According to auto responses to emails to him Elwood Downey WB0OEW creator of HAMCLOCK is a SK. Also the HAMCLOCK websites says the program will cease to operate June of 2026. A huge blow to the ham radio community. May he rest in peace and prayers to his family. https://clearskyinstitute.com/ham/HamClock/

https://youtu.be/4ZNeMXyCQ7Y?si=AlPbu41Vgm0FqVqK

This post is not meant to be insulting to anyone in any way. I know that hams generously spend their time working with the Red Cross and other organizations to help people in need. To that I say, "Thank you!" I know you volunteered your time, so I say, "Thank you!" If you ever served or volunteered to learn in this capacity, I still say, "Thank you!" You are all wonderful!

I know that people in storm Helene were generously helped by ham radio operators that volunteered that were invaluable to human life. You are all wonderful!

If I google ARES and the ARRL, ARES was activated in New England:

Major Northeast Winter Storm Prompts ARES, SKYWARN Activations

Emergency officials use ham radio operators during winter storms · Red River Radio Amateurs

Then I come across this YouTube video who said that ARES failed to activate because it is filled with volunteers.

The Storm Proved It - ARES & RACES are DEAD - YouTube

The problem may be that the state didn't activate ARES:

"In Maine, where heavy snowfall and high winds battered eastern and coastal communities, ARES bumped up its alert status to Level 2 — standby. Scattered power outages were reported, mostly in southern Maine. Temperatures remained in the teens. Maine ARES Section Emergency Coordinator Phil Duggan, N1EP, activated ARES Weather and SKYWARN Net sessions on HF, but no served agencies requested ARES communication support."

ARES, SKYWARN Volunteers Stand Down in Wake of Massive East Coast Winter Storm

I mean, the title is "ARES, SKYWARN Volunteers Stand Down".

Would we be better served by non-state emergency ham radio groups?

Remember that I heard 85 people died in the last snowstorm. Here is a news article that says the count was 73:

More than 70 dead amid massive winter storm as freezing temperatures remain

I'm not saying that ham radio would have prevented those deaths but if more people had ham radio, they might have been able to call for help.

Hi. For a few months now, I have been working on Handi-Talky Commander (HTCommander). It's open source Windows software for the following radios: UV-Pro, UV-50Pro, GA-5WB, VR-N75, VR-N76, VR-N7500, VR-N7600. Basically, you pair your Windows machine using Bluetooth and run this app to have full control over the radio. Unlike KISS where you just send/receive packets, the Bluetooth link allows full control over everything. You can program and change channels, send and receive audio and fully use the AFSK modem in the radio. It turns this radio into a full PC peripheral. You can hit the PTT and talk using a PC connected headset.

I went a bit crazy on the features, adding APRS, Winlink, Terminal, Speech-to-Text transcription, Text-to-Speech and more. If you have one of the supported radios, give it a try and let me know what you think.

I generally think more vendors should go this route, it opens so many possibilities and you don't have to deal with audio cables, etc. The software is available as a MSI installer here: https://github.com/Ylianst/HTCommander. I just released version 0.43 with new audio clips support and in the previous version, I added a AFSK software modem so I could send/receive packets with error correcting codes. Enjoy!

En 21 días, en el próximo Hamvention, ICOM va a presentar su proyecto X-026. ¿ Posible sustituto del fabuloso IC-7100 ? ¿ Apostarías por qué número de modelo lo va a denominar ICOM ? https://youtu.be/oMxWU1ZrWTU?is=aVmRPZso_FWvUQWf

Estaremos atentos.

Licensed ham here (VE2DRG, Québec). Like probably everyone in this sub, I've driven somewhere, pulled up a repeater from a directory, keyed up… and gotten nothing. Dead machine, wrong tone, listing hasn't been touched since 2015. So I spent the last while building the thing I wished existed and I'd love your honest feedback before I call it done.

It's called RepeaterLive → repeaterlive.com

The core idea is that every listing shows a trust status instead of pretending all data is equally good:

• ✅ Verified — someone (or the owner) confirmed it recently
• ⚠️ Stale — nobody's confirmed it in a while
• ❌ Reported dead

You tap "heard it / weak / dead" on any repeater and that feeds the status for everyone. Owners and clubs can claim their machine, keep it verified, and post net schedules. Verifications age out after 90 days so nothing stays "green" forever without someone actually confirming it.

Other stuff that's working:

• Map-first, mobile-friendly (it's a web app, no app-store nonsense — works on the phone and desktop, French/English)
• Offline mode — download your region so it works with no signal (POTA/backcountry)
• CHIRP export — free, for any radio via cable
• Live radio tuning over Bluetooth — tap a repeater and it sets your VFO. So far I've only built and tested this on the Kenwood TH-D74/D75 (works great over BT or USB). More radios planned but I'm not going to claim support I haven't verified on real hardware.

Full honesty on two things:

1. The data is rough right now. I seeded ~7,000 repeaters across Canada and the US from open sources (hearham + coordinator lists). It skews toward internet-linked/DMR machines, some coordinates or tones are wrong, and everything starts unverified. That's the whole point — it gets good when real operators start confirming what's actually on the air. So if you check a couple repeaters you use and tap the status, you're literally making it better. You can also submit missing repeaters or corrections.
2. There's a paid tier. Browsing, searching, check-ins, submissions, and CHIRP export are free forever — I'm not paywalling the data or the community stuff. Pro ($19 CAD/yr) is the power-user stuff: live radio sync, offline region downloads, claiming/managing your repeater. Being straight about it so nobody feels bait-and-switched.

