COLORADO STUDENT CLUB FINDS ITS VOICE ON THE AIR

The ARRL School Club Roundup was a way of life for Chris WRØTE when he was teaching high school chemistry in Vermont. For half of his 40 years at the school, he also worked with students who belonged to the school's amateur radio club, K1BBS. The effort paid off big in February of 2014 when K1BBS became the top-scorer in the senior high school category.

Now retired, Chris lives in Colorado where he is the education director for the Estes Valley Amateur Radio Club. He is also one of the control operators for WØEPS, a student club that got its start at the Estes Park Middle School a few years ago. One of the teachers had asked the hams to get the kids involved in radio.

"Involved" doesn't even begin to describe it. The young teenagers now have several ARRL School Club Roundups to their credit but as Chris told Newsline, they don't really need an excuse to get on the air. In one recent week, he said, a total of 58 students in 6th- through 8th-grade logged 113 contacts in 29 states and 2 Canadian provinces. You can find them most of the time on 10 metres, if it's open; otherwise try contacting them on the 20-metre band.

Chris told Newsline [quote] "The secret to getting students on the air is exactly that ... get the kids on the air. Ham Radio is not a 'demonstration' activity ... it's a participation activity. Sit them down ... put a mic in their hands ... have them call CQ ... and see what happens." [endquote]

What happens is deceptively simple: The kids find their way in radio and they also find their voice. In Estes Park, they're not waiting around for another School Club Roundup to make things happen - but when it does arrive, they'll be ready. Whenever they key the mic, these kids already feel like champions.

STUDENT JOINS SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND DXPEDITION TEAM

Even before they set foot on South Georgia island, the VPØSG DXpedition team has already fulfilled one of its objectives. They have added Megan EI5LA, a 19-year-old engineering student from University College Cork, as the third and final young operator.

Megan joins Violetta KN2P and Leon DL3ON for next year's trip. There are now 16 operators from North America and Europe who hope to get on the air from this coveted DX next year.

Megan, who has been a ham since 2021, is involved in the EI7M contest team and has a particular focus on high-level multi-operator events and CW contesting. She is active in Youngsters on the Air in Region 1.

The team announced her addition, reaffirming its commitment to helping mentor the next generation of operators and encourage a robust future for DXpeditions.

HAMS REMEMBER VICTIMS OF HISTORIC PENNSYLVANIA FLOOD

The communities surrounding Johnstown, Pennsylvania do not forget the lives that were swept away by floodwaters unleashed after the collapse of a nearby dam. The numbers speak for themselves: A rush of twenty million tons of water. Fatalities numbering two thousand two hundred and nine -- among them, ninety-nine whole families.

Remembering that catastrophe on the 31st of May, one-hundred thirty-seven years ago, the Cambria Radio Club WA3WGN will be on the air again this year with the special event callsign N3N from the 30th of May through to the 5th of June.

For hams in this flood-prone river valley, it is a very personal special-event activation and a sad chapter in regional history. There have been other floods since - notably in 1936 and 1977- but neither compared to this deadly moment, one that is marked now by a national memorial in the heart of the city and a special-event station by amateur radio operators who know the landscape well.

HELPING GIRL GUIDES EARN LICENSES IN THE CARIBBEAN

When the summer holidays arrive in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, many members of the Girl Guides in Georgetown will change from classroom students to amateur radio students. The Youlou Amateur Radio Association has a training session planned, enabling Girl Guides and other students to prepare to take their ham radio licence exam.

For many of the Girl Guides, this will be their second encounter with amateur radio. In early May, 32 Girl Guides got their introduction to radio science and the radio experience with the help of association president James Codrington J88JC and past president Don De Riggs J88CD. The girls learned how two-way radios work and participated in a simulated disaster drill using hand-held radios within the school compound.

The radio session in Georgetown was the latest the ham association has conducted for Girl Guides. Education is a big part of the mission behind the Youlou amateur group, which also provides vital services in emergency communication.

