Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2488 for Friday, July 4th, 2025

Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2488 with a release date of Friday, July 4th, 2025 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.

The following is a QST. A teen sets a world record for CW callsign copy. A high-flying Field Day experience -- and meet our Young Ham of the Year for 2025! All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2488 comes your way right now.

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BILLBOARD CART

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NEW WORLD RECORD FOR CW CALLSIGN COPY

JIM/ANCHOR: Our top story this week takes us to Germany where Europe's biggest ham radio trade fair was also the scene of a record-breaking achievement worthy of the Guinness Book of World Records. Jeremy Boot G4NJH brings us up to date.

JEREMY: Ham Radio Friedrichshafen's theme this year centered around remote radio operations but strong attendance proved that hams still like to show up in person to greet one another. An estimated 11,600 guests from 52 countries made the annual trip to Germany.

Many of them were present as the ham radio fair celebrated a record-breaking moment. A 13-year-old radio amateur from Romania surpassed last year's achievement in high-speed telegraphy, As spectators watched, mostly in silence, Ianis Scutaru, YO8YNS, achieved a maximum speed of 1,160 characters per minute for callsign copy - for a total score of 395,191 - landing him in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause only after he had finished and the announcement was made. Ianis, the son of Lucian, YO8SLC, has been practicing Morse Code since the age of 8.

This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.

(LUCIAN, YO8SLC; HAM RADIO FRIEDRICHSHAFEN)

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IN WEST VIRGINIA, A HIGH-FLYING FIELD DAY

JIM/ANCHOR: So how was YOUR Field Day? In West Virginia, it had one radio operator flying high, as we hear from Jen DeSalvo, W9TXJ.

JEN: The East River Amateur Radio Club in Bluefield, West Virginia, picked quite the location for this year's Field Day.

DAVE: We chose the local municipal airport, Mercer County Airport, to be our venue.

JEN: President Dave Lester, N8VFR, said it was in a nice area outside of the airfield where they set up pop-ups and GOTA. As the event was winding down Sunday, and Dave was starting to think about packing up, club member and pilot, Jay Belt, K8CTI?

DAVE ....looked at me and said ?let's go get on HF, up in the air.? And of course, I'm not going to say no.

JEN: Jay had put together a station, an H-F rig?

DAVE ? just 20 meters. It was a quarter wave end-fed, and he had that ran from wing to tail.

JEN: Being in the air, Dave was easily getting through pile-ups.

DAVE I noticed immediately that I didn't have to turn the VFO very much at all to hear stations. You know, I guess elevation. I was just hearing everything!

JEN: They used Jay?s callsign in the air. Toward the end of the flight, Dave found THE frequency?

DAVE: ?and just started calling CQ.

SOUND CLIP: ?CQ Field Day ? Aeronautical Mobile Station Kilo Eight Charlie Tango India?

JEN: There were some challenges. The logistics of logging and?

DAVE: ...The radio and the tuner were were screwed to this board, and I was having to balance it between my knees because there's nowhere in the plane to mount the thing.

JEN: It was a total of 39 minutes from takeoff to landing. During that time, Dave snagged eleven contacts.
It wasn?t just the aircraft on the air which made the club?s Field Day successful.

DAVE: I was completely blown away and overwhelmed by the public reaction to our Field Day. They just came out of nowhere.

JEN: There were young adults in their twenties, an amateur extra who came to GOTA for his very first time, and several people sign up for the club?s exams.

DAVE: It was definitely a positive impact on the community. And, you know, the, I guess being at the airport was, was kind of a draw.

JEN: I?d say.

SOUND CLIP: "CQ Field Day Aeronautical Station Mobile!"

JEN: Jen DeSalvo W9TXJ

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SILENT KEY: ROGER SMALLWOOD, N8EKG, R&L ELECTRONICS EXECUTIVE

JIM/ANCHOR: The ham radio community is grieving the loss of Roger Smallwood, N8EKG, president of operations at R&L Electronics in Ohio for more than 40 years. Roger, who had cancer, became a Silent Key on Saturday the 28th of June. In his online obituary, customers and longtime friends alike recalled his friendly, easygoing manner, his helpfulness and his much-anticipated appearances at Dayton Hamvention. Many recalled the family business that helped build, which earned the popular nickname, "The Candy Store" for its assortment of amateur radio equipment.

Roger was 55.

(BROWN-DAWSON-FLICK FUNERAL HOME)

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RUSSIAN EME COMPETITORS PREP FOR SECOND ROUND

JIM/ANCHOR: For decades now, the race to the moon has always symbolized one of the biggest challenges in global space-based competitions. The Russian EME Contest doesn't use any spacecraft, however, just VHF radio communications - and it's a race to the moon that's stirred interest worldwide for years. Jim Meachen ZL2BHF explains.

