AMSAT-EA will be on the air on all available satellites with the callsigns AM1SAT and AM2023SAT from September 4th to 17th, 2023 to celebrate the fourth edition of the AM1SAT trophy contest as part of the URE activities within the IberRadio 2023 event
More info at iberRadio.
Rules available from AMSAT-EA (PDF).
Source: AMSAT
The Free and Open Source Developer’s Meeting (FOSDEM) is calling for amateur radio related presentations. FOSDEM 2024 will take place in Brussels February 3 - 4 featuring a track on FOSS-powered Radio.
Recommended topics include:
The submission deadline is December 1, 2023.
Source: GNURadio
The 3916 Santa Net continues for the 16th year and will be active each evening now through Christmas Eve on 3.916 MHz at 7PM Central time.
Pete Thomson (KE5GGY), of The 3916 Nets, commented on The 3916 Santa Net. He said, "Christmastime is a very special time for our nets every year. We enjoy helping young people and their families have a shared Christmas experience that they'll always remember. And we're thrilled to introduce young people to the excitement of amateur radio."
Pre-net check-ins are encouraged at https://www.cqsanta.com/check-in
Source: Santa Net
...NASA launched a new app to make it easier than ever to spot the International Space Station in the night sky. NASA has long operated the Spot the Station website, but its new app, available on both iPhone and Android, brings augmented reality features and a handy interface to learn more about the orbiting laboratory. Find the app at the Apple App Store or at Google Play.
The app will send notifications each time the station passes over your location, both day and night. A great utility reminder to jump on the APRS or voice repeater.
Source: AMSAT
SKYWARN Recognition Day returns December 2nd, 2023. For 24 hours, participants are encouraged to make contact with as many Weather Service offices and SKYWARN spotters as possible. This event is designed to call out the service that amateur radio operators provide when relaying critical weather information back to the National Weather Service when severe weather strikes.
Visit the National Weather Service for details on how to participate.
Learn more about SKYWARN and how to become a storm spotter.
Source: National Weather Service
Andy (MM0FMF), a member of the SOTA Management Team, communicated the potential for disruption of SOTA services such as the SOTA Cluster and SMS services should a volcanic eruption occur in Grindavik, Iceland. The data center containing SOTA services is located just outside the town of Grindavik.
With thousands of small earthquakes occurring and large cracks appearing on roads over the past few days, experts warn that a volcanic eruption is possible.
Source: SOTA
The Report and Order adopted today eliminates the baud rate limitation—the rate at which the carrier waveform amplitude, frequency, and/or phase is varied to transmit information—in certain amateur radio bands. Instead, the Commission establishes a 2.8 kHz bandwidth limitation in the applicable amateur radio bands. The changes will enable the amateur radio community to operate more efficiently, including in support of emergency situations when appropriate, and foster experimentation, which is a core principle of the amateur radio service.
The FCC also adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking which proposes and seeks comment on the removal of the baud rate – sometimes called the symbol rate—limitation in the VHF and UHF bands and in the 2200 meter and 630 meter band...
The full Report and Order is available for viewing in PDF format.
Source: FCC
Surrey Amateur Radio Communications has published the November - December issue of The Communicator, a popular and content-rich bi-monthly newsletter. This issue includes:
And more! Direct PDF download link.
Source: SARC
Jérôme LeCuyer, F4DXV, set yet another distance record on October 15th when he worked Scott Richardson, N1AIA, on SO-50. Jérôme was located in JN14ch while Scott was in FN43rh, a distance of 5,645.3 km. This eclipses the previous record of 5,548 km set by KE9AJ and MI0ILE in May.
Source: AMSAT
The Swiss Air Force Museum HAM Radio Club will be on the air with callsign HB8DELOY to celebrate the first transatlantic contact between two amateur radio operators.
[On] 27 November 1923, at 9.30pm EST, two-way short-wave radio contact took place for the first time between radio amateurs on either side of the ocean, between Hartford, Connecticut, USA and Nice, in the south of France.
The special event will run through the end of December this year.
Special event station AU2JC will be paying homage to the Indian scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose November 23 through December 11 2023.
Considered the "Father of Wireless Communication," Bose was a pioneer in microwave optics, and demonstrated wireless communication as early as 1895.
The special event will operate on the following modes and frequencies:
Source: AU2JCB
SatDump, a popular piece of software used to decode imagery from weather satellites such as NOAA-18 and others, has gained significant updates to the way it processes and projects received images on maps. Imagery projections are much more accurate as a result of recent code refactors. A detailed deep-dive into the changes have been published.
SatDump is available for all major platforms.
Source: SatDump
With SMSGTE shutting down services due to increased spam and regulations requirements, the world of ham radio lost its interface to SMS text messaging via APRS. Recently, NA7Q has stepped in with an updated solution to reintroduce the ability for hams to send SMS text messages through APRS.
While the service has yet to be assigned an official name, details on how to get started may be viewed at http://theconnectdesk.com/SMS/.
Hat tip to Zero Retries for surfacing this valuable service.
Source: NA7Q
The Bruce Kelley 1929 QSO Party is an annual AWA-sponsored event where participants either have acquired or have built their own transmitters using 1929 or earlier designs, techniques and tubes from 1929 or earlier. Special event stations W2ICE and W2AN will be on the air again in 2023.
The event takes place November 11-12 & 18-20 and is sponsored by the Antique Wireless Association.
Source: Antique Wireless Association
The 2023 Hedy Lamarr special event net will take place on November 9 to celebrate her technological advancements in Ham Radio.
The net takes place at 17:00 UTC on the following digital services:
An HF net will take place on 20 Meters at 14.313.
Source: N9H
Air Force MARS will hold a special event from November 5 to November 11 celebrating 75 years of operation.
12 callsigns will make up the event operating SSB, CW, and digital modes. Certificates will be available.
Source: Air Force MARS
Special event station AX37EUDXF will be active through November 30th to celebrate the 37th anniversary of the European DX Foundation.
Source: RSGB
40 years ago, [one mission] transformed astronaut communications from space forever, allowing amateur radio operators (hams) and the public to communicate with people in space.
As the ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) team approaches the threshold of the 40th anniversary of human spaceflight amateur radio, we would like to gather the volunteer teams, astronauts, space agency officials, educators, and space and amateur radio enthusiasts to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to recognize and celebrate the past forty years of this inspiring, educational, and free service and to share the excitement of what’s to come.
The conference entitled “The Positive Impact of Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight: 40th Anniversary Conference” will be held February 22-24, 2024, at the Center for Space Education: Astronauts Memorial Foundation, located adjacent to the NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center.
Source: ARISS
The SSTV system in the [International Space Station] Service Module will be activated to attempt to verify a replacement piece of hardware during the period of October 27 until November 1.
Source: AMSAT UK
Wildfires on Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga, Tennessee have destroyed tower site cabling disabling several amateur radio repeater systems as well as a broadcast FM station.
About 250 acres burned earlier this week before being contained by local emergency agencies.
Several repeaters at the High Point Repeater Site run by the Lookout Mountain Amateur Radio Community (N4LMC) have been offline after the cable run between the building and tower were damaged or destroyed. Systems affected include a Wires-X repeater, a 220MHz repeater, and an APRS digipeater & igate.
Areas of Tennessee, including Chattanooga, are currently experiencing severe drought and elevated fire conditions.
Source: WTVC
