YOTA CAMP Region 1 - Austria July 2026

The camp will once again bring together motivated young radio amateurs from across IARU Region 1, together with guest teams from Regions 2 and 3. Besides being a unique opportunity to meet other young people, discover new cultures, and enjoy amateur radio in an international environment, the camp is also designed to help participants grow as ambassadors for youth activities in their home countries.

A key objective of the YOTA Summer Camp is not only to offer an unforgettable experience during the week itself, but also to equip participants with practical ideas, new skills, and fresh motivation that they can take home and use to involve more young people in amateur radio. By sharing experiences, learning from one another, and taking part in the programme, participants are encouraged to return home better prepared to support local youth activities, inspire newcomers, and help build a stronger future for the hobby.

The camp radio station is planned to be equipped with a military truck-mounted 42m mast with a 9-element yagi on top of it! The aim is that every one of the 100 attendees takes home a QMX+ they built, with the help of Hans Summers G0UPL of QRP Labs, an endfed antenna, a power bank, a 12V PD trigger cable, a microphone and Morse key.

The event also includes tours out from the camp to see various attractions, and all of this happens with young people from, in some cases, very politically different nations working and having fun together.   

RSGB Offers RFI Workshop Using SDRPlay at This Year’s Convention

There’s a new, members-only “Finding Radio Frequency Interference (RFI)”  workshop added to the RSGB Convention programme!

If you want practical advice on identifying the sources and mitigating the effects of Radio Frequency Interference (RFI), then this five-and-a-half-hour part tutorial, part hands-on workshop on Friday 9 October 2026 in Milton Keynes, UK, is for you!

In the morning, you will cover sources and effects of RFI with examples of radiated and conducted emissions. In the afternoon, you’ll be exploring radiated emissions by constructing a small loop antenna. Attendees will also see how to use SDR to identify signals and measure their strength.

SDRplay is pleased to be providing RSP1B SDRs for each participant to use during the workshop

RSGB Members can book a place on the “Finding RFI” workshop - https://rsgb.org/main/about-us/rsgb-convention/rsgb-2026-convention-workshops/rsgb-2026-convention-workshop-finding-rfi-and-minimising-its-impact/

OSCAR LOCATOR Web Generator Turns Live Elements Into Printable Tracking Sheets

Following last week’s introduction of the browser-based OSCARLOCATOR Web Simulator, a companion tool is now online that closes the loop between the on-screen simulator and the classic paper tracker. The OSCARLOCATOR Web Generator, produces printable base-map, range-circle, and path-arc sheets — the physical components of the traditional OSCARLOCATOR — as vector PDFs generated entirely in the browser.  

Like the simulator, the generator is the work of AMSAT Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, and produces the same vector output as the OSCARLOCATOR export in his OrbitDeck desktop application. Nothing is uploaded to a server: the tool fetches only current AMSAT GP orbital elements and, if the operator asks, their location. It runs offline once loaded.

To build a set of sheets, the operator sets a station by Maidenhead grid square, by latitude and longitude, or via browser geolocation, then selects a satellite from a list populated automatically from AMSAT’s GP element data. The map projection can be a polar azimuthal-equidistant sheet — chosen automatically for the northern or southern hemisphere, or forced to North or South — or a QTH-centered azimuthal map. The output can be produced as a two-sheet set, pairing a base map with the range circle drawn at the operator’s station plus a separate path-arc transparency, and an option keeps the overlay transparencies free of text so all the how-to-use instructions live on the base map. An advanced panel allows manual entry of orbital elements — inclination, mean motion, eccentricity, argument of perigee, and RAAN — for cases where the operator wants to plot a specific orbit by hand, and provides an optional CORS-proxy override for fetching the AMSAT bulletin data.

Coastlines are drawn from Natural Earth 110m data. The sheets must be printed at 100% / actual size so that the base map and the transparency overlays register correctly when stacked. The result is a genuine, working paper tracker keyed to current elements — a satisfying bridge between the pre-computer era of satellite operating and modern on-demand data.

The OSCARLOCATOR Web Generator - https://oscarlocator-pdf.n8hm.radio,
OSCARLOCATOR Simulator - https://oscarlocator.n8hm.radio.