This Week in Amateur Radio Edition #1094 Release Date: February 15, 2020 Here is a summary of the news trending this week. This weeks edition is anchored by Rich Larence, KB2MOB, Dave Wilson, WA2HOY, Don Hulick, K2ATJ, Will Rogers, K5WLR, George Bowen, W2XBS, and Jessica Bowen, KC2VWX. Produced and edited by George Bowen, W2XBS. Running […]
On January 24, President Donald Trump signed into law the “Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act” or the “PIRATE Act.” The measure, which amends the Communications Act of 1934, authorizes enhanced penalties for violators. Under the new law, pirate radio broadcasters would be subject to a fine of not more than $2 million, and […]
Mitsuo Kasai, JA1WQF, successfully decoded a 47 GHz signal bounced off the moon on February 10 by Al Ward, W5LUA. More tests are planned. Ward posted news of the achievement on the Moon-Net email reflector. “These were one-way tests, with only me transmitting,” he said in his post. “I started out by sending single tones […]
The company with sole rights to salvage artifacts from the RMS Titanic has gone to court to gain permission to carry out a “surgical removal and retrieval” of the Marconi radio equipment on the ship, a Washington Post article reports. The Titanic sank in 1912 on its maiden voyage after striking an iceberg in the […]
The ARRL HF Band Planning Committee is seeking comments and suggestions from the Amateur Radio community on its report to the ARRL Board. At the Board’s January meeting, the committee presented its specific recommendations in graphical form for each HF band and each US license class, with the goal of increasing harmony on the HF […]
The location of the W9DXCC ARRL Specialty Operating Convention has changed. The event will take place September 11 – 12 at the Chicago Marriott Hotel in Naperville, Illinois. Registration and hotel reservations will open in the spring. W9DXCC is sponsored by the Northern Illinois DX Association. This year’s event will include a Contest University and DX University. Saturday […]
The FCC has invited comments on a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in WT Docket 19-138, which said the FCC would take “a fresh and comprehensive look” at the rules for the 5.9 GHz band. The FCC proposes to make 5.850 – 5.895 GHz available for unlicensed operations and to authorize transportation-related communication technologies to use 5.895 […]
The State QSO Party Challenge is a competition comprised of other contests, namely state and provincial QSO parties. As explained on the website, the annual cumulative score program is open to any radio amateur who participates in any approved state QSO parties (SQPs). Participants just need to submit their QSO party scores to 3830scores.com to […]
Initial reports indicate considerable interest among amateurs in tracking and capturing data from the newly deployed HuskySat-1. The satellite, designed at the University of Washington, was launched to the International Space Station last November and subsequently deployed into a higher orbit from the ISS on January 31 and began telemetry transmissions on 435.800 MHz. HuskySat-1’s […]
The W8S DXpedition team heading to Swains Island in the Pacific in March reports, “All lights are green.” Team members will leave from home in early March, and all will convene in Pago Pago, American Samoa, to board the vessel Manu Atele, which will transport everyone to the atoll. The voyage will take 24 hours. […]
Dealing with an antenna is one of those topics we never feel like we know enough about. MIT had a live stream of [Dr. Kiersten Kerby-Patel] discussing antennas in a talk, sponsored by the ham radio club on campus. You can see the recording below. The main assertion of the presentation is that everything is […]
During a teleconference meeting this week, the AMSAT Board of Directors elected Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, of Granbury, Texas, as AMSAT President. Coleman had served as a member of the Board of Directors and as AMSAT Secretary from 2017 until 2019, and he has volunteered in several other capacities for AMSAT, including as chair of the […]
The popular QRZ.com amateur radio website has dropped its verified member program, which the site instituted last year in an effort to combat fraud and password phishers. Termination of the program was due to “a number of factors,” the site’s founder and president Fred Lloyd, AA7BQ, explained in a post. Lloyd said the change will […]
Meeting January 17 – 18 in Windsor, Connecticut, the ARRL Board of Directors re-elected ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, to a third 2-year term. Roderick outpolled the only other nominee, Pacific Division Director Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT, 8 – 7. New England Division Vice Director Mike Raisbeck, K1TWF, was elected First Vice President, succeeding Greg Widin, […]
US Marines with Information Group II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MIG) participated in an amateur radio general licensing course January 27 – 31 on base as part of the group’s High Frequency Auxiliary Initiative. Members of the Brightleaf Amateur Radio Club of Greenville, North Carolina, helped the Marines in the class learn the principles of HF radio […]
ARRL has created a new HF Band Planning Discussion Group. HF Band Planning Committee Chair Mike Raisbeck, K1TWF, will moderate the group, which will focus on the ARRL HF Band Planning Committee’s recommendations and other band-planning activities. Earlier this month, the ARRL HF Band Planning Committee invited comments and suggestions from the Amateur Radio community […]
Several CubeSats are scheduled to be deployed from the ISS on February 12, including Phoenix, a 3U CubeSat developed by Arizona State University (ASU) to study the effects of urban heat islands through remote infrared sensing. The ASU operations team would appreciate help from the amateur satellite community with identifying the spacecraft and verifying that […]
An American Atlas V rocket has successfully launched the European Solar Orbiter satellite into space during the early hours of 10 February. This unmanned space probe is Europe’s newest solar observatory which will start to study our Sun in just under two years from now. Its main mission is set to begin in November of […]
Release Date: February 8, 2020 Here is a summary of the news trending this week. This weeks edition is anchored by Chris Perrine, KB2FAF, Dave Wilson, WA2HOY, Don Hulick, K2ATJ, George Bowen, W2XBS, and Jessica Bowen, KC2VWX. Produced and edited by George Bowen, W2XBS. Running Time: 1:24:22 Download here: http://bit.ly/TWIAR1093 Trending headlines in this weeks […]
Amateur radio enthusiasts have proved themselves useful during the recent bushfires after traditional telecommunication channels broke down. Key points: Amateur radio operators in Australia must be licensed with the Australian Communications and Media Authority Licensed volunteers have been providing communications support to emergency services during bushfires They are especially useful when mobile phone reception is […]