In the log this week
* Katie Campbell KE8LQR Named Young Ham of the Year 2025
* Prominent POTA Activator Tripp Owens N4NTO Silent Key
* Hamshack Hotline VoIP Service To Shut Down August 29, 2025
* MVARC Nets on the Air
* What's happening with DX?
* Solar Activity Update
* Upcoming Contests
* Interesting Online Radio Content
Katie Campbell KE8LQR Named Young Ham of the Year 2025
Photo Courtesy KE8LQR's QRZ Profile
Amateur Radio Newsline announced that this year's recipient of the Bill Pasternak WA6ITF Memorial Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award is Katie Campbell, KE8LQR, of Columbiana, Ohio. Katie is a remarkable 17 year old young woman who has been very active in the hobby. I have been fortunate to know her through her involvement as an instructor in the Long Island CW Club's kids program where she has led the advanced CW classes. In addition to her CW instruction she has been very active in contesting participating in the 2023 K3LR IOTA Dave Kalter Youth DX Adventure in 2023, and also in 2024 at K3LR to lead CW operations. She has also been an attendee and part of the organizing staff for Youth on the Air (YOTA) camps where she acts as a mentor and social media manager. She has also made several presentations at Dayton Hamvention, Orlando Hamcation, and SEAPAC. She also does a lot of work to build youth engagement in the hobby serving as ARRL Assistant Youth Section Coordinator for Ohio, a Net Control of the Ohio Section Youth Net, the Young Ladies Radio League youth chairwoman, and participating many other activities. For a more full list of her activities, check out her QRZ profile. Congratulations to Katie on this well deserved award, I'm sure her best is yet to come.
Kevin W1DED interviewed Katie a year ago on his YouTube channel at
. The press release from Amateur Radio Newsline can be found at https://www.arnewsline.org/2025-yhoty
Prominent POTA Activator Tripp Owens N4NTO Silent Key
Tripp Owens, N4NTO, passed away in a tragic accident on the 4th of July while activating Averasboro Battlefield Historic Site (US-11375) when his antenna contacted overhead power lines as he was shutting down his activation, causing him to be electrocuted. Tripp was 57. He was was a prolific POTA activator with 663 successful activations in 84 parks with 19,464 QSOs as an activator. He was also an avid contester focusing on CW and a member of CW Ops and PVRC. There has been an outpouring of remembrances from those who knew him in the amateur radio community. He will be deeply missed.
This is an unfortunate reminder that one of the most dangerous things we encounter in the field are power lines. Please make sure to look up and around you when you set up antennas and ensure that you stay well clear of utility lines. All it takes is a gust of wind or a failed guy line to cause a disaster. Thomas K4SWL has a post with more information on his site and recommendations for best practices for safe antenna deployment at https://qrper.com/2025/07/a-tragic-reminder-safety-must-come-first-in-the-field/.
Our deepest condolences go out to Tripp's family and friends. Tripp's obituary can be found at https://www.carlislefuneralhome.com/obituary/AmbroseTripp-OwensIII
Hamshack Hotline VoIP Service To Shut Down August 29, 2025
The popular voice over IP telephony network for amateur radio operators, Hamshack Hotline, announced that they will be shutting down their project effective August 29, 2025. The service started in 2018 as a way to allow amateurs to connect using IP telephones allowing them to call each other on their own hotline numbers. It was a popular service that had over 7,000 users at its peak, but it appears to have become a victim of its own success as it scaled so did the demands on the volunteers who allowed the service to operate. The organization plans to donate the remaining cash reserves from the operation to a charity supporting veterans to be announced soon. Their full statement can be found at https://hamshackhotline.com/.
Thanks to subscriber Corey KN4YZY who alerted me to this story. If you come across amateur radio related news you think would be good to share on Amateur Radio News and Notes feel free to send me a message.
