<![CDATA[Zero Retries]]>https://www.zeroretries.orghttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!TJwk!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F732127e1-2ce3-4ebe-8fb6-b7965f95aafd_468x468.pngZero Retrieshttps://www.zeroretries.orgSubstackSat, 11 Apr 2026 16:49:19 GMT<![CDATA[Zero Retries 0246]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0246https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0246Sat, 11 Apr 2026 03:37:14 GMTZero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Radios are computers - with antennas! Now in its fifth year of publication, with 3500+ subscribers.

Steve Stroh N8GNJ, Editor

editor@zeroretries.net

Tina Stroh KD7WSF, Business / Conference Manager

tina@zeroretries.net

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In This Issue:

I-Frame

What’s New at Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications - April 2026
By Kay Savetz K6KJN

ZR > BEACON

Request To Send

Closing Thanks

The Usual Administrivia

Footnotes for This Issue

I-Frame

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Brief notes about this issue of Zero Retries.

Paid Subscribers / Founding Members Update

My thanks to Tom Nolan W3EX for renewing as an Annual Paid Subscriber to Zero Retries this past week!

My thanks to Prefers to Remain Anonymous 67 for renewing as an Annual Paid Subscriber to Zero Retries this past week!

My thanks to Jake Steijn KK7HAQ for upgrading from a free subscriber to Zero Retries to an Annual Paid Subscriber this past week!

KK7HAQ included this nice note:
I’ve been reading you for a couple of years, if I recall right. Good stuff and you deserve at least a little support.

My thanks to Prefers to Remain Anonymous 124 for becoming a new Annual Paid Subscriber to Zero Retries this past week!

Financial support from Zero Retries readers is a significant vote of support for the continued publication of Zero Retries.

MoonRF Quad Likely Priced at $399, Not $2k

In Zero Retries 0245, open.space - Moon Launch Update! I speculated that the cost of a MoonRF Quad tile (4 units) could be priced at $2,000. I don’t remember why I offered that (totally unfounded) guess at that price point. Turns out I was way off (5x too high). I added this to the article:

Post Publication Update: Email from Martin McCormick K1MCC:

The QuadRF [kit] is likely to be $399, not $2000.

Wow. Just… Wow. That’s an incredibly reasonable price point.

I’m really looking forward to MoonRF’s crowdfunding campaign, not so much for being able to put a phased array 5 GHz antenna to immediate use… but I really want to vote with my wallet to help encourage the emergence of this technology into Amateur Radio.

Please direct comments / feedback about I-Frame to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0246 hashtag.

What’s New at Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications - April 2026

By Kay Savetz K6KJN

Greetings from DLARC World Headquarters in sunny Oregon, where I am thrilled to announce that the DLARC free online ham radio library now has a selection of the “big three” American amateur radio magazines: CQ, QST, and 73.

Here’s the TL;DR: we have every issue of 73 Amateur Radio (516 issues published from 1960-2003), 530 issues of QST from its founding in 1915 through 1961, and now 199 issues of CQ Magazine published from 1946 through 1963! The “big three” U.S. amateur radio magazines.

The non-TL;DR “give me more information!” version is that DLARC is now home to those 199 issues of CQ Amateur Radio Magazine, published from 1946 through the end of 1963. The pre-1964 issues have fallen into the public domain, so they’re available for us all to read and use.

CQ’s final issue was published in October 2023, and publisher Dick Ross (K2MGA) died a few months later. The legal status of CQ Magazine is in flux. I’m not sure anyone knows yet what will happen to the material published from 1964 through 2023 — but having access to the first nearly two decades of the magazine is huge news. Many of the issues came to DLARC via the SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention, and some scans came from the University of Illinois Chicago.

But there’s still work to be done: CQ magazine launched in 1945. DLARC doesn’t yet have January 1945 (volume 1 number 1) through March 1946 (volume 2 number 3), most of volume 3, and a smattering of issues in volumes 4, 11, and 12. Those are now in the DLARC Wantlist.

I’ve told the story of 73 here a few times: before Wayne Green (publisher of 73) died, he contributed a complete set of the magazine to Internet Archive and asked that they be made freely available. That collection was just about the first thing I added to DLARC when the project launched.

The last of the big three, arguably the best known, is QST, which has been published by the ARRL since 1915. The ARRL is a member organization, and they work hard to create great information exclusively for their members, which is 1000% their right and privilege. Like CQ, the oldest issues are old enough to be in the public domain, which means the 530 issues published before 1962 are here to enjoy. (When you click the link, you’ll see something like 609 results. Some of those are indexes, not issues. Indexes are available all the way through 2001.)

There’s more in the works (soon!) for DLARC. I’m preparing a post for the Internet Archive blog for World Amateur Radio Day, April 18, that will announce the other new stuff. In the meantime, there are plenty of ham radio magazines to keep you busy.

Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications is funded by a generous grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) to create a free digital library for the radio community, researchers, educators, and students. If you have questions about the project or material to contribute, contact me at kay@archive.org.

…

Editor’s Note - Just a reminder that K6KJN will be representing DLARC at Hamvention 2026 in Xenia, Ohio - 2026-05-15 thru 17. Stop by at booth 1506 in Building 1 / Maxim to say Hi.

Please direct comments / feedback about this article to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0246 hashtag.

ZR > BEACON

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Short mentions of Zero Retries Interesting items.

MOP - It’s (Web Page) is Back!

In Zero Retries 0239, I wrote (admittedly a bit gushingly) about Mesh Operations Protocol (MOP):

I could try to explain this, but the web page linked in the title is an absolute marvel of self-explanation. It’s really amazing! Scroll down to see the sections Live Network Simulation, Cross-Country Delivery, and MOP vs. The Rest. Read those, and you’re up to speed on the ideas of MOP.

But MOP’s developer, Stefaan Desmet KO6IKR, wasn’t (then) quite ready for MOP to be publicly known (he deliberately had not publicized it). After my mention in Zero Retries 0239 resulted in a rush of questions he wasn’t quite ready for, K06IKR took the MOP website offline. … and I wasn’t smart enough (then) to have “snapshotted it” to Internet Archive Wayback Machine. I was bummed! But after some encouragement, K06IKR has put the MOP website - https://smasher.be/mop/ back online. And, yes, with a snapshot of it into the Wayback Machine for posterity.

Although it was then, and is currently, a concept / project in development by KO6IKR, it represents one of the best scoped set of ideas / concept / plans of a mesh network for operation on VHF / UHF bands.

A decentralized mesh network for amateur radio.

No sessions. No hubs. No closed-source software.

Just datagrams and beacons — short, efficient bursts.

…

VALIDATE

Integrity & Origin ID (Open)

Each message includes an open, non-obscuring integrity tag that lets receivers verify origin and detect tampering or corruption. Message contents remain readable to any receiving station in compliance with FCC Part 97.

ROUTE

Beacon-Driven Discovery

Gateways beacon every 10 min, relays every 15 min. Route knowledge ripples outward through re-broadcasts. No central directory — your routing table builds itself from what you hear.

ACCESS

CSMA/CA with Exponential Backoff

Listen before talk. If channel is busy, defer. Random backoff avoids collisions between stations that were both waiting. Directed frames get retried with exponential backoff.

MODULATE

OFDM at 4800 bps

First working version of a custom OFDM modem — early tests are very promising. Built in Python with numpy + sounddevice. Beacons use 1200 baud AFSK for APRS visibility.

TRANSMIT

Standard FM Voice Channel

3 kHz audio bandwidth. PTT via CAT command (Yaesu), VOX, or GPIO. No special hardware — any radio with a soundcard interface.

I think KO6IKR made a lot of good decisions in his scoping of MOP. He’s right - short bursts are the way to go, especially in urban areas (he’s located in the Los Angeles, California area). The use of OFDM is another excellent technical choice, and he’s one of a number of folks1 that have chosen to implement OFDM in the audio domain to allow use of existing VHF / UHF “data” radios (at 10 / 25 / 50 watt power levels).

KO6IKR states that MOP will be open source. When he completes his development work sufficiently to the point where he’s comfortable opening it up for collaboration and initial testing, I hope that he gets an enthusiastic response. I think he will get an enthusiastic response. I will jump at the chance to implement a test MOP system in N8GNJ / Zero Retries Labs.

An Old Concept That Could Be Resurrected

Jonathan Naylor G4KLX on the OpenDV email list:

For the last few months I have been working with the SX1255 RF I/Q device in various hardware configurations. We are not alone in working with this chip and there is already a lot of information and code available to help me. I am currently working on porting the MMDVM firmware over to using the device, but unlike the ADF7021 based hotspots, this hardware will support all modes, and potentially any new ones that appear.

Before I explain the reason for this post, let me tell you a short story. At Ham Radio in 2019 (in the “before” times), I was approached by Torsten DG1HT, of DMR+ fame, and he suggested that by using suitable SDR technology it would be possible to build a repeater that would offer a different DV mode on adjacent duplex channels. Technically this was easily achievable, my issue with that idea was to do with licensing. It’s probably true to say that in most European countries, and elsewhere, there just isn’t enough free spectrum to do that, and any such application to try it would be refused at the first hurdle. So apart from the thought experiment associated with it, I didn’t pursue it any further. It didn’t help that we didn’t have any suitable hardware available to try it with. However for low power personal hotspots, such problems don’t exist to any extent as long as you don’t connect it to a large antenna and/or use a power amplifier with it.

News has now reached me that the TETRA guys behind the SXceiver, which I am also using for development, are talking of using that hardware with two sets of channels, one for TETRA and one for DMR. Obviously the output power would be split in half for each carrier, but it is perfectly achievable. It also gets around the problem of integrating TETRA with the operation of the MMDVM in our particular case.

However it also got me thinking about taking this concept to its logical conclusion. How about being able to run multiple MMDVM instances, maybe each one locked to a specific mode, or maybe a couple of modes, connected to a separate program that interfaces to the SX1255 and makes suitable I/Q data available to each MMDVM based on a configuration file. Each MMDVM being unaware of the others. Each I/Q stream would be from a particular offset from the hardware centre frequency and within the configured bandwidth of the chip, and suitably frequency shifted and filtered, with the reverse being true on transmit. For obvious reasons this would have to be done in duplex mode. That would allow for some truly interesting configurations. The people that I would feel sorry for would be those creating dashboards to display it all!

For the DVM project, it would be possible for them to use one device to handle both the control and traffic channels in their P25 phase 1 trunking system instead of multiple duplex hotspots. The same hardware would be able to handle P25 phase 2 when they eventually implement it. Maybe even running it side-by-side with the phase 1 RF.

Any effort to amplify such a system would require very linear amplifiers, probably in class A, in order to ensure that there was no intermodulation between the different carriers. This would be easy for low powers, but would get difficult at higher power levels. There are also question marks about the overall spectral cleanliness of the SX1255 that need to be investigated.

I understand where G4KLX is coming from in this proposal, within the paradigm of making digital voice repeaters more utilitarian in accommodating multiple standards. But…

My perspective is that Amateur Radio is about at the limit of accommodating digital multiple standards. We’re beginning to experience diminishing returns for putting up ever more DMR repeaters, and System Fusion repeaters, and DMR repeaters, and D-Star repeaters, and M17 repeaters, and perhaps even future BBFM repeaters. New Amateur Radio Operators are justifiably confused and can suffer from the “paralysis of analysis” in trying to figure out if they want to invest in a DMR radio, or a D-Star radio, or a System Fusion radio, or a P25 radio, or a TETRA radio. All of those systems have their good points and bad points, and it’s common that there are repeaters using each of those in a given (usually metro) area.

This Amateur Radio “Tower of DV Babel” is resulting in absurd situations like here in Western Washington, USA, the Western Washington Amateur Relay Association (WWARA)2 is effectively mandating a policy that future repeaters (and, eventually existing repeaters) to be “narrowbanded” when, objectively monitored, there’s ample channel airtime to accommodate multiples of the existing number of repeaters that are coordinated by WWARA… just not enough “pairs” for each repeater to have “it’s own channel”.

Being able to operate on multiple digital voice systems using the same radio is on the cusp of being a non-issue3 by the LinHT and successors. And the “capacity” issue of only so many repeater pairs being available might well be solved with the application of Single Channel Time Division Multiple Access technology. But neither of those potential solutions, nor (in my opinion) G4KLX’s proposed system, address the “Tower of Babel” mess that is multiple modulation technologies being proliferated on repeater systems.

Thus, Joe Hamelin W7COM said well as he forwarded this item to me (which I had not spotted before his mention):

And we could call it a Superpeater!

I understand the desire for accommodating (not obsoleting) the radios that individuals have invested in, and Amateur Radio being under no constraints to consolidate on a particular (digital) voice (or data) technology.

My SuperPeater concept accommodates whatever radio a user wants to use (or has) by setting up virtual receivers (using ka9q-radio) for each mode. Purely for example, here’s an imagined “receiver map” for an imagined SuperPeater:

  • 440.010 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for FM transmissions,

  • 440.020 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for M17 transmissions,

  • 440.030 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for DMR transmissions,

  • 440.040 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for D-Star transmissions,

  • 440.050 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for System Fusion transmissions,

  • 440.060 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for P25 transmissions,

  • 440.070 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for NXDN transmissions,

  • 440.080 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for TETRA transmissions,

  • 440.090 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for DPMR transmissions.

Similarly, for data…

  • 440.110 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for 1200 bps AX.25 transmissions,

  • 440.120 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for 1200 bps AX.25 with IL2P transmissions,

  • 440.130 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for 1200 bps AX.25 with FX.25 transmissions,

  • 440.140 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for 2400 bps AX.25 with IL2P transmissions,

  • 440.150 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for 3600 bps AX.25 with IL2P transmissions,

  • 440.160 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for 4800 bps AX.25 with IL2P transmissions,

  • 440.170 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for 9600 bps AX.25 transmissions,

  • 440.180 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for 9600 bps AX.25 with IL2P transmissions,

  • 440.190 is monitored on the SuperPeater receiver for 19200 bps AX.25 with IL2P transmissions.

  • Any “hardware radio format” could be accommodated (it’s “just software”), such as a radio transmitting SSB.

What changes the game, and addresses G4KLX’s concern about spectrum is that the a SuperPeater would output a (unique, as yet undefined) wideband data stream, perhaps 100 kHz wide.

All of the above inputs (and as many more as required) would be translated into a “subsidiary” data stream. The receiver of a SuperPeater is (conceptually) simple and inexpensive:

  • Raspberry Pi computer

  • Software Defined Receiver - perhaps as simple as an RTL-SDR, or perhaps more capable such as a HydraSDR RFOne.

  • Unique software to receive the data stream and parse out each component as necessary (or interested in receiving) and route it into other applications using TCP/IP sockets.

With this concept, you transmit with “whatever radio” to the SuperPeater, and you receive with the SuperPeater receiver. This also accommodates the situation of Operator A using DMR wanting to converse with Operator B using D-Star, on the same repeater.

With some months of perspective, I think the SuperPeater concept has significant potential, especially in this era of quiet repeaters. It needs additional refinement and development of a reasonable specification. And, who knows… with perhaps a few more months of evolution in the capabilities of ClaudeAI, with a reasonable specification, perhaps I could end up doing the software development.

Transceive 1.4 Beta Testers Wanted

Georges Auberger WH6AZ via email (to the Transceive app email list)

Aloha,

I’m getting close to releasing a new update of Transceive. This version includes some significant plumbing changes, and I’m looking for people to help test it and make sure nothing broke.

Here’s what’s changed:

  • Universal binary (Apple Silicon + Intel)

  • Fix for DNS lookup when nodes use non-standard ports

  • Updated authentication for AllStar public auth

  • More robust node reachability (green/red status is more reliable, with less need to hit Cmd-R)

  • New: reorder nodes with simple drag and drop

  • New: add a memo to a node entry

I’m especially interested in people who can test against both public and private nodes. Also, I no longer have access to Intel hardware, so it would be great to have some Intel-based Mac users in the mix.

If you’re interested, head over to this link to join the beta on TestFlight:

https://testflight.apple.com/join/rbWKPna5

Thanks in advance for the help.

Transceive (link to App Store entry)is a $20 MacOS app for connecting to AllStarLink4:

Radio for AllStarLink nodes

Transceive allows amateur radio operators to connect to their AllStar node from anywhere in the world. Operators can administer linked nodes, monitor traffic, and transmit audio, all from the comfort of their Mac. You will either need an account on the node you are connecting to or register for an AllStar account and use it to connect to public nodes.

ALLSTAR PUBLIC AUTHENTICATION

  • Connect directly to public nodes with your AllStar account. Experience the AllStarLink network without the complexity of setting up your own node. A callsign is required to sign up for an AllStar account.

NODE CONNECTIONS

  • Account information is stored for every node you manage. Passwords are securely stored in the macOS keychain.

  • Hostname and port for public nodes are automatically looked up via DNS so you don’t have to remember specific IP addresses.

  • Node indicators let you know if your node becomes unreachable due to change in network conditions, for example when connecting to a new WiFi.

  • Connect to up to 8 nodes at the same time.

  • Nodes can be set to automatically connect when the application opens.

AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION

  • Node attributes and location are displayed for each node.

  • Callsign details such as name, license type and country are looked up automatically. (Availability varies by country of callsign issuance.)

  • Node locations can be visualized on a map by clicking on the pin icon.

STELLAR AUDIO

  • Experience high quality audio from any sources connected to your Mac.

  • Monitor and adjust audio levels with the help of a calibrated audio monitor panel.

  • Full duplex support.

RADIO LIKE

  • Transmission is activated by holding down the PTT button or the SPACE bar.

  • When transmitting, a timeout timer is displayed to help you avoid timing out a repeater.

  • Latching PTT option provides a hands-free experience.

LINKED NODES MANAGEMENT

  • Quickly link your node to other nodes on the network.

  • Identify keyed nodes as they transmit.

  • A history of previously linked nodes is preserved for easy access in the future.

  • Automatic unlinking prevents you from inadvertently linking multiple nodes together. This feature can be turned off when necessary, for example when managing a hub.

CUSTOMIZATION

  • Modify built-in DTMF commands to match your specific node configuration.

  • Define your own DTMF sequence presets for quick access to frequent operations.

KEYPAD

  • A keypad allows you to enter arbitrary DTMF commands for your node.

Transceive is independently developed and not affiliated with AllStarLink or its developers.

I haven’t yet seen one, but a handheld Push To Talk microphone with a USB-C interface, similar in size, weight, and feel to a Motorola or a Kenwood mobile radio microphone would, in my opinion, sell very well for use with voice applications like Transceive. Yes, there are adapters for the “real” microphones, but they’re clunky in comparison to handheld microphone with native, integrated USB-C. Having a native USB-C interface (hopefully properly, uniquely “signed”), they could be supported by apps like Transceive.

Image courtesy of Juma Communications

The Juma Communications USB-C Speaker Microphone (finally… someone got this concept) is designed for portable speaker / microphone / lapel use, and what I’m hoping for is a larger, heavier, mobile handheld microphone. (Admittedly I have big hands and such microphones just… feel… good in my hand.) I think it would be fun to participating on a net via AllStarLink while sitting in a coffee shop, picking up the microphone to speak. That would be a conversation starter!

Significant Potential for Interference in Amateur Radio 420-450 MHz (70cm) Band in California

A Zero Retries reader alerted me to these FCC Special Temporary Authority grants for testing in California of high power operation in the 420-450 MHz band:

Typical verbiage (location changed with each STA):

Please explain in the area below why an STA is necessary:

To authorize the applicant’s operation on the requested frequencies at Hawthorne, California, in order to perform near term testing and system integration that both prepares for an upcoming technology demonstration at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground and enables the applicant to meet requirements under active and pending U.S. Government contracts.

Please explain the purpose of operation: Operations under the STA will consist of performance testing, system integration, and related development activities conducted to ready the equipment for an upcoming technology demonstration and capability evaluation at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground and to demonstrate and verify performance needed to meet requirements under active and pending U.S. Government contracts.

…

Frequency: 420.00000000-450.00000000 MHz

Output Power/ERP: 3.000000 kW

Mean Peak: 11.020000 kW

Before you fire up your computers to protest to the FCC, recall that in the US, the US Government is the Primary user of 420-450 MHz (various agencies are allocated various segments). Amateur Radio use of 420-450 MHz is secondary. Thus (unlike the earlier use of 420-450 MHz by AST Space Mobile - a private company) for a demonstration for a US Government project is, yes, a legitimate use of 420-450 MHz, and interference to Amateur Radio is… secondary.

Those of us not in California - enjoy (and use, hopefully productively, and publicly and innovatively) our use of 420-450 MHz! (Or for those of us above Line A, and Canada - 430-450 MHz.)

New AX.25 library for ESP32 Microcontrollers

Robert Ambrose N7GET in the Ninotnc email list:

I’ve been working on a component library for AX.25 on an ESP32 microcontroller. This library is specifically designed to be used to build (or generate) applications rather than an application in and of itself.

The first application I’ve created (generated) is a something I’m calling ‘ESP-TNC’. It is at its core an AX.25 router that connects to a KISS TNC+radio station using a UART or RS-232 interface. It can connect to an existing WiFi network as a station or act as an Access Point. It allows multiple operators to connect to it using KISS or AGWPE over TCP/IP. As an example I’ve tested it with RMS Packet, RMS Express and Easyterm all connected to it at the same time. It also has a BBS, digipeater and a beacon capability.

I’ve paired this with a NinoTNC connected directly to the UART bypassing the USB interface and I think it works great.

This is alpha software. If there’s anyone out there who is comfortable with working with microcontrollers and is interested in this kind of thing, I’m looking for to move this project to the next stage of a controlled release. I will be releasing this as open source under GPL3.

The energy and creativity that’s going into the invention of new generations of TNCs are just amazing.

Introducing Radio Terminal

Andy O’Brien K3UK on the digitalradio email list:

I have set up a sub-group here called Radio Terminal , it is experimental digital mode software developed by a ham well-known to this group, Steinar LA5VA. If you are interested in contributing to the development of this software and its experimental modes , please apply to join
https://digitalradio.groups.io/g/RadioTerminal/topic/radioterminal/118693127 .

Please check your national rules to ensure the modes are permitted by your country .

Andy K3UK

What is RadioTerminal?

RadioTerminal is an open-source digital modem/terminal program written in Python. I have also made a Windows .exe version using PyInstaller. The program is still under development, but at the moment it includes these main parts:

1) Olivia (including an extended/experimental version)
With selectable FEC options, including: Walsh (8 tones, 250 Hz, compatible with fldigi), Golay, LDPC, Polar, Reed-Solomon, Turbo, Viterbi, BCH, and a combined Viterbi + Reed-Solomon mode that I call “Deep.”

2) Olivia ARQ (experimental code)
Based on Olivia, but this is my own MFSK variant: 8 tones and about 250 Hz bandwidth. It uses Reed-Solomon as its core and has a custom ARQ mechanism.

3) SCAMP / Sgump (ported from FLDigi)
A direct port from the FLDigi code base, done with help from an AI tool. I have not changed the algorithm — only ported it to Python.

4) HFCSS

5) FHSS –

6) IFKP – Incremental Frequency Keyed

Sounds like an interesting project. Scamp is an interesting new mode, and of course I’m a long time fan of FHSS (Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum).

CascadiaMesh

CascadiaMesh is an expanding community built mesh network primarily made up of solar-powered MeshCore radios across the coastal Pacific Northwest. Currently it covers British Columbia, Western Washington, and Western Oregon. The vibe is simple: a region-wide text messaging system that lets anyone message publicly or privately with anyone on the network. We proudly became the first large MeshCore network in North America and are still the largest by both geographic scale and daily active usage in North America.

The best part? It doesn’t depend on outside infrastructure at all! No electrical grid power, no cell coverage, no internet. If the lights go out, the mesh can keep talking.

The choice of MeshCore, rather than Meshtastic, in CascadiaMesh goes a long way in fixing the worst of the issues of scaling LoRa based mesh networks on unlicensed bands.

First, I have to reflexively have to reset myself from framing mesh networks like this operating on unlicensed spectrum “versus” mesh networks operating on Amateur Radio spectrum (used by Amateur Radio Operators). All independent radio experimentation that provides hands-on experience with radio technology is a good thing.

Second, impressive as CascadiaMesh is, I’m not mentioning it as a unique achievement of the Pacific Coast of the United States (despite their claims). I’ve seen similar regional mesh networks developing all over the US, and of course, also in Europe, and probably in every other region - South America, Asia, Africa… wherever there is access to unlicensed spectrum and curious techies.

That said, Amateur Radio is “losing mindshare” to projects / networks / communities like this. While Amateur Radio has the potential to be able to do the equivalent of CascadiaMesh (and Mesh America), and considerably more, Amateur Radio hasn’t made a significant enough investment in organizing such a program, or motivating manufacturers to develop mesh equipment for the unique capabilities of the Amateur Radio market, such as a LoRa radio operating at 25 or 50 watts on the Amateur Radio 420-450 MHz band (or the 222-225 MHz band).

Thus there may come a point where there will be, and more interesting, people to communicate and collaborate with, on unlicensed mesh networking. That might precipitate a tipping point (or, arguably, we’re past that) where the default for a potential NewTechHam is to briefly consider Amateur Radio, but then decide to “just go have fun” without the complication of getting an Amateur Radio license, arcane rules (no encryption, bandwidth / symbol rate limits) and just join in on the fun of networks and communities like CascadiaMesh.

I confess that despite being alerted to the existence of CascadiaMesh by my friend Michael Gan several weeks ago, I haven’t taken the time to really learn about what CascadiaMesh is doing and the infrastructure it’s developed.

My thanks to Zero Retries Pseudostaffer Steve Monsey N0FPF who reminded me of CascadiaMesh with this email:

Watch the packets fly!

https://cascadiamesh.org/map/

HAM / Amateur Radio - Integrating the Linux and Radio Worlds Together

This page is my attempt to capture my journey in the Amateur Radio (HAM) hobby where I’ve both learned and try to teach my learnings to my fellow HAMs. Hardware is always what people think about when it comes to this hobby but there lot more of powerful software available to complete the job. My primary focus on these pages is how to do that software on Linux even though there is a lot more options on Microsoft Windows. I’m doing my working on fixing that over time but the following documents will hopefully help other Linux-savvy HAMs!

Interesting reference page by David Ranch KI6ZHD with lots of detail and links about operating packet radio on Linux, including Raspberry Pi.

My thanks to Joe Hamelin W7COM for mentioning this for inclusion in Zero Retries.

The mkiss Module Update is Actually a Pretty Big Deal

Ben Kuhn KU0HN on the Zeroretries email list; reference Zero Retries 0245 - Updating the Linux MKISS Driver in Linux:

I was pretty excited to hear the news that someone is taking over maintainership of the mkiss module. Rumors have been going around for a few years now that the Linux AX25 stack may be dropped from the kernel completely due to some bugs and lack of maintainers. The article referenced the mkiss userland utility, but the mkiss kernel module (driver) is for KISS itself, including multidrop KISS.

From the source of the driver itself (https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/tree/drivers/net/hamradio/mkiss.c?h=v6.19.11)

MODULE_AUTHOR(”Ralf Baechle DL5RB <ralf@...>”);
MODULE_DESCRIPTION(”KISS driver for AX.25 over TTYs”);

There are other modules for 6PACK BPQEther, YAM, Baycom, and others; but the mkiss driver is what’s used most these days. It’s still *extremely* relevant for us Linux users as it’s how the built-in AX25 stack is able to interact with legacy serial TNCs, Bluetooth TNCs like mobilinkd or those built in to newer radios, as well as software/sound card TNCs like Direwolf. The kernel’s AX25 stack allows for native TCP/IP networking as well as access from applications that support it (PAT, Xastir, etc...). The vast majority of AX.25 software on Linux expects the Kernel/OS to handle these interfaces like it does any other hardware.

AGWPE is great for directly connecting a client to a modem, but KISS support built in to the OS makes more advanced things like IP networking much more seamless.

Thanks for that additional context, KU0HN!

Video - Best Radio for Decoding APRS/Packet Data?

Craig Lamparter KM6LYW:

Let’s look at the internal modems built into many modern APRS-enabled radio and compare their reception and decode rates. Does Kenwood decode more packets than Yaesu? VGC/Vero? Finally, let’s compare to a baseline SDR setup with a software modem to see the best-case scenario.

I’m looking forward to watching this entire video.

Please offer comments / feedback about ZR > BEACON on the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0246 hashtag.

Request To Send

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Editorial, Commentary, and Occasional Digressions

Substack Can Post Without Emailing

I was dreading the process of “backposting” issues of Zero Retries from www.zeroretries.radio to www.zeroretries.org (see below) because I expected there to be much confusion from Zero Retries email subscribers when they received those past issues via email (again - having received a “heads up” email from Substack and the issue from Ghost). But I’d apparently overlooked the option in Substack to publish only to the web, and not via email. (When you do so, Substack puts up a warning that only a small minority of readers will see a web-only post. Substack is really email-centric.). That was a great capability, and ideal for this situation.

That capability will also come in handy for some content that could be in the “date flow” of postings, something like a blog, instead of just creating “pages” which aren’t visible except via the top menu bar (such as Zero Retries Guides).

Zero Retries 0241 - 0244 backposted to Substack / www.zeroretries.org

I’ve “backposted” Zero Retries 0241, Zero Retries 0242, Zero Retries 0243, and Zero Retries 0244 on Substack / www.zeroretries.org (formerly published on Ghost / www.zeroretries.radio.

This is in service to consolidate all Zero Retries content to Substack / www.zeroretries.org. I’m not done yet - still to be backposted are ZR 0235 - ZR 0240. Doing so is a high priority so I can just get back to writing Zero Retries instead of this administrivia. I also have to move any articles that were created on www.zeroretries.radio. I’ve moved some of those, but not all.

DLARC is Such an Incredible Resource

It was so cool reading this month’s What’s New at DLARC column describing how there are now issues of not only the complete collection of 73 Magazine, but also the issues of CQ and QST that are public domain (out of copyright). At one point, I’ve been a subscriber of all of those magazines and it’s amazing to think that the issues that are in DLARC can be downloaded and read. You can easily scan through a year’s worth of issues in an evening.

One of the reasons I’m such a fan, and think that DLARC is such an incredible resource is that “Amateur Radio” magazines often cover developments outside of Amateur Radio, discussing fundamental radio technology. For example, the creation of artificial satellites is entirely within living memory (Sputnik 1 was launched 1957-10-04) and thus within living memory, and I’m sure the progress of various breakthroughs (such as the development of Geosynchronous Earth Orbit - GEO) satellites was discussed as an exciting new development in Amateur Radio magazines. I hope that perhaps the CQ archives could, somehow, be added to DLARC.

Another reason I love DLARC is that there have been so many times that Amateur Radio has attempted projects that weren’t quite feasible or sustainable with the technology or other resources of the era in which they were attempted. For example, Amateur Radio accomplished some amazing things with Amateur Radio satellites such as Packet Radio Satellites (PACSATs) that were expensive to create in the 1980s / 1990s. Now such capability is absolutely routine / easy / cheap. Other times, technological innovations were reported, but not formalized in enduring standards that are easy to reference.

Another was that, for a time, the US (and many countries) had reasonable local, regional, and national (and international) packet radio networks. Packet Radio in that era had a lot of technical issues - 1200 bps, no Forward Error Correction, multiple networking systems (TEXNET, Net/ROM, ROSE, etc.), the TNCs of the era weren’t very capable compared to modern embedded computers such as Raspberry Pi. But, for a while, it worked. We have better technology now, and arguably it’s easier and cheaper to recreate such networks.

My Presentation at SARC

Tina and I very much enjoyed our brief trip to Surrey (Vancouver) British Columbia, Canada for me to give a presentation at Surrey Amateur Radio Communications Society.

Given the activity level of SARC and especially SARC’s worldwide outreach via its stellar newsletterzine The Communicator, as I was developing the presentation, the majority of the presentation morphed into the most comprehensive explanation I’ve done to date of NewTechHams. I plan to clean up and post that portion of the presentation, and expand it into the long promised detailed page on NewTechHams.

But one of the biggest draws of attending SARC’s first in-person meeting of 2026 was meeting John Schouten VE7TI, Editor of The Communicator:

John Schouten VE7TI and Steve Stroh N8GNJ 2026-04-08; photo by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

I’m in awe of the stellar job VE7TI does in producing The Communicator and I gave him a number of appropriate kudos during my presentation. Appropriate because in being free for anyone to access, with great content that represents Amateur Radio very well, The Communicator is a significant resource in attracting and educating NewTechHams and potential NewTechHams.

And yes, boss 😁, I’m mindful that “deadline approacheth” for the next issue of The Communicator, and I’ll get my column in on time.

GMRS in Canada Doesn’t Require a License

I learned something New from Claude AI. I was fact checking what I thought I knew about various unlicensed radio services in the US and Europe (FRS versus DPMR, if memory serves), and I had the random thought to ask if GMRS was the same in Canada as it is in the US? ClaudeAI’s response:

Yes, but with differences from the US:

GMRS is legal in Canada and uses the same frequencies as the US

No license required in Canada — this is the key difference from the US, where a $35 FCC license is required

US GMRS radios work in Canada without modification

So ironically it’s simpler to operate GMRS in Canada than in the US. Cross-border interoperability works fine since the frequencies are the same.

That mention of “cross border interoperability” probably needs a further fact check as us uptight Americans might be kerfluffled at a Canadian, with no license, communicating with a US GMRS user, or using a GMRS repeater.

Or, maybe not. I have no idea - I’ll have to ask around as I’m sure that has come up here in the US / Canada Northwestern borderlands.

Hamvention 2026 Ho!

5 weeks until Hamvention 2026
in Xenia, Ohio, USA...
Zero Retries / DLARC booth 1506
in Building 1 / Maxim

The Technological Innovation In Amateur Radio Firehose Continues

This is yet another issue of Zero Retries that offers a smorgasbord of developments that are occurring, now, in Amateur Radio that you’re probably not hearing about from other Amateur Radio media. I’m not afraid to candidly admit that I can’t keep up with how much is going on, and, again, I drop stuff constantly that I’d love to mention.

In my wilder fantasies (yeah, I lead a pretty tame life), Zero Retries would be a magazine, perhaps monthly, with a staff of writers, and I point out a promising subject for a story to one of a number of “staff writers” and it comes back. I lightly proofread and edit it, and assemble it into a “73 Magazine” length magazine (online, of course, and free like The Communicator).

And maybe (again, fantasizing here) I can get organized enough, and the AI helpers get good enough, that I can actually accomplish at least something like Zero Retries Magazine. NotebookLM is a stellar research assistant, and for general answers, I’m getting increasingly respectful of ClaudeAI.

We need a Packet Radio Appliance

That idea was going to be an article in this issue as a spinout of a email conversation I had this week, but once again, there were too many interesting things to bring to you in this issue. I really want to publish on Friday, and that article would take another few hours, so it’s deferred for now.

Very generally… Amateur Radio needs a packaged solution for using more advanced capabilities that have emerged in Amateur Radio Packet Radio in the last couple of decades. All of this is available, it’s just not integrated / packaged. One example is KM6LYW’s mention of the integrated TNCs in some new portable radios… but those implementations are old, tired, and slow (but works fine for the use case - APRS). We need a “black box” that does:

  • 3600 / 4800 / 9600 bps

  • Both (simultaneous) FX.25 and IL2P Forward Error Correction

  • Net/ROM automatic / auto discovery mesh networking

  • Easy to create routers / gateways that would allow more than one radio / band to be used.

  • Integrated BBS so that you can read BBS messages, bulletins, see files that were transferred to your BBS in the background

  • Good chat system, at least equivalent to Raven in AREDN and Meshtastic / MeshCore.

  • Interface is a web browser, similar to the way DigiPi works.

  • Designed for a (reasonably priced) Raspberry Pi 3B+ - it’s an appliance that connects to the radio.

  • Integration of 44Net Connect for easy access to your station.

“Packaged” similar to TARPN, but more generic than TARPN’s perspective of how to build a Packet Radio network. DigiPi is another great example of packaging, but DigiPi has many more modes than Amateur Radio Packet Radio, and is tightly optimized for use with the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W. I think the greater capabilities of the Raspberry Pi 3B+ is a better platform for what I’m imagining.

My correspondent said that my idea as I pitched it was a bit scattershot, and they were right, so this deserves not just an article but a full treatment as a specification.

Upcoming Events

It’s getting to be the busy season. I created the Zero Retries Guide to Zero Retries Interesting Events page as much for myself and my reference as for public usage.

Comcast - Grrr…

The house I’m staying at this weekend has Comcast Internet. Which mostly works fine (reasonably fast)… but of as I’ve described previously, Comcast customers, including me this weekend, cannot access www.zeroretries.radio.

I can just barely respect the “choice” of Comcast to consider www.zeroretries.radio as a potential phishing site. But, the way that they implement that decision is to simply break the connectivity and leave it for the customer to figure it out. Comcast could put up a redirect page with an explanation like “We consider this page to be potentially harmful so we’re not going to let you see it”. But no, they just break the connectivity with no hint of an explanation.

Thus I hope there’s a special circle in Hell reserved for the network engineers at Comcast who decided to implement that particular method of “protecting” Comcast customers.

As always, I am unreasonably happy to no longe be a paying hostage “customer” of Comcast.

Weekends Are For Amateur Radio!

I’m traveling this weekend, and I’m still not caught up on the conversion of pages and previous issues of ZR from www.zeroretries.radio to www.zeroretries.org. But I did bring my loaned MeshCore node, and with the article about CascadiaMesh, my interest is piqued.

Have a great weekend, all of you co-conspirators in Zero Retries Interesting Amateur Radio activities!

Please offer comments / feedback about Request To Send on the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0246 hashtag.

73,

Steve N8GNJ

Closing Thanks

My ongoing Thanks to:
Tina Stroh KD7WSF for, well, everything!
Jack Stroh, Late Night Assistant Editor Emeritus
Fiona and Shreky Stroh, Late Night Assistant Editors In Training

Founding Members who generously support Zero Retries financially:
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The Usual Administrivia

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  • Fair Use - All excerpts from other authors or organizations, including images, are intended to be fair use and are fully attributed generally by author and link (URL).

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⬅️⬅️⬅️ Previous Issue of ZR | Next Issue of ZR ➡️➡️➡️

This issue released on 2026-04-10. This issue was 7882 words.

Footnotes For This Issue

1

Two other implementations of “audio” OFDM for VHF / UHF that come readily to mind is VARA FM and more recently, the IP400 Project.

2

In Western Washington, WWARA is the entity that coordinates the use of “repeater pairs” on the VHF / UHF bands and “prioritizes” the usage of particular repeater pairs by particular repeaters.

3

The LinHT will make the multiple digital voice standards a non-issue from the perspective that being a fully Software Defined Radio, you won’t need a separate“DMR radio” to access a DMR repeater, and a separate “D-Star radio” to access a D-Star repeater”. You’ll just use the “DMR” module or the “D-Star” module on the LinHT to access a DMR repeater or a D-Star repeater.

4

This took some time and work to include. The Apple App Store “discourages” copying of text, but a consultation with ClaudeAI resulted in two effective workarounds.

]]><![CDATA[Zero Retries 0244]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0244https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0244Fri, 10 Apr 2026 17:30:19 GMTZero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Radios are computers - with antennas! Now in its fifth year of publication, with 3500+ subscribers.

Steve Stroh N8GNJ, Editor

editor@zeroretries.net

Tina Stroh KD7WSF, Business / Conference Manager

tina@zeroretries.net

This issue of Zero Retries was originally published on Ghost - https://www.zeroretries.radio/zero-retries-0244/. Thus all links that were for zeroretries.radio have (attempted to) been changed to equivalents on zeroretries.org.

See this archive page:
https://web.archive.org/web/20260406214906/https://www.zeroretries.radio/zero-retries-0244/
for how it originally appeared on www.zeroretries.radio.

Substack says this issue is too big for email clients? YES
Thus, it might be easier to read this in a web browser -
https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0244

It’s easy and free to subscribe for your own copy of Zero Retries every week:

Subscribe now

In This Issue...

I-Frame

AX.25 Version 2.2 - John Langner WB2OSZ

FCC Bans New “Consumer Routers” - Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Starlink Now Marketing Starlink as Suitable for Emergency Backup - Steve Stroh N8GNJ

ZR > BEACON

Request To Send

Closing Thanks

The Usual Administrivia

I-Frame

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Brief notes about this issue of Zero Retries.

Some Weeks Just Fly By

One story I worked on for most of a day this week ended up not being usable here in Zero Retries. But, it was still fascinating to work on the story and I don’t regret the time “lost” doing so.

And... that’s the story, for me, writ large about Zero Retires. This coming July will begin the sixth year of publishing Zero Retries (almost) weekly, and creating a new issue of Zero Retries every week is still as much fun, immersive, and addictive as it was at the beginning.

Thank you, Zero Retries readers for coming along on the ride.

Not Publishing on Substack

For new Zero Retries email subscribers that sign up for Zero Retries on Substack from a link, or the Substack app, or ??? and find yourself receiving Zero Retries from Ghost, the short story is that I’m no longer using Substack to publish Zero Retries. When a new email subscriber adds themselves to Zero Retries on Substack, I manually add that person to receive Zero Retries via Ghost (no big deal). Between Substack and Ghost, a typical week sees 3-10 new email subscribers to Zero Retries.

Please direct comments / feedback about I-Frame to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0244 hashtag.

AX.25 Version 2.2

By John Langner WB2OSZ

Introduction By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

John Langner WB2OSZ is one of my heroes of Zero Retries Interesting Amateur Radio. WB2OSZ is the creator of the Dire Wolf Software TNC, which has become one of... if not the cornerstone element(s) of Amateur Radio Packet Radio remaining relevant in the 21st century. Dire Wolf is remarkably capable software, most notably incorporating a unique, automatic mechanism for correcting received single bit errors without requiring a retransmission (Zero Retries!). This capability is largely “behind the scenes” of Dire Wolf operation, but WB2OSZ explained it in a 2018 presentation, where I was privileged to be in the audience and meet WB2OSZ.

Dire Wolf is interoperable with both FX.25 and IL2P Forward Error Correction (FEC) systems now in use in modern Amateur Radio that make Packet Radio much more usable and reliable, especially at (fussy) 9600 bps operation. Dire Wolf is also interoperable with a number of different speed tiers such as 2400 bps and 4800 bps, including interoperability with the NinoTNC. Dire Wolf includes many of the primary elements for being an APRS digipeater / IGate, and runs very well on Linux, Windows, and MacOS. It also runs on systems as modest as the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W as evidenced by it being one of the primary modes of the DigiPi.

WB2OSZ is also a capable technical writer (Dire Wolf documentation is excellent). In the past several years has begun systematically documenting the many divergent enhancements of APRS since the development (decades ago now) of the first formal specification of APRS. Just one example of WB2OSZ’s excellent technical writing is APRS Digipeater Algorithm.

When WB2OSZ shared a draft version of this article with me in December 2025, I was struck that I wasn’t aware of the significant advantages of AX.25 Version 2.2 over Version 2.0. Given that decades that have now passed since the release of Version 2.2, it’s valuable for this knowledge to be propagated more widely.

One might ask... why does this matter now, after more than two decades since this update? Simply, Amateur Radio Packet Radio operation continues in many areas. One example is that Packet Radio TNCs are now embedded within new, modern radios. Another example is that there are extensive Amateur Radio Packet Radio networks such as the 145.050 NET/ROM Packet Radio Network (operating in California, Nevada, and Oregon) and EastNet Packet in the Northeastern US. Not to mention Amateur Radio Packet Radio being used as “transport” for APRS and Winlink.

Given the significant advantages of AX.25 Version 2.2 that WB2OSZ explains, I hope that other AX.25 implementations will consider updating to Version 2.2. Most modern “Terminal Node Controllers” - TNCs such as the TNC4, and Kantronics 9612XE (”Easily upgradeable flash based bios/firmware”) are now implemented in (updatable) flash-based firmware and not nearly as memory or processor power constrained as 1980’s era TNCs. More modern TNCs are “KISS” TNCs and thus move AX.25 functionality into a host computer.

Lastly... WB2OSZ is perhaps guilty of “burying the lede” in his article in not referencing that Dire Wolf has implemented AX.25 Version 2.2. That capability is another element of why Amateur Radio Packet Radio networks using Dire Wolf generally work better than using legacy TNCs.

I had originally planned to “reprint” the entire article here in Zero Retries, but WB2OSZ completed the article and it’s now publicly available - see below.

...

If you had to choose between using a mobile phone from 1984 and one from 1998, the decision would be obvious. In just fourteen years, mobile technology evolved from bulky, single-purpose bricks into compact, reliable, feature-rich devices. What’s easy to forget is that communication protocols evolve in exactly the same way — and Amateur Packet Radio is no exception.

Most operators know that AX.25 is the protocol that made amateur packet radio possible. What fewer realize is that there isn’t just one AX.25 standard. In fact, there are two major revisions, separated by nearly a decade and a half of real-world experience, experimentation, and lessons learned.

Packet radio exploded in popularity in the mid-1980s. New TNC manufacturers appeared almost overnight, and the hobby grew rapidly because everyone agreed to speak the same digital “language”:

AX.25 Version 2.0 — October 1984

But technology didn’t stand still. After more than ten years of operational use, network experimentation, and feedback from thousands of packet operators, [AX.25] was revisited and improved. The result was a significantly more capable and efficient protocol:

AX.25 Version 2.2 — July 1998
(Now more than 25 years old as I write this.)

Ironically, while the 1998 revision brought meaningful improvements, existing implementations rarely adopted it. Most manufacturers disappeared, and the few that remain don’t mention AX.25 2.2 support at all.

So, what changed? And why does AX.25 Version 2.2 offer such clear advantages over its 1984 predecessor?

Let’s take a closer look at what makes Version 2.2 the better protocol — and why you should be using it.

Read (download) the entire (PDF) article at:
https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf-doc/blob/main/AX.25-version-2.2.pdf

WB2OSZ’s article is an easy to understand, high level treatment of the differences between AX.25 Version 2.0 and Version 2.2, and a good explanation of how Version 2.2 is backwards compatible / interoperable with Version 2.0. A primary feature of Version 2.2 is that implementing it...

does not break any functionality or compatibility or interoperability with existing TNCs or existing Amateur Radio Packet Radio networks.

Highly recommended! My thanks to WB2OSZ for this article, and his many contributions to Amateur Radio in both his work on Dire Wolf and his writing.

Please direct comments / feedback about this article to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0244 hashtag.

FCC Bans New “Consumer Routers”

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

This issue may become problematic, at least for a while, for Amateur Radio. We had it good for a long time with cheap, capable routers such as GL-iNet units (my personal favorites, supported by AREDN firmware). But there are some workarounds for Amateur Radio given we’re a bit more savvy than typical consumers. It’s quickly going to get confusing as the FCC makes no attempt to “de-conflate” the two functions - the actual Internet routing function in a household, and the Wireless Access Point function, that are almost always combined into a single unit. It will also probably become an amusing game of “whack a mole” as new “versions” of existing (currently approved) routers slip through the proposed new processes for approval of new units.

To answer a likely criticism in advance, I am not a lawyer (thus I’m not “armchair lawyering”), I am not an FCC “kremlinologist“, and these views are offered as relevant to the Zero Retries Interesting Amateur Radio, not political, aspects of this issue.

FACT SHEET: FCC Updates Covered List to Include Foreign-Made Consumer Routers, Prohibiting Approval of New Model

Update Follows Determination by Executive Branch Agencies that Consumer-Grade Routers Produced in Foreign Countries Threaten National Security

WASHINGTON, March 23, 2026—Today, the Federal Communications Commission updated itsCovered List to include all consumer-grade routers produced in foreign countries. Routers are the boxes in every home that connect computers, phones, and smart devices to the internet. This followed a determination by a White House-convened Executive Branch interagency body with appropriate national security expertise that such routers “pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of United States persons.”

The Executive Branch determination noted that foreign-produced routers (1) introduce “a supply chain vulnerability that could disrupt the U.S. economy, critical infrastructure, and national defense” and (2) pose “a severe cybersecurity risk that could be leveraged to immediately and severely disrupt U.S. critical infrastructure and directly harm U.S. persons.”

Read the entire statement at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-420034A1.pdf.

I agree with some very limited aspects of the reasoning behind this decision. Cheap consumer grade routers are routinely shipped with not just known security flaws, but sometimes with malware / spyware already installed. Attempts by “authorities” (not just in the US) to get the manufacturers to correct known issues have not been taken seriously by the manufacturers.

Thus this sledgehammer approach to improve the situation... whatever the real motives, however flawed the execution.

This issue won’t affect the vast majority of consumers that use routers supplied by their Internet service provider such as Comcast, Starlink, etc. Those big providers have enough clout (influence) within the US government to get their units rapidly approved through this “process”.

I predict the “process” as outlined, such as new units require approval from Department of Defense... will collapse within months under the weight of applications for use of newer technology in routers such as Wi-Fi 7 which is still in the early adoption phase. The “process” outlined by the FCC does not seem reasonable, workable, or scalable.

I don’t plan to cover this issue further in Zero Retries as it will be breathlessly covered (it’s irresistible clickbait) by consumer and homelab websites, newsletters, YouTubers, etc. That said, here are a few observations from the Zero Retries perspective.

I foresee three Zero Retries Interesting areas that I think this issue may affect:

  • AREDN makes extensive use of routers in being able to meld AREDN networking / access within an Amateur Radio Operator’s home to be accessible via their household Internet... such as getting your laptop onto an AREDN network while using your household Wi-Fi.

  • 44Net / 44Net Connect requires routers (capable of Wireguard Virtual Private Network - VPN) for use of 44Net systems and services.

  • This issue also may affect Amateur Radio Over Internet systems such as communicating on Internet talk groups, especially using radio hotspots. Functionally, these projects / products bridge (route) Internet to a radio. No, these aren’t “consumer routers” that the FCC is targeting, but that may well be too fine a distinction for the FCC when faced with a tsunami of requests for exemptions. Thus Amateur Radio products may well be swept up in the “blanket ban” that the FCC is proposing on “routers” that are manufactured outside the US.

    It’s interesting to note the approach for Amateur Radio hotspots that AllScan uses in its products - combining used embedded PCs and commodity portable radios, ends up being a clever and effective workaround. Thus AllScan’s products won’t be affected by this issue.

Knowledgeable folks like many Zero Retries readers have known about the issues of cheap routers and the first thing they do when they want to use one is to install OpenWRT firmware. Whether a router is supported by OpenWRT is my primary checklist item when considering purchasing a new router.

I expect that embedded computers such as Raspberry Pis (with independent Ethernet ports and external, higher capability Wi-Fi), will bridge the gap of availability of consumer routers. That Raspberry Pi can handle this function is evidenced by their use by Pi-hole. I’ll guess that some vendors will quickly bring Raspberry Pi “router appliances” to market... which may well prove highly useful to Amateur Radio. Just open up such an appliance to find the Micro SD card, and swap that out with a Micro SD card with Amateur Radio routing software.

Lastly, of course, this issue affects only those of us within the US trying to purchase products that are manufactured outside the US. My sympathies to vendors of innovative Amateur Radio products manufactured outside the US, trying to sell into the US, that will get impacted by this issue. Hopefully... not calling the product anything resembling Internet router will help.

Please direct comments / feedback about this article to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0244 hashtag.

Starlink Now Marketing Starlink as Suitable for Emergency Backup

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Email from Starlink (I’m a customer) directing me to their web page for this use case:

Be prepared for power outages, natural disasters, and extreme weather when traditional coverage fails..

STAY ONLINE NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE
Starlink delivers connectivity to remote areas beyond cell service reach.

Stay connected when you need it most with affordable service plans.

OFF-GRID RESILIENCE
Starlink emergency backup powers connectivity in even the most rural and remote areas.

CONNECTIVITY WHEN AND WHERE YOU NEED IT
Stay connected to friends, family, and your community without latency or delays.

GET ONLINE IN MINUTES
Starlink emergency backup deploys in minutes for instant off-grid connectivity.

BACKUP HOME INTERNET: STARLINK FOR OUTAGES. ANYWHERE COVERAGE.

Starlink offers anywhere coverage for homes during power and internet outages, harsh weather conditions, and natural disasters.

Starlink (a service of SpaceX) continues to expand the its marketing of Starlink service for additional use cases. This is the first time (that I’m aware of) that Starlink has explicitly marketed Starlink specifically, directly as “emergency backup” communications. Emergency communications capability has been mentioned in Starlink For Businesses for some time, but only somewhat incidentally to the overall service offering.

As I’ve mentioned, Starlink made me an offer I couldn’t refuse as a Starlink Home customer - a free Starlink Mini unit as long as I maintain at least $5/month standby service. I said Yes, of course, and I’ve done a number of “test deployments” in the past several months of using it in a lightly simulated emergency scenario. I’ve set it up in random locations, using emergency power (battery unit, 12 volts from a car), and there are only two issues that I’ve seen:

  • If it’s been a while since one’s Starlink Mini has been used, upon activation it will not be usable immediately as it will download a software update that, depending on the connectivity (see below) may take some time.

  • Heavy tree coverage does degrade the speeds and reliability as the Starlink constellation shifts behind trees. Using the Starlink app to optimize the orientation of the Starlink Mini will help this issue a lot. Also, using Starlink Mini.

Also as part of my informal testing, I’ve “fast updated” my Starlink Mini operating operating mode from STANDBY - $5/month to ROAM - $50/month..

It’s not a direct comparison between Standby and Roam. Standby speed is limited to 400 kbps, but total transfer is not capped. Roam speed is “full broadband” (speed not stated), but total transfer is capped to 100 GB. Changing back and forth is fluid, done in the Starlink app (either IOS or Android).

For emergency usage, the Starlink Mini is pretty amazing. It can be used for Broadband Internet either via built-in Wi-Fi or via Ethernet. Starlink offers a several routers what can extend the built-in Wi-Fi or via Ethernet. And the Starlink Mini can be powered via AC adapter, USB-C or 12 volts (I recommend the Starlink 12 volt to USB-C adapter).

I think this indicates that Starlink is beginning to position itself as a capable system for emergency communications. This is a slow start to existing Starlink customers. But, similar to Starlink for Businesses, I think that Starlink is likely to create a new sub-business for use of “fleets” of Starlink Minis to be managed, paid for (group discounts likely), and likely special services (Starlink specific Push to Talk voice communications app?) marketed to organizations with large service areas such as utilities, highway departments, construction companies, trucking companies, etc.

Please direct comments / feedback about I-Frame to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0244 hashtag.

ZR > BEACON

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Short mentions of Zero Retries Interesting items.

AREDN Soon “Rebased” on OpenWrt 25.12

Orv Beach W6BI on several AREDN-related email lists:

The nightly build due out on 03/18 has been “rebased” on OpenWrt 25.12. It has a new kernel, new wireless drivers and many, many months of patches and fixes and they’ve all been rolled into the AREDN software. It’s been lab-tested and seems fine, but the usual caveat applies: Don’t test it on any node you’d be really annoyed at having to rebuild. But please do test.

AREDN just continues to amaze me with its capabilities and the basic improvements that are continuing to be incorporated such as this.

PyTNC Pro

Stefaan Desmedt KO6IKR via email:

[My new project, PyTNC Pro,] is still in Beta, but it is APRS, Direwolf, VARA FM, etc. all in one interface.

I was a bit sick and tired of jumping around all these apps. I am looking for some feedback. Just put your radio in APRS mode, or if using VARA FM..

I am planning to do a monthly update of this.
Manual : https://github.com/smashingwaffle/pytnc-pro/wiki

https://github.com/smashingwaffle/pytnc-pro

From the Github page:

A FREE modern, feature-rich APRS transceiver for Windows with real-time mapping, emergency communications support, and VARA FM integration. The WIKI page is live.

