'WAR OF THE WORLDS' SPECIAL EVENT REMEMBERS MARTIAN 'INVASION'

The fictional Martians may not have have their antennas tuned but members of the Delaware Valley Radio Association did as 16 operators called CQ for several hours in a public park in Grover's Mill, New Jersey, the site where the original broadcast radio drama played out in 1938. This was the club's fourth year hosting the event as station WØW [W ZERO W], and it was timed to coincide with the original late October airing.

There is a monument in the park honoring that broadcast, which put Grover's Mill on the map - but the hams' activation in the park may have left a lasting impression too:

Unlike the invading Martians, the visitors here came in peace. Cyclists participating in the township's "Martian Bike Ride" and other members of the public stopped by to get a close-up look at what amateur radio is all about. One young person even got on the air and logged one of the 159 QSOs that were made, according to Martin Crabtree W3PR.

Anyone saying "take me to your leader" would have been introduced, of course, to club president Martin - that's Martin, not Martian - who was outfitted appropriately in foil-covered fedora. Other hams wore antennae - but in this case, none of them were tuned for any transmissions except, perhaps, those from Mars.

RSGB TEAM HONORED BY BRITISH INTERPLANETARY SOCIETY

Newsline congratulates the team at the Radio Society of Great Britain's National Radio Centre. They were selected for the 2025 Sir Arthur Clarke Education and Outreach Team Award for their work advancing knowledge into amateur radio satellite communications. The British Interplanetary Society conferred the award which was accepted by RSGB General Manager Steve Thomas, M1ACB; NRC Coordinator Martyn Baker, G0GMB; and NRC Volunteer Brian Hardy, G4BIP.

HAM TO CHAIR COLLEGE'S NEW ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

Starting in the fall of 2026, students at Western Washington University will be able to enroll in programs in the new Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and to pursue studies in the school's first engineering graduate program. The courses were previously housed within the school's Department of Engineering and Design.

The Zero Retries Newsletter, which reports the development in its latest edition, said that Janelle Leger, dean of the College of Science and Engineering, credited student and industry demand as the primary reasons for creation of a new department. She said the move is being made with support from the state to create the degree programs. Majors will select from four programs, which include wireless networking and signal processing focus, as well as AI, electronics and energy.

The professor chairing the new department is Andy Klein. On the university website, the professor writes that having a standalone department will pave the way to creating partnerships and internships with companies and generate more internships for students. Andy Klein is an amateur radio operator who received the callsign KG7WFT in July.

LATVIAN HAMS CELEBRATE 100 YEARS OF BROADCAST RADIO

The hams who are calling CQ as YL100LR until the 2nd of November are sharing the story of Rigas Radiofons, which went on the air in 1925 with a 2 kW transmitter, two 45-meter-high antenna towers and equipment purchased from France. From its studio inside a post office building in Riga city, the state-owned station began its life on the air with a two-hour broadcast that included the Puccini opera, "Madame Butterfly" and a speech by Minister of Transport J. Pauluks.

The evolution of radio broadcasting in Latvia is closely tied to that of amateur radio there: When the Latvian Radio Society helped create the Radio Subscribers Law, they created a category for radio experimenters who eventually became the nation's hams. From the start, hams were big supporters of the newly created broadcast station. In fact, by 1926, a spare transmitter at the station was being used for ham radio communications. The relationship remains strong to this day and many amateur radio operators in Latvia are also broadcast radio professionals.

REPORT: LITTLE OR NO SECURITY FOR SATELLITES' SENSITIVE TRANSMISSIONS

Using a commercially available satellite dish, a team of researchers at two US universities confirmed the lack of security protecting the at-times sensitive content being broadcast from satellites. The teams at the University of Maryland and UC San Diego said that they easily tapped into geostationary satellite transponders sending private consumer data, internal corporate communications, voice and SMS transmissions from mobile phones and - perhaps most disturbing - military transmissions that were particularly sensitive.

