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