The Communicator: January - February 2026

The Communicator First Issue of 2026

Happy New Year! This first issue of 2026 spans 110 pages and offers a comprehensive exploration of amateur radio. Readers will find a diverse mix of content, including technical projects, the latest operating news, and engaging historical perspectives relevant to the amateur radio community.

Historical and Informative Features

Readers will find historical profiles of notable figures in radio, this time including Edouard Branly, inventor of the coherer, and the fateful and communications-stricken flight of Amelia Earhart. The Silent Revolution: The future of RF is in light, is an overview of transceivers using light rather than wires, promising  less noise and terrific bandwidth. You will find tutorials on a variety of relevant subjects including HF digital modes such as FT8 and JS8Call, suggestions for contest logging software, and tips for successful portable operations.

Technical Articles

Several articles in this issue delve into practical projects and technical experimentation. Topics covered include encrypted communications in amateur radio, antenna construction and tuning, including the revolutionary Challenger+, low-power (QRP) operating strategies, free access to online software-defined radio receivers, and modifications to homebrew equipment. Additional articles address emergency communications preparedness, recent regulatory changes affecting Canadian amateurs, and reviews of new ham radio products and books.

Regular Sections

The issue includes our regular informative columnists, providing valuable information for operators.  They include feature propagation forecasts, updates on satellite and digital modes, reports on VHF/UHF activity, summaries of recent contests and on-air events, and even a ‘snow muffin’ recipe for Winter Field Day.

Feature Article: Embracing Versatility in Amateur Radio

An opinion piece reflected by the cover: “Are you an Amateur Radio chameleon?” (p. 102), employs the chameleon as a metaphor for versatility in the hobby. Drawing on the Senegalese proverb, “The chameleon changes colour to match the earth, the earth doesn’t change colour to match the chameleon,” the article gently critiques operators who specialize exclusively in one aspect of amateur radio—whether chasing DX on HF, focusing on VHF repeaters, contesting year-round, or limiting activity to digital modes like FT8.

While acknowledging that specialization can foster deep expertise, the article contends that remaining in a single niche may restrict personal growth and diminish the enjoyment of amateur radio. Instead, it celebrates those who adapt fluidly, moving between CW, SSB, digital modes, satellite work, QRP portable activations, microwave experimentation, public service events, and homebrewing. These “chameleons,” the article suggests, find greater fulfillment and contribute more broadly to the amateur radio community.

It concludes with an invitation for readers to share their own stories of adaptation and discovery by emailing communicator@ve7sar.net.

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On behalf of SARC and SEPAR, we wish all of you a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.  

~ John VE7TI, Editor

Contents for this issue:

• Edouard Eugène Désiré Branly  and his Coherer  4
• Amelia Earhart: Better radio skills may have made a difference 32
• Photonics the Silent Revolution: The future of RF is in light 38
• Ham Rocket Men 42
• The story of Salmon, Idaho   44
• Profile: The Canadian International DX Club 48
• The Challenger+ OCF: A portable  Halfwave Antenna by KJ6ER 50
• About that Un-un 57
• Coaxial Cables and Common Mode Currents 58
• A Challenger+ build  61
• 2025 Appointment to the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame: Geoff Smith VA3GS (SK) 62
• A Starter Guide: Internet Remote Software Defined Radio (SDR) Receivers 64
• The BC QSO Party   66
• Ham Radio Outside the Box: What really determines the efficiency of an antenna? 68
• The VA7ZEB Line of Sight (LoS) Web App 71
• Converting the shack computer to Linux 74
• Foundations of Amateur Radio: I have a problem with logging 76
• Back to Basics: Near Vertical Incident Skywave 79
• Amateur Radio HH as a modular option of a new electric car  82
• No-ham Recipes: Winter Field Day Snow Muffins 83
• Profiles of SARC members: Blake R. Wiggs VA7BWG 86
• 2025 SARC Field Day Results 92
• SARC General Meeting minutes 94
• The Christmas Social 96
• Coming up 98
• The SEPAR Report 100
• Are you an Amateur Radio Chameleon? Embrace the multiverse of the ‘Hobby of Hobbies’ 102
• Ham Leftovers 106
• A look back: at The Communicator—January 2016 108
• Kudos 112

The New Year's Ham Baby

Midnight struck! The calendar flipped,

A brand-new baby boy born fully equipped. 

