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PY2BIL > ARNR 21.11.25 15:08l 320 Lines 14250 Bytes #58 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2508 for Friday, November 21st
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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2508 for Friday, November 21st, 2025
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2508 with a release date of Friday,
November 21st, 2025 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. A newly reopened FCC tackles its backlog. A
milestone achievement for digital-voice quality - and get ready for some
serious meteor-scatter experiments. All this and more as Amateur Radio
Newsline Report Number 2508 comes your way right now.
**
**
FCC REOPENS AFTER HISTORIC US GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Our top story this week takes us to Washington, D.C. where
the US Federal Communications Commission has gone back to work. It has quite
a bit of catching up to do, as we hear from Randy Sly W4XJ.
RANDY: After a 43-day shutdown that left 80 percent of the staff furloughed
at the FCC, the agency has reopened and begun tackling a serious backlog. As
a result, the commission has announced new deadlines for many of its filings,
including amateur radio licenses.
In a public notice released on November 17th, the FCC said that renewal
filings for amateur radio, GMRS and other personal radio licenses now have a
deadline of March 5th, 2026. This deadline relates to all renewal filings
that were due on the 1st of October through - and including - the 5th of
March, 2026. Holders of expired licenses who now have their renewal-filing
deadlines extended will be able to continue operating meanwhile, as per FCC
rules.
The nation's longest government shutdown ended with lawmakers' agreement on a
bill that maintains funding for federal agencies and programs -- at least
until January 30th, 2026, when the country could face a replay of the
closure.
**
HUNGARIAN AMATEURS CELEBRATE BROADCAST CENTENNIAL
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: There was a time in Hungary when the simple act of a radio
broadcast - or listening to one - was a crime. Now it's a special event, as
we hear from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
JEREMY: The transmission of radio signals of any kind was merely an
experimental pursuit in Hungary until late 1925 - and listening to radio over
the air, or having privately owned amateur equipment - was forbidden. All of
that was to change later that year with the start of the first Hungarian
public radio broadcast on 1st December. One hundred years later, amateurs in
Hungary are celebrating Hungarian Radio Day, when radio was permitted there.
Nine special callsigns - all beginning with "HG100" - are on the air
throughout December until 31st, operated by amateurs from the Hungarian Radio
Amateur Society and the Honfy Jozsef Radioclub. Contacts have been made since
the 15th of November on CW, SSB and the digital modes on 160 to 10 metres.
The operators are also making use of the QO-100 satellite.
The Hungarian Radio Amateur Society website has a full list of the nine
callsigns and more details about how to receive a commemorative certificate.
This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
(425DX BULLETIN, PESTBUDA.HU, HUNGARIAN RADIO AMATEUR SOCIETY)
**
INDIAN AMATEURS STUDY IMPACT OF SEASON'S TRANSITION
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: You’ve heard of Winter Field Day and you’ve heard of the
traditional ARRL Field Day held in the summer in the northern hemisphere. Jim
Meachen ZL2BHF takes us to West Bengal, India where amateurs have just
completed a “season transition field day.ö
JIM: As surely as autumn turns to winter in some parts of the world, radio
operators are curious about the impact that seasonal changes are going to
have on propagation. A recent extended field operation by a group of 17 hams
from the West Bengal Radio Club tracked those changes by getting on the air
near the Earth’s Tropic of Cancer. This was as much an academic exercise as a
radio exercise, as two professors from nearby universities collected data
over the 30-hour period to be used in their research.
Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA, the club’s secretary, said that Suman Patra from
Jhargram University and Ambika Ghosh from the Heritage Group of Institutions
in Kolkata are both studying disaster communications at the Indian Academy of
Communication and Disaster Management. The pair hope that analysis of the
data will show ways to improve the quality of emergency communication at this
challenging time of seasonal change. The Tropic of Cancer was chosen because
when it is summer in the northern hemisphere, the sun’s rays are directly
overhead. With the approach of winter, the sun is lower in the sky.
This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.