MVARC Nets on the Air
* 2 Meter FM Net: Tuesdays at 7 PM [146.655/- MHz (141.3 Hz PL Tone) ]
* 2 Meter Digital Net: Immediately Follows 2 Meter FM Net [146.655/- MHz C4FM]
* MVARC Slow Speed CW Roundtable: Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 AM [3.565 MHz CW]
* MVARC Cherry Tree Net: Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 AM [3.920 MHz LSB]
What's Happening with DX
There will be a good amount of DX on the bands this week. Stations on the air include Miquelon Island (FP/KV1J), Avidimou Beach SBA (ZC4MK), Svalbard (JW0V), Fuerte Island (5K0C, 5K0T), Nicaragua (YN2RP), Tarawa Kiribati (T30TTT), Benin (TY5AD), Kuwait (9K2HN), and Antarctica (DP0GVN).
A calendar of DXpeditions can be found at https://dxnews.com/calendar/
Solar Activity Update
As we go to press the Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 129 and the estimated sunspot number was 96 with 5 numbered sunspot regions visible from Earth. Over the last week the SFI has remained about the same. Solar activity has been at low levels recently. The geomagnetic field was at quiet levels and the Kp was at 1 yesterday evening. The solar wind reached 428 km/s yesterday. Solar activity is predicted to be at quiet levels today and at quiet to unsettled levels tomorrow. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is low at 1%. A slight chance of R1 to R2 radio blackouts are possible in the near term with a predicted probability of 35%. R3 or greater blackouts are unlikely with a 1% chance predicted. There is a chance of 6 meter propagation so keep an eye on the band and spotting clusters to be ready for the next time the magic band does its thing. HF conditions have been favorable overall. It remains a fantastic time for amateurs of all license classes to get on the air and work the world.
Good sources of real-time solar information include https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/ and https://solarham.com/. A good overview of conditions can be found at https://dx.qsl.net/propagation/. To see D-layer absorption data and associated radio blackouts, visit https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/d-region-absorption-predictions-d-rap. To see real-time Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) and Critical Frequency (foF2) information from radiosonde data, visit https://prop.kc2g.com/.
Upcoming Contests
On the contest calendar this weekend we will see the SKCC Weekend Sprintathon, the IARU HF World Championship, the QRP ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint, and the 4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint. As always the K1USN SSTs, MSTs, and CWTs will also be on the air.
The full contest calendar with events and exchanges can be found at https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php
Interesting Online Radio Content
Steve KM9G experiments with a NVIS setup with his Spooltenna -
Dugbo KD7DUG does a VHF Packtenna Activation from Black Mountain -
Mike K8MRD shows his new DenCo 5.5 Ah LiFePO4 Battery -
Jason KM4ACK looks at a 12 V powered PC to take over from his Raspberry Pi -
Matt M0DQW looks at the RADE V1 Codec for FreeDV -
Save it for Parts looks at the HackRF Portapack -
Mort G4BSK fixes a broken antenna with 3D printing -
Duff WA7BFN gives us another edition of the Long Island CW Club Podcast -
Jason KM4ACK shows a radio repair toolkit he put into a compact case -
George VK2AOE looks at an inexpensive RF attenuator -
Kevin W1DED talks to Les KI5GTR about his POTA Activations -
Mike K8MRD looks at a "mini" LiFePO4 battery -
Mark KD7DTS and Ara N6ARA talk to Tim N7KOM for the second episode of "Sofas on the Air" -
Di KO6BTM gives an animated intro to Morse Code -
Matt M0DQW gives a Loop On Ground antenna a try -
Dan WD4DAN makes a tribute to Tripp N4NTO (SK) -
Dugbo KD7DUG takes us on a Mountain Morse Journey -
Rob N1NUG activates the highest point in Rhode Island for POTA -
Mike K8MRD finds a USB-C PD Outlet that works with the FTX-1F -
Mike K8MRD takes a look at firmware updates for the FTX-1F -
Josh KI6NAZ takes us along for the W6TRW Field Day and SOTA extravaganza -
Thomas K4SWL shows us what's in his field radio backpack for his Canada vacation -
Kevan 2E0WMG goes portable and gets some unfavorable audio reports from Slovenia -
Kevin W1DED talks to Mike SJ2W about his Swedish contest station -
Kevan 2E0WMG goes to the Cape Bear Lighthouse and Marconi Station in Prince Edward Island -
Steve KM9G gets some returned Amazon gear and "repairs" it -
That's it for this week.
Best 73,
Ed
N2EC
