HAM RADIO BUSINESS OWNER KILLED IN PLANE CRASH IN AUSTRALIA

The single-engine plane had just taken off from a private airstrip on Tuesday, January 27th, when it came down, killing the pilot and his passenger at the scene. The pilot was identified as Greg Ackman, VK4BBX, owner of Mobile One Australia. Various news reports described him as an experienced aviator. His passenger was said to be from Sydney. According to media reports, the two were on their way to New South Wales.

Greg designed much of the amateur equipment sold by the company he founded. A ham since 2021, he was a visible presence at amateur radio events throughout Australia. At the time Newsline went to production, investigators were still trying to determine the cause of the crash.

SILENT KEY: ELWOOD DOWNEY, WBØOEW, CREATOR OF HAMCLOCK

As Newsline went to production, we learned of the sudden death of Elwood Downey, WBØOEW, the developer and creator of the popular open-source HamClock software. The popular Linux-based digital information display has been a mainstay in amateur radio shacks, where hams have eagerly awaited updates and new versions.

The revelation that Elwood had become a Silent Key on Thursday, the 29th of January, was accompanied by a message on his clearskyinstitute.com website. It announced his death, adding that the final release of HamClock is version 4.22. All HamClocks are to stop functioning in June of this year. In a separate posting on Facebook, Bruce Kempf, KC3JS, announced that he was halting all sales of turnkey HamClocks until there is a functioning replacement. He asked for fellow HamClock enthusiasts to help find a means to get a functioning server and edit the code to allow this to work.

MOTORISTS QUEUE UP FOR "Q" CODES

No doubt you've been on the air and heard QSL, QSO and QRZ. If you check into any nets, you have also likely met up with QNC, QNI and QNF -- but have you ever encountered any of these while driving? Here in New Zealand, our cars don't just have turn signals - they have Q-signals.

David, ZL2WT, recently reported to Neil ZL1NZ, the NZ-Net News net manager, that he's been seeing more and more vehicles with plates that are sporting all kinds of Q-signals. That's because New Zealand, which issues three letters and three numerals to each of its newly registered vehicles, does so in alphabetical order. Not quite two years ago, the system began issuing plates with the letter "Q."

A busy radio operator, David is always on the alert for a QRZ -- but when recently spotted one while he was taking a walk, he wasn't operating pedestrian mobile. It was on the plate of a car at a nearby QTH. Sadly, he didn't find a QTH -- at least not one that was on a car. He was ready to locate a QRV, however -- and he did -- parked not far from his own QTH.

David told Newsline that the worst Q code any car can receive is "QSD." An enthusiastic CW operator, he knows that it means: "your keying is defective." He told Newsline: "I would not own a vehicle with that number plate."

Now....I'm not driving but it's time for me to put the brakes on anyway. Time to go QRT.

ORGANIZERS SCOUTING FOR SITE FOR 2030 WRTC

A competition of sorts is taking place among would-be hosts for the 2030 World Radiosport Team Championship -- and the organisation's Sanctioning Committee has set a deadline of the 15th of February to receive letters of intent. The letters should include the proposed time frame and location, the estimated budget with fund-raising plan, and identify the officers and organising committee.

Letters of intent - or questions about the host-selection process - should be sent to DougK1DG at gmail dot com. (dougk1dg@gmail.com)

The committee would like to announce the next host during the closing ceremony of WRTC2026 in July in the UK.

INDIAN HAMS PROVIDE SAFETY NET AT HINDU PILGRIMAGE

The Gangasagar Mela, the week-long Hindu pilgrimage that takes place each January where the Bay of Bengal meets the Ganges River, is a sacred time for millions throughout India. The crowd size makes it a perilous time as well: A man suffered a stroke, a toddler became separated in the crowd from her mother and the father of a teenager nearly drowned, according to news reports.

Members of the West Bengal Radio Club, who have been a steady presence at the Mela for many years, are deployed with their radios into the crowd, connecting with a central hub. To successfully find the toddler’s mother, a trio of radio operators shared a photo of the 3-year-old with others and reached out to an amateur radio operator in the family’s hometown in Bangladesh for additional information.

In another instance, a teenage girl said her father had not returned from his visit to the shore of the island, prompting the hams to conduct a search. They got in touch with the on-site health centre and learned that he had been transported there after nearly drowning earlier in the day in the shallow waters surrounding the island.

The hams were also able to reassure the family of a 64-year-old stroke patient. They contacted his family to let him know he required medical assistance and had been airlifted to Kolkata for treatment.