The research teams released their findings on the 13th of October and the contents were carried by the website Wired. They said that the satellites’ extreme vulnerability was discovered with the use of nothing more than off-the-shelf radio equipment that is widely available on the market.

The teams concluded that at least half of the geostationary satellites carrying such data do not have effective encryption in place, leaving the contents of the transmissions accessible to hackers and others with the ability to monitor them.

According to the report, the researchers alerted many of the satellite operators after the discoveries were made. They wrote, in their report: [quote] “In several cases, the responsible party told us that they had deployed a remedy.” [Endquote] They included WalMart, T-Mobile and KPU. They note that remediation was still going on for other affected parties and, as such, the team did not identify them in the report. In the meantime, they said, end users are able to encrypt their network traffic via a Virtual Private Network and, on mobile devices, the use of end-to-end encrypted apps.

HURRICANE MELISSA SPURS HAM ACTIVATIONS

As Newsline went to production, Hurricane Melissa was still a developing story in the Caribbean. The Category 5 storm had already done catastrophic damage to parts of Jamaica as it continued its rampage through the region. The Hurricane Watch Net was active on 14.325 MHz and 7.268 MHz and advising all other traffic to avoid those frequencies The VOIPWX.net was monitoring calls for help and Skywarn weather reports from impacted areas. Many reports came from the Caribbean Digital Amateur Radio Service and other amateur radio stations who relayed information from Jamaican News Radio as well as local ham stations. Newsline will be following amateur response to the storm and its aftermath.

ON DXPEDITION, A PILEUP OF THINGS GOING WRONG

Operating from the Manihiki Atoll in the North Cook Islands had been the shared dream of five hams from the Western Washington DX Club. They weren't just activating the 68th most wanted DXCC entity; they were dreaming of pileups.

The pileups they got were the unwanted pileups of malfunctions which began not long after they put the callsign E51MWA on the air on the 9th of October. Twelve hours in, their solar plant experienced a voltage loss and they were unable to start their backup generator. The team went QRT for several hours. Back on the air during the next few days, they suffered the failure of a power strip, they lost the use of one radio and then the high-power bandpass filters for 17 and 12 metres failed to work.

The final blow to their dream came on the 14th of October with a local power outage. The team got their backup generator started but then the generator and the power station's building both caught fire and were destroyed.

It was time to go home to Washington state for Rob N7QT, Brian N9ADG, James KC7EFP, Robin WA7CPA and Jack N7JP. The sixth operator, Violetta KN2P, a 21-year-old contester, was also scheduled to move on. She was headed to the PJ2T youth-led operation in Curacao for the CQWW SSB contest.

The team's plan had been to be on the air at Manihiki until October 20th. Instead they posted a message on their website on the 14th. [quote] "Without power options the team has no choice but to go QRT." [endquote] Six days ahead of schedule, it was over. As they packed, they added one more thing to their cargo: big plans that they alluded to in a message on their website. They wrote [quote] "As the team packs equipment for return shipment to the US, we are already thinking of the next DXpedition." [endquote]

SCOTTISH MICROWAVE ENTHUSIASTS PREPARE FOR ROUNDTABLE

Microwave fans, whether they're newcomers or longtime enthusiasts, are preparing to attend the 13th Scottish Microwave Round Table on the 1st of November at the Museum of Communication in Burntisland, Fife.

The roundtable will have available microwave test facilities available and attendees will be able to purchase components and other items. The GM4LBV Trophy will be presented as part of an annual construction competition held in memory of Scottish microwave enthusiast John Eaton. It bears the callsign of John, who became a Silent Key in 2012.

For details about the event or registration information, see the link in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org

YOUNG AMATEURS LEARN NEW MODES FOR EMCOMM

In India, ham radio operators are focusing more on DMR - Digital Mobile Radio - as an alternative to analogue VHF, UHF and HF. Fifty young hams were recently given training in DMR programming and operating by the Indian Academy of Communication and Disaster Management and the West Bengal Radio Club, led by Jayanta VU2TFR and Soumya VU3FWK.

