Aimed for China: Ham operators to launch balloon Saturday A group of amateur radio operators aim to establish a world record for distance by flying an unmanned, helium-filled balloon from Katy, Texas, across the Atlantic and the Mediterranean then on to Nanjing, China. During the trans-Atlanti... full article...

NASA astronaut Janice Voss, KC5BTK, of Houston, Texas, passed away on February 7 from cancer. She was 55. One of only six women who have flown in space five times, Voss’ career was highlighted by her work and dedication to scientific payloads and exploration. Voss participated in making ham radio co... full article...

Richard “Dick” Kirby, W0LCT/HB9BOA, passed away on January 26. He was 89. In 1974, Kirby -- an ARRL Life Member -- was elected Director of the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) International Radio Consultative Committee; he served as Director until his retirement in 1995. In 1992, und... full article...

Central Philippines earthquake update Communications have been set up on HF as the emergency activity of amateur radio becomes established in the earthquake and landslide hit areas. Chief Operating Officer for IARU society PARA, Eddie Valdez DU1EV said that Ham Emergency Radio Operations (HERO... full article...

Earthquake hits, radio amateurs act Effects continue across the central Philippines after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck triggering landslides with dozens of people killed and many trapped in toppled homes. Chief Operating Officer for IARU society PARA, Eddie Valdez DU1EV said ham radio ope... full article...

Morse code not on the way out Five years ago, on February 23, 2007, the Federal Communications Commission took action against the thorny question of mandatory code licence testing. Writing in the latest CQ magazine Rich Moseson W2VU has an article 'No-Code Plus Five Years: An Assessment' which... full article...

Twitter telegraph a reality Just when you think you know about technology convergence, along comes the simple Arduino project. It involves a Morse code key, somewhat an old switch, with a new use in the form of modern Twitter. Becoming a Tworse key you can send standard Twitter messages thr... full article...

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-036 ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation. ANS reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communi... full article...