JIM: Get ready for the second round of the Russian EME contest, hosted by the Union of Radio Amateurs of Russia. The sixth annual international competition kicked off with its first round on the last weekend in June. Now competitors are preparing for the final round on July 26th and 27th. While the first round was held on 144 MHz, 432 MHz, 5.6 GHz and 24 GHz, the second round will see amateurs trying for EME QSOs utilising 1296 MHz, 2.3 GHz and 10 GHz. Once again, hams will be making use of CW, SSB and the digital modes.

To see the results of last year's competition, visit the link in the text version of this week's newscast at arnewsline.org

[DO NOT READ: https://eme.srr.ru/results/ ]

This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.

(UNION OF RADIO AMATEURS OF RUSSIA, AMATEUR RADIO DAILY)

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OHIO YL CHOSEN AS NEWSLINE'S YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR

JIM/ANCHOR: Our panel of judges has selected the 2025 Amateur Radio Newsline Bill Pasternak Memorial Young Ham of the Year Award winner. Mark Abramowicz NT3V is chairman of the award committee and has the announcement..

MARK: She is 17 years old and from the small town of Columbiana in northeast Ohio. Meet Katie Campbell KE8LQR.

MARK w/KATIE: You are the 2025 Young Ham of the Year

KATIE: Thank you so much.

MARK: Are you surprised?

KATIE:: Uh, yeah, yeah.

MARK: Not expecting a call like this as the summer begins?

KATIE: No, I was not.

MARK:: Katie Campbell is a bright and talented advocate for youth in amateur radio whose interest in the hobby was sparked when she was 10.

KATIE: My school started an amateur radio and electronics club [in] my fifth-grade year open to just middle-schoolers that year. So, I joined and then pretty quickly made the connection that that?s? like what my family had been sort of involved with. My grandpa had had his license since he was around 14. And, then my mom she?d also had her license since middle school.

MARK: Katie says she quickly got her ham ticket advancing all the way to Extra by the age of 11. She says she then discovered the music of Morse Code. She immersed herself in CW and contesting and rose to become president of K8LPS, the Columbiana School Radio Club located inside the science classroom of Katie?s mom, Colleen Campbell KB8VAQ.

Her dad is Robert Campbell KE8LYZ. Katie?s maternal grandfather is Thomas Frost N8GGK. It was her interest that got him radio active again.

Katie attended the Youth on the Air camp in 2022 in Cincinnati and has been a key staff member ever since, doing public relations and mentoring campers.


Katie has been a regular presenter at forums at the Dayton Hamvention, Hamcation and SEA-PAC.

Katie has another opportunity as she begins her senior year of high school: as an exchange student in Germany. She?s hoping to make amateur radio a part of her experience.

Congratulations, Katie, from all of us at Amateur Radio Newsline.

I?m Mark Abramowicz NT3V.

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BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the AA7WI 2-meter repeater in Tucson, Arizona from on Fridays at 7 p.m. local time.

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RUSSIA WORKS ON MODULES FOR SPACE STATION

JIM/ANCHOR: Russia's space-station partnership with the US will soon be replaced by its own orbital station as Roscosmos prepares its first modules. We hear more from Graham Kemp VK4BB.

GRAHAM: Just as the US prepares to take the International Space Station out of service in 2030, the space agency Roscosmos plans to launch the first modules for its Russian Orbital Station, the world's first drone platform space station employing robot maintenance. The move also marks the end of international collaboration in space between NASA and Roscosmos.

The Russian space agency is eyeing a 2027 launch for the first segment of its space station - the Scientific and Power Module, as the station enters a near-polar orbit. The full transition to the Russian Orbital Station is expected to be completed by 2030, just as the ISS awaits decommissioning. Other modules are also set for launch in 2030, including the gateway, the universal-node and base modules. Roscosmos expects the spacecraft to establish several stable communication channels by 2030, as the number of communication devices increases over the years. Roscosmos views the space station as a permanent fixture for Russia's space activities well outside of Earth's orbit.

This is Graham Kemp VK4BB.

(WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA)

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FCC ROUNDTABLE FOCUSES ON HURRICANE-RESPONSE COMMUNICATION

JIM/ANCHOR: If you are involved in hurricane-response here in the United States and are hearing this newscast before July 7th, a live-streamed roundtable, hosted by the Federal Communications Commission on that date may be of interest to you. Randy Sly W4XJ explains.