NETS OF NOTE: NEW NET AT THE AWA COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY MUSEUM

As part of our occasional series, "Nets of Note," we look at a newly created net based at the AWA Communications Technology Museum in upstate New York. You'd expect a group like the Antique Wireless Association W2AN to recommend using only vintage equipment but that's not the case: Steve Sykes KD2OM told Newsline that the SSB net even allows modern equipment as well. The net takes place on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Eastern Daylight time on 14.265 MHz, plus or minus 5 kHz.

Everyone is welcome - and encouraged to check in - and topics for discussion are open.

INNOVATIVE TRAILER MAKES DEBUT AT HAMVENTION

The Porter County Amateur Radio Club in Valparaiso, Indiana, received grant funding last year from Amateur Radio Digital Communications to build a coordinated communications system with its sister club, the neighboring Ogden Dunes Fire Department Amateur Radio Club. Part of that plan involved building a communications trailer. The project also involved connecting the HF radios to an Internet-based youth network as part of the outreach program.

Club president Mike Lambertino W9ML described the original concept for the project. He told Newsline: [quote] “The driving force behind the trailer is youth, STEM, and community outreach, getting the trailer out in the community and helping where we can. We do have interoperability and the alliance with the neighboring fire department to help expand our communications abilities to assist where needed.” [endquote]

Volunteers designed and built out the trailer using significant donations and discounts on equipment and supplies since the trailer's delivery last September.

Mike said that the trailer received between 250 and 400 visitors - among them were members of the ARDC committee. He said the trailer drew a lot of very positive comments, especially from members of the ARDC who said they were happy to see the results, calling it a model on which to base other trailer builds.

Learn more about the club at www.K9PC.club. For Amateur Radio Newsline.

SILENT KEY: MARATHON VOLUNTEER, LIMARC OFFICER, JERRY ABRAMS, WB2ZEX

Jerry Abrams, WB2ZEX, was as devoted to public service as he was to his fellow amateurs during his long and active involvement with ham radio.

Jerry became a Silent Key following a heart attack on the 28th of March.

Jerry made his half-century membership with the Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club an active and devoted membership. His different roles included treasurer, membership chairman and, for a time, newsletter editor. He also assisted families of Silent Keys with clearing the contents of the shacks those hams left behind. According to the club, over the years his efforts led families to receive more than $100,000 from equipment being rehomed. The Ham Radio University organizing committee also knew him to be a reliable and capable member.

Jerry took public service seriously, first as a member of an ambulance corps in Brooklyn and later providing communications support for a number of ARES groups throughout New York City and on Long Island. He also provided radio support for the annual New York City Marathon. The New York Road Runners, the group behind the race, inducted him into their Volunteer Hall of Fame in 2022 for his years of service.

Jerry was 78.

AMSAT-DL SEEKS INPUT FROM SATELLITE ENTHUSIASTS

AMSAT-DL wants amateurs to look to the future. We're not only talking about June 27th, when the organisation will be hosting a workshop that builds on the experience of Qatar OSCAR 100. AMSAT-DL wants a workshop with ideas, perspectives and proposals for the upcoming ESA sponsored geostationary satellite which will carry an amateur radio payload.

At the time that OSCAR-100 was sent into space in 2018, the OSCAR number administrator Drew Glasbrenner KO4MA noted on the AMSAT-DL website that it would be [quote] "the guiding star for future amateur radio satellites and payloads in geostationary orbit and beyond." [endquote]

The time has come at Friedrichshafen next month to follow that star's light. AMSAT-DL will present two or three mission and payload concepts for open discussion, including a concept that builds on QO-100's success in new directions. An experimental concept will also be presented, offering digital signal processing and software-defined payload architectures. There is a possible third option to be presented which involves beacons and experiments in high-frequency ranges and would include new antenna concepts and space imaging.

The workshop's location in the Neue Messe will be announced as the date gets closer. Meanwhile, AMSAT-DL welcomes everyone with varying levels of experience - all that is required is an interest in amateur radio satellites and helping to shape their future.