Features:

📡 APRS Operations
• APRS-IS Integration - Connect to the worldwide APRS Internet System
• RF TX/RX - Transmit and receive over radio via soundcard modem (AFSK 1200 baud)
• VARA FM Support - High-speed digital mode for APRS over VARA FM
• Smart Beaconing - Automatic position beacons with configurable intervals
• Full Symbol Support - All APRS symbols with Hessu icon set

🗺️ Real-Time Mapping
• Live Station Tracking - See all APRS stations on an interactive map
• Clickable Callsigns - Click any callsign in the feed to pan to their location
• QRZ Popups - Station info with profile photos (requires QRZ subscription)
• Trail History - Track station movement over time
• GPU Accelerated - Smooth 60fps map rendering

🚨 Emergency Communications (EmComm)
• NOAA Weather Alerts - Real-time NWS warnings and watches
• USGS Earthquakes - Live earthquake data with magnitude filtering
• NASA FIRMS Wildfires - Active fire detection from satellite data
• Air Quality Index (AQI) - Smoke and pollution monitoring via AirNow
• Hospital Locations - Nearby trauma centers and emergency rooms
• DARN Network - Disaster Amateur Radio Network repeater locations

📻 Radio Integration
• PTT Control - Serial port PTT (RTS/DTR)
• CAT Control - Rig frequency/mode control (Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood)
• GPS Support - Serial GPS for automatic position updates
• Audio Device Selection - Independent TX/RX audio routing

Future feature ::### 💬 Messaging
• APRS Messaging - Send and receive APRS messages
• Message Acknowledgment - Automatic retry with ACK/REJ
• Conversation History - Persistent chat logs

KO6IKR is active in Amateur Radio emergency communications activities in California and the feature set of PyTNC Pro is tailored to the use case for that region’s Amateur Radio EMCOM infrastructure. PyTNC Pro is an impressive project, from one person, illustrating that a lot of technological innovation is occurring, in Amateur Radio.

GroundWave Project

Email from Jason Miller KF7TNN on a private email list:

I’ve been working on a project that I would say is HAM adjacent and I would be curious if there is anyone in the group who would be interested in playing around with it and providing feedback on features and usability.

The project is called GroundWave and you can learn more about it here

https://groundwave.io



...

What is GroundWave

GroundWave is an open-source, field-deployable situational awareness platform inspired by ATAK (Android Team Awareness Kit). It provides mapping, real-time position tracking, messaging, and team coordination through a standard web browser — no native app installation required.

The platform is packaged as a suite of Docker containers designed to run on portable, low-cost hardware such as a Raspberry Pi or Intel NUC. A single server unit creates a local Wi-Fi access point; client devices — phones, tablets, laptops — connect to that network and open GroundWave in their browser.

GroundWave is fully self-contained and operational without internet connectivity. Offline map tiles, position data, chat messages, and all coordination tools are served entirely from the local device. When connectivity does exist, optional features such as online map style fallback and server federation become available.

GroundWave is MIT-licensed. The source repository will be open to contributions when GroundWave exits beta.

Design Principles

Every architectural and feature decision in GroundWave is guided by a core set of principles:

Offline-First. The system must be fully operational with zero internet access. Map tiles, APIs, and real-time communication all run locally. Internet connectivity, when present, is treated as an optional enhancement rather than a requirement.

Containerized. All server-side components run inside Docker containers orchestrated by Docker Compose. Deployment is a single command regardless of the host operating system. Updates and rollbacks are clean and reproducible.

Web-Native. Clients connect via any modern web browser. No native app is required on phones, tablets, or laptops. This eliminates app store dependencies and device enrollment friction in the field.

Replicable. A complete GroundWave deployment — server hardware, Docker images, and tile data — can be reproduced from a self-contained release archive. No external registries or cloud services are needed to stand up a new unit.

Modular. Features are organized into discrete, independently toggleable modules (chat, markers, file sharing, overlays, voice, federation). Operators can enable only what their mission requires via environment configuration.

Resource-Conscious. The platform is designed to run on single-board computers with limited CPU, RAM, and storage. Performance budgets are validated against a Raspberry Pi 4 baseline. Unnecessary dependencies are avoided.

No Cloud Dependencies. GroundWave does not phone home, require license validation, or depend on any third-party SaaS. All data remains on the local device under operator control.

Network-Agnostic. The server communicates over standard TCP/IP and works on any network topology — Wi-Fi hotspot, wired LAN, mesh radio, or ad hoc. The client needs only a browser and an IP route to the server.

A later followup from KF7TNN:

To be transparent here, this project was never aimed at competing with larger platforms or commercial offerings, but rather to provide smaller groups, organizations or rural communities who can’t otherwise afford those options a tool they could use. My goal was to just add in features that could make a difference, and let the users find interesting and impactful ways to use them in their scenarios. On one hand that might be aiding in SAR, CERT, etc., while on the other it could just be a local community or group using it to coordinate with volunteers for an event, for example. I’m excited to see it used in ways I never even imagined.

The self-contained nature of it is key and provides endless ways it can be deployed. Basically, any machine that can support Docker should be able to run GroundWave. And any client device that can support a web browser would be able to connect and use it. As far as a network goes, it just assumes it’s on one, but that could be anything from the internet, to cellular, to WiFi to all the way down to Meshtastic (coming soon, but as you can imagine limits a lot of the features unfortunately). I personally have been playing around with portable WiFi HaLow nodes running OpenMANET and that seems to work great.

As for the data, I have not added any connections to outside services or platforms, but would love to know more about the things that would be useful to connect to. For right now, any data generated within GroundWave is exportable from the dashboard, mostly as JSON, but a few of the location specific items have their own formats. The idea there was that before starting a “mission” you’d spin up an empty instance, load up your maps and data, and when you’re done you can export everything back out for analysis, public record, or whatever your use-case is. It also allows for reuse of annotations which is very useful for repeating events (think parades, festivals, etc., where the details are mostly the same and could be reused).

Feel free to reach out to me directly with any questions. Happy to demo it for you or take you deeper under the hood if you’d like. Just let me know.

KF7TNN posted his email address on the list - jason@jason-miller.com. GroundWave Project incorporates encryption, but this project is not necessarily intended for Amateur Radio use (but that’s not structurally excluded, either). GroundWave Project is another impressive project, from one person, illustrating that a lot of technological innovation is occurring, in this case, adjacent to Amateur Radio.

The ISS Returns to S-Band: HamTV Now Transmitting Color Bars on 13 cm

AMSAT Canada

The above is an experiment. When I just paste in a URL, Ghost creates a website “bookmark” like the above . If this works well for readers (feedback requested) this would allow more items to be featured, with less manual formatting work.

This is a good article explaining the reasons for setting up a receive only station for S-band (13 cm) - 2.395 GHz. The article is Zero Retries Interesting - recommended. Kudos to AMSAT-CA for an interesting article and making content such as this publicly accessible instead of behind a paywall like AMSAT-US does.

My thanks to Amateur Radio Weekly Issue 411 for mentioning this item.

The postscript to this article was particularly Zero Retries Interesting:

What’s Coming Next on AMSAT-CA

This article is the first in a short, focused series aimed at helping amateurs move from curiosity to capability.

Upcoming posts will include:

A Minimally Viable HamTV Receive Station Experiments using easily obtained antennas, low-noise amplifiers, and simple RF chains to demonstrate what is just enough to receive the signal.

Selecting and Using a Software Defined Radio for S-Band Reception A practical discussion of SDR selection, front-end considerations, sampling bandwidth, dynamic range, frequency stability, and how SDR choice affects real-world microwave performance.

Demodulating and Displaying the Video A straightforward walkthrough of software tools, signal recording, demodulation steps, and video display—no black boxes.

Tracking and Automation Pathways Several approaches to tracking the ISS at S-band, from manual methods to semi- and fully-automated solutions, using commonly available tools.

Along the way, we’ll share real results with real hardware, so others can decide for themselves how far they want to push their experiments.

The Bigger Picture

The goal here isn’t just to receive colour bars.

It’s to lower the barrier to microwave experimentation, spark repeat engagement, and build practical skills across the amateur community. These short primers will eventually be consolidated into a complete technical paper documenting what was learned, what worked, what didn’t, and how others can build on it.

HamTV on the ISS gives us a rare thing: A persistent, meaningful microwave experiment that amateurs can grow with over time.

If you’ve ever been curious about S-band, this is the moment.

Stay tuned—pun fully intended—as we find out just how interesting a test pattern can be.

Improving Open AMBE for D-Star

Steve Lampereur KB9MWR:

Overview:

The AMBE vocoder (speech coder) problem started when D-Star was developed and introduced to ham radio in the late 90’s early 2000’s. It’s since been compounded by DMR, Yaesu Fusion, and other digital radios. The proposed solution has been to replace this with an open source codec. However, none of these digital modes have a means to specify or differentiate the audio codec should they ever want to move away from AMBE. And there still isn’t much of a working implementation of Codec 2 for VHF/UHF radios. There is a working implementation for HF. Codec2/FreeDV is a good conception, but it hasn’t come to fruition in the advent of the AMBE patents expiring and other digital radios also employing AMBE and flooding the market. Besides we still don’t have radios with open firmware where we could load our own apps or alternative codec.

Keen observers have noticed a number of good radio initiatives that sadly haven’t come to be. The; Connect Systems CS7000, Wireless Holdings DV4 Mobile, the HT of the Future (aka: Algoram, Katena, Whitebox), the Newradio initiative in Germany/Austria, RU3ANQ SDR, and so on. There is a new (2019) initiative, the M17 Project, but it’s too early to tell if that will reach production.

Manufacturers are a fairly conservative bunch. They don’t want to invest in anything unless they know it’s going to sell. We all understand. Fortunately, much of the innovation now is purely in the form of software, which is much easier to mass-produce than hardware. So all you need the manufacturers for is to make general purpose SDR hardware, which is an easier sell than some new special mode. It’s also important for leaders to recognize the works of the dedicated software developers. And when the hardware manufacturers see the potential from their work, to work out an agreement so the software folks receive more than just a thank you.

This article resurfaced as part of an email discussion I participated in this week. While it’s somewhat dated (it was stated in the email exchange that this was published six years ago), it seems worth revisiting as the patents for AMBE have now aged another six years (and now out of patent protection, and thus eligible for an open source workalike?).

It’s worth discussion whether to (or not to) attempt to implement Amateur Radio digital voice modes such as D-Star and System Fusion, complete with AMBE, in new Software Defined Radios such as the forthcoming LinHT.

Or not? My impression is that Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) digital voice technology has largely eclipsed D-Star and System Fusion in Amateur Radio. Icom / Kenwood and Yaesu’s radios for those modes are expensive; DMR radios are much less expensive. DMR radios are available from multiple manufacturers, and there are now many more DMR repeaters (and support groups) than for D-Star or System Fusion.

If it were me as a software developer (and I’m not), it would seem more fun to take advantage of the easier path of fully implementing the already open source, code available and proven M17 Project (which the LinHT developers have already done), or break some new ground in implementing FreeDV RADE (designed for HF narrowband channels) or FreeDV BBFM (designed for VHF / UHF wider channels), both of which have amazing voice quality considering the narrow channels, and especially in comparison to the (inferior, in my opinion) voice quality of systems using AMBE.

44Net Connect Has a Limit of 8 Tunnels

Phil Karn KA9Q on the ARDC 44Net email list:

... I’ve hit the limit of 8 tunnels per account, so I can’t add any more.

Reply from Adam Lewis KC7GDY, ARDC’s IT and Development Operations Manager:

Bumped you up. You can spin up more tunnels now.

Thus, “8” is a default, but not a hard limit. It was fascinating to read KA9Q’s use case(s) and his experience with using 44Net Connect for the first time.

Starlink Micro Stealth Introduction?

In the article Brinc unveils Guardian, a Starlink-connected drone that could ‘replace the police helicopter’ there was this mention:

Guardian is the world’s first Starlink-connected drone. An integrated panel on top of the device gives the drone unlimited range anywhere in the world, maintaining a reliable data link when traditional cellular or terrestrial infrastructure is unavailable.

Yes, Starlink (Mini) has been used on (larger) drones for some time. But in this photo:

BRINC Drones Guardian - Image courtesy of GeekWire

the Starlink unit (looks to me to be) smaller than the Starlink Mini - roughly half the size of the Starlink Mini. I’m inventing (or anticipating) the terminology for this unit - The Starlink Micro. Not to mention that the power requirements of this unit must be commensurately lower to not severely curtail the power budget of drone overall, which also needs to power a camera and a floodlight. Given that the “Micro” would be operating with a much improved Line of Sight to the Starlink constellation in Low Earth Orbit, perhaps the “Micro” has be simplified, and its power budget reduced with the use of a static panel antenna, rather than a Phased Array antenna.

My primary reason for mentioning Guardian and its Starlink connectivity isn’t to begin covering drones in Zero Retries (though I’m not fundamentally opposed to doing so). Rather, this development illustrates the amazing increase in radio technology that we wouldn’t have imagined in previous eras. We’ve had handheld satellite radios for decades (Iridium and Globalstar), but only for voice and low bandwidth data. But this unit, given its capability of high definition video, must be capable of at least 20 Mbps. Now Broadband Internet Access in a (nearly) handheld form factor can be used nearly anywhere in the world for real world applications, at reasonable prices.

First Release Candidate For GNU Radio 4 (GR4)

Image courtesy of GNU Radio

MARCH 22, 2026

GNU Radio 4.0 RC1: A New Foundation for High-Performance Signal Processing

GNU Radio 4.0 has reached its first release candidate (RC1)—a major milestone that signals the transition from active development to near-production readiness. See the tag for all the details.

At this stage, the core architecture is stable, the execution model is well-defined, and the API is no longer expected to undergo major breaking changes. Developers can begin building against GR4 today with confidence that their work will carry forward into the final release.

GNU Radio 4 is a fundamental re-architecture of the system—designed for modern C++, deterministic execution, and high-performance pipelines that scale from embedded systems to large, complex DSP applications, while remaining accessible for research and hobbyist use.

This is not an incremental update. It is a new foundation for building signal processing systems.

Based on an early explanation of (then forthcoming) GR4 at GNU Radio Conference 2025, from my perspective, there are two primary advancements in GR4 from earlier versions of GNU Radio:

Plugin system with built-in reflection
...
This enables:
...
Integration with higher-level systems, including AI-driven workflows

and

Permissive core licensing

The GR4 core adopts a more permissive licensing model, lowering barriers for adoption:

• Easier integration into commercial systems
• Greater flexibility for mixed-license environments
• Broader ecosystem participation

It was explained to me at GNU Radio Conference 2025 that GR4 will be much more usable than earlier versions of GNU Radio for development in conjunction with Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning.

One thing I hope to see in GR4 is for the Graphical User Interface (GUI) - GNU Radio Companion (GRC) to be more integrated if not integral to GR4. Imagine doing vibe coding in GR4 and the output of the vibe coding will be the graphical elements of a GNU Radio Companion diagram. Conceptually, an AI could teach one the basics of Software Defined Radio using GNU Radio Companion block diagrams - and develop useful new radio technology.

As explained to me at GNU Radio Conference 2025, the license used in previous versions of GNU Radio required public disclosure of any code derived from GNU Radio, and that had a chilling effect for corporate or government use of GNU Radio other than for prototyping. That’s no longer the case with GR4. Thus GR4 could be used more directly for (Software Defined) radio development rather than a workflow of

  • Prototype in GNU Radio

  • Prove out concepts

  • Redevelop as an embedded system

Radio technology developed in GR4 should be able to be “directly embedded”, saving a lot of (re)development time and resources... somewhat akin to (imperfect analogy warning) prototyping software in a high level language, proving out the concept, then rewriting the system in a more efficient low level (machine) language.

Overall, it seems that GR4 is a clean sheet of paper approach to the entire concept of GNU Radio as (my imperfect analogy) conceptually a Linux-like Operating System for Software Defined Radio systems. There seems to be a migration path for earlier versions of GNU Radio flowgraphs to be adapted for GR4, thus it won’t be required to “start over from scratch” for systems developed in earlier versions of GNU Radio.

Beyond those two elements of GR4, I can’t do justice to the wealth of detail in this article about the improvements in GR4 beyond earlier versions of GNU Radio, so please click the link at the headline.

I think that GR4 will be a big deal for Software Defined Radio technology in 2026 and beyond, especially for Amateur Radio applications given GR4 will be more usable for development with the help of Artificial Intelligence.

UltraPeater

The UltraPeater by Zindello Industries is the ultimate infrastructure-grade LoRa mesh repeater designed to elevate your mesh network to new heights—literally.

...

Engineered for fixed, high-performance deployments at comms sites, towers, masts, or remote installations, the UltraPeater transforms the compact power of the Luckfox Pico Ultra into a reliable, always-on backbone node. Unlike portable solar-powered mesh devices, the UltraPeater is built for seamless integration into existing infrastructure: powered via PoE for 24/7 uptime, mast-mount ready, and ships with a preconfigured setup so it hits the air running.

At its core is a precision-engineered radio hat featuring one of two high-performance EBYTE E22-series LoRa modules (customer-selectable at order*):

• EBYTE E22 900M30S — 30dBm (1W) output with integrated LNA (Low noise amplifier) for superior sensitivity and performance in low-noise environments, delivering exceptional range and reliability where clean spectrum is available.
• EBYTE E22P 915M30S — 30dBm (1W) with both integrated LNA and BPF (Low Noise Amplifier and Band Pass Filter for 915MHz), providing top-tier noise rejection and clean operation in higher-RF-noise environments like HAM Radio sites, dense urban towers or co-located comms sites.

Every UltraPeater board is rigorously tested in-house, with actual transmit power output verified before shipping—so you get guaranteed performance, not just spec-sheet promises.

Flexible Antenna Connectivity

The UltraPeater can be optioned with your choice of two robust antenna connector types to suit your installation:

• SMA — Compact and widely compatible, perfect for sheltered outdoor installations or use indoors.
• N-type — Rugged, weatherproof, and ideal for outdoor/mast-mounted setups with low-loss coax runs.

UltraPeater - even better than a SuperPeater! 🤣

I don’t remember where I saw this mentioned, but this makes a lot of sense. The main thing it has to recommend it is that it has 1 watt transmit power, powered by Power Over Ethernet (POE) (several options). At a quick read, I wasn’t able to determine if the UltraPeater is “North America” compatible. These are made in Australia, thus they may not be configured to use the full 902-928 MHz band that we have access to in North America.

Introducing Hamstat.com

Andrew McCaskey WA4MTP:

The HAMSTAT HamsOverIP Monitor served up at

https://hamstat.com

provides a real time view of “conditions” on the HamsOverIP system. HamStat shows who is on a HamsOverIP call, who has recently finished a call, and who may be available or open to a call from another ham. Any licensed amateur radio operator worldwide can join HamsOverIP with proof of license and a free Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) id.

Image courtesy of Andrew McCaskey WA4MTP

The Active BLF tab on the HamsOverIP.com site is the indicator that a ham extension is busy. Hamstat reads that info and determines who just hung up and how long they have been offline. The system operates on the notion that for a short time (selectable up to 30 minutes), you are probably still in the shack and might be open to a call or QSO with another ham that you have not yet met. Their extension number is right beside their callsign, and a click on their callsign pulls up the QRZ.com page for that station.

Hamstat also lets you:

• Enthusiastically advise people that you are “in the shack” for the next few minutes and that you are definitely open to a call or QSO.
• Add up to five stations in a watchlist, and then notifies you through your browser when they become available.
• See who has recently been on the system
• Opt out of HamStat so you will never appear on the page at HamStat.com (unless you opt back in at a later date).

This seems like a cool enhancement to HamsOverIP service. WA4MTP makes a good case:

HamStat is the same scenario: It identifies who may still be in the shack for a “tailend” QSO by VoIP phone using the HamsOverIP system instead of radio.

This is a reminder of yet another project for N8GNJ / Zero Retries Labs – get my Amateur Radio VOIP phone, formerly for Hamshack Hotline, ported over to HOIP. And get registered for HamStat at the same time.

CDM Repeaters

Custom-built Amateur Radio 1.25M Repeaters

Welcome to our site dedicated to custom-built amateur radio repeaters! We specialize in 220 MHz systems, but our expertise extends beyond that frequency. Whether you’re a hobbyist or a seasoned operator, we here to provide you with high-quality solutions tailored to your needs. Join us in enhancing your communication experience!

Another fortuitous “I don’t remember how I found it” Zero Retries Interesting discovery. The North America 1.25 meter / 222-225 MHz (and perhaps 219-220 MHz) is an ideal place for more interesting data communications systems - if there is a reliable source of radios for that band. I used to recommend BridgeCom Systems BCM-220 radios, but that unit is now out of production. When dealing with surplus / used commercial land mobile radios, there’s an infinite number of ways to get tripped up if you’re not very well versed in knowing what to buy and how to adapt them to Amateur Radio use. Thus I’m happy to pay a company like CDM Repeaters to procure, test, and adapt such radios to end up with a unit usable for Amateur Radio.

I have too many projects already in queue (including a BridgeCom Systems BCR-220 repeater...) to investigate their products, but it’s good to know that CDM Repeaters is a source of (apparently repurposed Motorola CDM radios) for the Amateur Radio 1.25m band.

Video - TRMNL X

From the video description:

The TRMNL X is a 10.3-inch e-ink dashboard with 16-level grayscale, 227 PPI, IP65 water resistance, dual ESP32 microcontrollers, 5 GHz Wi-Fi, and up to 12,000 mAh of battery for six months between charges—all for $219 with no subscription fees. One year after the original TRMNL review, every promise has shipped: open-source firmware, bring-your-own-device support for Kindle, Nook, iPad, Kobo, Raspberry Pi, and Seeed Studio DIY kits, plus fully self-hosted servers in PHP, Node, Python, Ruby, and Elixir through the Terminus project. The community has exploded to over 850 free plugins and recipes funded by a Creator Fund that pays developers real money based on installs and API impressions. TRMNL also hacked 2-bit grayscale out of 1-bit e-paper hardware, shipped zero-flicker refresh, removed front branding with Tailor, and published an Unbrickable Pledge promising to open-source everything if the company folds. The TRMNL X features a 4:3 aspect ratio, magnetic pogo pin charging, modular puck connector for future PoE and sensor accessories, gesture touch controls, and OTG power bank mode—making it the e-ink display the original should have been.

This seems like an amazing combination of features. I knew e-ink was power efficient... but six months on battery? Wow!

My thanks to Joe Hamelin W7COM for mentioning this to me.

Please offer comments / feedback about ZR > BEACON to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0244 hashtag.

Request To Send

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Still Working on Getting Paid Subscribers Set Up In Ghost

Ghost has something like 50-75% of the publishing features that Substack has. Mostly that’s for the better, such as Ghost has no “Followers”, no “Notes”, etc. But Substack was definitely easier to figure out the basics like setting up paid subscription tiers.

Tina and I were able to get Stripe connected to Ghost... but presenting the “tiers” to new (and existing) email subscribers isn’t very transparent. We’re working on it.

Apologies to Zero Retries Subscribers on Comcast / Xfinity

Like Microsoft, Comcast / Xfinity operates their own “Internet protection” systems for both basic web access and users of comcast.net email. Currently, the zeroretries.radio and zeroretries.net domains (the latter used, at the moment, only for email) are being blocked by Comcast / Xfinity. I’ve appealed this issue several times via the online form below. My last attempt pleaded for them to tell me specifically what Comcast’s issue is with those domains. All I’ve received to date is a blanket “nope - still on the naughty list until the domain owner fixes the issues we have a problem with” reply, with no indication that the specific info I included was even looked at, let alone considered.

All I can suggest to Comcast / Xfinity subscribers of Zero Retries is to provide feedback to Comcast / Xfinity via this online form: https://spa.xfinity.com/report.

This issue is an additional reason for me to be glad to be a former customer of Comcast / Xfinity. For me, Starlink is an ideal Internet service provider - “just the bits” Internet service, stable pricing, works reliably, and provides good quality broadband Internet anywhere in suburban / rural areas like Bellingham / Whatcom County, Washington that have scattered islands of other Broadband Internet options, including fiber and “5G” cellular. Not to mention the significantly lower cost than Comcast - I’m using the 200 Mbps tier for $80 / month and it works great. I could probably be on the 100 Mbps tier for $50 / month and I might try that for a month to see if we even notice the difference.

Perhaps a Disruption Is Coming for the zeroretries.radio Domain...

Interesting email this morning...

We are writing to inform you that your .radio domain name will be transferred to a new registrar by the beginning of May 2026, on a date that will be shortly notified.

Following the transfer of the .radio top-level domain registry from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to Digity, LLC, EBU has decided to cease the operations of the register.radio service, which has been operated by COREhub SRLU on EBU’s behalf until now. Therefore all domain names sponsored by register.radio will be transferred to an ICANN-accredited registrar affiliated with Digity, LLC: Sav.com, LLC. From that day expected in early May neither COREhub SRLU nor EBU will have any responsibility on the management of these domains.

...

Once the transfer is completed, Sav.com will become your sponsoring registrar for .radio domain name(s), and you will receive further information directly from Sav.com regarding account access and registrar services.

If there are any significant disruptions from this transition, that could be a tipping point to convert to a (more mundane) domain than zeroretries.radio. I’m acutely aware of the sunk cost fallacy regarding the time / energy / reader frustration issues associated with using zeroretries.radio.

Nice Mention of Zero Retries by Jared Crapo K0TFU

Zero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio. Published by Steve and Tina Stroh, it’s the weekly newsletter to read if you are what Steve calls a NewTechHam. NewTechHams wanna build handheld SDRs that can do DSTAR, AllStar, or any other digital mode with just a software update. NewTechHams are as comfortable with a Raspberry Pi as they are with a 2m HT. NewTechHams want to design repeaters that use digital timeslicing so a repeater doesn’t need a big duplexer or multiple frequencies. If any of this sounds interesting to you, you should be subscribed to this free email newsletter.

My thanks to K0TFU for this nice mention on his website!

Hamvention Ho!

7 weeks until Hamvention 2026
in Xenia, Ohio, USA...
Zero Retries / DLARC booth 1506
in Building 1 / Maxim

Weekends Are For Amateur Radio!

The weather oracle on my pocket computer predicts “not rain” for this weekend, so mostly this coming weekend will be another catch-up session in N8GNJ / Zero Retries Labs. As for projects, as soon as I get down to the actual bench top in my workshop, I want to fire up the MeshCore unit I was loaned to try that out.

Have a great weekend, all of you co-conspirators in Zero Retries Interesting Amateur Radio activities!

Please offer comments / feedback about Request To Send on the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR02xx hashtag.

73,

Steve N8GNJ

Closing Thanks

My ongoing Thanks to:
Tina Stroh KD7WSF for, well, everything!
Jack Stroh, Late Night Assistant Editor Emeritus
Fiona and Shreky Stroh, Late Night Assistant Editors In Training

Founding Members who generously support Zero Retries financially:
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This issue, Zero Retries 0244, released on 2026-03-27

(end) This issue was 9165 8722 words.

]]><![CDATA[Zero Retries 0243]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0243https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0243Fri, 10 Apr 2026 17:29:44 GMTZero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Radios are computers - with antennas! Now in its fifth year of publication, with 3500+ subscribers.

Steve Stroh N8GNJ, Editor

editor@zeroretries.net

Tina Stroh KD7WSF, Business / Conference Manager

tina@zeroretries.net

Ghost says this issue is too big for email clients? YES
Thus, it might be easier to read this in a web browser -
https://www.zeroretries.radio/zero-retries-0243

This issue of Zero Retries was originally published on Ghost - https://www.zeroretries.radio/zero-retries-0243/. Thus all links that were for zeroretries.radio have (attempted to) been changed to equivalents on zeroretries.org.

See this archive page:
https://web.archive.org/web/20260406214928/https://www.zeroretries.radio/zero-retries-0243/
for how it originally appeared on www.zeroretries.radio.

It’s easy and free to subscribe for your own copy of Zero Retries every week:

Subscribe now

In This Issue...

I-Frame

This is a new section of Zero Retries. One time mention - from the recently updated Zero Retries About page:

I-Frame (IF) is “The Least I Think You Need To Know - Tersely“ section at the beginning of each issue of Zero Retries beginning in Zero Retries 0243. IF replaced the Request To Send (Editorial) section - see below. In Amateur Radio Packet Radio (AX.25 protocol) an I-Frame is an Information Frame; frames are one of the fundamental unit of transmission in Amateur Radio / Packet Radio and it seemed a suitable term for the “Least I Think You Need To Know” about an issue of Zero Retries. Two other common types of frames are S-frames (Supervisory), and U-frames (Unnumbered).

Missing email subscribers...

I haven’t yet figured this out, but Ghost says that there are 3509 folks currently signed up to receive Zero Retries via email. But when I queue it up, Ghost says that it will go out to “All 3,432 subscribers“. I have no idea what the story is about the gap of “77“ between those two numbers. Zero Retries might not be going out to everyone who’s tried to sign up to receive Zero Retries via email. Please advise if you’ve signed up to receive Zero Retries via email, but aren’t receiving it via email.

A Confession...

A lot of stuff that folks mention to me, that really deserves to get mentioned here in Zero Retries... doesn’t, and that’s my fault. I drop (forget) stuff, it doesn’t get bookmarked properly so that I see again it after the initial mention / email, it gets pushed down too far into the “potential mention” queue... many sins of omission.

Please don’t take such lacks of mention personally. It’s (generally) not you (or the potential story). It’s generally me. Please feel free to remind me about the thing you found Zero Retries Interesting if you don’t see it appear in Zero Retries within a reasonable interval of when you first brought it to my attention. I really want to do a good job of promoting Technological Innovation in Amateur Radio here in Zero Retries.

I need a better system of queuing and tracking potential articles, especially now that the trauma and chaos of the transition to Ghost and the zeroretries.radio domain is complete. (Suggestions are welcome.)

Please direct comments / feedback about I-Frame to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0243 hashtag.

HamSCI 2026 and ARRL Headquarters Tour

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

HamSCI is the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation to make use of Amateur Radio (mostly High Frequency - HF spectrum below 30 MHz) to conduct scientific research. For more detail about HamSCI, reference the HamSCI About page. As “Citizen” indicates, participation in HamSCI is not confined to academic personnel. Any Amateur Radio Operator can participate in HamSCI activities, programs, and ongoing research. Some HamSCI activities are “receive only” / do not require transmitting, thus those activities do not require an Amateur Radio license.

ARRL is the American Radio Relay League, the largest organization of Amateur Radio Operators in the US.

The weekend of 2026-03-14 and 03-15, Tina KD7WSF at I attended the HamSCI 2026 conference. We had a great time learning from the presentations, posters and poster sessions, and having many stimulating and informative conversations.

The conference was efficiently directed by Bob Inderbitzen NQ1R, ARRL’s Director of Marketing and Innovation and Dr. Nathaniel A. Frissell W2NAF, Lead HamSCI Organizer. The venue of the conference was the Student Center of Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) in New Britain, Connecticut, USA. The venue was very nice and conducive to not just the conference activities, but lots of face to face conversations and the poster session. Unlike at HamSCI 2025, I didn’t participate in the Poster Session at HamSCI 2026... and I should have. The posters presented weren’t limited to just topics presented at HamSCI 2026, but were generally related to Amateur Radio, science, and technological innovation. For example, two that I was personally interested in were Unauthorized Use Of Military Satellites: Threats To Mission Security And Integrity and Radioconda: Gateway to Software Radio. The time allocated for viewing and interacting with poster authors was another substantial block of time - three hours on Sunday morning, and thus these one-to-many interactions. That changed my perspective on the utility of poster sessions at a conference, from “interesting” to a highly useful way to “multiplex” various topics rather than one or two central presentations. I now want to figure out how to implement a Poster Session into the Zero Retries Digital Conference.

ARRL offered a good video recap of the Poster Session:

I’m not a scientist, and not currently involved in HamSCI activities, but a number of the presentations were engaging to me as a “typical” Amateur Radio Operator.

One of the activities of HamSCI 2026 was a visit on Saturday afternoon to ARRL Headquarters and ARRL’s flagship bulletin station W1AW which was < 5 miles from CCSU in nearby Newington, Connecticut, USA. It was interesting to see W1AW in person for the first time, and W1AW Manager Joe Carcia NJ1Q gave a great tour and ably answered every (often obscure) question thrown at him. It was Zero Retries Interesting to see the mix of HF radios, amplifiers and other equipment that W1AW uses for its regular bulletin transmissions. It was also interesting to see that W1AW is largely utilitarian, rather than “showpiece” in how it presents Amateur Radio operations. There were multiple big screens... but the radio hardware was the most prominent feature of W1AW.

W1AW’s regular, sustained operation and resulting duty cycle is taxing on “Amateur grade” equipment. I expected to see more commercial grade equipment, but most of it was typical Amateur Radio equipment, albeit rack mounted with lots of fans and dedicated (air conditioned? I forgot to ask) space behind glass doors. W1AW was divided into the bulletin equipment section (about half of the total floor space), and then there were some “studios” where ARRL members visiting W1AW could operate independently using dedicated radios and antennas.

It’s been quite a while since I looked at W1AW’s transmission schedule:

Digital Transmissions

Frequencies are 3.5975, 7.095, 14.095, 18.1025, 21.095, 28.095, 50.350, and 147.555 MHz.

Bulletins are sent using 45.45-baud Baudot, PSK31 in BPSK mode and MFSK16 on a daily revolving schedule. The actual daily schedule can be found here.

From the Zero Retries perspective, if I had any influence on W1AW, I would transmit a rotating variety of (more) data modes to allow individuals to try out reception of those increasingly sophisticated data modes. I would also have W1AW transmit some voice bulletins with FreeDV RADE as a demonstration of how far Amateur Radio technology has come. FreeDV RADE is open source, and runs on a typical Windows computer, so there’s no “resource” or “proprietary” concerns about using it.

There was some VHF / UHF equipment at W1AW, including some that was ground mounted clearly for satellite use, but that equipment wasn’t demonstrated or highlighted during the tour segment, that I was on. I think there was some Meshtastic equipment at W1AW, but again, not demonstrated or highlighted during the tour segment that I was on.

The People and Zero Retries Interesting Conversations

Most of the conversations I had at HamSCI 2026 were off the record at their individual’s request. Some of the folks I met were:

  • Doug Leber N0MM who is a friend and fan of Zero Retries for some time. N0MM and I had a number of conversations about his participation in Edge of Space Sciences.

  • Jason Johnston KC5HWB of the Ham Radio 2.0 YouTube channel, who was busy recording the presentations. We chatted briefly about his videos and my response(s) in Zero Retries about the MMDVM / M17 controversy in 2025.

  • I enjoyed meeting Rick Ciervo W1CIE, Mark Derks KC1RVQ, and Steve Bossert K2GOG all of whom work at ARRL in various roles.

  • At ARRL Headquarters, the highlight of the tour there for me was seeing the ARRL Lab and meeting John Jobin McAuliffe W1DRF who is the Digital RF Engineer at the ARRL Lab (easily the coolest job title of all of the ARRL folks I met). W1DRF was the one of the most Zero Retries Interesting people I met during the weekend, and he’s a fan of Zero Retries. More about the visit to the ARRL Lab below.

  • David Siddall K3ZJ has a fascinating career background including working for the FCC (thus his deep understanding of Amateur Radio issues at the FCC in his current role as ARRL Washington Counsel). K3ZJ and I discussed a number of Amateur Radio / FCC issues and I learned a number of things about FCC “process”, and some reasons to be optimistic about improvement of US Amateur Radio regulations.

  • I caught up briefly with Rich Moseson W2VU who now works with ARRL on various projects. W2VU conducted video interviews at the Poster Session.

  • I had a number of conversations with Ed Wilson N2XDD who is the ARRL Hudson Division Director. N2XDD was involved in Zero Retries Interesting activities such as M17 for years. His Director duties (especially the extensive travel to represent ARRL) now consume most of his time.

  • I met separately with Conrad Trautmann N2YCH who is the ARRL Technical Editor and Ron Diehl NQ8W who is the Editor of QEX. I expressed my opinion to them that to be more relevant to the current generation of new and prospective Amateur Radio Operators, both QST and QEX really need to feature more Zero Retries Interesting articles. Neither was committal (to be expected), but didn’t overtly disagree about featuring more articles on Software Defined Radio (I mentioned LinHT prominently), data networking, packet radio (still a thing), microwave communications (beyond contesting), television, and space communications.

  • Ryan Volz and John Swoboda of the MIT Haystack Observatory had a poster about their project Radioconda. They were attending HamSCI to promote Radioconda and gather feedback. I chatted with them for some time. One of the most notable things about Radioconda was that incorporates a number of radio related applications (not just the usual collection of Software Defined Radio apps) into an easy to manage installer for multiple platforms including MacOS (yay!). Radioconda also supports a variety of radio hardware including Software Defined Transceivers including ADALM-PLUTO, and Software Defined Receivers as minimal as RTL-SDRs. Notably, Radioconda includes GNU Radio which can often be a challenge for mortals like me, so for that alone, Radioconda is a win. I had a number of suggestions about other packages that I think would be beneficial to include that I’ll be forwarding to them.

I just discovered this video - an interview with Volz at HamSCI 2026 on the Digital Rancher YouTube channel by Robert Theiss W5ITR; Amateur Radio YouTube channels based in Texas were well represented at HamSCI 2026:

ARRL Lab Visit

As mentioned above, the tour of the ARRL Lab conducted by John Jobin McAuliffe W1DRF was a highlight for me. In addition to conducting testing in support of Amateur Radio product reviews in QST, the ARRL Lab is equipped to do extensive testing (including a screen room that, of necessity, isolates the powerful transmissions of W1AW which is literally next door). The ARRL Lab also is able to test consumer devices that may be generating Radio Frequency Interference (at power levels greater than FCC regulations permit) in Amateur Radio spectrum.

I was surprised to learn that the ARRL Lab is intimately involved in working with Amateur Radio Operators that want to operate on the 420-450 MHz / 70cm band in areas adjacent to the US Space Force’s PAVE PAWS RADAR installations. The ARRL Lab developed operating standards that allow Amateur Radio operations to continue, at reduced power (instead of being displaced entirely as a secondary user of 70cm in the US).

I jokingly chided W1DRF for the apparent lack of Amateur Radio data communications equipment in the ARRL Lab, and he showed me the OpenTNC (not sure of the version that I saw) that he had built and tested in the ARRL Lab. Thus Amateur Radio data communications was represented in the ARRL Lab! (Whew!) W1DRF and I had a conversation about testing standards of Amateur Radio transceivers, and the utility of the TX/RX turnaround time measurements being useful for effective channel utilization in data communications (Packet Radio) networks.

I visited ARRL Headquarters on Monday morning on a last minute errand and chatted with W1DRF who showed off a homebrew “Cantenna” (Waveguide antenna) - for use on the 902-928 / 33cm band. It was made out of galvanized air ventilation pipe - pretty cool!

Wrapping Up HamSCI 2026

It was ironic to me that given the proximity of ARRL (< 5 miles from Central Connecticut State University) and ARRL’s Collegiate Amateur Radio Program, there doesn’t appear to be an Amateur Radio presence at CCSU. Doing so would seem to be a useful synergy for both CCSU and ARRL (and the Newington / New Britain area in general).

The most referenced radio unit used by HamSCI is the RX-888 (mostly HF) radio receiver that is useful for HamSCI work mostly because it is well supported by ka9q-radio. The RX-888 is “widely available from multiple (China-based) manufacturers” (cloned) and thus the quality and usability of any given RX-888 unit from any given vendor isn’t predictable. It was stated “When you buy one, you don’t know who makes it, or what’s in it“. There are many RX-888s in use in HamSCI activities... but no one seems particularly happy with them, especially the thermal issues that they seem to (universally) experience.

For those reasons, the New-888 Project was started to create an improved version of the RX-888 that’s stable, predictable, and specifically designed for HamSCI work (such as being restricted to HF only) - https://github.com/fourfathom/New-888. Given the overwhelming use of ka9q-radio with the RX-888, then learning about the New-888 Project, a quote from Alan Kay came to mind:
People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.

The number, and quality (Zero Retries Interesting!) of conversations I had at HamSCI 2026 easily justified our attendance, and likely justifies our attendance at HamSCI 2027.

Lastly, all of the interesting experiences at HamSCI 2026 inspired me undertake two new small projects for Zero Retries. Both projects are modest enough in scope that I should be able to complete them in time to unveil them at Hamvention 2026.

As I’ll elaborate in Request To Send in this issue, if you’re despairing about the uncertain future of Amateur Radio, I recommend attending an event like HamSCI 2026 to soak up some of the energy, progressive spirit, and the positivity and curiosity about Amateur Radio in the 21st century.

As I discussed, there are some really remarkable and Zero Retries Interesting people that are working at ARRL Headquarters. They have a positive attitude about Amateur Radio and the future of Amateur Radio. If you live in the region (or are willing to relocate), ARRL is hiring for several interesting jobs:

Work for ARRL - 03/20/2026

Please direct comments / feedback about this article to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0243 hashtag.

Thought Experiment - Frequency Hopping (But Not Spread Spectrum) Radio System

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

This is just a very brief thought experiment. What if Amateur Radio developed a Sequential Frequency Hopping Radio System that wasn’t designed to be “spread spectrum”?

What if a Frequency Hopping Radio System used a predictable, sequential frequency hopping pattern (Sequential Frequency Hopping Radio System) instead of a the more traditional pseudorandom hopping pattern that’s integral to Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) operation?

One of the huge benefits of using Frequency Hopping in Amateur Radio is that it could be operated as an “underlay” system - operation across a wide range of Amateur Radio spectrum that is otherwise “occupied and allocated” such as the portions of the Amateur Radio VHF / UHF bands used for repeaters.

Recall that there is are no exclusive allocations of Amateur Radio spectrum - only “in use” and “prioritization”. If a particular portion of spectrum is not in use, it’s available of use by any Amateur Radio Operator. Reference my article Repeater Coordination Does Not Exclude Other Use of the Repeater’s Frequencies.

A Sequential Frequency Hopping Radio System might incorporate these features:

  • Each band is mapped into 12.5, 25, 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 1 MHz channels:

  • Each channel, each channel size, of each band is numbered sequentially.

  • Portions of spectrum that are dedicated for special purpose by regulation such as space, CW, etc. is excluded from the map.

  • Each map is assigned an easy to transmit identifier, something similar to a Protocol Identifier. A map of 144 - 148 MHz divided into 12.5 kHz channels would be transmitted as (example) “2m-125”. All stations receiving that beacon would know that the station that transmitted the beacon will transmit using that channel map.

  • The modulation index used on each transmission is dynamic. Small amounts of data don’t justify complex modulations.

  • The dwell time on each channel is approximately 100 mS - long enough for data to be transmitted in a reasonable time, but short enough that someone monitoring (especially scanning) won’t be bothered by a 100 mS “blip” on the channel.

  • If there’s a lot of data to transmit, the wider channels and more complex modulations are used. Again, those parameters are beaconed in advance.

  • Each station using this system would decide upon a particular, regular time that it will transmit (dynamic, based on channel usage / network traffic) and will also transmit its “transmit slot” as part of its beacon. All usage (transmissions) will be synchronized using a common timebase, probably derived from GNSS.

Conceptually, such a system is no different than two stations deciding to change channels to have a high bandwidth communication. Unlike that scenario, there is no prior coordination required - the systems - with “beaconing of intent” the usage of spectrum is dynamic and decentralized, which only minimal standardization (such as the identifiers) requiring advance coordination.

Again this is offered solely as a thought experiment, and is not nearly advanced enough to seriously consider implementing - yet.

Please direct comments / feedback about this article to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0243 hashtag.

ZR > BEACON

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Short mentions of Zero Retries Interesting items.

Hush’s first release is FINALLY OUT!!!!

Nick Charros KC1WZQ on QRZ.com:

It has been a while since I’ve given a devlog, but almost all of the profiles and speed levels are implemented and the modem can do loop-back so you can test out the modem without a partner!

The current speed levels are QRP(X), MFSK(X), and OFDM(X) - OFDM goes up to SL12 and can reach a Theoretical maximum of *100 kbps* on HF (2700 Hz bandwidth)

The build files are currently not built, but you can build it very very easily by running and installing cargo and rustup! simply run cargo run to start the modem, and if you find the artifacts you can run Code:hush_rust_core.exe --live-loopback --no-audio and run as a loop-back modem!

To interface, run 1 or 2 hush_term terminals and type `MYCALL <MY CALL>

Next you need to open the modem. Run “devices” to find your audio device’s index. For default, run `OPEN 5 0 4800` (syntax is OPEN <input> <output> <samp_rate>)

To connect to a station, run `CONNECT <CALL>` (Note: Currently the connect function is janky and may not work 100% of the time. Future versions will fix this.)

To send text, type in `SEND <TEXT>`

You should see an RX frame in the Hush’s TNC prompt.

To disconnect, run DISC and the modem will automatically disconnect!

Thank you all for the support and I hope that this takes off!

73 de Nick KC1WZQ

PS. GitHub link should be updated: https://github.com/kc1wzq/Hush

I just saw this today (Friday) so have had no time to evaluate it. Note that this project has been in development for several months, so there’s been some significant work invested.

RPC Electronics ESP32 LoRA-Pi Modem Now Shipping

Image courtesy of RPC Electronics

The ESP32 LoRA-Pi is a KISS LoRA modem and 1W UHF transceiver all on one module. Its physical size and form-factor is designed to sit on top of a Raspberry Pi. However, its USB interface allows it to be used with virtually any device that has a USB port and can run software that can speak the KISS protocol.

Key Features:

Native KISS protocol
Use it for APRS, WinLink, WinTNC and so much more
1 Watt UHF Transceiver on-board (Antenna NOT INCLUDED)
USB-C, Bluetooth and direct UART interface for Raspberry Pi options
Web Config via Wifi (future feature)
Bluetooth/Wifi antenna included
Comes pre-configured for KISS operation via USB out of the box
Connect directly to computer, phone and/or tablet via USB
Optional 3D printed case (see below)
Optional UART connector and stand-offs kit for use with Raspberry Pi (see below)

This is a remarkable combination of features! Let’s unpack this a bit.

  1. This... is the radio! No big, power hungry radio module.

  2. LoRa - a remarkably capable modulation for long range reliable communications at low power. I’ll have to do my homework better about the specifics of LoRa, but I think all of the modulation, error correction, etc. is all handled within the LoRa protocol, thus you only need to worry about your applications data to be transmitted.

  3. LoRa implemented on Amateur Radio 420-450 MHz (70 cm) band - at 1 watt! Not the very low power LoRa radios suitable for use in Europe on the 433 MHz unlicensed band at very low power. The unit uses standard SMA antenna ports for the Wi-Fi / Bluetooth radio and the UHF radio to be able to use external antennas.

  4. KISS interface. Meaning nearly any Amateur Radio application that can “talk KISS” - Bulletin Board Systems, APRS, etc. can be used with this, with the benefit of the LoRa modulation rather than 1200 bps Audio Frequency Shift Keying modulation (and its many limitations).

  5. USB-C data interface for data and power. Thus it can be connected to a desktop or laptop via USB-C (including powering it), or any Wi-Fi / Bluetooth device (standalone). It can also be integrated onto a Raspberry Pi computer.

  6. Very reasonable price including optional case of < $100.

It’s early days to understand how capable this will be (for example, over the air data rate not specified), but with the right application of proven technologies for packet radio (such as Net/ROM mesh networking, or JNOS for AX.25 / TCP/IP / Net/ROM) and perhaps even being able to specify different channels and cluster several of these as a relay node... wow, this looks really capable and Zero Retries Interesting!

Kudos to Jason Rausch WB4APR and Remi Bilodeau VE2YAG for shipping this really innovative product into Amateur Radio! Another demonstration of Technological Innovation in Amateur Radio!

What if I told you that you could do Ethernet over LoRA?

Check out a thing I’m working on: https://github.com/datapartyjs/lorapipe

We have a roadmap here: https://github.com/orgs/datapartyjs/pr

Speaking of doing more interesting things via LoRa...

My thanks to Jeff Davis KE9V for mention of this.

Michigan Radio Amateurs Technological Society (MIRATS)

Image courtesy of Michigan Radio Amateurs Technological Society

Welcome to the Michigan Radio Amateurs Technological Society! Our callsign is WE8CHZ. We are an FCC-registered amateur radio club.

While we focus on Michigan residents, anyone can join us. We enjoy exploring radio tech, using it in real-life ways, and diving into other parts of the radio hobby—whatever sounds fun.

We are an online club, so we don’t have a physical meeting spot. Most of our chats happen on Discord, but you can also reach us on Facebook.

Our members often hang out on the IRA Linked Repeater System (w8ira.org), the W8BCI repeater in Lansing (w8bci.org), and others like West Michigan Connect on Wires-X.

This Zero Retries Interesting Amateur Radio group was spotted in passing while researching something else. Gotta love an organization with a sense of humor enough to have a humorous club callsign like that.

They’re also a Zero Retries Interesting group for featuring articles such as Running a Full Windows Packet and Vara Station on Linux. Their articles can be followed with RSS, and I’m now doing so.

ARDC is Hiring (Contract Roles)

ARDC is Hiring: Software Developer (PT Contract):

ARDC seeks a mid-to-senior-level Software Developer to work with our staff on a contract basis. The role will support ongoing development of our 44Net program services, and potentially other related Free Software projects. An ideal candidate will be active in Free and Open technology communities – particularly those related to amateur radio, digital communications science, F/OSS development, and DIY culture.

ARDC is Hiring: Technical Writer (PT Contract):

ARDC seeks a Technical Writer to work with our staff on a contract basis. The role will support ongoing development of our 44Net program, and potentially other technical publishing activities. An ideal candidate will be active in Free and Open technology communities – particularly those related to amateur radio, digital communications science, F/OSS development, and DIY culture.

I’ve been involved previously, and currently, as a volunteer for ARDC. In my experience, they’re good folks to work with, and for, doing important and relevant work in Amateur Radio and adjacent areas such as open source development.

Thus I endorse and recommend these positions and ARDC as a whole.

GRCon26 Key Dates

Email from GNU Radio Conference 2026:

We’re excited to announce that GNU Radio Conference 2026 (GRCon26) will take place September 21–24 in Raleigh, North Carolina, at the Talley Student Union.

GRCon26 is generously hosted by NC State, which is home to one of the four NSF PAWR platforms, the AERPAW wireless research platform.

Key Dates
April 3 - Call for Participation Opens
April 6 - Registration Opens
June 13 - Call for Participation Closes
July 24 - (Initial) Main Track Schedule Posted
September 21 - Conference Begins

We invite you to submit talks, papers, workshops, tutorials, and demos for GRCon26. Whether you’re advancing research, deploying SDR systems in the field, building open-source tools, or experimenting at home, we want to hear from you.

Like HamSCI, GNU Radio Conference is another high-energy conference. Tina and I won’t be able to attend this year (September will be a busy month for us), but GRCon is recommended!

Using M17 Without a Radio

Great article in Random Wire 174 by Tom Salzer KJ7T:

How many ways are there to connect to an M17 reflector without owning an M17-capable radio? It turns out there are several software options for getting on M17 reflectors using just a computer, phone, or tablet. Here’s the rundown of what I’ve uncovered.

DroidStar — This is, perhaps, the most popular option. DroidStar is a multimode digital voice client that runs on Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android, and by jumping through a few hoops, probably iOS. (I say probably because I’ve not tried this and most of the advice I found is no more recent than 2023.) It connects directly to reflectors over the internet using just your microphone and speaker(s). For iOS, DroidStar-DMR is a fork of DroidStar that adds some features and is reportedly easier to install on iOS. DroidStar is the go-to solution for most operators and works well on a phone while driving.

M17 Web Client — Listening via the M17 Web Client is probably the easiest way to get started as there is nothing to install. The M17 Web Client is a beta application that enables receiving and transmitting M17 over reflectors from your web browser, making it very easy to get on the air without having to have any special equipment or software installed. Find it at

https://m17project.org

. Check out the streaming examples at

https://stream.m17.app/

(and I note that the Kansas City Wide network is also available if you scroll down the streaming page a bit).

mvoice — The Linux desktop client mvoice is the original M17 client for Linux, featuring Ham-DHT support and direct routing. This is more of a power-user tool but it does have full TX/RX capability.

SDRangel — If you are an SDR hardware user, SDRangel supports both transmission and reception of M17 and runs on both Windows and Linux, working with PlutoSDR, HackRF, and other SDRs. This requires SDR hardware but not a traditional radio.

Practical recommendation: DroidStar on Android is the easiest full TX/RX option and takes about five minutes to set up. The reflector used by the M17 team is M17-M17, module C — there is a net every Friday at 17:00 UTC (10:00 am where I live) where you can ask questions and test your setup.

If you are an iOS user, the easiest path forward without a radio is the MSeven app from the Apple App Store. (I run this on an iPad Mini and it works very well.)

In this brief summary, I did not include information about M17 hotspots since these generally also require a radio.

NEWSDR 2026

16th New England Workshop on Software-Defined Radio

Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, USA
Main Event: Friday 5 June 2026, 8:00 AM (US Eastern) – 5:00 PM (US Eastern)
Tutorials: Thursday 4 June 2026, 5:00 PM (US Eastern) – 9:00 PM (US Eastern)

The 2026 New England Workshop on Software-Defined Radio (NEWSDR 2026) is the sixteenth installment of an annual workshop series organized by the Boston SDR User Group (SDR-Boston). We are very excited about this year’s NEWSDR event being hosted in-person in the beautiful and historic Atwater Kent Laboratories Building of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, MA, USA. The primary goal of this workshop is to provide a forum that enables SDR enthusiasts to get together, collaborate, and introduce SDR concepts to those interested in furthering their knowledge of SDR capabilities and available resources. NEWSDR 2026 welcomes both experienced SDR enthusiasts as well as individuals who are interested in getting started with SDR.

...

Workshop Registration

Attendance at NEWSDR 2026 is free, but advance registration is required to ensure access to on-campus parking, guest Wi-Fi, and meals. Click here to register. The deadline to register is 25 May 2026.

Community Spotlight Talks & Posters: Abstract Submission

Interested in giving a 2-3 minute spotlight talk and a poster presentation about your SDR-related activities at NEWSDR 2026? If so, click here to submit your talk/poster abstract information. Deadline for abstract submission is 25 May 2026. Acceptance notifications will be sent out by COB 29 May 2026.

Another Zero Retries Interesting event found when researching something else.

Ground Station: An Open Source SDR Orchestration Platform for Satellite Tracking And Decoding

RTL-SDR.com:

Over on GitHub, we’ve seen the release of a new program simply called “Ground Station”, described as a full-featured, open-source software solution for satellite tracking and radio communication.

The software presents as a web-based UI that allows users to manage satellite passes, view SDR waterfall data, decode basic signals such as GMSK telemetry, view telemetry packets, synchronize TLEs, manage multiple SDR devices, browse downloaded weather imagery, monitor DSP performance, and interface with antenna rotators.

Unlike tools such as SatDump, which focus primarily on signal processing and decoding, Ground Station acts as a higher-level orchestration platform. It automates the full workflow, handling pass prediction, SDR control, recording, and decoding, and integrates with SatDump for more complex protocols like weather satellite image decoding.

While SatDump does include some tracking and automation features, Ground Station takes this further with support for multiple SDRs, coordination across multiple stations, and a centralized management interface. It also includes an interesting AI-based speech-to-text feature for transcribing amateur satellite voice communications.