But this was no ordinary, cooing tyke, 

He burst out screaming... "CQ! Q-R-Z! gimme a mic!"

His parents, both veteran 2-letter hams, 

were thrilled—not only by baby, but the accurate count on his radiograms. 

His first sound was: "dah dit dah dit, dah dah dit dah", a properly spaced CQ, 

A perfect fist, spectacular for a ham just so new.

Mr. Jones, the neighbor wasn't as happy. 

Just what I need, another ham next door like his mama and pappy. 

They named him "Kenwood", a name everyone knew, 

but in phonetics, baby confused quite a few. 

They bypassed the rattle, the blanket, and ball, 

‘cause he only wanted a transceiver with a nice waterfall. 

He skipped "goo-goo" for Q-codes instead: 

"My QTH is my bedroom!" is what he often said. 

And change me often when I get wet… 

I don’t want to risk the high voltage when I’m on a QSO in bed.

One day, they found him, in a corner on the floor, 

He'd built a QRP rig they couldn’t ignore. 

He keyed up on twenty, it was truly a feat, 

Sending: "Happy New Year!!" it sounded so sweet.

The FCC called, "Is that your harmonic on the air?" 

His dad just laughed, "No, sir, that’s my son you hear there. 

"He's only seven weeks old, and his signal's 5-9-9" 

The New Year's Ham Baby? He’s doing just fine!

~ The Communicator ~

Festive Callsigns PH25XMAS and PH26HNY Return to the HF Bands

 

Celebrating 5 Years of Holiday Spirit on the Air

Now with an AI-Powered Award System!

As the Christmas season approaches, radio amateurs across the world can once again look forward to hearing the cheerful special callsigns PH25XMAS and PH26HNY on the HF bands. These stations will be active during the Christmas holidays and the first week of January 2026, sharing goodwill and season’s greetings over the airwaves.

This year marks the first lustrum (5th anniversary) of the festive XMAS and HNY event calls. To mark the occasion, the organizing team has developed an all-new automated award platform — a creative blend of amateur radio, Python programming, and artificial intelligence. It is called SAVS (Special Award Validation System).

The system will be operational, starting the 6^th of December 2025. Until then a page is showing a count-down timer to the first date of operation and first opportunity to check the award eligibility.

A Fully Automated Award System:  SAVS

Participants who have made QSOs with PH##XMAS and/or PH##HNY stations between 2021 and 2026 can check whether they qualify for a commemorative certificate.

The new award system at 👉 https://award.pa3efr.nl works like this:

• The platform automatically searches remote and local ADIF logs (PH21XMAS–PH26HNY).
• Operators whose callsigns appear three or more times in the logbooks across the past four years and this year are eligible for an award.
• After entering your callsign on the Entry Page, the system validates your QSOs, displays the results, and — if qualified — instantly generates a personalized PDF certificate for download.

Behind the scenes, a Python Flask server performs the validation, integrates with QRZ.com for data verification, and generates your award PDF with just one click.

Open Source and AI-Assisted

The entire system was created with the help of AI tools and is released as a fully open-source project on GitHub: https://github.com/PA3EFR/SAVS_XMAS_HNY

Every element — from log validation to PDF generation — runs autonomously, demonstrating how classic ham radio activity can harmoniously combine with modern coding and machine learning.

Join the Celebration

So this festive season, when you hear “CQ from PH25XMAS” or “CQ from PH26HNY”, don’t hesitate to call back!

You might not only exchange warm holiday greetings, but also earn yourself a special place in the logs — and a beautiful award to commemorate it.