RANDY: The Federal Communications Commission has scheduled a live online roundtable that it hopes will help communicators, public safety workers and power companies improve collaboration during this hurricane season in the US. The Hurricane Season Resiliency Roundtable is taking place on Monday, the 7th of July, and will be conducted by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. Advance registration is required.

The program, which can be attended in person or via a livestream, will take place in three panel sessions: ?Challenges to Response and Recovery of Power and Communications Outages in the Aftermath of a Hurricane,?will be the first topic covered. Collaboration will be explored in the second session, ?Current Government, Intra-Industry and Cross-Industry Partnerships.? The final session will look at planning ahead. It is called ?The Advance Preparation Frameworks for Power and Communications.?

The roundtable begins at 9:30 a.m. at FCC headquarters in Washington, D.C.

To register, see the link in the text version of this week's newscast script at arnewsline.org

[DO NOT READ: https://www.fcc.gov/public-safety/event-registration ]


This is Randy Sly W4XJ.

(FCC, RADIO WORLD)

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WORLD OF DX

In the World of DX, Aldir, PY1SAD is on the air as 8R1TM from Guyana until the 8th of July. He is using CW, SSB and the digital modes on 160-6 metres. He is also making contacts via satellite. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

Peter LB2OB is operating holiday style from Jan Mayen, IOTA number EU-022 as JX/LB2OG for the next few weeks. He is operating primarily on 40 and 20 meters, using SSB and FT8. QSL via his home call.

Tim, N?UI is on the air as ZD7TIM from St. Helena, IOTA Number AF-022, through to the 13th of July.
Tim is using CW, SSB and maybe some RTTY on 40-10 metres. Be listening as well on 6 meters if conditions are favorable. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

(425 DX BULLETIN)

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KICKER: TOILETS ON THE AIR? GO WITH THE FLOW

JIM/ANCHOR: Our final story isn't exactly a news leak but.....let's just say that we really can't hold it much longer. Neither can Neil Rapp WB9VPG.

NEIL: Are you sitting down? Well, it's time to lift the lid on the news: Toilets on the Air is coming in August. If you happen to be in the New York City area that month, well, you gotta go, you just gotta go! The amateur radio contest was begun by Georg DH5GH at the Chaos Communication Congress, a hacker conference in Germany. It is making its debut in the US at the HOPE 16 conference in New York City in August. Because HOPE is a hub for hackers and innovators, contest organizer Todd Mazierski KE2AEQ, thought this venue would be perfect to launch a creative challenge to licensed hams there. Activators select designated restrooms on the campus of St. John's University to make the most CW, voice and digital contacts with others on 2 meters and 70 cm.

Now let's be clear, activators are permitted to sit or stand while they are doing their business while holding their HTs -- but they must be outside the restroom doors -- and a few meters away. They can only go inside the bathroom to, uh, "go" inside the bathroom for the usual reason. Yes, you heard that right: bathroom breaks are OK. Now that's a relief!

Todd announced the contest on his blog. So did Thomas Witherspoon K4SWL. It's posted on his site, the appropriately named QRPer.com [QR-PEE-er dot com]

This is Neil Rapp WB9VPG.

(TODD MAZIERSKI BLOG, QRPer)


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A good QSO can be like poetry - sometimes! So why not write a haiku about amateur radio and join the Newsline haiku challenge? It's as easy as writing a QSL card. We can only accept the correct haiku format - that is, a three-line verse with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second and five in the third. Submit your work on our website at arnewsline.org - each week's winner gets a shout-out on our website, where everyone can find the winning haiku.

NEWSCAST CLOSE

With thanks to Amateur News Daily; AMSAT; ARRL; BBC; Brown-Dawson-Flick Funeral Home; David Behar K7DB; DX World; 425DX Bulletin; FCC; Ham Radio Friedrichshafen; Lucian, YO8SLC; QRPer.com; QRZ.com; Radio World; Shortwaveradio.de; Todd Mazierski Blog; Union of Radio Amateurs of Russia; Wireless Institute of Australia; Zero Retries Newsletter; and you our listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline. We remind our listeners that Amateur Radio Newsline is an all-volunteer non-profit organization that incurs expenses for its continued operation. If you wish to support us, please visit our website at arnewsline.org and know that we appreciate you all. We also remind our listeners that if you like our newscast, please leave us a 5-star rating wherever you subscribe to us. For now, with Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT at the news desk in New York, and our news team worldwide, I'm Jim Damron N8TMW in Charleston West Virginia saying 73...and Happy Birthday USA and God Bless America. As always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2025. All rights reserved.

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