Podcasts about SSB

Hello and Welcome to the DX Corner for your weekly Dose of DX. I'm Bill, AJ8B. For the rest of this year, I am going to pass along a bit of extra information when I let you know what will be on the air in the next seven days. So many hams have joined in the annual CQ Marathon contest that I thought I would help them out, as well as anyone else who is involved in the Marathon. The great thing about the Marathon is that it truly is a marathon and not a sprint. You can join at any time and get credit for all the QSOs you have accumulated in the calendar year. So, when I come across an activation that I would recommend that you get in the log to help your score, I will announce it by starting off with Marathon Alert! I know that this seems corny, but you will know that the information that follows indicates an entity that is more rare than usual DX. If you are not as experienced with DX or the Marathon, you may not know what is common and what is not. I hope this helps you get key entities into the log to help your CQ Marathon score. The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DX column in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, just drop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.com TF1OL, Ólafur, and his wife will be on Boa Vista Island, Cape Verde, from June 12 to June 23 for a 10-day stay. During this time, he will be active on FT8 and FT4 on 80 through 6 meters under the callsign D4OL. {Marathon Alert} CE0Y – Easter Island will be active from June 20–27. Manu, CE3YMR, will be active from Rapa Nui (Easter Island) under the callsign 3G0YM. 5H – Tanzania - A reminder, the NK8O (Charles) work trip to Chihoni, Tanzania, is planned to start today and continue to July 2. Working around his job assignments, he will be on the air as 5H3DX. He will be using 100 watts to a dipole, vertical, and long wire antenna, CW, FT8 and FT4, 40-6M. He will upload the log to LoTW and Club Log. {Marathon Alert} C2 – Nauru - Phil, C21TS, confirms he will depart Nauru on July 22. Meantime, he will be working “a lot of new ones.” He has been doing some Club Log livestream and Club Log log search. He says 99.9% of the time Club Log has real time updates. