The ARRL Foundation is now accepting new grant applications for amateur radio based projects.

The ARRL Foundation is accepting grant applications from amateur radio organizations for eligible amateur radio-related projects and initiatives, particularly those focused on educating, licensing, and supporting amateur radio activities. To grow amateur radio's future, youth-based projects and initiatives are especially encouraged.

Amateur radio organizations may apply here.

Source: ARRL

AMSAT has designated the recently launched HADES-ICM satellite as SO-125 (Spain-OSCAR 125). SO-125 was launched from a Falcon 9 rocket as HADES-ICM in March of this year. The satellite is a 1.5U PocketQube and contains an SDR based FM and digital repeater for amateur radio use.

The satellite carries an FM and digital repeater payload, built on an improved SDR-based platform capable of transmitting up to 0.25W when battery conditions allow. This makes it accessible to stations using handheld antennas like the Arrow antenna.

• Uplink frequency: 145.875 MHz
• Downlink frequency: 436.666 MHz
• No subtone required

Source: AMSAT

The following is from Steve (EI5DD), the editor of Ham Radio Ireland Magazine.

Ham Radio Ireland Magazine, a free E-Magazine is published every second month. It is Ireland's only independent freelance Amateur Radio Magazine geared towards all radio and electronics experimenters. Each month we strive to include all facets of the hobby and include CB, PMR 446, and POC radio information in addition to our regular Ham Radio articles.

Ham Radio Ireland has gone from strength to strength and we are reaching out to clubs and groups globally. Our Authors are not just form Ireland as we receive articles from many parts of the world.

Ham Radio Ireland Magazine isn't just about technical content. Our team of writers and editors are also passionate about the social and cultural aspects of the hobby, and we regularly promote activities of Radio Clubs all around Ireland and overseas.

Our magazine is distributed to social media sites and available for all to download. Our Magazine is free of charge. We are unbiased and inclusive. We are not affiliated to any club or society so there is no mutual backslapping we just get on with and enjoy the hobby!

Check out our Facebook Page Ham Radio Ireland.

Recently we have included links to a "Flip-Book" version of the magazine although we still retain our PDF repository on DocDroid.

Links to current and back issues in PDF format and, more recently in Flip-book format, may be found at https://galwayvhfgroup.blogspot.com/2022/06/connacht-regional-radio-newsletter.html

The editor is Steve Wright (EI5DD) and the sub editor is John Tubritt (EI3HQB).

Source: Ham Radio Ireland Magazine

Hamvention has released attendance numbers for 2025, and once again, the premier ham radio event has set an attendance record. For 2025, the official attendance was counted at 36,814. Compared with 2024's attendance numbers of 35,877, that's an increase of 937 attendees over last year. This marks two years in a row of record setting attendance at Hamvention.

Source: Dayton Hamvention

AMSAT-DL has scheduled the first futureGEO workshop for September 19th. While it's not immediately clear what the workshop will cover, based on the RFEI document in which the workshop is mentioned, we're likely to learn which amateur radio organizations will be actively involved in the futureGEO project, see discussion of potential payloads, as well as learn lessons from the QO-100 and related missions.

The workshop will take place during the AMSAT-DL Symposium at the Bochum Observatory in Germany.

Source: AMSAT-DL (PDF)

Open-weather will host an End-of-life Nowcast inviting weather and radio enthusiasts to capture recordings from the NOAA 15, 18, and 19 weather satellites. WAV recordings of the satellite passes may be uploaded through the Contributor Form and will be made available on the Public Archive. The Nowcast takes place on June 15th.

Public ownership and access to environmental knowledge is threatened by attempts to dismantle and privatise government agencies, such as the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that has provided satellite images to ground stations internationally since the 70s.

NOAA weather satellites 15, 18, and 19 will reach end-of-life status on June 16th, but will continue to transmit imagery.

Source: Open-weather

It's been nearly a year since we've seen public mention of the amateur radio focused geosynchronous satellite project that was proposed by the European Space Agency (ESA) back in late 2023. However, AMSAT-DL recently sent a Request for Expression of Interest (RFEI) to amateur radio associations, AMSAT organizations, and other experts.

The aim is to identify potential partners who would like to actively participate in the definition and development of a new amateur radio payload for a future geostationary satellite. Contributions should include innovative technical ideas, experiences from previous missions (e.g. QO-100) as well as concrete proposals for payloads, experiments and educational initiatives.

AMSAT-DL is currently referring to the project as "futureGEO." A copy of the RFEI request (PDF) is available. Feedback should be provided by June 30th, 2025.

In addition, the AMSAT-CA website suggests that AMSAT Canada has created a position paper to represent Canadian interests in futureGEO. The paper has not been published to the AMSAT-CA website. There's also no mention of when the paper was submitted or to which agency.

When asked about the project at the AMSAT booth at Hamvention, the representative I spoke with had no new information.

The ESA proposed the idea of a geosynchronous satellite back in December of 2023 with proposals from AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-DL following in late 2023 and early 2024. The footprint of the satellite is expected to cover Europe and large portions of North America.

Source: AMSAT-DL

AMSAT reports that the repeater aboard the HADES-ICM satellite will be active starting in June. The FM repeater will initially be active on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

The satellite has a 145.875 MHz uplink and a 436.666 MHz downlink. The NORAD ID for Keplerian elements is 63492.

Separately, HADES-R is in continuous operation with a 145.925 MHz uplink and a 436.888 MHz downlink. More information about HADES-ICM is available on the AMSAT website.

Source: AMSAT

According to minutes released from a recent ARRL Executive Committee Meeting, ARRL has suggested that its influence with the IARU could become limited should the proposed IARU restructuring plan be adopted.

Within the current structure, ARRL serves as the International Secretariat of the IARU Administrative Council. This gives ARRL the ability to nominate both the President and Vice Preseident of the IARU Administrative Council. Member societies from each country then vote on the nominations. The current IARU restructuring plan suggests a flatter structure that gives direct power to the member societies in the form of a General Assembly. The member societies would elect officers and board members directly without nominations put forth by ARRL.

In short, ARRL would transition from nominating officers to simply being one vote out of roughly 160 member societies that make up IARU.

In its meeting minutes, ARRL noted that the league is the primary financial backer of IARU and had calls scheduled to further discuss the matter.

Source: ARRL

By Ken Villone, KU2US, Event Founder

In just a few weeks, one of the most popular summer operating events kicks off – The 13 Colonies Special Event. Now in its 17 year the event has grown from Special Event Stations making approximately 12,000 contacts in 2009 to last year making 292,496 contacts around the world. The Event runs from July 1 9:00 AM - July 7 Midnight Eastern (July 1 – 1300 UTC – July 8 – 0400 UTC).

This year Event organizers are recognizing the 13 Colonies Special Event founder Ken Villone, KU2US, who is passing the torch on to Tony Jones, N4ATJ. For the past 16 years Villone has lead the Event by working with state and bonus station coordinators. Then after the event he would print out individual certificates for thousands of people who made contact with the special event stations.

The Special Event consist of one station operating in each of the 13 Colonies (K2A – K2M) and three bonus stations (WM3PEN – Philadelphia, GB13COL – England, TM13COL – France) each representing their city, state, or countries role in America’s Colonial period.

Villone describes how the event got started:

“I had just finished participating in the ARRL Sweepstakes in 2008, and remarked how fun it was. I could not figure out why there were not more of these type special events on the air? So I decided to try my luck and create one for one year only to see what happens and to have some fun. I knew we had to offer a special QSL card and/or certificate plus have on hand a printer and supplies. The hard part was deciding what the event would commemorate and when to do this. I needed a theme that ALL could relate to! Also the event would have to be the type with multiple event stations involved, like the ARRL Sweeps.

Then it hit me! 13 Colonies states, during the 4th of July week and offer a certificate with the theme for the year. I made sure the theme was different each year with a different certificate design, to make it interesting and to also make the cert collectable. The theme would highlight some event or thing connected to the American Revolution. The event was held July 1st to the 4th, 2009, 4 days with no advertising except on QRZ. I had a hard time getting 13 different Ops, one from each Colony state but it worked out. All in all it was a success! We did over 12,000 contacts the first year. I decided we have a good thing going so I recruited another Op from each state and ran the event the next year in 2010. We did over 32,000 contacts in 2010, and had 26 state operators total. There was a 13 Colonies special event in 1962 but only lasted one year, according to my research. (I was 13 years old).”

Ham Radio operators and SWLs can participate in the event. Complete information about the call for each colony station and the bonus stations can be found on the event website 13colonies.us and they can follow us on Facebook – 13 Colonies Special Event Community. Stations need only make one contact with one of the participating stations or they can go for a Clean Sweep and work all 13 Colony stations and the 3 bonus stations. Each station offers a special QSL card for the event as well as a different certificate each year. Operators can keep an eye out for the special event stations by watching many of the dx spotting networks such as DXSummit.fi.

Source: 13 Colonies

ARISS reports that HamTV is scheduled to be installed on the International Space Station in late June.

Originally installed in 2013, HamTV has been inactive since the equipment failed in 2019. HamTV has previously been used to facilitate school contacts with ISS astronauts.

Source: ARISS

By Cale K4HCK

Another Hamvention is in the books and this year's event was absolutely worth the 6 hour drive to reach the amateur radio promised land. From new radios, to connecting with internet friends face-to-face for the first time, there was a lot to be excited about. This year, Nate (N8FOO), the ham originally responsible for me getting into the hobby was willing to brave the long road trip and tag along with me. A road trip is always easier with good conversation and someone keeping an eye out for abandoned long-lines towers.

Hermes Project

One of the most compelling projects that we came across at the show was the Hermes project from Rhizomatica. Talking with this group was refreshing. The project aims to get dead simple, yet capable communications hardware into rural areas that don't have reliable internet or cellular service. The goal is to keep communities connected.

What really stands out with Hermes is the focus on simplicity when it comes to building a solution. The transceivers are built around an extremely simple interface that is unsurpassed in the world of amateur radio. Tap to send a message, type out the message to send, and tap once more to send the message. Perfect for their end users relying on a tool to survive.

Oh, and they're working on an Open Source replacement for VARA.

Meshtastic

One of the more exciting pieces of technology that I was anxious to see in action was the amateur radio adjacent Meshtastic project. They even had a special firmware set up just for the convention. However, I was somewhat disappointed in the lack of activity. While it worked well and I was able to exchange a couple messages, there just weren't that many nodes. Maybe 2 dozen or so? I was expecting exponentially more. I'll be curious to hear what others experienced.

Update: Talking with other Meshtastic users, it sounds like my device somehow missed the boat! Something to investigate.

DX Engineering and Summit Racing

We finally saw the crossover that ham radio and racing enthusiasts have been waiting for with a joint display from Summit Racing and DX Engineering. Maybe a race spec Miata outfitted with ham gear next year?

Zero Retries and IP400

IP400 was on display alongside the MMDVM group. It was exciting to not only see this project functioning, but to see it come together in a relatively short time span. Steve Stroh (N8GNJ) and Martin Alcock (VE6VH) have been pushing hard to get to this point and I'm excited to see what the next 6 months bring. But beyond IP400 we had the chance to spend some time with Steve Saturday night and just talk about all kinds of different aspects of amateur radio and technology. We did our best to solve all the problems, from figuring out how to light up dark repeaters to the best path to modernize the premiere publishers of amateur radio content.

No one else is doing the in-depth exploration of cutting edge technology in the world of ham radio like Steve is. Zero Retries should be required reading for all hams interested in the future of ham radio.

Hamvention Awards

Once again I was invited to attend the Hamvention Awards Banquet and once again it was a surreal experience. A number of exceptional hams were honored. We had the chance to speak with Dr. Kristina Collins (KD8OXT) who was presented the Hamvention Technical Achievement Award for her work helping to develop the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station Network. We also spent a few minutes with Julio Ripoll (WD4R) the recipient of the 2025 Special Achievement Award. He was instrumental in getting an amateur radio station into the National Hurricane Center in Miami back in 1980. I mentioned my experience with hurricane Andrew when living in Miami in 1992 and learned that Julio designed the repairs to the Turkey Point Nuclear Plant which sustained damage after a direct hit from Andrew. Incredible stories and the people behind them are uncovered at the awards banquet. Thanks to Michael Kalter (W8CI) and the awards committee for such incredible access. Hamvention is providing a great service by calling out and honoring the best of the amateur radio community.

Radio Club of America

A direct outcome of attending the awards banquet was being added as members of the Radio Club of America (RCA). Thanks to RCA for their generosity in welcoming Nate and I to their organization. The club is a mixture of amateur and professional broadcast worlds coming together to form a professional group that connects leaders and helps shape the future of wireless communications. We'll be publishing relevant insights and events from RAC moving forward.

RCA’s Mission: “The promotion of cooperation among those interested in scientific investigation in the art of Radio Communication.”

AI and Amateur Radio

We haven't yet seen AI become as pervasive in the world of Amateur Radio as it has become in the tech sector, but there were two notable points of progress to relay coming out of Hamvention. The first point has been well published, but it's worth calling out again that RADE is a digital voice mode that is built with assistance from LLMs and the result is quite possibly some of the highest quality digital audio over low-bandwidth RF available.

The other point is not as widely known. The TAPR booth was showing off a project from the Time-Nuts (aka Time Lords) in which the entire Time-Nuts email mailing list (going back 30 years) was combined with additional Time-Nuts documentation and indexed by an LLM. The result was a locally running instance of an AI assistant capable of returning answers relevant to any question related to precise time keeping. Hopefully this tool will be available to a wider audience, soon. We're likely to see more examples of libraries of information being made available in similar fashion.

Amateur Radio Has a Bright Future

In the end, Hamvention illustrates the strong community that makes up amateur radio. If you can look past the surface level aspects of the hobby that most of us are well familiar with, there's an incredible amount of people working really hard to advance this hobby for the next generation. One of the most encouraging sights at Hamvention was the group of college students huddled around the ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Program booth. The numbers were strong. Between the younger generation simply showing up and the older generation working to foster relationships with newer hams, the hobby is in good hands.

Source: Amateur Radio Daily

A special two day live webcast will take place at Hamvention in Xenia, Ohio on Friday and Saturday. For hams unable to attend Hamvention in person, Amateur Radio Roundtable will provide multiple video feeds and reporters covering the event. The live stream will be active both May 16th and 17th from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern time. Viewers can watch on the W5KUB YouTube channel or w5kub.com. A live chat will also be available.

Source: Amateur Radio Roundtable

Each year a series of Military Radio Nets take place during Hamvention. This year includes the WW2 Low Power & Backpack Net and the Cold War Backpack & Handheld Net.

WW2 Low Power & Backpack Net
1200 Local Time
3885 AM

Cold War Backpack & Handheld Net
1400 Local Time
51.0 FM

The 51.0 Cold War Net will be radios like the PRC-6, PRC-10, RT-70, PRC-25 and 77 with a good representation of older sets from the BC-1000 to newer SINGARS sets. We will also have a good showing of German, Russian and the last couple years captured Iraqi radios. The Czech RF_10 is another popular radio.

Source: VE3IPS

The IARU has released guidance on potential restructuring to help the organization meet modern challenges. The proposed changes would combine the 3 separate regional organizations into a single global entity.

The proposal (PDF) outlines a number of areas where the currently independent, regional organizations struggle. Problem areas include declining membership, duplication of resources, lack of coordination, and other various inefficiencies. The changes are designed to establish a number of benefits:

• Global representation
• Streamlined decision making
• Better allocation of resources
• Improved communication
• Long-term sustainability
• Centralized finances
• Greater influence

Member societies will vote on the restructuring with the potential for a transition as early as next year. The full consultation on restructuring (PDF) is available on the IARU website.

Source: IARU

The following are updates from recently published newsletters focused on ham radio.

Ria's Ham Shack: A preview of Dayton Hamvention
Ham radio's biggest annual event. This week I talk about activities at Hamvention in Ohio - what I plan to do and things you can do.
Ria's Ham Shack

Random Wire Review: Issue 130
Issue 130 leans into M17, covering an M17 radio, connecting to Kansas City Wide, configuring WPSD, and getting started free on M17. A beautiful new full-duplex AllStar node is available.
The Random Wire

Zero Retries 0201
Amateur Radio Isn’t Having All The (Radio) Fun, New Types of New Amateur Radio Operators… and Their Expectations, Langstone (V2) VHF / UHF Software Defined Radio Project, and more!
Zero Retries

Experimental Radio News 12
Satellite selfies, drilling with millimeter waves, mobile phone rescues, a hypersonic glider, and more.
Experimental Radio News

Radio Silence [068]
Do you sometimes wish that you can tear down your entire amateur radio station and start again? Not me, it was perfect.
73 from G5DOC

The Communicator May-June 2025 [PDF]
Mentoring Young Hams, Operation Manna, Computing Science and Ham Radio, Making a Better Heathkit Antenna, and more.
The Communicator

The Logger's Bark May 2025 [PDF]
Lamptenna 3, Numbers Stations, How FT8 Works, and more.
The Logger's Bark

Source: Amateur Radio Daily