We are pleased to announce the 2023 Blossomland Amateur Radio Association Trunk Swap is a go!

29 September 2023

• Everything you need to know about POTA, Starting Guide
• Battle of Kings Mountain Special Event - K4M - 10/1-10/7
• U of Scranton Professor Leading Ham Radio Operators To Help NASA Gather Data During Eclip
• Is the California QSO Party the Best? CQP Chairman Dean N6DE
• From Amateur Radio Operator to Creator of the Smith Chart
• OSCAR India Amateur Radio Conference 2023
• Amateur Radio Newsline headlines for Ham Nation. September 27, 2023.
• How to read the W8S VOACAP Charts
• SOTA/POTA in the September VHF Contest (FT8 trigger warning)
• W8S DXpedition with Adrian, Gerben and Max
• Solving RF Interference: A 1-Year Study of Sources and Solutions
• QSO Today with Kyle Krieg AA0Z
• CW for Life: The Max George NG7M Ham Radio Story
• What's an Unun
• Amateur Radio Newsline headlines for Ham Nation. September 13, 2023.
• The WRTC 2026 Games Begin Now: Mark Haynes M0DXR
• Ham And Quackers - A Brief Review Of The MFJ-419 CW Elmer
• How I got 9 bands on the N9SAB 40-6 OCFD antenna (with no external tuner)
• First QSO Today Academy Event Opens Friday Sept 8th, 1800 PDT
• National POW MIA Recognition Day Special Event
• Team Ukraine: Ham Radio Champs VE3DZ/UW7LL WRTC 2022
• HamSCI Presents the Solar Eclipse QSO Party – October 14, 2023
• US Islands Award Program with Jay NS4J
• Boost your Magnetic Loop antenna on 20M 40M 80M
• HR2.0 - A 360-degree View of the Huntsville Hamfest 2023

Amateur Radio Daily

29 September 2023

• International Enigma Reloaded Event

  The Enigma Reloaded International Event takes place September 29 through October 7, 2023. This is the 7th year of the event in which hams attempt to contact as many activating stations as possible for a chance to win the overall award. Participation certificates will also be available.

  The main idea behind the Enigma event is to involve people all over the world, and specifically young people, in focusing their attention on the importance of the scientific research in general and specifically on cryptography, as main driver of most of the crucial events at the end of World War II...

  Source: Enigma Reloaded

• Come and Get Wyoming Special Event

  The Shy-Wy Amateur Radio Club will be hosting the "Come and Get Wyoming" special event station W7Y from September 22 through October 2, 2023.

  This will be a multi-band and multi-mode event. The schedule is available to view. QSL certificates and cards will be available.

  Source: Shy-Wy Amateur Radio Club

• The Online Radio Club MX0ONL

  The Online Radio Club (MX0ONL) was formed in 2018 to promote all aspects of radio activities, especially for those unable to meet regularly at a specific physical location (hence “online”).

  Online meetings are held over Zoom every Thursday evening 1930-2100 UK time.

  The club also runs a multi-protocol reflector:

  • DSTAR Reflector XRF994 B / DCS994 B / REF994 B
  • DSTAR SmartGroup TORC2
  • DMR via XLX or BrandMeister 2348140
  • Yaesu System Fusion Room 37815
  • Echolink Node 592933 (MX0ONL-L)
  • AllStarLink Node 52585
  • AmateurWire VOIP 90020

  Source: The Online Radio Club

• Ham Imports Radio Library

  Ham Imports is a comprehensive database of Chinese radio manufacturers. The website makes comparison between radios easy. Each entry features a pricing guide, photos, specifications, a lengthy description, and video reviews.

  CREATE TABLE dailyextremes(date text NOT NULL, temphigh integer NOT NULL, templow integer NOT NULL, presshigh integer NOT NULL, presslow integer NOT NULL);

  Source: Ham Imports

• Wisconsin POTA Campout October 13-15

  The inaugural Wisconsin Ham Radio POTA Campout will take place October 13-15 2023. The event will take place at the Clear Lake Campground in the Northern Highlands American Legion State Forest (K-7260).

  This year we are opening up our campout to the greater POTA community. This event will be part social activity and part Parks on the Air activation. You can activate as little or as much as you want, in whatever mode you choose. The sky is the limit.

  Source: KB9VBR

• OK2KKW The Czech VHF UHF Ham Radio Contest Club

  The Czech VHF/UHF Ham Radio Contest Club (OK2KKW) has been around in one form or another for 33 years. They boast an impressive record and have hosted several expeditions over the years.

  The OK2KKW homepage features a heavy dose of ham radio news, so be sure to check back often!