(MORNING INDIA, AMBARISH NAG BISWAS VU2JFA)
**
NEURAL CODEC CALLED 'MILESTONE' FOR DIGITAL VOICE
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: It's being heralded as a milestone in the long-overdue
evolution of speech quality for land-mobile radio systems - the use of an
adaptive neural network that replaces traditional signal processing. Andy
Morrison K9AWM has the details.
ANDY: A digital voice milestone was announced at the recent acoustics and
speech conference in Caliornia when the Free DV Project's David Rowe VK5DGR
copresented a paper describing a neural network that replaces traditional
signal processing with machine learning.
In a recent post on the FreeDV website, David called the development: [quote]
"the first known real-world deployment of a neural codec – an important
milestone that the Ham community can be proud of." [endquote] He and
programmer Jean-Marc Valin presented the details to attendees at the IEEE
Signal Processing Society conference where David said it was well-received.
Instead of using the fixed algorithms of traditional digital voice, the
FreeDV Radio Encoder, known as RADE V1, employs fully adaptive machine
learning, producing a higher-quality result, developed using open source
software.
Writing as a guest contributor to the Amateur Radio Digital Communications
website in October, David noted that the technology [quote] "provides
unprecedented speech quality and robustness for VHF/UHF land mobile radio
applications." [endquote] The FreeDV project has been doing t his work with
This is Andy Morrison K9AWM.
(FREEDV.ORG, STEVE STROH, N8GNJ, ARDC)
**
NASA STUDIES DISABLED DEEP-SPACE NETWORK ANTENNA
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: If you think you sometimes have more than your share of
antenna troubles, listen to this report from Ralph Squillace KK6ITB. He tells
us about NASA's plans to get a damaged deep-space network antenna back in
action.
RALPH: The US space agency NASA is taking a close look at the serious damage
that disabled the largest antenna at its Deep Space Network site in
California two months ago. The 230-foot antenna, which tracks near-Earth
asteroids and communicates with NASA's interplanetary spacecraft, has been
out of service since the 16th of September. The antenna suffered an excessive
rotation that strained its cabling and piping and damaged its fire-
suppression system, which led to water damage and flooding, according to a
report on the Gizmodo website.
The damaged antenna, prized for its sensitivity, received its first signal in
1966 from NASA’s Mariner 4 mission. In preparation for Voyager 2's mission
toward Neptune, NASA upgraded the antenna's width from 210 feet, or 64
meters, to 230 feet, or 70 meters. It communicated as well with Voyager 1 in
2012 following the spacecraft's entry into interstellar space.
Meanwhile, NASA relies on two other deep-space communication antennas. They
are located in Madrid, Spain and near Canberra, Australia.
This is Ralph Squillace KK6ITB
(GIZMODO)
**
BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the St.
Louis & Suburban Radio Club WØSRC 2-meter repeater following the weekly club
net on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. local time.
**
HAMS PREP FOR PERSEIDS METEOR SCATTER EXPERIMENTS
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Get ready for a major meteor shower next month - and a major
meteor scatter radio activity. Neil Rapp WB9VPG tells us how to get involved.
NEIL: Hams who played a part in the meteor scatter experiments conducted by
HamSCI, Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation, during the Perseids show
this past August get another chance at action in the sky next month.
The Geminids are coming! HamSCI's experiments for these meteor showers will
take place on the 12th and 13th of December, from 0000 to 2400 UTC. Operators
are being asked to use MSK144 on 50.260 MHz and 28.145 MHz.
HamSCI reports that the Perseids show produced more than 70 logs and files
for study and the research group is hoping for similar results this time
around. Hams are being invited to participate in the QSO Party in what is
once again described as a combination of a contest and a special event. Rules
for the activity can be found on the link in the text version of this week's
newscast at arnewsline.org
As the HamSCI website says: "Work the rocks! Decode the pings."
[DO NOT READ: hamsci.org/msqp ]
(HAMSCI)
**
2 NEW REPEATERS CREATE CRUCIAL NETWORK IN KANSAS
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: With the help of a grant, some counties in Kansas are getting
expanded coverage from new repeaters that have digital capability. Jack
Parker W8ISH has that report.
JACK: A network of repeaters is being created to expand digital amateur radio
services in the state of Kansas with the help of a 03,950 grant from Amateur
Radio Digital Communications.