NOMINATION WINDOW CLOSES SOON FOR HAMVENTION AWARDS

A short window of time remains to nominate candidates for this year's awards to be presented at Hamvention. The categories are Amateur Radio Club of the Year, Amateur Radio Operator of the Year, Technical Achievement and Special Achievement.

The Club of the Year award honors organizations that demonstrate commitment to their community and society. The Operator of the Year acknowledges active amateurs who are also active contributors to the amateur community-at-large and its future. The Technical Achievement award recognizes hams whose inventions, experiments or other related accomplishments have improved ham radio. The Special Achievement Award honors an individual who has shown, over the years, a commitment to professionalism, service and advancement of ham radio in general.

Nomination forms can be found on the Hamvention website at hamvention.org. You will also find details about supporting documentation that is required.

The nomination period closes on the 10th of February.

SILENT KEY'S RIG DONATED TO ASSIST AMERICAN RED CROSS

The legacy of Silent Key Jack Lunsford, NT7MM, is going to help save lives. Jack, who had been a member of the Northern Arizona DX Association, became a Silent Key at the age of 94 in December of 2024. His daughter presented his beloved Kenwood radio to the DX Association, hoping it would continue its mission of communication and good will.

Bob Wertz, NF7E, the association president, has ensured that this will happen: He has donated the radio to the American Red Cross office in Flagstaff for use by licensed amateurs among the staff and volunteers.

Denny Preisser, KC3DTB, a Red Cross recruitment specialist for the region, acknowledged the gift, saying in a press release: [quote] “Ham radio provides emergency broadcasts when everything is down. They are more powerful than portable radios and can be used to communicate around the globe. Lately, there has been a resurgence of ham radios with wildfires and other disasters.” [endquote]

CABLE DAMAGE SPURS MORE TAIWANESE TO BECOME HAMS

Last summer, a court in Taiwan gave a three-year prison sentence to the Chinese captain of a ship registered in Togo after he was convicted of deliberately damaging Taiwan’s underwater cables.

Though that high-profile case in the justice system appeared to settle one incident, Taiwan remains challenged by such ongoing damage, which cuts the island off from the rest of the world. Taiwan is also embroiled in ongoing tensions with Beijing, which claims the self-ruled territory as its own.

Recent media reports say that amateur radio is being seen as Taiwan’s wireless workaround to maintaining connectivity. A civil defence group there has been providing ham radio instruction to prepare candidates for their operating licences. Although there is already an amateur radio presence in Taiwan, represented by the Chinese Taipei Amateur Radio League, these newest candidates are pursuing licensed status especially because of the damage being done to the cables. Their hope is to be able to step in and maintain communications if Taiwan is cut off from the Internet. More than 90 percent of Taiwan’s Internet traffic is carried by 15 international and 10 domestic communication cables.

ARTEMIS 2 ROCKET ROLLS OUT ONTO LAUNCH PAD

If all goes well, astronauts Reid Wiseman, KF5LKT; Victor Glover, KI5BKC, Jeremy Hansen, KF5LKU, and Christina Koch, could be poised for liftoff as soon as early February on the Artemis 2 test flight. Though the crew won't be touching down on the moon's surface, the test flight's 10-day journey will establish a path for an eventual longer human presence on the moon. In fact, it will be a springboard, in a manner of speaking, to send the first NASA astronauts to Mars. By the time the quartet splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, their journey will have taken them the farthest from Earth that any crewed mission has ventured.

This will be the first human spaceflight to the moon in more than 50 years.

Last year, the US space agency asked hams with the necessary capabilities to observe the Doppler shift on the spacecraft's S-band return link carrier signal. The spacecraft's S-band range is between 2200 and 2290 MHz. Volunteers will not be transmitting or uplinking signals.

US LAWMAKERS AGREE TO RESTORE VOA FUNDING

US lawmakers in Washington, D.C., have reached a deal that would fund the Voice of America, giving its parent organization, the US Agency for Global Media, an estimated $653 million. That figure is considerably lower than the annual $860 million provided previously to the agency.

As described on the Radio World website, the funds would also pay for restoration of operations for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia. A minimum of $30 million is earmarked for medium- and shortwave programming by the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.

The deal is part of a larger spending bill, the National Security Department of State and Related Programs Appropriations Act. It has the support of both parties in Congress and its funding plan goes against the White House's executive order from last year which shut the international news services. Even if the measure receives final approval from the House and Senate, it will still require the president's signature.