📡 Brought to you by Radio Scouting Fellowship PA3EFR/J

The Communicator: November - December 2025

Welcome to the November-December 2025 edition of the SARC Communicator, your go-to guide for all things amateur radio in our vibrant RF neighborhood. This edition is a journey across the history, innovation, and fascinating activities of amateur radio.

As we transition from crisp fall days to the festive glow of holidays ahead, this issue looks at the enduring legacy of Émile Baudot, the pioneer of digital communication, and revisits the vital role of radio during the catastrophic 1917 Halifax Explosion. 

For satellite operators, discover how to seamlessly integrate SkyRoof with the Icom IC-9700 for LEO satellite operations, and check out our review of the past year in amateur satellites. 

Technical articles dive into RTTY as a viable emergency digital mode and explores the fascinating use of radio telemetry in insect tracking. We also have several articles on a current ‘hot’ activity, homebrew vertical antennas for Parks on the Air (POTA).  Finally, catch up on the excitement of the ARDF World Championship and a glimpse into the future of Software Defined Radio. 

There are articles for all levels of amateur radio and you’re sure to find something of interest.

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Dive in for inspiration, connections, and the pulse of what makes our hobby of hobbies special. A special year-end thank you to our contributors and columnists. On behalf of SARC and SEPAR, we wish all of you a safe and happy holiday season.  

Stay engaged—our readership powers us forward!

Enjoy this final issue of 2025!

~ John VE7TI, Editor

Contents for this issue:

• The Rest of the Story: RTTY and Émile Baudot’s Enduring Legacy 4
• Radio's Role in the 1917 Halifax Explosion 8
• NARA NVIS Test 12
• The Lighter Side of Amateur Radio 13
• Repair and Repurpose 14
• Radiofrequency and Telemetry in Insect Tracking 24
• What’s New at DLARC — October 2025 28
• ARDF Canada World Championship 2025 in Lithuania 30
• Integrating SkyRoof with the Icom IC-9700 32
• RTTY; A viable emergency digital mode? 36
• Pile-Up Control System - Take control of the pile-up! 40
• Satellite Tracking: Looking back on 2025, and ahead into 2026 42
• Homebrew Mobile Antennas 44
• The genius logic of the NATO phonetic alphabet 46
• The North American QRP CW Club 48
• Simple QRP 9:1 Unun Construction 50
• The Dominator End-Fed Halfwave Antenna by KJ6ER 52
• The POTA PERformer vertical antenna revisited 60
• FreqBuddy: A Modern Web-Based Radio Frequency Database 69
• Ham Radio Outside the box: PERformer modifications 70
• A good idea for suspending radials 72
• A Portable Power Project 73
• Zero Retries 76
• Margaret Atwood on CW? 80
• When your hobby revolves around electricity... 82
• Back to Basics - Digital Modes 86
• Study Aids 89
• No-ham Recipes: Meatloaf with sweet tomato-mustard sauce 91
• Profiles of SARC members: Sheldon Friesen VE7SRF 94
• SARC Member donates digital nautical archive 97
• SARC 50th Anniversary the transformative role of SARC 100
• Peter Vogel VE7AFV: Profile in Tech, Science & Amateur Radio  102
• SARC General Meeting minutes 104
• The SEPAR Report 110
• We’re back on track! 115
• QRT: Is Amateur Radio an Old Hobby or a playground for explorers? 116
• HAM LEFTOVERS... 118
• A look back… at The Communicator—December 2015 120

Pile-Up Control System

PUCS: Take control of the pile-up!

by SANDER PD9HIX and ERWIN PA3EFR VAN DER HAAR

Every special event station (SES) operator knows the thrill — and the chaos — of a true pile-up. The excitement of dozens of stations calling you simultaneously can quickly turn into frustration when QRM, doubles, and missed calls clutter the frequency. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a way to bring order to that chaos without losing the fun of real-time operating?