  Source: OK2KKW

• HELLFEST Feld-Hell Contest Friday the 13th

  HELLFEST is the content from Hell. Taking place on Friday October 13th, the goal is to make as many contacts as possible using the Hellschreiber digital mode.

  All contacts must be made within the contact window: Friday, October 13th at 2pm EDT until Saturday, October 14th at 2am EDT (18:00 UTC 2023-10-13 until 06:00 UTC 2023-10-14)

  Operators are encouraged to operate in the following windows 3580kHz-3600kHz, 7080kHz-7100kHz, 14080kHz-14100kHz, 21080kHz-21100kHz, 28080kHz-28100kHz as to not cause interference with normal FT8, FT4 and CW operations

  Source: HELLFEST

• 20 Meter Vertical Half-Wave Dipole with inverted-Vee Lower Element

  Thanks to Tom Pierce K8EBR for submitting his write-up of a 20 meter vertical half-wave dipole. Tom describes an outstanding antenna for DX primarily because it is an efficient radiator, it exhibits a true 50 ohm input impedance, and it has an almost ideal horizontal toroid low angle radiation pattern.

  Source: Tom Pierce K8EBR

• Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications Reaches 90,000 Items

  The Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications (DLARC) has now added over 90,000 items to its collection of amateur radio related resources. The free online library is hosted by the Internet Archive.

  Those interested in amateur radio and shortwave listening will find resources including magazines, club newsletters, podcasts, radio manuals, and early ham radio related Usenet conversations.

  Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications is funded by a grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) to create a free digital library for the radio community, researchers, educators, and students. DLARC invites radio clubs and individuals to submit material in any format. If you have questions about the project or material to contribute, contact:
  Kay Savetz, K6KJN
  Program Manager, Special Collections
  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  Mastodon: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

  Source: DLARC

• Route 66 Event Now on the Air

  The 2023 Route 66 special event is currently taking place through September 23rd. The event is hosted across multiple cities along the original U.S. highway 66 by 20 amateur radio clubs each with a special callsign. QSL cards and certificates are available. The event is managed by the Citrus Belt Amateur Radio Club.

  Source: W6JBT

• Ham Radio Workbench Podcast Discusses Mastodon Social Media Platform for Hams

  The most recent episode of Ham Radio Workbench discusses the open source and decentralized social media platform, Mastodon. (Mastodon discussion starts around 1 hour, 33 minutes in.) Guest Christopher, M0YNG, is the administrator for mastodon.radio, one of the most popular servers focused on ham radio.

  Mastodon is best described as a Twitter (X) replacement with the advantages of being community supported and ad-free. mastodon.radio, mastodon.hams.social, and radiosocial.de are all ham radio focused, and make up a community of 1,000+ hams.

  Source: Ham Radio Workbench

• AMSAT SA to Hold Symposium Online

  The 2023 AMSAT South Africa (SA) Space Symposium will be held online on September 23rd.

  [The Symposium] will be a virtual event opening participation to people anywhere in the world. The aim of the AMSAT SA Space symposium is to take amateur radio into space, encourage more amateur satellite operation, development, and research.

  More information, including registration links, can be found at the AMSAT SA website.

  Source: AMSAT

• Brandmeister Users Should Update API Keys (PSA)

  Hams with hotspots connected to the Brandmeister DMR network should plan on updating their API keys in order to maintain connectivity to the Brandmeister network. For data security purposes, Brandmeister has invalidated user API keys which are used to connect applications and devices such as hotspots to the Brandmeister network. Users are asked to regenerate their keys by following the instructions provided: https://news.brandmeister.network/introducing-user-api-keys/

  Source: Brandmesiter

• ARRL Drops Support for Ham Radio Promoters Over Content

  Based on interviews conducted by KB6NU, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) appears to be dropping support for amateur radio related organizations that produce content similar to content produced by ARRL. Two high-profile groups have been told by ARRL officials that they will no longer be promoted by the league as a result of the "competition" that these groups are creating with the ARRL Learning Center.

  This is a developing story. It's not yet clear if these are isolated incidents or a broader strong-arm strategy by ARRL to minimize competition with amateur radio related content producers.

  Updated 9/6 to adjust tone and better reflect information from other reports.

  Source: KB6NU

• On-Air Special Event Celebrates 56 Years of Handiham Program

  On Monday, September 11, as part of the 2023 Handiham Radio Camp, we will be conducting a... special event QSO party to honor the 56th Anniversary of the Courage Kenny Handiham Program. Our goal is to work as many stations as possible throughout the United States and beyond. We will operate on both SSB and CW on 10, 15, 20, and 40 meters as conditions and our antennas allow from 11 AM – 4 PM Central daylight time (16:00 – 21:00 UTC). We will be using both W0ZSW and W0EQO, two call signs with a rich history in the Handiham Program.