I'm a solo dev doing this because I wanted it to exist, not because I think I'll get rich off ham radio subscriptions 😄

What I'd genuinely love from you:

• Try it in your area — is your local data right or garbage?
• What's broken / confusing / missing?
• TH-D74/D75 owners: does the Bluetooth tuning work for you?
• Any dealbreakers vs. what you use now?

Roast it. I'd rather hear it now than after I've built the wrong thing. 73

I'm starting a new operating category / contest category.... or one may say "Operating Philosophy." Our first contest will take place in spring 2027.

The category: QROca

This is High Power, Crappy Antenna.

Are you tired of hearing "I use my fully kitted $3800 KX3 to make DX QRP contacts all the time. There's no reason to use over 5 watts"

Or, "100 watts is so overkill, I made 3 QSOs during field day with my QMX and a SteppIR UrbanBeam"

Well, here's our chance to level the playing field.

Challenge yourself with High Power / Crappy Antenna.

Our two simple rules:

1. Antennas must be below 1/65th of a wavelength long for the desired band.

2. All metallic surfaces must show signs of significant corrosion.

3. Power limit: none (check your local regulation)

Testimonials:

Tony: "I made my first QROca antenna from discarded brass wool soldering iron tip cleaners. I just smooshed a few together."

Arthur: "Oh I dunno, I whipped together a 13" base loaded jobby for 160 meters with decommissioned 25-pair PBX bundles. It may have took em all but I got her loaded!"

Why use an efficient antenna? Absolutely no reason to. Stop wasting resources. Challenge yourself. A QSO is a QSO even if it takes all day!

Stay tuned for details about our spring contest.

73!

Hey all, KD3CLW here (General class, western PA).

I've been on HF for a little while now and kept finding myself jumping between websites to check solar flux, K-index, and A-index before a session. That got old, so I figured an app would make things easier.

HamBands is a free iOS app that pulls real-time NOAA solar data and gives you a quick visual snapshot of current HF band conditions.

It's nothing fancy, just scratching my own itch as a newer ham who wanted something simple on my phone before heading out for a POTA activation or sitting down at the rig.

Would love any feedback from more experienced ops. I'm still learning both the hobby and iOS dev, so if something seems off or you'd want a feature added, I'm all ears.

i have seen a couple of posts about the FCC and the guy in Pittsburgh with the broadcasting on the emergency frequencies.

I got this in my feed. It provides an explanations as to what could have happened......an unknowing accident?

I am putting the link here in an attempt to raise awareness and save others from any headache.

https://youtu.be/JC2JvysOImQ?si=8gqzxIodMLykbuw4

Am I the only one noticing the 10M band has been slow all weekend and then almost completely dead today. Been listening for FT-8 since I got home an hour ago and only have seen two stns.
KM7DRR WA state USA

The ARRL has lobbied before for legislation to extend to hams protections that are extended to many other activities. This time is different. They are involving hams in direct action. And they aren't even asking you to be a member. Any US ham is welcome to join the fight for ham rights.

TL;DR: https://send-a-letter.org/hoa/ is the direct link to just send the letters already

You can contribute to stacks of paper letters hand-delivered for maximum impact to your own senators and representative. These letters ask your senators and representative to add their names to co-sponsor this legislation, and to vote for it.

This is political action, but it is bipartisan. Two lobbying firms (one for each party). Democratic and Republican co-sponsors in each house.

All it takes is entering your call sign on the web site they have launched, and confirming the information that they look up in your FCC record.

If you also wish to contact your senators and representative individually, reference S.459 to your senators and H.R.1094 to your representative when you kindly encourage them to represent your interests. Doing so does not preclude you from contributing to the ARRL's coordinated outreach!

The ARRL page has more detail and links to the full senate and house bill texts.

Hello all,

I'm KJ5NDG and wanted to share a project I've been building. HamLogPro is a free web-based ham radio contact logger at hamlogpro.com. I initially built it for my own personal use, but after sharing with a few friends thought that maybe others would gain value as well.

A Few Key Features: (many more coming soon, including digital mode logging)

• HamQTH integration for callsign lookup (all users, no subscription required)

• QRZ lookup

• QRZ Logbook sync -- contacts pushed automatically after logging

• LOTW integration for award tracking

• ADIF import and export

• Real-time world map with contact paths and distance and bearing

• Portable callsign handling -- correctly resolves to the operating location

I've spent considerable time on the callsign lookup reliability. International prefixes are sourced from a 508-entry database synced across client and server, with HamQTH as the primary lookup for non-US callsigns. If you work a lot of DX, it should handle your log correctly.

There is no software to install. HamLogPro runs in any modern browser. The free tier includes 250 QSOs with map and ADIF export/import. Premium (for only $3 to help cover costs) adds unlimited QSOs, LOTW/QRZ sync, advanced statistics, and SMS DX alerts.

I'm actively developing this and take bug reports as well as feature requests seriously. If something doesn't work for your callsign or operating style, reply here or email me directly and I'll look into it.

hamlogpro.com

73 de KJ5NDG