of magazines going digital, paper does have its advantages.

For example, I’ve recently been plowing through my stack of paper QSTs, looking for interesting things before I toss them. In the process, I’ve come across several items of interest, including articles on building an inline RF current sensor and building a short vertical for 160 meters.

I’m not sure that you’d get this kind of serendipitous occurrence with digital magazines.

CB for youth engagement?

On reddit, someone asked if anyone had any information on successful programs for youth engagement. Someone replied, “Heard of a ham club that gave out old CB radios to young people in the area, and helped them with setting them up. Within 2 years, most of them were licensed hams!”

I think that in addition to just helping them get set up, you might also want to give the kids some structured activities, like showing them how to run a net or maybe do a hidden transmitter hunt, if such a thing is possible with CB radios. You’ll also want to be available if, or should I say when, there are problems with the radios.

This sounds like an interesting idea to me. I asked for more details. Have any of you heard of something like this?

SOTA/POTA Safety

A couple of weeks ago, I joined a Long Island CW Club Zoom meeting on portable operation. It was a great meeting, and a lot of good ideas were mentioned.

One of the best, I thought, was the reminder to be safe when doing a Parks on the Air (POTA) or Summits on the Air (SOTA) activation. One of the things that I do is to attached caution tape to my inverted-V antenna where there’s any chance that someone could come into contact with it.

Another fellow mentioned that he wears a blaze orange vest when he heads into the woods. This had not occurred to me, as I have been operating from open areas where no hunters are allowed. But, if there’s any chance that you might come into contact with hunters on your POTA/SOTA adventures, the orange vest is a good idea.

Amateur radio videos: FCC to replace symbol rate limits with bandwidth limits, K5ATA’s vision for the role of ham radio in STEM education, rain gutter POTA antenna

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FCC to lift symbol rate limitations

This is a topic that’s been in the news lately. The FCC is planning to remove the baud rate limitation on digital transmissions and replace it with a 2.8 kHz bandwidth limitation. This video goes into quite some detail on this.

You can find the complete text of the Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-397992A1.pdf.

K5ATA’s vision for the role of ham radio in STEM education

Steve, K5ATA, ARRL Education and Learning Manager, gave the keynote speech at the 2023 ARRL Pacific Division Ham Radio Convention Pacificon. I love the vision. The question now is how to turn that vision into reality.

POTA activation rain gutter


Mr MUD, VA5MUD, forgot to bring an antenna to one of his latest POTA activations. That didn’t stop him, though. As he shows in this video, he simply clips a wire to a nearby rain gutter.

A nice surprise

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A couple of weeks ago, while doing a POTA activation, my friend, Rick mentioned that there was a young woman who walked by a couple of times looking curiously at us. I hadn’t noticed because I was busy operating. After we’d packed up, however, I guess her curiosity got the better of her because she came up to us, with her two young sons, just as we were leaving and asked what we were doing.

We told her that we were radio amateurs participating in an activity called Parks on the Air, and that we had set up a small station and were making contacts with other amateur radio stations.  She seemed truly interested, so it was a shame that she hadn’t come up to us sooner, as we could have given her a full demonstration. I gave her my card and said that if she’d like to know more to get in touch with me.

Well, a couple of days later, she emailed me and said that she would indeed like to bring her sons and husband over and get a demonstration. We arranged to meet last Saturday. The whole family came, including the husband and little sister. The husband is actually an electrical engineer, so he was interested in the technology. I made a few contacts and showed them the code practice oscillator that I modified to work with a paddle in addition to a straight key. (More on that later.)

One of the sons really enjoyed playing with the code practice oscillator.  I would have taught him how to send his name in Morse Code, but right about that time, the little sister decided it was time that they all go home. We said our goodbyes and I invited them back if they’d like to hear more another time.

Yesterday, I received a thank-you card in the mail. Included were two nice notes from the sons. It was a very nice surprise, and I do hope they’ll take me up on my offer to come back sometime.

 

Amateur radio in the news: Eugene woman wants to bounce signals off the moon, Morse Code making a comeback with kids, can amateur radio help with climate change?

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This is a great story that shows you don’t have to be a tech nerd to appreciate amateur radio….Dan

On The Air: An unlikely conversion puts a Eugene woman in touch with a new world

I want to touch the moon.

OK, not actually. Not a hand-print-in-moon-dust kind of touch. I want to use the moon to bounce a radio signal from me to someone in Switzerland.

Up until a year ago, I didn’t know this was a thing that could be done, and I had no idea that I would want to do it. Then I got an amateur radio license, also known as ham radio. Now I am on a steep learning curve in the art and practice of ham.

…read more

Also check out the sidebar, “Using Morse Code can improve your brain health, study reveals.”

Morse Code is making a comeback!

Forget TikTok and Instagram – children and teenagers want to learn Morse Code!

Despite being created 180 years ago and not being a requirement for amateur radio operators to learn since 1990, it has been kept alive by radio enthusiasts – and now more young people are getting involved.

A combination of pandemic lockdowns forcing youngsters to learn something new, and the use of Morse Code by popular K-Pop bands, has led to ‘a renaissance’ in teens wanting to learn the once groundbreaking form of communication.

From five-year-olds to 99-year-old war veterans, people all over the world are tapping in to communicate with others on the radio.

…read more

Climate change is affecting telecommunications infrastructure. Ham radio might be able to help

As Atlantic Canada gears up for another hurricane season after a year of unprecedented disasters linked to climate change — including post-tropical storm Fiona last September — amateur radio operators say a simple technology can play a part in the response to disasters across the region.

When Fiona hit Nova Scotia, it affected electrical grids and telecommunications networks, leaving some people unable to call for help. That experience in particular prompted a renewed interest in amateur radio — also known as ham radio — which allows non-professional users to send messages without requiring the internet or cell phone networks.

“I think it’s kind of an unsung hero in communications that gets forgotten in the noise of disaster when it comes to, ‘Well, how do we get that message out?'” said John Bignell, president of the Halifax Amateur Radio Club.

…read more