The network will be accessible to hams in nine counties. The repeaters will
operate on VHF and UHF and provide linkage over the Internet through Yaesu
Wires-X, a system that provides even wider coverage. The network callsign
Two new repeaters will be established to connect with a repeater that is
already in operation in Ellis County. The grant has been given to the Ellis
County Amateur Radio Emergency Service Group and STEM Harvest Inc., an
educational resource that focuses on helping people develop skills in
This is Jack Parker W8ISH.
**
In the World of DX, Abie, AB1F is on the air as A52AA from Bhutan through to
the 5th of December, operating SSB on 40, 20, 15 and 10 metres. He may also
On Easter Island, a team of nine operators using the callsign 3GØYR, will be
on the air from the 26th of November through to the 3rd of December. Their
four or five stations will use all modes on all bands, concentrating on the
low bands. Listen for them in the CQ WW DX CW Contest with the callsign CEØY.
You still have time to work operators celebrating Statehood Day in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. They are on the air with the special callsign E7BOSNIA until the
25th of November, which is the oficial date of the celebration.
Visit QRZ.com for QSL and other information about these stations.
**
KICKER: FOR GOOGLE, A RAY OF AI HOPE FROM THE SUN
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: For our final story, we look at the future of AI -- and we
consider the sun's rays as rays of hope to power that future. Kent Peterson
KCØDGY brings us that story now.
KENT: Picture groups of satellites in a low-Earth orbit that is synchronized
with the sun, the very source of the energy that powers them. Then imagine
each satellite outfitted with AI chips doing the business of machine-learning
high above our planet. The satellites are between 100 and 200 metres apart
within a cluster that is no more than 1 kilometer wide but they have optical
connections that enable them to serve as a single data center.
This is Project Suncatcher, a vision announced by Google earlier this month.
It exists only in theory - at least for now. Google has teamed up with
Planet, an Earth-imaging company, in the hopes that the partnership can
launch a so-called "learning mission" into space in 2027 using two prototype
satellites to test the technology and the hardware.
Meanwhile, Google is working out the costs of Project Suncatcher when it
ultimately deploys: The launch alone is considered to have a prohibitive
price tag. There are also issues of aerospace engineering that need to be
resolved to keep the satellite cluster in good repair.
With AI's established reputation as a voracious consumer of energy, the
company says it was only logical to look beyond the horizon - way beyond the
horizon - to get closer to a source of power. Just what is the prospect for
the success of Project Suncatcher? Right now, you won't find that answer,
This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY.
**
It's time to stop chasing POTA or calling CQ - at least for a moment - and
send in your ham radio haiku. It is easier than you think: Visit our website
at arnewsline.org and as you compose your ode to your favorite online
activity, we will help you use the correct number of syllables to make an
authentic haiku. Submit your work and then sit back and wait to hear whether
you are the winner of this week's challenge. The winner gets a shout-out on
our website, where everyone can find the winning haiku.
With thanks to Amateur News Daily; Amateur Radio Digital Communication; AMSAT
News Service; Ambarish Nag Biswas VU2JFA; David Behar K7DB; 425DX Bulletin;
FCC; Forbes; FreeDV.org; Gizmodo; Googe; HamSCI; Hays Post; Hungarian Amateur
Radio Society; Morning India; QRZ.com; Radioworld.com; shortwaveradio.de;
Steven Stroh, N8GNJ; Wireless Institute of Australia; YouTube; and you our
listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. We remind our
listeners that Amateur Radio Newsline is an all-volunteer non-profit
organization that incurs expenses for its continued operation. If you wish to
support us, please visit our website at arnewsline.org and know that we
appreciate you all. We also remind our listeners that if you like our
newscast, please leave us a 5-star rating wherever you subscribe to us.
For now, with Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT at the news desk in New York, and our
news team worldwide, I'm Stephen Kinford N8WB in Wadsworth Ohio saying 73. As
always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright
2025. Amateur Radio Newsline retains ownership of its material even when
retransmitted elsewhere. All rights are reserved.
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BBS: PY2BIL - Timed 21-Nov-2025 10:56 E. South America Standard Time
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