The AMSAT-DL meeting will not be the only space-related activity at Ham Radio Friedrichshafen, as this year ASTRO, the astronomy trade fair, will take place alongside the Ham Radio exhibition.

ARISS ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR MOON-BASED HAM RADIO

The Morse Code transmitted more than two years ago by JS1YMG, the lunar ham station of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is apparently just the beginning. Attendees at a Hamvention forum hosted by ARISS in Xenia, Ohio recently learned about a moon-based project called CAVIAR. That's an acronym for "Communications, Audio, Video and imaging using Amateur Radio." The feasibility of CAVIAR is being studied by ARISS and AMSAT through a partnership known as AREx, for Amateur Radio Exploration.

According to the early information being discussed publicly, the station could have support for voice, digital and video - with 10 GHz and 5 GHz links supported by a network of stations on Earth. More far-reaching goals can be found on the ARISS website, which describes AREx as [quote] an "international effort to develop and operate amateur radio systems for deep space, starting at the moon and later to Mars." [endquote]

A-ROVING THEY WILL GO

Members of the TOG Hackerspace and South Dublin Radio Club are no strangers to experimentation. Tinkerers, amateurs, makers and experimenters all find a welcome home in Dublin where the ham radio club station, EIØTOG, has its headquarters.

The radio operators are now working on yet another experiment - their first POTA Rover Day - in the hope of activating five POTA designated parks in a single UTC day, qualifying them for the POTA Rover Warthog Award.

Their shared daylong adventure is planned for Sunday the 31st of May. While they're not looking to bag an actual warthog - the tusks and tempers of these sub-Saharan mammals can be quite intimidating - they are going for five successful activations and as many QSOs as possible. As club members note on the TOG Hackerspace website: [quote] "This could be a great idea, or it could totally fall apart, but that is all part of the fun. Amateur radio has always had that experimental side to it, and a day like this has a real sense of adventure." [endquote] One ham plans to take the spirit of adventure to the extreme. He hopes to make the trip on his bicycle.

Be listening for EIØTOG and help them catch that warthog. This would not only be the first such award for the club, it would be the first warthog - wild or figurative - to actually find a habitat in the Republic of Ireland.

WIA ASKS FOR CHANGES IN SUB-ANTARCTIC CALL PREFIXES

The Wireless Institute of Australia has responded to the regulator's request for input on its Five-Year Spectrum Outlook, spanning 2026 through to 2031, and its Work Program, spanning 2026-2027. It is asking that the Australian Communications and Media Authority improve spectrum access to support experimentation and emerging technologies; modernise regulation of repeaters and beacons; and develop a staged EME competence framework that will give amateurs greater access to operating at increased power safely. The WIA has been actively seeking greater power for hams since 2013. It told the ACMA that increased power for the class licence should be backed up by training, certification and communications industry best practices.

The WIA has also asked that the callsign prefixes be changed in the sub-Antarctic, restoring VKØ for operations on Heard Island and Macquarie Island, which are now assigned the VK9 prefix of Australian external territories. The WIA is also proposing that the VK9 prefix be restored for Lord Howe Island, which is presently assigned VK2.

The response to the consultation highlights ham radio's key role in STEM, innovation and emergency communications, noting that a number of the issues it has raised address barriers to ham radio's growth and operators' participation and efficiency.

OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE MODEM CALLED A VARA REPLACEMENT

Developers have announced the release of Mercury, an open-source software modem that they are calling a replacement for Vara. Mercury is a digital radio OFDM protocol, which can be used for HF broadcast and peer-to-peer ARQ connections with compatible TCP interfaces.

According to Peter Bloom, general coordinator of the developer Rhizomatica, Mercury is compatible with Windows, Linux and a number of non-Intel architectures.

Peter told Newsline that Mercury, the newest element of Rhizomatica's HERMES software suite, it is built for reliable store-and-forward email and file transfer over HF radio links. He said it is compatible with most HF transceivers and it complies with ham radio use. The project coordinator is Rafael Diniz, PU2UIT.