According to the club secretary, Ambarish Nag Biswas VU2JFA, this was the first hands-on training in DMR for radio operators who will be using DMR in the vast remote delta region known as the Sunderbans. Dipak Chakraborty, VU2TLW, the academy's vice principal, told the group afterward that DMR's potential in such remote areas has prompted the academy to plan yet another workshop focusing specifically on those challenged regions.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, members of the Ham Radio Emergency Communications Group Inc., DX1HAM, devoted part of the 68th annual Jamboree on the Air scouting activities on October 18th to teach Boy Scouts of the Philippines the basics of operating two-way radios. The hams were preparing the next generation to be familiar with the kind of radios used by licensed emergency communicators when severe storms imperil public safety in their western Pacific island archipelago.

ARDC PREPARES FOR NEW ROUND OF GRANT APPLICANTS

Grants are available from Amateur Radio Digital Communications, which is giving top priority to projects in one of several areas: supporting satellite technology for ham analogue and digital communications; developing hands-on, open-source and educational materials and projects for learners in schools and clubs; and delving into open-source hardware and software systems that include SDRs, new modulation techniques and CODEC technologies.

ARDC said that projects outside these areas would also be welcome to apply but that these areas are closest to the core of the organization's goal of [quote] "promoting the freedom to tinker, build, communicate, and openly share information." [endquote]

Details can be found at the link in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org

'PUMPKIN PATROL' IN ITS 4TH DECADE TO ENSURE DRIVER SAFETY

Halloween can be a time for mischief and that mischief can turn deadly, as it almost did in 1976 when an object thrown from a bridge over the New York State Thruway smashed the windshield of a truck below. The shattered glass injured the driver, who was talking on his citizens band radio at the time. The other CB radio operator heard that the trucker was in distress and decided immediately that she and two friends would bring their radios to that overpass and two others in their county and stand watch the next evening.

New York State police now conduct the Pumpkin Patrol in various counties traversed by the Thruway and for more than four decades, ham radio operators have been there too. This year the teams of volunteer radio operators will be out on the nights of October 30th and 31st, keeping in constant touch with a net control station that can call for emergency response if necessary.

They are, of course, hoping it will not be necessary.

CANADA ELIMINATES EXPIRATION DATES FOR BROADCAST RADIO LICENSES

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission will no longer require broadcast radio stations to renew their licences, as part of a rule it said it has adopted to help stations save money and shrink administrative burdens. The commission said it was hoping the action would amount to a boost for terrestrial broadcasting which, while facing challenges recently, nonetheless remains a vital source of news, information and culture.

A report on the RadioWorld website said that the open-ended licences will replace those that presently have a maximum term of 7 years. The commission will phase in the new licensing framework as the stations apply for their renewals.

In a statement, the CRTC assured broadcasters that station monitoring would still be vigilant despite the switch to the open-ended licences. Compliance reviews, which traditionally have occurred at the time of licence renewal, will instead be conducted as needed.

SILENT KEY: AMATEUR RADIO HISTORIAN JOHN DILKS III, K2TQN

John Dilks III K2TQN so loved the old rigs, the crystal sets, the spark transmitters and the keys that he assembled a collection of them -- ham radio artifacts from amateur radio's earliest days -- and called it the John Dilks Old Radio Museum. History was so much his passion and expertise that at one point he was asked to consult and provide radios for the 2013 film, "Paranoia," featuring Harrison Ford, when it was shooting outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

John, who was first licensed in 1956 as KN2TQN, became a Silent Key on the 12th of October.

Readers of QST magazine remember his monthly column, "Old Radio," which ran in the ARRL publication from 2000 to 2014. Members of the Antique Wireless Association recall him too as a respected member. According to his online obituary, his love of history extended beyond the evolution of amateur radio. He often gave presentations that touched on great moments in history, including radio's role in the 1923 expedition to the North Pole -- and its role as well aboard the ill-fated Titanic luxury liner. In his volunteer work with the World Peace Camp in 1989, he devoted time to helping children earn their amateur radio licenses.

