Join Radio Club de la Sarthe in celebrating the greatest race in motorsport, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Special event station TM24H will be on the air through June 14th to highlight the oldest active endurance race in which teams compete to span the greatest distance over 24 hours.
Look for TM24H on the following modes:
Source: Radio Club de la Sarthe
Amateur Radio Daily
Patrick, EI9KA/MM – sailing from the Galapagos Islands to Easter Island – has now reached CE0. He has received his license (see below) and will sign as CE0/EI9KA during June 10-12. Patrick will use an FT-817 (QRP) and half-wave inverted V dipole. Mode: FT8 only. QSL via Club Log, LoTW (after 3 months). This post appeared first on: DX-World Want to know more about it? Read More
Artificial intelligence is on the brink of changing amateur radio. It will simultaneously make the hobby easier, smarter, more accessible—and perhaps more controversial. Hams have always embraced technology, from spark-gap transmitters to software-defined radios, but AI introduces a different kind of change. Instead of just improving equipment, AI can assist with thinking, analyzing, predicting, translating, decoding, and even operating. That creates both excitement and anxiety across the amateur community.
The first major impact of AI on amateur radio will be automation. Hams already use computers heavily for logging, propagation prediction, contest scoring, digital modes, and station control. But AI will push this much further. Future logging programs won’t simply record contacts; they will analyze band conditions in real time, recommend frequencies, predict openings, and even suggest the best antenna for current propagation conditions.
Imagine a station where the software detects rising solar activity, predicts a six-meter opening to South America, rotates the beam antenna automatically, adjusts the tuner, and alerts the operator with a message that says, “If you hurry, you can work Brazil before dinner.” Many operators would welcome this. However, some may stare suspiciously at the computer and complain that the radio is becoming smarter than the owner.
AI will also dramatically improve signal decoding. Weak-signal communication has always been one of amateur radio’s greatest technical challenges. Digital modes such as FT8 already allow contacts with signals far below the noise floor. AI-based decoding systems could go even further by recognizing patterns buried deep in static and interference. Future systems may separate overlapping signals with astonishing precision, almost like giving radios selective hearing.
One current system, RM Noise, uses AI to remove noise from SSB voice or CW radio signals. The client program sends the radio’s noisy output to the AI servers, which remove the noise in real time and return the audio to the client for listening. The AI is constantly trained, using noise recordings, to improve performance.
These functions will especially help emergency communications. During disasters, signals are often weak, noisy, distorted, or interrupted. AI-assisted noise reduction and speech reconstruction could make difficult communications intelligible again. A barely readable transmission may become clear enough to coordinate a real emergency response. That capability could strengthen amateur radio’s continuing contribution to disaster communications.
Language translation is another area where AI may transform operating. Amateur radio has always been international, but language barriers still exist. AI-powered translation systems could eventually provide near real-time voice translation between operators speaking different languages. A ham in Ohio could casually converse with an operator in Japan without either person knowing the other’s language. The technology changes the QSO.
The Morse-impaired already know that decoding programs are built into some radios, such as the Yaesu FTDX10. But newer software like Morse Decoder AI uses machine learning to translate Morse code signals into readable text in real time, filter out background static, ignore slight timing inconsistencies, and correctly recognize complex radio call signs. Ditstorm Cypher is a new hardware solution with similar AI capabilities to decode and filter Morse code to achieve the best copy.
Contesting and DXing will also evolve. AI systems can already identify propagation trends, cluster spots, and optimize operating strategies. In the future, contest software may become a co-pilot. It could suggest band switching, identify multipliers, and optimize timing better than many humans can. Some operators will embrace this as the next evolution of competitive radio. Others will argue that contests should reward operator skill rather than computational horsepower.
This raises one of the biggest questions about AI and amateur radio: Where should automation stop?
Amateur radio has always balanced technology with human skill. Operators generally accept tools that improve efficiency, but many still value the personal challenge of tuning signals manually, learning propagation, building antennas, and developing operating instincts.
If AI eventually handles everything from station setup to contact management, some fear the operator could become little more than a spectator pressing a transmit button occasionally to reassure themselves they still exist. Some already consider FT-8 an example of basically hands-off operation.