He said that Mercury has a number of advantages over Vara, including improved performance over high-SNR links.

There is no license fee. Find additional details at the website that appears in the text version of this week's report at arnewsline.org

SILENT KEY: ROSS MERLIN, WA2WDT. EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION PROFESSIONAL

If you are involved in emergency communications or security, it is likely you're familiar with the name of Ross Merlin, WA2WDT.

Ross became a Silent Key on the 3rd of May.

A former radio communications professional with National Disaster Medical Services, he had a long government career that also included serving as manager of the National Emergency Radio System of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He had also been a board member of the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation, which funds and operates Winlink. Ross is credited with being one of the creators of a Winlink network on a number of government radio channels.

Ross wrote the National Interoperability Field Operations Guide published by the US Department of Homeland Security and later served as program manager of the department's Shared Resources HF Radio Program.

Licensed in 1974, he enjoyed DXing, contesting, automatic link establishment and the digital modes. He had also held a General Radiotelephone Operator License.

He was 67.

NEW ZEALAND CYCLONE REVS UP RECRUITMENT DRIVE

Volunteers from Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Tauranga answered the call in April when the severe storm known as Cyclone Vaianu approached the coast. Tairāwhiti Emergency Management in Gisborne was asking that the hams keep communication lines open throughout that tense weekend. AREC members were able to staff the emergency centre radios which are connected to remote community civil defence teams.

The volunteers were reminded that this is the very purpose for which AREC was established in 1932 and the reason it has since evolved into something that Civil Defence, Search and Rescue and police can rely on. Last month, three of the Tauranga volunteers went to Gisborne and worked in shifts around the clock to ensure welfare checks were made and community contact was maintained, especially in the most remote areas. One community ended up having a power failure - and their backup power did not function either - and so the AREC volunteers got that addressed.

AREC also created a nationwide safety net on the HF bands.

The team is now hoping to grow even stronger by adding trained volunteers and put out a call through local media to ask that interested people contact them.

Group leader Joanne Watson ZL1JDR told the SunLive website: [quote] "You never know when your skills might be the link that keeps someone connected." [endquote]

AUSTRALIAN RADIOCOMMUNICATION LICENSES GET NEW WEBSITE

A new website for broadcast and other radiocommunication licences has gone live in Australia, with changes designed to simplify searches by offering a variety of filters along with customisable options for the export of data.

This replaces the older website, which the Australian Communications and Media Authority will keep online until the 10th of June during the transition period. The new site does not contain data about any class licences, which include citizens band and amateur radio. Australia introduced the amateur class licence in February of 2024 in a sweeping change that replaced individual amateur radio licences.

The ACMA has also designed the new site a resource for broadcast licence applicants, who may see what frequencies are available and other relevant information.

UK HAMS PLAN TRIBUTE TO BBC TRANSMITTERS MARKED FOR SHUTDOWN

Commissioned in 1934, the BBC's Droitwich long-wave transmitter went on the air delivering programming at what was to become a major facility. It played an important role in occupied Europe during wartime. Over the decades that followed, its broadcast programmes became the background to so many lives throughout the UK.

Responding to the BBC's announcement of this year's shutdown of the Droitwich Transmitter, as well as Long Wave transmitters at Burghead and Westerglen in Scotland, amateur radio operators have plans to mark the end of the era. The BBC Amateur Radio Group and the Radio Society of Great Britain are planning an on-air event and are looking for hams around the UK to participate.

Meanwhile, hams are being asked to let organizers know they are interested by emailing contestclub at rsgb dot org (ContestClub@rsgbcc.org)

PROJECT PURSUES MYSTERIES OF SPORADIC E-SKIP

Loyd Van Horn, W4LVH, is a fan of mysteries and there are perhaps few ham radio mysteries greater than that of Sporadic E-skip which makes its appearance on VHF in the Northern Hemisphere every year at about this time.