John was 84.

SILENT KEY: NOTED DXER, COMMUNICATIONS SCHOLAR CHARLES HARPOLE K4VUD/HSØZCW

Hams and non-hams around the world alike got to know Charlie Harpole after the earthquake and tsunami that ravaged Thailand and other regions in Southeast Asia in December 2004. Charlie, whose numerous callsigns included K4VUD, HSØZCW and VU3CHE, became a line of communication for major broadcast networks and print media as the tragedy and rescue efforts unfolded.

Charlie was already well-known as a film and communications scholar and professor in the United States. An active DXpeditioner and ham radio advocate, he was reported by the Daily DX as having become a Silent Key. His contributions over the years included testing out the new 5 MHZ amateur band, followed by a successful completion of the first two-way transatlantic contact on that band via ham radio on July 4th, 2003.

An article in the student newspaper of the University of Central Florida, where Charlie had been a professor, recognised the vital role he played during the 1996 Liberian Civil War, contacting a missionary confined in a compound there amid the fighting and relaying information he was requested to pass along by the UN and the US State Department.

The world heard more from Charlie in December 2004. He had been filming and providing support to the VU4 DXpedition on Andaman Island when the tsunami disaster swept over South Asia. As DXpeditioners switched to handling health, welfare and emergency communications messages, Charlie returned to Thailand, where he and his wife were living, to provide radio support for recovery efforts after the loss of conventional communication. He also provided realtime information to many of the world's media organisations, including MSNBC and CNN.

Charlie was 80.

HAMTV MAKES 1ST ARISS CONTACT IN 7 YEARS

he Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program has reason to celebrate. With the help and hard work of technicians, engineers and other team members, ARISS marked the first contact in seven years that made use of HamTV - a QSO between the 1st Radford Semele Scout Group in the UK and NASA astronaut Jonny Kim KJ5HKP on the 18th of October. The digital amateur TV transmitter based in the Columbus module permits the audience to view live video downlinks during their contacts with the astronauts.

As he called up to the space station to say the team and the European HamTV ground stations were ready, Ciaran Morgan, MØXTD, ARISS operations lead for the UK, dedicated the call to Gaston Bertels, ON4WF. Gaston was at the helm of the HamTV technical team until he became a Silent Key in December 2024. He had been a key player in getting the L/S band antennas installed on the Columbus module. HamTV operated until 2018, when its failure brought it back to earth so repairs could be made. The unit was returned to the ISS in 2024. This past July, it resumed its transmissions and members of the British Amateur TV Club, who were standing by for those first signals, happily reported good copy.

To see the HamTV contact between the ISS and the Scouts visit the YouTube channel of SP5LOT at the link in the text version of this week's newscast.

WHEN ZOMBIES COME TO LIFE - AT LEAST, ON THE AIR

Popular operating events, like zombies, never seem to die -- but what happens when one long-running popular operating event is, in fact, full of zombies? It's an event that rises from its eternal slumber for one day every year in the hopes that the bands may not be dead. Welcome to the Zombie Shuffle, which is marking its 28th year of bringing CW operators back to life by inviting them into the slow lane of QRS while operating QRP.

You will find the QRP Zombies in their usual HF haunts on the 24th of October - one a week before Halloween. They will be on the air from 1500 local time to local midnight anywhere in North and South American time zones. This is considered a contest, so no one stands a ghost of a chance grabbing a contact on 60, 30, 17 or 12.

By the way, the organizers want you to know that there's no point to this event except - as they say on their website - [quote] "to get on the air and have some goofy fun with fellow Zombies and QRPers." [endquote] In other words, this is just a little exorcise....er, exercise in radio fun.

To learn more or to register for your official Zombie number, visit the event website at the link in this week's newscast script at arnewsline.org

[DO NOT READ: https://www.zianet.com/qrp/ZOMBIE/pg.html ]

The zombies are coming. You could be one of them. Be not afraid.

