Peter King The Commonwealth Contest is a unique annual event which has run every year since 1931. Held over the weekend nearest to Commonwealth Day, it is loved by many radio amateurs throughout the Commonwealth. In 2024 over 240 individual entrants and 15 Commonwealth Headquarters stations representing national societies were active. The Commonwealth Contest is a treasure … Read more
Exercise Blue Ham will take place on the 29th and 30th of March on the 60m band. Stations will be active between 9am and 6pm. Blue Ham exercises provide a platform to further develop Cadet radio operator skill and confidence by engaging with the amateur radio community via the MOD 5MHz shared band. Cadet radio … Read more
Amateur radio operators are reminded to take care when operating on the WRC-15 secondary amateur allocation at 5MHz. The UK still has no access to the full WRC-15 allocation. Despite requests, this seems unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. Whilst the UK is fortunate to have more generous licence conditions, it is imperative these … Read more
Our February monthly meeting included our Annual General Meeting (AGM) where the Committee for the next Club year remained much the same but with the addition of Steve G5SRO joining the team as Publicity officer. We also took a looked at our subscriptions and it was decided for this year to keep them at the … Read more
BRARS is running special event station GB0LMR during 2025 to celebrate 200 years of train travel since 1825. Operation will be focused on the 40 and 10m bands and QSL will be via the Bureau. More information is available at QRZ.com and webrars.info.
PA80OV is a special event station to commemorate Operation Veritable. Operation Veritable, namesake of the station and the successor of Operation Market Garden, was the northern part of an Allied pincer movement in the Second World War. Members of the Radio Club Limburg will activate the PA80OV callsign from 13th to 28th February 2025 and … Read more
Listen out for special event station TM22AAW which will be on the air on 8th to 20th February. The station will be active in celebration of the 22th Antarctic Activity Week. More information about the station is available at qrz.com/db/TM22AAW. The new reference for Worldwide Antarctic Program is 354. QSL via F8DVD, directly or via … Read more
Don’t forget that Girlguiding groups will be taking part in World Thinking Day on the Air activities over the weekends of the 15th and 22nd of February. The aim of the event is to encourage Girlguiding members to make friendships with those in other units, using amateur radio as the means of communication. A list … Read more
Have you been involved in inspiring newcomers to amateur radio? Do you have a knack for introducing and explaining the fundamental principles of our wonderful pastime to the uninitiated? If so, have you considered writing for RadCom Basics? Tim, G5TM, the RadCom Basics Editor, welcomes all suggestions. If you have ideas for future articles, email … Read more
Lots of operators are on the air, until the end of January, with stations taking part in the World Wide Award. If you have been listening to the HF bands, you will have heard lots of stations using callsigns with a WWA suffix. Points are awarded for working these stations using a variety of modes. … Read more
Ofcom has announced a consultation which seeks to simplify the licensing of amateur radio visitors to the UK from a specified list of countries. The consultation also covers the proposed simplification of other wireless equipment usage. Ofcom says: “We propose to introduce a new licence exemption for short-term use of radio amateur equipment by radio … Read more
On the 15th of February, Girlguiding members will celebrate World Thinking Day on the Air. The aim of this event is to encourage Girlguiding members to make friendships with those in other units, using amateur radio as the means of communication. On this day, Crawley Amateur Radio Club and RSGB volunteers will be hosting special … Read more
Don’t forget that the next event in the popular 145 Alive series will take place on Sunday the 26th of January 2025. It will run from 12pm to 3pm and there will be nets operating in most Maidenhead Squares across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. To take part in the event, which is designed to … Read more
Do you like making things? Or are you interested in creating software for use in amateur radio? Have you thought about entering the RSGB’s Construction Competition? This annual competition is judged online to allow RSGB members from the UK and across the world to participate and demonstrate their creativity. In line with the Society’s strategic priority … Read more