Loyd is the force behind DX Central, a resource for DXers that does, among many things, data analysis. This month he unveiled SEDAP, an acronym for his Sporadic Es Data Analysis Project. It can be found at fmdxdata.com and is free to use by hams, educators and anyone with a hobbyist's interest in this special season that turns propagation magical in the eyes of many.

He writes on the website SWLing Post that he compiled more than 95,000 FM broadcast logs from North America to get the data relevant for the project, which goes beyond simple spreadsheets by adding interactive visualizations.

He writes: [quote] "SEDAP allows us to physically watch ionospheric clouds spawn, compress and track across the continent in real-time. We can finally see what a typical season looks like on a macroscopic level." [endquote]

He told the Radio World website that he also plans to include amateur radio data from 6 metres. He said that will permit analysis of days that had no propagation alongside days with active openings - days on which the maximum usable frequency did not reach the FM broadcast band.

JAPANESE AMATEURS GIVE WARM RECEPTION TO ANTARCTIC RESEARCH

Four kilometres off the Antarctic mainland on East Ongul Island, the research facility known as Showa Station stands as the starting point where researchers from Japan long ago began unlocking the various mysteries of the atmosphere, including studies of the ozone layer. The station has since become a resource for the Japan Meteorological Agency, the National Institute of Polar Research and other organisations -- and at any given time, 30 researchers are engaged in observations and analysis. The facility is even home to a ham radio club station of the Japan Amateur Radio League, and members of the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition team call QRZ using the callsign 8J1RL.

Starting this month and through to next January, the amateur radio action shifts north to Japan itself, where a different callsign is the one to listen for. Hams throughout Japan will be calling CQ as 8J7ØJARE. staring on the 22nd of May. Hams - who know well the importance of understanding the atmosphere - are paying tribute to the expedition's 70th anniversary and the team's establishment of this important research site. The on-air tribute will continue through to the 29th of January, 2027 - the date that marks the station's 70th anniversary.

INCREASED RECOGNITION FOR YOUTH ON DXPEDITIONS

Two young amateurs who are already experienced DXers and DXpeditioners have been given the responsibility of helping guide support for future DXpeditions to top entities around the world. Violetta Latham, KN2P, and Max Freedman, N4ML, are now among the panel of directors who will oversee ways the private Northern California DX Foundation can provide financial support to those teams.

Violetta's earliest DXpeditions include the Dave Kalter Memorial Youth DX Adventure in Curacao in 2018. According to her page on QRZ.com, she is scheduled to be part of the ZK3 team going to Tokelau in the South Pacific in November of this year and to South Georgia for the VPØSG DXpedition in March of 2027. Max's recent DXpeditions include this year's 3YØK activation of Bouvet Island, where he was the youngest member of the team, and his activation in Curacao as PJ2/N4ML.

Their selection underscores the importance of bringing younger hams into the DXpedition universe.

At the same meeting held on the 20th of April, the board accepted the resignation of George Wallner, AA7JV, who has been a leading proponent in developing Radio-in-a-Box technology for the DX community. His replacement is Gregg Marco, W6IZT, who has developed a Next Generation Radio-in-a-Box system that has been enabling more young hams around the world to become involved in DXpeditions via remote access. He has also led DXpedition teams that included young amateurs.

RAC SEEKS EDITOR FOR CANADIAN AMATEUR MAGAZINE

Alan Griffin, the current editor of The Canadian Amateur, the Radio Amateurs of Canada magazine, is retiring. The RAC is in search of someone to step into the role at the membership journal, which is published in print and digital versions six times a year.

Candidates should be experienced in the publishing, journalism or communications field and be familiar with desktop publishing software and the use of AI tools for writing. The editor is also responsible for the magazine's design and its content, which should be a balance of historical, technical, operating and community-focused topics. Content should also reflect the RAC's priorities.

The editor will also coordinate with advertisers and sponsors and manage the placement of ads within the magazine.

This is a contract position that requires oversight of the editorial content and management of the full production cycle.

The application deadline is May 15th. Interested candidates can send a resume, a cover letter and work samples to the RAC office manager, Adam MacDonell, at the email address in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org