New Zealand Hams Use "ZM" Prefix for Centenary Year

The New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters was created for the country's ham radio operators 100 years ago in Auckland on the 16th August 2026. Not looking to miss out on a full-scale celebration this year, hams have already begun marking the occasion with modified callsigns. 

How do you show pride in the group that has come to represent and advocate for amateur radio in New Zealand? One way is to drop the "ZL" prefix and swap it out with "ZM" during the centenary year of 2026. So be listening! The "ZM" prefix is a recognised special-event callsign in New Zealand and has been used before. This occasion is a far happier one than the previous authorisation by Radio Spectrum Management, which allowed the use of "ZM" during the period of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Don't worry, the "ZL" prefix isn't going away for the year. You'll see be hearing for special event callsigns such as ZL100MVL and ZL100AM, which have been approved for use until 31 March.

HamSCI Speaker Series Explores WSPR Spectral Width

HamSCI's first Speaker Series of 2026 will be presented by Dr. Barry Johnson (W4WB) and focus on WSPR spectral width.

Johnson will be speaking on a paper he co-authored along with Gene Marcus, W3PM titled “A Modest Study of WSPR-2 Spectral Width”. The topic arose from a question posed originally by HamSCI scientist Gwyn Griffith G3ZIL, which was, “What is the minimum obtainable spectral width of WSPR-2 signals?” To answer this seemingly simple question was anything but simple, as will become evident in the discussion comprising this presentation.

HamSCI - https://hamsci.org/