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   PID: C-NET AMIGA BBS 5.36b   
   Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2508 for Friday, November 21st, 2025   
        
   Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2508 with a release date of Friday,   
   November 21st, 2025 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.   
      
   The following is a QST. A newly reopened FCC tackles its backlog.  A milestone   
   achievement for digital-voice quality - and get ready for some serious   
   meteor-scatter experiments. All this and more as Amateur Radio Newsline Report   
   Number 2508 comes your way right now.   
      
   **   
      
   BILLBOARD CART   
      
   **   
   FCC REOPENS AFTER HISTORIC US GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Our top story this week takes us to Washington, D.C. where the   
   US Federal Communications Commission has gone back to work. It has quite a bit   
   of catching up to do, as we hear from Randy Sly W4XJ.   
      
   RANDY:  After a 43-day shutdown that left 80 percent of the staff furloughed   
   at the FCC, the agency has reopened and begun tackling a serious backlog. As a   
   result, the commission has announced new deadlines for many of its filings,   
   including amateur radio licenses.   
      
   In a public notice released on November 17th, the FCC said that renewal   
   filings for amateur radio, GMRS and other personal radio licenses now have a   
   deadline of March 5th, 2026. This deadline relates to all renewal filings that   
   were due on the 1st of October through - and including - the 5th of March,   
   2026. Holders of expired licenses who now have their renewal-filing deadlines   
   extended will be able to continue operating meanwhile, as per FCC rules.   
      
   The nation's longest government shutdown ended with lawmakers' agreement on a   
   bill that maintains funding for federal agencies and programs -- at least   
   until January 30th, 2026, when the country could face a replay of the closure.   
      
   This is Randy Sly W4XJ.   
      
   (FCC, RADIOWORLD)    
      
   **   
   HUNGARIAN AMATEURS CELEBRATE BROADCAST CENTENNIAL   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: There was a time in Hungary when the simple act of a radio   
   broadcast - or listening to one - was a crime. Now it's a special event, as we   
   hear from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.   
      
   JEREMY: The transmission of radio signals of any kind was merely an   
   experimental pursuit in Hungary until late 1925 - and listening to radio over   
   the air, or having privately owned amateur equipment - was forbidden. All of   
   that was to change later that year with the start of the first Hungarian   
   public radio broadcast on 1st December. One hundred years later, amateurs in   
   Hungary are celebrating Hungarian Radio Day, when radio was permitted there.   
      
   Nine special callsigns - all beginning with "HG100" - are on the air   
   throughout December until 31st, operated by amateurs from the Hungarian Radio   
   Amateur Society and the Honfy Jozsef Radioclub. Contacts have been made since   
   the 15th of November on CW, SSB and the digital modes on 160 to 10 metres. The   
   operators are also making use of the QO-100 satellite.   
      
   The Hungarian Radio Amateur Society website has a full list of the nine   
   callsigns and more details about how to receive a commemorative certificate.   
      
   This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH.   
      
   (425DX BULLETIN, PESTBUDA.HU, HUNGARIAN RADIO AMATEUR SOCIETY)    
      
   **   
   INDIAN AMATEURS STUDY IMPACT OF SEASON'S TRANSITION   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Youve heard of Winter Field Day and youve heard of the   
   traditional ARRL Field Day held in the summer in the northern hemisphere. Jim   
   Meachen ZL2BHF takes us to West Bengal, India where amateurs have just   
   completed a season transition field day.   
      
   JIM: As surely as autumn turns to winter in some parts of the world, radio   
   operators are curious about the impact that seasonal changes are going to have   
   on propagation. A recent extended field operation by a group of 17 hams from   
   the West Bengal Radio Club tracked those changes by getting on the air near   
   the Earths Tropic of Cancer. This was as much an academic exercise as a radio   
   exercise, as two professors from nearby universities collected data over the   
   30-hour period to be used in their research.    
      
   Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA, the clubs secretary, said that Suman Patra from   
   Jhargram University and Ambika Ghosh from the Heritage Group of Institutions   
   in Kolkata are both studying disaster communications at the Indian Academy of   
   Communication and Disaster Management. The pair hope that analysis of the data   
   will show ways to improve the quality of emergency communication at this   
   challenging time of seasonal change. The Tropic of Cancer was chosen because   
   when it is summer in the northern hemisphere, the suns rays are directly   
   overhead. With the approach of winter, the sun is lower in the sky.   
      
   This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF.   
      
   (MORNING INDIA, AMBARISH NAG BISWAS VU2JFA)   
       
   **   
   NEURAL CODEC CALLED 'MILESTONE' FOR DIGITAL VOICE   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: It's being heralded as a milestone in the long-overdue   
   evolution of speech quality for land-mobile radio systems - the use of an   
   adaptive neural network that replaces traditional signal processing. Andy   
   Morrison K9AWM has the details.   
      