The debate resembles earlier arguments in the history of amateur radio. When packet radio appeared, some traditionalists objected. When digital modes became popular, others claimed keyboard contacts were “not real radio.” When spotting networks transformed DXing, critics argued that operators no longer had to search bands themselves. Yet amateur radio survived every technological change because experimentation is deeply embedded in the hobby’s identity.
AI may also encourage more experimentation and technical creativity. Hams are natural tinkerers. Many operators will undoubtedly begin building AI adaptive filters, intelligent rotator systems, and propagation-analysis tools.
Machine learning could help optimize antenna designs far faster than traditional trial-and-error methods. An AI system might analyze terrain, frequency, height, and nearby obstructions to recommend highly efficient antenna configurations tailored to a specific station location.
This could be particularly useful in difficult environments such as apartments or neighborhoods with restrictive homeowners’ associations. AI-based modeling tools may help operators squeeze every bit of performance from compromise antennas. Somewhere, a determined ham with a hidden attic antenna may finally gain an edge over physics—or at least negotiate a temporary truce with it.
Another important impact will be education. Amateur radio has always been a gateway into electronics, communications, and engineering. AI tutors could help newcomers learn theory, troubleshoot equipment, and understand operating procedures more quickly. Instead of digging through dense manuals trying to understand why an antenna tuner behaves like an emotionally unstable air fryer, operators could ask an AI assistant for explanations tailored to their experience level.
This may help attract younger participants to the hobby, since amateur radio has long struggled with aging demographics. AI integration could make radio more appealing to people interested in software, networking, machine learning, and digital communications. The hobby could increasingly overlap with computer science and data engineering.
However, AI also has some downsides. Overreliance on automation may reduce hands-on technical knowledge. Operators who depend entirely on intelligent systems may lose some understanding of how radio actually works. If the software fails during an emergency, operators may discover that their smart station suddenly has the survival instincts of a city kid in the wilderness.
There are also ethical and regulatory concerns. Fully autonomous, AI-controlled stations could challenge existing amateur radio rules that require operator control and identification. Regulators may eventually need to define how much autonomy is acceptable. Can an AI answer CQ calls automatically? Can it conduct entire QSOs without human involvement? At what point does the station stop being amateur radio and start becoming a very polite telecommunications robot?
Despite these concerns, AI is unlikely to replace amateur radio operators. Instead, it will probably become another tool—powerful, transformative, occasionally frustrating, and endlessly debated on repeaters and online forums. Amateur radio has always adapted to technological change while preserving its core spirit of experimentation, communication, and curiosity.
The essence of the hobby is not merely transmitting signals. It’s learning, exploring, building, communicating, and discovering what’s possible with radio. AI will change how operators accomplish those goals. Still, it won’t eliminate the possibility of making unexpected contact across the world or rag-chewing with an old friend.
Even in an era of intelligent radios and automated stations, there will still be something magical about a human voice traveling invisibly through space and arriving in another operator’s shack thousands of miles away. The equipment may become smarter, but the excitement of radio itself will remain a human thing.
The post How will AI Affect Amateur Radio? appeared first on OnAllBands.
OnAllBands
[NOW 10K MEMBERS] If you’re on Facebook you may not yet know of a DX-World group called “The Land of QSLs“. It seems this aspect of the ham radio hobby will never die because as of today 10000 members have joined with many contributing. It really is very interesting to see people’s QSL choices or […] This post appeared first on: DX-World Want to know more about it? Read More
The following is a message from HAM RADIO:
This year, HAM RADIO is turning its gaze skyward from June 26 – 28: Under the slogan “Discover the Sky: Amateur Radio meets Astronomy”, the supporting program is offering presentations on current projects and featuring renowned speakers such as Rabea Rogge, the first German woman in space. The trade fair ASTRO, taking place on Saturday June 27, also promises the participation of well-known manufacturers and retailers from the market segment.
Amateur radio, spacenautics, and astronomy are closely related. We cordially invite you to learn more about it and maybe even start planning your visit in our online-ticketshop.
VY 73,
Your HAM RADIO team
Editor’s note:
HAM RADIO is Europe’s largest amateur radio exhibition and takes place at Messe Friedrichshafen in Germany. Learn more about the event.
