Foundations of Amateur Radio #203
How does a Software Defined Radio or SDR work?
If you’ve been around the hobby in the past decade, you may have come across the invention of a Software Defined Radio, or SDR. You might even own one and if you’ve looked into how it works, read the explanation that essentially describes it as a traditional radio where all the components are implemented in software

RSGB at Vienna IARU-R1 meeting this weekend
An RSGB team is in Vienna this weekend for a key IARU Region 1 meeting to discuss changes and opportunities for VHF/UHF/Microwave (C5), HF (C4) and EMC (C7)

Arduino and RF from kHz to 1 GHz
We are very excited to announce the RFzero – a multipurpose Arduino RF and GPS controlled platform. The RFzero can generate frequencies from 2605 Hz and beyond 200 MHz 

Amateur radio club lends a hand to fire fighters
The Borneo Post reports the Miri Amateur Radio Club has joined the battle to douse the stubborn peat fire near the Malaysia-Brunei border

CQ WIA Annual Conference
The WIA Annual Conference is almost upon us, only four weeks to go, this year’s event will be held at the impressive Park Royal Hotel near Darling Harbour in the heart of Sydney

Propagation de K7RA
Following a good two-week run, sunspots disappeared after April 20

Video of FT4 talk by Joe Taylor K1JT
On March 15, Joe Taylor K1JT gave a talk on the new digital mode FT4 to the Fair Lawn amateur radio club

Coronation station HS10KING/mm on geostationary satellite
To mark the Coronation of King Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun (King Rama X) from May 4-6, 2019 the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand under the Patronage of His Majesty the King will be operating a special event station

The $50 Ham: Dummy Loads
Dan Maloney KC1DJT writes on Hackaday about how to build a dummy load

Digital Activity Days ’01-10′
Digital Activity Days ’01-10′ are held annually in January and May in the following periods:
– from 00:00 UTC on January, 1st till 23:59 UTC on January, 10th;
– from 00:00 UTC on May, 1st till 23:59 UTC on May, 10th

ISWL callsigns for May
The following ISWL club callsigns will be used throughout the month of May 2019

First consultation on proposed changes to BBC iPlayer – call for evidence
The BBC today published the outcome of its public interest test on changes it proposes to make to BBC iPlayer

Intrepid Spirit Award
The Intrepid-DX Group is pleased to announce the recipient of the annual ‘Intrepid Spirit Award‘. We are pleased to have received so many worthy nominations to consider

Tony’s 10m Band Report
So FT4 is about to be launched. This is a contest specific mode to be incorporated into WSJT-X as I understand it. About half the transmit and receive time of FT8. Bring it on!

Lots of AM (Spain) stations about but for me accolade of the week goes to LU9DCE (Argentina). Not only did he manage high popularity all week he managed to spot all his contacts. It all helps to show 10m is active and alive.

Commemorations of the Freedom Day (25 April) in Portugal
Freedom Day (25 April) in Portugal is a national holiday, with state-sponsored and spontaneous commemorations of the civil liberties and political freedoms achieved after the revolution. It commemorates the 25 April 1974 coup and Portugal’s first free elections on that date the following year

Ham radio at school open day
The school poster proclaimed ‘Amateur Radio – Your Gateway to a Career in Engineering and Science’

Free PDF of AMSAT satellite journal
To celebrate their 50th anniversary, AMSAT North America is making available a free PDF of the March-April 2019 edition of their journal

K8FBI Special Event station, May 5th
The Flying Beers International ARC will be running special event station using our club call K8FBI on Sunday May 5 from 11am until 5pm EST

Elín TF2EQ: Nordics On The Air Finland 2019
Iceland’s national amateur radio society, the IRA, reports on Finland’s Nordics On The Air, held April 19-22, which was attended by IRA Youth representative Elín TF2EQ

Cosmic rays nearing a space age record
Cosmic rays penetrating Earth’s atmosphere are intensifying, and nearing a Space Age record for dose rates

NASA social media efforts win two Webby Awards
NASA’s social media presence, which has grown from a few accounts more than a decade ago to dozens of channels with millions of followers, was honored Tuesday with a pair of Webbys and People’s Voice awards as part of the 2019 Webby Awards

Fair Lawn Amateur Radio Club to partner with the National Park Service for Earth Day special event
The Fair Lawn (NJ) Amateur Radio Club (FLARC) will again partner with the National Park Service with a special event amateur radio station to be held at the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park in Paterson, NJ

AMSAT VP for Human Spaceflight Programs explains operations onboard the ISS
As a result of the recent SSTV event onboard the ISS, a large number of questions arose. The questions mainly centered on the crew’s ability to troubleshoot equipment and make adjustments to the station

Free PDF book – C & GUI Programming
The Raspberry Pi Press have published a free PDF book – An Introduction to C & GUI Programming by Simon Long

CMH donates laptops to amateur radio groups
The Wilmington (Ohio) News Journal reports Clinton Memorial Hospital recently donated surplus laptops to local amateur radio clubs

Radio hams help woman return to village
The West Bengal Radio Club (WBRC) – an organisation of ham radio enthusiasts, has been instrumental in helping a woman from Jharkhand to return to her village