ARLS003 Operators/Monitors Wanted for Meteor Scatter QSO Party December 12-13

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HamSCI – the Ham Radio Citizen Science Investigation program – is looking for “ping jockeys,” or ham radio operators who enjoy making contacts via meteor scatter (MS), to take part in its Meteor Scatter QSO Party during the Geminids meteor shower on December 12 and 13, 2025. Operation will take place on the 10-meter and 6-meter bands only (28.145 and 50.260 MHz), using the MSK144 digital protocol. The event is a combination on-air contest and data collection for what HamSCI describes as an experiment “to analyze the feasibility of HF meteor scatter for future scientific research.”

HamSCI pointed out that little research has been done on 10-meter meteor scatter, due to past symbol rate limits imposed by the FCC. Those limits were removed in early 2024.

The group is looking for both active operators (seeking and making contacts) and passive monitors, recording .WAV files of MS contacts and uploading them to PSK Reporter. Researchers will collect contact data from both 10 and 6 meters and will analyze that data offline, using PSK Reporter raw data, operator contact logs, and .WAV files.

The group is looking for both active operators (seeking and making contacts) and passive monitors, recording .WAV files of MS contacts and uploading them to PSK Reporter. Researchers will collect contact data from both 10 and 6 meters and will analyze that data offline, using PSK Reporter raw data, operator contact logs, and .WAV files.

HamSCI says the best operating times will be between 8 PM and 8 AM local time, and suggests announcing CQs on “Ping Jockey Central” (https://www.pingjockey.net/cgi-bin/pingtalk – especially for 10 meters) and the groups.io page (https://groups.io/g/FrontRange6Meter/topics) of the Front Range Six Meter Group (especially for 6 meters).

The group is looking for both active operators (seeking and making contacts) and passive monitors, recording .WAV files of MS contacts and uploading them to PSK Reporter. Researchers will collect contact data from both 10 and 6 meters and will analyze that data offline, using PSK Reporter raw data, operator contact logs, and .WAV files.

For more information, including suggested operating procedures, visit www.hamsci.org/msqp.

Send a Holiday Radiogram

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ARRL and Radio Relay International (RRI) are encouraging radio amateurs to originate a holiday radiogram to friends and family members this year. “The tradition of sending a Christmas radiogram should have a nostalgic feel that fits the holiday season well,” wrote RRI Chairman James Wades, WB8SIW, in the December edition of The NTS Letter, a monthly newsletter of ARRL’s National Traffic System (NTS). “Furthermore,” added Wades, “the delivery of a radiogram serves as a great public relations opportunity.” RRI works closely with NTS.

“If one hasn’t originated a radiogram before,” Wades continued, “there are some convenient tools, one of which is available from RRI (pdf) and the other of which is an online radiogram portal developed by K1RFD for the ARRL NTS2 Committee. Both methods allow people who have never sent a radiogram in their lives to originate a message to family or friends.”

Wades encourages message originators to “please make sure you have the correct, up-to-date address information for the recipient including both a phone number and email address,” and to limit message texts to 25 words or less. You may also use ARRL Numbered Radiogram Texts “ARL Sixty One” (“Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”) or “ARL Sixty Two” (“Greetings and best wishes to you for a pleasant ______ holiday season”).

A couple of related notes for traffic handlers: ARRL and RRI have developed a Christmas season radiogram form for delivery of messages. In addition, the December NTS Letter reports on updates to “HX” handling instructions, including two new instructions and changes to others. See the issue for details.

The NTS Letter is a monthly online newsletter for participants in ARRL’s National Traffic System, a network of message-handling nets that date to the League’s earliest days. It is available free to all ARRL members .

“Space Sailors” Seeking Download Help from Ham Radio Operators

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A group of students at Cornell University is seeking participation from radio amateurs who are equipped with satellite stations for help in listening for signals from a retroreflective laser sail that is scheduled to be deployed later this week. The sail is currently attached to a 1U CubeSat that was launched early Tuesday, December 2, 2025, from the International Space Station, but will separate and become its own free-flying spacecraft equipped with four tiny “ChipSat” flight computers that will transmit telemetry data back to Earth.

This is the first flight of their ChipSats, and it is this data that the students seek help detecting, according to Ph.D. candidate Joshua Umansky-Castro, who has an amateur radio license, call sign KD2WTQ. The light sail’s ChipSats will be transmitting data using the LoRa digital protocol on 437.400 MHz. The sail, stowed within the CubeSat, is expected to be released a couple of days after deployment – tentatively this Thursday, December 4 – and will likely function independently for no more than 48 hours due to the drag created by the sail.

Additional information, including LoRa parameters and links to a list of compatible receivers and the decoder file, may be found at the https://alphacubesat.cornell.edu site in the ChipSat Ground Station Guide located at https://cornell.app.box.com/s/n4se5ku0ltjb1of2piagfz1y7xa92n47.

It is hoped that the ChipSat and light sail will become the trailblazers for future missions around the solar system, and one day to our closest stellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri.

FCC eyes relocation of upper C-Band

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In the US, yet another part of the radio spectrum is being prepared for auction. Jack Parker W8ISH tells us what’s next.

The Federal Communications Commission is exploring reallocation of part of the upper C-band in the US. In a unanimous vote at its November 20th meeting, the commission studied a draft version of a Notice of Proposed rulemaking which will guide its actions going forward. The FCC will be asking broadcasters and satellite users for comment on a number of options for reallocating 4.0 through 4.2 GHZ before it moves to the competitive-bidding stage no later than July of 2027.

The FCC will also be inviting comment from other users of the C-band who may be using frequencies near the portion being eyed for reallocation.

When the lower half of the C-band was reallocated five years ago, its use was assigned for wireless services. Broadcasters’ satellite services were moved from there to the upper half of the band.