Enter PUCS, the Pile-Up Control System, a fully open-source, web-based platform designed by and for radio amateurs. Born from the ingenuity of the Radio Scouting Fellowship PA3EFR/J, PUCS elegantly blends traditional ham ingenuity with modern AI-assisted software development. The result is a modular, flexible system that any club or individual can tailor to their own operating style — from large-scale SES activities to small club field days.

PUCS can be seen operational at pucs.pa3efr.nl

From Normandy to the Netherlands

The idea for PUCS was sparked during an SES operation on the beaches of Normandy, where operators of TM80DDAY overheard multiple Australian colleagues discussing a private sign-up system for QSOs. Intrigued but unable to obtain the software, Erwin PA3EFR and his team decided to build their own version — and then share it freely with the world. With the help of AI tools and some Python wizard Barry, PC1K, PUCS was born. It was much later when Erwin decided to develop PUCS within his own environment.

Today, PUCS is freely available, fully documented, and open to anyone willing to experiment. It’s more than just software — it’s an invitation to collaborate, learn, and contribute to a smarter way of managing pile-ups.

What Makes PUCS Unique

At its heart, PUCS is a distributed system consisting of two parts:

• Frontend (commercial hosting): This is the public entry point where operators register their callsigns to join the queue. Think of it as a digital “waiting room” — transparent, fair, and visible to everyone.  
• Backend (local PC): Here’s where the magic happens. The backend checks QRZ.com logbooks every minute, automatically removes callsigns that have already been worked, and provides an admin dashboard to manage the queue, export logs, and adjust settings on the fly.

The system uses Python’s Flask framework, SQLite databases, and SocketIO for real-time updates — all standard, well-documented technologies familiar to many technically minded amateurs. It’s simple enough for a club to host on a modest PC, yet robust enough to handle large SES events.

Open Source, Open Spirit

PUCS is more than a tool — it’s a philosophy. The creators explicitly invite others to modify, enhance, and restyle the system to their own preferences. Whether you want to change the interface colors, add logging features, integrate digital modes, or redesign the operator dashboard, the code is yours to explore. There’s no hidden agenda, no locked components — just open code and open collaboration.
All scripts, examples, and documentation are available on GitHub:

https://github.com/PA3EFR/PUCS

Why You Should Try It

PUCS is a perfect project for your club’s next technical workshop. It offers practical lessons in networking, APIs, databases, and web hosting — all wrapped around a real amateur radio application. 
Beyond that, it promotes fairness in pile-ups, gives weaker stations a chance to make contact, and even allows SWLs to log their participation.

So fire up your soldering iron if you must, but this time, your “kit” is made of code.
Download PUCS, make it your own, and bring calm to your next pile-up.

As Erwin, PA3EFR, says: “Ask AI as your friend for support — and enjoy your own moments of challenge!” On behalf of the Radio Scouting Fellowship PA3EFR/J we look forward to see you on our PUCS screens at a next special event occasion.

~ Sander PD9HIX

It's our 50th Anniversary!

Commemorative VHF Net check-in 

Tuesday 7 October at 8 pm (PST)

SARC will be hosting its usual net at 8 pm (Pacific time) on Tuesday, October 7 on frequency 147.360 MHz +600 KHz, tone 110.9 Hz for a special commemoration of the society’s founding on Tuesday, October 7, 1975.   

Members and non-members are invited to check in.  We'll also be connecting to IRLP reflector 9005 for any stations who wish to join from outside our repeater’s footprint.  You can connect a repeater or your personal device by dialing node 9005.  

You can read about SARC's history at The Communicator Digital Edition: The Communicator July - August 2025

We encourage SARC members, past students, non-members, and readers of The Communicator to check in on this historic net and we hope to commemorate our 50th anniversary with a record number of check ins.