SUNDERBANS DXPEDITION TO FEATURE YOUTH OPERATORS

Organisers from the Amateur Radio Club of Khulna are calling the Sundarbans DXpedition a "milestone event" that will combine the talents of newly licensed ham radio operators from Bangladesh under the coordination of Shuvo S21CMD.

Operating from what is considered the world's largest mangrove forest, the youthful team of as many as 20 will be putting the callsign S21SDX on the air from the 13th through to the 15th of November. Shuvo said in an email: [quote] "Bangladesh's few young amateur radio operators are not only connecting voices across continents but also carrying the spirit of nature in every transmission, whether calling CQ or sharing stories over HF." [endquote] They will be operating on most of the HF bands using SSB and FT8. The activation in the west forest division of the Khulna Range will be a POTA activation as much as a DXpedition. The Sundarbans is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a sanctuary for the Bengal tiger.

Shuvo said [quote] "Our target is to test and prove the potential of young amateur radio operators of Bangladesh and to spotlight the beauty, biodiversity, and cultural richness of the Sundarbans to the world through the universal language of radio." [endquote]

AMATEUR TRIO PLANS MALDIVES 'WET SQUARES' ACTIVATION

Operational plans are under way to activate around the Maldives but don't expect to log any contacts from Islands on the Air locations. The grid squares for 8Q7OS are being activated as "wet squares" during an ocean-diving safari led by Sergey R9OOF with Mariya UB9OGC and Dmitry UB9OFY. Listen for the callsigns 8Q7OS/mm, 8Q7DD/mm and 8Q7MD/mm from the 26th of October through to the 2nd of November. They'll be on the air using SSB on 20, 17, 15 and 10 metres.

During this not-uncommon way to combine boating adventure with amateur radio, the hams won't just be fishing for QSOs but diving for recreation from a chartered yacht.

So if the Maldives archipelago is on your list of All Time New Ones, Sergey writes on his page on QRZ.com that you're bound to be disappointed. He wrote: [quote] I am not on air from any islands." [endquote

NEW ATTENDANCE RECORD FOR NORTH STAR RADIO CONVENTION

The 11th of October was a busy day on the Hennepin Technical College campus in Brooklyn Park, where an attendance of more than 250 set a new record for the North Star Radio Convention in its third year, putting the convention more prominently on the state ham radio map.

Program manager, Dale Henninger, WØDHZ, told Newsline [quote] "The convention has successfully revived the tradition of a statewide amateur radio convention in Minnesota - something the community had been without for more than two decades." [endquote]

This was also the 2025 ARRL Minnesota State Convention, organized with the support of 11 local ham clubs whose members provided volunteers and financial sponsorship, through the Minnesota Amateur Radio Consortium.

The agenda included a transmitter hunt, a QRP QSO Party, a Get on the Air station and 25 educational sessions covering a range of topics.

Dale said that the convention is one way in which the groups work together to [quote] "strengthen Minnesota’s amateur radio community and inspire the next generation of operators." [endquote]

HISTORIC TRANSMITTER'S MESSAGE OF PEACE

The world will be listening on Friday, the 24th of October, for a message of peace to be transmitted from a radio station that secured its place in history more than a century ago. The Grimeton Radio Station in Sweden, a World Heritage Site, will deliver a message to the world on the occasion of United Nations Day, a day set aside for promoting global unity - one of the goals for which the UN was founded eight decades ago.

The message will go out on the VLF frequency 17.2 kHz from the Alexanderson alternator that dates to 1924. As always, the mode will be CW. Where possible, listeners will tune their receivers, their SDRs or navigate to YouTube.

Ham radio operators, of course, will be able to mark the occasion by doing some transmitting of their own on the HF frequencies. Amateur Radio Station SK6SAQ will be on the air on 80, 40 and 20 metres, both CW and SSB for those who wish to make contact.

For a schedule of the transmissions and information about the ham radio station, visit the link that appears in the text version of this week’s Newsline script at arnewsline.org