This... sounds like a great combination of features to get all of that into one console / system.

Automatic Signal Recognition With AI Machine Learning And RTL-SDR

RTL-SDR.com (lots of Zero Retries Interesting content of late):

Thank you to Trevor Unland for submitting his AI machine learning project called “RTL-ML” which automatically recognizes and classifies eight different signal types on low-power ARM processors running an RTL-SDR.

Trevor’s blog post explains the machine learning architecture in detail, the accuracy he obtained, and how to try it yourself. If you try it for yourself, you can either run the pre-trained model or train your own model if you have sufficient training data.

The code is entirely open source on GitHub, and the training set data has been shared on HuggingFace.

RTL-ML is an open-source Python toolkit for automatic radio signal classification using machine learning. It runs on ARM single-board computers like the Raspberry Pi 5 or Indiedroid Nova paired with an RTL-SDR Blog V4, achieving 87.5% accuracy across 8 real-world signal types including ADS-B aircraft transponders, NOAA weather satellites, ISM sensors, FM broadcast, NOAA weather radio, pagers, and APRS.

The project provides a complete pipeline from signal capture to trained classifier. Unlike academic approaches that rely on synthetic data or expensive GPU hardware, RTL-ML uses real signals captured from actual antennas and runs entirely on edge hardware with no cloud dependency. The Random Forest model is 186KB and processes signals in around 120ms on a Pi 5.

The GitHub repository includes the full capture and training scripts, a pre-trained model, 8 validated spectrograms, and documentation for adding new signal types. It works out of the box on both Raspberry Pi 5 and Indiedroid Nova with identical code and accuracy.

I have been waiting for something like this to appear (and those earlier systems to improve with better AI). Systems such as this are inevitable and inexorable - it’s just going to be the way radio systems work in the near future. They’ll use an appropriate system (with, or without a header / Protocol Identification to give a hint of what the modulation, etc. is) to transmit - short, robust packets for voice / video, longer packets with FEC for data, etc.) and the receiving station(s) will figure out what it is being transmitted, load the appropriate decoder, and decode / display / play it. It’s mostly a matter of larger data sets being loaded into an AI, and having enough cheap compute / AI power to bring to bear on the challenge.

Video - Andy’s Ham Radio Linux ~ 03/11/2026

RATPAC Amateur Radio:

Spotted this (but haven’t yet watched it) as one of the algorithmic selections on the Zero Retries YouTube channel. Of late, RATPAC is doing a good job of highlighting Zero Retries Interesting topics like this.

Video - Pluto+ Clone SDR Review

TheGmr140 YouTube channel:

Another Zero Retries Interesting video I just learned of, thus haven’t yet had time to watch. I was amused to learn that these units are referred to as “Fishballs”. The reviewer mentioned that these are < $100. My thanks to RTL-SDR for alerting me to this video.

Please offer comments / feedback about ZR > BEACON on the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0243 hashtag.

Request To Send

I decided to relocate Request to Send to the end of each issue of Zero Retries. One time mention - from the recently updated Zero Retries About page:

Request to Send (RTS) is the Editorial section of Zero Retries, and is derived from the RS-232 data communications standard where one of the signals in RS-232 is “Request to Send” so that Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) (terminals / computers) and Data Communication Equipment (DCE) (modems / TNCs) stay in synch because DTEs typically had small buffers. So, Request to Send is a playful way of saying “May I please have your attention?”. Prior to Universal Serial Bus (USB), RS-232 was the primary serial communications standard, including on Packet Radio Terminal Node Controllers (TNCs). As of Zero Retries 0243, I relocated RTS towards the end of each issue of Zero Retries in response to a number of readers providing feedback that I sometimes / often discuss too much of the mechanics of publishing Zero Retries in RTS at the beginning of each issue. Moving RTS towards the end of Zero Retries makes reading my commentary more optional for readers that don’t care to read it.

Post Publication Update - I had some of the technical detail about DTE / DCE wrong, now corrected. My thanks to Brian O Connor KA2CGB for pointing out the incorrect detail.

Zero Retries Photo Essay Page Coming Soon

I took a lot of photos at HamSCI 2026 and the visit to ARRL Headquarters. Given that Zero Retries is an email newsletter, I attempt to minimize the photos included in Zero Retries to keep the file size reasonable for an email. I will soon update the (new) Photo Essays page on www.zeroretries.radio with some of the photos from this past weekend. I wasn’t able to do so in time for publication of this issue given my preparation time was compressed because of travel.

(Yet Another) Future Project - Zero Retries Fiction Series

I’m seeing so many Zero Retries Interesting developments... some of which I can’t (yet) explain here in Zero Retries (non-disclosure).

The way my mind works now, after decades of steeping in all of the amazing things that radio technology can do, especially in this era of “easy” manufacturing of radio devices (Crowd Supply is amazing...), Software Defined Radio, Artificial Intelligence enabling vibe coding, I can imagine some fun possibilities in Amateur Radio.

I have some projects to finish in the first half of this year, including being fully ready for the first ever Zero Retries booth at Hamvention, so this is yet another deferred project. But imagine an Amateur Radio club... with a big budget... with a membership requirement that you must be willing to get involved in Zero Retries interesting activities / projects... and a core part of this club is to get youth involved in the fun (and lucrative career prospects) of radio technology / electrical engineering / software development... combined.

This project is partially inspired by Jeff Davis KE9V’s excellent Amateur Radio (as a well integrated plot device) fiction set in the 21st century such as Cornbread Road, The Zombie Apocalypse, and Late Night Radio (link via Internet Archive Wayback Machine).

Finally Scored a Raspberry Pi 500 Plus

Since its debut a few months ago, I’ve been curious about the Raspberry Pi 500 Plus. This is the downtown and deluxe Raspberry Pi unit with the cool mechanical keyboard, 16GB RAM and 256GB NVMe storage (replaceable for even more storage capacity). It even has “... bright, crisp LEDs set beneath the mechanical switches. Cycle through the preset patterns or individually program the LEDs for a truly custom look.“

Since we were in one of those lucky metropolitan areas where Micro Center has deigned to place a store (they haven’t made it North of California, or West of Kansas), I stopped in to peruse the Micro Center in Paterson, New Jersey. I asked if they had the Raspberry Pi 500 Plus in stock, and they did. They’re hard to get mail order (almost always sold out), so this was a good opportunity.

My favorite reviewer of all things Raspberry Pi is Jeff Geerling (KF0MYB) and if you’re curious about the RPi 500+, see his review - Raspberry Pi 500+: NOW we’re gaming!

While at Micro Center, I also picked up a cool, more compact podcast microphone... for... soon.

Sad Hams - Route Around Them

My experiences at HamSCI 2026 crystalized a thought I’ve had for some time.

Much is made (at great length, and great angst, and no small amount of resulting damage) about Sad Hams - those who are generally negative about the (perceived, by them, but not real) decline in skills, modes, on-air participation, low attendance at clubs and Amateur Radio events, etc. in Amateur Radio.

The “cure” for not letting Sad Hams get to you and discourage you from having fun and doing interesting things in Amateur Radio is to go where, or tune into where the action is (virtual participation). There is Zero Retries Interesting activity happening all over the place... but not everywhere. Believe me... I know this / live this.

If you’re a Zero Retries reader that wants to be doing more Zero Retries Interesting things in (and adjacent to) Amateur Radio, but you’re “outstanding in your field” hoping for local interaction, but not finding it, then I suggest traveling to events like HamSCI 2026 or GNU Radio Conference 2026, or DEF CON 2026, or Zero Retries Digital Conference 2026 and you’ll be certain to find folks with interest and energy.

Post Publication Update 1 - In recommending the above conferences, don’t be deterred by the stated focus of the conference, such as GNU Radio for GRCon. The reason to attend is to interact with people doing interesting things, with energy and enthusiasm. Even if you’re not (yet) active in (for example) GNU Radio, you’ll find ample energy and enthusiasm for Zero Retries Interesting projects and activities there.

If you’re just not having fun with your local Amateur Radio Operators, I suggest checking out Meshtastic... or rather, now the momentum seems to have shifted significantly to MeshCore. That is where the cool, hip, happenin’ data communications over Amateur Radio folks are hanging out. I just got pinged about that this past week by a group in my region that I had not heard of, and a friend gifted me with the loan of some MeshCore gear that is set up for me to just “put it on the air”.

For social interaction out of area, I suggest following the lead of Tom Salzer KJ7T and what he’s explaining about EtherHams (Amateur Radio over Internet) such as his article Using M17 Without a Radio (see above). You can also join the fun on AREDN even with no local folks to participate with by connecting to a nearby AREDN tunnel server. Or even Hams Over IP - VOIP telephony with an Amateur Radio focus.

Post Publication Update 2 - There are many Zero Retries Interesting activities one can participate in that can connect you to other Zero Retries Interesting folks / projects that aren’t dependent on finding other Zero Retries Interesting folks / projects that are local to you. Some examples are participating in HamSCI, participating in SatNOGS and TinyGS, operating a WSPR receive station, connecting with remote others with Amateur Radio Over Internet, etc.

I’m trying to take my own advice. I’m no longer hoping for better things out of two Amateur Radio clubs that I used to (try) to be active in with some Zero Retries energy. Both clubs just don’t want to hear it - they want to keep doing their Sad Hams same old, same... old... low energy, and thus low participation, activities. Ditto two US national organizations that I’ve tried to be helpful to, and hopeful about, but now watching both organizations coast slowly down with no real energy or useful activity. I’ve also decided not to attend a regional conference that I used to enjoy attending because last year’s event was so low energy Sad Ham’ish, that I no longer have any enthusiasm for it.

I’m so much happier that instead of that same old, same old event, I traveled to HamSCI 2026 and picked up some energy, motivation and some new ideas.

I’m looking forward to doing three in person presentations in the next couple of months to high energy fun organizations (two of them not Amateur Radio... but I’ll be talking up Amateur Radio there). And then, of course...

Hamvention 2026 Ho!

10 weeks until Hamvention 2026
in Xenia, Ohio, USA...
Zero Retries / DLARC booth 1506
in Building 1 / Maxim

Weekends Are For Amateur Radio!

Lots of catching up to do this weekend from Amateur Radio activities of the past month that I haven’t had time to sort out in N8GNJ / Zero Retries Labs. Despite my best intentions, I acquired a bit more schtuff including a pair of TNCs (I forget what...) that were $3/each. (They needed a good home.)

Have a great weekend, all of you co-conspirators in Zero Retries Interesting Amateur Radio activities!

Please offer comments / feedback about Request To Send on the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0243 hashtag.

73,

Steve N8GNJ

Closing Thanks

My ongoing Thanks to:
Tina Stroh KD7WSF for, well, everything!
Jack Stroh, Late Night Assistant Editor Emeritus
Fiona and Shreky Stroh, Late Night Assistant Editors In Training

Founding Members who generously support Zero Retries financially:
Founding Member 0000 - Steven Davidson K3FZT (Renewed 2025, 3rd year!)
Founding Member 0001 - Randy Smith WU2S (Renewed 2025, 3rd year!)
Founding Member 0002 - Chris Osburn KD7DVD (Renewed 2025, 3rd year!)
Founding Member 0003 - Don Rotolo N2IRZ (Renewed 2025, 3rd year!)
Founding Member 0004 - William Arcand W1WRA (Renewed 2025, 3rd year!)
Founding Member 0005 - Ben Kuhn KU0HN (Renewed 2025, 3rd year!)
Founding Member 0006 - Todd Willey KQ4FID (Renewed 2025, 3rd year!)
Founding Member 0007 and 0010 - Merik Karman VK1DF / VK2MKZ (Renewed 2025 x2, 3rd year!)
Founding Member 0008 - Prefers to Remain Anonymous 08 (Renewed 2025, 3rd year!)
Founding Member 0009 - Prefers to Remain Anonymous 19 (Renewed 2025, 2nd year!)
Founding Member 0011 - Rick Prelinger W6XBE (Renewed 2025, 2nd year!)
Founding Member 0012 - Ryan Tolboom N2BP (Renewed 2025, 2nd year!)
Founding Member 0013 - Newton White N4EWT (Renewed 2026, 2nd year!)
Founding Member 0014 - Joe Hamelin W7COM (Renewed 2026, 2nd year!)
Founding Member 0015 - Rich Stocking N7OP (New 2025)
Founding Member 0016 - Prefers to Remain Anonymous 77 (New 2025)
Founding Member 0017 - Phil Karn KA9Q (New 2025)
Founding Member 0018 - Prefers to Remain Anonymous 95 (New 2025)
Founding Member 0019 - Prefers to Remain Anonymous 0108 (New 2025)
Founding Member 0020 - Prefers to Remain Anonymous 110 (New 2025)
Founding Member 0021 - Prefers to Remain Anonymous 111 (New 2025)
Founding Member 0022 - Prefers to Remain Anonymous 112 (New 2025)
Founding Member 0023 - Prefers to Remain Anonymous 116 (New 2026)
Founding Member 0024 - Rob Bowser (SPOOLTENNA) (New 2026)

Numerous Annual and Monthly subscribers who also generously support Zero Retries financially!

You thousands of readers of Zero Retries without which there would be little point in publishing this newsletter.

The Usual Administrivia

  • Zero Retries About - https://www.zeroretries.org/about

  • Zero Retries Digital Conference - https://www.zeroretries.org/p/conference

  • Zero Retries (Substack Blanket) Privacy Policy - https://substack.com/privacy

  • Zero Retries Reprint / Reuse Policy - https://www.zeroretries.org/p/reprint-reuse

  • Fair Use - All excerpts from other authors or organizations, including images, are intended to be fair use and are fully attributed generally by author and link (URL).

  • Paid Promotional Content - Unless otherwise noted in the article or item, advertisement, or sponsorship notice, Zero Retries does not include paid promotional content. Exceptions:

    • Advertisements in Zero Retries,

    • Sponsorships in Zero Retries,

    • Zero Retries products,

    • Zero Retries events

    • Features and content exclusive to paid subscribers.

⬅️⬅️⬅️ Previous Issue of ZR | Next Issue of ZR ➡️➡️➡️

This issue released on 2026-03-20. This issue was 8040 words.

(end)

]]><![CDATA[Zero Retries 0242]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0242-052https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0242-052Fri, 10 Apr 2026 17:28:28 GMTZero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Radios are computers - with antennas! Now in its fifth year of publication, with 3500+ subscribers.

Steve Stroh N8GNJ, Editor

editor@zeroretries.net

Tina Stroh KD7WSF, Business / Conference Manager

tina@zeroretries.net

This issue of Zero Retries was originally published on Ghost - https://www.zeroretries.radio/zero-retries-0242/. Thus all links that were for zeroretries.radio have (attempted to) been changed to equivalents on zeroretries.org.

See this archive page:
https://web.archive.org/web/20260407182624/https://www.zeroretries.radio/zero-retries-0242/
for how it originally appeared on www.zeroretries.radio.

Substack says this issue is too big for email clients? YES
Thus, it might be easier to read this in a web browser -
https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0242

It’s easy and free to subscribe for your own copy of Zero Retries every week:

Subscribe now

In This Issue...

Request To Send

(Invalid) Security Warnings for www.zeroretries.radio - Part 5

Administrivia Alert!

Microsoft... (sigh...)

Earlier this week, some Zero Retries readers continued to report “security” issues with zeroretries.radio when using Microsoft systems. I was able to replicate a surprising issue in Microsoft Edge browser:

Using www.zeroretries.radio in Microsoft Edge... works fine!

However, using zeroretries.radio (no www) in Microsoft Edge, redirects to www.zeroretries.radio (per the CNAME), but then throws up a scary warning notice per Microsoft Defender SmartScreen.

Clicking More Information...

  • Clicking Report that this site doesn’t contain phishing threats, I filled out the form as the site owner explaining things as best I could (twice, now).

  • Clicking Continue to the unsafe site (not recommended) seemed to clear the issue (on my system), but when I cleared all cookies, etc. and tried again, it happened again. Apparently clicking through this notice changes the behavior only on the local system (sets a cookie).

It was suggested by a Zero Retries reader that’s ex-Microsoft, that I reach out to a Microsoft employee and request they “clear zeroretries.radio from inside”. But, I don’t currently know any (active) Microsoft employees; all of my Microsoft contacts are now ex-Microsoft.

Thus all I can do is continuing to fill out the Microsoft form and hope my request eventually does get noticed by a human or a bot... and they actually check zeroretries.radio and see there’s nothing “phishy” going on.

Last minute update: That issue seems to have been cleared. Using Microsoft Edge browser on my Mac... seems to work fine for both zeroretries.radio and www.zeroretries.radio.

Paid Subscriptions for Zero Retries to Resume Soon

Because Zero Retries is no longer being published on Substack, we’ve disabled paid subscriptions (new and renewals) in Substack.

Because of the pressures of getting ready for our travel this week, Tina and I weren’t able to complete the delicate process of connecting the Zero Retries Stripe account to Zero Retries on Ghost, which enables us to set up paid subscription tiers (which have been, and always will be optional!!!) . That’s coming in the next couple of weeks or so after we return from our current travel.

All “extras” (still in process) of Paid Subscriber status on Substack will transfer to Paid Subscriber status on Ghost.

Stealth Sponsorships Available - Founding Members

The newest Zero Retries Founding Member is Founding Member 0024 - Rob Bowser KO4HUI. As a Founding Member of Zero Retries, KO4HUI is listed in every issue of Zero Retries.

K04HUI made a unique request for his Founding Member listing in each issue of Zero Retries to be:

Rob Bowser (SPOOLTENNA)

SPOOLTENNA is KO4HUI’s new small business and product:

SPOOLTENNA is a compact, lightweight 40-10m end fed half wave antenna that was specifically designed for portable amateur radio operations like Parks on the Air® (POTA) and Summits on the Air™ (SOTA). Its innovative spool form factor is intended to ensure rapid deployment and teardown, providing a frustration-free operating experience that doesn’t compromise performance.

KO4HUI’s request was a reasonable extension to the mention of each Founding Member in every issue of Zero Retries, and I was happy to oblige.

Thus I wanted to mention this possibility for current or future Founding Members - a subtle, brief mention of a project, product, or company or product in every issue of Zero Retries as part of your Founding Member acknowledgement.

We Love Random Wire Newsletter / EtherHam Too!

In Random Wire Newsletter 173, Tina and I, Zero Retries, and our Zero Retries Digital Conference received a nice shout out by Random Wire Editor Tom Salzer KJ7T. His work in Random Wire nicely complements the content mix of Zero Retries. It’s a must-read-right-now publication for me and is Zero Retries Interesting and Recommended! If you’re into operating Amateur Radio via Internet, as well as a lot of good practical tips about advanced networking in your household, you’re missing a lot of great content on that subject in Random Wire and KJ7T’s companion website EtherHam.

Hamvention 2026 Ho!

9 weeks until Hamvention 2026
in Xenia, Ohio, USA...

This week’s installment of the Zero Retries Hamvention 2026 saga seems a bit silly to have to do. We want to reassure Zero Retries / DLARC / Ham Radio Weekly fans that there will be a Zero Retries (+ DLARC) booth at Hamvention 2026 - Building 1 / Maxim, in Booth 1506. This reassurance seems necessary because of the status of Zero Retries on the official public commercial exhibitors list lingering as “Reserved“ rather than “Confirmed“. Apparently the payment processing / confirmation system behind the scenes at Hamvention moves... deliberately.

Post Publication Update: Zero Retries’s booth at Hamvention 2026 is now Confirmed, thanks to the efforts of Tina KD7WSF, Zero Retries Business Manager.

I’ll have a dedicated page for Zero Retries at Hamvention 2026 up soon. And we’ll (actually... Tina will...) get busy on one of those more eye-catching line ads in the official public commercial exhibitors list.

New Zero Retries One Pagers

For HamSCI 2026 we developed a new One Pager handout, and a table display sign, both with QR codes, for Zero Retries, revised for early 2026 and the new www.zeroretries.radio domain.

Post Publication Update: With the change to www.zeroretries.org, the original versions were deprecated. Current versions can be downloaded from:

Zero Retries Flyers / Handouts / One Pagers

If you would like to receive one of these electronic versions for printing and distribution at a conference, or Amateur Radio club meeting... or whatever (I should have offered them to AREDN in time for their SCALE 23x booth), please reach out to Tina KD7WSF.

3500+ Zero Retries Email Subscribers

No longer “nearly 3500”, or 3500’ish...

In 2026 to date, the email subscriber counts for Zero Retries have been rough estimates. Email subscribers were split between existing email subscribers on Substack, and new email subscribers on Ghost. There were a number of email subscribers who unsubscribed (some in disgust at the “chaos” of the changeover). Others try Zero Retries, and find it’s not for them. Thus the email subscriber count was in flux.

Finally, I was able to do the “big email merge” a couple of weeks ago, after which there was finally just one list of email subscribers (on Ghost). The “big email merge” cleared out some duplicates, but knocked the total subscriber count down significantly.

Folks continue to find their way to Zero Retries (some still finding their way to Substack, and I add them to the Zero Retries email list on Ghost). In the past month, there are typically three, and sometimes as many as ten new email subscribers per week. This week, the email subscriber total ticked up comfortably above 3500. Woo Hoo!

As always, I offer a disclaimer that when I announce a new email subscriber total that it’s not the number that matters, it’s that the number continues to grow steadily. This is just a basic indication of interest in Zero Retries. There are also many Zero Retries readers that don’t subscribe via email - they read Zero Retries when prompted by mentions on social media, or they follow Zero Retries via RSS.

Thanks folks! Without readers, there would be little purpose in writing Zero Retries!

Weekends Are For Amateur Radio!

This weekend Tina KD7WSF and I will be attending the HamSCI 2026 Workshop in New Britain, Connecticut, USA. We had a great time at HamSCI 2025 in Newark, New Jersey USA and the combination of Tina being able to spend some time back in New Jersey before and after the conference, the HamSCI conference, and getting to see ARRL Headquarters on Saturday is a nice combination for us.

One new highlight of traveling in New Jersey for me was discovering the Green Brook Electronics (GBE) store in North Plainfield, New Jersey. Recommended! GBE is second in “fun browsing surplus electronics in a retail store” only to the (now closed) Fair Radio Sales in Lima, Ohio. The photos on GBE’s website don’t do it justice. The actual store is sprawling and far more “interesting” and “overflowing with stock” than the website photos suggest. If you’re a fan of vintage electronics like I am, I suggest allocating at least an hour to visit GBE.

Have a great weekend, all of you co-conspirators in Zero Retries Interesting Amateur Radio activities!

Please direct comments / feedback about this Request To Send to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0242 hashtag.

Steve N8GNJ

Image courtesy of Internet Archive / Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications

What’s New at Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications — March 2026

By Kay Savetz K6KJN

Big things are happening with DLARC and Australia. DLARC is now an archive of the Wireless Institute of Australia Weekly News Broadcast (WIA News). Edited by Graham Kemp VK4BB for more than 30 years, each 30-minute weekly broadcast focuses on “what is happening in our ‘Wonderful Ham World’”, with a lens on Australia, naturally, but plenty of international news reports as well. We have 878 episodes in the library, all with scripts, all full-text searchable.

Also coming from the Land Down Under, DLARC has added the newsletter of the Ballarat Amateur Radio Group. This club was founded in 1980 and has been publishing its member newsletter continuously since. We now archive all 252 issues of this charming newsletter, which combines technical discussions (conductive polymer hybrid aluminium electrolytic capacitors) with community news … and, let’s be honest, fewer photos of wallabies than I would personally prefer.

What’s farther away than Australia? Space! I’m thrilled to announce a new sub-collection in DLARC’s Radio Conferences collection: the AMSAT Symposium archive. Here you’ll find proceedings, audio, and video from AMSAT Symposium, the annual conference run by the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. The earliest proceedings and papers we have are from the 1986 AMSAT Space Symposium — and we have proceedings and papers all the way through 2012. But wait, there’s more! We also have audio recordings of presentations and the accompanying slide decks from the 2004 and 2012 conferences. Those came from wonderful CD-ROMs published by AMSAT. I’d love to get my hands on the discs from other years’ shows. In the mean time, there’s incredible information here about ARISS and robotics and Cubesat and SETI and … converting a barbecue grill to an antenna for satellite communication.

Closer to home (but still DX) we’ve added a complete archive of The VHF DX Podcast, hosted by Nick Langan and Bryce Foster. This show is laser-focused on FM DX: long distance FM radio reception. It’s been published sporadically since 2021: there are only 26 epodes so far, because they publish only when there’s good FM DX to talk about. It’s a relatively rare phenomenon, so there are sometimes months between shows. I had a fun conversation with Mr. Langan about the American Ionospheric Propagation Association — folks who were tuning into FM DX in the late 1950s and early 1960s. (I hear that was a great time for FM DX because of the sunspot cycle, and a lower noise floor verses the buzzy electrical devices than we have today.) You can read about those glory days for yourself: DLARC has many (maybe all? It’s hard to know for sure) issues of the AIPA TV-DX newsletter.

Last month I wrote about Internet Archive patron Curtis Philips’ beautiful scans of Electrical Experimenter magazine. The one-man scanning machine is still at it, having uploaded 131 issues of Radio News AKA Radio Amateur News AKA Radio Television News AKA probably other things, because publisher Hugo Gernsback seemingly loved changing the names of his magazines with the times. The magazine started in July 1919 — Mr. Philips’ lovely color scans start with issue two (August 1919). DLARC also has a more complete set of this magazine, scanned from microfilm so they’re black-and-white. But Philips’ color scans — vibrant covers and warm, aged inside pages — add a certain beauty to the collection.

Besides the magazines, Philips has also scanned the books Radio News 150 Radio Hook Ups (from 1926), Loomis Radio Theory And Operating(1925), Moyer & Wostrel Practical Radio (1924), and Audels New Radiomans Guide (1939).

Finally, we have lots of new documents and movies from Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Radio Amateurs’ Club. The club has been diligent about documenting its history: they recently sent dozens of documents, images, and films which I added to DLARC’s MRAC collection. Those come in addition to the 2,800 (!!) items already in the collection, going all the way back to a certificate from 1919 showing the club’s affiliation with the ARRL. They’ve saved letters, meeting minutes, photographs, invoices, newsletters, rosters, and more — a fascinating and thorough record of the club and its 100-plus-year legacy.

Steve and I are planning our trip to Hamvention in May (it will be my first time!) We’ll be sharing a booth [Building 1 / Maxim, Booth 1506 - Ed.], where I’ll be spreading the word about DLARC.

Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications is funded by a generous grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) to create a free digital library for the radio community, researchers, educators, and students. If you have questions about the project or material to contribute, contact me at kay@archive.org.

Please direct comments / feedback about this article to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0242 hashtag.

NewTechHams Are My Hope For The Future of Amateur Radio

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

I received an email from a longtime Zero Retries reader that was some good food for thought. They didn’t explicitly state that it was OK for me to share their email here in Zero Retries, so I’ll offer a précis (new word for me - thanks ClaudeAI!).

Aside from some small glimmers of light, the hobby is largely in the grips of appliance operators.

That seems to be the core of my correspondent’s pessimism that the LinHT (and similar “advanced Amateur Radio” projects, products, and services (PP&S) won’t find much of an audience because they’re too advanced for the “appliance operators”.

See Zero Retries 0241 - LinHT Revision B Making Great Progress for a recent update on LinHT.

This is actually a common enough plaint that it seemed reasonable to share my reply and perspective. The following was lightly edited for publication. This shouldn’t be construed as “the NewTechHams are going to save Amateur Radio” - that’s a heavy lift. But as you’ll read, I have reason for optimism.

What I didn’t mention in my reply, and should have, is that the label “appliance operator”, to me, isn’t necessarily a pejorative. Permit me a bit of a story. When we were building out the Puget Sound Amateur Radio TCP/IP Network, there were a handful of us who delighted in building the network - the repeaters, the routers, the user radios, trying to make it work reliably, etc. But it was the users (the appliance operators) who just wanted to connect up and use it to send messages and files to their buddies - reliably, traversing multiple repeaters, bands, and routers. And to me, the users / appliance operators were a more important part of the network builders because they were actually using this thing we built, and their usage justified the effort of having built it.

In many aspects, I consider myself an appliance operator. In some aspects of Amateur Radio, I don’t want to have to fuss with it until it works - I just want to follow the instructions and start communicating. Amateur Radio needs appliance operators... that are willing to get involved with new systems such as M17, New Packet Radio, Mercury, and others to use them. Far too often, new systems are developed for the joy of developing... and trying to make it user friendly, to develop a reasonable user base... is a secondary consideration, and that’s often a deadly perspective. It’s not a communications system if there are no users that want to use it to communicate.

Thus my opinion differs than my correspondent’s perspective that “the hobby is largely in the grips of appliance operators”. I wish I could convey how much I see NewTechHams and their energy coming into Amateur Radio. At GNU Radio Conference (GRCon) 2025, I was in a room of 50 or so folks, more than half of which were already Amateur Radio Operators, and every one of them capable of “sitting down and writing a unique new radio” because they were proficient in GNU Radio. This is no different than a person very experienced in Linux being able to write an application to run on Linux. Honestly watching the rise of the NewTechHams feels like watching Linux coming from behind to surpass Windows Server. LinHT will inevitably cause a “wha happen?” moment amongst the “fixed function” radio users and manufacturers.

Keep in mind that the technology of LinHT isn’t confined to the portable radio form factor. That’s just where the developers chose to start. LinMobile could very quickly become a realty, perhaps even more easily than LinHT.

In Zero Retries, I try to convey this momentum of technological innovation that I’m seeing in Amateur Radio. But, weekly bursts of text doesn’t do justice to that momentum... but I’ll keep trying. Perhaps when I finally graduate to creating unique videos regularly on the Zero Retries YouTube channel, I can make more of a dent in the same old, same... old...perception of the sad hams / and the “I’m not interested in anything new” appliance operators.

I understand why my correspondent, and so many others have that impression. Candidly, I think that’s something of a case of selection bias from going to typical Amateur Radio club meetings, hamfests, the “Ooh look at the latest Chinese radio unboxing” YouTubers, etc. If my correspondent (and others) were to attend meetings of Meshtastic fans, GNU Radio gatherings, DEF CON, Zero Retries Digital Conference, etc. I think they would come away with a different impression.

The tepid reception, to date, of the LinHT is unfortunately a perfect storm:

  • There’s a long story about why LinHT isn’t funded by grants so that a lot of LinHTs could be made and injected into Amateur Radio. Thus with minimum resources, the development of LinHT is proceeding slowly (but steadily).

  • The abysmal, accidental timing of LinHT’s development coinciding with punishing tariffs on electronics being shipped into the US.

  • The lack of vision about the bright future of Amateur Radio by leaders in Amateur Radio (especially the Amateur Radio industry) that’s made possible by Software Defined Radio that can be modified by the user,

  • No small amount of unfortunate arrogance, etc.

I’m seeing all of these factors combine against LinHT… and I’m still optimistic.

Actually, I’m fatalistic that LinHT can’t not happen. It’s a perfect answer to so many plaints and longstanding issues in Amateur Radio such as single mode radios and the resulting Tower of Babel effect that an Amateur Radio Operator using a DMR radio cannot use a D-Star repeater. Etc., writ large. I don’t know what the “spark” is going to be that is going to “ignite” the LinHT (or perhaps also the LinMobile) into widespread recognition and usage... but the LinHT is dry tinder waiting to be lit.

Steve N8GNJ

Please direct comments / feedback about this article to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0242 hashtag.

ZR > BEACON

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Short mentions of Zero Retries Interesting items.

CoronaSDR for IOS – a Free Native RTL_TCP Client

RTL-SDR.com blog:

Thank you to Silviu YO6SAY for writing in and sharing with us news about the release of his iOS App called “CoronaSDR” which is a native client for receiving from rtl_tcp servers. rtl_tcp is a server program for RTL-SDRs that streams raw IQ data over a network connection.

Unlike Android, iOS does not allow third-party USB devices like the RTL-SDR to run on its devices. But you can set up an rtl_tcp server on a networked PC or Raspberry Pi in your home, and connect to the data stream with an iOS app like CoronaSDR.

Silviu writes:

CoronaSDR is a free, native iOS app that connects to an rtl_tcp server on your local network (no cloud, no subscription).

Current features
• Live spectrum + waterfall (Metal / GPU-accelerated)
• Demod modes: AM / NFM / WFM / USB / LSB / CW
• RF controls: gain, PPM, direct sampling, offset tuning, bias-tee
• Stations with tags + CSV/TSV import/export
• List/range scanning with squelch hold/skip
• Background audio + lock screen controls

Known limitations (early build)
• Built solo so far — no external testers yet
• Most real-world testing to date has been NFM and WFM
• Other modes are implemented, but I’d consider them early until more field feedback comes in

Tested with an RTL-SDR Blog V4 (R828D) on a Raspberry Pi running rtl_tcp. I’d really appreciate detailed feedback (device + iOS version, tuner type, rtl_tcp command, mode/frequency, and steps to reproduce any issues).

Project page:

https://coronasdr.pages.dev/


Issues/bug reports: https://github.com/s1lviu/CoronaSDR/issues

I love this idea of a small package of a Raspberry Pi with an RTL-SDR dongle, small antenna, and an iPhone or iPad for casual viewing of the spectrum in your area.

Kudos to YO6SAY!

This is such a cool idea I might put one together for travel in time for Hamvention.

Discovery Drive - A motorized antenna rotator engineered for the Discovery Dish

The article in Zero Retries 0241 last week - Discovery Drive Campaign Launching Soon... was just a few days ahead of the actual launch.

I was surprised at the price of this unit - $700, and at first glance, this seems about the same price as the venerable Yaesu G-5500. But reading through the description, I understand that’s not the case. In my opinion, the Discovery Drive is actually a good option for VHF / UHF Azimuth / Elevation antennas being used to track Low Earth Orbit satellites, especially if your use case for such a unit is portable or temporary operation.

From my perspective the attributes of the Discovery Drive are:

  • Designed for portable operation (lighter weight, DC power input - that USB-C was suitable was surprising),

  • Apparently pretty mechanically robust,

  • More modern interfaces such as Wi-Fi and USB, without external / third party interface units required,

  • More robust than the lower cost alternatives,

  • Weather resistant (the less expensive options are not),

  • It’s an advantage that the entire design is open source - it can be extended into areas and use cases not originally envisioned.

This wouldn’t be a common use case, but I could imagine this being used for accessing different mountain top nodes (such as AREDN or HamWAN) nodes. Uncommon, and perhaps impractical as buying multiple AREDN / HamWAN nodes is less expensive than one Discover Drive alone... but the Discover Drive makes such usage possible.

I don’t currently have the available N8GNJ / Zero Retries Labs discretionary budget for this unit, so I’ll miss out on the introductory pricing. There are a few projects that are ahead of it in the N8GNJ / Zero Retries Lab purchase queue. But I’ve always wanted an azimuth / elevation rotor for tracking LEO satellites, and now that there are some Zero Retries Interesting LEO satellites on the horizon (pun intended) such as a PACSAT or two, this unit is definitely in the purchase queue.

AREDN Evangelizes Modern Amateur Radio Networking at SCALE Conference

Orv Beach W6BI (AREDN Ambassador) via the AREDN Facebook Group:

Image courtesy of Orv Beach W6BI.

Pictured - Tim Wilkinson KN6PLV, one of the AREDN Lead Developers.

AREDN once again had a booth at SCALe (the Southern California Linux Expo). We had good traffic past the booth on Friday, very busy on Saturday, and light traffic on Sunday (very typical).

Something different this year was that SCALE hosted KB6NU and his Ham In A Day training class, one on Friday and one on Saturday. Several dozen hams were minted out of the follow-on testing. And being geeks, quite a few of the new hams made their way to the AREDN booth for an indoctrination 😊

Note the lack of gray hair in the listeners in the photo above.

Long time Zero Retries readers might consider what follows to be a tired refrain... but consider that everyone attending SCALE 23x was there for their interest in Linux, not Amateur Radio. But AREDN presented a facet of Amateur Radio that was relevant and interesting to them within that context of Linux (and networking).

Thus (thanks to Dan Romanchik KB6NU) there are now several dozen more NewTechHams in Amateur Radio, looking around with what to do next with their new Amateur Radio license. Obviously they got exposed to AREDN, but there’s a lot more interesting things to do, and we really have to figure it out, as a community, to help them with that.

Second Edition of VHF, Summits, and More

Bob Witte K0NR on his The KØNR Radio Site blog:

Big news — I’m proud to announce that the Second Edition of my book VHF, Summits, and More is now available. I’ve received tons of positive feedback on the first edition, published in 2019, and I decided it was time for an update. This new version is printed in color, which greatly enhances the photos and graphics.

This book is an easy-to-understand introduction to VHF/UHF ham radio with an emphasis on mountaintop VHF operation. I’ve enjoyed ham radio and writing about it ever since I received my first FCC license. Although I’ve used the ham bands from 160m to 3cm (10 GHz), I find the VHF and higher frequencies the most interesting. This is mainly because of the interplay between mountains, Height Above Average Terrain (HAAT), and VHF propagation. VHF has lots of spectrum, lots of modes, and lots of fun challenges.

For the second edition, I gave everything a fresh look. I updated every chapter and added 100 pages of new material. In Part I, the VHF tutorial section, I added new chapters to improve the treatment of basic VHF/UHF: Popular VHF/UHF Bands, Antennas, Coaxial Cables & Connectors, and WSJT-X Digital Modes. Part II covers topics that originated from my blog, often based on questions I hear from newer hams. In Part III, which is focused on SOTA, I added several chapters on how to be successful doing VHF SOTA, and I added a few new trip reports. I also added some information on combined SOTA/POTA activations.

I’m really happy to see this new book, particularly that it has 100 pages of new material. This is one of those books that’s not only fun and interesting to read (K0NR is a good writer) and one can always learn new things. But it’s handy to have a book like K0NR’s that’s a counterpoint for “Oh, Ham Radio... is that still a thing?“ - particularly for younger, more active folks for whom Parks On The Air / Summits On The Air (POTA / SOTA) activities would be appealing with an Amateur Radio station in one’s backpack.

And... K0NR has embraced data modes - at least the WSJT-X data modes!

This book (actually two of them so that I’ll be able to hand to a prospective new Amateur Radio Operator) is now in my to be purchased queue for when we’re back from travel.

MFJ Documentary / Martin F. Jue: Life and Legacy

A documentary about MFJ Enterprises, ingenuity, legacy, and community.

Martin F. Jue is an engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur whose journey began in the Mississippi Delta, where he was raised in the back of a family-run grocery store. From building crystal radios as a child to founding one of the largest amateur radio accessory companies in the world, Martin’s life reflects the power of persistence, creativity, and technical curiosity. A graduate of Mississippi State and Georgia Tech, he returned to Starkville to teach and build. MFJ Enterprises began with a single filter circuit and grew into a globally recognized brand. Quietly tenacious and profoundly inventive, Martin remains a quintessential figure synonymous with the words “amateur radio”, known as much for his humility as his engineering prowess.

This is a very Zero Retries Interesting project. There was a lot of technological innovation developed by MFJ over the decades. Cost reduction (at which MFJ excelled) of complex devices certainly counts as technological innovation. From personal experience, MFJ contributed a lot of technological innovation in Amateur Radio Packet Radio.

I also had not taken into account that a core value of MFJ was to manufacture as many of its products as possible at its factory in Starkville, Mississippi, USA assembled by MFJ employees in Starkville.

This documentary isn’t yet completed and is still actively fundraising to be able to complete it.

ARISS Beyond the ISS

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station web page:

With 25 years of experience connecting astronauts and cosmonauts to tens of thousands of kids and adults around the world via amateur radio, ARISS is plotting a course to continue our mission in the government and commercial space realm beyond the targeted decommissioning of the ISS in the 2030 timeframe.
​
As you know, we’ve already been active in conducting ham radio operations in commercial space ventures including all four Axiom Space flights to the ISS and the Fram2 free-flying mission, and that’s a big hint on where we’ll be focused in the post-ISS era. We’ve identified commercial space stations as a key growth area for ARISS and we’re in conversations with anyone and everyone in this emerging sector about making ham radio an asset for crews.

Picture

Artist renderings of Starlab, Axiom Space, Orbital Reef and Vast commercial space stations

Based on publicly available information, there are at least four companies developing or interested in developing commercial space stations: Vast, Axiom Space, Starlab Space and Sierra Space’s Orbital Reef. Vast has stated that it could have its four-person, single-module Haven-1 space station for low-Earth orbit as soon as 2027.

It’s very cool to think that Amateur Radio could continue to be a presence on future earth-orbiting space stations. Kudos to ARISS to keep explaining what they’re doing, and thinking, and advocating on behalf of Amateur Radio.

My thanks to Amateur Radio Weekly Issue 411 for highlighting this development.

AMSAT-US Trying To Get Some Attention from GEO Satellite Vendors

I cannot link to this article because it’s behind the AMSAT-US paywall, and thus not publicly accessible. LEO and GEO in this context is Low Earth Orbit / Geosynchronous or Geostationary Earth Orbit.

Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, President in his Apogee View column in the January / February 2026 issue of AMSAT-US’ AMSAT Journal:

Since the beginning of the year, I have reached out to two different aerospace companies that are advertising opportunities for hosted payloads in higher orbits, including GEO. Frankly, it’s been difficult getting any response, especially when I see they’ve checked out my LinkedIn profile before not returning an email. So, I’m asking for help. If you are involved with this type of company or have contacts within, let’s talk. Email me at aglasbrenner@amsat.org.

My goal is to find a modest communications payload opportunity above LEO. To that end, we are also putting together a small committee to begin developing practical payload ideas when we do make that contact.

This is mildly bad news that KO4MA isn’t getting attention from these (unnamed, for the moment) GEO satellite companies. Mayhaps a bigger hammer needs to be applied to that effort.

But there are three good news items in those two paragraphs!

  1. AMSAT-US is trying to arrange an Amateur Radio GEO payload (presumably that would cover the Western Hemisphere, or at least North America). This is a big change from the (as far as us in the public could tell) indifference by AMSAT-US about attempting an Amateur Radio GEO payload for coverage of the Western Hemisphere.
    This is (apparently) independent of the futureGEO project of the European Space Agency (ESA), with Amateur Radio involvement being coordinated by AMSAT-DL. That goal of that project is to develop an Amateur Radio GEO payload over the Atlantic Ocean that could potentially cover Western Europe and potentially the Eastern half of North America (mostly for the benefit of Canada, which is a member of ESA). AMSAT-US is one of the Amateur Radio organizations participating in this project.

  2. AMSAT-US is serious enough about such an effort that they’re putting together a dedicated committee, to discuss GEO. This is also big change from the (as far as us in the public could tell) indifference by AMSAT-US about attempting an Amateur Radio GEO payload for coverage of the Western Hemisphere.

  3. KO4MA as the new President of AMSAT-US, is talking publicly about the potential of an Amateur Radio GEO payload for the Western Hemisphere, even if what he’s currently conveying is the (momentary) bad news that he can’t get a return email.
    It is a big deal that KO4MA is willing to “go on the record” that AMSAT-US is beginning to actively work towards an Amateur Radio GEO Payload for the Western Hemisphere. This is yet another big change for AMSAT-US, from the deafening silence from previous AMSAT-US presidents.

In late 2025, I rejoined AMSAT-US based on the change in attitude (becoming more progressive and increasing openness) that I saw in AMSAT-US making many of their publications over past decades available for public access through DLARC.

I also saw some new initiatives in plans for future AMSAT-US satellites that involved microwave, Software Defined Radio (SDR) and more use of data communications such as a future Packet Radio Satellite (PACSAT).

Another factor in rejoining AMSAT was that I felt strongly that if I wanted to have a voice in the direction of AMSAT-US (towards GEO, more use of microwave, more Software Defined Radio, more use of data communications like PACSAT), I needed to be “on the inside” as a (voting) AMSAT member.

Now, my rejoining AMSAT-US seems like fortuitous timing with KO4MA talking about the potential of a GEO payload, and other Zero Retries Interesting projects for future satellites. A long email to KO4MA asking “how can I help?” is in the queue.

futureGEO Article in Same Issue
In the same issue as the above there was another article related to GEO:
The futureGEO Project: Charting the Path to a New Era in Geostationary Amateur Radio by Paul Stoetzer N8HM. Again, unfortunately, this article is behind the AMSAT-US paywall, and thus not publicly accessible. Mostly it is a “report out” of the futureGEO workshop convened by AMSAT-DL which was held on 2025-09-19 at the Bochum Observatory in Germany. Much of the details of that meeting have previously been reported out in publicly accessible articles.

Closing Thanks

My ongoing Thanks to:
Tina Stroh KD7WSF for, well, everything!
Jack Stroh, Late Night Assistant Editor Emeritus
Fiona and Shreky Stroh, Late Night Assistant Editors In Training

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(end)

]]><![CDATA[Zero Retries 0241]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0241-2e7https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0241-2e7Fri, 10 Apr 2026 17:27:09 GMTZero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Radios are computers - with antennas! Now in its fifth year of publication, with nearly 3500 subscribers.

Steve Stroh N8GNJ, Editor

editor@zeroretries.net

Tina Stroh KD7WSF, Business / Conference Manager

tina@zeroretries.net

This issue of Zero Retries was originally published on Ghost - https://www.zeroretries.radio/zero-retries-0241/. Thus all links that were for zeroretries.radio have (attempted to) been changed to equivalents on zeroretries.org.

See this archive page:
https://web.archive.org/web/20260408044644/http://web.archive.org/screenshot/https://www.zeroretries.radio/zero-retries-0241/
for how it originally appeared on www.zeroretries.radio.

Substack says this issue is too big for email clients? YES
Thus, it might be easier to read this in a web browser -
https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0241

It’s easy and free to subscribe for your own copy of Zero Retries every week:

Subscribe now

In This Issue...

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Paid Subscribers Update

My thanks to Thom Proehl K7FZO for renewing as an Annual Paid Subscriber to Zero Retries this past week!

Financial support from Zero Retries readers is a significant vote of support for the continued publication of Zero Retries.

Administrivia - Imports Into Ghost (Finally), Welcome to Zero Retries on Ghost

What follows is why I labeled this Administrivia. If your eyes glaze over about administrivia, feel free to skip ahead.

In this item:
References to “Substack“ is content currently on www.zeroretries.org. References to “Ghost“ is content currently on www.zeroretries.radio.

On Wednesday, 2026-03-04:

  • Exported posts and pages from Substack

  • Exported subscriber info from Substack

  • Imported posts and pages into Ghost

  • Imported subscribers into Ghost

I should have paid attention to the actual numbers pre and post import, but in round numbers, there are now nearly 3500 email subscribers on Ghost. There were between 200 and 250 new subscribers that signed up on Ghost prior to the import, so 3300+ subscribers are new to receiving email from Ghost.

That worked. Mostly. Kind-of. The email import into Ghost seems to have been a non-event. As I write this, only one person signed up for email manually in Ghost from Substack.

At a glance, all the Posts published on Substack are now present in Ghost. For example, Zero Retries 0000 is now available on Ghost - https://www.zeroretries.radio/zero-retries-newsletter-0000/

Good news is that the photos I embedded in Substack posts seem to have also migrated - I wasn’t sure that would be the case since Substack embeds photos. Bad news is that there was no translation of URLs, etc., so every URL within a post or page referencing Substack still points to Substack. I don’t think that Ghost offers linking within posts, so that’s another fix that will need to be applied manually. Finally, In Substack, I never correctly, or fully utilized tagging, and didn’t understand how useful tags are (Thanks Tom Salzer KJ7T!) Since I’ll eventually “touch” every post originally published on Substack, I’ll be applying consistent tags (which were also apparently imported from Substack).

The Pages published on Substack such as those under Zero Retries Guides also seem to have been imported and now present in Ghost, but I haven’t done any work to provide linkage to those pages within Ghost... so they’re not yet visible.

Thus there’s a lot of cleanup to do to make everything internally consistent in Ghost, so Substack will remain online for the foreseeable future. Good news is that none of this is hard or inscrutable. Bad news is, it will be time consuming.

But, good news, it was already in my plans to reread / touch every post and page as I write my forthcoming book Zero Retries Guide to Amateur Radio in the 21st Century. So all of this boils down to a systematic application of butt-in-chair time, and all of that work will eventually get done.

Another thing I’m going to do as part of my “touch every post now in Ghost” process is to create navigation links for Previous Issue and Next Issue.

The (soon to be) plan for the Paid Subscribers and Founding Members (as I write this on Wednesday, after the initial import process), is:

  • ✅ In Ghost, import all paid subscriptions email addresses manually as free subscribers so they’ll now receive Zero Retries issues via emails from Ghost.

  • In Substack, generate a post and email for paid subscribers explaining this issue / process. (I think that will be the first, and last, paid-subscribers-only post and email that I’ve ever sent in Substack.)

  • In Substack, turn off paid subscription renewals (monthly, annual, Founding Members).

  • In Ghost, connect the Zero Retries Stripe account (payment back end).

  • In Ghost, set up paid subscription options.

  • ✅ Founding Members will continue to be listed in every issue of Zero Retries.

I decided upon the process above because I set up Zero Retries paid subscriptions and Founding Members as entirely optional. I didn’t want to presume anything of Paid Subscribers and Founding Members by attempting to import their info into Ghost as anything other than as free subscribers.

(Invalid) Security Warnings for www.zeroretries.radio - Part 4

Administrivia Alert!

On 2026-03-04, I posted this on the Zero Retries email list:

Something has changed for the positive!

My personal indicators that there was an issue with using zeroretries.radio were:
• Wouldn’t display in iPhone Safari
• Wouldn’t display in iPad Safari (older OS - it’s an older iPad no longer [receiving updates])
• Wouldn’t display in MacOS Chrome
• Wouldn’t display in MacOS Brave (understood that Brave is warmed over Chrome)

As of today… all of those work.

As suggested, I’ve tried to “light a fire” under Ghost Support. At best, their responses were pleasant, but tepid.

At this point, I’m going to declare “good enough” and offer apologies for anyone who reports issues. I think I’ve done as much as I can, working through Ghost Support.

In response, Jason McCormick N8EI noted:

zeroretries.radio and www.zeroretries.radio are no longer blocked in Cloudflare. So that’s a massive win for your domain move.

Indeed that is the case - see the report for zeroretries.radio in Cloudflare Radar - no mention of phishing, which had been mentioned in every previous Cloudflare Radar report I’ve run. So...

‘Nuff said on this issue. I’m moving forward on “full migration” to Ghost, as discussed above.

Hamvention 2026 Ho!

11 weeks until Hamvention 2026
in Xenia, Ohio, USA...

I won’t breathlessly report out every week on the preparations for Zero Retries exhibiting at Hamvention 2026 (other than the countdown, which just seems fun to do, and a weekly, visceral reminder to me that preparation time is short), but there was a significant development this week.

The Zero Retries / DLARC booth will now be in Building 1 / Maxim, in Booth 1506. We’re paid up and in discussion with the indoor booth folks, but Zero Retries isn’t currently on the official, public list, but we’re assured that’s an oversight.

This development means that Zero Retries and DLARC will be in a high profile location with lots of traffic. Both Kay Savetz K6KJN and I look forward to being at a stable location where we can meet up with Zero Retries and DLARC fans.

I’ll have a dedicated page for Zero Retries at Hamvention 2026 up soon. And we’ll get busy on one of those more eye-catching line ads in the official Hamvention listing.

Attending HamSCI 2026 Next Weekend

Tina KD7WSF and I will be attending HamSCI 2026 next weekend in New Britain, Connecticut, USA.

This year’s theme, “Discovering Science Through Ham Radio”, celebrates the community’s achievements, including Personal Space Weather Station deployments, meteor scatter propagation studies and the promotion of WSPR as a propagation sensing tool. The workshop is expected to feature more than 50 poster and oral presentations, plus invited tutorials, and a banquet with a keynote address by a prominent member of the community.

The program will focus on the latest findings, strategies, and best practices in ionospheric science. It has been designed to bring together the amateur radio and professional science communities.

Thus HamSCI (not just the annual conference, but the ongoing program) is one of the most prominent examples of technological innovation (research) in Amateur Radio. HamSCI is particularly noteworthy for its direct, deliberate involvement in collegiate student researchers (and presenters at HamSCI conferences).

One of the highlights for me will be a tour of ARRL Headquarters in nearby Newington, Connecticut.

I hope to have “Zero Retries Interesting” conversations with other HamSCI 2026 attendees.

Weekends Are For Amateur Radio!

This week a friend said that they cringe a bit every time they read this section of Request To Send because their weekends are consumed with activities revolving around their children. I sympathize and remember what it was like during that phase of our lives. But eventually, perhaps, Amateur Radio and the kids can be the same activity, such as activating a Parks On The Air, or transmitter hunting, or launching a pico balloon.

For our household...

  • Saturday will be consumed by “Mike & Key Flea“ and travel to / from. A long day, but fun.

  • Sunday will be consumed by packing for travel beginning early Monday. Next week we’re looking forward to lots of sightseeing, shopping, and visiting relatives around Northern New Jersey and Connecticut, then attending HamSCI 2026 next weekend.

Publication Note - Likely No Zero Retries Next Week

As noted above, next week will be a heavy (but fun) travel week for Tina and I. From experience, it will likely be tough to carve out enough blocks of time that I require to publish a typical issue of Zero Retries.

Thus, please don’t be alarmed if Friday 2026-03-13 passes without Zero Retries 0242. Or, perhaps time will permit. We’ll just have to play it by ear.

Please direct comments / feedback about Request To Send to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0241 hashtag.

Steve N8GNJ

LinHT Revision B Making Great Progress

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

LinHT is the most important hardware project in Amateur Radio today. Bruce Perens K6BP 2025-08-12

LinHT is Linux Handheld Transceiver, an open source project by the M17 Foundation and M17 Project and a very talented team of developers to develop a handheld Software Designed Radio (SDR) (user-changeable). The primary differentiation of LinHT is that it runs Linux as its operating system - no inscrutable, proprietary, unchangeable embedded OS, and it runs GNU Radio flowgraph SDR modules. Within its limitations (such as currently only operating on the Amateur Radio 70cm - 420-450 MHz band), it can run any mode. Modes already implemented include supported FM with CTCSS, SSB, M17, TETRA receive, and an experimental 64-QAM data mode operating at 2 Mbps.

In the LinHT v2 prototypes and perhaps early production runs, the LinHT circuit board is a (mostly) drop-in replacement for the circuit board of the Retevis C62 handheld radio (some components on C62 circuit board are salvaged and reused.

Most information in this article is from the LinHT Development Team:
Andreas Schmidberger OE3ANC
Vlastimil Slintak OK5VAS
Wojciech Kaczmarski SP5WWP

LinHT boards have arrived!

Wojciech Kaczmarski SP5WWP:

Today, we have received a set of three Rev B boards. They will be tested in the coming days. Stay tuned!
What’s new in Rev B:
– redesigned power supply
– internal RF power amplifier (~5W at 435MHz, CW)
– improved RF receiver path (added variable attenuation)
– GNSS receiver
– battery charging through USB-C
– cleaner layout and grounding

LinHT Rev B boards - Image courtesy of Vlastimil Slintak OK5VAS

LinHT Rev B update

Vlastimil Slintak OK5VAS:

The board powers up correctly, the ATTiny power-management firmware is working, and the PMU logic now controls the startup/shutdown sequence as intended.

USB-C charging is also working as expected, and the whole device can be powered on with the rotary ON/OFF switch.

We also confirmed debug UART from the SoM is available on the Kenwood connector and works with common Baofeng-style USB serial adapters.

There is still a lot of work ahead: update the Linux device tree for the new Rev B pinout, validate all new peripherals, and fully test GNSS, the RF power amplifier stage, and the rest of the hardware.

