Amateur Radio Contesting Great Fred Laun, K3ZO, Silent Key

Fred Laun (Alfred A. Laun, III), K3ZO, of Temple Hills, Maryland, passed away on January 3, 2023. He was a member of the ARRL Maxim Society and Life Member, and a member of the Potomac Valley Radio Club.

Laun was also a Director for The Yasme Foundation, an organization that supports awards and grants that recognize and advance the achievements made by radio amateurs.

“Fred’s service to Yasme and other amateur organizations, spanning decades, was unsurpassed, as were his contributions to amateur radio, for which he cared deeply. Well-known and respected around the globe, we know Fred’s many friends world-wide will honor his memory, both on and off the air.”

— Yasme Foundation President Ward Silver, N0AX

Read a 2015 interview (PDF) with Laun, conducted by John Dorr, K1AR, for the National Contest Journal (NCJ) - https://ncjweb.com/features/sepoct15feat.pdf

Radio Amateur Earns PhD in Electrical Engineering

Dr. Kristina Collins, KD8OXT, earned her PhD in Electrical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University on 18th November 2022. Dr. Collins' thesis, Development of a Low-Cost Meta-Instrument for Distributed Observations of Ionospheric Variability, focuses on the development of the HamSCI Grape Personal Space Weather Station Network.

Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) serves as a means for fostering collaborations between professional researchers and amateur radio operators. Dr. Collins currently serves on the HamSCI advisory board, leads the HamSCI Eclipse and Frequency Measurement Festivals project and WWV/H Scientific Modulation team, and served as chair of the local organizing committee for the 2019 HamSCI Workshop.

She has been interviewed on ARRL's Eclectic Tech podcast and has peer-reviewed papers published in the American Geophysical Union's Eos magazine and the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters. She's excited to join the Space Science Institute in the spring of 2023 as a postdoctoral research fellow through the National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs. Dr. Collins was first licensed in 2010 and holds an Amateur Extra-class license.

John Hislop (G7OHO) joins RSGB’s Examinations and Syllabus Review Group

The RSGB’s Examinations and Syllabus Review Group (ESRG) is delighted to announce the appointment of John Hislop, G7OHO to the group. John is a retired physics teacher and has been licensed since 1992. During his teaching career, he taught the Novice and Foundation Licences to many youngsters during after-school clubs and set up radio stations at each of the schools. As a STEM Ambassador, John now runs outreach sessions at a youth club in Ramsgate and the youngsters joined him in an RSGB presentation “Having fun with electronics, coding and amateur radio” at the RSGB 2021 Online Convention. He is currently writing a youngster’s manual for the Foundation Licence, which includes many engaging activities. John is also the Vice Chairman of Hilderstone Radio Society.