You can talk to the ISS with nothing but a ham radio. Adrian Lane of Gloucestershire, England, got in touch with the International Space Station the other day. Thanks to impeccable timing and a prime location under the ISS’s path above the Earth, Lane was able to have a brief conversation with space station’s crew via ham radio. It must be surreal to have a casual chat with humans who are floating up there in the void, but technologically, it’s really not even that hard.
This was a great media hit for amateur radio. This item was not only a hit on the Popular Mechanics website, but it got picked up on a bunch of other Internet sites.
Radio hams making waves on the Wild Atlantic Way. The sound of crashing waves is the norm for Valentia Island off south Kerry and Loop Head off west Clare, where lighthouses guide mariners to safe havens. This weekend, though, waves of a different kind will emanate from both locations when they host amateur radio enthusiasts from Ireland and abroad as part of the 18th International Lighthouse and Lightship celebrations.
Making contact in the “Olympics” of amateur radio. Two by two, competitors representing 38 countries were called to the stage at the World Radiosport Team Championship, held in Westborough, Massachusetts. They’re not identified by their names, which nobody knows anyway, but by their call signs. Clutching manila envelopes crammed with maps and instructions, the teams rushed out of the hotel banquet room. They’re eager to set up for what they describe as the “Olympics of ham radio.”
Leave a Reply