LinHT Rev B circuit board - Back - Image courtesy of Vlastimil Slintak OK5VAS
LinHT Rev B circuit board - Front - Image courtesy of Vlastimil Slintak OK5VAS

LinHT rev B – first boot

Wojciech Kaczmarski SP5WWP:

Sharing great news from Andreas OE3ANC. Good work, team!

LinHT Rev B First Boot - Image courtesy of Andreas Schmidberger OE3ANC

The big feature, to me, in the LinHT Rev B is the integrated 5 watt power amplifier. 5 watts transmit power in a portable device operating on the 70cm / 420-450 MHz band is quite usable. Another feature I wasn’t aware that was being developed for Rev B was a GNSS receiver. That’s another great feature for the LinHT - that’s a cheap way to have a real time clock (time stamping logs, for example) as well as location data for a future APRS-like mode.

It’s taking longer than we fans of the LinHT had expected for Amateur Radio manufacturers to get the concept of LinHT and to start getting seriously interested in manufacturing a commercial, turnkey LinHT.

It’s also possible, given that LinHT is an open source project with all of the details of the LinHT being developed and reported out in public, perhaps there is a (or multiple) manufacturers quietly developing their own version of LinHT.

When I’ve written about LinHT and no committed commercial developers - yet, I invoke the mental image of a group of penguins clustering around a hole in the ice. No penguin wants to go first, because there might be a hungry predator waiting under the ice for a tasty penguin meal. But once one goes, they all go. None of the Amateur Radio manufacturers, given consumer price points for Amateur Radio equipment, “want to go first” with a LinHT.

I’ve also written that manufacturers that are vested in perpetuating their proprietary / current digital modes such as Yaesu (SF / C4FM), Icom (D-Star, NXDN), Kenwood (9600 APRS, D-Star, NXDN), Anytone (DMR) aren’t likely to be (initially) interested in manufacturing a LinHT as that will likely cannibalize their lucrative radios.

But I’m convinced it’s going to be like a rush of penguins into the hole in the ice - when the first manufacturer comes out with a LinHT - there will be a fast cascade from other manufacturers that don’t want to miss out on the vast market for the LinHT.

At the Zero Retries booth at Hamvention 2026, I’ll have some handouts about LinHT Rev B as handouts for potential (seriously interested) radio manufacturers that are also at Hamvention.

Kudos to OE3ANC, OK5VAS, and SP5WWP. Developing LinHT has been a lonely quest to date, but I’m in violent agreement with K6BP that LinHT is the most important hardware project in Amateur Radio today.

Please direct comments / feedback about this article to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0241 hashtag.

Mercury HF Modem v2

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Mercury is a software implementation of high performance, high reliability modem for data communications on the HF bands. Mercury is being developed as a workalike of VARA HF, with equivalent performance and reliability. Unlike VARA HF, Mercury is being developed as open source, and thus no cost. Development of Mercury has been funded by grants (1, 2, 3) from Amateur Radio Digital Communications.

Most information in this article is from the referenced email list message by Rafael Diniz.

Rafael Diniz on the hermes-general email list:

Dear HF radio friends,

After some quiet times, Mercury is back full gas!

The Mercury repository (https://github.com/Rhizomatica/mercury) has been reorganized, and we have some great news!

The main branch has been replaced by two branches:

--

Mercury v1 (mercuryv1 branch): https://github.com/Rhizomatica/mercury/tree/mercuryv1

AGPL v3

This is the original Mercury modem written in C++, with the MFSK weak-signal modes, cross-platform GUI, and the existing ARQ implementation. Broadcast mode is present. It contains the same code that was previously on main. No changes were made to the code — it was simply moved to its own branch.

Kameron is working on Mercury v1 and it has many new features!


--

Mercury v2 (mercuryv2 branch, now the default) https://github.com/Rhizomatica/mercury/tree/mercuryv2

GPL-3.0, LGPL-2.1

This is a complete rewrite of the modem in C, using David Rowe’s OFDM modem at the modem (more modems to be added in a later moment). Key changes from v1:

- Modular reactor architecture replacing the monolithic state machine
- Per-direction mode selection — each path (A→B and B→A) negotiates its mode independently based on local SNR
- Hybrid SNR + delivery-feedback adaptive gear-shifting (DATAC4/DATAC3/DATAC1 for payload, DATAC13 for control signaling)
- Persistent FreeDV mode pool eliminating codec re-initialization overhead
- Arithmetic-coded callsign compression with overflow protection
- Async structured logging system with optional JSONL output
- VARA-compatible TCP TNC interface (ARQ and Broadcast)
- Raspberry Pi 4/5 optimized build support

Mercury v2 is what will be deployed on the HERMES stations for store-and-forward email and file transfer over HF. Broadcast mode is also present and working fine.

--

There are no plans to retire Mercury v1 and both versions will co-exist and have new (binary) releases soon!

There was some additional back and forth on the email list, including:

Why not a GUI for mercury as in Vara with only soundcard setup, waterfall and a scope of received signal constellation?

We are working on it:
https://github.com/Rhizomatica/mercury-qt

The Vara command “CHAT ON” or “CHAT OFF” are not implemented and, testing mercury with varim, give a “WRONG” answer.

Good catch. I forgot about CHAT command. I’ll install varim here to test.

What’s really cool about Mercury, beyond that it’s a high performance data communications mode for HF operation, is that it’s open source. Thus Mercury can be embedded, adapted / extended / improved / forked infinitely.

As an example of this embedded functionality model, this has already happened in many packet radio systems having integrated Dire Wolf Software TNC. Often Dire Wolf’s functionality is embedded so far in the background of the system, it’s practically invisible.

Part of that embedded functionality model is becoming “just another mode” in new generations of HF radios, similar to other built-in modes in HF radio, such as RTTY, CW, SSB, etc. This is beginning to happen with FreeDV RADE being supported as a selectable mode in FlexRadio units.

Another cool aspect of Mercury is that a parallel project is to integrate it with an open source HF radio (HF Signals sBitx v3), into a system called HERMES. The combination will be essentially an HF band data communications appliance / modem.

Of course, Mercury and HERMES are just the modem (data transport). The ultimate utility of HF data communications modes are the applications. One of my favorite HF data communications applications is VarAC which integrates a number of data communications “sub applications”, including email, messaging, bulletins, file transfers, etc. in a very well developed user interface. I hope that data communications systems and networks such as Winlink, The Packet Radio Forwarding Network (TPRFN), and perhaps DigiPi will eventually integrate Mercury as just another data transport mode.

Please direct comments / feedback about this article to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0241 hashtag.

Multi-Instance (Cross Band / Multi Radio) Cluster in VarAC

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

I’ve gushed enough in this issue, and previous issues of Zero Retries about the very capable and very polished VarAC application for data communications on Amateur Radio HF and VHF / UHF bands. VarAC uses VARA HF and VARA FM as the “transport layer” and seamlessly integrates email, short messages, bulletins, file transfers, and other modes. It’s really a fantastic application, and it’s amazing that Irad Deutsch 4Z1AC and Larin Deutsch make VarAC available at no cost for use on Amateur Radio spectrum by Amateur Radio Operators.

But one nagging feature seemed to be lacking in VarAC - the ability to use multiple bands or even a combined HF and VHF / UHF VarAC node. My imagined application is that some users in an area might want to operate a VARA FM / VarAC network on 2m / 144-148 MHz. Others might want to operate VARA FM / VarAC on 70cm / 420-450 MHz. Others might want to use 6m / 50-54 MHz or 1.25m / 222-225 MHz. I thought that would require completely separate computers / radios / modems with no integration or ability to “gateway” between bands.

But I was very incorrect in my understanding / assumption that such a feature was missing in VarAC.

I had a brief email exchange with 4Z1AC where I asked if such a feature could be added to VarAC (similar to that capability already present in the commercial version of VarAC - SafecomLink). To my delight, 4Z1AC replied:

As for multi-instance cluster - this is available already in VarAC. Many already operate a cluster:

How to enable multi-node cluster in VarAC - Image courtesy of Irad Deutsch 4Z1AC

Oh... this rocks my world!

Perhaps even before Hamvention, all three elements of my 2m / 1.25m / 70cm omni antenna are about to get a workout from having three VARA FM radios + modems, and now a VarAC multi-node-cluster connected. I need to fire up one of my Software Defined Receivers and start scouting for quiet frequencies for operating VARA FM on 2m, 1.25m, and 70cm in my area.

Massive kudos to 4Z1AC for this feature!

Please direct comments / feedback about this article to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0241 hashtag.

ZR > BEACON

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Short mentions of Zero Retries Interesting items.

A Look Back at 2025: ARDC’s Annual Report is Now Available

Rebecca Key KO4KVG on the ARDC website:

Our 2025 Annual Report is now available, highlighting a year of progress as we rolled out new initiatives, shared a clearer strategic direction, and continued supporting innovation across our community. Highlights include:

• Rolling out our vision, strategy, and priority areas for funding
• Approving 79 grants, totaling about $3.4 million, supporting projects across amateur radio and digital communications
• A financial summary highlighting ARDC’s funding and operations
• Launching 44Net Connect, lowering barriers to accessing 44Net address space
• Welcoming Harald Welte to our Board of Directors
• Sharing findings and insights from the Grants Evaluation Team (GET)
• Launching our YouTube channel with the 44Net Origin Story, celebrating 44 years of 44Net
• A look ahead at what’s next for 2026

If you have questions or comments, feel free to reach out at contact@ardc.net.

ARDC’s annual reports are, to me, always a fascinating read. An entire year of ARDC’s activities, especially the stories about some ARDC grants, condensed into a single engaging document. In my opinion, 2025 was an unusually formative year with ARDC adding their first director who isn’t an Amateur Radio Operator, and the 44Net Connect transitioning from beta testing to fully available and operational. I think that ARDC publicly stating their Priority Areas For Funding (and the prominent role of space communications there) was incredibly helpful for Amateur Radio.

ARDC is one of Amateur Radio’s secret weapons for creating new technological innovations in radio technology.

SARC Communicator Journal: March-April 2026

Speaking of secret weapons for creating new technological innovation in radio technology, Surrey Amateur Radio Communications’ newsletterzine The Communicator is another. The Communicator is an engaging look at modern Amateur Radio, and it helps a lot for it to be approachable to a world audience that it’s published in Canada. The Communicator is published online, for free.

I’ve been so impressed by The Communicator, its subject matter mix, its high production values (kudos to Editor John Schouten VE7TI), and just the overall “tone” of The Communicator that Amateur Radio is cool, fun, and relevant that I asked to become a contributor, and joined SARC as a member. I’ll be presenting to an in-person SARC meeting in April. My article in this issue is Rational Optimism About the Future of Amateur Radio, beginning on Page 76:

I’ve been asked why I’m so optimistic about Amateur Radio?
Why can I see a future for revitalized Amateur Radio… and the
“sad hams” cannot?

I’m inspired and energized… and given a bit of vision… by a
number of factors.

One of the biggest factors of my optimism is that Amateur Radio
is a unique microcosm of the technology industry. We have access
to spectrum that isn’t rigidly defined (well, the repeater
operators beg to differ). We have reasonably flexible rules (more
flexible in Canada, but we’ll be working on that factor in the US).
In the US there’s a flexible definition that “undefined codes”
must be “publicly documented”. That’s all it says.

...

Again, there are (always!) a number of Zero Retries Interesting articles in every issue of The Communicator, such as in this issue:

  • Chameleon Project: Digital Radio (Page 16) by Kevin McQuiggin VE7ZD / KN7Q,

  • High Above The Noise: What’s New in Amateur Satellite Radio (Page 40) by (author unstated),

  • The North Fraser Club Balloon Project: High-Altitude Amateur Radio on 925 MHz (Page 54) by Adrian Stimpson VE7NZ,

Radio is the same as in 1920… Really? (Page 114) by John Schouten VE7TI was a great article about ongoing technological innovation in Amateur Radio:

There is a controversial article at https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/business-and-law/financial-traders-seek-permanency-for-shortwave-data with the quote: “A radio engineer from the 1920s could take a shortwave radio from the 1920s and transmit and receive voice signals today,” the SMC wrote in a cost-benefit analysis filed to the FCC after a December meeting with the commission.

“It is remarkable how little innovation has occurred in this band.”

This claim by the Shortwave Modernization Coalition (SMC), a proponent of gaining HF bandwidth to trade financial transactions, because it is faster than the Internet...

overlooks a century of profound advancements in amateur radio on the high-frequency (HF) shortwave bands (roughly 3-30 MHz).

...

These digital modes represent profound innovation:
• Spectrum efficiency — Modes like FT8 and PSK31 use fractions of SSB bandwidth, allowing far more activity in crowded HF
bands.
• Power efficiency — Contacts at milliwatts or watts succeed where voice fails, enabling QRP (low-power) enthusiasts to span continents.
• Weak-signal performance — Advanced error correction and digital signal processing overcome noise, fading, and propagation
challenges.
• Accessibility — Free software (WSJT-X, FLdigi) and sound-card interfaces turn everyday computers into sophisticated transceivers.

The Communicator is published bimonthly on the odd months - highly recommended!

Simple D-Star Transceiver Uses Inexpensive Hardware

Donald Papp on Hackaday:

[Yeckel] recently put the finishing touches on an ambitious implementation of a simple D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) transceiver using some very accessible and affordable hardware. The project is D-StarBeacon, and [Yeckel] shows it working on a LilyGO TTGO T-Beam, an ESP32-based development board that includes a SX1278 radio module and GPS receiver. It even serves a web interface for easy configuration.

...

So far as [Yeckel] is aware, D-StarBeacon is currently the only open-source implementation of a D-STAR radio available on the internet, which is pretty interesting. We’ve seen projects that touch indirectly on D-STAR, but nothing like this.

I’m normally a fan of Amateur Radio articles on Hackaday, but this one has a glaring lack, not mentioning that a D-Star radio (receive and transmit) has been implemented in open source, as one of the modes in Multi Mode Digital Voice Modem (MMDVM), including radio“hotspots”. Papp’s reference to “touch indirectly” is a very old reference to MMDVM, predating the development of radio hotspots.

The comments on this article are the usual humorous “Hackaday mix” of informed and relevant, uninformed, and inflammatory. None of the commenters made mention that there have been experimental implementations of D-Star that replace the AMBE vocoder with another non-proprietary vocoder. (Obviously, that didn’t get wide adoption... but it was proven feasible.) Also not mentioned was that despite that the patent for the particular implementation of AMBE used by D-Star has expired, DVSI is very litigious. Thus, while open source implementations of that version of AMBE are feasible... it’s generally been concluded that it’s not worth getting into the crosshairs of DVSI’s legal team with a workalike implementation of AMBE.

Discovery Drive Campaign Launching Soon

RTL-SDR.com:

Our Discovery Drive campaign will be launching soon, so make sure to sign up for updates on the pre-launch page!

Discovery Drive is an automatic antenna rotator that is designed to be used with our Discovery Dish product, as well as similarly sized antennas such as Wi-Fi grid and Yagi antennas.

A motorized rotator, such as Discovery Drive, enables precise tracking of fast-moving polar orbiting satellites using a satellite dish or directional antenna. Examples of polar orbiting weather satellites include METEOR-M2, METOP, and FENGYUN. Depending on your location, you may also have access to other interesting satellites that dump data over specific regions.

Apart from public weather data, operators and enthusiasts might be interested in using Discovery Drive to track CubeSats, and amateur radio operators may wish to track amateur radio satellites.

Amateur radio astronomy hobbyists can map the galaxy in the hydrogen line spectrum using Stellarium, or custom software to aim a Discovery Dish with H-Line feed, allowing you to scan multiple parts of the sky in one night.

Please check out our promo video below!

There’s an unmet market segment with radio experimenters and Amateur Radio Operators for an (more) reasonable cost outdoor rated antenna rotor for use with smaller, lightweight antennas. But what the verbiage above doesn’t (explicitly) state, but is quickly obvious from the video, is that this unit isn’t (as stated) a mere “motorized rotator”, it’s an azimuth and elevation rotator, capable of changing two-dimensional antenna orientation for tracking a pass of a Low Earth Orbit satellite with a directional (high gain) antenna or dish.

The price of this unit isn’t yet stated, but the closest competition is the Yaesu G-5500DC which is $760 at Ham Radio Outlet. If the Discovery Drive is perhaps half that price, I think it will find a big market for those of us who are increasingly interested in participating in (automated) LEO satellite activity, such as participating in SatNOGS, TinyGS, the Packet Radio and video systems on the International Space Station, and the (I hope, I hop, I hope) a new Packet Radio Store and forward mailbox / BBS / digipeater Packet Radio satellite (PACSAT) in discussion by AMSAT-US (unfortunately, no public facing link for this project).

Inovato, N0LSR Design Endorse Open HamClock Backend Public Server

Amateur Radio Daily:

Editor’s Note: Amateur Radio Daily is a contributor to the Open HamClock Backend project and recommends their public server. Amateur Radio Daily headlines have appeared on HamClock since 2023.

Open HamClock Backend (OHB) is now providing a central server for any HamClock user to use with their existing HamClock application. With the original HamClock application scheduled to be sunset in June, the central server provided by OHB will extend the life of existing HamClock installations indefinitely. Previously, OHB users were required to host the server locally. This update allows any HamClock user to utilize OHB’s central server through a small configuration change.

When the creator of HamClock became a silent key earlier this year, the HamClock project was expected to be sunset in June 2026. While the HamClock application is open source, the backend server that powers many HamClock features was closed. OHB provides a replacement for that backend service.

Open HamClock Backend (OHB) is a community project by a team of developers with Brian Wilkins (KO4AQF) as the main contributor. It is fully open source, and it runs on servers in a commercial data center. Another example of what the ham radio community is capable of. The hosting in the data center is donated. This provides very high availability with no costs for anyone.

With the stability of the OHB project making its way to a centralized public server, Inovato and N9LSR Design recently announced that they would endorse OHB for their HamClock appliances.

There has been much angst, opinionating, and sparring, and outright bloviating (insert canonical quote about three Hams in discussion arriving at five different opinions) about which “HamClock successor” project is “most legitimate”.

In my very, very minor opinion on this matter (with no “standing” whatsoever)...

The presence of Amateur Radio Daily’s content on Open HamClock Backend (OHB), and Inovato’s endorsement of OHB, combine to make OHB my preferred solution for continuing to use HamClock.

I think very highly of the content of Amateur Radio Daily (and the incredible amount of work Cale Mooth K4HCK puts into Amateur Radio Daily and Amateur Radio Weekly) so it counts a lot that ARD content is on the OHB “fork” of HamClock.

Similarly, Inovato with their inexpensive and capable Quadra / Quadra4K units, in my opinion, made HamClock widely known, widely used, and highly popular in Amateur Radio.

Thus all of my Quadra / Quadra4K units running HamClock will be redirected to Open HamClock Backend... displaying the headlines of ARD among other information.

Apple’s New MacBook Neo

(Yeah, there Steve goes again in Apple Fanboy mode. Guilty! But I think it’s relevant here - read on.)

In its early 2026 new product introductions this week, Apple debuted the MacBook Neo laptop. This new unit (and new category for Apple) is a cost reduced laptop - base cost direct from Apple is $599. There is some reduction in functionality from the other MacBooks because the Neo uses their A18 processor originally designed for iPhones, 8 GB RAM, and 256 GB storage. For the most common tasks - email, web browsing, etc. the Neo works fine.

Here’s why I think that the Neo is applicable to Amateur Radio - increasingly, what we do is done via a web browser. For anything related to that, the Neo would be a great choice. Even if you don’t care for Apple’s native Safari web browser, all of the other web browsers are available for MacOS on the Neo, including Chrome (or “de-Googled” Brave or Chromium) and Firefox. The number of Mac applications for Amateur Radio is steadily increasing - see Mac Ham Radio for a great overview.

There are two differentiating features of the Neo versus new Windows laptops or Chromebooks in this price class:

  • The build quality is superior. Apple didn’t “cheapen” the construction of the Neo versus the other MacBooks. Like every MacBook, the lower piece of the Neo is solid aluminum. There’s no fan on the Neo (the aluminum body is an adequate heatsink, and the processor is very power efficient).

  • Apple has dialed in the battery life of MacBooks with Apple’s (again, very power efficient) processors - more than 8 hours of typical use.

There’s another subtle issue to recommend MacBooks in general in Amateur Radio - a lot of “command line” applications, utilities, etc. Linux or BSD users require “just work” in MacOS (or are easily added). I know folks that have bought MacBooks that fire up the Command window, make it full screen, and ignore the MacOS graphical user interface completely.

Thus, in my opinion, for typical usage, the price performance of a MacBook Neo has a lot to recommend it. I will be investing in one that I can devote to Amateur Radio use such as remotely accessing my DigiPi station (web browser), my VARA FM / VarAC station (screen sharing into a Windows system), my (eventual) HF station, etc. that all live in N8GNJ / Zero Retries Labs. That a MacBook Neo will be a new, rugged, reliable, inexpensive (enough) laptop that I can dedicate to Amateur Radio is to me a distinct improvement over Winbooks, Netbooks, Chromebooks, or used Windows laptops.

Likely I’ll have my new Amateur Radio MacBook Neo with me at the Zero Retries booth at Hamvention where it will be a great way to have new Zero Retries subscribers sign up right there in the booth.

Please direct comments / feedback about ZR > BEACON to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0241 hashtag.

Closing Thanks

My ongoing Thanks to:
Tina Stroh KD7WSF for, well, everything!
Jack Stroh, Late Night Assistant Editor Emeritus
Fiona and Shreky Stroh, Late Night Assistant Editors In Training

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Blanket permission is granted for Amateur Radio use of any Steve Stroh content in Zero Retries for Amateur Radio newsletters and distribution via Amateur Radio such as (but not limited to) Packet Radio Networks, Packet Radio Bulletin Board Systems, Repeater Nets, etc.

In such usage, please provide appropriate authorship credit for the content (especially for guest authors) and mention that it was first published in Zero Retries newsletter, preferably in this format:

This article is reprinted with permission. It was first published in Zero Retries newsletter, issue Zero Retries (number), (date) - (include full web link of the specific issue).

It’s appreciated (a courtesy, but not required) to notify Zero Retries Editor Steve Stroh N8GNJ of any reuse of Zero Retries content - editor@zeroretries.net.

If you’d like to republish an article in this issue for other uses, just ask.

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Portions Copyright © 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 by Steven K. Stroh.

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]]><![CDATA[Zero Retries 0245]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0245https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0245Sat, 04 Apr 2026 04:30:22 GMTZero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Radios are computers - with antennas! Now in its fifth year of publication, with 3500+ subscribers.

Steve Stroh N8GNJ, Editor

editor@zeroretries.net

Tina Stroh KD7WSF, Business / Conference Manager

tina@zeroretries.net

Substack says this issue is too big for easy reading in email? YES
Thus, it might be easier to read this in a web browser -
https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0245.

It’s easy and free to subscribe for your own copy of Zero Retries every week:

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In This Issue...

I-Frame

open.space - Moon Launch Update!

Introducing an AREDN Chat Client

KISS Protocol Implementation Improved

ZR > BEACON

Request To Send

Closing Thanks

The Usual Administrivia

Footnotes for This Issue

I-Frame

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Brief notes about this issue of Zero Retries.

Zero Retries Back on Substack / www.zeroretries.org

Welcome back to Zero Retries being published on Substack using the non-problematic www.zeroretries.org domain.

‘Nuff said here in Zero Retries. If you’d like to know more, see this page.

All content that was published uniquely on Ghost is in the process of being imported into Substack / www.zeroretries.org.

Please direct comments / feedback about I-Frame to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0245 hashtag - mailto:zeroretries@groups.io?subject=%23ZR0245.

Image courtesy of MoonRF

open.space - Moon Launch Update!

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

I’ve been excited about this project since I saw this prototype exhibited at Pacificon 2025. Unlike repurposing commodity Wi-Fi chipsets, or flashing new firmware onto an existing piece of hardware, this project really takes radio technology in a completely new direction - solid state spatial control (phased array technology) that is entirely under the control of the user and the software.

I was getting a bit worried that March came and went with no hint of actual hardware:

Expected to ship: March 2026.

But more than most people in the world, I’m sympathetic to small companies / innovative projects having “issues with domain names” due to forces beyond their control. Thus, with the following update, I’ll grant them ample grace for the schedule slip.

Note - both moonrf.com and scalerf.com, as of this writing, redirect (back) to open.space, which is probably just an artifact of moving the website content to a new domain / hosting… for which I can also offer ample sympathy.

Martin McCormick K1MCC via email

(to those signed up for updates at open.space):

Wow, it’s already spring 2026—and another full moon in the year of the scalable RF phased-array!

Over the last few months, there’s been good progress on the quest to make Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) communication simple, affordable, and actually usable.

→ The latest update here ←
None of this is an April Fool’s joke, I promise!

The open·space domain name... however... has collided with the military-industrial complex. It turns out they’ve successfully trademarked the vacuum of space!

We received a formal takedown notice for our open·space domain from Kratos Defense. Yes, that Kratos, the massive defense contractor. Apparently they hold a trademark for “OPENSPACE” (no dot), which they use for obscure satellite command software tied to military and classified programs (including one called Golden Dome).

So my lawyers recommended making it very clear: we are the ham radio open·space, not the SkyNet orbital weapons control thing.

To be fair, their marketing team deserves respect. Naming a classified military network OPENSPACE is right up there with Greenland, Full Self-Driving, and the Patriot Act.

Anyway, rather than burning time and money on lawyers to argue the lack of overlap between our ham radio project and their space military system, I’m focused on our upcoming Crowd Supply campaign. They can have the open.space domain (and sure, take the Earth while they’re at it...)

Effective immediately, the moon-bounce project shall henceforth be named:

MoonRF! And the website is: MoonRF.com

So keep a lookout now for emails from m@MoonRF.com

Messages to old ___@open.space addresses will soon be bouncing—and not off the moon this time!

All for now,

- Martin

Founder of... MoonRF (I guess)

Below are excerpts of the MoonRF web pages, all of which have a great deal of rich, deep, relevant content. After reading this, I recommend going back and clicking through the links and read all of the detail on those pages.

Gems of Info From the Website / Update

Clicking through the here link - https://open.space/updates/ finds a minor detour in the roadmap towards a phased array 5 GHz antenna capable of Earth Moon Earth Communications - Meet the QuadRF Kit.

Image courtesy of MoonRF

As many of you know, the full MoonRF Array utilizes 240 antennas to reach the moon. But that scalable array is built from a single key building block: the QuadRF.

The QuadRF is a powerful software-defined radio “tile” featuring four integrated antennas and four complete IQ-to-RF-digital signal chains, capable of 4x40 MHz full-duplex communication.

And now for a couple of Oh… My… Gosh… moments.

Before you start “but, in my day”, or “in my day job”, or “we’ve been doing this forever” -ing, keep in mind that this is an open source project, controllable by whatever software the user deigns to use with it (both receive, and transmit) to make it do what the user wants to do, and the pricing is very reasonable, likely to be maybe US$2000 (or less) for a QuadRF kit. Also… that this isn’t just the antenna… this is the radio integrated with the phased array antenna.

Post Publication Update: Email from Martin McCormick K1MCC:

The QuadRF [kit] is likely to be $399, not $2000.

Wow. Just… Wow. That’s an incredibly reasonable price point.

…

You’ve seen the time and frequency-domain... but what about a... space-domain! ✨

With four antennas, precise direction-of-arrival information about every signal is measured. This can be rendered in real-time to literally see your RF environment.

Real-time spatial visualization of RF signals (4.9 GHz - 6.0 GHz) in the surrounding area. Color codes frequency.

This works through walls or at very long range and you can select between different polarizations (LHCP/RHCP). The built-in Pi 5 processing is fast enough to render 1 GHz of spectrum for the surrounding environment at 30 fps update rate.

Finally! With a century of experience in “fixed phase” antennas behind us in Amateur Radio, it’s hard to keep in mind that there is that third element of a radio signal - spatial!

This capability alone will sell a ton of Quad RF Kits into Electrical Engineering programs, students, and classrooms. When you have a unit like this that enables you to understand the spatial dimension of transmitted (and received - especially via reflections, multipath, or attenuation circumstances) radio signals, “radio” really starts to click in one’s mind.

But wait - there’s more!

⚙️ Agentic Transceiver

The QuadRF comes with a pre-trained AI agent system that allows you to prompt it with an idea or RF intent, and within minutes it writes the code, compiles the program, and runs it live with the RF hardware. The system is pre-loaded with context information about the QuadRF capabilities, controls, and API, so the agentic AI knows how to write the custom SDR software correctly. If there are bugs, the agent will look at the program output, debug the problem and iterate towards a solution automatically. You can interrupt it at any time or give it hints, but normally you can just hit enter and let it go ahead!

In general, there’s no need to know programming or signal processing, but it’s good to have enough RF experience to ask the right questions. For the NTSC/PAL video decoder, grayscale was working in about 5 minutes after prompting the AI agent. Color took a few more tries. And after a little prodding to make it more efficient, it optimized the inner loops with NEON instructions for the ARM A76 cores —giving butter-smooth video.

Run on Raspberry Pi 5 folks. Capable enough, readily available1, well supported. I guess I found a good use for my Raspberry Pi 500 or my new 500 Plus).

Here’s the part I really loved:

👶 Personal Update

Meanwhile I got the flu, then a week later our entire family acquired norovirus. Everyone recovered well (me as of yesterday). We also have a baby due any day now (our first!) so there may be a little interruption to get this on Crowd Supply in March 😂. But I’m trying to at least have a good update by the end of April.

I’m still doing most all the development in my garage, and nothing has been released to the public yet. But a huge amount of open-source software will drop on GitHub soon. I’m planning to have anything that runs on the Pi 5 to be GPLv2 licensed (that’s my answer to the dozen people who asked! :)

As a former expectant parent… I could barely keep track of my butt even with it always following in close formation. K1MCC’s personal bandwidth is impressive!

Here’s the Zero Retries money quote:

🛠️ Getting involved

Very soon we are looking for beta testers to help interface the QuadRF with existing SDR tools. Most SDR tools “just work” if they support SoapySDR or ZeroMQ, but many others need native support. If you are a developer or creator of an SDR tool, especially if you can get them running on a Raspberry Pi 5, please reply to any emails you get. Will invite you to a private GitHub repository and Discord channels to get you set up as an early contributor.

There is your chance to get in on the ground floor of a new wave of technological innovation in Amateur Radio!

The Zero Retries Perspective on MoonRF

When I saw this system exhibited at Pacificon 20252, I was gobsmacked. Not that such a thing existed; I was well aware of phased array antennas (they’re much of the reason that 5G mobile networks work at all). It’s that it was being shown at an Amateur Radio conference (and not even a tech conference), and targeted towards an audience of Amateur Radio Operators. I’ll guess that with his background, K1MCC could probably have gotten some angel funding to develop the QuadRF concept to the point that would make some company that does phased array antennas for the 5G industry curious / interested / nervous enough to throw a few $Million at K1MCC to take such potential disruptive technology out of the picture.

But, to date, K1MCC was audacious enough to launch such open.space / QuadRF / MoonRF as an open source project. What’s most heartening is that he apparently hopes to find enough kindred souls within Amateur Radio to make the project’s original stated goal a reality - Earth Moon Earth communications.

It was cool… and I’m sure not coincidental or unintended that this update hit on 2026-04-01, the same day that the Artemis II mission launched to send humans back to Earth’s moon, Luna. Millions of people will get their first “live” glimpse of Luna from this mission… but with MoonRF, dreamers and builders like my friend Dennis Rosenauer AC7FT (video - Earth Moon Earth With Software Defined Radio), and organizations like the Deep Space Exploration Society…

We Amateur Radio Operators, with our radios, can “go” to Luna, and touch it with our radio signals. That… is very, very Zero Retries Interesting… and cool.
And I think that is something that can inspire young folks, on a warm summer evening, with Luna in full, glorious view, reaching out with our radios to “touch” Luna… to dream bigger3 towards a career in science, technology, engineering, art, and math.

Not to mention I think that being able to make full use of QuadRF units and a MoonRF array… would convince a lot of potential NewTechHams…

to get their Amateur Radio license.

Dear Radio Regulators… projects, and concepts, imagining, and building new technology like this is why we still need Amateur Radio in the 21st century and beyond.

Deepest kudos to Martin McCormick K1MCC for this project.

Please direct comments / feedback about this article to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0245 hashtag - mailto:zeroretries@groups.io?subject=%23ZR0245.

Introducing an AREDN Chat client

I think this is a very promising development. It’s especially useful that Raven can also be also used for chatting via Meshtastic and MeshCore.

Image courtesy of AREDN / Tim Wilkinson KN6PLV

Posted on the AREDN website:

Meshchat has been the go-to chat client for most users of AREDN networks. But because AREDN is a communications network software, and the core team has been reluctant to move into apps, support of Meshchat has been hit-and miss.

So the AREDN team has decided to step up to the plate with an AREDN-supported chat client, called Raven. It has a nice set of features:

  • Realtime text messaging.

  • Runs on any AREDN-supported hardware that’s running current AREDN software (but see recommendations in the wiki).

  • Can communicate with other Raven clients via AREDN.

  • Can communicate between AREDN meshes via Supernodes

  • Supports talking on a Meshtastic network (requires additional hardware)

  • Supports talking on a Meshcore network (required additional hardware, and integration is very involved. Documentation will eventually be provided).

  • Supports multiple channels per node.

  • Supports sharing images.

  • Supports sharing Winlink forms.

Not compatible with MeshChat (it is not possible - sorry)

Notes

This is Alpha code. While it seems to work fine in limited testing, YMMV..

Information on prerequisites, installing and configuring Raven can be found at https://github.com/kn6plv/Raven/wiki

I saw a brief kerfuffle on a AREDN-related email list that tried to take AREDN to task about Raven “enabling message transfers between Amateur Radio and unlicensed users” (Meshtastic used on unlicensed spectrum by non Amateur Radio Operators). Some regard that concept being illegal (such as Amateur Radio Operators using their Amateur Radio equipment on non Amateur Radio spectrum, such as Citizens Band (CB) or General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS).

That kerfuffle was quickly damped down when it was explained that Raven was a chat client that could connect, simultaneously, to AREDN and Meshtastic / Meshcore networks…

but Raven does not provide the router / bridge capability for message transfers between those networks.

Message transfers between networks would be a cool capability given that most MeshCore use that I’ve read about is actually being done by Amateur Radio Operators, and often done so on Amateur Radio spectrum. However, such a capability is probably more appropriate for a network-level application / service than individual’s Raven applications.

This is really encouraging! In my early involvement with AREDN, friends and I tried using Meshchat but we (I) experienced high latency and lost messages, which could have been the result of network issues prior to the development of AREDN Supernodes, and the general network improvements from the switch from OLSR mesh network routing to Babel mesh network routing.

Note that Raven isn’t a standalone app; Raven is an additional capability that is added into one’s AREDN node. After installation, Raven is just one of the web windows into your AREDN node that you would use from your favorite OS / favorite web browser.

The Zero Retries Perspective on Raven

Raven, by itself, doesn’t “close the gap” in popularity and usage between AREDN and Meshtastic / MeshCore… but it narrows the gap considerably. Having a built-in, minimal fuss, chat client that is (likely, eventually) standardized with each AREDN node, makes AREDN a lot more palatable for a lot of potential AREDN users. It’s an easier “sell” of AREDN when you can say “Oh, AREDN can do messaging too… and a lot more, at much higher networks speeds”.

While “use whatever apps you want” is an accurate description of AREDN’s capabilities given that AREDN networks are largely equivalent to using Internet connectivity4, it’s intimidating to potential new users having to figure out what they want to do / use on an AREDN network. That’s especially problematic when trying to create an entirely new AREDN network. Having that baseline chat capability is a good “sales tool” for promoting AREDN networks. Not to mention that the AREDN node’s Raven chat client can also connect to Meshtastic / MeshCore (one client - multiple networks!) is a further selling point in promoting AREDN.

Once again, I think that two big AREDN developments in 2025:

  • Changeover from OLSR mesh network routing to Babel mesh network routing

  • Support for some 802.11ah / Wi-Fi HaLow units for AREDN use on 902-928 MHz

and now, Raven, makes AREDN networks much more capable and interesting to NewTechHams (and prospective NewTechHams).

Kudos to Tim Wilkinson KN6PLV and the AREDN team for the development of Raven… and the willingness to “branch out” into developing a supportable chat capability in AREDN / Meshtastic / MeshCore.

Please direct comments / feedback about this article to the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0245 hashtag - mailto:zeroretries@groups.io?subject=%23ZR0245.

KISS Protocol Implementation Improved

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Introduction

What is the relevance of covering “plain, old, boring, KISS (Amateur Radio Packet Radio) protocol in 2026? Why does any of this matter in 2026 and beyond? Why mention it at all in Zero Retries?

Simply, because Amateur Radio keeps creating new TNCs… all of which implement (their interpretation) of a KISS software interface. Years ago I thought we had hit “Peak (KISS) TNC” with the NinoTNC, but that’s absolutely not the case. New radios with integrated TNCs continue to be developed, including two being developed / released in 2026:

  • There are new portable radios being introduced with integrated TNCs - with a KISS interface.

  • The OpenTNC is a new open source project with a pending assembled and tested option - the NA6D OpenTNC, and it includes a KISS interface.

  • The new ESP32 LoRA-Pi Modem is a new platform for communicating via LoRA on the 420-450 MHz band… using a KISS interface.

  • The pending Kenwood TM-D750A will almost certainly include an integrated TNC, and it will almost certainly have a KISS option.

Updating the Linux MKISS Driver in Linux

Michael Larabel on phoronix - Linux Ham Radio KISS Serial Driver Being Modernized In 2026:

Here’s something that wasn’t on my bingo card for this year of the “MKISS” driver for ham radio being modernized in 2026 as opposed to just being dropped. The MKISS code hasn’t seen much driver activity since the original Git import of the Linux kernel more than twenty years ago.

Posted to the Linux kernel mailing list this Sunday by open-source developer Mashiro Chen is modernizing and cleaning up the MKISS ham radio driver. This is a serial port KISS protocol driver for exchanging data between a computer and terminal node computer for AX.25 amateur radio “ham radio” connections.

The MKISS driver has been around since before the Linux kernel Git import and in the 21 years since it was an SMP rewrite in 2025 and some minor fixes but that’s been about it. Even for some minor code maintenance on MKISS has been more than six years ago.

Mashiro Chen explained of this 2026 modernization of the driver:

“This patch series modernizes the mkiss driver, which is used for AX.25 communication over serial lines.

The series starts by moving variable assignments out of ‘if’ conditions to improve code safety and readability. The second patch removes redundant static initializations to 0. The third patch fixes missing spaces around assignment operations. The fourth patch modernizes the logging system by replacing legacy printk() calls with netdev_* and pr_* macros for better device-specific context. The fifth patch addresses remaining checkpatch.pl issues, primarily converting space-based indentation to tabs, aligning parameters, and fixing comment formats.

The patches are out for review on the Linux kernel mailing list.

The KISS Wikipedia article (my usual reference on KISS) makes no mention of MKISS, thus I had to do a minor refresher on MKISS. With some web search fu, I found Linux Amateur Radio AX.25 HOWTO which has a reference to MKISS:

6.1.1.1. Configuring for Dual Port TNC’s

The mkiss utility included in the ax25-utils distribution allows you to make use of both modems on a dual port TNC. Configuration is fairly simple. It works by taking a single serial device connected to a single multiport TNC and making it look like a number of devices each connected to a single port TNC. You do this before you do any of the AX.25 configuration. The devices that you then do the AX.25 configuration on are pseudo-TTY interfaces, (/dev/ttyq*), and not the actual serial device. Pseudo-TTY devices create a kind of pipe through which programs designed to talk to tty devices can talk to other programs designed to talk to tty devices. Each pipe has a master and a slave end. The master end is generally called `/dev/ptyq*’ and the slave ends are called `/dev/ttyq*’. There is a one to one relationship between masters and slaves, so /dev/ptyq0 is the master end of a pipe with /dev/ttyq0 as its slave. You must open the master end of a pipe before opening the slave end. mkiss exploits this mechanism to split a single serial device into separate devices.

MKISS is not Multidrop KISS (or XKISS, or 6PACK)

Part of my uncertainty about what MKISS is, is that there was also a variant of KISS that was Multidrop KISS… from back when more than two serial ports were difficult to support on PCs (the convention was that COM3 shared IRQ4 with COM1, and COM4 shared IRQ3 with COM2 - see Wikipedia COM (hardware interface). Thus “Node Stacks” (of TNCs) used “daisy chained” (multidrop) RS-232 connections:

  • PC Serial Port TX → TNC1 RX

  • TNC 1 TX → TNC2 RX

  • TNC 2 TX → TNC3 RX

  • TNC 3 TX → PC Serial Port RX

… with special firmware (or configuration options) to accommodate multiple TNCs on a single serial port.

Thus, I’m in admiration that Chen is willing to go to the trouble of updating a Linux driver for MKISS, for what is now a pretty obscure piece of hardware. Namely (mostly legacy) TNCs that incorporate more than one radio port such as the Kantronics 9612XE.

Since Kantronics does a good job supporting most TNC capabilities / standards that have evolved over the decades, I thought I’d see if the 9612XE accommodates Multidrop KISS. Apparently, that terminology has been updated to XKISS (Extended KISS). From the 9612XE manual, page 177:

XKISS (Extended KISS)

The TNC also supports the G8BPQ multi-drop KISS Mode, called extended KISS (XKISS). With this mode, the TNC can be connected to a G8BPQ node along with the other TNCs on the same serial port, to provide multiple radio ports to the node. Otherwise, XKISS works like KISS. For information on this mode of operation, see the documentation for the XKISS software you are using.

Diving even deeper into this rabbit hole of obscure, obsolete, “no need to do it this way now” technology, see the paper After 38 Years, Do I Still Get a KISS? by Mike Cheponis K6THZ and Phil Karn KA9Q for Zero Retries Digital Conference 2025. In that paper, the authors explain yet another variant of “Multidrop KISS” - 6PACK:

What Is 6PACK? (A brief AI summary)

6PACK is a specialized data link layer protocol used in amateur radio packet communications to provide efficient, low-latency communication between a host computer and a TNC (Terminal Node Controller) over a serial interface. According to < https://docs.kernel.org/networking/6pack.html > it was developed by Ekki Plicht DF4OR, Henning Rech DF9IC.N1EOW and Gunter Jost DK7WJ/K7WJ, although Thomas Sailer HB9JNX/AE4AWA and Uwe Walter DL2VAF and others were contributing.

6PACK was developed to optimize data transmission between a computer and a TNC by addressing limitations of earlier protocols like KISS. It was especially designed to support high-speed operation and multiple ports over a single serial line, improving performance in packet radio systems. The name “6PACK” comes from its origin with six-port TNC setups.

Addressing Multiple Radio Ports in the Kantronics 9612XE

If you’re curious how to use the two radio ports on a 9612XE, from page 72 and 73…

Switch from Radio Port 1 to Radio Port 2

Up to now, we have assumed you are using radio port 1. Switching to port 2 (and a particular channel (stream) on port 2) and back again is easy. At the command prompt, you enter the stream switch character (default is “|”, normally called the “pipe” symbol, but you can change it) followed by the number of the port you want to switch to, followed by the stream you want to go to on that port.

Note: The command STREAMSW sets the character recognized to switch streams (and ports). See the commands reference for details.

For example, to switch to stream A on port 2, connect to another station and

disconnect:

Step 1. At the “cmd:” prompt, type |2A and press the enter key ,

Step 2. Now you are on port 2, stream a. You can verify this, by issuing the command STATUS. The status response will show the port and stream to which your command or data will be directed.

Step 3. From here, issue a connect command, such as “cmd: C WØXI”. After a connection has been established, you can carry on a communication with station WØXI,

Step 4. To disconnect (and remain on Port 2), issue the disconnect command,

“cmd: D”.

Of course… with current technology, almost all of this is moot.

  • It’s admittedly “oldtechsplaining” that current computers are just so fast that they can poll [PC] serial ports (even operating at 115 kbps) that there’s no need to assign Interrupt Requests (IRQs). Thus a modern PC can support a very large number of serial ports, if necessary just by assigning a unique I/O address such as 3F8, 2F8, 3E8, 2E8, etc. Or just use USB 😀.

  • MKISS is no longer needed other than to support TNCs with multiple radio ports. It’s feasible to attach as many TNCs (with USB interfaces) as you wish to any computer. Even a basic Raspberry Pi 3B+ supports four native USB ports, and many more USB ports by connecting USB port expanders.

  • Multidrop KISS / XKISS is no longer relevant because we can have as many serial ports as we wish on any computer, even for legacy TNCs that require an RS-232 connection, thanks to USB to RS-232 adapters.

  • And modern TNCs already have USB interfaces, and are KISS devices, and are relatively inexpensive. Connect as many as needed and the computer will be able to handle it.

Conclusion

KISS has been with us for nearly four decades now, and I suspect that more and more variability in implementations of KISS is being introduced through the use of “tribal knowledge osmosis” in the various implementations of KISS. In my opinion, a “KISS Steering Committee” should exist within Amateur Radio to provide a reference implementation… if not a modernized KISS standard that incorporates all the accumulated knowledge of what works in KISS, what doesn’t, and a unified approach on how to fix the things that don’t.

It’s amusing, and a little bit fun to revisit all of this legacy arcane packet radio knowledge. But in this era… just buy a DigiRig Mobile or a DigiRig Lite or equivalent audio interface, and move all of the packet radio (or other digital / data mode) functionality into the host computer.

ZR > BEACON

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Short mentions of Zero Retries Interesting items.

IP400 Project Reaches Halfway Point

Editor’s Note - The text that follows is a concatenation of an email received from Martin Alcock VE6VH, founder of the IP400 project, and a posting - Project Status as of March 19th, 2026 on the ADRCS website, and then lightly edited for publication.

For more information on IP400, see https://ip400.adrcs.org.

The IP400 Project is pleased to announce that we have reached the half-way point for the IP400 project. The hardware development is complete, as well as the research phases for proof of concept. We are now at the point where we will be doing limited production runs for the various hardware components, and the rest of the development effort from here on it will be mostly in firmware and FPGA development.

The outputs from the development effort are many and varied, there will be a new outdoor 400 MHz node with an integrated power amplifier, an AllstarLink upgrade to add OFDM data modes to existing repeater systems, as well as an OFDM TNC for standalone use, all nodes supporting high speed data as well as an AX.25 compatible KISS mode.

The project development continues on three fronts:

Node Hardware The mini-node has been revised to add a POE ethernet adapter, making it now a three board stack instead of two. The 5W power amplifier has been designed, pre-production units will be available soon. The supernode prototype has been built, and the design for the production version and TNC OEM board is complete. Both are pending prototype builds.

See Hardware for an explanation of IP400 hardware variations.

Firmware The unified firmware platform is in development, and pending successful testing, will be released for beta testing with Mode A only on the WL33 platforms shortly.

New Modes Development of Mode B is ongoing and is looking very promising. Mode C will be available later this year.

See Vision for an explanation of IP400 modes.

…

Team Members Page A new page has been added to the IP400 project site acknowledging contributors.

Stixs - Handheld 5 Watt VHF / UHF LoRa Data Radio In Development

Stixs Labs is developing a new portable data radio with an impressive sounding list of features:

  • Dual-band TX - Professional VHF and UHF communication with 5W output power. Shared antenna system with intelligent band switching.

  • Built strong - Solid aluminium core with a 5-inch touchscreen for reliable operation across environments.

  • Meshtastic - Extended range communication with LoRa technology. Perfect for mesh networks and remote monitoring applications.

  • Quality audio - ES8316 audio codec with PAM8302A amplifier delivers crystal-clear communication with advanced noise suppression and echo cancellation.

  • Robust power - Advanced power management with USB-C Power Delivery charging. Multiple voltage rails ensure optimal efficiency for extended field operations.

  • Open Source & Customizable - Built on Armbian Linux with full source code access. Customize, extend, and contribute to the platform that grows with your needs.

Current Development Phase: Pre-production software development & testing in progress with expected availability in August 2026

This is a “kitchen sink” unit, combining an FM radio (the VHF / UHF radio), a LoRa radio operating on 868 or 915 MHz, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, etc.

Despite this mention:

Join amateur radio enthusiasts and developers who are already backing the future of handheld radio communication.

It’s obvious that Amateur Radio really isn’t the target audience of this unit. If it were, the features would be more tailored to the unique capabilities of Amateur Radio, such as being able to run LoRa on the Amateur Radio UHF (70cm) band at higher power than unlicensed users, it would probably incorporate MeshCore, and there would be some mention of multiple modes that the VHF / UHF radio section supports, other than “FM”.

This unit sounds interesting and ambitious. Perhaps it will be able to achieve the fabled “just load a modem for data communications” via the Linux subsystem. Making all of this work together (especially the three distinct radio subsystems), at a reasonable price, on a reasonable timeline is going to be a challenge.

My thanks to Mark Poole K6MAP for bringing this unit to my attention for Zero Retries.

DLARC: The Radio Geek’s Doomscrolling Antidote

Nick Langan in Radio World:

Immerse yourself in a digital collection of amateur radio and communication artifacts

The internet has aged to the point where it is easy to fall into a rabbit hole, reminiscing about websites from decades past.

The site that fuels those scrolling endeavors is the Internet Archive — a nonprofit that hosts a digital library of internet sites and other artifacts in digital form. The project began in 1996 to archive the web.

Today, it contains one trillion web pages through its “Wayback Machine,” as well as 56 million books and texts. It also works with approximately 1,400 libraries through its Archive-It program to identify and preserve important digital history.

Kay Savetz (K6KJN) freely admits to having been an Internet Archive power user. Savetz used not just the archive.org website, but also its command line interface to upload many documents.

Kay Savetz poses with some of the seven pallets of Bob Cooper’s material. Cooper was a noted pioneer in long-distance VHF reception and satellite television.

A licensed amateur radio operator since 1989, Savetz’s own interviews with Atari 8-bit computer pioneers are among those early uploads.

So when the Amateur Radio Digital Communications foundation provided a significant grant to the Internet Archive to form a collection of the history of amateur radio and adjacent endeavors, the archive sought a lead curator. Savetz was a natural fit.

The project was funded in 2022 and titled the Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications. Today, DLARC has approximately 225,000 items, spanning magazines, newsletters and call books.

In computing terms, that’s about 26 terabytes of storage space, Savetz told us.

Savetz took us inside DLARC’s impressive array of content, and we’ve added links to the featured offerings throughout our story.

This is a great (delightful) lengthy story about DLARC. Langan did an in-depth interview and teased out a lot of detail about Kay Savetz K6KJN and DLARC / Internet Archive. Recommended!

Another Entirely Zero Retries Interesting Issue of Random Wire Newsletter!

While I love all of the content in the average issue of that Tom Salzer KJ7T packs into his Random Wire Newsletter, there are some issues like Issue 176 that are entirely Zero Retries Interesting. (Issue 175 was really good too!) To wit:

  • Updates on M17 and LinHT (that I’ve missed this week, but KJ7T caught)

  • Installing an Uninterruptible Power Supply for a Raspberry Pi Zero

  • More info on his Buddipole antenna project (and I am very grateful for learning of the existence of the Buddipole Center Tee Adapter which converts the odd thread of a painter’s pole to 1/2 inch threads which at least I have a prayer of matching to put up a lightweight temporary VHF / UHF antenna5.

  • Lots of other interesting techie info.

You could conclude from the regular mentions of each other’s newsletters that KJ7T and I have a “Ham Bromance” going… but to date, we’ve never met, only corresponded and talked briefly, and know of each other entirely from publishing our respective newsletters. KJ7T and I are fellow techies, focused on the more technical / digital elements of Amateur Radio, and both of us are comfortable writing about what we find interesting. Thanks for the Zero Retries shoutout in RW 176!

Amateur Repeater Directory - With a Novel Update System

At a glance, https://app.amateurrepeaterdirectory.org looks like many other visualizations of the location (and features / capabilities) of Amateur Radio repeaters in a map format. There’s nothing overt there that suggests this page is doing anything from displaying a visual representation of a (static) database of repeater information.

But, apparently, there’s (claimed to be) more interesting technology than is readily apparent.

Maddeningly, to me, there is almost no text description of the technical underpinnings of these systems apart from snippets of text on the YouTube videos. To me, that calls into question whether this system is real (beyond deploying / demonstrating a few prototype units).

From the video’s description:

AirPulse is a new RF sensing device designed to power the Amateur Repeater Directory with live radio activity data. By connecting radios to the AirPulse Network API, repeaters can be automatically discovered and radios programmed instantly—no cables, no guesswork, just turn on your radio and connect.

At https://www.youtube.com/@AmateurRepeaterDirectory is this additional description:

Feedline Labs created Greywire Fabric, the Live RF Intelligence Fabric — a real-time intelligence layer for radio. With AirPulse, live activity comes into view, repeaters light up on the map, and RF becomes something you can see as it happens. Greywire Fabric moves beyond static repeater data and turns radio into a living, connected network.

I will give credit to these folks for coming up with a number of impressive-sounding buzzwords system names - AirPulse, Feedline Labs, Greywire Fabric, LiveRF Intelligence Fabric, etc.

I can imagine how something like this would work (no help from the above descriptions or anything else I was able to find). The following is solely from my imagination:

  • Radio receiver is a “reasonable” Software Defined Receiver, with reasonable quality such as bandpass filters to improve sensitivity from broadcast transmitters, paging transmitters, etc. that are prevalent in metropolitan areas. The receiver would periodically scan through the entire spectrum, creating an internal (or on a remote host computer) heat map of radio activity on various channels.

  • On received signals, it could cross reference databases such as Amateur Radio repeater directories, FCC database, etc.

  • It could periodically send snippets of audio for processing with an AI.

  • It could load ka9q-radio for simultaneous monitoring of the active channels. That would provide the realtime activity from actual spectrum use, feeding updating the Amateur Repeater Directory.

Again, this seems like an impressive technology integration… but I can’t bring myself to buy into it too deeply when it’s explained almost entirely in YouTube videos… in this era where videos can be entirely fabricated with AI.

Post Publication Update: A reader of Zero Retries did a reality check against of a known good list of repeaters in a major metro area against (this) Amateur Repeater Directory, and the latter was way out of date. Thus this project doesn’t seem credible (or real?).

My thanks to Mark Poole K6MAP for bringing this to my attention for Zero Retries.

Why You Might Want To Set Up Your Raspberry Pi Internet Web Server on 44Net

Dave Ginsberg N3BKV on his N3BKV’s Ham Radio Hacks blog:

I had a big problem with my blog. Since it’s hosted on Blogger, there were issues with Google and Bing indexing it. I must have spent nearly two weeks trying to figure out why search engines were having trouble with redirects and couldn’t index the site. After some research, I found out this is a common problem with Blogger.

So, I decided it was time to set up my own web server. That way, I’d have full control over everything—from which content management system and plug-ins I use to how the site is hosted. I had a spare Raspberry Pi sitting around that I could use, since my site doesn’t get a lot of traffic. All I needed was a static, internet-addressable IP address. But those are generally hard to come by without an expensive business-class internet connection.

As hams, we have access to millions of IPs for free, thanks to some forward-thinking operators from the 1980s via 44Net. Here’s a link to an article and a short video on the history of 44Net:

https://www.ardc.net/ardc-kicks-off-youtube-channel-with-44net-origin-story/

What I needed was an internet-routable 44.x IP so my web server could appear on that IP on the public internet. Most home internet service providers (ISPs) don’t allow this kind of setup, so I needed a way to route my traffic through someone who could provide internet connectivity for my 44Net IP.

