Ham Operator Shoots The Moon

Moonbounce: Ham operator from Pupukea shoots the moon.

PUPUKEA — Alex Benton aimed for the moon yesterday. His shot was heard around the world.

Benton — better known to friends as KH6YY — became the first Hawai'i amateur radio operator in more than 25 years to successfully bounce a signal off the moon and have it heard back on Earth.

After fiddling with rigged equipment that included an old 12-foot satellite television receiving dish and a World War II-era plane engine, Benton and visiting expert radio operator Bruce Clark successfully sent a signal from Benton's backyard tower in Pupukea to the moon, some 238,000 miles away.

Radio Ham in Hawaii

The Salopian Web

Frequently Asked Questions about Amateur Radio. Roy, G8AYD.

Do I need a Licence?
In the UK, no licence is necessary to receive amateur radio transmissions, but one is needed if you want to transmit on amateur radio frequencies.

How do I get a licence ?
To obtain an Amateur Radio Licence in the UK, you must satisfy Ofcom, the UK licencing authority that you are competent to operate an amateur transmitter. ( For other countries, contact your national society for details.)
In the UK Ofcom sets the minimum standards. The Radio Society of Great Britain conducts examinations on behalf of the Ofcom to test licence applicants. You must obtain a pass in the examination(s) before submitting your licence application to them on their website. Ofcom publishes a useful document, 'How to Become a Radio Amateur' obtainable free, either on line, or by writing Ofcom. This publication includes an application form. Similar requirements exist in other countries.

What types of licence are there?
Although in many countries, licencing arrangements are similar, they vary in detail from country to country, and it is beyond the scope of this FAQ to cover them all. For further information, contact your national society.

Lots more Amateur Radio Information

Southgate Amateur Radio Club

Since its original inception in 1936 as the Southgate and Finchley Group of the RSGB, the aim of the Southgate Amateur Radio Club has been to hold meetings, bringing together persons interested in Amateur Radio or Electronics generally, and to foster the spirit of Amateur Radio.

Providing a meeting place and forum where those with similar interests can share their experiences, discuss their problems and enthuse about their achievements.

Activities include talks on technical subjects, equipment sales, DF hunts, contests, informal meetings and demonstration stations.

Membership is open to all who are interested in any of the many facets of Amateur Radio, our numerous and various activities not being restricted to those that hold transmitting licences.

Read on for more Amateur Radio News

Civilian Space Traveler Making Ham Radio Contacts from Space

NEWINGTON, CT, April 11, 2007.
Less than a day in space, civilian space traveler Charles Simonyi, KE7KDP/HA5SIK, is already making contacts with the earthbound ham radio community from NA1SS.

The billionaire software pioneer and aviator arrived April 10 at the International Space Station with the Expedition 15 crew of Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin, RN3FI, and Oleg Kotov.

Yurchikhin, Kotov and Simonyi launched in a Soyuz spacecraft two days earlier from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) International Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, says he's received several reports that Simonyi has been making contacts, including some the evening of April 10 with stations in Hawaii and the US Northwest

Radio Ham Billionaire in Space

Planet Ham

Planet Ham is a website designed to aggregate blogs produced by Amateur Radio enthusiasts. The aim is to provide a central directory of Amateur Radio blogs so that interested browsers can visit subscribers sites and read about the various aspects of the hobby in detail. I believe that the Internet is a great way to share ideas and I hope that this website can help promote this.

Please follow the hyperlinks to the blogs as Amateur Radio websites often offer a wealth of information that an aggregator will miss.

The backend of the website is based on PlanetPlanet, which fetches syndication feeds such as RSS and Atom from subscribed blogs. You can author your own blog using a service such as Blogger.

Amateur Radio Information in a Click

How Radio Ham BBC man scooped invasion news

Walk down London's Portland Place, heading south from Regent's Park towards Regent Street,and you come to a kink in the wide road. Immediately ahead of you is the plush Langham Hotel, very expensive and also one of the most haunted buildings in London.

To your left, BBC Radio's headquarters at Broadcasting House. This busy location, on the northern edge of London's West End, was the focus of the way the story of the Falklands invasion unfolded exactly 25 years ago.

Back in 1982 I was a BBC journalist and also an amateur radio operator - I still am. That means I have a call-sign - G3UML - and some expertise in long-distance short-wave communications.

Read more of this intriguing story

International Marconi Day

International Marconi Day
This year marks the 20th anniversary of International Marconi Day (IMD) established to celebrate the birth of Guglielmo Marconi on the 25th April, 1874 and traditionally held on the Saturday closest to the actual date.

Located just outside Chelmsford, Essex, the village of Writtle was to play an important role in the developement of public broadcasting so on Saturday 28th April 2007 there will be a special event station active from land adjacent to the original Marconi 2MT transmitter site using the callsign GB2MT.

Unfortunately the actual site is now under a housing developement.
Archive material shows the 2MT station was not operated by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company but by one of its subsidiaries, the Marconi Scientific Instrument Company.

Local Radio Hams to be involved

Syria on amateur radio April 10-27

YK, SYRIA. Saad, N5FF, will once again be active as YK1BA. He is expected to arrive in Damascus during the evening of April 9th and should be active between April 10-27th, before returning home to Texas on the 28th. Saad informs OPDX, "As usual, the purpose of the trip is not a DXpedition, so my operating will be spotty. However, I hope to be able to operate.......

Radio Ham in the Middle East

Special Events to Commemorate 95th Anniversary of Titanic Tragedy

NEWINGTON, CT, Apr 4, 2007 -- Several Amateur Radio special event operations are scheduled to mark the 95th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic.

The "unsinkable" White Star Line passenger vessel was on its maiden voyage from Liverpool, England, to New York City when it struck and iceberg and sank early on April 15, 1912.

More than 1500 people perished, while some 700 passengers in 19 lifeboats were rescued by the RMS Carpathia, whose radio operator copied the frantic "SOS" transmitted by MGY radio operator Jack Phillips as the Titanic foundered.

W0S/GB2MGY . Special event W0S, which stands for "White Star Line".

US and GB Ham Groups to operate Special Event Stations