Source: HAM RADIO
Amateur Radio Daily
Stephen, KB4YKC and Paul, KB4PMK will be active from St Lucia as J6/KB4YKC & J6/KB4PML during March 9-16, 2027. QRV holiday-style on HF bads, SSB. QSL via LoTW. This post appeared first on: DX-World Want to know more about it? Read More
Nearly 38,000 hams representing more than 40 countries and every U.S. state took the trip to slightly chilly, sometimes rainy, and occasionally sun-drenched southern Ohio for Dayton Hamvention® 2026, a gathering worthy of a Cecil B. DeMille epic (so let it be transmitted, so let it be done).
The total of 37,924 visitors set a new attendance record. Watch the video of Hamvention chairman Brian Markland, N8UDQ; spokesperson Michael Kalter, W8CI; and DX Engineering CEO Tim Duffy, K3LR, providing a recap of another great year in Xenia.
An enormous debt of gratitude goes to the Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) and the more than 600 volunteers who worked tirelessly to make an event of this scope and complexity possible. The sheer number of hams traversing the buildings and grounds of the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center once again give us pause to reflect on the ongoing impact amateur radio has on our communities and world.
The OnAllBands team talked with a long list of manufacturers and amateur radio’s movers and shakers. We’ll be getting to those interviews in future posts. While our attention has shifted to helping hams prepare for ARRL Field Day (June 27-28), OnAllBands thought a wrap-up of Hamvention 2026 was in order.
Here are a few quick impressions about this year’s mega-celebration of everything amateur radio.
It didn’t take long for the DX Engineering booth to become “ham radio central” after gates opened at 9:00 on Friday, May 15. Operators flooded in to check out the latest gear, make eyeball QSOs with the DX Engineering team, get their technical questions answered, and purchase upgrades for their stations.
Extending the “Adventure on the Air” theme highlighted in the 2026 DX Engineering Amateur Radio Products Catalog, DX Engineering devoted an entire section of its booth area to portable operating.
Shortly after the opening bell, FlexRadio announced that DX Engineering would be selling the company’s new Aurora transceivers.
DX Engineering is an exclusive distributor of Aurora 500-Watt HF/6-Meter SDR Transceivers in the U.S., extending its role within FlexRadio’s network of international distribution partners. In 2025, DX Engineering joined that network as an exclusive U.S. distributor of FlexRadio’s FLEX-8000 Series Transceivers, Maestro
Control Console, and accessories.
Read more about the valued relationship between FlexRadio and DX Engineering here. And check out the availability of the Aurora’s four models at DXEngineering.com.
Watch this video featuring FlexRadio’s Michael Walker, VA3MW, explaining why the all-in-one Aurora is a true game changer for hams:
Here are just a few of the amateur radio manufacturers who helped to make Dayton Hamvention® 2026 memorable:
REZ Antenna Systems founder Mike Giannaccio, W5REZ, discussed several of the company’s latest offerings on display, including a 17-foot carbon fiber whip and upgraded Ranger 80 II antenna system with integrated radial ports. DX Engineering is the world’s exclusive retailer of REZ amateur radio products.
The team from Carlson Roof Towers (below) launched their new Carlson Tower Lift at Hamvention. The device is designed to provide a safer and faster solution for servicing equipment on light-duty sectional lattice towers. The mechanical elevator system eliminates the need to repeatedly climb towers that require service. The initial release (Model 25) works with ROHN 25G and Amerite 25 towers up to 60-feet tall. It can be installed together with new tower installations or retrofitted onto existing towers. Read more about it at the Carlson website and find the tower lift at DX Engineering.
This spot was once again a hub of activity for the growing contingency of outdoor operating enthusiasts:
Once again, Four Days in May Vendor Night was met with a frenzy of activity. DX Engineering was on hand, displaying its new gear for portable QRP ops and other equipment.
A packed house of contesters once again took home valuable insights at Contest University held May 14 at the Hope Hotel near Dayton. If you missed it, you can watch a livestream of the event from DX Engineering’s YouTube channel. Then make sure CTU is on your calendar for the next edition, Thursday, May 20, 2027. You can get a head start by making early reservations for rooms at the Hope Hotel starting June 15, 2026. Also, view slide decks of all 2026 Contest University presentations here.