Enter 44Net Cloud. It lets you create a Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnel from your computer to the 44Net Cloud, and they route your traffic to the internet. There’s a bit of latency, so it’s not ideal for radio traffic, but for websites or file sharing with your club (e.g., using Nextcloud - https://nextcloud.com/), it’s a great solution.

Agreed wholeheartedly that N3BKV’s use case is ideal for 44Net Connect.

Video - Meshtastic vs Meshcore vs Reticulum vs ATAK

Jason Johnston KC5HWB on his Ham Radio 2.0 YouTube channel:

Today I compare Meshtastic, Meshcore, Reticulum and ATAK in a high overview of each service. These 4 are not in direct competition with one another, and they can often work together.

I had not heard of ATAK (Android Team Awareness Kit). See ATAK & Meshtastic for Next-Generation Field Intelligence for an explanation.

Please offer comments / feedback about ZR > BEACON on the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0245 hashtag - mailto:zeroretries@groups.io?subject=%23ZR0245.

Request To Send

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Paid Subscribers / Founding Members Update

The only updates on this subject this week is that with the return to publishing on Substack, paid subscriptions in Substack have been reactivated as of 2026-04-03.

Financial support from Zero Retries readers is a significant vote of support for the continued publication of Zero Retries.

Presentation at Surrey Amateur Radio Communications Society (SARC) Next Week

Next Wednesday 2026-04-08, Tina and I will journey to Surrey, British Columbia for me to give a talk at the monthly meeting of SARC. I’m looking forward to meeting members of this dynamic Amateur Radio organization in person. SARC is one of my few Amateur Radio memberships and I joined SARC because I appreciate its progressive approach to Amateur Radio, and especially I want to support their amazing newsletterzine, The Communicator.

That… is the kind of publication - entirely online, entirely free, with great production values, good editing, and a good content mix including (but not exclusively) Zero Retries Interesting articles that is relevant and interesting about Amateur Radio in the 21st century. I’ve been so consistently impressed with The Communicator that I now write a column for each bimonthly issue, and then went on to become a paid member of SARC. I’m especially looking forward to meeting the Editor of The Communicator, John Schouten VE7TI.

Cross Fertilization

One of the surprises of the overall experience of publishing Zero Retries has been how much time I end up cross fertilizing between folks that are involved in technological innovation in Amateur Radio. It regularly happens that I’m writing something for Zero Retries and it occurs to me to provide an introduction between two folks that might not be aware of each other’s complementary activities / projects. That cost me an hour of email time today as I was working on this issue.

Lately I’ve had some very interesting in-depth conversations by phone. This week I had three of those - thanks folks - you know who you are.

Hamvention Ho!

6 weeks until Hamvention 2026
in Xenia, Ohio, USA...
Zero Retries / DLARC booth 1506
in Building 1 / Maxim

Weekends Are For Amateur Radio!

This weekend will be butt-in-chair time to finish converting the content published on Ghost / www.zeroretries.radio back onto Substack / www.zeroretries.org.

Please offer comments / feedback about Request To Send on the Zero Retries email list with the #ZR0245 hashtag - mailto:zeroretries@groups.io?subject=%23ZR0245.

73,

Steve N8GNJ

Closing Thanks

My ongoing Thanks to:
Tina Stroh KD7WSF for, well, everything!
Jack Stroh, Late Night Assistant Editor Emeritus
Fiona and Shreky Stroh, Late Night Assistant Editors In Training

Founding Members who generously support Zero Retries financially:
Founding Member 0000 - Steven Davidson K3FZT (Renewed 2025, 3rd year!)
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Founding Member 0004 - William Arcand W1WRA (Renewed 2025, 3rd year!)
Founding Member 0005 - Ben Kuhn KU0HN (Renewed 2025, 3rd year!)
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Founding Member 0013 - Newton White N4EWT (Renewed 2026, 2nd year!)
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Founding Member 0015 - Rich Stocking N7OP (New 2025)
Founding Member 0016 - Prefers to Remain Anonymous 77 (New 2025)
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Founding Member 0024 - Rob Bowser (SPOOLTENNA) (New 2026)

Numerous Annual and Monthly subscribers who also generously support Zero Retries financially!

You thousands of readers of Zero Retries without which there would be little point in publishing this newsletter.

The Usual Administrivia

  • Zero Retries About - https://www.zeroretries.org/about

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  • Fair Use - All excerpts from other authors or organizations, including images, are intended to be fair use and are fully attributed generally by author and link (URL).

  • Paid Promotional Content - Unless otherwise noted in the article or item, advertisement, or sponsorship notice, Zero Retries does not include paid promotional content. Exceptions:

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⬅️⬅️⬅️ Previous Issue of ZR | Next Issue of ZR ➡️➡️➡️

This issue released on 2026-04-03. This issue was 7705 words.

Footnotes for This Issue

1

No trying to buy a proven mini PC that was apparently last week’s model and no longer available. Gosh I missed footnote capability in Ghost!

2

That this was shown at Pacificon… and not anywhere else (that I’m aware of) was a primary reason Tina and I decided to attempt Zero Retries Digital Conference 2026 in proximity of Pacificon 2026.

3

A long overdue Thanks to my friend and mentor Ken Koyan K8TV who, once upon a time, decades ago brought me along to meet a friend of his in rural Northeast Ohio who had perhaps the only tractor Power Take Off (PTO) EME array in the world. I never forgot that sight, and the implications of that system and seeing a real EME array. I wish I knew who that EME operator was.

4

The same web browser, same (local) email client, web servers, file servers, etc. as used on Internet can, generally, be used on AREDN networks.

5

Either Buddipole is missing a huge potential market in Amateur Radio for lightweight VHF / UHF antennas with a 1/2 inch pipe thread base using painter poles… or I’m oblivious to some common source of such antennas.

]]><![CDATA[Your Zero Retries (Substack) Email Address Has Been Exported To Ghost]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/your-zero-retries-substack-emailhttps://www.zeroretries.org/p/your-zero-retries-substack-emailThu, 05 Mar 2026 03:31:55 GMTIf you received an earlier email titled:

Test Post of Imported Substack Email Addresses

… you can completely ignore this email.

In fact, delete it, as this email doesn’t apply to you. If you received that previous email, your email address made it through the perilous Export / Import process in the conversion of publishing Zero Retries via Substack, now publishing Zero Retries via Ghost.

But… Export / Import processes rarely work 100%, especially when it comes to the sensitive subject of email addresses. Hosting providers like Ghost have ample reason to be picky and careful when a mere customer like me attempts to import bulk email addresses.

Thus if you received this email (via Substack), but did not receive an earlier email (via Ghost), then your email address previously registered on Substack as a Zero Retries email subscriber didn’t make it through the (Substack) export / (Ghost) import process.

Apologies!

If you wish to receive future Zero Retries emails, please go to:

www.zeroretries.radio

and add your email address. That’s because…

As of next week (2026-03-08), all things related to Zero Retries will be published via Ghost, solely on:

www.zeroretries.radio

Thanks,

Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Editor, Zero Retries Newsletter
Zero Retries Chief Administrivia Officer
steve@zeroretries.net

Sent 2026-03-04

(end)

]]><![CDATA[Zero Retries 0240]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0240https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0240Sat, 28 Feb 2026 01:46:11 GMTZero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Radios are computers - with antennas! Now in its fifth year of publication, with 3500+ subscribers.

About Zero Retries

Steve Stroh N8GNJ, Editor

Email - editor@zeroretries.net

Zero Retries 0240 has been published today - Friday, 2026-02-27 at approximately 17:45 Pacific.

Zero Retries 0240 was published on the Ghost newsletter platform.

To read Zero Retries 0240 on the web, please go to:

https://www.zeroretries.radio/zero-retries-0240/


The details / reasons for this hybrid approach are explained here.

I will continue to mention Zero Retries being published on Ghost and the new www.zeroretries.radio domain through February, 2026 at least mid-March 2026 (sigh…).

If you’d like to beat the “import rush” next week soon when I attempt to copy the email subscriber base from here on Substack into Ghost, please sign up for email delivery on Ghost.

Thanks for your understanding! We’ll get through this!

Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Editor, Zero Retries

]]><![CDATA[Invalid Security Issues with www.zeroretries.radio Published on Ghost]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/invalid-security-issues-with-wwwzeroretriesradiohttps://www.zeroretries.org/p/invalid-security-issues-with-wwwzeroretriesradioWed, 25 Feb 2026 01:07:27 GMTSome potential subscribers to Zero Retries are receiving security warnings from their computer or other device when they attempt to access Zero Retries at its new domain name:

www.zeroretries.radio

To the best of my ability to run down these issues, and the most qualified advice I’ve received to date…

such security warnings are false.

To be clear, I’m not saying that some individuals’ operating systems (Windows), security / anti-virus systems (Norton, etc.), browsers (Chrome), etc. aren’t providing warnings. Obviously warnings, and blocks, etc. are occurring - I’ve been shared screenshots of such warnings.

I am saying that there doesn’t seem to be any factual basis for such warnings.

There is nothing in the configuration of www.zeroretries.radio, either in the dotRadio domains’ DNS system, or Ghost’s hosting system that should be causing any reason for concern. There is no malicious content published in Zero Retries (no phishing scams, no “secret takeover”).

The primary cause for concern seems to be that the domain zeroretries.radio was recently registered (three months ago), and it’s an “unusual” Top Level Domain operated by an independent company (dotRadio domains).

Validation That Reported Security Issues with www.zeroretries.radio are Incorrect

The week of 2026-02-15, I received this from Ghost Technical Support with some clarity on the root cause of the issue:

Our engineers have had a look at this, and were able to determine that the site was marked as a phishing site by Cloudflare, as well as other providers.

You can see the results of a search here: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/url/b3a93580ea03db32ac5fec58a5b92149f35d300e00adeeae9326cb51367e5581/detection

While [Ghost has] applied to have this block removed (by Cloudflare, as we work with them), we aren’t able to easily remove this from the rest of those blocking it.

The reason it is sometimes returning a block for users, vs not loading for others, is because some users would have it being blocked at the DNS level (failing to load at all) vs the browser level (the red page these members are seeing).

As to why the site is being marked as “phishing” by some locations, is another issue. I do not see anything “malicious” on the site, though with newer TLD domain extensions I do know there are some restrictions. For example, a .radio domain seems that it should be utilized for those in the “Radio” industry (e.g. broadcasters, radio journalists, and related services). When doing some digging on this, it does seem like that may be a potential reason for being marked as phishing.

In writing this article, to offer a bit more context to those that are experiencing this issue, I queried ChatGPT, and here are the substantive parts of that response:

Here’s what reputation and security blocklist tools show about www.zeroretries.radio and why some users see access problems:

🔎

1. ScamAdviser reputation check

  • According to ScamAdviser, zeroretries.radio appears very likely safe — with a low trust score indicating no known fraudulent behavior.

  • The site has a valid SSL certificate and is not flagged as a scam, but it does have relatively low traffic and a hidden WHOIS record, which can reduce automatic trust scoring.

Direct link to that check:

🔗 https://www.scamadviser.com/check-website/zeroretries.radio

🛑

2. Why some security systems block newly registered domains

  • Many DNS and security blocklists (like Spamhaus Zero Reputation Domain — ZRD) will temporarily block or flag newly registered domains as a defensive measure, because new domains are statistically more likely to be used for phishing or malware.

  • This type of blocklist listing can cause connection failures or “site can’t be reached” errors when accessed through certain corporate firewalls, security DNS filters, or browser reputation services.

About that blocklist:

🔗 Spamhaus Zero Reputation Domain (ZRD) is a real-time blocklist that lists recently registered domains (typically for about 24 hours) to help block fraudulent activity.

📌

In summary — why users see issues

  • No inherent malware or phishing activity is detected on zeroretries.radio by reputation checkers like ScamAdviser.

  • Some security systems block new domains automatically (e.g., Spamhaus ZRD or similar DNS/URL reputation filters), especially for freshly registered or low-traffic sites.

  • This results in intermittent access problems depending on the user’s ISP, DNS filter, browser reputation database, or corporate network policy.

Here’s what third-party reputation aggregators that do rely on VirusTotal engines and similar scanners are reporting about that domain:

🛡️ External reputation service result (Gridinsoft)

  • One reputation service that aggregates multiple security engines reports that “zeroretries.radio” has a very low trust score (1/100) and may be categorized as a phishing/malicious domain by some scanners. This assessment is based on automated heuristic and blacklist indicators, not necessarily active malware content.

    🔗 This report is at: https://de.gridinsoft.com/online-virus-scanner/url/zeroretries-radio (third-party scanner summary).

🟢 Other reputation checks (ScamAdviser)

⚠️ What this means

  • VirusTotal-based or reputation-aggregated results can vary widely because some individual scanners (especially heuristic or defensive blocklists) may flag a new, low-traffic domain simply because it is new or obscure — not because there is actual malware. This is a common behavior of reputation systems that tie into threat intelligence feeds.

  • A low score or some flags do not necessarily mean the site contains malware — just that it’s not yet established and may trigger automated protections in some security products.

📌 Summary

  • No authoritative VirusTotal report directly accessible here, but reputation engines that use similar data show mixed signals:

    • One shows a very low trust score and possible phishing category, likely due to age and low visibility.

    • Another marks the domain as legitimate and SSL-valid.

Post Publication Update:

www.zeroretries.radio gets a “no problems found” from this checkup:

https://abongo.com/domain/zeroretries.radio

DOMAIN BLACKLIST STATUS

✓ Clean - 8/8 checked

Spamhaus DBL, SURBL Multi, URIBL Black, Spamhaus ZRD, URIBL Grey, URIBL Red, SURBL Fresh, SEM URI

Fear of Phishing?

Thus the issue seems to boil down to “fear of phishing” and manifesting in varying ways in some browsers, on some security systems.

Some potential subscribers have been able to “whitelist” www.zeroretries.radio (add an exception or mark it as a safe site) with no further impact. But, others report that they don’t have that option. For example, I haven’t figured out how to set Chrome that www.zeroretries.radio is a valid domain name.

To be clear, I’m not minimizing / trivializing / dismissing the experience and caution of those who have reported this issue.

But please understand, these issues are not universal.

For example, three of the browsers I have installed on my Mac - Safari, Firefox, and Duck Duck Go, are working fine. But (Mac) Chrome has a major issue with accessing www.zeroretries.radio:

This site can’t be reached
www.zeroretries.radio refused to connect.
ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED

(Yes, I’ve tinkered with Chrome’s various security settings, and no joy at all.) Given the experience with the other three browsers on the same computer, same Internet connection, within minutes of each other, that message is clearly specious.

As far as I can tell, I’m doing everything right in setting up publication of Zero Retries on Ghost and dot Radio domains to use www.zeroretries.radio with Ghost, which Ghost Technical Support has confirmed, per the quoted email above.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the ability to do anything further on my end to deal with this issue (other than, perhaps, working with Gridinsoft - to be determined). If you’d like to help, perhaps filling out a review here - https://gridinsoft.com/online-virus-scanner/url/zeroretries-radio#reviews may help. Or not. I have no idea - this is all new to me

Otherwise, I have no influence on the organizations that have flagged www.zeroretries.radio. I can only hope that operating it for a longer period of time, with enough folks accessing it or whitelisting it in their security systems, to cause the concerns / blocks to be lifted.

I Won’t be “Falling Back” to Substack and www.zeroretries.org

I don’t consider it a reasonable option to “fall back” to Substack, and using www.zeroretries.org long term for reasons I’ve previously discussed in a number of Zero Retries issues. I plan to move ahead and continue using the www.zeroretries.radio domain and Ghost as a hosting platform.

That includes a mass import of subscriber email addresses from Substack to Ghost by end of 2026-02, and hopefully porting all the Zero Retries content currently on Substack, into Ghost, hopefully by 2026-03-31.

Remedy / Option 1 - Try another browser such as Firefox

For those of you who prefer not to attempt (or cannot) override your computer’s security or antivirus system or browser to access www.zeroretries.radio despite the warnings, the only substantive suggestion I can make is to try to use another browser such as Firefox (which, again, works for me on my Mac, where Chrome will not).

Remedy / Option 2 - On Request, I can Manually Add Your Email Address to Zero Retries Publishing on Ghost

If you cannot access www.zeroretries.radio, you cannot sign yourself up to receive email for email versions of Zero Retries to at least read the email version. In such cases, and you’d like to receive Zero Retries via email, please send an email:

zrnladmin@zeroretries.net with the subject of “Request manual email add”

and I will manually add you as a free subscriber to the Zero Retries email newsletter.

Remedy / Option 3 - Read Zero Retries Newsletter on Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications (DLARC)

Zero Retries has its own “Collection” on Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications (DLARC) - https://archive.org/details/zeroretries.

All of the issues of Zero Retries through 2025 are already in that collection. Soon I will add all of the 2026 issues to that collection, and then expand my publication process to create a PDF version to upload to DLARC each time I create a new issue of Zero Retries.

Unfortunately, these are not complete remedies

The above are not complete remedies…

  • There will be email links in the email version of Zero Retries that link to a previous issue of Zero Retries, or a page on www.zeroretries.radio,

  • The email version of Zero Retries often “overflows” in email clients, and

  • www.zeroretries.radio will soon be the only place a lot of good information is published such as events, information about Zero Retries Digital Conference 2025, etc. (migrated from www.zeroretries.org on Substack).

Long Term Fate of Zero Retries on Substack and www.zeroretries.org Domain

Long term, after all Zero Retries content is ported into www.zeroretries.radio I will either “mothball” Zero Retries on Substack with a pinned article directing to www.zeroretries.radio, or I’ll shut down Zero Retries on Substack and use www.zeroretries.org as a redirect to www.zeroretries.radio…

To be determined at some future date.

To Discuss This Issue…

If you’d like to interact with other users, or discuss this issue, please do so on the Zero Retries email list.

Thanks for your understanding and patience.

With some luck and greater use of the website (and, perhaps, in spite of warnings), hopefully the issues that some are experiencing in accessing www.zeroretries.radio will eventually “fix themselves”.

Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Editor, Zero Retries newsletter

]]><![CDATA[Zero Retries 0239]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0239https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0239Sat, 21 Feb 2026 03:31:13 GMTZero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Radios are computers - with antennas! Now in its fifth year of publication, with 3400+ subscribers.

About Zero Retries

Steve Stroh N8GNJ, Editor

Email - editor@zeroretries.net

Zero Retries 0239 has been published today - Friday, 2026-02-13 at approximately 19:30 Pacific.

Zero Retries 0239 was published on the Ghost newsletter platform.

To read Zero Retries 0239 on the web, please go to:

https://www.zeroretries.radio/zero-retries-0239/


The details / reasons for this hybrid approach are explained there.

I will continue to mention Zero Retries being published on Ghost and the new www.zeroretries.radio domain through February, 2026.

If you’d like to beat the “import rush” next week when I attempt to copy the email subscriber base from here on Substack into Ghost, please sign up for email delivery on Ghost.

Thanks for your understanding! We’ll get through this!

Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Editor, Zero Retries

]]><![CDATA[Zero Retries 0238]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0238https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0238Sat, 14 Feb 2026 01:31:19 GMTZero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Radios are computers - with antennas! Now in its fifth year of publication, with 3400+ subscribers.

About Zero Retries

Steve Stroh N8GNJ, Editor

Email - editor@zeroretries.net

Zero Retries 0238 has been published today - Friday, 2026-02-13 at approximately 17:30 Pacific.

Zero Retries 0238 was published on the Ghost newsletter platform.

To read Zero Retries 0238 on the web, please go to:

https://www.zeroretries.radio/zero-retries-0238/


The details / reasons for this hybrid approach are explained there.

I will continue to mention Zero Retries being published on Ghost and the new www.zeroretries.radio domain through February, 2026.

If you’d like to beat the “import rush” next week when I attempt to copy the email subscriber base from here on Substack into Ghost, please sign up for email delivery on Ghost.

Thanks for your understanding! We’ll get through this!

Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Editor, Zero Retries

]]><![CDATA[Zero Retries 0237]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0237https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0237Sat, 07 Feb 2026 04:01:27 GMTZero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Radios are computers - with antennas! Now in its fifth year of publication, with 3400+ subscribers.

About Zero Retries

Steve Stroh N8GNJ, Editor

Email - editor@zeroretries.net

Zero Retries 0237 has been published today - Friday, 2026-02-06 at approximately 20:00 Pacific.

Zero Retries 0237 was published on the Ghost newsletter platform.

To read Zero Retries 0236 on the web, please go to:

https://www.zeroretries.radio/zero-retries-0237/


The details / reasons for this hybrid approach are explained there.

I will continue to mention Zero Retries being published on Ghost and the new www.zeroretries.radio domain through February, 2026.

If you’d like to beat the “import rush” next week when I attempt to copy the email subscriber base from here on Substack into Ghost, please sign up for email delivery on Ghost.

Thanks for your understanding! We’ll get through this!

Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Editor, Zero Retries

]]><![CDATA[Zero Retries 0236]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0236https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0236Fri, 30 Jan 2026 23:31:13 GMTZero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Radios are computers - with antennas! Now in its fifth year of publication, with 3400+ subscribers.

About Zero Retries

Steve Stroh N8GNJ, Editor

Email - editor@zeroretries.net

Zero Retries 0236 has been published today - Friday, 2026-01-23 at approximately 15:30 Pacific.

As long promised… it was published on the Ghost newsletter platform.

To read Zero Retries 0236 on the web, please go to:

https://www.zeroretries.radio/zero-retries-0236/


The details / reasons for this hybrid approach are explained there.

If you’d like to sign up for email delivery on Ghost, please understand that those email signups may break when I (likely) change to a different domain name to publish Zero Retries on Ghost. I’m in somewhat uncharted territory in using Ghost these first few weeks.

For reference, if / when the www.zeroretries.radio domain name changes to something else, you can also access Zero Retries on Ghost (the new publishing platform for Zero Retries) at

https://zeroretries.ghost.io

Thanks for your understanding! We’ll get through this!

Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Editor, Zero Retries

]]><![CDATA[Zero Retries 0235]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0235https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0235Sat, 24 Jan 2026 05:47:00 GMTZero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Radios are computers - with antennas! Now in its fifth year of publication, with 3400+ subscribers.

About Zero Retries

Steve Stroh N8GNJ, Editor

Email - editor@zeroretries.net

Apologies for the confusion this may cause

Zero Retries 0235 has been published today - Friday, 2026-01-23 at approximately 21:30 Pacific.

As long promised… it was published… with some significant “hiccups” on the Ghost newsletter platform.

To read Zero Retries 0235 on the web, please go to:

https://www.zeroretries.radio/zero-retries-0235/

The details / reasons for this hybrid approach are explained there.

If you’d like to sign up for email delivery on Ghost, please understand that those email signups may break when I (likely) change to a different domain name to publish Zero Retries on Ghost. I’m in somewhat uncharted territory in using Ghost these first few weeks.

For reference, if / when the www.zeroretries.radio domain name changes to something else, you can also access Zero Retries on Ghost (the new publishing platform for Zero Retries) at

https://zeroretries.ghost.io

Thanks for your understanding! We’ll get through this!

Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Editor, Zero Retries

]]><![CDATA[Zero Retries 0234]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0234https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0234Sat, 17 Jan 2026 03:01:18 GMTZero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Radios are computers - with antennas! Now in its fifth year of publication, with 3400+ subscribers.

About Zero Retries

Steve Stroh N8GNJ, Editor

Email - editor@zeroretries.net

On the web: https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0234

Substack says “Too long for email”? YES

⬅️⬅️⬅️ Previous Issue of Zero Retries \ Next Issue of Zero Retries ➡️➡️➡️

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In this issue:

Request To Send

What’s New at Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications — January 2026

Amateur Radio Standards Organization?

ZR > BEACON

Zero Retries Boilerplate

Permission for Reuse of Zero Retries Content

Footnotes for this Issue

Request To Send

Commentary by Editor Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Paid Subscribers Update

My thanks to Prefers to Remain Anonymous 19 for renewing as Founding Member Subscriber 0009 to Zero Retries this past week (3rd year)!

My thanks to Prefers to Remain Anonymous 116 for becoming new Founding Member Subscriber 0023 to Zero Retries in the past two weeks!

Founding Member Subscribers are listed in every issue of Zero Retries!

My thanks to Gerry Brown KK7GAB for renewing as an Annual Paid Subscriber (3rd year!) to Zero Retries in the past two weeks!

My thanks to Prefers to Remain Anonymous 62 for renewing as an Annual Paid Subscriber to Zero Retries in the past two weeks!

My thanks to Prefers to Remain Anonymous 115 for upgrading from a free subscriber to Zero Retries to an Annual Paid Subscriber in the past two weeks!

My thanks to Prefers to Remain Anonymous 117 for upgrading from a free subscriber to Zero Retries to an Annual Paid Subscriber in the past two weeks!

My thanks to Prefers to Remain Anonymous 118 for upgrading from a free subscriber to Zero Retries to an Annual Paid Subscriber this past week!

My thanks to Bill Kreutinger KM6SLF for two years of being a Paid Subscriber to Zero Retries in the past two weeks!

My thanks to Prefers To Remain Anonymous 113 for one year of being a Paid Subscriber to Zero Retries in the past two weeks!

My thanks to Prefers To Remain Anonymous 38 for restarting their Paid Subscriber subscription this past week!

Financial support from Zero Retries readers is a significant vote of support for the continued publication of Zero Retries.

I remain deeply grateful, and humbled, to the Zero Retries paid subscribers. To date, they don’t receive much “extra” for their paid subscriptions. Finally in 2026 there will be some significant benefits for paid subscribers, but more about that in the next few months. In the next few months, paid subscribers will be in flux in the transition from Substack to Ghost publication platforms (see below). I haven’t yet turned off paid subscriptions in Substack, but will do so after the transition to Ghost is complete. Paid subscribers on Substack will receive full “credit” for their paid subscriptions. I’ll go into (probably excruciating) administrivia detail about the transition to paid subscriptions on Ghost directly with the paid subscribers. Platform conversions are hard!

Leaving Substack

The primary reason I decided to migrate Zero Retries off Substack as a publishing platform is that Substack has some significant “structural” issues that I don’t want to be even a passive participant of. This isn’t a new issue and I had hoped to transition off Substack at several points in 2025, but other projects / issues like ZRDC 2025 took precedence. Many readers have told me that they love the Zero Retries content, but, on principle, won’t subscribe to Zero Retries as long it’s published on Substack - which I understand.

Another issue with Substack is that its business model is based around it becoming an ecosystem, not just a publishing tool for independent writers. One illustration of this focus is that Substack newsletters are often referred to as “substacks” rather than email newsletters. Increasingly, use of the Substack app is required for certain functions. Substack has expanded its platform to encompass publishing video, podcasts, short blurbs, an app-based messaging system, and many other “enhancements” that, for me, just get in the way of trying to publish an email (primary) newsletter that is also is accessible on the web as a blog (RSS). One irritating issue is that I can manage email subscribers to some extent... but I cannot do anything to manage “followers on Substack”, and I especially cannot turn off having “followers”.

My last issue with Substack is that its editorial focus is to support, amplify, and cross-fertilize topics that are generally popular culture, politics, sports, and business. In contrast, the content of Zero Retries is a niche (technical aspects...) of a niche (data communications, microwave, space, regulatory issues...) of a niche (Amateur Radio) and thus just doesn’t really fit as a topic that Substack supports well.

All that said, there is a lot to love about Substack. A new writer like me with a wild idea for an email newsletter could get started for no cost. Substack “carried” Zero Retries at their expense, and no expense to me, for the first two years. After that, with (optional) paid subscribers, Substack began making a bit of revenue from Zero Retries, which given all that Substack does (that I didn’t have to worry about, like email subscription issues) I think Substack’s “cut” of the revenue from Zero Retries paid subscribers is entirely reasonable. I am grateful to Substack for helping get Zero Retries started. But now it’s time to move on beyond Substack.

Welcome to Ghost

I hope... expect, that the experience with Ghost will be vastly simplified - write, publish, repeat.

But the learning curve is already significant. I reflexively want to return to Substack because after years of use, I understand all most of the mechanics of writing and publishing there and writing in Substack’s editor is muscle memory. I’m confident that all the capabilities that I used and valued in Substack can be done here in Ghost... it’s just going to take some time to figure it out. I’m going to have to resist the temptation to “fall back” to Substack.

For example, Ghost’s (web-based) editor is driving me nuts in these first few hours of composing this first issue on Ghost as I don’t understand some of the paradigms to be able to do basic formatting of text, that had become muscle memory in Substack.

But one of the significant differences between writing in Substack’s editor and writing in Ghost’s editor is that the latter supports the use of Markdown syntax so (assuming you know Markdown) the graphical user interface of the Ghost editor doesn’t need to be so full featured. Now to try to develop “Markdown muscle memory”.

One issue that will make it easier to transition Zero Retries to Ghost is my choice to use a new domain name:

zeroretries.radio

For the immediate future, all the old Zero Retries content, published prior to 2026, and for the moment, the static pages such as the Zero Retries Guides, will remain on Substack at https://www.zeroretries.org. As soon as feasible, I’ll migrate that content here to Ghost.

Update - Not… quite… so… fast! I was forcing myself to write in Ghost, despite the learning curve handicaps. But I quickly realized that I made a fundamental mistake in setting up Zero Retries on Ghost, and there was no (apparent) way to correct that mistake, and no apparent way to delete my Ghost account and completely start over. So I had to throw myself on the mercies of Ghost support to fix that mistake… and wait for a response. Assuming I may not get an answer for a couple of days, I reluctantly restarted writing this issue of Zero Retries in Substack. And since I ran into that fundamental mistake, I didn’t redirect https://zeroretries.radio to my account on Ghost - it remains redirected to https://www.zeroretries.org.

Update to the update - Ghost support came through with a fix to my issue, but enough time had elapsed that I won’t have time to even attempt an import of email subscriber addresses into Ghost, so this issue will go out via Substack. But next week should be “all Ghost”.

Platform conversions are hard!

Zero Retries Archive Now On Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications

https://archive.org/details/zeroretries

Zero Retries newsletter

An independent newsletter about technological innovation in Amateur Radio, promoting Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Published by Steve Stroh N8GNJ. The official web site is https://zeroretries.radio

Followup by Kay Savetz K6KJN, Program Manager, Special Collections, Internet Archive, Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications, and Zero Retries Pseudostaffer, and great friend of Zero Retries:

Use the search “text contents” field to do a full-text search, or click “Date Published”.

Thanks for being a part of the DLARC archive.

Kay is thanking me for Zero Retries being included in DLARC?!?!?!

It’s actually the reverse - I thank Kay for including Zero Retries with other amazing content in DLARC such as 73 Magazine, Packet Radio Magazine, all the amazing content of TAPR over multiple decades, the Digital Communications Conferences, etc.

It’s humbling to think that the content of Zero Retries will now be preserved for posterity by Internet Archive - as long as IA survives, Zero Retries will survive.

What made this feasible and reasonably efficient is that I finally discovered the not very obvious method to export all the issues of Zero Retries from Substack into individual files. This had been a long term task at Kay’s urging (you… don’t back up every issue???)

But even with the “magic export” discovered, there was still considerable massaging that needed to be done on the exported files, such as consistent naming (despite my use of logical, sequential naming for each issue). Kay and I divided and conquered the tasks - I got all the file names consistent over the course of a couple of hours of otherwise passive video viewing, and Kay applied their scripting ninja skills at adding some metadata to each file (the exported file didn’t include the title of the file in the file).

Anyway… we got it all done, and now Zero Retries issues, 0000 through 0233 dated 2025-12-31 is accessible as easy to download PDF files. The DLARC archives of Zero Retries isn’t quite as “sexy looking” (no Substack formatting), but one primary irritation of Kay (and others) is fixed, that the links in each issue aren’t obfuscated into Substack links that were used to monitor clickthroughs.

Store and Forward episode 14 — Ham Radio in 2025 and 2026

It’s a bit embarrassing to have forgotten, and now admit how much time had passed since the last episode of Store and Forward, a podcast about the past and future of ham radio where Kay Savetz K6KJN discusses Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications and I discuss Zero Retries.

Thus we had a bit of catching up to do on the latter half of 2025, and our very near term plans for 2026.

Store & Forward is a labor of love for both of us, and it serves as a useful benchmark for our respective projects in a relaxed, conversational format.

NotebookLM Success

A second motivation to convert the Zero Retries archives into PDF format was that Google NotebookLM only accepts certain formats, and one of them is PDF, so getting Zero Retries archives into PDFs is a win / win - DLARC and NotebookLM. With Zero Retries spanning 4.5 years now, and more than a couple hundred separate issues… I’m at the point of sometimes forgetting “did I write about x in Zero Retries“?

As with all sophisticated software tools these days (see above), NotebookLM has irritating, unintuitive limitations and a learning curve… but unlike all AI chatbots I’ve used to date, NotebookLM works. To date, I’ve mostly used it superficially, but as a test, I asked it to generate an article on a topic I’ve written about extensively in Zero Retries… and it did a very decent job. Most impressively, as advertised, the output stayed bounded by the input material - Zero Retries. NotebookLM didn’t invent anything and did a very reasonable synthesis of the total of my writing on the subject - even some aspects I’d forgotten I wrote.

I think such NotebookLM research will prove very useful as a starting point for the chapters of my book Zero Retries Guide to Amateur Radio in the 21st Century. This was exactly the use case for NotebookLM and its development was guided towards such utility by author Steven Johnson.

My original use for NotebookLM also works - it’s pulling up references to specific subjects that I do remember that I’ve written about, but didn’t remember when or what issue, though I did one query that NotebookLM wasn’t able to find, and I had to find manually and “instruct” NotebookLM. So, not perfect yet.

Recent Updates to Zero Retries Guides

Speaking of successes in generating new content, two Zero Retries Guides:

Zero Retries Guide to Amateur Radio HF Data Communications

Zero Retries Guide to VHF / UHF Radios for Data

and

Zero Retries Guide to Zero Retries Interesting Events

have received extensive updates. Updates for the former two were largely based on input from participants on the Zero Retries email list. Wisdom of crowds - thanks folks!

On the Events page, I’ve noted the events that I and Tina hope to attend. The first major event we’ll attend in 2026 will be HamSCI 2026 on 2026-03-14 and 15 in New Britain, Connecticut, USA. I look forward to chatting with Zero Retries Interesting folks at HamSCI 2026.

As I’ve mentioned, developing new Zero Retries Guides is a virtuous cycle - NotebookLM can help pull together previous material, each one serves as a standalone reference to a particular subject, and they are most of the content of chapters in the book. Much more to come in 2026.

Weekends Are For Amateur Radio!

Bellingham (and this corner of North America in general) is experiencing waves of… sunshine… for a four day weekend. That’s a nice bonus for this weekend, and I’ll be spending time in N8GNJ / Zero Retries Labs.

One nagging task in N8GNJ / Zero Retries Labs that’s now complete is the 30 foot antenna pole for my primary VHF / UHF antenna that was braced at approximately 13 foot proved not robust enough for the Wicked Whatcom Winter Winds and developed a permanent, severe bend. In every windstorm (frequent in the winter), it seemed that the antenna pole might fail and collapse. That antenna pole has now been replaced by a new, more modest, 20 foot antenna pole, that is now actually straight, and is now no longer annoying to look at.

Have a great weekend, all of you co-conspirators in Zero Retries Interesting Amateur Radio activities!

Steve N8GNJ

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What’s New at Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications — January 2026

By Kay Savetz K6KJN
Internet Archive’s Program Manager, Special Collections

I have two topics to share this month: first, some of the newest additions to the DLARC library. Then, some of the oldest items in the library have entered the public domain.

DLARC has scanned 66 issues of the Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers. Adding those to the smattering of IRE Proceedings we had before, the new collection has 80 of these journals ranging from 1917 through 1962. The Institute of Radio Engineers was a professional organization that existed from 1912 until the end of 1962. In 1963, it merged with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers to form the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

We’ve added 40 issues of “Call Letter”, the newsletter of Northwest Vintage Radio Society. Based in my neighborhood of Portland Oregon, NWVRS is a nonprofit educational membership organization dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of vintage radio and antique wireless equipment. Also: 19 issues of Arizona Antique Radio Club News, another fine newsletter from another fine not-for-profit vintage radio preservation group. (The IRE, Call Letter, and Arizona newsletters are the last of the material donated to DLARC by the wonderful Spark Museum of Electrical Invention.)

We’ve added 22 issues of an interesting newsletter devoted to medium/low-frequencies, published by Jim Ericson KG6EK. The first issue we have is number 45, where the newsletter is titled “1750 Meters: Western Update” with the wordy subtitle “The Western Newsletter for the Experimenter’s Band (160 to 190 KHZ)”. By issue 62, the newsletter’s name pivoted to simply “Western Update” but with a new equally wordy subtitle: “The Western Newsletter for MF, LF, and VLF Experimenters”. It’s filled with interesting ideas and anecdotes about low-frequency operation, such as Max Carter’s article “Some quirks of super slow” which discusses the problems of receiving a signal sent at one-tenth baud (10 seconds to transmit one symbol change)!

We have a smattering of issues published from May 1987 through November 1990. I’d love to fill in the gaps, so I’ve added this one to the ever-shifting DLARC Wantlist. I don’t know exactly when the newsletter began or ceased publication. If you have any insight or any issues, please let me know. (Thanks to California Historical Radio Society for these newsletters.)

Aaaaand we’ve added the complete archive of a little newsletter called Zero Retries! 256 issues of the independent newsletter about technological innovation in Amateur Radio, published by Steve Stroh N8GNJ. It took some serious finagling for Steve to get the text of the issues exported from Substack, and then for me to get them converted into readable PDF files, but it was worth the effort to create a complete, searchable archive of this newsletter in DLARC.

We’ve added documents from Quartzfest, the “ham radio, camping, learning and living event” hosted near Quartzsite, Arizona, annually since 1997. The archive includes conference schedules, newsletters, and other documentation of that event going back 10 years.

Also check out “Amateur Radio in Space: A Teacher’s Guide with Activities in Science, Mathematics, and Technology”, a 1998 educational guide to the Space Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX).

Public Domain Amateur Radio

Every January 1 in the United States is “public domain day”, when items of a certain age shed their copyrighted status and become, well, everyone’s. At the start of 2026, written works published in 1930 became public domain, including the characters Betty Boop, Blondie and Dagwood; the film All Quiet on the Western Front; and the musical compositions Georgia on My Mind and I Got Rhythm, among many other notable and not-so-notable works. Duke University’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain has a thorough rundown.

Relevant to radio, a number of items in the DLARC library also became PD. Some of the highlights:

I hope you enjoy the old stuff in the DLARC library as much as I enjoy adding new stuff to the DLARC library.

Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications is funded by a generous grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) to create a free digital library for the radio community, researchers, educators, and students. If you have questions about the project or material to contribute, contact me at kay@archive.org.

DLARC want list: https://archive.org/details/dlarc-wantlist

Comment on Zero Retries email list

Amateur Radio Standards Organization?

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

As in… is it time to consider such a thing?

In Zero Retries 0079 (2022-12-30), I imagined The Amateur Radio Standards Organization (ARSO):

The Amateur Radio Standards Organization (ARSO) was formed for a pragmatic reason. Amateur Radio Operators, and Amateur Radio organizations were free to create entirely new modes as long as those modes were publicly documented. Before ARSO was formed, documentation for Amateur Radio technologies were (mostly) in public, but sometimes hard to find. This caused some consternation in the mid-2020s when the FCC and US Department of Defense (DOD) accused a small group of Amateur Radio Operators in New Mexico of using encryption in Amateur Radio spectrum. The accused Amateur Radio Operators responded that they were just using an obscure modulation technique, but none of them could find where that obscure modulation technique was publicly documented. ARDC provided a grant to establish ARSO with a website and some contracted labor from various universities with strong radio technology curriculums. ARSO quickly became a clearinghouse for documentation of almost all Amateur Radio technologies. ARSO developed a simple identifier that could be transmitted with most digital modes, allowing very easy lookup of the technology used for every transmission.

One minor illustration of the utility of ARSO was the consolidation of TCP/IP port numbers for various functions for better commonality between various units and software. Another was acting as an intermediary for obtaining unique Media Access Control (MAC) addresses for Ethernet and Wi-Fi devices used in Amateur Radio so that Amateur Radio interoperated smoothly with non Amateur Radio systems. Prior to ARSO assuming this role, obtaining MAC addresses, and identifiers for new devices with USB ports, was cumbersome and expensive for small vendors such as Amateur Radio manufacturers.

The formation of ARSO solved another growing problem in Amateur Radio - authentication. As Amateur Radio became more popular, a few bad actors occasionally tried to “horn in on the fun” without having an Amateur Radio license. ARSO developed a reasonable, universal authentication and registration system for Amateur Radio Operators worldwide, allowing Amateur Radio Operators to use their authentication signature for all major Amateur Radio systems such as accessing AmGEO-200.

Universal authentication also helped solve a nagging issue in Amateur Radio - the historical ban on using encryption in Amateur Radio. There had always been corner cases such as emergency communications involving sensitive information where encryption was considered necessary. The combination of qualification via the US government’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and authentication was a workable compromise. Amateur Radio Operators that wanted to qualify to use encryption for emergency communications had to be licensed for at least two years, and submit to a background check / qualification process that wasn’t any more onerous than participation in the various US military auxiliary communications programs. Amateur Radio Operators that (attempted to) use encryption but didn’t go through the background check / qualification process were quickly identified, found, and “given a stern talking to”.

ARSO Conferences

In the early 2020s, there were a number of Amateur Radio conferences such as Digital Communications Conference (DCC), AMSAT Annual Meeting, and the various large events such as HAM Radio Friedrichshafen, Ham Fair, Hamvention, and Hamcation. ARSO decided that conferences were part of its mission, and decided to have more frequent and more accessible conferences. ARSO holds one-day “companion” conferences adjacent to the major Amateur Radio events for discussion of new technologies. The subject matter of the annual GNU Radio Conference (GRCon) so closely overlapped with Amateur Radio that ARSO considered GRCon just another Amateur Radio conference.

ARSO conferences received funding to be inclusive and comprehensive. All presentations at ARSO conferences were streamed live, video recorded, and edited for clarity. Post conference, all presentation videos were publicly available, audio was transcribed into text, and the presenter’s slide deck, or still photos of slides were excerpted from the video. This standardized approach to conferences began generating considerable “cross fertilization” especially between Amateur Radio Operators in different countries. The ARSO conference held in conjunction with Ham Fair was particularly popular as few US Amateur Radio Operators were conversive in Japanese to understand presentations made at Ham Fair.

ARSO conferences also revived the practice of putting out a Request for Student Papers (RFSP) for students to present their ideas at an ARSO conference. This was pioneered by Greg Jones WD5IVD at the 1996 DCC. Participation in the ARSO conferences generated even more interest in Amateur Radio among students.

I keep returning to the idea of ARSO, and the need for such an organization every time I read of a new Amateur Radio device that implements compatibility with another device, but not necessarily compatibility against a standard.

Examples include the OpenTNC implementing 9600 bps data and testing compatibility with Dire Wolf Software TNC, and now a new generation of APRS devices operating over LoRa?

I think “ARSO” is needed… but I have no idea how to create such an organization, and I’m wide open to ideas for doing so.

Comment on Zero Retries email list

ZR > BEACON

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Short mentions of Zero Retries Interesting items.

NA6D OpenTNC

Image courtesy of NA6D.com

The Open-Source TNC. Now Shack-Ready.

Upgrade your digital station to the modern era with the NA6D OpenTNC, the premium evolution of the open-source TNC.

We have taken the versatile architecture designed by David Platt (AE6EO) and refined it for the serious operator. While our original development kits were designed for tinkering, this new edition is designed for operating. We’ve shrunk the footprint, optimized the circuit, and encased it all in a rugged aluminum enclosure that belongs on your desk or in your go-kit.

Why the NA6D Edition?

The original OpenTNC is a fantastic platform, but we wanted to make it better for everyday use.

  • Rugged Aluminum Case: Say goodbye to exposed PCBs and 3D-printed plastics. Our custom aluminum enclosure provides superior durability and helps shield your sensitive RF equipment from digital noise.

  • Compact Footprint: We redesigned the PCB to be significantly smaller, making this the perfect TNC for go-kits, portable operations, or crowded shack desks.

  • Optimized Audio Path: We have refined the component values in the TX audio filtering stage (fixing the quirks found in the v0.8 beta designs) to ensure cleaner audio and broader compatibility with modern transceivers right out of the box.

Powerful Digital Modes

Just like the original, the NA6D OpenTNC is a powerhouse for AX.25 communications. Powered by the RP2040, it unlocks:

  • APRS: Track locations, send messages, and map local traffic.

  • Packet Chat: robust keyboard-to-keyboard QSOs.

  • BBS Access: Connect to local mailboxes and emergency networks.

  • KISS Mode: Full compatibility with modern software suites for advanced networking.

  • And more...

Since the OpenTNC is a traditional TNC, it does not support software TNC modes, like VaraFM.

Technical Specifications:

  • Core: RP2040

  • Connectivity: USB-C (Power/Data), DB-9 (Radio/Audio)

  • Enclosure: Black Anodized Aluminum

  • Dimensions: Approximately 64mm x 40mm x 24mm [w x l x h]

Cables:

We’re still working on getting cable and initial production runs might not have custom cables. We’re working on offering cables for:

  • Mobile/Base radios with a mini-DIN 6 connector (common modern “data” connector)

  • HTs with the 2-Pin Kenwood connector

  • If you are interested in other connectivity, you can fill out the survey after signing up for notifications to let us know.

The above info is a bit vague on the specifics, but it looks like a straightforward refinement of the OpenTNC project as documented on Dave Platt AE6EO’s OpenTNC project on GitLab. Some things to admire about this implementation and OpenTNC in general:

  • Aluminum enclosure with blinkenlights - always cool,

  • USB-C digital interface,

  • The Raspberry Pi RP2040 is the processor,

  • Support for 9600 bps,

  • Support for FX.25 Forward Error Correction (FEC).

NA6D makes nice hardware. The NA6D version of the All In One Controller (AIOC) is the nicest AIOC I’ve seen to date.

It seems likely that support for IL2C FEC might be implemented given that Dire Wolf Software TNC is a reference for packet radio compatibility with OpenTNC, Dire Wolf supports both FX.25 and IL2C, and Dire Wolf is open source.

The use of the RP2040 - generically one of the Raspberry Pi microcontrollers, is a smart choice in my opinion. Raspberry Pi makes an unusually strong commitment to education and support. Raspberry Pi also works hard to keep its products available over a long term, as well as backwards compatibility in never products as much as possible. Thus, in my opinion, for “hobby” projects such as Amateur Radio, where there are low production quantities involved, and significant interest in open source, if you’re using a microcontroller (or embedded computer) other than Raspberry Pi products, you’re working too hard.

My thanks to David “Zonker” Harris N6UOW for mentioning this development.

Disclosure - NA6D donated a number of AIOCs to the Zero Retries Digital Conference 2025 to be given away as raffle prizes.

New RPC Electronics Products Spotted

Jason Rausch K4APR makes lots of Zero Retries Interesting products. I’m a fan and owner of several SMT NinoTNCs. I was checking RPC Electronics for another story, and found mention of a number of interesting new (to me…) products:

Our family of ESP32-Based APRS, Packet and LoRA Devices!

Two excerpts below (there are a total of six products in this family). The others say “details coming soon”:

  • ESP32-APRS Tracker

    Image courtesy of RPC Electronics, LLC

    The ESP32-APRS Tracker is an all new APRS Tracker meant for the 21st century. We started with the powerful ESP32 WROOM module and built the platform on its vast array of built-in peripherals. Adding a high quality, fast locking GPS, sensors and other devices, we have created a small form factor, feature rich APRS Tracker/Digipeater/iGate/Modem that will fit your APRS operating needs.

  • ESP32-LoRA “Swiss Army Knife”

    Image courtesy of RPC Electronics LLC

    The ESP32-LoRA SAK is an all new APRS-LoRA device meant for the 21st century. We started with the powerful ESP32 WROOM module and built the platform on its vast array of built-in peripherals. Adding a high quality, fast locking GPS, sensors and other devices, we have created a small form factor, feature rich APRS-LoRA Tracker/Digipeater/iGate/Modem that will fit your APRS-LoRA operating needs. The best part...an on-board 1 Watt LoRA transceiver!

It’s just fascinating to see the technological innovation in Amateur Radio evolving. It’s encouraging to see experienced Amateur Radio hardware designers like K4APR with a deep background in APRS creating solid new products like these but using LoRa as a radio interface.

Kudos to K4APR for these new (and the upcoming) products!

AREDN Production Release 4.26.1.0

AREDN production release 4.26.1.0 is now available

This release is the first AREDN production release that omits the legacy OLSR protocol, and consequently the first release with the major number 4. That may sound scary, but if all your local nodes are on 3.25.5.0 or greater, they already speak Babel. That means a migration to this production release should pretty much be a non-event for your network.

If you are upgrading to 4.26.1.0 from a babel nightly build, you may see the following message:

BEWARE: Downgrading firmware WILL result in a broken or incomplete node configuration.
This can be safely ignored during this upgrade.

Major Features

New Devices Supported

  • Nanostation AC Loco

  • Cudy TR1200

  • Cudy TR3000

  • HaLowLink 1

  • Heltec HT-HD01

  • Heltec HT-HD7608

  • Alfa Tube-AHM

  • Alfa Tube-AHM PoE

  • Bhyve virtual machines

  • VirtualBox virtual machines

Notes

  • There is still some instability with HaLow devices due to immature support for these radios in current Linux kernels. This manifests as occasional device restarts.

  • HaLow devices may sometimes require power cycling after upgrading.

In my opinion, this release is a very significant improvement in functionality for AREDN. Sunsetting the Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR) mesh networking protocol that AREDN used to use, in favor of Babel mesh networking protocol, is a huge leap forward in reliability for AREDN networks that choose to use dynamic mesh networking. The unreliability and performance issues of dynamic mesh networking was a (often deserved) “knock” on AREDN networks, but converting from OLSR to Babel offers the best of all worlds - reliability, reasonable performance, and dynamic mesh networking.

In my opinion…

Support for some HaLow (802.11ah) 900 MHz radios

is also a very big improvement for AREDN. Perhaps even a new era for AREDN becoming more popular. Now small AREDN networks can be implemented that operate on the 902-928 MHz band can be implemented (and fully interoperable with AREDN networks on other bands) with the simple expedient of connecting AREDN radios via Ethernet to form a inter-band router. It’s on my “soon” list to purchase a pair or three Alfa Tube-AHM radios to start experimenting with AREDN on 902-928 MHz.

Kudos to the AREDN team for these developments, and the “courage” to deprecate OLSR from their production releases at the end of 2025.

…

44Net Connect Makes AREDN Tunnels Easy (and Free)

A separate project (but, in my opinion, shouldn’t be1…), relevant to AREDN is the production release of 44Net Connect. The tunnel capability in AREDN, being able to connect AREDN RF networks via Internet, was problematic because AREDN tunnel servers required the use of a static IPv4 address. That was sometimes costly, and even sometimes impossible with some Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Now, static IPv4 addresses for Amateur Radio use are very easy to implement thanks to 44Net Connect.

HamWAN 2025 Summary Report

Doug Kingston KD7DK on the HamWAN PSDR email list:

(Excerpts follow - click the link for full details.)

West Tiger Mountain - The Boeing BEARS installed a full HamWAN cell site at the company’s facility on West Tiger Mt. HamWAN supported the project with technical assistance but the project was funded by the BEARS and a couple of other donors. The site is connected to the rest of PSDR via 2 10GHz links capable of 500Mbits, one to Ziply Fiber in Everett (our primary internet connection point) and the other link to Capitol Park, which is well connected in the Seattle area. HamWAN will operate the cell site and its already attracting clients, some of whom were previously on East Tiger. We thank the BEARS for making this possible.

…

New Monitoring System - We installed a new monitoring system based on Zabbix using the community edition of the commercial product. This has added a lot better visibility of HamWAN system health. We still have some customization we want to accomplish (some additional parameter collection, map updates, inventory export), before we retire Cacti, but it's already been a great help. If you want to help with this, please reach out to netops@.

…

RouterOS Fleet Upgrade - We upgraded all the HamWAN maintained devices to RouterOS 7.x. At this point we can recommend this upgrade to all PSDR/HamWAN users.

Documentation Refresh - Much of our online documentation has been updated and new documentation added. We also added a new client config generator to help make client configuration easier for users.

On the West Tiger Mountain item, note the use of (Amateur Radio band) 10 GHz links. This one of the first uses of Amateur Radio 10 GHz band networking, not just experimentation or use by satellite. A few factors came together to make this possible:

Use of 10 GHz links is an excellent implementation of the philosophy of Use It (our Amateur Radio bands) or Lose It. This is especially an imperative in the US as the current FCC is very actively engaged in reassigning spectrum allocations, especially above 1 GHz, to the cellular industry for exclusive use.

The HamWAN Puget Sound Data Ring (PSDR)2 is the excellent Amateur Radio microwave network (on 5 GHz) in Western Washington. Its coverage extends into British Columbia to the North, to nearly the Oregon border to the South. Unlike many Amateur Radio microwave networks, PSDRallows (encourages) individual user access, as well as supporting Internet connectivity for repeaters and other Amateur Radio infrastructure. The two biggest differences of HamWAN from AREDN is that HamWAN is an engineered (static) network (no mesh networking capability) and HamWAN uses Mikrotik technology for the linking and user access radios. All PSDR nodes feature at least two backbone connections to maintain reliability. Another point of admiration for HamWAN is that each node has standalone capabilities - DNS, routing, etc. and thus remains functional even if backbone connections go down.

Masters Communications Model FMDM-150M FM Deviation Meter

Nothing beats having a real communications Service Monitor to test FM radios and repeaters for various functions, but they are incredibly expensive new, and even used ones (that are worth while) are commonly $2000.00 or more. There are inexpensive frequency modulated RF signal generators currently available that provide reasonable accuracy for testing receivers. These signal generators allow you to do basic sensitivity and simple audio tests including CTCSS tones. But, there are no manufacturers left making inexpensive test equipment for measuring FM deviation of transmitters. The Heathkit IM-4180, AEA DM-1, and MFJ-224 are long gone. I’ve owned all of these, and they are mediocre at best - even when they were brand new. The test equipment offered here is an attempt to provide a better solution than anything prior, with reasonable accuracy, on a hobbyists limited budget.

The FMDM-150M FM Deviation Meter provides direct / accurate measurement of Frequency Modulation from 0 to over 5kHz deviation with modulating frequencies from 50 Hz to over 4 kHz without the need of a computer, SDR, or spectrum analyzer or involving Bessel nulls or any complicated math. The system is comprised of several individual components that are available separately in kit form or assembled and tested and calibrated. The receiver is a current production Uniden “Bearcat” BC355N “police”scanner (chassis 367E) that is modified by adding a 3.5mm (1/8”) stereo jack to its rear panel to bring out discriminator audio and a squelch logic signal.

For as long as we’re going to be using FM transceivers for data communications, connecting external audio adapters, TNCs, modems, etc. to FM transceivers3, setting correct Deviation is a significant issue for optimum performance.

Thus the FMDM-150M is a notable accomplishment in the service of data communications (using FM radios) over Amateur Radio - kudos to Kevin Custer W3KKC of Masters Communications for creating this unit.

