The following is a message from W3ND, the Central Pennsylvania Repeater Association: Special Event Station – August 15th, 2026 Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad 136 Brown Street Middletown, Pennsylvania The W3ND radio club has stepped back in time aboard a 1920s vintage rail coach. This railroad operates daily and for passenger and freight needs. Look at their special events on their website. https://www.mhrailroad.com With radio in hand, join us on the airways from 12 noon to 4 pm. –4UTC at 14.260 & 7.190 MHz SSB, 14.025 & 7.050 CW, and IRLP station 7060. QSL cards may be requested on the form on the W3ND website, and one will be mailed to you. Public viewing is available from the Race Street entrance. Rides are available with the purchase of a ticket. KB3YRCContinue reading ……..

The following is a message from TA4OHN: aprs.world is a free, modern web map of the worldwide APRS network — a fresh alternative to the classic trackers. Live APRS-IS firehose, station pages for every callsign, weather and telemetry graphs, and two-way APRS messaging straight from the browser. The interface is available in 11 languages, no login required for the map. There’s also an Android companion app that goes beyond viewing: paired with a Bluetooth KISS TNC, it transmits real APRS packets over RF from your phone. hamradio.my covered the project in May.Continue reading ……..

An international group of operators will be on the air throughout the month in a mutual celebration of International Cat Day and International Dog Day. The combined special event stations will be active from the 1st of August through to the 31st of August, to call attention to the needs of abandoned, abused and homeless pets around the world – and to advocate for adoption and humane treatment. In the spirit of friendship and the shared love of animals, they will be looking to raise awareness and hear one another’s stories. The hams calling CQ are animal-lovers themselves who know the power of rescue because many have been deeply involved in organized animal-welfare efforts or have included a rescued dog or cat in their family. International Dog Day (and in the US, National Dog Day) is August 26 every year. International Cat Day is August 8. International Dog Day began as an amateurContinue reading ……..

The Kuwaiti satellite QMR-KWT-2 will transmit special SSTV images celebrating the 5 year launch anniversary of the QMR-KWT-1 satellite. QMR-KWT 2 builds on the achievements of QMR-KWT 1, which was launched in 2021 as Kuwait’s first education-oriented CubeSat mission. That earlier project provided students with hands-on exposure to satellite development and operations, laying the groundwork for the expanded capabilities of the second mission. ⁠—SatellitePro Me Look for images to be transmitted between 6:30 UTC August 1st and 19:30 UTC August 2nd. The download frequency will be 436.950 MHz.Continue reading ……..

New platform combines an operator’s license, station, location and live band conditions to answer a practical question: “What can I do with my radio today?” July 2026 — HAMgpt, a new AI assistant created specifically for amateur radio operators, is now open to the public at hamgpt.co. Unlike a general-purpose chatbot, HAMgpt is built around the real operating situation of each ham. It can take into account the operator’s license class, country, grid square, radios, antennas and operating history, then combine that station profile with live propagation, space weather, DX activity and current on-air conditions. Its main purpose is to answer one deceptively simple question: What can I do with my radio today? Amateur radio offers an enormous range of possibilities: local repeaters, HF DX, satellites, digital modes, POTA, emergency communications, antenna building, contesting and experimentation. For many newly licensed operators, however, the first experience is much less exciting. TheyContinue reading ……..