   ANDY: A digital voice milestone was announced at the recent acoustics and   
   speech conference in Caliornia when the Free DV Project's David Rowe VK5DGR   
   copresented a paper describing a neural network that replaces traditional   
   signal processing with machine learning.   
      
   In a recent post on the FreeDV website, David called the development: [quote]   
   "the first known real-world deployment of a neural codec  an important   
   milestone that the Ham community can be proud of." [endquote] He and   
   programmer Jean-Marc Valin presented the details to attendees at the IEEE   
   Signal Processing Society conference where David said it was well-received.   
      
   Instead of using the fixed algorithms of traditional digital voice, the FreeDV   
   Radio Encoder, known as RADE V1, employs fully adaptive machine learning,   
   producing a higher-quality result, developed using open source software.   
      
   Writing as a guest contributor to the Amateur Radio Digital Communications   
   website in October, David noted that the technology [quote] "provides   
   unprecedented speech quality and robustness for VHF/UHF land mobile radio   
   applications." [endquote] The FreeDV project has been doing t his work with    
   grant support from ARDC.   
      
   This is Andy Morrison K9AWM.   
      
   (FREEDV.ORG, STEVE STROH, N8GNJ, ARDC)   
      
   **   
   NASA STUDIES DISABLED DEEP-SPACE NETWORK ANTENNA   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: If you think you sometimes have more than your share of   
   antenna troubles, listen to this report from Ralph Squillace KK6ITB. He tells   
   us about NASA's plans to get a damaged deep-space network antenna back in   
   action.   
      
   RALPH: The US space agency NASA is taking a close look at the serious damage   
   that disabled the largest antenna at its Deep Space Network site in California   
   two months ago. The 230-foot antenna, which tracks near-Earth asteroids and   
   communicates with NASA's interplanetary spacecraft, has been out of service   
   since the 16th of September. The antenna suffered an excessive rotation that   
   strained its cabling and piping and damaged its fire-suppression system, which   
   led to water damage and flooding, according to a report on the Gizmodo website.   
      
   The damaged antenna, prized for its sensitivity, received its first signal in   
   1966 from NASAs Mariner 4 mission. In preparation for Voyager 2's mission   
   toward Neptune, NASA upgraded the antenna's width from 210 feet, or 64 meters,   
   to 230 feet, or 70 meters. It communicated as well with Voyager 1 in 2012   
   following the spacecraft's entry into interstellar space.   
      
   Meanwhile, NASA relies on two other deep-space communication antennas. They   
   are located in Madrid, Spain and near Canberra, Australia.   
      
   This is Ralph Squillace KK6ITB   
      
   (GIZMODO)   
      
   **   
   BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio   
   Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the St. Louis   
   & Suburban Radio Club WØSRC 2-meter repeater following the weekly club net on   
   Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. local time.   
      
   **   
   HAMS PREP FOR PERSEIDS METEOR SCATTER EXPERIMENTS   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Get ready for a major meteor shower next month - and a major   
   meteor scatter radio activity. Neil Rapp WB9VPG tells us how to get involved.   
      
   NEIL: Hams who played a part in the meteor scatter experiments conducted by   
   HamSCI, Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation, during the Perseids show this   
   past August get another chance at action in the sky next month.   
      
   The Geminids are coming! HamSCI's experiments for these meteor showers will   
   take place on the 12th and 13th of December, from 0000 to 2400 UTC. Operators   
   are being asked to use MSK144 on 50.260 MHz and 28.145 MHz.    
      
   HamSCI reports that the Perseids show produced more than 70 logs and files for   
   study and the research group is hoping for similar results this time around.   
   Hams are being invited to participate in the QSO Party in what is once again   
   described as a combination of a contest and a special event. Rules for the   
   activity can be found on the link in the text version of this week's newscast   
   at arnewsline.org   
      
   As the HamSCI website says: "Work the rocks! Decode the pings."   
      
   This is Neil Rapp WB9VPG.   
      
   [DO NOT READ:      hamsci.org/msqp  ]   
       
   (HAMSCI)   
      
   **   
   2 NEW REPEATERS CREATE CRUCIAL NETWORK IN KANSAS   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: With the help of a grant, some counties in Kansas are getting   
   expanded coverage from new repeaters that have digital capability. Jack Parker   
   W8ISH has that report.   
      
   JACK: A network of repeaters is being created to expand digital amateur radio   
   services in the state of Kansas with the help of a $13,950 grant from Amateur   
   Radio Digital Communications.   
      
   The network will be accessible to hams in nine counties. The repeaters will   
   operate on VHF and UHF and provide linkage over the Internet through Yaesu   
   Wires-X, a system that provides even wider coverage. The network callsign will   
   be KØHYS.   
      