While setting “good enough” deviation “by ear” is usually possible4 for lower speed data modes like 1200 bps Audio Frequency Shift Keying, higher speed data modes suffer when deviation isn’t set correctly. I purchased an AEA DM-1 at a hamfest last year mostly because it was cheap. I remember its reputation at the time it was introduced was “better than nothing” and it was an appliance rather than a big, expensive, hard to use service monitor.

Thus this low cost system for determining accurate deviation with the interesting approach of using a Uniden BC335N scanner (with a minor modification) as the receiver system.

While individuals might not want to invest in this system to set up a few personal data radios, it would be an ideal investment for an Amateur Radio club interested in data communications, or just a group of friends who want to do data communications.

This unit would be useful for my intended setup of many radios in N8GNJ / Zero Retries “Interoperability Lab”… I probably should get one on order. (Update - done!)

Interesting Potential Data Mode - Using DTMF as a Data Protocol

I stumbled onto this presentation by Zhemin Zhang KD2TAI who presented an interesting premise - use the 12 (or 16 if you include the “A, B, C, D” keys in a 4th column) Dual Tone Multi Frequency - DTMF (much better known as “Touch Tone”) tones as encoding for a data communications system.

One primary advantage I can imagine is that DTMF is specifically designed to work within the audio spectrum of analog telephone circuits / human voice spectrum / and thus just about any FM (or digital voice?) radio. Thus “DTMF data” would be transmitted clearly with very simple audio connections to just about any radio.

Such a system would be a lot of fun to listen to - wonder how fast a data rate could be accomplished? (Hopefully there could be some form of at least minimal Forward Error Correction incorporated.)

This kind of thinking outside the box about data communications over radio taking advantage of “cheap compute power” reminds me of Ribbit / Rattlegram from a few years ago.

LinHT for Beginners: A Linux-Based Experimental SDR Radio

Don Trynor, VA3XFT on EvoHam:

If you’ve recently searched for information about the LinHT radio, you’re not alone. LinHT has started appearing in amateur radio and software-defined radio (SDR) discussions, often described as an open-source, Linux-based, software-defined handheld radio.

That combination naturally raises questions – especially for hams who are newer to digital voice and are still getting comfortable with concepts like SDR, codecs, and experimental radio platforms.

This beginner guide explains what the LinHT actually is, why it’s generating interest, and how it fits into the broader ham radio landscape, without assuming prior SDR or Linux experience.

This is a good overall treatment of LinHT from the perspective of someone interested in Amateur Radio digital voice modes and is curious about where LinHT fits into the digital voice paradigm.

My thanks to Amateur Radio Weekly Issue 403 for the first mention (that I saw) of this article.

What are amateur radio’s top three priorities in the next three years?

Dan Romanchik KB6NU on his blog:

Steve, N8GNJ, publishes a newsletter called Zero Retries. Steve describes the newsletter as “an independent newsletter about technological innovation in Amateur Radio (sic), promoting Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology.” It’s a great newsletter, and I’d encourage you to subscribe.

In addition to the newsletter, Zero Retries hosts a Groups.io mailing list. In the Zero Retries group, they discuss the topics covered in the newsletter. One of the latest topics is “Top three priorities, in the next three years, for Amateur Radio in the 21st Century? ” The purpose of this topic is “figuring out what should be the focus of efforts promoting amateur radio in the 21st century.”

Nice mention by Zero Retries Pseudostaffer KB6NU of this discussion on the Zero Retries email list. Lots of good ideas came out of this discussion, and I’ll be consolidating / synthesizing them in a near future issue.

KernWi-Fi engineers the VK Yaesu IMRS Network: a first of its kind, carrier grade build for Australia

KernWi‑Fi has partnered with Australian amateur radio enthusiasts to design and deploy an enterprise‑grade, secure IP network for Yaesu’s Internet‑linked Multi‑site Repeater System (IMRS) -bringing carrier‑class routing, segmentation and compliance practices to community radio infrastructure. The initiative is led by Managing Director Phil Kern (VK5PK), working closely with Chris Dimitrijevic (VK3FY), who first approached KernWi‑Fi to explore a robust digital framework for IMRS. Chris Dimitrijevic connected Phil Kern with Peter Clee (VK8ZZ), who helped shape the technical scope that underpins the rollout.

See here for our AUS REPEATER NET – WiresX / IMRS / YSF Reflector overview

VK5PK : “Our goal was straightforward: deliver IMRS over an IP fabric that behaves like a carrier network—predictable routing, strong isolation, and security you can audit. If we treat community infrastructure with enterprise discipline, reliability follows.”

Interesting project to create repeatable, predictable, consistent, reliable infrastructure for repeater linking.

What I found most interesting about this project is the willingness of a telecommunications infrastructure vendor to get involved with an Amateur Radio repeater network, though KernWi-Fi Managing Director Phil Kern being VK5PK was a major factor.

My thanks to Amateur Radio Weekly Issue 403 for the first mention (that I saw) of this article.

Experimental Radio News 14

Editor Bennett Z. Kobb (who is also AK4AV):

Selling sunlight at night, making drugs in space, detecting weapons at a distance – and the latest in shortwave, in Experimental Radio News 14.

As always, ERN is a fascinating “read it right now” publication about radio technology developments I wouldn’t otherwise hear about. Literally the items mentioned in ERN are at the bleeding (experimental) edge of radio technology.

ERN has been at the forefront of tracking “High Frequency Trading” experimental radio communications on the HF bands. This issue includes:

Walking back waivers

The FCC is now issuing letters to HF experimental licensees emphasizing their obligations, including non-interference to incumbents. But the letters include a major change: They remove routine waivers of station identification.

The FCC has never explained the waivers. Some of these stations run hundreds of thousands of watts in multiple HF bands, yet did not have to identify themselves. The exemptions complicate the process of identifying interference sources.

Stations now must follow the ID rule, which requires voice or Morse identification without digital encoding or modulation.

“Failure to comply with any of the above will result in cancellation of station license,” the FCC said.

Yay! Minor win for the rest of us HF band users now that we can distinguish who is originating those weird transmissions.

Unapologetic Zero Retries plug for financial support of Experimental Radio News:

Reader support helps keep the news coming. 😋

More info about ERN and the author on the About page.

As a beneficiary of financial reader support for Zero Retries, I can attest that reader’s financial support makes a difference to one’s motivation to continue to produce content without a primary motivation of revenue (not restricted to paid subscribers). In my occasional research relating to the FCC, I can attest that it takes significant research work, skill, and time investment to dig out original material that is very professionally presented in ERN. AK4AV is a skilled writer and editor with deep experience. Unlike Zero Retries, all of the material in ERN is unique and original content, with a very small audience who can appreciate it. As Zero Retries financial contributions are re-established on Ghost in the next few months, I’ll become a financial contributor to ERN.

APRS Over LoRa Articles on How APRS Works

Two interesting, detailed articles by Jon Adams N7UV on the How APRS Works website, sponsored by the APRS Foundation:

Is LoRa (Long Range) technology magic?

LoRa - The Settings Under the Hood

It’s great that “APRS” as represented by the APRS Foundation is now beginning to incorporate LoRa technology for APRS. This “embrace”5 of LoRa for APRS is long overdue.

(It’s easy to overlook new articles on the How APRS Works website / blog as older articles, rather than newer articles, appear at the top of the page. Thus you have to scroll all the way down, and click through Load more issues to see the newest articles. Or, you can subscribe with RSS.)

AI6YM Announcements / New Products

Justin Giorgi AI6YM on his latest newsletter:

Announcing the T41 Mini

tl;dr - The T41, but smaller. Full specs will be published soon. The first units will be available at FDIM & Hamvention. Kits only $399 with fully assembled radios available too.

It’s no secret I love the T41. Fully open source, modular, all-band, all-mode transceiver with a 192kHz spectrum display? I love everything about that sentence.

There’s two things I don’t love.

  1. The price tag. I sold my kits at a VERY low margin, the manufacturing costs on this thing are NUTS.

  2. The “trunk portable” design. I just don’t have the option to operate HF at home. My rigs have to be portable.

So I’ve been quietly working on a smaller, lighter, and CHEAPER T41. It needed to keep the spectrum display, big screen, powerful processor, and of course the fantastic RF performance. I was willing to sacrifice a bit on modularity, supporting every band in one radio isn’t a strict requirement either.

…

PicoFox Update

tl;dr - PicoFox r3 shipping soon. It’s a big improvement over r2 thanks to great feedback from this community!

Manufacturing is done, I’m waiting on delivery of enclosures before final assembly can begin. Orders are open now with shipments expected by the end of January. Look for ads in QST and other publications - and let me know what you think of them (I have ZERO marketing experience).

…

FoxSniffer Announcement & Update

tl;dr - The FoxSniffer is a handheld RDF receiver that can determine the direction to a transmitter miles away or standing on top of it. Shipments expected to start March 1st. Full specs and pre-orders are open. ($50 off for a limited time!)

I had hoped to make this announcement a LONG time ago but it turns out that building a VHF/UHF receiver from scratch is sort of difficult.

My early design had a couple of flaws. LO leakage into the detector being the biggest issue. That was easy to fix but it was masking image rejection problems. Pushing the si5351 to UHF was also a bit more challenging. My first prototype worked well enough but unit to unit variance meant a good number of devices would not function up to 450MHz.

I met AI6YM briefly when we both had vendor tables in at Pacificon 2025 and was impressed by his products. I’m curious about the T41 Mini - that’s a compelling price point. I’m enthusiastic about the forthcoming PicoFox r3 and the FoxSniffer, and I’m sure that I’ll be investing in those two products. (Radio) “Fox Hunting” / Transmitter Hunting / Radio Direction Finding are Zero Retries Interesting activities that easily appeal to NewTechHams and those potentially interested in Amateur Radio as a physical aspect of Amateur Radio. Developing and maintaining such expertise is a useful capability to demonstrate knowledge of radio technology.

HydraSDR Update

I pinged Benjamin Vernoux of HydraSDR about the how the new (introduced in 2025) RFOne Software Defined Receiver was doing, and he provided this informative update. One differentiating feature of the RFOne is that it’s manufactured in the US, so no tariff / import / overseas manufacturing issues.

The launch has been going well and I’ve been pleased with the reception from the community so far, except in Europe where things have been a bit slower.

As with any new product, there’s always a learning curve as I gather feedback and continue to refine things, but overall I’m happy with where things stand.

There is lot of update on https://github.com/hydrasdr#software-support

  • RFAnalyzer – RF Analyzer is an Android app for real-time spectrum analysis using SDR hardware. It displays live FFT and waterfall plots of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum and supports demodulation, recording, and more, support HydraSDR RFOne (Since 6 Oct 2025)

  • kalibrate-hydrasdr - Kalibrate-HydraSDR - GSM-based frequency calibration tool for HydraSDR RFOne. Scans GSM base stations to measure and correct the internal TCXO frequency offset with precision PPM/PPB measurements.

  • New fork with native HydraSDR support like AIS-catcher fork / SDRTrunk fork / GNSS-SDRLIB-PVT

  • SatNOGS - SatNOGS Client 2.1 docker container updated with gr-satellites 5.8 and HydraSDR RFOne SDR support

I’m also planning a major release of the host software (github.com/hydrasdr/hydrasdr-host) with version 1.1.0 coming soon.

This update will include significant enhancements to the DDC with more than 2x performance improvement, as well as optimized streaming with reduced overhead.

It’s cool that there’s explicit support for RFOne for use with SatNOGS!

Introducing the Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2: Generative AI on Raspberry Pi 5

Image courtesy of Raspberry Pi

Featuring the new Hailo-10H neural network accelerator, the Raspberry Pi AI HAT+ 2 delivers 40 TOPS (INT4) of inferencing performance, ensuring generative AI workloads run smoothly on Raspberry Pi 5. Performing all AI processing locally and without a network connection, the AI HAT+ 2 operates reliably and with low latency, maintaining the privacy, security, and cost-efficiency of cloud-free AI computing that we introduced with the original AI HAT+.

Unlike its predecessor, the AI HAT+ 2 features 8GB of dedicated on-board RAM, enabling the accelerator to efficiently handle much larger models than previously possible. This, along with an updated hardware architecture, allows the Hailo-10H chip to accelerate large language models (LLMs), vision-language models (VLMs), and other generative AI applications.

Honestly, I can’t parse out very much of that other than it’s even more feasible now to run Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning applications on a relatively inexpensive combination of a Raspberry Pi 5 and this new unit. It takes Amateur Radio a while to start taking advantage of capabilities like this, but I find hardware like this very attractive as a platform because:

  • It’s not a (physically big, power demanding) desktop computer,

  • It’s not running on a system in the cloud, requiring Internet access, an account on a “Mother, May I” application from a company that will change its policies next week,

  • It can run Machine Language applications locally, under your control, reliably.

Two such innovative Machine Language applications in Amateur Radio (that can be run on embedded / local hardware like this) I’m fond of citing are:

I imagine that I’m missing many others that I’m simply not aware of.

I’m looking forward to someone creating a Machine Learning application that incorporates all known Amateur Radio data communication modes, and gets turned loose on a radio receiver, and it just “figures it out”. We don’t have to tune individual channels on an HF receiver any more - ka9q-radio can “receive it all”. In 2026, we shouldn’t have to “select” a data mode that we’d like to receive - some application - “OmniData?” should just be able to “figure it out”.

Hubble Network - Bluetooth to LEO Satellite

Once upon a time, when I knew radio technology (hubris), a claim like

Track and transmit with confidence. Powered by space-grade coverage.

Unlock low-cost global transmission and visibility for any device with a Bluetooth® chip. No modems, no infrastructure, no custom hardware required.

… would trip my BS filter and I would disregard an idea as communicating (anything…) reliably from a radio device designed to communicate for only a few feet in an indoor setting… to a satellite in low earth orbit… as preposterous.

But virtually nothing related to radio is truly impossible these days if you can throw enough compute power, process gain, antenna gain, forward error correction, etc. at the problem. We’ve seen such “impossible” things as just a few milliwatts of transmit power being received on the far side of the planet using WSPR. Not to mention that LoRa was never designed to communicate with satellites, but it’s being used that way.

So I’m willing to be convinced. Hubble Network is based in the Seattle Washington area, and perhaps a coincidence, or perhaps not, that the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) is also based in the Seattle area. If things settle down and time permits 🤣, I’d like to talk to someone at Hubble to understand how Bluetooth can be used with satellites.

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Footnotes for this Issue

To see the relevant sentence for the footnote, just click the footnote number.

1

It seems feasible and desirable, to me, to integrate basic 44Net Connect compatibility into AREDN. But it might be too complex, the code too big, configuration too fussy for that to be realistic. In my fantasy scenario, selecting a tunnel server via 44Net Connect would be a simple selection in the configuration of an AREDN tunnel server. Perhaps work things out so that setting up an account on 44Net Connect, there’s a bit of additional configuration to provide easy tunnel support for AREDN.

2

HamWAN is the underlying network technology. Puget Sound Data Ring is the specific HamWAN network in Western Washington.

3

The “correct interfacing” issue is one reason why 9600 bps Frequency Shift Keying generally worked acceptably in the Kenwood TM-D700 and TM-D710 radios because Kenwood optimized the internal 9600 bps FSK Terminal Node Controller (TNC) to the radio section, including drive levels and deviation.

4

or the mode is so “tolerant” of a wide range of deviation being received, or “adaptive” such as VARA FM.

5

APRS over LoRa has been happening for years, but that was being done by individual vendors. Hopefully the involvement of APRS Foundation will encourage full interoperability between APRS over LoRa implementations.

]]><![CDATA[Zero Retries 0233]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0233https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0233Thu, 01 Jan 2026 06:30:11 GMTZero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Radios are computers - with antennas! Now in its fifth year of publication, with 3300+ 3400+ subscribers.

About Zero Retries

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Email - editor@zeroretries.net

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In this issue:

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Paid Subscribers Update

My thanks to Gerry Brown KK7GAB for renewing as an Annual Paid Subscriber (3rd year!) to Zero Retries in the past two weeks!

My thanks to My thanks to Prefers to Remain Anonymous 115 for upgrading from a free subscriber to Zero Retries to an Annual Paid Subscriber in the past two weeks!

My thanks to Bill Kreutinger KM6SLF for two years of being a Paid Subscriber to Zero Retries in the past two weeks!

Financial support from Zero Retries readers is a significant vote of support for the continued publication of Zero Retries.

3400 Email Subscribers!

Snipped from the Substack Dashboard today. Image by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Just days before the end of 2025, the email subscriber count for Zero Retries has ticked up to 3400. The total readership of Zero Retries, via RSS, social media, pass-alongs, etc. is anecdotally much more than that number. I am grateful to all of you for “voting with your attention” that Zero Retries is contributing to Amateur Radio, and thus worth the work that I put into it. As I explain in every issue of Zero Retries in the section above, I’m am very grateful to the paid subscribers to Zero Retries that help to support Zero Retries financially.

Apologies For Publication Confusion

Thanks to those of you who reached out to check in on me if I was doing OK. It was appreciated! No health or other issues - the issue with Zero Retries not being published on schedule on Friday 2025-12-19 and 2025-12-26 was mostly poor planning on my part combined with busyness.

I had intended to take my “annual” holiday break and not publish Zero Retries in the last two weeks or so of the year in order to spend time with family over the Christmas / New Year holidays… but didn’t say anything about that in Zero Retries 0232.

There was also some last minute, barely scheduled travel just before Christmas by Tina and I to help out a friend. That kept us busy to the point where I didn’t get any laptop time to work on this issue of Zero Retries, until today.

I had wanted to implement the transition of Zero Retries to a new platform and migrate off Substack in December 2025, but as I’ve said previously, that’s a complicated process.

zeroretries.radio

That transition - Zero Retries being published on a platform other than Substack, is my highest priority for Zero Retries now. I’m determined that the transition will be implemented in January, 2026. At this point, I can reveal that Zero Retries on the new platform will be published using a new domain name:

zeroretries.radio

Currently that domain redirects right back here to Zero Retries on Substack, but soon enough it will point to Zero Retries on another platform.

While I hope to migrate the content of Zero Retries onto the new platform, that may not be possible (at least cleanly). We’ll see.

The Zero Retries Email List

… is going great! One of the nicest things about the Zero Retries email list is that there is a lot of community support and peer to peer information exchange happening on via the list. My thanks to all the participants. It’s also gratifying to see Zero Retries Interesting information posted on the list that I wasn’t aware of.

The Zero Retries YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/@ZeroRetries is similarly going well (68 subscribers! Yoo Hoo!)

There’s a lot of Zero Retries Interesting content on YouTube, and while I’ve kind of been throwing a lot of stuff into the playlists on ZRYC, in the future I’m going to curate more selectively, such as creating specific playlists for topics such as Packet Radio (videos that I consider credible).

Synergy of Video Presentations, Zero Retries Guides, and the Zero Retries Book

I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback and suggestions about the new Zero Retries Guide to HF Data Communications and my stated intention that it is the first of many Zero Retries Guides. I’m glad that I seem to have identified another “gap” in Amateur Radio that’s useful to furthering the mission of promoting Amateur Radio of the 21st century.

I intend that each Zero Retries Guide is going to be the basis of a three-way synergy - ZR Guides feed ZR video presentations feed chapters in the upcoming book.

Each Zero Retries Guide will be expanded into a brief video presentation (my goal is 10 minutes max) that will get posted on YouTube. These will be wholly original content, explaining a subject such as HF Data Communications, from the unique Zero Retries perspective. The idea is to “cross support” the (text) Zero Retries Guide with the (video) Zero Retries presentation. This addresses one of my primary plaints about video presentations (lack of deeper context), while addressing the near universal shift of information presentation in this era from text to video.

And then, between the Zero Retries Guide, and developing the presentation, and the feedback I receive from both, I can then “port” that information over to the equivalent chapter in the still in progress book - Zero Retries Guide to Amateur Radio in the 21st Century. After moving Zero Retries to a new publishing platform, this book is the next primary project of Zero Retries in early 2026.

Coming Attractions in 2026

My wife Tina KD7WSF, Zero Retries’ Business Manager often cautions me not to overpromise and underdeliver, and that’s a point well taken. With that in mind, I have reasonable confidence that I’ll be able to deliver on these near future projects.

Two big, important projects for Zero Retries in 2026 (besides the book) will be:

  • Porting Zero Retries content into Google’s NotebookLM and then sharing that out. There are limits on NotebookLM sharing, so this feature will be initially be offered to Zero Retries paid subscribers. That’s not a “shill” for additional Zero Retries paid subscribers, just a long overdue “Thanks” to the paid subscribers who currently don’t receive much “value added” for their paid subscriptions. NotebookLM doesn’t “ingest” web pages, so I was basically stymied for an reasonable way to add issues of Zero Retries to NotebookLM. But in some brief downtime the past couple of weeks, I did a specific enough AI and web query and found a reasonable way to do so. This will also address a longstanding task of porting out each issue of Zero Retries into a PDF so that it can be archived into DLARC.

  • Beginning the Zero Retries Zoom sessions (good name To Be Determined). In doing presentations for others, I’m not in control of the agenda (inclusion of Amateur Radio club business meetings, for example) and often, I feel that important (Zero Retries Interesting) information doesn’t get presented, or it’s diffused (discussion forks into discussing, for example, M17 in a presentation I intended to be about, for example, New Packet Radio. This is completely understandable in a context of a general presentation for an Amateur Radio club. I think there’s lots of room for a Zero Retries Interesting focused discussion / interview on specific topics with specific interviewees, and I’m determined to make that happen in 2026. Zoom does a great job in creating decent video, and I have hopes that either Zoom, or another application / service will make it possible for me to easily and efficiently edit the videos lightly (titling, minor cutting) and then post them on the Zero Retries YouTube channel. And, of course, it helps the “Zero Retries Synergy” that Zoom automagically creates a good enough transcript of each Zoom session.

    As with NotebookLM, Zoom sessions, at least at the basic tier that I’m currently using, the participation in a Zoom session has limits. Thus, as with the Zero Retries NotebookLM, this feature will be initially offered to Zero Retries paid subscribers. Again, that’s not a “shill” for additional Zero Retries paid subscribers, just a long overdue “Thanks” to the paid subscribers who don’t receive much “value added” for their paid subscriptions.

Thanks for a wonderful and productive 2025, all you Zero Retries readers!

Handy Tip - Use RSS to Monitor Groups.io Email Lists

A longtime Zero Retries reader mentioned to me:

Reading the Zero Retries email list via RSS is wonderful!

RSS is Really Simple Syndication, a way of monitoring blogs (mostly) and other websites that have an RSS feed, via a RSS feed reader app. My use of RSS is one of the main reasons I can bring you interesting developments here in Zero Retries (without spending most of my days manually polling various websites).

Indeed! That got me thinking that most of the Groups.io email lists that I follow for Amateur Radio, I’m doing so passively and thus don’t need to clutter my email inbox with each new post to the list (or digest). Groups.io allows you to be subscribed, but not receive emails which has the advantage of being able to go to the Groups.io page for the list and comment there if you wish. Gmail keeps nattering at me that I’m at 88% or so capacity on my current tier, and I’m going to implement this strategy in the next few days and set those Groups.io lists to “no email” and convert my monitoring to RSS.

Best of Zero Retries 2025

End of year summaries are the usual fodder for media such as Zero Retries, and I think that’s appropriate and useful for the first issue of Zero Retries in 2026. It was a busy and productive year for technological innovation in Amateur Radio.

(Likely) No Zero Retries on Friday 2026-01-09

I’m going to reserve the next ten days or so to complete the transition to a new publishing platform for Zero Retries without the self-imposed pressure to publish a new issue of Zero Retries. Thus I don’t plan to publish Zero Retries on Friday 2026-01-09 (or Friday 2026-01-02)… unless the conversion to the new platform goes really, really well.

Weekends (and Holidays) Are For Amateur Radio!

We’ve had a streak of clear (sunny) but cold weather here in Bellingham this week, and after publishing this issue, I’m going to reserve a few days to work in N8GNJ / Zero Retries Labs to catch up on at minimum, clear the bench of accumulated projects (perpetually in progress).

Have a great weekend, all of you co-conspirators in Zero Retries Interesting Amateur Radio activities!

Steve N8GNJ

Comment on ZR email list

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By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Short mentions of Zero Retries Interesting items.

Introducing 44Net Connect: A Simpler Way to Access 44Net

ARDC website:

Are you a ham that wants to experiment with 44Net but found the setup process to be intimidating? Say no more, because we’ve got great news for you!

We’re excited to introduce 44Net Connect, a service that makes it easy for hams to begin using 44Net IPv4 addresses through a simple, modern setup. Whether you’re experimenting with digital modes, improving repeater infrastructure, setting up a home lab, or just curious to see what 44Net is all about, this new service lowers the barrier of entry to get you started.

Why 44Net Connect?

44Net Connect uses modern, secure networking technology (WireGuard) that’s already supported by many popular routers, including NETGEAR, TP-Link, and Ubiquiti, and it works across a wide range of devices, from desktop computers and phones to Raspberry Pis.

Here’s what makes 44Net Connect especially useful:

  • Simple setup: No complex configurations required. Just connect and go!

  • Get a static IPv4 address: Access a static 44Net IPv4 address without relying on your ISP.

  • Bypass carrier-grade NAT (CGNAT) limitations: Perfect if your IPv4 support is behind CGNAT or has a short lease from your ISP.

  • Experiment safely: You can experiment and learn without “breaking the Internet”– 44Net Connect has the bumpers in place for you.

All in all, 44Net Connect makes 44Net more accessible and fun, helping more people experiment with networking, amateur radio, and digital communications technologies!

How to Get Started

Getting connected is easy: all you need is a router, computer, phone, Raspberry Pi, or anything that can run a WireGuard client.

  1. If you haven’t already, go to the 44Net Portal, set up an account, and then open a ticket for call sign verification.

  2. Once your call sign is verified, head over to the 44Net Connect dashboard to sign up and join the registration queue.

From there, you’ll be able to explore what 44Net has to offer and see just how easy it is to get online.

A Community Effort

44Net Connect wouldn’t have been possible without the work and collaboration from Adam Lewis KC7GDY, who originated the concept; Zach Seguin VA3ZTS, an early contributor that worked closely with Adam on the project; and John Hays K7VE SK, whose subject-matter expertise and efforts were instrumental in bringing 44Net Connect to reality. Ian Redden VA3IAN, Dave Gingrich K9DC, and Dan Theisen WI7FI contributed valuable guidance, insight, testing, and support throughout the project as well.

We’d also like to thank the 2024 and 2025 Technical Advisory Committees (TAC), who helped shepherd this project from “what if” to proof of concept to being production-ready, and of course the many beta testers who provided valuable feedback along the way.

If you’d like to learn more about 44Net Connect or get involved, please reach out to Adam Lewis KC7GDY, our IT & Development Manager (adam@ardc.net) or John Burwell KI5QKX, our 44Net Program Manager (john@ardc.net).

A Nod to 44Net’s Legacy

44Net Connect debuted December 10, 2025, which is also the 45th anniversary of another pivotal moment in amateur radio, when Hank Magnuski KA6M put up the first digipeater in the United States and helped kick off the packet radio era. We are honored to mark this new service alongside a significant milestone in amateur radio and digital communications.

Join In!

44Net Connect continues the spirit of 44Net: a playground for experimentation and innovation with TCP/IP over RF. With this new service, getting started has never been easier. So fire up your router, and start exploring the possibilities!

My chosen router for 44Net Connect (not yet implemented) is the GL.iNet GL-AR300M16 (available from Amazon).

The article 44Net Connect is Live! in Zero Retries 0232 was an “insider’s heads up” notification on the 44Net email list. This is the formal, general, fully public article about 44Net Connect aimed at a more general audience.

I’m still jazzed that 44Net Connect is finally live and publicly available.

Comment on ZR email list

UberSDR - Open Source Web Based HF SDR

Andy Zwirko K1RA on the ka9q-radio email list:

… For those running the RX-888, there is a new system that is so cool I can’t put it into words. It wraps so much into one app I may be retiring many of my other go to SDR apps and hardware.

https://ubersdr.org/

https://github.com/madpsy/ka9q_ubersdr

It’s composed of two docker images to support KA9Q-Radio and another for the UI, decoding and processing. There are also standalone clients for Windows and Linux, which I’ve yet to play with that offer various audio and CAT interfaces and SDC TCI connectivity, something I’ve been looking to see supported in the opensource SDR realm. See

https://www.lw-sdc.com/

for more on add-ons.

I’ve spun up docker and when I’m not testing/playing/restarting the images, you can check the receiver UI here:

http://ubersdr.k1ra.us:9080/

but also check out some cool metrics and analytics at:

http://ubersdr.k1ra.us:9080/digitalspots_map.html

http://ubersdr.k1ra.us:9080/bandconditions.html

http://ubersdr.k1ra.us:9080/noisefloor.html

There are only a select few others running this found here:

https://instances.ubersdr.org/

To which Phil Karn KA9Q (creator of ka9q-radio) replied:

Pretty cool. This is exactly what I hoped would happen when I started ka9q-radio -- somebody would put a really good UI on it.

At a glance, this looks like an ideal Software Defined Receiver client - for Amateur Radio HF reception.

That merits a plaint - UberSDR supports only HF and on a specific (albeit, good) Software Defined Receiver, the RX-888, that’s only (well, mostly…) for HF.

A second, minor plaint - UberSDR has native installations for Linux (completely understandable) and Windows (also completely understandable), but not MacOS… also understandable, I guess. But this would be really cool running on a Mac given how much Graphic Processor Unit (GPU) power that a typical, modern Mac has available (and almost entirely idle) in the era of the Apple M4 processor that is now baseline on current generation Macs.

We need the kind of functionality and usability such as UberSDR for VHF / UHF SDRx units, especially building in the decoders for common VHF / UHF modes, such as the various flavors of digital voice, conventional packet radio / APRS, LoRa / Meshtastic (on 433 / 868 / 915 MHz), etc.

“Need”, as my observation is that HF operation is mostly of interest to Amateur Radio Operators with long experience, but not of much interest to NewTechHams who are often constrained to VHF / UHF operations in apartments, condos, housing developments governed by Homeowners Agreements (HOAs) prohibiting external antennas, etc. This matters if Amateur Radio is going to be able to be seen as relevant in this era amongst the potential population that could become NewTechHams.

Comment on ZR email list

Electronic Technicians Association International

As an Electronic Technician (now retired), I had always intended, but never quite got around to getting certifications by the International Society of Certified Electronics Technicians (ISCET). That didn’t hinder me in my eclectic career path which expanded into SysAdmin / NetAdmin work, and eventually writing… but it was always something that I regretted not doing.

In researching a related area for an idea and possible story, I discovered that ISCET merged with other organizations with similar missions into the Electronic Technicians Association International (ETAI).

ETAI even has their own electronic magazine - High Tech News.

Wikipedia’s article - Electronics Technicians Association gives a good overview of the history of the various organizations that merged to become ETAI.

This mention in the Wikipedia article was Zero Retries Interesting:

In 1993 ETA became a COLEM for the FCC Commercial Radio License program and offers professionals the chance to sit for seven different FCC commercial licenses at ETA test sites including the general radiotelephone operator license.

I was under the (mistaken) impression that FCC licenses for individuals (other than Amateur Radio and General Mobile Radio Service - GMRS) had long since been deprecated in favor of industry certifications. Apparently the FCC Commercial Radio Operator Licenses continue, but testing for it is administered by Commercial Operator License Examination Manager organizations (COLEMs) such as (per ChatGPT):

  • National Association of Radio and Telecommunications Engineers (NARTE)

  • W5YI Group

  • National Radio Examiners (NRE)

  • ATI / FCC Commercial Radio License Examinations

It would be cool if something could be worked out with one of those groups, perhaps W5YI group (given its origins in Amateur Radio) to create “certifications” for various aspects of Amateur Radio in the 21st century such as:

  • Software Defined Radio

  • APRS

  • Digital Voice systems

  • Antenna theory

  • Microwave communications

And many other specialized topics.

Comment on ZR email list

Pending ARRL Book - Digital Networking for Ham Radio

This email from ARRL to some (ARRL affiliated?) Amateur Radio clubs was shared with me by Zero Retries reader Bob Houghton AD6QF:

While doing some research on clubs that have members with interests around new technologies like AREDN, Meshtastic, and networking, I thought you and the executive team of [organization redacted] would be interested in a new ARRL book called Digital Networking for Ham Radio, which is expected to be available before spring 2026. We go to press officially in mid-January. Here is a link to the final high-level table of contents.

Glen Popiel, KW5GP, an accomplished author of multiple ARRL publications, brings a unique perspective to this new book. Its focus stands out, and it is worth recognizing both individuals and clubs that are engaged in these subjects. Innovative technologies in the 33-, 23-, 13-, and 5-centimeter bands are attracting commercial interest. This book highlights the amateur radio community’s engagement with these frequencies and why we must show we are using them to prevent commercial interests from taking them away from the amateur radio community.

The new book will include pages for “booster” ads, so individuals and clubs interested in these topics can take part. Here are the details:

Individuals — For $30, an individual will have first and last name plus call sign listed in the book. Individuals listed will also receive a free printed copy of the book as a thank you. Those on our list will receive a discount code to claim a printed copy as soon as it arrives in our warehouse.

Clubs — We believe that the more club members who have this book, the more it will spark discussion and encourage even greater hands-on group projects. Listing the club’s name, main call sign, and website address costs $50. Club members who are not named individually are eligible to buy the book at half price. There is no limit to the number of copies you can order.

We expect to fill six to eight pages with booster ads in this book on digital networking and their use of the microwave spectrum. With a list price of $34.95, this book is an excellent way to support an important topic, demonstrate your commitment, and help defend our spectrum as one of our boosters.

Time is extremely limited before we go to press. Submit your club details using the online form linked below. We encourage you to share this message with your members or those interested in this topic so they can be part of the individual listing option.

The ARRL member services team will then reach back out to confirm the details and to process payment.

We need to close all form entries by January 9, 2026, to prepare and complete everything for the first production run.

Here is the form link.

Please do not hesitate to call or email me directly with any questions.

73,

Steve Bossert, K2GOG
Advertising Sales Manager
ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio®
225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111-1400
860-594-0203
sbossert@arrl.org
ads@arrl.org
www.arrl.org

AD6QF said:

I take this as a positive sign that ARRL is moving in the right direction.

I agree!

I think that the “booster” (I’d call it sponsorship) section of the book is a great idea, though I think they slightly missed the mark by not offering a slightly more prominent mention (such as mentioning the company name in a bold font), at a higher cost, to commercial companies. It’s an interesting hybrid to the complications of crowdfunding via Kickstarter, etc. where a product must be delivered. This approach is such a good idea that I’m going to adopt it for my upcoming book.

To support this book, and ARRL’s re-entry into books about Amateur Radio data networking (there have been a number, most recently High Speed Multimedia for Amateur Radio in 2016), I queried K2GOG at ARRL about the possibility of Zero Retries being mentioned as a “club” in the book, and I received a positive response, details To Be Determined.

I agree that this new book is a positive sign for ARRL’s recognition that Amateur Radio in the 21st century won’t be Same Old, Same Old technologies, and that Amateur Radio data networking is a significant trend in the 21st century. I hope I’m wrong in inferring that the book will posit that “Amateur Radio data networking is only being done in “33-, 23-, 13-, and 5-centimeter bands” and not mention the innovation in data networking that is being done in Amateur Radio VHF / UHF bands such as VARA FM, New Packet Radio, IP400, CATS, and AREDN (in the 902-928 MHz / 33 cm band).

Back in 2025-08, when I first heard about this book, I corresponded briefly with KW5GP with some suggestions of topics I think the book should include, and pointers to a number of Amateur Radio microwave networks.

To answer a question in advance, no this book doesn’t impact my plans for, or intended content of my pending book Zero Retries Guide to Amateur Radio in the 21st Century. While I think there will be some overlap of coverage, the two books have different aims and intended audiences. For example, I have no qualms about including speculative ideas (clearly labeled as such) such as my SuperPeater concept and discussing the rise of NewTechHams, and what that demographic portends for Amateur Radio in the 21st century.

I look forward to buying this book, reading, and learning more about the covered subjects from KW5GP’s perspective.

Comment on ZR email list

Ham Radio Workbench Podcast 252 - AllStar ROIP Linking with David NR9V from AllScan

I haven’t yet listened to this episode of HRWB, but it is next on my podcast list, within the next few days. I’m in awe of the productivity of David Gleason NR9V in churning out a wide variety of innovative audio interfaces via his company AllScan.info for a variety of use cases and radios in Amateur Radio. He's created several new variants of his products just within the last few months, which he previews on the Facebook group AllScan AllStar App & Nodes.

An episode of HRWB like this doesn’t get much more Zero Retries Interesting, and I really want to hear what NR9V has to say, especially from his encyclopedic knowledge of AllStarLink, which I could use a primer on.

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DreamHat+ 60 GHz RADAR Hat For Raspberry Pi

Robb Smith VE7PSK via email:

Have you seen the DreamHat+ 60 GHz radar hat for Raspberry Pi?
(https://linuxgizmos.com/dreamhat-enables-60-ghz-radar-sensing-on-raspberry-pi-4b-and-5/)?

This is a computer-controlled 60 GHz transceiver in the form of a Raspberry Pi HAT which can be had for relatively little money, and looking at the datasheet, I think it might be possible to use it as a high-speed data transceiver. The 60 GHz band is an ISM band, so it should be possible for hams and non-hams alike to have some fun with it.

The article says in part:

Dream Boards has released the DreamHAT+ Radar, a compact add-on board that brings high-precision 60 GHz mm-wave radar capabilities to Raspberry Pi 4B and 5. Built around Infineon’s BGT60TR13C radar chip, the DreamHAT+ is designed for developers and researchers working on gesture recognition, presence detection, indoor tracking, and privacy-focused sensing, all without relying on cameras or microphones.

The radar operates between 58 and 63.5 GHz using frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) technology. It features one transmitting and three receiving antennas on a single chip, enabling directional sensing and motion tracking.

…

The DreamHAT+ Radar is available now for $110.83 from Pimoroni.

Two decades ago, the cheapest 60 GHz unit available was (from fallible memory) tens of thousands of dollars, which was reasonable at the time for achieving 1 Gbps radio links rooftop to rooftop in urban areas. Much of the expense of those units was creating an antenna that could focus (and track) a beam with the wavelength of 5mm.

Now a 60 GHz radio is a cheap Raspberry Pi HAT. I love technology!

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Pocket Pico / Pico TNC Project

Peter Filiberti KF7PSM via email:

I saw the write up on the OPENTNC. The author also modified the code to
work on our hardware design for the "POCKET PICO" as it is dubbed by our
group.

You can find it here:
https://github.com/pfiliberti/pico_tnc

Also another Ham forked our repo and took our firmware and made some
slight changes so it runs on the opentnc hardware. That is located here:
https://github.com/mpvano/pico_opentnc

Something else that might be of interest is the original tncemu:
https://github.com/pfiliberti/tncemu

From the PICO TNC page:

PICO TNC is the Terminal Node Controller for Amateur Packet Radio powered by Raspberry Pi Pico. This is a fork of that project. I have removed all of the major features of the code except for the modulator/demodulator section and inserted a z80 emulator from my TNCEMU project that emulates a Heathkit HK21 Pocket Packet. Introductory Video can be seen here:

Link to the previous mention of OpenTNC in Zero Retries 0232.

I have strong memories of the HK21 (see cover and review article in the link) and I now have one in my collection of TNCs. (If memory serves, the HK21 was actually a product of Tano Corp. of Japan, not an original design by Heathkit). It was cool that you could connect a downsized TNC to a portable radio for a fully portable (handheld) packet radio station (sans laptop, of course). Now we can do the same thing with the Mobilinkd TNC4 and the Digirig and Digirig Lite, not to mention some portable radios with built-in TNCs.

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Codec 2 Optimized For Smaller Memory and Faster Execution

Wojciech Kaczmarski SP5WWP on the M17 Project website:

After a few days of optimizing Codec2’s code (3200 bps mode), it is time to share the results (and the code itself!).

What the goals were:

  • provide the 3200 bps mode through a separate, clean repository (only C code, no Octave test benches, no modems etc.)

  • prepare an easy experimenting ground for further improvements (beyond the bit-exactness constraint)

  • code clean-up: remove all the unnecessary and obsolete constructs, applied optimizations

  • fully static memory allocation (including KISS FFT)

After all of that has been done, the resulting code is still fully compatible with the original Codec2, but executes faster and with much less memory footprint. Sounds like an excellent drop-in replacement for OpenRTX and other embedded projects. See the readme file for more details.

GitHub repository: https://github.com/M17-Project/Codec2-mod

As always: have fun testing the code. Feedback is welcome!

This is just one example of the continuing technological innovation occurring within the M17 Project. All the other digital voice systems used in Amateur Radio are static - they’re as good (or poor…) as they’re ever going to be. This is a situation akin to trying to improve voice quality in the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) that David Isenberg so aptly described in his amazing and prescient essay The Rise of the Stupid Network. All of the interfaces for P25, D-Star, System Fusion, DMR, etc. - repeaters, radios, networking, are now “locked in” so you can’t get better voice quality (or other fundamental improvements) from those systems.

But M17 is different because it’s entirely software based, especially its vocoder - Codec 2, and M17 is Open Source, so M17 can be improved… and as demonstrated by this development, is being improved.

Also relevant to M17, there have been a number of small announcements in the last few months relating to M17 posted on the M17 Project website, including CC1200 hotspot firmware v2.0 is out.

Will some nimble Amateur Radio vendor in the US please buy a number of the CC1200 hotspots and sell them from stock so us casual M17 users can order just one via a US source? I’m happy to pay a premium for a CC1200 from such a vendor. I just don’t want to deal with the complexities of ordering quantity 5 direct from China.

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When You Hear “APRS”, Do You Think “2 meter FM”???

Jon Adams N7UV on the Ham-Radio-LoRa-APRS email list:

The Amateur Packet Reporting System (APRS), as envisioned by WB4APR and subsequently many others, was and is an application to establish a highly robust tactical messaging system using amateur radio digital communications, which was growing quickly in popularity around 1980. His goal was to allow any suitably equipped ham to capture, in a short period of time, an overview of what was going on (from a ham radio point of view) in the local area, including announcements, bulletins, messages, alerts, weather, objects, events, frequencies in use, nets, meetings, hamfests, ham satellites in view, mobile/portable device locations, and to be able to map this activity. Messaging is a core part of APRS!

Here’s a quote from a writeup WB4APR had published back in 2002 on the 10th anniversary of APRS: (the link is to the old aprs.org site, which doesn’t use https. so your browser might warn you of all kinds of dangers %^)

APRS is a real-time tactical digital communications protocol for exchanging information between a large number of stations covering a large (local) area. As a multi-user data network, it is quite different from conventional packet radio.

APRS is different from regular packet in four ways. First by the 
integration of maps and other data displays to organize and display 
data, second, by using a one-to-many protocol to update everyone in real time, third, by using generic digipeating so that prior knowledge of the network is not required, AND FORTH [sic], since 1997, a worldwide transparent internet backbone, linking everyone worldwide. APRS turns packet radio into a real-time tactical communications and display system for emergencies and public service applications (and global communications). Normal packet radio is useful in passing bulk message traffic (Email) from point-to-point, but it does not do well at real time events where information has a very short life time and needs to get to everyone quickly.

It’s well worth a read, if for no other reason than to understand better what Bob had in mind when he crafted APRS.

Many, including WB4APR, stated that APRS wasn’t intended to be a vehicle/person tracking system, but indeed that is generally considered to be the most common use of APRS today. To a great extent, that use has taken away from the original intent of messaging and situational awareness. Back when APRS was first envisioned, the GPS constellations that we take for granted nowadays didn’t exist, and once they became available the cost of a GPS receiver was astronomical (pun intended). Nonetheless, as GPS prices plummeted, it became easy to add GPS to a mobile setup. There’s nothing wrong with tracking mobile/portable units, it’s critical to remember that APRS is supposed to be an amateur radio situational awareness system, which also includes keeping track of things that are moving.

Mike KC8OWL has been one of the leaders in reinvigorating the “messaging” aspect of APRS with his (ok, it’s a bunch of folks) “APRS Thursday“ program, encouraging APRS-equipped hams to send a message. Messaging is a fundamental part of APRS.

What does LoRa have to do with APRS? First, they’re two different things. LoRa is an advanced, modern, wireless digital modulation technology, and APRS is an application (an “app”) that relies upon some method of wide-area wireless communications.

Traditional APRS (like what is heard on 2 meters) uses a very mature (or nearly obsolete, to this writer) digital modulation technology called AFSK (audio frequency shift keying) generated by simple analog<>digital modems (TNCs) to take advantage of the VHF voice FM radios that continue to be the most common item the average ham has access to. It’s straightforward to connect a TNC to a suitable 2 meter FM radio and, so long as the ham gets the wiring right, the audio levels properly set, and the RF path is solid, the TNC can construct a data packet, generate an audio waveform that modulates radio’s microphone input, and the radio transmits the packet. At the remote station (digi, igate, another operator, etc.) using a similar setup, it can receive, demodulate, and then read the contents of that data packet. Easy-peasy! (For AFSK APRS, please never use VOX to key the transmitter!)

There are two major challenges with legacy amateur packet radio. First, AFSK modulation used over the air is very sensitive to distortion, FM capture effect, random noise bursts, slow and fast path fade, mobile fade/flutter, etc. From that AFSK Wikipedia link above (mildly edited to further the point):

AFSK ... is far less efficient in both power and bandwidth than most other modulation modes.

The protocol selected to encode the information is AX.25, a variation on X.25, a protocol designed for wired packet-switched communications. X.25 works well because it is on a wire, there are no “hidden transmitters”, all units can detect whether the wire is busy or not thus to not step on one another, and there is a very low probability of external noise corrupting a bit. The A in AX.25 means “amateur”, as the hams who worked with X.25 did a few tweaks to it, and christened it AX.25. Over a radio channel AX.25 is problematic. It’s designed for a wire, not a real-life radio channel, with distortion, multipath, FM capture effect, random noise bursts, hidden transmitters, etc. AX.25 has no error correction capacity, so if a bit is corrupted over the radio channel, the receiving end has to throw out the entire packet, and that entire channel occupancy time has been wasted. Why was this selected? Because, back in the mid-1970’s, it was available, understood, and was designed for packet-switched networks, so why not? And could be implemented on fairly inexpensive (even for the 1980s) hardware.

Today, AFSK is crude. It was very common back in the dial-up modem days (does anyone even remember those ancient acoustically coupled modems where you dialed a phone number, then placed the handset into the rubber cups and could hear dulcet modem tones?), since all that there was available was an plain-old-telephone-service (POTS) audio circuit between two computers. AFSK was an easy way to encode digital information on a voice-grade telephone connection. An old-school telephone circuit is (within reason) a wire, not nearly as subject to the real world vagaries of a radio channel.

So here we hams are, in the 2nd quarter of the 21st century, still using a set of technologies that are now over 50 years old. LoRa data communications represents a thousand-fold improvement on legacy FM AFSK packet radio! LoRa is as big a step forward from FM AFSK as FT8 and other advanced digital communications modes are to RTTY %^).

Next time, let’s find out more about what’s so cool about LoRa and why it’s perfect for hams and APRS!

Kudos to N7UV on this great food-for-thought article about keeping APRS relevant with improved radio technology. Candidly, this is the kind of thought leadership I had hoped would be provided by the APRS Foundation. But that organization is fading out in relevance for lack of substantive communications (last update on their website was 2026-07) or substantive advancement of organizational perspective on APRS.

LoRa is one reasonable option for a “better than AFSK” modulation system for low data rate communications in Amateur Radio. But, LoRa is a bit tough to fit into conventional APRS usage as there aren’t any 10 or 25 or 50 watt radios available for LoRa (and especially not for Amateur Radio VHF / UHF bands other than 433 MHz (intended for low power unlicensed use in Europe) and 915 MHz (intended for low power unlicensed use in North America). Yes, there’s an argument to be made that LoRa doesn’t need higher power operation, but… we’re Amateur Radio, and we can use such power levels.

One huge improvement that could be implemented with APRS would be the incorporation, as a standardized improvement in the APRS specification, of Forward Error Correction (FEC). We now have a choice of FEC for VHF / UHF packet radio appropriate for APRS - FX.25 or IL2P1 (my choice is the latter as its FEC is interleaved, rather than being “tacked on”) but adding FX.25, if that is the consensus, would be a significant improvement to APRS.

Another vastly improved implementation of APRS beyond 2m AFSK modulation is Communication And Telemetry System - CATS which also uses 70 cm, with Frequency Shift Keying at 9600 bps. Unlike LoRa, all of the technology in CATS is Open Source.

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Is LoRa (Long Range) Technology Magic?

Another great article by Jon Adams N7UV on the Ham-Radio-LoRa-APRS email list:

No, just good old fashioned math, signal processing, and silicon engineering know-how.

What makes LoRa so special? It’s a modulation scheme that is fairly unusual in our natural world, save some animals and charged particles interacting with the Earth’s magnetic field.

LoRa is a form of radio frequency modulation like AM, FM, SSB, CW, etc., but one that has some very impressive characteristics making it ideal for static high path loss situations. And it can provide this kind of performance while sipping microjoules from a 10-year-lifetime lithium primary battery or an inch-square solar panel and a supercap. LoRa is a wireless data transmission technique, not an end application. It’s a digital communications mode for which there is an extensive and ever-growing amount of technical documentation publicly available.

LoRa is the trademarked term for a specific chirp spread spectrum (CSS) technology developed by semiconductor company Semtech, headquartered in Southern California, USA. The silicon that Semtech manufactures is a complete radio transmitter/receiver on a chip. Chirp spread spectrum has been used by the military since World War II (in a former life I helped design spacecraft-borne CSS radars for NASA), it’s nothing new, it just used to be really complex to implement in hardware. It’s a form of frequency shift keying (FSK) where it’s both the carrier frequency relative to the channel center and the rate of change with respect to time of that carrier frequency that encodes the data. That’s what makes it novel and so remarkable.

Semtech developed LoRa for the Internet of Things (IoT) world. There, IoT means communicating flow rates from a water meter that’s in a concrete box mostly underground, or a gas or electric meter on the side of a house, to a aggregator site on a phone pole a kilometer away. In fact, that and similar environments and uses are what has made LoRa radio technology so successful in the global marketplace. LoRa has discrete settings that allow a wide range of data rates, channel occupancy times, power consumption, and radio link budget. Every one of these settings might find value in a particular situation. And the broad operating frequency range means it can be adapted to nearly any unlicensed band that’s available. According to Semtech, there were over 410 million end nodes with LoRa ICs deployed worldwide as of February 2025. What that means for us hams is plenty of product availability!

Unlike some ham radio digital communications techniques, there are no fees to use LoRa other than the cost of the semiconductor chip, which is a few dollars US. There are manufacturers all over the world that take Semtech chips and incorporate them into their products. According to Semtech, a lot of their chips go into metering devices that water, electric power, and gas utilities that then use the LoRa link to communicate remotely with those meters. LoRa chips can be configured to consume extremely little power, and allow that meter’s battery to last a decade. Due to the modulation method and receiver performance, 20-byte 1% packet error rate receiver sensitivities of -120 to -150 dBm are achievable. LoRa settings that enable about 1200 bps over the air have a receiver sensitivity of around -129 dBm - compare that to 2 m amateur packet radio at 1200 baud on a typical analog FM receiver breaking squelch at maybe -120 dBm and a usable signal needing to be around or greater than -110 to -105 dBm, and at those received power levels still often not able to meet the 1% packet error rates that LoRa does. And that’s for fixed nodes.

Semtech’s chip technology has progressed through 3 generations, and much of the silicon they make supports 150-960 MHz continuous; some of their chips also support 2400-2500 MHz, that’s potentially interesting too. (Sadly, they don’t support the 1240-1300 MHz 23 cm US ham band - that would be awesome if they did...)

LoRa, as implemented by Semtech, supports a wide range of data transmission rates from 11 bps (about that of a 20-word-per-minute Morse code operator) to 62.5 kbps. The challenge with very low data rates is that a message can tie up a channel for tens of seconds, cratering overall channel capacity. But the link margin is huge! (Only of value if you can make use of it.) Completely satisfactory link margins can be had at LoRa settings that provide over-the-air data rates of even 10 kbps with channel occupancy times in the 40 ms range, vastly improving the channel availability and its capacity to accommodate multiple users.

Because of LoRa’s native ability to work far below the noise floor, carrier squelch multiple access - collision avoidance (CSMA-CA) doesn’t exist in the LoRa world. However, it does have something that’s similar, channel activity detection (CAD). While generation 1 LoRa chips had a limited CAD function, generation 2 and greater LoRa chips have a full-featured CAD that allows the transmitter to check the channel for activity before making the decision to transmit a LoRa packet. CAD produces an outcome similar to that of CSMA-CA. At the aforementioned “10 kbps” settings, a CAD operation takes just a millisecond. Researchers have really begun to dig into ways to improve the overall channel availability through innovative ways of using CAD.

Hams started experimenting with LoRa around a decade ago, nearly all in Europe. There are lots of independent research papers on LoRa written since the mid-2010s, there are funny-hat-wearing Swiss hams on YouTube who talk about LoRa, there are whole ham clubs using LoRa for amateur radio comms, and at least a few who are experimenting with new ideas to take greater advantage of what LoRa has to offer. Semtech publishes detailed technical data sheets and technical white papers that describe in detail how to use LoRa. All are publicly available technical resources for learning more about LoRa and how hams can take best advantage of it.

More to come!

Sadly, a lot of hobbyist usage of LoRa, both Amateur Radio and Meshtastic / MeshCore is a Tragedy of the Commons in using a single channel for wide area networking. Amateur Radio Packet Radio experienced this in the early days of the TNC-2 and its ability to digipeat. Initially, most Amateur Radio Packet Radio activity was on a common frequency - 145.01 MHz. That’s where everyone was, so that’s where everyone wanted to be. We quickly learned that putting all packet radio traffic on a single frequency such as 145.01 MHz just doesn’t scale. Packet Radio activity soon spread out into ten widely agreed upon discrete Packet Radio frequencies - 144.91, 144.93, 144.95, 144.97, 144.99, 145.01, 145.03, 145.05, 145.07, and 145.09 with gateways, backbones (often on another band), different channels for BBS forwarding, etc. LoRa foresaw this issue and created LoRaWAN as a standardized way to “spread out” LoRa communications, but Amateur Radio (and Meshtastic, and MeshCore) haven’t embraced LoRaWAN - yet.

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Federated Amateur Radio Packet Network Wiki

… is a valuable resource for hams looking to learn more about packet radio networks. The wiki provides documentation, user tools, and site tools to help users navigate and utilize the network effectively.

Just one (of the many) valuable nuggets of Zero Retries Interesting info in Random Wire 161 (and Random Wire newsletter in general). The “popular perception” is that Packet Radio isn’t in active use any more (except for VHF / UHF Winlink access and APRS), but this and many other (scattered, diffuse, not centrally organized) Packet Radio organizations are active in developing, promoting, and growing Packet Radio networks.

Let’s Encrypt Certificates Now Available for IP Addresses Without Domain Names

Another valuable nugget from Random Wire 161:

Upcoming Changes to Let’s Encrypt Certificates means you won’t need to have a domain name to obtain a short-lived Let’s Encrypt certificate: “This switch will also mark the opt-in general availability of short-lived certificates from Let’s Encrypt, including support for IP Addresses on certificates.” This is a big deal for those of us with some IP-based resources that are connected to the internet but have no domain name.

Let’s Encrypt

… is a Certificate Authority that provides free TLS certificates, making it easy for websites to enable HTTPS encryption and create a more secure Internet for everyone. Let’s Encrypt is a project of the nonprofit Internet Security Research Group.