LEVEL S4 SOLAR RADIATION STORM DISRUPTS HF COMMUNICATION

Our top story this week is the most severe solar radiation storm in more than 20 years. It began on Monday, January 19th and lasted through much of the week. The National Weather Service declared the storm to be at an S4 level - a degree of severity not seen since October of 2023. S4 is the second highest level of this type of storm.

The storm's severity, which exceeded that of the one in October of 2023, disrupted the HF bands, challenging ham radio operators, while creating spectacular auroral displays.

STUDENTS IN RURAL INDIA WITNESS QSOS VIA ISS REPEATER

The outdoor assembly of young people may well have been the largest of its kind - more than 12,000 students on hand to watch ham radio contacts being made via the International Space Station's repeater -- during a science and space program in Gujarat, India.

The two-way contacts, arranged with support from AMSAT-India and the Indian Space Research Organisation, was demonstrated by Rajesh Vagadia, VU2EXP, AMSAT-India's regional coordinator. It happened in late December as the ISS passed overhead. Using a portable satellite ground station, Rajesh began calling CQ using the space station's crossband FM repeater. The first successful contact - with VU2MZT in Maharashtra - was heard by the students as the downlink audio was amplified through a PA system. The young crowd erupted in applause. Two other contacts followed during the space station's brief overhead pass.

Writing in one of the forums on QRZ.com, Rajesh noted the significance of the moment, saying that many of the students were hearing live signals being transmitted via the space station for the first time in their lives. Rajesh, who called the size of the outdoor ham radio demonstration unprecedented, wrote: [quote] "The event stands as a testament to careful planning, technical expertise, teamwork, and unwavering commitment." [endquote]

To watch the contacts being made, see the short YouTube clip on his channel. The link appears in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org

APRS DIGIPEATER TO BE FEATURED AT HAMCATION

If you’re visiting the Hamcation fairgrounds between the 13th and 15th of February and you’re bringing along an APRS-enabled device, tune it to 147.585, using a path of TEMP1-1. That will get you into the digipeater being set up by the Daytona Beach Amateur Radio Association, enabling you to connect with others at Hamcation, sending and receiving messages.

The Dayton group is sponsoring the digipeater activity and calling it APRS Day Out, allowing radio operators to practice the kind of networking skills that would come in handy during events like Hamcation - or during a crisis.

Once you’re connected, your first message should, of course, be “CQ,” to let everyone know you’ve arrived on the network.

See more details about APRS Day Out by following the link in the text version of this week’s newscast at arnewsline.org

CALIFORNIA HAMS BROADEN WINTER FIELD DAY PARTICIPATION

The Tehachapi Amateur Radio Association, AC6EE, is calling the event the inaugural Wintertide Disaster Outreach. This year’s exercise on January 24th is combining all the basics of this important amateur-radio preparedness drill with roles for the public safety and disaster response agencies that they customarily work with during crises. That means the Salvation Army, local search and rescue and representatives from the city of Tehachapi will be among those on hand.

The group’s Field Day coordinator Theresa Scott, W5ILP, and its public affairs officer, Micah Martin, KN6VUT, told the Tehachapi News that including the community partners simply made sense this year since they are part of the realtime response team with the hams when calamity strikes.

The group is also hoping that bringing this expanded public visibility to Winter Field Day might also inspire more people, including spectators who come to learn more, to pursue their amateur radio licenses.

Micah told the newspaper that the Winter Field Day Association, which supports this exercise every January, was not aware of any other Winter Field Day events that had planned such a wide-ranging involvement this year.

It’s being done for a good purpose, according to Theresa, who told the newspaper [quote]: “We really want to encourage people to get on board with this…It can be a lifesaving tool.” [endquote]

FCC SET TO OK NEW UNLICENSED DEVICE CATEGORY ON 6 GHz

The Federal Communications Commission intends to approve unlicensed operation on 6 GHz by a new category of devices known as "GVP" devices - which stands for geofenced variable power. The devices are commonly used with short-range hotspots, indoor navigation, automation and augmented or virtual reality devices. A number of tech companies, such as Apple, Microsoft and Qualcomm, have been advocating for the move.

The FCC will grant the devices a higher power than previously permitted for other unlicensed devices, and require them to use geofencing systems so they do not interfere with radio astronomers and fixed microwave links

The FCC's vote is set for the 29th of January.