~

The Communicator September - October 2025

Back With a Fall Issue

This publication, "The Communicator" from Surrey Amateur Radio Communications (SARC), serves as a bi-monthly electronic periodical for amateur radio operators. It covers a wide array of topics, including historical figures in radio. This month Jonathan Zenneck and Edwin Armstrong. In this issue we also provide technical explanations of radio propagation phenomena such as the Gray Line and solar indices, and practical guides for amateur radio activities like building antennas. We take a closer look at specific radio equipment (Baofeng, Icom, and Anytone), and engaging in digital modes like FT8. 

The Communicator also features emergency preparedness strategies, and the diverse interests and community focus within amateur radio. Furthermore, it touches upon innovative developments like the Linux Handie Talkie (LinHT) and the importance of in-person technical conferences for knowledge exchange.

Now read in over 165 countries, this issue brings you 130 pages of Amateur Radio content from the Southwest corner of Canada and around the globe. With less fluff and ads than other Amateur Radio publications, you will find Amateur Radio related articles, projects, profiles, news, tips and how-to's for all levels of the hobby.

Download the September-October 2025 Communicator in 

LARGE or SMALL format, or read it on-line like a magazine

Previous Communicator issues:

Search for past Communicator issues

We now have a comprehensive searchable index back to 2007
HERE.  

Want to try something new? We're experimenting with AI.

Google LM has created a link. Try it HERE

As always, thank you to our contributors, and your feedback is always welcome. 

The deadline for the next edition is October 15th.

If you have news or events from your club or photos, stories, projects or other items of interest from BC or elsewhere, please contact us at communicator@ve7sar.net

73,

John VE7TI
'The Communicator' Editor

The Table of Contents for the September - October 2025 Communicator issue:

• The Unsung Pioneers: Jonathan Senneck 4
• A look at Edwin Armstrong’s contribution to broadcasting 6
• Field Day and Cross-Border Microwave Activity 7
• The Northern California DX Foundation: Decrypting solar indices 8
• Propagation Profile: Exploring the Gray Line in Radio Propagation 10
• News You Can’t Lose: Rescue team locates and rescues 12
• Page13—News You Can Lose: Mystery in Back Yard 13
• Radio Ramblings: Aircraft Radio Systems 14
• Another RFI Tracker 29
• Sniffing RF Noise with an Oscilloscope 29
• A Bridge Too Far... For Now! 30
• An AM Radio Transmitter Suitable for in-home broadcast 32
• ISED Releases New Documents for Amateur Exams 34
• Getting Started: Beginner's guide to the FT8 mode 36
• Using the Baofeng Radio: Your Guide to a Handheld Radio 37
• iCOM Special Interest Group: RFI & Noise reduction - USB cable 38
• WA5VJB’s "Cheap Yagis": Looking for a 1.2 Ghz solution? 41
• RigPi: Probably compatible with your rig 422
• The AnyTone 878 portable receives a major firmware update 44
• Ham TV again from the International Space Station! 46
• After 14 attempts our first circumnavigation of a pico balloon! 47
• The PERformer: 2024 ARRL QST Antenna Design Competition 50
• But, does it PERform? 59
• Ham Radio Outside the box: Testing the “PERformer” 60
• The Zenith Satellite Tracker 62
• Another Simple Morse Code Trainer: It uses only 7 parts 63
• High Altitude RF Adventures 64
• Hamshack Hotline Orphans invited to apply at Hams Over IP 69
• Zero Retries: The Linux Handie Talkie 70
• Ham on a Bike: Snatched a big one working my grey line 75
• Foundations of Amateur Radio: A POTA procedural proposal 76
• Listening to local RF via a web browser 78
• Back to Basics: Understanding decibels in Amateur Radio 80
• Crossword 83
• Danger in St. Elmo 84
• No-ham Recipes: Chili Con Rotini 85
• Profiles of SARC members: Michael Papp WB6GJE 88
• The SEPAR Report: Emergency Program: Net Strategies 92
• A new beam antenna for the OTC 95
• QRT: Building Your Own Antennas 96
• HAM LEFTOVERS... 98
• A look back at The Communicator—October 2015 100