This might slide by unnoticed by most in Amateur Radio (including me), but kudos to Random Wire Editor Tom Salzer KJ7T for having caught this significant development. I think it’s significant for the potential of (free) Let’s Encrypt certificates that can now be used with (free, for Amateur Radio use) static IPv4 IP addresses that don’t necessarily have domain names connected to them, issued by 44Net Connect. We cannot use Hyper Text Transport Protocol Secure (HTTPS), AKA web site / browser encryption, on Amateur Radio spectrum2. But, in setting up Amateur Radio Over Internet systems that will be accessed from the public Internet, not having HTTPS (certificates) (HTTP, no S) is a major hassle. Think accessing a remote Amateur Radio with just a 44.x.x.x IP address. Using http://44.x.x.x, your web browser starts throwing all kinds of fits. https://44.x.x.x - no problem. With HTTPS, such Amateur Radio Over Internet systems act like “real Internet”.

Continued Kudos to KJ7T for his excellent work on Random Wire Newsletter and now EtherHam.

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Amateur Radio Can Be Relevant to Entry Level Job Seeking

I saw two articles recently that align with my positing in Zero Retries that hands-on experience with radio technology via Amateur Radio can be relevant to one’s career prospects for technology, and especially radio technology.

Ramneek Kalra in IEEE Spectrum - Hands-On Experience Can Increase Your Chances of Landing a Job Tips for impressing employers with practical applications:

As a college student, are you concerned that your knowledge alone won’t be enough to impress potential employers? Do you feel you lack the necessary hands-on technical skills to secure a job? Maybe you’ve thought of an engineering solution for a problem in your school or community but are unsure how to take the next step.

I struggled to bridge the gap between classroom theory and real-world application. But when you combine academic knowledge with practical projects that solve a societal problem with technology, you can ace any interview.

…

Students need to understand the importance of doing something exceptional beyond learning theory and concepts. Having practical skills before leaving school is a great way to set yourself apart from other new engineering graduates.

Amateur Radio is a practical, and demonstrable way for students to get hands on experience with radio technology.

…

Eleanor Pringle in Fortune - Getting hired in 2026 is all about your ‘microcredentials’ says CEO of $1.3 billion learning platform—this is what he tells Gen Z to focus on:

Enter the trend of “microcredentials,” professional certificates that demonstrate a candidate is pursuing additional training or qualifications to support the roles they’re applying for. According to $1.3 billion learning platform Coursera, more than 90% of employers would rather hire a candidate with a microcredential on their CV than one without.

While this article discusses semi-formal credentials from Coursera, I posit that hands-on experience with radio technology via Amateur Radio is a valuable de facto “micro credential”.

These two articles complement a comment I heard at GNU Radio Conference 2025 relating to trying to find and hire people who have experience with GNU Radio. The matter-of-fact reply was “everyone I know who has experience with GNU Radio has a good job already”.

There’s an infinite number of experiences to be gained by experimenting with Software Defined Radio (and GNU Radio is one of the easiest ways to get started with SDR), in Amateur Radio. It starts simply with getting a Software Defined Receiver working, and getting a very low power Weak Signal Propagation Reporter (WSPR) transmitter working.

To be clear, obtaining an Amateur Radio license, or using Amateur Radio spectrum, is not required to develop such expertise. But, Amateur Radio spectrum - LF, to HF, to VHF / UHF, and microwave, along with the unlimited modes available (including unique ones that you develop) has exponentially more possibilities for learning about the very broad spectrum (yes, pun intended) of radio technology.

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The RadioBuilder Radio Lab For Builders

All the building blocks to experiment and build radios

  • AM, SSB and FM

  • LW to VHF

  • 0 – 2GHZ RF Amplifier

  • 0 – 500MHz Mixers

  • Variable Gain 60dB IF amplifier

  • 7 Watt Audio Amplifier

  • 3 Signal Generators 8KHz to 160MHz

  • Color Display

  • ESP32 Controller

  • RF and IF Filter

  • 3 Prototyping areas

  • Spectrum Analyzer Detector

This is pretty cool - a “breadboard” for radio experimentation and learning.

No idea why this occurred to me, but in a tightly defined environment like this, with good documentation by the vendor, this would be an ideal environment for an Artificial Intelligence chatbot like ChatGPT to teach radio technology one step at a time, going beyond the exercises developed and documented by the vendor.

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AI Data Centers Demand More Than Copper Can Deliver

Samuel K. Moore in IEEE Spectrum:

Radio and terahertz links could be better, faster, and cheaper

The [AI] industry is working on ways to unclog data centers by extending copper’s reach and bringing slim, long-reaching optical fiber closer to the GPUs themselves. But Point2 and another startup, AttoTude, advocate for a solution that’s simultaneously in between the two technologies and completely different from them. They claim the tech will deliver the low cost and reliability of copper as well as some of the narrow gauge and distance of optical—a combination that will handily meet the needs of future AI systems.

Their answer? Radio.

Later this year, Point2 will begin manufacturing the chips behind a 1.6-terabit-per-second cable consisting of eight slender polymer waveguides, each capable of carrying 448 gigabits per second using two frequencies, 90 gigahertz and 225 GHz. At each end of the waveguide are plug-in modules that turn electronic bits into modulated radio waves and back again. AttoTude is planning essentially the same thing, but at terahertz frequencies and with a different kind of svelte, flexible cable.

With our shared background of Amateur Radio, and more generally, the use of radio technology in free space, we sometimes don’t think of the incredible myriad uses of radio technology that aren’t communications (as we know it). This is yet another example of an unconventional, unexpected, and absolutely essential use of radio technology. At GRCon 2025, I learned about radio technology being used for higher resolution imaging, new types of RADAR, Near Field Communications (NFC), etc. We think of computing (and now, AI) being the most impactful technology in our current technological society, but there are other supporting technologies such as power generation and delivery, and now, in the 2020s, radio technology has become absolutely fundamental. It has been, for decades now, but it’s faded into the background… and it shouldn’t.

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Blanket permission is granted for Amateur Radio use of any Steve Stroh content in Zero Retries for Amateur Radio newsletters and distribution via Amateur Radio such as (but not limited to) Packet Radio Networks, Packet Radio Bulletin Board Systems, Repeater Nets, etc. Specific blanket permission is granted to TAPR to use any Steve Stroh content in Zero Retries for the TAPR Packet Status Register (PSR) newsletter (I owe them from way back).

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This article is reprinted with permission. It was first published in Zero Retries newsletter, issue Zero Retries (number), (date) - (include full web link of the specific issue).

It’s appreciated (a courtesy, but not required) to notify Zero Retries Editor Steve Stroh N8GNJ of any reuse of Zero Retries content - editor@zeroretries.net.

If you’d like to republish an article in this issue for other uses, just ask.

All excerpts from other authors or organizations, including images, are intended to be fair use. Unless otherwise noted in the article, there are no paid promotional items in any Zero Retries articles.

Portions Copyright © 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 by Steven K. Stroh.

This issue released on 2025-12-31

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Footnotes for this Issue

To see the relevant sentence for the footnote, just click the footnote number.

1

I haven’t tried to look at the creation / edit history of these articles on Wikipedia… but some Amateur Radio Operator is doing a wonderful job of creating these unique-to-Amateur-Radio technologies in Wikipedia. Kudos, unknown Wikipedia Amateur Radio editor!

2

It’s a longer, deeper discussion, but the letter of the regulations for US Amateur Radio is that deliberate obfuscation of content is prohibited except for space telecommand and control of remote control model vehicles. Thus if you’re just trying to access something on the Internet - such as querying / validating a callsign on the FCC website (only accessible using https), you’re not trying to obfuscate the content, the obfuscation / encryption is incidental.

]]><![CDATA[Zero Retries 0233 is Delayed]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0233-is-delayedhttps://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0233-is-delayedSun, 21 Dec 2025 14:34:44 GMTHello Zero Retries Readers!

Apologies for no advance notification that Zero Retries 0233 might be delayed due to some last minute travel and unexpected busy-ness. I thought I would have more time on keyboard than I actually did.

Zero Retries 0233 will be published probably late Monday 2025-12-22 with the usual interesting news about technological innovation in Amateur Radio.

Thanks,

Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Editor, Zero Retries Newsletter

]]><![CDATA[Zero Retries 0232]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0232https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0232Sat, 13 Dec 2025 01:45:29 GMTZero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Radios are computers - with antennas! Now in its fifth year of publication, with 3300+ subscribers.

About Zero Retries

Steve Stroh N8GNJ, Editor

Email - editor@zeroretries.net

On the web: https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0232

Substack says “Too long for email”? YES

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In this issue:

Request To Send

Zero Retries Email List

What’s New at Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications — December 2025

📡 The TPRFN Connection: December 2025 Newsletter

Zero Retries YouTube Channel Is Live

44Net Connect is Live!

FCC Allocates 60-Meter World-Wide Amateur Band Approved at WRC-15; Continues Amateur Use of Four Additional 60-Meter Channels…

Zero Retries Guide to Amateur Radio HF Data Communications

ZR > BEACON

Comments Summary From Previous Issue

Zero Retries Boilerplate

Permission for Reuse of Zero Retries Content

Request To Send

Commentary by Editor Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Paid Subscribers Update

My thanks to John Alley K4UAE for renewing as an Annual Paid Subscriber to Zero Retries this past week!

My thanks to Prefers to Remain Anonymous 112 for upgrading from a free subscriber to Zero Retries to an Annual Paid Subscriber this past week!

My thanks to Prefers to Remain Anonymous 114 for upgrading from a free subscriber to Zero Retries to an Annual Paid Subscriber this past week!

My thanks to Prefers to Remain Anonymous 113 for upgrading from a free subscriber to Zero Retries to a Paid Subscriber this past week!

Financial support from Zero Retries readers is a significant vote of support for the continued publication of Zero Retries.

Big… Overflowing… Issue of Zero Retries

This has been an exceptionally Zero Retries Interesting week!

I thought the big news in Zero Retries this week was going to be the launches of the Zero Retries email list, the Zero Retries YouTube channel, and one of the first Zero Retries Guides (of a long, long list of subjects) - Zero Retries Guide to Amateur Radio HF Data Communications.

But then came news that 44Net Connect had officially launched (which I had been calling 44Net VPN).

That prompted me to start writing a brief article about Starlink Mini, Starlink Standby service, and 44Net Connect and a powerful fusion of those three developments. Given the already large size of this issue of Zero Retries, and even more Zero Retries Interesting developments this week (read on…), I punted that article forward to the next issue.

This was also the week of the month that Kay Savetz K6KJN contributes their monthly column What’s New at Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications (which I always read immediately when it hits my email inbox).

But the Zero Retries Interesting stuff just kept coming…

There was the news that the ARRL will be sponsoring HamSCI 2026 in Connecticut, USA. It’s so cool to see that ARRL has resumed actively sponsoring technical conferences relating to Amateur Radio!

Glenn Allison N3MEL wasted no time after the soft launch of the Zero Retries email list to publish The TPRFN Connection: December 2025 Newsletter on the new list (reprinted in this issue).

My colleague in writing Zero Retries Interesting Amateur Radio content, Tom Salzer KJ7T of the Random Wire newsletter chose this week to bring his new project out of stealth mode - EtherHam.

And lastly… the biggest Zero Retries Interesting news this week is that the US FCC formalized its regulations (and thus, it’s official, and permanent) the US Amateur Radio 60m band, with a Zero Retries Interesting twist.

And of course, there are also the many interesting short items that I mention in the ZR > BEACON section which, of late, I have to severely triage for inclusion in Zero Retries. One of the many blessings of the Zero Retries email list is that when there’s an item for ZR > BEACON that I just don’t think I can fit into Zero Retries (it’s always too big…) I can now post it to the Zero Retries email list with the hashtag #zrbeacon.

If you’ve read this far in your email client, save yourself some frustration and click the link at the start of this issue to launch this issue in a web browser. That enables you view the entire newsletter, not just the initial portion that your email client is willing to display.

Weekends Are For Amateur Radio!

Have a great weekend, all of you co-conspirators in Zero Retries Interesting Amateur Radio activities!

Western Washington USA (Seattle metro area to the Canada border) has experienced record new flood levels this week and continuing through this weekend. We just got a helluva lot of rain, including the nearby mountains which melted snowpack. All that extra water couldn’t be absorbed quickly so it goes to the rivers, which overflow their usual boundaries. Several low-lying cities in Whatcom Country are completely flooded. Thanks to those Zero Retries readers that checked in with Tina and I - our house is safely away from flood danger and we’re doing fine.

Steve N8GNJ

Leave a comment

Zero Retries Email List

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Image courtesy of groups.io

Now it can be told. I’ve teased / hinted this project periodically for the past year (at least). I’ve finally created the Zero Retries email list:

https://groups.io/g/zeroretries

I intend that the Zero Retries email list will replace Substack comments as Zero Retries transitions to a new publishing platform in 2026. I don’t intend to enable comments on the new publishing platform. On the new publishing platform, from the beginning I will direct comments to the Zero Retries email list.

A secondary purpose of the Zero Retries email list is to extend and continue discussions about Zero Retries Interesting topics.

Why Set Up a Zero Retries Email List?

Basically… I am not a subject matter expert about most of the things I write about in Zero Retries. Zero Retries only exists because there is so much interesting Technological Innovation in Amateur Radio… and I am mostly just reporting out about those developments.

I’ve had some help over the years in writing about Zero Retries Interesting developments, such as my wonderful friend and Zero Retries Pseudostaffer Kay Savetz K6KJN contributing a monthly column in Zero Retries about cool new stuff coming into Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications. But folks willing to write an article for Zero Retries are rare (compared to the amount of innovation that’s actually happening).

Thus, setting up the Zero Retries email list provides a venue, a community to mention Technological Innovation in Amateur Radio - that’s less formal / scary than writing an article in Zero Retries. And… when someone posts something, folks can immediately interact with the poster / subject, to the enrichment of us all.

An Email List? On the Cusp of 2026?

For those that think that email lists are an electronic discussion system straight out of the previous century… you’re right.

The 21st century preferred electronic discussion system seems to be Discord.

I get that, and don’t disagree.

This is especially painful because my new Amateur Radio friends in the GNU Radio community that I met at GRCon 2025 were pretty unanimous that they don’t have any bandwidth for email lists. Their only venue for communicating amongst themselves about Amateur Radio use of GNU Radio… is Discord.

In short, a groups.io email list is the solution I’ve chosen for the first implementation of a Zero Retries community. I don’t have the personal bandwidth for maintaining a Zero Retries presence on Discord. I wish I did!

As a recommendation for the Zero Retries email list, a Zero Retries reader, via private email, said it well:

The Zero Retries mailing list is awesome. Not only does it free comments from Substack, but it frees general comments from any particular ZR issue. Makes it more of a “community”. Not to mention all the other great things about mailing lists: searchable, archive-able, etc.

One thing I really love about groups.io is when there is an interesting discussion, it can be cleanly linked to with a URL that can be shared out.

I intend to continue at least a cursory Zero Retries presence, and some interaction, on Mastodon and Bluesky - apologies to followers there - I’ve been less than diligent of late about posting updates.

Why Not the Substack Comments System?

In my opinion, the Substack comments system is poorly implemented. Comments are silo’d into each individual issue, the existence of a comment system isn’t very visible, there’s no continuity from issue to issue, and the signup process with Substack is onerous (from reports I’ve gotten from readers who wanted to comment, and gave up trying to create an account to be able to comment).

In addition, one of the best parts of Zero Retries is that there are now nearly 3400 readers who are email subscribers, and untold number of readers who aren’t email subscribers, reading via RSS, social media, pass-along, etc. Thus the new Zero Retries email list is a way to begin forming a community within the Zero Retries readership. Zero Retries readers… and co-conspirators for technological innovation in Amateur Radio, can “discuss amongst themselves” and support each other, on the Zero Retries email list.

Priority of Onboarding Participants

The first few waves of invitations to join the Zero Retries email list have already gone out to Founding Members, Pseudostaffers, Paid Subscribers, ZRDC attendees, Guest Authors, and those who have offered insightful comments (on Substack) since Zero Retries 0220.

Note that Substack commenter names aren’t directly translatable to [Substack] email subscribers, so for some of you “insightful commenters” I was not able to find an email address to invite you.

My goal with the Zero Retries email list is keep the signal to noise ratio high on the list. Generally, I’d like to keep the discussions to the same subjects discussed in Zero Retries - “Zero Retries Interesting”.

Floodgates Open - Briefly

I briefly… (hilariously, in hindsight) imagined manually vetting all applicants as (nearly 3400!) email subscribers to Zero Retries, but that’s not feasible.

But I don’t want to enable automatic additions to “anyone” - that’s a de facto invitation for the list to be spammed. Thus, my temporary compromise is between manageability and spam protection is…

between Friday 2025-12-12 and Sunday 2025-12-14…

I will suspend manual approval of new subscribers.

After that window, manual approval for subscriptions will be reinstated.

My thinking is that notification of the existence of the Zero Retries email list will be published first in this issue of Zero Retries, offering regular Zero Retries readers a reasonable chance to subscribe quickly to the Zero Retries email list with no barrier.

Article Tagging

I hope to make good use of hashtags (#) on the Zero Retries email list.

One example is:

#hfdata

which displays discussions of the use of HF data communications.

For each story in Zero Retries, instead of the Substack

Leave a comment

button I’ve used to date, I’ll be displaying an email link with a hashtag of the current Zero Retries issue and a general hashtag about the subject. For example:

To comment on this article on the Zero Retries email list, click here.

This process will be a work in progress for some time.

The List Sounds Interesting, But I’d Rather Not Subscribe

If you’re a “I’d rather not put my email address out in the open on an email list” kind of person, or you prefer to “lurk” (passively observe)… I understand.

Note that the archives of the email list are public:
https://groups.io/g/zeroretries/messages
so anyone can follow the conversations on the list.

Also, the archives of the email list are accessible via RSS:
https://groups.io/g/zeroretries/rss

While there will be some overlapping discussion with other email lists (and other discussion systems), detailed discussion (such as troubleshooting) will be deferred to email lists / discussion systems that are specifically for supporting specific topics.

One example is troubleshooting Dire Wolf technical issues should be deferred to the Dire Wolf Software TNC email list - https://groups.io/g/direwolf.

The Zero Retries email list will be very much a work in progress - for months.

Some future work:

  • Appointing moderators; eventually the spammers will come.

  • Populating the Wiki of other email lists / discussion systems for supporting specific topics better than on the Zero Retries email list.

To comment on this article on the Zero Retries email list, click here.

What’s New at Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications — December 2025

By Kay Savetz K6KJN
Internet Archive’s Program Manager, Special Collections

DLARC has added an enormous trove of publications from AMSAT, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, with the gracious permission of the organization. Formed in 1969, AMSAT designs, builds, launches, and operates satellites carrying amateur radio payloads. In addition to keeping amateur radio in space for 55 years, AMSAT has created a variety of publications, many of which are now in the DLARC library.

DLARC now offers a tantalizingly, nearly complete collection of the AMSAT Amateur Satellite Report newsletter — from the first issue in February 1981 through issue 193 in 1990. (Only three issues are missing: 147, 189, 190…and any past issue 193 if those were published.)

And! DLARC has added 96 issues the AMSAT Journal, bringing it to 228 issues in the AMSAT Newsletter and AMSAT Journal collection. Also in that collection are 19 issues of Orbit, a glossy magazine sporadically published by AMSAT from 1980 through 1984. Thanks to Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, AMSAT’s Executive Vice President, for helping make all of these items available in DLARC.

While we’re on the topic of satellite communications, we’ve added a bunch of historical satcomm material donated by Hank Magnuski KA6M. These include several drafts of the the AMICON System Specification draft (“This is a draft version of specifications for use of the data communications special service channel (L2) on the AMSAT Phase III satellite, the communications medium which serves as the foundation of the AMSAT International Computer Network (AMICON).”) And a 1985 document describing NASA’s Advanced Communications Technology Satellite Program (ACTS). And a AMSAT Orbital Prediction Program in BASIC and Pascal programming languages. There’s plenty more satellite communications history in this amazing collection from KA6M.

All at once, the QSL collection at DLARC has grown from a smattering of cards here and there to an impressive collection of more than 50,000 cards and verifications. It started when the Badger Amateur Radio Society, a student organization at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (W9YT), scanned and uploaded more than 17,600 QSL cards, some apparently going back to the club’s founding year of 1930. The collection includes beautiful card designs from all over the world. More details about the digitization and archival project of the BARS QSL cards is at https://qsla.hadleyso.com.

Around that same time I heard from the National Radio Club (“the world’s oldest and largest medium wave DX Club”) which wanted to mirror their collection of QSL cards and verification letters. Ta da, DLARC’s new National Radio Club Verifications collection contains more than 38,000 cards and letters from ham radio stations, mediumwave, and broadcast AM/FM stations worldwide.

Apparently all this effort somehow put the idea of sharing QSL cards into the universe, because Joseph Harris of Columbus, Ohio scanned dozens of his dad’s QSL cards from circa 1955-56, and my buddy Bill Lange started scanning his dad’s card collection. You, too, can scan your (or your family member’s) QSL card collection and share them in the DLARC library. It’s pretty easy, can be done in little batches, and is a great way to preserve your family’s legacy as part of the radio hobby.

I’ve written about our collection of Bexar Wire, the newsletter of the San Antonio Radio Club, before. The club has been around a long time, and club members managed to unearth earlier editions of the newsletter: we were able to scan 144 additional issues of “San Antonio Radio Club Bulletin” and “The Exciter” spanning 1955 through 1978. We’ve also added dozens issues of the California Historical Radio Club Journal — the issues now span nearly 50 years, 1975 through 2024.

Also we’ve scanned 130 issues of The Horn Speaker, “the newspaper for the hobbyist of vintage sound and electronics” published by Jim Cranshaw N5FSL. It started circa 1969 with the title Antique Radio, and was soon renamed The Horn Speaker with the April 1972 issue. We have sporadic issues from 1973 through 1997. These issues are part of the lot donated to DLARC by the SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention [in Bellingham, WA].

In a separate Internet Archive project, folks have been working hard to scan issues of ERIC from microfiche. ERIC is “Educational Resources Information Center”, an online library of education research and information, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education since 1966. This project has revealed a number of items of interest to ham radio, so I’ve added them to DLARC: including the Newsletter of the Language by Radio Interest Group. (“LBRIG Newsletter consists of news items, short articles, general information, and opinions on the subject of language learning by radio. Subjects discussed include guidelines for selecting and purchasing shortwave equipment, where to obtain broadcast directories…”) Here’s the first year of issues and volume 2. Here’s a 200-page document on Building Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radios for Middle School Children and Their Parents. Also, here’s a 1986 treatise on Amateur Radio Satellite Communications, and one from 1984 on Antenna Construction and Propagation of Radio Waves.

Next month brings a new year! In 2026, written works published in 1930 will move into the public domain in the United States. Can’t wait to share new old public radio material with you.

Digital Library of Amateur Radio & Communications is funded by a generous grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) to create a free digital library for the radio community, researchers, educators, and students. If you have questions about the project or material to contribute, contact me at kay@archive.org.

DLARC want list: https://archive.org/details/dlarc-wantlist

To comment on this article on the Zero Retries email list, click here.

📡 The TPRFN Connection: December 2025 Newsletter

By Glenn Allison N3MEL

Happy Holidays from The Packet Radio RF Forwarding Network!

As 2025 winds down, we celebrate another year of growth and increased resilience in our RF-Only digital messaging network. The holiday season is a perfect reminder of the importance of reliable connections, and that is precisely what we are building together!

🌐 Network Update: Crossing the Digital Divide

The TPRFN is closing out 2025 with strong performance and a commitment to expand our fully RF-forwarded backbone. Our objective remains clear: providing a stable, independent digital messaging layer for EMCOMMs (Emergency Communications). The primary challenge is time; there is a lot I would like to see get done in 2026, but having both a full-time job and a side seasonal business makes it difficult to get it all done. If there is anyone that would like to help with getting the profiles updated please let N3MEL know, the template is basically created just need to track down the current stations data.

📈 November PKTNET Check-in Results

The November PKTNET Exercise demonstrated excellent coast-to-coast message handling, relying exclusively on VARA HF links between our Hub stations.

  • Key Success: We saw some network latency for cross-region BBS-to-BBS message forwarding in 2025 due to solar storms. However, VARA continued to show its strength , giving the network its ability to continue to pass its traffic.

  • Areas for Improvement: Propagation challenges on both 40 & 80 meters during a 24 hour period highlighted the need for more regional hub stations in the central US to better support NVIS paths.

  • Action Item: The November 2025 PKTNET Results are now available on the TPRFN website. Be sure to check them out at this link: click here

📈 2026 TPRFN Projects!

  • Skywarn: Working on the details for handling Skywarn Spotter Reports using the BPQ RMS Service or if there is an internet outage somewhere in the network can be forwarded to different regions for delivery options. More info coming on this after the 1st of the year. But to get things started we have a prototype html to text spotter report available for testing at this link: click here

  • NTS Messages: Need to get the full list of network stations that can handle NTS Traffic so that those that don’t know where to forward them if you happen to receive one.

  • Profiles Page: Working to get all the Hub Stations profiles up to date and added to a downloading document for field users to keep in their Go Kits.

  • Polling Stations: Would like to get the Polling Stations profiles posted as well.

🚨 Call to Action: Seeking New Hub Stations!

Are you a station with a reliable HF setup, a dedicated server running BPQ32 (or equivalent), and a passion for digital resilience? We are actively seeking new Hub stations, especially in the following areas, to bolster our redundancy and fill coverage gaps:

  • See the current coverage map at this link: click here

  • ANY AREAS: with no stations are up for grabs. Use our ‘ Contact Us ‘ link to contact us if you have an interest.

Join us in making the TPRFN the most reliable, internet-free digital messaging network in the amateur radio community! Please fill out the inquiry form on our website to get started.

🛠️ Tech Corner: BPQ Node Security and Maintenance

With the new year approaching, now is the perfect time for basic node maintenance.

  • Password Review: Ensure your BBS and Node passwords are up-to-date and complex. Although we operate in a trusted network, good digital security habits are critical.

  • Software Updates: Please check for the latest versions of BPQ32 and your chosen modem software (VARA HF, ARDOP, PACTOR, etc.). The developers frequently release patches that improve stability and speed.

  • Antenna Tune-Up: Winter weather can be tough on antennas. A quick check of your SWR and cable connections now can prevent a failure during a critical communications event.

🗓️ December Events: Practice Makes Perfect

Don’t let the holiday cheer distract you from getting on the air! December offers excellent opportunities to test your gear and practice digital modes:

Dec PKTNET: Starting a week early this month due to the Christmas Holiday. Starting Sat Dec 14th 00:00 UTC. For this month’s instruction: click here

🤝 Happy Holidays and 73!

Thank you to every sysop and participant for their dedication to building this essential network. Your commitment ensures that amateur radio remains a relevant and powerful tool for resilience in the face of any emergency.

We wish you and your families a safe, warm, and happy holiday season!

The TPRFN Network Team

Web: http://tprfn.net
Email: tprfn@winlink.org

73 de Glenn Allison N3MEL
(tprfn) The Packet Radio Forwarding Network
EPA Hub Station
www.tprfn.net
Emergency Coordinator
Chester County ARES/RACES
www.w3eoc.org

To comment on this article on the Zero Retries email list, click here.

Zero Retries YouTube Channel Is Live

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Another project long in gestation, the Zero Retries YouTube Channel is live:

https://www.youtube.com/@ZeroRetries

Like many things, once you work up your courage and settle in for a few hours of patience and frustration at the keyboard (aided, at times, with an adult beverage), setting up a YouTube channel turns out to have been more daunting in concept (dread) than in practice.

I really should have attempted this years ago.

It did take a couple of hours of careful menu selections, including setting it up in a private browser tab so as not to confuse the creation of this new YouTube channel with my personal YouTube history or my gmail email address / Google ID.

ZRDC 2025 Conference Videos

The first thing done was to upload the videos from ZRDC 2025, and they’re now in a playlist:

Zero Retries Digital Conference 2025

Future Zero Retries Videos, Including Zero Retries Intro to… Series

There will be many more videos uploaded to the Zero Retries YouTube channel in the coming months, including the start of the Zero Retries Intro series. Zero Retries Intros will be short (the goal is 5-10 minutes) video presentations, narrowly focused on one Zero Retries Interesting topic. Intros are not intended to be in-depth treatments. rather an overview of the most relevant points of a topic.

There won’t be perfect alignment with the Zero Retries Guides pages, but pretty close. Eventually there will be a Guides page, an Intro video, and a chapter in my book-in-progress Zero Retries Guide to Amateur Radio in the 21st Century.

An example of a Zero Retries Intro topic is the 6-pin MiniDIN connector that’s found on some Amateur Radio VHF / UHF radios (and modems) to provide flat audio for higher speed data communications (such as VARA FM) over VHF / UHF. This is (regrettably, in my opinion) usually called the “Data” connector (Wikipedia and others call it the “9600 port”, but the signals on that connector are analog “flat audio” with no (input) pre-emphasis (like the microphone input) or (output) de-emphasis (like the speaker output) applied to the audio signals.

Another example of a Zero Retries Intro topic would be why repeaters work so well to enhance wide area radio communications… and why digipeaters work barely, but generally poorly, in networks because of the Hidden Node Problem.

A third example of a Zero Retries Intro topic, to keep to the short, narrowly focused theme of the Intros, explain how Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) single channel repeater works, such as a few versions of Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) repeaters and radios can be made to work on a single channel using the first DMR time slot to receive, and the other DMR time slot to transmit, simultaneously.

I’m really looking forward to doing many Zero Retries Intro videos. I think they’re the ideal blend of text, graphics, and presentation. One thing that’s nicer about the Intros is that you can watch them as many times as necessary to understand the topic, and each one will have a link to the slide deck online, and all relevant references such as the Wikipedia article on the Hidden Node Problem, and of course, can be discussed at length on the new zeroretries@groups.io email list.

And to answer a question / comment / criticism of my presentations being too text-heavy, plaint heard and I’m going to resort to asking an AI to create graphics to illustrate the points in the Intro videos.

To comment on this article on the Zero Retries email list, click here.

44Net Connect is Live!

John Burwell KI5QKX, ARDC’s 44Net Program Manager, on the 44Net email list:

We’re pleased to announce that 44Net Connect (formerly, “The PoP Project”) is now live. This service provides a streamlined way for licensed hams to use 44Net resources using modern, secure networking tools.

https://connect.44net.cloud/

We’re admitting users in batches to start. If you’d like to give it a try, head to the 44Net Connect dashboard https://connect.44net.cloud/ to sign up and join the registration queue.

A huge thank you to Adam Lewis KC7GDY, who originated the concept; Zachary Seguin VA3ZTS, a chief collaborator; and John Hays K7VE SK, whose expertise and efforts were significant in bringing 44Net Connect to reality. We’d also like to recognize the 2024 and 2025 TACs and PoP subcommittees, who helped shepherd this project from “what if” to production-ready, and the beta testers who shared valuable feedback along the way.

We’re excited to see how you’ll use 44Net Connect and appreciate everyone who helped make it a reality.

This doesn’t seem to be the official announcement from ARDC - I’ll assume a bigger announcement targeted at the more general Amateur Radio population and media will be forthcoming.

Thus I’ll forgive KI5QKX for burying the lede a bit in this announcement:

44Net Connect is free for Amateur Radio users, for Amateur Radio activities.

Free static IPv4 addresses (if you’re an Amateur Radio Operator, intending to use a 44Net Connect IPv4 address for Amateur Radio use)!

This is significant! For example, you can only get a static IPv4 address from Comcast if you sigh up for the Comcast Business tier of service.

I had been calling this service 44Net VPN, but that was always a functional description (44Net Connect is, functionally, a Virtual Private Network - VPN).

That said, admittedly this name - 44Net Connect is a cooler name as it lets you “connect” via 44Net.

Note that 44Net Connect is not Internet access. To use 44Net Connect, you have to already have Internet access. 44Net Connect is a functional layer supplement to your existing Internet access.

Also, there are no services provided by 44Net Connect - it is a solution to be able to use static IPv4 addresses from the 44Net IPv4 address pool, via any Internet connectivity. This is especially relevant for Internet access systems that used Carrier Grade Network Address Translation (CGNAT) that make it impossible to “come in” via IPv4 to a user’s Internet systems - such as Starlink.

Note that when applying for 44Net Connect, you have to be verified as being an Amateur Radio Operator (have a current license). 44Net Connect will undoubtedly be inundated with applications, so please be patient (and kind) if it takes a while.

To comment on this article on the Zero Retries email list, click here.

FCC Allocates 60-Meter World-Wide Amateur Band Approved at WRC-15; Continues Amateur Use of Four Additional 60-Meter Channels…

From the Editor: I’m citing the ARRL story on this development rather than creating an original story because ARRL (mostly) does a better job, from more depth, than I can offer on this development.

ARRL News - 2025-12-11:

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on December 9, 2025, released a long-awaited Report and Order adopting a new amateur radio spectrum allocation in the 60-meter band that was approved for world-wide use on a secondary basis in the WRC-15 (World Radiocommunication Conference 2015) Final Acts. The Commission also agreed with a petition from ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® to continue to allow amateur operations on four existing 60-meter channels outside the international allocation with a full 100 watts. The new rules will go into effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, when amateurs may then begin using the allocation.

Specifically, the Commission allocated 5351.5 - 5366.5 kHz (60 meters) to the amateur service on a secondary basis with a permitted power of 9.15 watts ERP. The Commission also authorized amateurs to continue using four existing channels outside of the 5351.5 - 5366.5 kHz band centered on 5332, 5348, 5373, and 5405 kHz on a secondary basis with a permitted power of 100 watts ERP. There are no antenna restrictions but antenna gain must be used to calculate ERP.

The 60-meter allocation is available to amateurs holding a General Class or above license. The maximum permissible signal bandwidth is 2.8 kHz.

Amateurs are cautioned that this allocation is strictly on a secondary basis, and amateurs must avoid interfering with non-amateur stations using this spectrum. This obligation includes the responsibility to monitor for such stations using appropriate receiver bandwidths. The FCC emphasized that “allowing amateur operations in this band while fully protecting incumbent primary Federal operations is our priority, and even intermittent interference in this band could jeopardize important Federal operations.”

The Commission left open ARRL’s 2017 Petition for Rulemaking to implement this WRC allocation (RM-11785), stating that “we expect the Commission may address any necessary power adjustments for the new 15 kilohertz international allocation in that proceeding.” ARRL will be observing operations in the new band to evaluate the effect of the 9.15-watt limit and already has been monitoring the regulations and experiences of amateurs in other countries.

Finally, in the same Report and Order, the FCC updated 420 - 450 MHz coordination and contact information for geographic areas where the peak envelope power (PEP) of amateur stations operating is generally limited to 50 watts. There was no substantive change to the areas covered by the power limitation.

See the link for additional background from ARRL on the new 60m band.

I was tipped off to this development within hours of it being posted on the FCC website by a Zero Retries trusted source. I had glanced at the email from “trusted source” at an early hour (their emails are always interesting), and upon seeing this development, came instantly awake. Allocation of new spectrum for Amateur Radio operations by the FCC is a significant development!

The most Zero Retries Interesting aspect of this development from the FCC is a mention of digital modes in justifying the comparatively low transmit power levels of the new US 60m band:

Some commenters argue that, due to the use of newer and more efficient digital modes, weak signals are not an impediment to sending information and the 15 W EIRP limit proposed by the NTIA is sufficient.

See page 23 for that mention.

To comment on this article on the Zero Retries email list, click here.

Zero Retries Guide to Amateur Radio HF Data Communications

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

A significant issue for Zero Retries readers, given Zero Retries is published serially in weekly installments, is the lack of continuity on specific subjects. No one can be expected to plow through 4 1/2 years of back issues of Zero Retries to get up to speed on a subject mentioned in Zero Retries. The Zero Retries Guides pages (in development) address that issue.

My thanks to Wes Plouff AC8JF for inspiring this Zero Retries Guide by asking some good questions:

Last year, the FCC lifted the baud rate limitation for data modes on all HF bands except 60 meters. I know there is some activity on HF packet radio. Is there now any significant HF packet activity at data rates higher than 300 baud, and is there any emerging consensus on rates and frequencies? There may yet be more life in this “old” technology. Your readers (and I) might like to know whether HF packet radio is changing.

Instead of replying to AC8JF with a one-off private reply

Heck Yes, there’s a lot going on in Amateur Radio HF data communications that’s a lot better than 300 bps AFSK packet radio!

Thus I began writing this Zero Retries Guide, and the info came pouring out, and now not only can AC8JF benefit from that info, but anyone / everyone can.

The Zero Retries Guide to Amateur Radio HF Data Communications page is one of the first of (an extensive, eventually) set of reference pages about some Zero Retries Interesting subjects, projects, and concepts.

I got the inspiration for the Zero Retries Guides series a couple of years ago when I was asked to write a very small portion of the ARRL Handbook 100th Edition regarding a data communications mode. I realized that what I was writing was much more broadly applicable and useful, and shouldn’t be confined to looking something up in the ARRL Handbook.

The intent of the Zero Retries Guides is to be able to drop a reference to a Zero Retries Guide page into a discussion in Zero Retries about a new development being discussed. For example, this is what I’ll be posting in articles as I develop additional Zero Retries Guides:

For background information on this subject, see:
Zero Retries Guide to Amateur Radio HF Data Communications

Those that are already knowledgeable of a subject in an article can just keep reading about the new development. Those that don’t have much background on the new development can click on the Zero Retries Guide link to get up to speed on the subject.

The benefit to me is that I don’t have to dig out previous references in Zero Retries (Substack’s search tool is maddeningly poor) or craft a new background paragraph for each article where there’s already some existing background.

A second, and even more significant benefit to me is that in creating a Zero Retries Guide page, I’m doing 95% of the work of creating a chapter of my forthcoming (2026 - I promise!) book The Zero Retries Guide to Amateur Radio in the 21st Century.

To comment on this article on the Zero Retries email list, click here.

ZR > BEACON

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Short mentions of Zero Retries Interesting items.

Random Wire Newsletter Announces EtherHam Website

Image courtesy of etherham.com / Tom Salzer KJ7T

Tom Salzer KJ7T in Random Wire 160:

A change for the better

Time for a grand experiment. And what is it? It is a separation of the Random Wire mailing list for this newsletter from the content in the newsletter. Details are available at A positive change for Random Wire subscribers but here’s the TLDR (too long, didn’t read): the Random Wire newsletter will continue to be transmitted via Substack subscriptions, but articles will be individually posted at a new website called EtherHam. Reasons for doing this are in the positive change article linked above.

As you read through this newsletter, I think you’ll see how this works. There are fewer images in the newsletter, as well as less text. If you want more, just click to get more.

I hope this change will make it easier for subscribers to ingest what’s most interesting to them. While it increases my workload slightly, the change will also provide more resiliency to this effort. Let’s see how this goes for a bit and then I’ll check in with you about whether it is working for you.

In the shorter pieces below, click the section title to read the more complete version at EtherHam.com, or find the Read More link at the end of each piece. You can also hit the Like link at the bottom of any article on EtherHam to help others as they consume the content.

Whew! This is another “now it can be told” development that I couldn’t talk about publicly until now. KJ7T’s development of EtherHam has been in development for months. I’ve been providing feedback to KJ7T about EtherHam, and I’m glad I can finally confess to knowing about it and help publicize it.

My TL;DR description of EtherHam is “reference for all most things related to Amateur Radio Over Internet (AROI). KJ7T, his Random Wire newsletter, and now EtherHam are my go-to references for most things Amateur Radio Over Internet, such as participating in Amateur Radio talk groups via Internet - with, or without, transmitting radio signals on Amateur Radio spectrum.

A great example is KJ7T’s article Part 2: Getting started with the SharkRF M1KE.

Kudos to KJ7T and congrats on the debut of EtherHam!

To comment on this ZR > Beacon item on the Zero Retries email list, click here.

ARRL to Host 2026 HamSCI Workshop at Central Connecticut State University

John E. Ross KD8IDJ in the 2025-12-11 issue of ARRL Letter:

ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® will host the 9th Annual HamSCI Workshop, March 14–15, 2026, at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) in New Britain, Connecticut, with activities also occurring at ARRL Headquarters in nearby Newington. Organizers for the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) community are working hard to put together a memorable event that will bring together amateur radio operators, citizen scientists, students, and professional researchers.

This year’s theme, “Discovering Science Through Ham Radio,” highlights the vibrant intersection of amateur radio and scientific discovery. The 2026 workshop will showcase achievements across the community, including the latest advances in ionospheric research, Personal Space Weather Station development, meteor scatter propagation studies, and the expanding use of technology and techniques for real-time radio propagation sensing.

Participants can expect more than 50 oral and poster presentations, invited tutorials, and a Saturday evening banquet featuring a keynote address from a prominent member of the community. Attendees will also enjoy a visit to ARRL’s national headquarters, with tours of the ARRL Lab, W1HQ Radio Laboratory, and opportunities to get on the air from W1AW – the Hiram P. Maxim Memorial Station. Most attendees will participate in person, with a virtual option to be announced.

See the link for more details about HamSCI 2026. Tina KD7WSF and I attended HamSCI 2025 and we really enjoyed it. The energy of the young student science and technology oriented Amateur Radio Operators was infectious and energizing.

Repeating from my Request To Send editorial at the beginning of this issue:

It’s so cool to see that ARRL has resumed actively sponsoring technical conferences relating to Amateur Radio!

To comment on this ZR > Beacon item on the Zero Retries email list, click here.

K1VL SDR - Now With Over 36 [Web SDR] Receivers

A new Web-888 SDR server with six meter capability is now online!

You are seeing this page because all 24 of the K1VL KiwiSDR receivers are at, or near, capacity. If so, please try another of the K1VL servers to see if there’s an available slot. You can also camp on a fully utilized Kiwi server and wait for a slot to become available or you can “listen in” on a current receiver session with limited control.

There is an additional OpenWebRX+ SDR server tuned to 80 meters during nighttime hours (Eastern U.S. time) and 40 meters during daytime hours (Eastern U.S. time) to support many more listeners.

I stumbled onto this site doing background research for Zero Retries. Click the link in the title to see links to K1VL’s web SDRxs.

This is just what one (motivated and talented) Amateur Radio can offer!

Followup email with K1VL:

I’m sharing my RF environment with fellow hams and other radio enthusiasts.

I am quite active on AREDN and host a supernode as well. I’m having a blast testing out 802.11ah on 900 MHz and setting up WireGuard connections to access 44Net.

Keep up the good work on Zero Retries!

To comment on this ZR > Beacon item on the Zero Retries email list, click here.

Remarkably Zero Retries Interesting Issue of ARRL QST - 2026-01

My friend and Zero Retries Pseudostaffer Ren Roderick KJ7B alerted me to check out the 2026-01 issue of ARRL QST for an article on the OpenTNC project.

To my surprise, reading through this issue of QST, there were a number of Zero Retries Interesting articles. I browse through most issues of QST in a few quick minutes due to the lack of Zero Retries Interesting content.

But this issue was different, including:

  • A letter - Digital Mode Discovery (about FreeDV RADE being very effective in dealing with the rising noise floor on HF bands in urban areas),

  • The OpenTNC: An Open-Source Packet Radio Controller by David Platt AE6EO,

  • An Introduction to THz (Optical) Communications by Irwin Math WA2NDM,

  • Microwavelengths column - Travel Antennas for Microwaves by Paul Wade W1GHZ,

  • A Homemade 6.4-Meter EME Dish by Henryk Kotowski SMØJHF,

  • Future-Proofing ARES: Starlink Roam for Support of Deployments by Bob Famiglio K3RF,

  • Club Station column - Boosting Engagement with Build Nights by Danny Davis, KD5W,

  • Ham Media Playlist column - The Comms Channel by Steve Goodgame K5ATA.

OpenTNC Project - Pretty Cool

The OpenTNC project is pretty cool and creator David Platt AE6EO did a great job with that article for the QST (and the general Amateur Radio audience)! The overall design and capabilities of the OpenTNC is pretty cool:

  • Completely open source design - see GitLab page.

  • Five status indicators (a homage to the TAPR TNC-2)

  • 1200 bps and 9600 bps data rates

  • Incorporates FX.25 Forward Error Correction

  • KISS protocol interface

  • USB data connection (the Raspberry Pi Pico)

  • The compute module is a Raspberry Pi Pico

  • “Deflate data compression” (had to look that up)

See also The AE6EO OpenTNC project page with some interesting mentions such as

DAMASK packet scheduling mode for KISS- connected nodes

and

DAMA

It wouldn’t be difficult to add DAMA-slave capability, so that the TNC would honor a “You are connected in DAMA mode” response from the remote peer (DAMA master), and would transmit only immediately after being polled by the master. Unfortunately I lack access to a DAMA-master system to use to test out this mode.

That said…

I’m encouraged that ARRL is offering more Zero Retries Interesting content in QST.

I’m discouraged that the only folks that will ever get to see that Zero Retries Interesting content in QST is the < 20% (and declining…) of US Amateur Radio Operators that are ARRL members.

I continue to posit that for ARRL and other publishers with periodical material sequestered behind a paywall, their problem isn’t potential piracy of their content, its that their content, not being viewable easily on the Internet by interested folks, make such content irrelevant to the vast majority of current and potential Amateur Radio Operators.

Thus… as Zero Retries Interesting as the 2026-01 issue of QST was, I’m compelled to continue to recommend the SARC Communicator as an Amateur Radio “magazine” to those new to Amateur Radio… because it has content equivalent to QST articles and columns, and anyone can view it without hitting a paywall.

Discussion About New Packet Radio (NPR)

From a private email discussion - the person didn’t give me permission to use their name.

I’ve read your articles on NPR and I like the idea. But, in many ways I see it as similar to IP400.

The challenge I see with both is the application. What is the problem being solved with this technology? What will attract people to it? Why should they want it?

For example, I’m not sure how many people are using VARA FM for anything beyond WinLink or FLMsg.

I looked at the site selling the NPR hardware, they make no mention of software that supports these modems or the protocols that can take full advantage of the increased speed.

I think this is a problem of engineers designing something because they can. This isn’t limited to NPR or IP400. Someone comes up with a great idea, and they make it work, but there isn’t a framework around it. Without that framework the technology doesn’t help people.

This is the opposite of your Superpeater idea. It is a great idea, I think it would be great. But, there isn’t a repeater controller that would support it, nor is there a radio that would fully support it.

Going back to NPR, I think the question needs to be asked. How will hams use these modems in their daily lives? What problem do they solve?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m super excited about the technology. I’m just afraid the technology won’t be used, not because it doesn’t work, rather because there is no application that makes the technology important for hams. Does that make sense?

What are your thoughts?

My response:

Good questions / observations.

NPR is exciting exactly because it isn’t a new mode. 🙂

It’s finally that transparent, high speed bit pipe, implemented on VHF / UHF, that we’ve needed for a long time.

It’s got an Ethernet port for connectivity - not fussy USB with drivers needed, just bog standard Ethernet.

And it uses bog standard TCP/IP for addressing.

Ethernet bits in, RF bits out, and vice versa.

It has just enough native networking to create a digipeater capability if that’s needed in a particular local topology.

Keep in mind the original use case that NPR was developed for - an alternative radio access into Europe’s HAMNET microwave network. All the fun happens on HAMNET… not because of you buying and using an NPR radio.

All of that will be familiar to NewTechHams - no arcane TNC knowledge to spelunk, no fussing with RS-232 from the previous century, etc.

So we can do anything with NPR that we want. Web server, BBS, email, chat server, etc.

The same is true with AREDN - it’s just “Ethernet connectivity” conducted over Amateur Radio spectrum.

As for SuperPeater…

  • Yes there is a controller that will support it - it’s called a Raspberry Pi 5. 🙂 Seriously, everything I envision for SuperPeater is mostly implemented in software and existing (RF / modem) hardware.

  • For the user portion, use whatever (fastest) radio you have to uplink, and use a RPi whatever with an RTL-SDR dongle to download. I haven’t researched a wideband data mode for the SuperPeater downlink yet, but there are many laying around. Perhaps (I really, really hope) IP400’s OFDM mode will emerge to meet this need.

My problem with evangelizing these concepts is that I think best in text… and that only works with a small subset of today’s Amateur Radio population. I need to do videos, Videos, VIDEOS… and more videos to walk people through the ideas.

The Zero Retries Guide to New Packet Radio is yet another Zero Retries Guide that’s in development. So much fun writing projects, so little time…

Somebody asked about people’s ‘unusual hobbies’ – 21 bizarre ways to use up your free time

You’ll never guess what the #1 choice of “unusual hobbies / bizarre ways to use up your free time” was 🤣

‘Amateur Radio (sometimes called Ham Radio). You have to pass a test to then get a license, but it enables you to build your own radio equipment or use pre-made kit and communicate locally or across the world without having to use the internet.
If you time it right, you can even contact the astronauts onboard the International Space Station, or use the space station as a relay to then talk to other amateurs. You can bounce signals off the moon, send slow scan TV pictures, send data etc.’
–Primary_Choice3351

Comments Summary From Previous Issue

Comments from Zero Retries 0231

  • 13 comments; this will be the last time I feature this section.

  • Comments on battery backup basics.

  • Comments on IPv6 usage.

  • Not writing off HF.

  • YouTube lists (now, you can know what I watch and recommend).

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In this issue:

Request To Send

Battery Backup Power Basics

Some Zero Retries Interesting Trends For 2026

ZR > BEACON

Comments Summary From Previous Issue

Zero Retries Boilerplate

Permission for Reuse of Zero Retries Content

Keywords for this Issue

Footnotes for this Issue

Comments for This Issue (Redirect to This Issue’s Comments page)

Request To Send

Commentary by Editor Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Paid Subscribers Update

My thanks to Justin AI6YM for becoming a new Founding Member Subscriber 0022 to Zero Retries this past week!

Founding Member Subscribers are listed in every issue of Zero Retries!

My thanks to Steve Greene KS1G for renewing as an Annual Paid Subscriber to Zero Retries this past week!

My thanks to Prefers to Remain Anonymous 59 for renewing as an Annual Paid Subscriber to Zero Retries this past week!

My thanks to Scott Nacey KK6IK for restarting as an Annual Paid Subscriber to Zero Retries this past week! KK6IK also included this nice message:

[Zero Retries] is the best, most leading edge commentary on today’s Ham Radio. Keep it up.

My thanks to Ken Slickers KI7DGC for becoming a new Annual Paid Subscriber to Zero Retries this past week!

My thanks to Stuart Turner N6DVM for becoming a new Annual Paid Subscriber to Zero Retries this past week!

Financial support from Zero Retries readers is a significant vote of support for the continued publication of Zero Retries.

Zero Retries Administrivia Bulletin

Progress is being made to move Zero Retries to another web / blog / email newsletter hosting system beginning in 2026 - under a new domain (still in progress).

www.zeroretries.org will remain in place until such time as all the content can be cleanly ported over to the new hosting system. It would be too much to move it all concurrent with setting up the new hosting system.

More administrivia bulletins will be posted in each issue this month. There’s a big announcement I’d hoped to make this week, but it needs a bit more behind-the-scenes preparation before announcement, and this week just went by way too fast.

Amateur Radio (In the 21st Century) Elevator Pitch

Comment exchange in Zero Retries 0230 with John Simmons NI0K. I said:

Funny you should use the word “spark”. If you’re building a campfire from scratch, your “spark” doesn’t do much good to light a “fire” unless there’s some “tinder”. As I’ve explained, I think for most of us it’s a dead end to try to interest the average person into Amateur Radio, especially legacy Amateur Radio (HF, CW, voice operation, etc.). So I don’t try that approach - don’t try to talk up Amateur Radio to the average person.

My approach is to watch for an opening (”tinder”) with potential NewTechHams - techies, EE students, software engineers, Makers, STEM students (or parents or instructors). Then try to apply the “spark” of talking up radio technology that they might have some familiarity / interest in - Meshtastic, long distance Wi-Fi, etc. If the “spark” catches that “tinder” then “fan the flames” to try to ignite the “fire” - relevant, technological aspects of Amateur Radio . Gently explain that Amateur Radio is all about experimenting with radio technology - building your own radios, figuring out your own types of radios with software (GNU Radio), etc.

Obviously there’s a lot more work to be done with a distilled description of relevant Amateur Radio activity in the 21st century. All of that probably needs to be distilled into a tri-fold brochure that can be inexpensively reproduced as double-sided color printing at Fedex Office, with some sexy photos like LinHT, cubesats, Raspberry Pi WSPR transmitter, TinyGS satellite ground station, AREDN microwave networking, DLARC online Amateur Radio archive, etc. Maybe even work in a mention of Zero Retries and at least one cool Amateur Radio YouTuber.

Zero Retries Interesting Amateur Radio Clubs - Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society (STARS)

One of the minor missions of Zero Retries is to highlight Amateur Radio activities and organizations that are relevant to Amateur Radio in the 21st century. Thus technology-focused Amateur Radio organizations are particularly Zero Retries Interesting, like Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society (STARS) of Natick, Massachusetts, USA. Not only is STARS’ website informative and up to date, but they chose a really cool domain name - stars.radio!

Image courtesy of New England Sci-Tech.

STARS is just one of three radio technology related clubs associated with New England Sci-Tech1 (NEST):

New England Sci-Tech is a non-profit STEM education center and maker space dedicated to project-based, hands-on learning for youth and families across the New England community. Our mission is to promote development of a STEM-literate and skilled citizenry ready to meet the needs of the 21st century and beyond.

The other two radio technology related clubs are:

Wireless Technology Club:

A series of workshops that gets hands on with wireless tech, electronics, and radio communications. Come join us as we tinker and learn together. No license needed. Workshops can be taken a la carte, as they interest you.

New England Amateur Radio (NEAR):

NE1AR provides educational services to the amateur radio community including license exams, courses, and technical support. NE1AR is colocated with New England Sci-Tech in Natick, MA.

In my opinion, New England Sci-Tech has their mission and the involvement of Amateur Radio dialed in perfectly - their primary focus is youth and Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) activities that supplement K-12 education:

[Bob Phinney] founded NEST to provide access to enrichment opportunities to supplement what is experienced in school to expose K-12 students to the more exciting aspects of science and to spark interest and enthusiasm for STEM.

Thus, the three radio technology related clubs associated with NEST are just another set of interesting STEM activities.

Thus, kudos to the respective leadership of NEST, STARS, WTC, and NEAR for doing an excellent job of “framing” Amateur Radio as a relevant and interesting activity for STEM students.

Whither IP400?

I’ve been asked a few times recently:
“What’s happening with the IP400 Network Project? You were so hung-ho about it earlier this year.”

Short answer - I have no idea.

At this point, like almost everyone else, I’m just an interested observer hoping to hear some (good news) progress reports. But at the moment, no news is forthcoming from Alberta Digital Radio Communications Society (ADRCS), IP400’s sponsoring organization.

The IP400 Network Project seems to be in limbo, or at least that’s the impression one gets from:

Hopefully ADRCS is hard at work behind the scenes, making good progress, empowered by their US$60,000 grant from ARDC in 2025-05.

ADRCS published a quarterly newsletter in October 2025, so perhaps early in 2026 there will be another issue with an update on IP400.

Weekends Are For Amateur Radio!

I’m not sure how much Amateur Radio fun is in store for this coming weekend as Western Washington is bracing for a (new phrase for me) Godzilla atmospheric river. We’re queued up to receive a week or more of normal rainfall compressed into days. Fortunately, that precipitation will arrive as rain rather than snow (except in the mountains)… this time. Fortunately our local rivers aren’t expected to be pushed past flood stage; many rivers south of us are inevitably going to flood.

