Foundations of Amateur Radio
Soldering Irons and Software – The activity of amateur radio revolves around experimentation. For over a century the amateur community has designed, sourced, scrounged and built experiments. Big or small, working or not, each of these is an expression of creativity, problem solving and experimentation

RAC Canada Day Contest: Celebrate Canada’s Birthday on the air!
The global pandemic continues and we want to make sure that all participants in the RAC Canada Day Contest on Thursday, July 1 help us to celebrate Canada’s birthday safely

Wooden satellite expected to launch end 2021
The ARRL reports the WISA Woodsat project, being sponsored by plywood supplier WISA in an unconventional PR initiative, is poised to place a wooden satellite into orbit by the end of the year

RCI English section: goodbye
Canada’s international broadcast service from the English language team of Radio Canada International has come to an end. RCI, (originally the International Service, CBC-IS) was initially created towards the end of the Second World War

Another satellite constellation prepares for launch, this one aimed at next-gen connectivity for IoT devices
Not keen on a 5G mast in your street? At least it’d be harder for crackpots to burn down ‘a flying cell tower in orbit’

Military Radio and the SAS
BAREC, Bendigo Amateur Radio and Electronics Club are holding their May meeting – ‘Military Radio and the SAS’ with John Trist VK2MOP. John served as an SAS patrol signaller and instructor and will provide a very informative presentation on military radio

China’s Mars rover touches down on the red planet
China’s space program took a major leap today when it successfully landed the Zhurong rover on Mars, marking the country’s first landing on another planet. Teams will now prepare to roll the rover off its landing platform and onto the dusty Martian surface to begin a mission to search for evidence of water and hints of past life

Volunteer Monitor Program April report
The ARRL has released the April 2021 Volunteer Monitor (VM) Program Report. The VM Program is a joint initiative between ARRL and FCC to enhance compliance in the Amateur Radio Service

Iceland: June date for postponed Amateur radio exam
Iceland’s national amateur radio society, the IRA, has announced an amateur radio exam session will take place on June 5

Portuguese special event
Look for special event station CR65PQ from Tancos, Portugal, to be active in celebration of the 65th anniversary of Tropas Paraquedistas (Portuguese Paratroopers) between May 17-23rd

UK broadband speeds on the rise
Average download speeds increased by a quarter last year, according to new Ofcom research into the UK’s broadband speeds

Spanish Special Event
Members of the Cartagena Team group will activate the special event callsigns AM5IP between May 28th and June 6th

DX News from the ARRL
The American Radio Relay League’s round-up of the forthcoming week’s DX activity on the amateur radio bands