British Railways Amateur Radio Society is running special event station GB0LMR during 2025 to celebrate 200 years of train travel. Operation will be mainly focussed on the 40 and 10m bands. QSL via the Bureau. More information about the station is available at QRZ.com
In celebration of the 70th anniversary of the GB2RS News service, special callsign GB70RS will be on the air from the 1st of January. Listen out for operators on all modes and all bands. QSL via the Bureau, eQSL or Logbook of the World. For more information, please visit the GB70RS page at QRZ.com
Sweden’s Alexanderson alternator station SAQ has scheduled a transmission to send out a traditional Christmas message to the world. The century-old 200kW transmitter will start up and begin tuning at 0730UTC on Tuesday the 24th of December using CW on 17.2kHz. Transmission of the Christmas message will take place at 0800UTC. The event will be … Read more
The weekly shortwave broadcast from the Deutsche Amateur Radio Club, or D.A.R.C as it is also known, will be aired from Woofferton in England for the first time from January 2025. The broadcast will be made from an existing BBC broadcasting complex that is operated by the subsidiary company Encompass Media, where there is a … Read more
The next in the series of 145 Alive events is taking place on Sunday the 26th of January 2025. The organisers are looking for volunteer Net Controllers to help cover as many Maidenhead squares in the UK as possible. Whether you’ve been a Net Controller before or not, the team would love to hear from … Read more
The historic VLF transmitter at Grimeton Radio Station in Sweden is celebrating one hundred years since it was put into commercial operation. The unique Alexanderson alternator operates using callsign SAQ. To mark the centenary a special transmission will take place at 1000UTC on Sunday 1 December using CW on 17.2kHz. The event will be livestreamed … Read more
With just two weeks to go until Youngsters on the Air Month, operating slots for GB24YOTA are fast filling up. The special call sign will be active throughout December and is a fantastic opportunity to get youngsters active on the amateur bands. Whether you are part of a school, university, youth group, a club or … Read more
The RSGB Contest Club is excited to announce that the second World Wide Award event will be taking place in January 2025 and it is looking for volunteers to take part. Last year’s event included 28 RSGB members who made in excess of 109,000 contacts. The Society’s Contest Club has confirmed there are currently special … Read more
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, also known as ARISS, will be conducting Slow Scan TV operations from the International Space Station between the 11th and 18th of November. There will be 12 images to catch during the week-long experiment, which will be on the theme of the 40th anniversary of amateur radio in … Read more
The VARC Satellite group have been making big strides to completing the system up at the cabin. They have been meeting regularly on a Wednesday evening and have installed a rotator with azimuth and elevation functionality. Ambrozy (M7MLU) made the first contact through the system steering the antenna manually. More recently they have aquired a … Read more
The Memorial Day QSO Party is an activity providing participants with an opportunity to honour amateur radio operators who are now Silent Key. The event is being sponsored and managed by the First Class CW Operators’ Club and is open to all licensed amateurs. The eventbegins at 0900 UTC on the 1st of November 2024 … Read more
grid.radio is a web application born out of the frustration that Rose, 2E0RXO and many others experienced during spontaneous, often unplanned, Parks on the Air activations. During busy moments, someone would inevitably ask for a Worked All Britain square or another reference that she wasn’t prepared for. There wasn’t a single, simple resource to quickly … Read more
Jamboree on the Air, also known as JOTA, is taking place between the 18th and 20th of October. The event promotes friendship and global citizenship and is a brilliant celebration of amateur radio among the groups within the Scout Association. Some groups have already shared details of activities that will be taking place over the … Read more
1940s Weekend! 21st / 22nd Sept’ Fun for all the family, this two-day event in September is a chance to step back in time and enjoy a marvellous weekend of vintage entertainment. Why not dress to impress and visit us in 1940s attire? Enjoy live music throughout the weekend and visit the market stalls and … Read more
Ofcom has released a new step-by-step video on its YouTube channel to assist radio amateurs in the process of revalidating a UK amateur radio licence using the online licensing portal. Ofcom does note that whilst it is a requirement to revalidate your licence every five years, it is recommended to do it annually. Make sure … Read more