Have a great weekend, all of you co-conspirators in Zero Retries Interesting Amateur Radio activities!

Steve N8GNJ

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Battery Backup Power Basics

By Don Rotolo N2IRZ

Contains no AI-generated content, except one instance of the word “the”.

When the electric utility and weather cooperate, power is plentiful. But lose those bets and we’re in the dark, with UPS systems beeping plaintively, and us wondering how long the phone will last.

This won’t be an exhaustive treatment of standby and backup power, but a broad introduction to most of the things to consider. And the very first step is deciding what exactly will need power, how much power it needs, and how much money how long you want (or need) to be able to power it. But first, some terminology.

We’ll be talking about batteries, and they are rated in Ampere-hours (Ah), which is a measure of the battery’s capacity. It is not a measure of energy, as it disregards the voltage, but if we decide that our backup power system will universally run at 12 volts, we’re fine with Ah.

Of course, if you have a generator powered by some kind of chemical fuel – gasoline, propane and natural gas are common – then you have as much power as the generator can deliver for as long as you have fuel for it. An automobile can be pressed into service as a 12-volt source in a pinch, and some electric vehicles and work trucks consider this a feature. But all of those power sources are fairly well-understood, so here we will focus on the less understood black magic of battery-backup.

If given two batteries, the one with the higher Ah rating contains more energy, making this rating convenient for comparisons. But using that rating to size your battery is a rookie mistake. To understand why, consider how this rating is derived.

Small (5-100 Ah) lead-acid batteries are typically used for battery backup. They are not light, but they are (relatively) inexpensive and safe, with a useful energy density. The Ah rating is based on a controlled discharge over 20 hours while maintaining a known minimum voltage. Other batteries (different chemistries, different sizes) often use different time periods. So, if a particular battery was able to maintain a terminal voltage of at least 10.5 V at a constant discharge rate of 1 A for 20 hours, it gets a 20 Ah rating.

Taking our 20 Ah battery, we know it should deliver 1 A for 20 h. But if we increase the discharge current to, say 20 A, how long will it last? Hint: Not 1 hour, as it is not quite linear. As discharge current increases, the Ah capacity decreases. Conversely, as current decreases, Ah capacity increases. So, expecting to power your station, which draws 20A, for one hour using a 20 Ah battery will lead to great disappointment.

The graph below shows this relationship with a particular 100 Ah lead-acid battery, using the term “C” for its rated capacity (100 A). This means that with a 20 Ah battery, C is 20 A, and with a 55 Ah battery, C is 55 A, so with our 100 Ah battery, “1C” means a 100 A discharge rate.

For our 100 Ah battery, a discharge rate of 5 A (0.05C or C/20) means it takes about 20 hours to drop to 1.75 v/cell (10.5v), giving us 100 Ah (5 A * 20 h) while a 200 A (2C) discharge takes about 13 minutes to drop to 1.30 v/cell2 (7.8 v), giving us only about 43 Ah according to the graph. Note that a LiFePO4 battery is ‘stiffer’, losing less capacity (in Ah) as discharge rate C increases...but the fundamentals are very similar. So your 20 Ah battery will only be delivering about 9.5 volts after 33 minutes of delivering 20 A, around half of what you might expect.

OK, so now that we understand that battery ratings might be far more optimistic than we thought, we need to do some calculations to determine just what we need for our battery system, a process known as sizing. In essence, we multiply how many Amps of DC current we need by the number or hours we might need it for, and use that value to drive the needed battery capacity.

For a simple example, an LED light uses 120 mA (0.12 A). I want to be able to use it for 16 hours a day. For each day I need it, I need a (real, not rated) capacity of (0.10 * 16 =) 1.92 Ah.

A more complex example is a radio: It uses 600 mA in standby (receiver ready but no signal received), 800 mA with a received signal at typical volume, and 8.5 A during transmit. We estimate that it will be in standby 30% of the time, receive 50% and transmit 20%. For your estimates, try to be accurate for your actual usage, but keep in mind that your usage pattern might be different than when the mains power is on.

Doing the math, this radio typically uses (0.6 A * 0.3) + (0.8 A * 0.5) + (8.5 A * 0.2) = 0.18 + 0.4 + 1.7 = 2.28 Amps on average. If we operate for 1 hour we need 2.28 Amp-hours of real capacity. If we want to power the radio for 10 hours, we need 22.8 Ah of real capacity.

You need to do your own math and figure out how many Ah you will actually use. I recommend actual current measurements, not relying on manufacturer ratings. If you have equipment that must be powered by 120 volts AC, you also have to consider the conversion efficiency of your inverter, typically around 80%, with high-quality equipment approaching 95%.

Using a PowerSonic DCG12-100 12 V 100 Ah lead-acid battery as an example, the data sheet (available at < https://www.power-sonic.com/product/dcg12-100/?preview=true >) shows that at a discharge rate of 16.4 A one can expect a capacity of 82 Ah to a terminal voltage of 10.2 v. This means that if we draw around 16 A, the manufacturer says the battery voltage will remain at least 10.2 volts for five hours.

If five hours (and 10.2 v) is enough, we’re golden. If, say, 15 hours is needed, you need three of those batteries. 50 hours? Ten batteries. Higher minimum voltage than 10.2? Use the spec sheet and graph to determine actual capacity for a given discharge rate and end voltage, then do all the math again. Pretty simple, but not so inexpensive. Of course, as the batteries age, their capacity diminishes. And it would be a best practice to up-rate your current requirements by 20% or so, to ensure you have enough capacity available over time.

Once again: If you have a charging source for your batteries – generator, car, waterwheel, whatever – independent of the power mains, your battery need is reduced and your operating time can increase.

Care and charging for your batteries is absolutely required. You would be wise to limit the charging rate to that specified by the manufacturer, typically 0.2C for lead-acid. A lower charging rate does less harm to the battery, but we have to balance that with time to fully recharge. Manufacturers often specify a charger, or one can use a good quality constant voltage power supply, keeping the voltages within the limits defined by the manufacturer (13.5-13.8 V for a lead-acid battery in standby). For other battery chemistries, constant voltage (which is cheap and simple) is typically not an option: Use what the manufacturer says to use, and especially with all lithium-chemistry batteries, as these need special charging characteristics. No sense setting the shack on fire.

If you want to use solar power, similar calculations are needed, as is a solar power battery charge controller. I’ve consumed too much space here already, but I’ll write about that in part 2. Let me know if you find this info useful and interesting.

Endnotes:

  1. While there are many testing standards, for similar batteries (size, chemistry) the test methods are the same or comparably similar. For small lead-acid batteries, a 20 h discharge is typical, at controlled temperature (around 68F/20C) with a final voltage of 10.5 V (1.75 v/cell – a 12 V lead-acid battery has six cells in series). LiFePO4 batteries are typically tested to a final voltage of 2.5 V/cell

  2. As the discharge rate increases, the final voltage decreases, so for a 2C discharge a typical standard is 7.8 V (1.3 v/cell)for a lead-acid battery. The graph shows the differing final voltage standards used.

Editor’s Postscript: I’m grateful to Zero Retries Pseudostaffer N2IRZ for this article. He wrote it as a detailed response to my “lightly researched” statements about run time, etc. in my article in Zero Retries 0226 - My New 2025 Standby Battery Power System. N2IRZ took me to task on several assumptions I stated in the article and I largely defer to his much greater experience with this subject, and his professional engineering background. That said… I remain slightly skeptical that it’s not quite a direct comparison between the performance characteristics of SLA / AGM batteries versus LiFePO4 batteries such as the Bioenno Power BLF-1240A. But “empirical research” such as putting together and learning the capabilities of my new 20262 Standby Battery Power System is part of the fun of Amateur Radio.

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Some Zero Retries Interesting Trends For 2026

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

I was recently asked for speaking points for a requested presentation in early 2026, and that caused me to write down some “top of mind” trends for 2026.

Linux Handheld Transceiver (LinHT)

The LinHT is a Software Defined Transceiver in the form factor of a handheld (portable) radio. For the proof of concept phase, LinHT is designed as a replacement circuit board for a popular, inexpensive handheld radio (Retevis C62), though there is nothing unique about that particular radio; it was chosen solely as a proof of concept vehicle. LinHT runs Linux as its internal operating system, and incorporates GNU Radio for creating new types of radio technology (and replicating existing radio technology).

I expect the LinHT project to remain the most important, impactful project currently in development within Amateur Radio in 2026. The impact of the LinHT eclipses new commercial products such as the FlexRadio Aurora, Kenwood TM-D750A, or the Icom IC-7300MK2 despite the huge engineering and development budgets of those products for a single and simple reason - the LinHT is targeted at NewTechHams, and those other (expensive) products are not. Despite the fact that LinHT is funded only through donations and is being developed by three talented individuals, it’s simply too good and powerful an idea; it will inevitably become mainstream when one brave manufacturer offers a LinHT, and many others quickly follow.

The impact of the introduction of packet radio on Amateur Radio has faded somewhat now. Most Amateur Radio Operators who were active at the introduction of Amateur Radio Packet Radio in the mid-1980s have forgotten how much of a step change Packet Radio was in Amateur Radio. The introduction of Packet Radio was dramatic, one of those seminal before / after moments. It wasn’t like the introduction of SSB (just another voice mode), or solid state components (more reliable, but not really different).

When LinHT completes its development phase and begins to get deployed as a mainstream technology in Amateur Radio, everything will change, like it did when Packet Radio was first introduced. We’ll finally have that “universal radio” that the concept of Software Defined Radio has promised. New modes, new capabilities, will happen at the speed of software because unlike proprietary Software Defined Radio embedded in “mainstream” Amateur Radio units, the NewTechHams will be driving the evolution of the LinHT and its successors.

While development on M17 continues, some of that development work is being subsumed into LinHT as “just another mode” that LinHT will be capable of.

Zero Retries reference pages for LinHT and M17… and Packet Radio… are in progress.

New Packet Radio for 2m, 70cm, and 23cm Bands

New Packet Radio (NPR) is a high speed data communications radio system designed by Amateur Radio for the unique environment and requirements of Amateur Radio. NPR fills a niche between higher speed packet radio systems that use conventional FM radios (top speed, 25 kbps with VARA FM), and repurposed commercial microwave units (10s of Mbps). NPR achieves 100 kbps - 1 Mbps on Amateur Radio VHF / UHF bands.

NPR debuted in 2019, and is in use, but not widely in the US (my perception only). I think that situation will change in 2026 thanks to new versions of NPR now available from Localino - New Packet Radio NPR-H 3.0 (2m), New Packet Radio NPR-H 3.0 (70cm), and soon, New Packet Radio NPR-H 3.0 (23cm).

These units are data radios. The Localino units are reasonably priced (<US$300), are assembled and tested, with transmit power of 7 watts (2m and 70cm; 23cm power is not stated). NPR has a minimum bandwidth of 100 kHz (for 100 kbps raw data rate) up to 1 MHz (for 1 Mbps raw data rate) and can be used “simplex” (Point to Point) or “digipeater” (Point to Multipoint / “Master”) networks.

A Zero Retries reference page for New Packet Radio is in progress.

AREDN Local Area Networks / Extensions on 902-928 MHz Using 802.11ah / Wi-Fi HaLow

AREDN is modern (multi-megabit TCP/IP) radio networking, but is “limited” (depending on local topology) by the requirement of placing network hubs on high locations with an optical line of sight between user and network hub.

In my opinion, the ability to use AREDN technology on the (mostly, North America) 902-928 MHz band is a game changer for AREDN networking. While it’s not “absolute”, this band does not require an optical line of sight between nodes (some tree penetration is achievable). The AREDN capability means gateways between 5 GHz AREDN nodes and 902-928 MHz nodes can easily be implemented by connecting Ethernet ports between two (or more) units. Thus local area AREDN networks can now be formed in areas that have extensive tree cover.

A Zero Retries reference page for AREDN, including 802.11ah / Wi-Fi HaLow units, is in progress.

NewTechHams as an Increasingly Visible, and Influential Bloc Within Amateur Radio

After several years of promoting a new “type” of Amateur Radio Operator for which I created the term NewTechHams, this new “bloc” in Amateur Radio is becoming more visible, and more influential within Amateur Radio.

There was a beloved and oft-quoted phrase amongst the early Internet builders:

The Internet treats censorship as damage, and routes around it.

The equivalent among NewTechHams is:

NewTechHams treat legacy Amateur Radio attitudes, activities, and self-imposed restrictions as irrelevant, and are establishing their own version of Amateur Radio of the 21st century.

In 2025, I saw a lot more NewTechHams influence within Amateur Radio, and expect that to accelerate in 2026.

A Zero Retries reference page for NewTechHams is in progress.

An FCC Petition for Rulemaking for Deletion of VHF / UHF Bandwidth Limits and Symbol Rates

Various FCC Requests For Comments in the past two years have resulted in well-reasoned comments, with standing, to the FCC with the recommendation that current bandwidth limits for Amateur Radio VHF / UHF bands, and symbol rates, be deleted.

But those are mere recommendations… advice… to the FCC, with no mechanism for changes to the FCC Part 97 regulations for Amateur Radio to actually commence.

To change the FCC Part 97 regulations requires a formal Petition for Rulemaking from an outside party to be submitted to the FCC.

In 2026, there will be two “enabling” factors for such a Petition for Rulemaking:

With the Localino units, Amateur Radio can effectively demonstrate that its ability to experiment with technological innovation in Amateur Radio is being directly hampered by the bandwidth and symbol rate limitations. The Localino units can only operate with a minimum of 100 kHz bandwidth. That’s not a limitation for other countries such as Canada, which don’t have bandwidth and symbol rate restrictions. But, it prevents the New Packet Radio 2 meter version from being used in the US as the current maximum bandwidth limit on 2 meters is 20 kHz.

If Amateur Radio carefully crafts a Petition for Rulemaking that is compliant with the the FCC initiative (also known as Delete, Delete, Delete) in “surgically” removing mentions of bandwidth limitations and mentions of symbol rate limitations for the Amateur Radio VHF / UHF bands…

The FCC may be receptive to such a Petition for Rulemaking because such deletions would “count” towards the FCC’s ongoing effort to remove unneeded regulations.

Some key elements to such a Petition for Rulemaking:

  • Citation that other countries’ Amateur Radio regulations, especially Canada, do not have bandwidth limits or symbol rate limits applied to the VHF / UHF bands, with no adverse effects.

  • Citation of the previous comments in FCC proceedings that support such changes.

  • Citation of the innovation to be gained within Amateur Radio that can proceed with such changes.

  • The results from testing done via a Special Temporary Authority test of the use of the Localino units on 2 meters and 70 centimeters with no adverse impact.

  • (Hopefully) widespread support from a number of “name brand” organizations within US Amateur Radio.

As a possible extended effort for the above might be to “surgically” remove mentions of onerous notification requirements for use of the US 219-220 MHz Amateur Radio band, as well as removing the 100 kHz channelization for this band, allowing the full 1 MHz to be used as one block. That removal of channelization won’t change the nature of this band as used exclusively for point-to-point operation. Between this much more usable 219-220 MHz band and the US / Canada 1.25 meter (222-225 MHz) band, it may be possible for Localino to create another variant of New Packet Radio hardware for 1.25 meters and thus finally realize the potential of 219-220 MHz for high speed (1 MHz channel with 1 Mbps raw data rate) point to point links.

A Zero Retries reference page for this Petition for Rulemaking is in progress.

Interesting Projects to Follow in 2026

  • GTDATA (also known as MMDVM-TNC) is a project to implement faster speeds on Amateur Radio VHF / UHF bands using some advanced techniques such as improved waveform and integral Forward Error Correction (FEC). GTDATA continues the paradigm of using FM radios with “flat audio” connections. Another feature of GTDATA is that it is implemented for MMDVM units, and thus can be used with FM repeaters. Some modes of GTDATA are interoperable with modes available on NinoTNC. Jim Mclaughlin KI6ZUM of ZUMRadio and Steve Stroh N8GNJ of Zero Retries are collaborating to test, document, and promote more use of GTDATA in 2026.
    A Zero Retries reference page for GTDATA is in progress.

  • RADE over Baseband FM (BBFM) is a project to apply the Radio Autoencoder (RADE) technology developed for FreeDV to use on VHF / UHF FM. Basically, BBFM is next generation digital voice technology, and is entirely open source. The voice samples on the linked page are compelling; superior to current algorithm-based (and especially proprietary) vocoders.

  • ka9q-radio is a innovative use of Software Defined Receivers to create a virtual, multichannel receiver that can effectively receive all channels in a VHF / UHF band simultaneously, limited only by the receive bandwidth of the SDRx. What’s been needed for more widespread use of ka9q-radio in VHF / UHF is to create a ka9q-radio appliance application - ka9q-radio plug and play. To date, ka9q-radio has been more widely adopted for use on HF SDRx units, but for various reasons, ka9q-radio is needed on VHF / UHF. For example, to use a Localino New Packet Radio unit on 2 meters requires a 100 kHz (minimum) channel. Using ka9q-radio to simultaneously receive all 2 meter channels can find 100 kHz portions of 2 meters that are not currently in use, and thus a NPR transmission could commence.
    A Zero Retries reference page for ka9q-radio is in progress.

  • Movement towards an Amateur Radio Geosynchronous Earth Orbit payload or satellite for the Western Hemisphere… or giving up on the idea. I can’t quantify this perspective very well, but 2026 seems like the closing of a window for this idea. Either there will be some substantial movement towards this goal in 2026, with some organization or group to “go public” with some goals and progress… or simply give up on the idea. I think this quote, attributed to W.C. Fields, applies:
    If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no point in being a damn fool about it.

    If an Amateur Radio GEO for the Western Hemisphere doesn’t seem like a realistic prospect in 2026, what may well “take its place” for higher bandwidth satellite experimentation, is the use of Starlink, especially the Starlink Mini user terminal. This is no different conceptually than the widespread use of Internet for Amateur Radio Over Internet activities, with some interesting differences:

    • Starlink is much more reliable than typical consumer Internet because of lack of dependencies on terrestrial infrastructure that is easily damaged (power outages, fiber cuts, fires / floods / hurricanes / earthquakes, etc.) This is especially true with Starlink Mini being able to be powered by 12 volts or USB-C.

    • Starlink, especially Starlink Mini is highly portable. If you develop a small, portable peer to peer infrastructure node (example, VOIP server), you can just “pick up and move” your infrastructure - mini rack, power (battery), and Starlink Mini.

    • Each Starlink user terminal automatically assigns a number of unique, semi-static (?) IPv6 addresses, both WAN and LAN. Thus peer to peer networking can be established between individual Starlink user terminals.

    • Starlink is steadily deploying inter-satellite links so that wide area networking can be effective and not necessarily dependent on Internet infrastructure. Thus a number of users in a region using Starlink Mini user terminals can build out the equivalent of an AREDN radio Wide Area Network (WAN) using Starlink.

    • Starlink has become “experimenter-friendly” with its Standby service tier - 500 kbps with no transfer caps, for only $5/month. I’ve experimented a bit with my new Starlink Mini set to Standby service, and it’s amazingly usable, including being able to watch YouTube videos.

    • If needed, the forthcoming 44Net Virtual Private Network can provide compatibility with IPv4 systems and networks.

    • Starlink, because it isn’t Amateur Radio, can be used by network / satellite / radio experimenters, not just Amateur Radio Operators, with no restrictions on encryption, commercial use, music, rebroadcast, and other Amateur Radio restrictions.

    • Starlink can provide all modern communications methods via peer-to-peer - voice, video, web, chat / messaging, email, etc. - no real dependence on Internet infrastructure.

Zero Retries reference pages for Amateur Radio GEO for Western Hemisphere and Starlink are in progress.

Again, the above are just some of “top of mind” trends for Zero Retries Interesting Amateur Radio in 2026. I’ll have a more complete overview of my expected trends in 2026 in one of the January, 2026 issues of Zero Retries.

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ZR > BEACON

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Short mentions of Zero Retries Interesting items.

HamSCI Meteor Scatter Experiments 2025-12-12 and 13

From ARRL Letter 2025-12-04:

The Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) is seeking operators and monitors to participate in a series of upcoming meteor scatter (MS) experiments. Operations will take place on December 12 - 13, 2025, over a 48-hour period — during the Geminids meteor shower. This is a combination ‘special event’ and a contest to generate contact data during meteor scatter events using 10 meters (28.145 MHz) and 6 meters (50.260 MHz). Suggested operating procedures can be found at www.hamsci.org/msqp. No special station equipment is required but the experiment uses the MSK144 operating mode as part of the WSJTX suite. The functionality is much like using FT8 and is easy to use. For more information on the operating guidelines for the activity, visit www.hamsci.org/msqp-rules.

HamSCI continues to do interesting work that makes Amateur Radio relevant in the 21st century.

Pycom Radio Controller

Steven Dodd M0SNZ on the amsat-bb email list:

I’m the developer of Pycom Radio Controller - https://pycom.stevendodd.net; software that allows you to control an Icom 9700 radio remotely via a USB serial connection. There is a focus on remote full duplex doppler control for satellite tracking with integrations for Hamlib rigctl, Gpredict, CSN S.A.T, SatPC32 and WSJT-X. it’s available for both Windows 10/11 and MacOS.

Making Amateur Radio Accessible

Although there are many reasons why you might want remote control, the motivation for creating this software was a desire to operate satellites specifically linear satellite and finding a lack of support from currently existing software on the market.

In 2018 I had a surfing accident and was pulled out of the sea by a lifeguard from RNLI https://rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeguarded-beaches/chapel-porth-beach. I was left paralysed with a spinal cord injury from the neck downwards. I’ve recovered sufficiently to be able to use a trackpad awkwardly with the middle finger on my left hand however turning dials and pushing buttons on a radio is a little bit beyond me. Using Pycom Radio Controller remotely allows me to operate successfully without limitations.

I’m a fellow trackpad fan. To me it’s so much more intuitive and fluid to use a trackpad than a mouse or trackball. Apple’s trackpads are especially usable.

My thanks to Zero Retries Pseudostaffer Jeff Davis KE9V for pointing out this mention. Pycom Radio Controllers sounds pretty cool!

Unofficial IETF draft calls for grant of five nonillion IPv6 addresses to ham radio operators

Simon Sharwood in The Register:

Early in the history of the internet, the powers that be granted amateur radio operators over 16 million IPv4 addresses. Now a proposal has emerged suggesting the same community be granted a substantial chunk of the IPv6 numberspace.

The proposal to give amateur radio operators some IPv6 addresses emerged in an IETF draft that appeared in early November. It’s not an official IETF position because anyone can propose a draft policy.

Sole author Preston Louis Ursini, who operates the Paducah Internet Exchange and participates in internet policy development processes, points out that amateur radio operators need an addressing system and the IPv4 bloc assigned to the community has done the job for years.

…

In his IETF draft, Ursini points out that amateur radio operators have built practices and procedures around 44/8, and that for various reasons it would be impractical for the community to use RIRs to acquire IPv6 for its future needs.

He nonetheless suggests that the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) should reserve the 44::/16 bloc of IPv6 addresses and work with the RIRs to develop “a coordinated global policy framework” to make it all work.

…

In conversation with The Register, Michaelson said Ursini’s draft doesn’t represent a huge chunk of the IPv6 numberspace, which covers 2128 addresses. Ursini’s proposal asks for a mere 2112 addresses – five nonillion of the 340 undecillion addresses available under IPv6.

The suggestion is, however, unusual.

Michaelson thinks it’s nonetheless worth considering this idea, because the amateur radio community has a long history of doing interesting things that later become useful in other contexts. He also told us he thinks Ursini’s idea is running ahead of debate, and that the internet community will soon need to consider some matters – especially as humanity builds more networks in space and needs to consider how radio networks with lots of latency will interact with the rest of the internet.

Wow… Amateur Radio got (credibly!) mentioned in that bastion of information technology journalism, The Register 🤣

This suggestion - reserving a bloc of IPv6 addresses for Amateur Radio use, similar to 44Net for IPv4, keeps coming up repeatedly. To date, ARDC has gently demurred.

Becoming more knowledgeable about the nuances of IPv6 (the least I need to know to be an effective user of my IPv6 capabilities with my two Starlink user terminals), is on my list for 2026.

My thanks to Zero Retries Pseudostaffers Ren Roderick K7JB and Steve Monsey N0FPF who both mentioned this to me nearly simultaneously.

Hot Iron #131 November 2025 Now Available

This issue is really an eclectic collection of useful tidbits for those of us who love to experiment and build as part of our Amateur Radio activities.

I’m grateful to Hot Iron Technical Editor Peter Thornton G6NGR for having made a number of references to recent Zero Retries issues. Once I got my email for the new issue, I realized where a number of new subscribers to Zero Retries in the UK had come from.

Hot Iron is one of the publications I list in the Zero Retries Directory of Independent Open Amateur Radio Technical Media.

Amateur Radio Handheld Radio as a modular option of a new electric car

I’m a fan of Marques Brownlee, a well-spoken and refreshingly non-hyperbolic YouTube creator and tech reviewer. His latest review was of an Xiaomi electric car that’s currently unavailable (for purchase) in the US. I recommend the video - draw your own conclusions about the quality of this vehicle, and the implications.

Brownlee makes an interesting point that the overall software and user-facing tech of this vehicle is excellent. Prior to expanding to electric vehicles, Xiaomi made mobile phones, so the vehicle designers really embraced good user interface design, including tactile controls such as switches for common functions.

One of the funnier bits of the video was Brownlee explaining the various modular options of the vehicle… including a handheld UHF two way radio (7:22):

Image courtesy of Marques Brownlee

Really… as Brownlee explains it, this handheld radio is just one of many different modular options available for this vehicle.

(Brownlee is apparently not an Amateur Radio Operator as he didn’t recognize the significance of the displayed frequency given that he was doing his vehicle testing in the US. If I wanted to have a bit of fun, I’d reach out to Xiaomi public relations and thank them for supporting Ham Radio… and enjoy the confusion on their part.)

One of the nice aspects of this vehicle is that there are apparently a number of magnetic docking points on the interior for mobile phones. But they could probably also support a wireless control head for a two way mobile radio. Or maybe Xiaomi will offer a mobile radio as another modular option for this vehicle.

Remote Receivers

Amateur Radio humorist3 and Zero Retries Pseudostaffer Jeff Davis KE9V:

Fred: I heard you check into the Possum Trot Net on 40 meters this morning. Didn’t know you hung out there. Odd thing, I could copy you fine, you’re practically local. But I couldn’t hear anyone else on the net. Propagation must be pretty poor today? How many folks regularly show up?

Tom: We had about thirty check-ins this morning. But you won’t have much luck copying everyone directly. We’re spread out over about 2000 miles.

Fred: Really? 2000 miles is pretty impressive for 40 meters phone at 9am. What’s this about not being able to hear everyone directly?

Tom: We all use remote receivers. You log onto a Web page that lists a bunch of remote receivers that can be streamed over the internet. We all are connected via a net logger application that lets us make a list of check-ins so everyone knows who’s next. For instance, when it gets turned over to Sylvia in Chattanooga we all switch to a remote receiver in southern Tennessee to listen to her transmission. After her we might switch to Dale in Phoenix and listen via a receiver in Arizona, and so on. The system works really well so long as you have a solid net connection. Band conditions don’t really matter much for us.

Fred: Seems to me it might be easier with that large a crowd that you would all move to GoTo Meeting or something like that. You could even see each other using video that way!

Tom: Whoa! Hold on there Fred, that doesn’t sound like a suggestion fit for a “real ham”. We want to communicate using our radios, not the internet. You start doing that and next thing you know, ham radio is dead and everyone will be talking to each other online using computers. We’re real hams, we use our radios and the ionosphere to communicate!

Fred: Uhhh, yeah…but… Never mind. See you down the net logger…

Amateur Radio Over Internet! It’s not just for those durn NewTechHams 🤣

MySat Kit, your first personal satellite

Build your own satellite!

MySat is a fully functional small satellite (CubeSat) STEM kit for space fans.

Meet MySat Kit, your first personal satellite. The simple operation and step-by-step assembly allows even non-technical users to work with their satellite.

Understanding space technology is vital for the future of humanity. It’s also a way to have fun exploring new tools and technologies.

Why did we create the MySat Kit?

My Sat Kit is your personal 2-in-1 satellite: a construction set and a model of a real 4x4x4 inch satellite that can be assembled without any special knowledge. We want to show that space technology is available not only to billionaires, but also to amateurs, students and space fans.

All production is in-house. We keep all operations under control to ensure high quality and perfect production time. Our small laboratory has everything you need for production and testing, as well as people who do their job professionally and with love.

This was mentioned in the Saveitforparts YouTube channel.

This is pretty cool! Not cheap, but at least all the parts are available for purchase and it looks like it can be easily assembled and shown off as just another cool radio technology thing, relevant in the 21st century, that Amateur Radio Operators can do.

ClubExpress - All-in-One Management for Clubs and Associations

I discovered ClubExpress from researching New England Sci-Tech (NEST) mentioned in this issue’s Request To Send section.

ClubExpress makes it easy to bring people together. Manage membership, events, communication, payments, and your website — all in one platform designed to help clubs and associations thrive.

I have no background with, or any additional knowledge of ClubExpress other than New England Sci-Tech seems to make very good use of it to support their makerspace and ancillary activities. ClubExpress seems to handle the most troublesome aspects of managing non-commercial organizations such as Amateur Radio clubs in the 21st century:

  • Website, especially specialized activities (such as the radio organizations as just one part of NEST). NEST’s website seems modern-looking, responsive, phone-friendly.

  • Organizational calendar(s)

  • Finances / dues

  • Membership management

  • Member communications including email

  • Social media

What makes ClubExpress different is that it’s an integrated service platform, not just a web host with some services grafted on. Thus (I’ll guess…) there is real support available when the “update the website” duties inevitably have to transition to a new volunteer within the club and the club isn’t hostage to a member’s second cousin who offered the club cheap (and inexpert) website design and hosting.

Dues handling is another issue that I’ve seen really screw up Amateur Radio clubs that would benefit from a clean “collect the dues by a neutral party, deposit them directly into a club account” capability.

ClubExpress seems to have thought out the support experience for non-commercial organizations and would seem to be a great help to Amateur Radio clubs who are flailing to manage the overall club experience… mostly online… in the 21st century.

Fold in being the ability to distribute specific areas of responsibility to multiple individuals, effective calendaring for a range of activities, email management (no more using a volunteer’s personal email to bcc all of the club members for email bulletins) and integrated social media, and ClubExpress seems to be an effective solution to many of the headaches and frustrations of keeping members of a non-commercial organization connected and informed using the norms of the 21st century.

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Comments Summary From Previous Issue

Comments from Zero Retries 0230

  • 27 comments!

  • Ku & Ka bands satellite bands (12–18 GHz & 26.5–40 GHz)

  • VARA and VarAC use is very utilitarian

  • GEO satellites should (?) use active regeneration and Time Division Multiplexing

  • Neighborhood kids… are interested in digital comms, space comms and anything that looks like a cell phone.

  • Further discussion of Amateur Radio renting a commercial GEO transponder.

  • Umbrella organization that helps to tie all the various specialty modes / products / innovation together?

  • VarAC Clusters can integrate multiple instances of VARA.

  • Ham Radio elevator pitch.

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Zero Retries 0231 dated 2025-12-05

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1

My wife Tina KD7WSF and I tried to do a similar thing with the local makerspace, and we weren’t able to overcome the… inertia… of the (then) leadership to support a new Amateur Radio organization associated with the makerspace. Thus we’re a bit envious of New England Sci-Tech’s success with forming affiliated radio technology organizations.

2

I had fully intended to update my Standby Battery Power System in November 2025, with the procurement of the new battery and new charging system. But November went by very quickly, and December will be completely saturated. Thus this will be the 2026 Standby Battery Power System.

3

Honestly… to me, at times, KE9V borders on Mark Twain wise societal observations within Amateur Radio.

]]><![CDATA[Zero Retries 0230]]>https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0230https://www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0230Sat, 29 Nov 2025 04:31:10 GMTZero Retries is an independent newsletter promoting technological innovation in and adjacent to Amateur Radio, and Amateur Radio as (literally) a license to experiment with and learn about radio technology. Radios are computers - with antennas! Now in its fifth year of publication, with 3300+ subscribers.

About Zero Retries

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More Thoughts on a new (Western Hemisphere?) Amateur Radio GEO

ZR > BEACON

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Young People Aren’t Interested in Amateur Radio

I was asked to comment on an essay that began with the title above. Rather than critiquing the essay, I replied:

I think that the phrase “Young people aren’t interested in Amateur Radio” is incomplete.

I think a more accurate phrase would be “Young people aren’t very interested in legacy Amateur Radio activities.”

Legacy Amateur Radio:

  • Mostly has the public perception of Amateur Radio from television series Last Man Standing, ALF, and even The Munsters. From those popular cultural references, Amateur Radio is seen as a quaint, retro-tech activity with almost no relevance in the era of broadband connected pocket supercomputers, broadband everywhere, and the prevalence of conversations via text rather than verbal.

  • Is mostly talking / casual conversation or contesting or DXing.

  • Is mostly taking place on HF (too often, pejoratively characterized as “Real Ham Radio”).

  • Mostly does not involve digital or data modes.

  • When information about digital or data modes are sought out, the most common result is legacy packet radio circa early 1980s - 1200 bps AFSK (slow, failure prone, doesn’t scale) including legacy APRS.

  • Are mostly operational activities rather than experimental or technical activities.

  • Many interesting aspects of radio experimentation in this era such as Meshtastic are not (formally) part of Amateur Radio.

  • Amateur Radio emergency communications don’t reflect the existence and rapidly increasing usage of modern robust communications capabilities such FirstNET, Iridium, and Starlink (especially the very portable Starlink Mini).

Thus, agreed, most “young people” aren’t interested in Amateur Radio as reflected above.

It’s not easy for “young people” to discover aspects of Amateur Radio that are relevant and interesting to them, such as:

  • Advanced data modes such as AREDN and New Packet Radio that enable high speed data communications networks independent of the Internet, cellular, and satellite communications.

  • Open source activities such as FreeDV / RADE, M17 Project, and the very exciting LinHT open source Software Defined Radio in the form of a “walkie talkie”.

  • How using GNU Radio with an Amateur Radio license enables new and exciting different radio technology to be experimented with (over wide areas, in VHF / UHF spectrum, with higher power levels than unlicensed spectrum).

  • Demonstrating interest and capability in experimenting with radio technology in Amateur Radio can help establish credibility when competing for jobs in industries (such as defense, telecommunications, cybersecurity) that involve radio technology.

The trick (poor terminology, I know) to get “young people” interested in Amateur Radio is to not to promote the same old, same old legacy Amateur Radio activities that are irrelevant to them. Instead, promote aspects of Amateur Radio that are modern in the 21st century and relevant to them (and society).

We’re getting better at the latter, but we really have a long way to go.

Completely independently, there was this comment by Chuck Till K4RGN posted this week regarding Zero Retries 0229:

The majority of people completing my club’s license classes and passing the exams are not particularly interested in HF CW and SSB. They’re only mildly interested in VHF/UHF analog FM.

I’m not saying that operations from the 1950s-1970s will go away entirely, but it’s going to be a monotonically decreasing percentage of the hobby -- especially as the Baby Boomers die out.

Stick to your target.

My reply:

The majority of Amateur Radio Operators in the 2020s are captive to their (incomplete, in my opinion) worldview that what Amateur Radio IS, is mostly HF, CW+SSB, with a sprinkling of VHF / UHF voice (FM + Digital), and the very, very occasional “interesting” mode such as satellite, EME, microwave DX, and a tiny sliver of data such as APRS or Winlink.

For some time, I thought what was needed to gain more “mindshare” about Zero Retries Interesting areas of interest within Amateur Radio was to expose them to it. But now, in the fifth year of publishing Zero Retries, I’ve come to realize that such exposure results in perhaps 3% “oh, I didn’t know about that - sounds interesting” and 97% “oh, that’s not really Amateur Radio / I’m not interested in that at all”.

Thus I’m no longer attempting “promotion of Zero Retries Interesting subjects” to general Amateur Radio audiences. I now do so only on request groups that request such a presentation because they know of Zero Retries and related subjects such as LinHT. Instead I’ll be promoting Zero Retries Interesting subjects to potential NewTechHams audiences such as the local annual Linux conference.

In a conversation I had this week, I was trying to explain both facets of Amateur Radio and I think it boils down to a dichotomy - Legacy Amateur Radio (basically the same Amateur Radio activities that were relevant in the 1970s) and the NewTechHams and OldTechHams that I mostly write for here in Zero Retries. There is some middle ground of folks that enjoy both “Legacy” and “TechHams”, but that crossover audience is pretty small.

Speaking solely for myself, I’ve come to the conclusion that I no longer think that “exposing legacy Amateur Radio” to Zero Retries Interesting topics of interest to NewTechHams (and again, OldTechHams) is an effective use of time, energy, funds, and resources. An example is Hamvention - my primary takeaway from Hamvention, including attending Hamvention 2025, is that Hamvention is almost entirely a celebration of legacy Amateur Radio (admittedly, a big celebration) with only occasional new technology Zero Retries Interesting topics showcased there. One example from Hamvention 2025 was the FlexRadio Aurora. But that’s all the “NewTech” that readily comes to mind from Hamvention 20251.

Thus, I think that promoting Zero Retries Interesting topics, projects, and activities mostly to NewTechHams, can only be effective when directed into specialized venues that are (at least potentially) relevant to NewTechHams, such as:

Spotted in Passing…

Loïc Féjoz F4JXQ in his QRZ.com profile:

Favorite source of information: https://www.zeroretries.org/

Thank you F4JXQ!

Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club Presentation

Tina and I had a good time talking to MDARC last Friday about Zero Retries, ZRDC, our impression of MDARC’s Pacificon 2025 conference, LinHT, and other topics. I haven’t yet updated the slide deck with URLs and other references, but I will do so soon, and make it available here in Zero Retries and to MDARC for their archive of the presentation.

Weekends Are For Amateur Radio!

Nothing special in mind in N8GNJ and Zero Retries Labs this weekend other than recovering from having piled up many leftover projects, and of course, a great Thanksgiving meal(s) and hosting some good friends for an extended visit.

Have a great weekend, all of you co-conspirators in Zero Retries Interesting Amateur Radio activities!

Steve N8GNJ

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More Thoughts on a new (Western Hemisphere?) Amateur Radio GEO

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

A comment on Zero Retries 0229 by Loïc Féjoz F4JXQ directed me to AMSAT-DL’s FutureGEO proposals repository of responses to AMSAT-DL’s request for proposals (inputs regarding FutureGEO).

Use Millimeter Wave Bands?

Reading through some of the proposals, I’m surprised that it’s being seriously considered to use millimeter wave bands like 77 GHz for an Amateur Radio satellite or payload in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO), and thus accessing a new Amateur Radio GEO payload should be more challenging to access than the use of 2.4 GHz uplink and 10 GHz downlink used by the QO-100 Amateur Radio payload at GEO above the Eastern hemisphere.

On paper (the proposals), it probably sounds good that Amateur Radio should use its microwave spectrum. But consider… the wavelength of 77 GHz is 3.9 mm / 0.15 inches. Thus imagine the precision required to hit a GEO satellite (perhaps a “micro GEO” satellite) antenna at a range of 35,786 km from the ground, or a roof, or an apartment balcony. Just a mild gust of wind could easily move the dish antenna out of alignment with the satellite.

Thus, to me, the use of millimeter wave bands like 77 GHz for accessing a GEO is a total non starter. Such a bleeding edge system could only possibly appeal to the hardest core microwave experimenters who can build a very, very robust ground station to build an effective 77 GHz ground station.

For the rest of us, it’s challenging enough, but practical enough, to imagine using 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz as an uplink, and 10 GHz as a downlink to access a GEO payload. Just a basic comparison with the wavelength (and resulting dish, and pointing accuracy required for 77 GHz (3.9 mm / 0.15 inches). Per ChatGPT:

  • 2.4 GHz wavelength: ~ 122 mm / 4.8 inches

  • 5.5 GHz wavelength: ~ 55 mm / 2.2 inches

  • 10.5 GHz wavelength: 29 mm / 1.1 inches

Accuracy to GEO with an Amateur Radio built ground station antenna with those wavelengths seems reasonable to me, especially compared to accuracy required at 77 GHz.

No Significant Provisions for Data?

The other surprising / disappointing observation in reading through the proposals is that there’s a near total exclusion of digital / data modes for proposed new Amateur Radio GEO satellites.

Huh? Do the individuals creating such proposals not send emails every day? Do they not text multiple times per day? Do they not access the web multiple times per day?

The proposals seem to imagine that folks using a new Amateur Radio GEO satellite mostly want mostly to chat (voice)? I really don’t think so - see the storylet Young People Aren’t Interested in Amateur Radio in Request to Send above.

To me, the primary utility of an Amateur Radio GEO satellite or payload for the Western Hemisphere is that it can be a data communications system (as in, transporting any digital mode - voice, video, data, text chat…) that can provide a reliable link, using Amateur Radio spectrum, between any Amateur Radio Operator / multiple Amateur Radio Operators in North America. Or, depending on the specific GEO orbital slot chosen (or mandated by sharing offered), the Eastern portion of North and South America and Western Europe and Western Africa using Amateur Radio spectrum.

Amateur Radio is rapidly losing relevance in society.

Ultimately, amateur radio must prove that it is useful for society.
Dr. Karl Meinzer DJ4ZC.

Doubly so for use of the precious resource of a satellite operating at a precious orbital slot at GEO.

We Probably Don't Have a Decade

In my opinion, Amateur Radio doesn’t have a window of a decade to wait / plan / execute for an Amateur Radio GEO for the Western Hemisphere. In my (highly unqualified, regarding building and getting satellites into orbit) opinion, the window of opportunity for an additional Amateur Radio satellite / payload at GEO for the Western Hemisphere will have closed within five years. By 2031 or so, Amateur Radio of that era won’t want, or need, an Amateur Radio GEO.

The enemies of competition for the utility / use case of a new Amateur Radio GEO within the NewTechHams that might potentially be interested in using (and building a ground station for) a new Amateur Radio GEO are:

  • Internet, including increasingly capable and matter of fact, and easy to use Amateur Radio Over Internet (AORI) systems. AROI works worldwide, including between any two Amateur Radio Operators / groups of Amateur Radio Operators - like a GEO. An example of this trend is the SharkRF m1ke unit and its future competitors. This is a fully Amateur Radio unit, but its access system is conventional Wi-Fi and Internet.

  • Mobile Networks, including Push to Talk (PTT) services over mobile, both apps on phones and dedicated devices that resemble portable Amateur Radio VHF / UHF radios. PTT over Mobile works worldwide, including any two Amateur Radio Operators / groups of Amateur Radio Operators - like a GEO.

  • Starlink, especially Starlink Mini. Starlink Mini is inexpensive (retail is ~$220) and Starlink can be used in “Standby” mode for $5/month for unlimited use 500 kbps. Starlink works worldwide, including any two Amateur Radio Operators / groups of Amateur Radio Operators - like a GEO.

  • Combination of all of the above. Apple offers text messaging and other basic communications with its modern iPhones. Starlink and T-Mobile offer text messaging and other basic communications in a partnership that Starlink satellites use T-Mobile spectrum from Low Earth Orbit. Starlink just recently acquired its own cellular spectrum that may enable Starlink to become another mobile carrier… worldwide via its Starlink satellite constellation (primary) and partner with terrestrial mobile networks (secondary).

Instead of timelines that potentially stretch out a decade (or more), there needs to be a sense of urgency to get an Amateur Radio GEO into orbit in a matter of years. If not, Amateur Radio will have to accept that the window for an additional Amateur Radio GEO satellite / payload has closed and that the options above are more practical, more cost-effective, more usable, and generally more interesting, than an Amateur Radio GEO satellite / payload.

Half Measures for Some Interesting Amateur Radio GEO Applications?

Instead of a full Amateur Radio GEO satellite / payload, there may be some utility / interest in using an existing GEO satellite transponder2. The following presupposes:

  • Some entity would pay the fees required for Amateur Radio to be able to use an entire transponder,

  • Uplink to the transponder would only be via conventional (commercial) uplink transmitter with only controlled, authorized (licensed) commercial uplink transmitters.

  • Receivers would be inexpensive and relatively easy such as direct broadcast satellite antennas and receiver units (such as Dish Network / DIRECTV).

Imagine what Amateur Radio could do with a (6 MHz) transponder on a GEO satellite positioned for optimum coverage of the Western Hemisphere:

  • Partition the 6 MHz of transponder bandwidth to allocate 1 or 2 MHz to be used for Digital Amateur Television. The uplinked video content could consist of live presentations (what we do now with Zoom teleconferences such as RATPAC, now), recorded video presentations (what we do now with YouTube videos such as AmateurLogic.TV), and various feeds from Digital Amateur Radio Television (DATV) repeaters such as the W0BTV Digital Amateur Television Repeater in the Boulder, Colorado, USA area (that can only be received if you live in that area).

  • File Flood Protocol - stream files, block by block, with Forward Error Correction similar to flamp (Fast Light Amateur Multicast Protocol) and Othernet (formerly, Outernet). Any file that might be of use to Amateur Radio could be broadcast - directories of repeaters, open source maps, global list of Winlink Radio Message Servers (RMS), global callsign directory (perhaps once per week), global directory of new Amateur Radio articles, YouTube videos, podcasts, etc.

  • Live stream of dynamic data such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Amateur Radio satellite orbit information, APRS, perhaps even audio streams (I don’t know how much bandwidth these occupy) of various, selected, perhaps all (?)Internet talk groups, selected portions of Amateur Radio HF bands, rotating image displays such as shack photos, QSL cards, etc.

  • Aggregation of all available Amateur Radio bulletins - Amateur Radio Newsline, ARRL, Amateur Radio weekly,

The basic idea is to leverage what can be done on an experimental basis for Amateur Radio Operators getting experience with GEO satellites…

in the near term - the next couple of years.

Commence the howls of “but, that’s not Amateur Radio”.

Correct. Thanks for pointing that out. But as counterpoints…

  • Amateur Radio over Internet (AROI) systems (Internet talk groups) use Internet in whole or in part. The transport portion of those systems is not Amateur Radio, but thousands of folks are using those services to have fun and experiment with radio technology.

  • General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS), Citizens Band (CB), and Family Radio Service (FRS) also aren’t Amateur Radio, but thousands of folks are using those services to have fun and experiment with radio technology.

  • Meshtastic, MeshCore, and Reticulum also aren’t Amateur Radio, but thousands of folks are using those systems to have fun and experiment with radio technology.

  • There are numerous microwave networks using unlicensed spectrum at 5 GHz that are operated as hobby / not-for-profit networks that aren’t Amateur Radio, but thousands of folks are using those networks to have fun and experiment with radio technology.

  • Repeater networks often rely on cellular Internet to link individual repeaters into repeater networks. Cellular networks aren’t Amateur Radio, but thousands of folks are using those repeater networks to have fun and experiment with radio technology.

  • Increasingly Starlink is being used for interconnecting geographically separated Amateur Radio systems such as tunnels between otherwise disconnected AREDN networks. Starlink isn’t Amateur Radio, but thousands of folks are using those AREDN networks (partially linked by Starlink) to have fun and experiment with radio technology.

All of the above systems and networks have some overt, partial, or potential overlap with Amateur Radio. I’m sure the common thread is clear… using those systems or networks to have fun and experiment with radio technology.

Using a commercial GEO satellite transponder for Amateur Radio experimentation is no different from those examples. It would be used to have fun and experiment with radio technology.

What I think Amateur Radio needs to do is to embrace a bias for action about an Amateur Radio GEO satellite / payload for the Western Hemisphere in the short term - no more than five years. Or else accept that the window for another Amateur Radio GEO has closed, and move on to other activities / projects that actually can be implemented.

Given that there currently does not seem to be any sense of urgency by Amateur Radio space-related organizations to attempt another Amateur Radio GEO, there doesn’t seem to be any harm in forming a new organization to attempt another Amateur Radio GEO with a sense of urgency to complete such a project in no more than than five years.

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ZR > BEACON

By Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Short mentions of Zero Retries Interesting items.

29 MHz DATV

John Desmond EI7GL via email:

Thanks for your weekly Zero Retries newsletter, I always find it a good read on a Saturday morning.

I think the whole ethos of promoting digital communications is exactly what is needed in amateur radio and you’re one of few people doing that.

I just put up a post on my blog about DATV signals from Belgium being received in Greece.

Digital Amateur TV experiment between Belgium and Greece on the 29 MHz band - Nov 2025... https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2025/11/digital-amateur-tv-experiment-between.html

Frans, ON4VVV is looking for interested parties in the USA who might be willing to try and receive his DATV signal on 29 MHz. I was thinking there might be someone in your Zero Retries audience?

My Radio Blog is https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/

I’ve fallen behind on my Amateur Radio RSS feeds, thus I’m grateful that EI7GL reached out via email about this project. EI7GL’s blog is one of many that offer Zero Retries Interesting information. Amateur Radio, writ large, has an annoying bias that “X just can’t be done, or Y just isn’t practical"… which alternately amuses or annoys the folks like ON4VVV that are doing such things that “can’t be done or aren’t practical”.

Looking for Beta Testers – Secure Node-RED Access Without a VPN

Dave Ginsberg N3BKV via email:

I’m working on a remote Node-RED controlled station for a large club and I needed a simple, secure access solution that doesn’t require members to use a VPN. To solve this, I’ve put together a RPi installation script that deploys a complete access stack using widely supported, off-the-shelf components: Let’s Encrypt, Traefik for TLS termination and Authelia for authentication.

With this setup, members simply visit a webpage, authenticate and are routed directly into the Node-RED dashboard, there are no VPN clients, no port forwarding and minimal maintenance for admins.

I’m looking for feedback from the community and a few beta testers before rolling it out to the club. If this sounds useful for your station or a similar application, please take a look and let me know what you think: https://github.com/n3bkv/44Net-Secure-Portal.

I hope that some Zero Retries readers can assist N3BKV.

VARA Digipeater Setup and Testing (video)

Joe Hamelin W7COM via email:

Good walkthrough.

KK4ODA Ham Radio YouTube Channel

Description:

This video demonstrates how to set up a VARA FM digipeater and use it to connect to a remote VARA FM gateway that would otherwise be unreachable.

I haven’t watched this video, but I trust W7COM’s recommendations.

EvoHam.com Is Live – And We’re Just Getting Started

Don Trynor VA3XFT:

A fresh, modern resource for digital voice operators in amateur radio.

Welcome to the Future of Digital Voice in Amateur Radio

Today marks an exciting milestone for the amateur radio community: the official launch of EvoHam.com, a modern online destination dedicated entirely to digital voice technologies in ham radio.

After a successful beta period, EvoHam.com is now officially live – and while the site is still growing, new guides, reviews, tools, and resources will be added every week as the platform expands. This is only the beginning.

Whether you’re a beginner exploring your first DMR handheld or an experienced operator experimenting with M17 or FreeDV, EvoHam brings everything together in one place – guides, reviews, tutorials, tools, resources, and news.

The site is expanding quickly, with fresh content rolling out regularly as we work toward building the most complete digital voice resource in amateur radio.

What You’ll Find on EvoHam.com

EvoHam.com is designed to be a comprehensive, easy-to-navigate resource for all major digital modes. Here’s an overview of what’s available today – and what’s continuing to grow:

Beginner-Friendly Guides

Our guide library covers all major digital voice modes, including DMR, D-STAR, Yaesu Fusion, P25, NXDN, M17, and FreeDV.

Each guide breaks down how the mode works, what equipment you’ll need, and how to get on the air.

Post publication update: I had meant to compliment VA3XFT on the modern-looking, responsive design of EvoHam.com. That kind of design ethos isn’t common for Amateur Radio projects.

This is an ambitious project, and I wish VA3XFT well with it. He is covering a lot of ground with all the variations of digital voice in Amateur Radio.

VA3XFT explained the raison d’être of M17 pretty well:

But each of these modes came with a catch: they were built by commercial manufacturers using proprietary codecs and closed systems. You could use them, sure, but you couldn’t look under the hood, tweak the firmware, or build your own compatible radio.

That’s where M17 comes in – a digital voice mode with a very different spirit. Instead of a company logo behind it, M17 was born from the passion of amateur radio operators who wanted to take digital voice back to its roots: open, experimental, and entirely community-driven.

But with such a broad subject, there are bound to be some issues or gaps. I did a Quick Look at the the article M17 for Beginners: A Step-by-Step Guide for New Hams, and spotted this issue:

As of July 2025, the MMDVM firmware no longer supports the M17 protocol due to upstream project changes. If you’re running an older firmware version (prior to July 2025), M17 may still work through the standard configuration interface by selecting “M17” as your digital mode and choosing a reflector (such as M17-USA or M17-CAN).

For new builds, however, M17 is currently supported only on hardware using the CC1200 transceiver chip. These newer boards are specifically designed for M17 compatibility and offer better modulation performance and reliability when linking to M17 reflectors.

This isn’t correct, or at minimum, it’s incomplete by not mentioning the availability of the WPSD-M17 Community Fork that can restore M17 functionality to most MMDVM hotspots.

It was surprising that EvoHam.com doesn’t mention the TETRA digital voice mode system. TETRA isn’t commonly used by Amateur Radio in North America, but it’s apparently in use by Amateur Radio Operators in Europe. Similarly, P25 isn’t commonly used in Europe, but it’s in use by Amateur Radio Operators in North America.

Also, EvoHam.com doesn’t cover dPMR - Digital Private Mobile Radio, or some early digital voice modes / units such as the AOR ARD9000MK2 Digital Voice Modem.

A minor issue is that EvoHam.com doesn’t mention experimental Amateur Radio digital voice options such as Opulent Voice, RADE Over Baseband FM (BBFM), and the (still in the specification stage) GTDV from the developer of MMDVM.

To be fair, EvoHam does say:

… easy-to-navigate resource for all major digital modes.

Thus it’s reasonable not to mention “not mainstream” options for Amateur Radio digital voice, but the intention of EvoHam.com seems to be a single point of reference for Amateur Radio digital voice modes. Thus if it were me, I would be at least mentioning those modes.

Kudos to VA3XFT to creating EvoHam.com and especially for including an RSS feed for the site - that will make it reasonable to keep up with its evolution. I will certainly be mentioning EvoHam.com and referring folks to it for info on Amateur Radio digital voice.

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Comments Summary From Previous Issue

Comments from Zero Retries 0229:

  • AMSAT-DL repository of FutureGEO responses.

  • Discussion of New Packet Radio devices, and now US Amateur Radio needs to get busy petitioning for Amateur Radio regulation updates so we can use them.

  • GEO / satellite / Starlink discussion.

  • Another data point about legacy Amateur Radio perceptions versus NewTechHams perceptions.

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This issue released on 2025-11-28

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Zero Retries 0230 dated 2025-11-28

Amateur Radio, Data Communications, Digital Communications, Digital Amateur Television DATV, Digital Voice, DV, EvoHam.com, GEO, Ham Radio, N8GNJ, Packet Radio, Radio Technology, Software Defined Radio, Software Defined Receiver, Steve Stroh, VARA FM, Zero Retries, Zero Retries Digital Conference, ZRDC 2025

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Footnotes for this Issue

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1

I had some really great private conversations at Hamvention 2025. For me, that’s the primary reason to continue to at least occasionally attend Hamvention.

2

Credit where due - 73 Editor / Publisher Wayne Green W2NSD was the first (that I recall) to propose this idea, decades ago, in several editorials in 73 Magazine.

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