We’ll have much more about Dayton Hamvention® 2026 in the months to come, so stay tuned!
The post Dayton Hamvention® 2026 Wrap-Up—What a Show! appeared first on OnAllBands.
OnAllBands
As the FIFA World Cup Tournament begins its matches in North American cities starting Thursday, June 11th, hams in the stadiums’ 16 host cities — in Canada, the United States and Mexico – will be calling CQ for Football/Futbol on the Air.
They will be using 1×1 callsigns and operating CW, SSB and the digital modes on the HF bands. Teams in each host city will be active on the days the matches are played there. Listen for callsigns, such as W1C, W2C, K0C, K4C, among others – for US call areas – and VC3F and VB7F for Canada. The three stations in Mexico are 4A1MTY, 4A1GDL and 4A1CMX.
The tournament kicks off with the first match in Mexico City on June 11. The final match will take place in the New York/New Jersey host stadium on July 19th. Find additional details on the website http://www.wc2026ses.org or email info@wc2026ses.org
The amateur radio event is not affiliated with the World Cup but has been organised in support of the tournament, which has 48 teams, the largest number of teams in the tournament’s history.
Source: 2026 World Soccer Tournament
Amateur Radio Daily
I’ve heard plenty of comments from longtime amateur radio operators who are concerned about the lack of young people in the hobby. Those concerns are very much justified.
However, while the youth population in the hobby is small, it’s continually growing. Within this community that young people have formed for themselves, we are helping our peers have the best experience possible and constantly advocating for each other.
How can young hams advocate for each in amateur radio? It can be as simple as helping someone set up their station, make their first contact in a new mode, share opportunities in the hobby, or give tips and advice when needed. It also means helping new hams make connections and find their footing in the community.
In effect, the best way to advocate for young people in amateur radio—regardless of your age—is to make these new operators feel seen and heard, and to ensure that they feel like they have a place in the hobby. While I enjoyed amateur radio even before I knew many other young hams, meeting youth operators and forming real friendships with them made a difference in how much I wanted to pursue the hobby.
One of the biggest reasons young people don’t stay involved with amateur radio is that they feel like they don’t fit in with the typical demographic, and they believe there’s no way to overcome that. It’s certainly possible with a little persistence, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Even though the younger generation has the hobby in common with the older generation, there are still many other differences to learn how to navigate—for both parties.
A big part of advocating for your peers as a young person in amateur radio is simply showing up and staying active in the hobby yourself. It may not feel like you’re directly helping another young ham, but the visibility of other young people genuinely enjoying the hobby can be immensely encouraging for those who feel like there are no other youths around. Imagine attending a club meeting as a teenager and being three decades younger than the next youngest person there. This is the reality for many young operators. It can feel isolating at first, especially before you’ve gotten to know anyone. Now imagine the alternative: You walk into that same meeting and, instead of being the only teenager, there are a few others. It feels significantly less isolating, and you don’t feel quite as out of place.
Another direct way to advocate for your peers is to start a youth-focused club or strengthen one that already exists. Not only does it give already-licensed young people a place where they feel like they belong, but it introduces others to the hobby who may never have heard of it otherwise. That can lead to more young people getting licensed, which adds to the visibility of youth in the hobby—and the cycle continues.
Finally, one of the most important parts of advocating for your peers comes down to how you present yourself and represent the hobby. The generational gaps in amateur radio can be significant at times, and they occasionally create tension as well. I’ve met many older hams who genuinely believe in and support the younger generation of operators, but there can still be an occasional air of skepticism—and understandably so. The youth of amateur radio have big shoes to fill, but with some encouragement and guidance, I’m confident we’ll be able to help the hobby continue to flourish.
Editor’s Note: Watch this short ARRL video to see some of the youth participation at Dayton Hamvention® 2026:
The post How to Advocate for Youth in Amateur Radio as a Young Person appeared first on OnAllBands.
OnAllBands
In November 2022, the Rebel DX Group were QRV from Banaba as T33T. Later this year, they plan to return there and be active this time as T33TT. Full details to follow, but you can expect plenty of FT8 on HF bands plus some CW & SSB. QSL via Club Log OQRS / LoTW. This post appeared first on: DX-World Want to know more about it? Read More