Ukraine Maintains Ham Radio Silence in State of Emergency

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Ukraine Maintains Ham Radio Silence in State of Emergency

Radio amateurs in Ukraine appear to be diligently maintaining radio silence as the state of emergency declared there just prior to the Russian military invasion remains in effect. A February 24 decree from President Volodymyr Zelensky included “a ban on the operation of amateur radio transmitters for personal and collective use.” The Ukraine Amateur Radio League (UARL/LRU) reported this past week that it has received many messages of encouragement from the worldwide amateur radio community.

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Amateur Radio, ISS and STEM

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In an unforgettable demonstration of STEM education in action, students at Tarwater Elementary School in Arizona used ham radio equipment to communicate directly with the International Space Station

“I began my undergraduate studies with no knowledge of amateur radio. I grew up in the digital age when dissecting electronic devices produced little more than uninspiring green boards populated by anonymous black rectangles, and when circuit tinkering involved microcontrollers and CAD software (EAGLE, of course). Today, prospective EEs are even more likely to begin their journey with software and processor platforms instead of a radio kit.

However, after a recent conversation with two engineers from NXP’s facility in Chandler, Arizona, I have a renewed appreciation for the things that you cannot do with an MCU evaluation board. For example: establishing a real-time voice link with someone who lives 250 miles above the Earth and is careening through space at 17,500 miles per hour.”
— Robert Keim

NXP’s collaboration with Tarwater Elementary was supported by ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station). This multinational organization facilitates educational projects that introduce students (and adults) to wireless technology in general and ham radio in particular. It is difficult to imagine a more effective way to convince young folks that “old-fashioned” RF techniques are still useful and interesting. A thousand-dollar iPhone can do many things, but it can’t call an astronaut on the ISS.

More Information - https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/with-help-from-nxp-engineers-young-students-chat-with-iss-astronauts/


Successful QO-100 Ham Radio Emergency Communications Exercise

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22 stations representing 14 countries in IARU Region 1 took part in a short notice exercise using the geostationary satellite QO-100 amateur radio transponder

“This was the first of a number of smaller exercises, tests and meetings to be held by IARU Region 1 throughout the year, building on the earlier Global Simulated Emergency Tests to cover as many aspects of emergency communications as possible.

The intention is to bring emergency communicators together more frequently to demonstrate how the Amateur Radio Service can work together as a global community and develop a common understanding of each others’ capabilities.”
— IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator Greg Mossop G0DUB

The exercise on QO-100 was felt to be a success with a number of formal messages being passed between stations along with some learning from the inevitable challenges of equipment failures, language barriers and co-ordination of an exercise whose coverage area covered from South Africa to the United Kingdom. Once all the exercise feedback is received, the next test on that system is planned to take place in October this year.

QO-100 brings another asset to the emergency communications toolbox in Region 1 and its presence is much appreciated.

IARU Region 1 - https://iaru-r1.org/

QO-100 Information - https://amsat-uk.org/satellites/geo/eshail-2/