   Two new repeaters will be established to connect with a repeater that is   
   already in operation in Ellis County. The grant has been given to the Ellis   
   County Amateur Radio Emergency Service Group and STEM Harvest Inc., an   
   educational resource that focuses on helping people develop skills in   
   technology.   
      
   This is Jack Parker W8ISH.   
      
   (HAYS POST)   
      
   **   
   WORLD OF DX   
      
   In the World of DX, Abie, AB1F is on the air as A52AA from Bhutan through to   
   the 5th of December, operating SSB on 40, 20, 15 and 10 metres. He may also be   
   heard on 80 and 160m.    
      
   On Easter Island, a team of nine operators using the callsign 3GØYR, will be   
   on the air from the 26th of November through to the 3rd of December. Their   
   four or five stations will use all modes on all bands, concentrating on the   
   low bands. Listen for them in the CQ WW DX CW Contest with the callsign CEØY.   
      
   You still have time to work operators celebrating Statehood Day in Bosnia and   
   Herzegovina. They are on the air with the special callsign E7BOSNIA until the   
   25th of November, which is the oficial date of the celebration.   
      
   Visit QRZ.com for QSL and other information about these stations.   
      
   (425 DX BULLETIN)   
      
   **   
   KICKER: FOR GOOGLE, A RAY OF AI HOPE FROM THE SUN   
      
   STEPHEN/ANCHOR: For our final story, we look at the future of AI -- and we   
   consider the sun's rays as rays of hope to power that future. Kent Peterson   
   KCØDGY brings us that story now.   
      
   KENT: Picture groups of satellites in a low-Earth orbit that is synchronized   
   with the sun, the very source of the energy that powers them. Then imagine   
   each satellite outfitted with AI chips doing the business of machine-learning   
   high above our planet. The satellites are between 100 and 200 metres apart   
   within a cluster that is no more than 1 kilometer wide but they have optical   
   connections that enable them to serve as a single data center.   
      
   This is Project Suncatcher, a vision announced by Google earlier this month.   
   It exists only in theory - at least for now. Google has teamed up with Planet,   
   an Earth-imaging company, in the hopes that the partnership can launch a   
   so-called "learning mission" into space in 2027 using two prototype satellites   
   to test the technology and the hardware.   
      
   Meanwhile, Google is working out the costs of Project Suncatcher when it   
   ultimately deploys: The launch alone is considered to have a prohibitive price   
   tag. There are also issues of aerospace engineering that need to be resolved   
   to keep the satellite cluster in good repair.   
      
   With AI's established reputation as a voracious consumer of energy, the   
   company says it was only logical to look beyond the horizon - way beyond the   
   horizon - to get closer to a source of power. Just what is the prospect for   
   the success of Project Suncatcher? Right now, you won't find that answer, even   
   if you google it.   
      
   This is Kent Peterson KCØDGY.   
      
   (GOOGLE, FORBES)   
      
   **   
   It's time to stop chasing POTA or calling CQ - at least for a moment - and   
   send in your ham radio haiku. It is easier than you think: Visit our website   
   at arnewsline.org and as you compose your ode to your favorite online   
   activity, we will help you use the correct number of syllables to make an   
   authentic haiku. Submit your work and then sit back and wait to hear whether   
   you are the winner of this week's challenge. The winner gets a shout-out on   
   our website, where everyone can find the winning haiku.   
      
   NEWSCAST CLOSE   
      
   With thanks to Amateur News Daily; Amateur Radio Digital Communication; AMSAT   
   News Service; Ambarish Nag Biswas VU2JFA; David Behar K7DB; 425DX Bulletin;   
   FCC; Forbes; FreeDV.org; Gizmodo; Googe; HamSCI; Hays Post; Hungarian Amateur   
   Radio Society; Morning India; QRZ.com; Radioworld.com; shortwaveradio.de;   
   Steven Stroh, N8GNJ; Wireless Institute of Australia; YouTube; and you our   
   listeners, that's all from the Amateur Radio Newsline.  We remind our   
   listeners that Amateur Radio Newsline is an all-volunteer non-profit   
   organization that incurs expenses for its continued operation. If you wish to   
   support us, please visit our website at arnewsline.org and know that we   
   appreciate you all. We also remind our listeners that if you like our   
   newscast, please leave us a 5-star rating wherever you subscribe to us.    
      
   For now, with Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT at the news desk in New York, and our   
   news team worldwide, I'm Stephen Kinford N8WB in Wadsworth Ohio saying 73. As   
   always we thank you for listening. Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright   
   2025. Amateur Radio Newsline retains ownership of its material even when   
   retransmitted elsewhere. All rights are reserved.   
      
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