UK REGULATOR EYES FREQUENCY-SHARING BY DEVICES

In the UK, the regulator Ofcom has proposed changes in radio-spectrum that would make it Europe’s first country to implement the sharing of the same frequencies between two different technologies. The proposal looks specifically at the upper portion of the 6 GHz band, where priority usage would be given in one portion to Wi-Fi devices such a routers and another to mobile devices, such as cell masts.

Ofcom said the move to this so-called prioritised spectrum would most directly benefit businesses, households and the UK economy in general. The change would affect indoor and lower-power Wi-Fi, and any higher-power Wi-Fi under the control of an Automated Frequency Control system as protection against interference.

The regulator will be accepting comments on the proposal no later than 20 March.

SILENT KEY: "LINUX IN THE HAMSHACK" HOST RUSS WOODMAN, K5TUX

Family, friends, and followers of the popular "Linux in the Hamshack" podcast are grieving the loss of its host Russ Woodman, K5TUX. Russ became a Silent Key on the 14th of January. His death came 16 days after hospitalization for complications from influenza.

His wife, Cheryl, W5MOO, who posted daily updates on his condition on Facebook, announced his death.

The news hit family, friends, and his followers hard. On his YouTube channel, Russ tells viewers that although he first began Linux in the Hamshack to give amateurs options beyond using closed-source software, his efforts gained momentum and expanded into podcasts, video tutorials, and other activities. As his constituency grew, he proudly called Linux in the Hamshack (quote) "a podcast, a state of mind, and a phenomenon" (endquote)

For more than 15 years, his podcast has been co-hosted by numerous fellow amateurs, including his wife, Cheryl.

Russ, who was first licensed in 1993, was 56.

SILENT KEY: ADOLF SHEPHERD, VU2AF, HELPED GROW HAMFEST INDIA

An enthusiastic CW operator who was also widely known for having a warm and dignified voice on the air, Adolf Shepherd, VU2AF, believed in extending friendship through the airwaves. Those who joined him on the evening HF net, AIRNET India, looked forward to the welcome they always received from him as net control. One radio operator, Sandeep Baruah VU2MUE, wrote in a Facebook post that Adolf had a strong and positive presence on the net. He said [Quote] "To countless listeners, it felt as though he was attempting to unite the entire nation of India through a single, thirty-minute radio transmission, binding distant operators together in a shared moment of communication and purpose." [endquote]

Adolf's enthusiasm and hard work is also credited with having transformed a modest regional hamfest into what is now known as HamFest India, a popular national event.

Adolf, who was first licenced in 1966, was reported to be a Silent Key on the 7th of January. No other details were given. On his page on QRZ.com, he described himself as [quote] "one of the few oldtimers still on the air." [endquote]

RADIO NOISE CANCELS, DIVERTS FLIGHTS IN GREECE

Flights into Greece were temporarily grounded, delayed or diverted this month after an unexplained noise was heard over radio frequencies that are used to communicate with aircraft. The air-traffic radio blackout caused a loss of all frequencies, according to reports from the Association of Greek Air Traffic Controllers. The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority told the media that the cause was a [quote] "continuous involuntary emission" [endquote] disrupting communications on the 4th of January.

Authorities said they were able to rule out any likelihood of a deliberate attack but they were continuing their investigation into what they called an unprecedented outage. It was suspected that the two-hour standstill was the result of some unknown technical issue. A report by the BBC said that one theory reported was that a station in the mountains near Athens had failed.

Greece's Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport said that there are plans to upgrade the country's aging air navigation systems and have the modernization in place by 2028.

FINANCIAL TRADERS RENEW PLEA FOR USE OF HF BANDS

The Shortwave Modernization Coalition is pressing the FCC for an answer to its petition, which was filed in the spring of 2023. The group is seeking the authorization to transmit on the bands between 2 MHz and 25 MHz under Part 90 of the FCC rules. A number of the bands being sought either include or are adjacent to amateur radio bands.

The coalition's original filing drew substantial opposition from amateur radio operators and the ARRL, citing the potential for interference. The ARRL said that in 2024, the IARU's monitoring system detected what was believed to be HF trading interference on the amateur portion of 20 meters.

The US Coast Guard also objected to the petition, saying additional traffic would raise the noise floor for everyone.

Last year, three of the firms were given FCC approval as experimental licensees. They were prohibited from charging fees or receiving payments for anything related to their on-the-air operations. The coalition believes that granting permanency will solidify their status in business and will not create interference, as feared, because the technology exists to locate open channels.