  The Courage Kenny Handiham Program helps people with disabilities earn their amateur radio license and get on the air. The goal is to assist in all aspects of life while promoting STEM related activities.

  Since 1967, the Handiham mission has been “To empower people with disabilities to reach their full potential in every aspect of life.”

  Source: Handiham Program

• Learn Minds Articles and Reviews

  ZS1ML writes in to share Learn Minds, a repository of in-depth ham radio related articles and unbiased reviews. Articles focus on antenna construction projects, working with software defined radios, and a hefty set of MFJ product reviews.

  See more at Learn Minds.

  Source: Learn Minds

• September October SARC Communicator Journal Now Available

  The September-October 2023 SARC Communicator Journal is now available at https://tinyurl.com/SARC23Sep-Oct.

  Our biggest issue to date, read in over 145 countries, we bring you 132 pages of Amateur Radio news from the Southwest corner of Canada and elsewhere. With less fluff and ads than other Amateur Radio publications, you will find Amateur Radio related articles, projects, profiles, news, tips and how-to's for all levels of the hobby. This issue is of particular interest to POTA, SOTA and WSPR enthusiasts with several related articles and a quick and inexpensive antenna build project that is sure to pull in HF stations. You can view or download it as a .PDF file at: https://tinyurl.com/SARC23Sep-Oct.

  Source: SARC

• blogs.radio Serves as Aggregate of Ham Radio Blogs

  [DK1MI has] set up a new website that collects all RSS feeds of amateur radio blogs and then displays them centrally. You can find it at the following URL: https://blogs.radio

  If... great feeds are missing or you want to share something else, please contact [DK1MI].

  DK1MI aims to promote the ham radio hobby by elevating lesser known websites and create a central location to find the latest news about amateur radio. An OPML file of all RSS feeds is available.

  Amateur Radio Daily is proud to be among the blogs listed at blogs.radio. Thanks to DK1MI for creating this service.

  Source: blogs.radio

• Online Amateur Radio Community Moves Hobby Forward

  The Online Amateur Radio Community (OARC) is based out of the UK, but primarily embraces the online space to help build a global community around the amateur radio hobby. Twice a month, OARC meets at the virtual Rubber Duck Pub over Zoom for casual chat.

  In addition, OARC hosts a Discord server, YouTube Channel, and digital RF bridge via DMR, D-STAR, Echolink, AllStarLink and Fusion. OARC is also one of the largest license training organizations in the UK.

  Source: OARC

• Parachute Mobile Ham Sets QSO Record, Unites Community

  In an inspiring show of camaraderie, a tight-knit ham radio community of YouTubers rallied around Ranae Six (KR5SIX) on August 18th as she undertook a heart-stopping parachute jump on behalf of her husband Vern Six (KV5SIX). Vern, who had already completed an astounding 14 jumps prior in his life, found solace in the remarkable act performed by his wife.

  Ranae was able to jump in tandem with the well-known parachute mobile ham operator KD9OLN, Carlos. You can find out more about KD9OLN on his YouTube channel, @lifeatterminalvelocity. KD9OLN agreed to the jump and assisted Ranae in completing this daring achievement.

  Ranae was able to execute the jump with impeccable precision from 12,800 feet. This achievement has been recognized globally and showcases the power of unity and determination within the adventurous amateur radio community. What makes this achievement even more astonishing is that Ranae's successful jump led her to become one of only five people worldwide to establish a QSO under such extreme circumstances. Her first of three contacts during the canopy 246 second descent was to her husband Vern (KV5SIX). Her accomplishment adds a new dimension to the world of skydiving adventures. In addition, Ranae's fearless courage helped her make history by becoming the first woman to accomplish this feat in tandem. Her unwavering courage and dedication have not only broken barriers but also set a new standard for adventure enthusiasts and skydivers alike.

  Ranae possesses a General class operator license, highlighting her proficiency in operating amateur radio equipment. This undoubtedly contributed to her seamless and calm communication during the heart-pounding jump. The event has left an indelible mark on the community, inspiring countless individuals to overcome challenges and support one another in pursuit of their dreams. As news of this extraordinary feat spreads, it's clear that this story will continue to serve as a beacon of devotion, and unbreakable spirit of adventure. Check out Ranae and Vern Six's YouTube Channel @WhatsUpWithSix to learn more.

  Thanks to Marvin Turner (W0MET), host of The Ham Radio Guy Podcast for submitting this story.

  Source: Marvin Turner (W0MET), host of The Ham Radio Guy Podcast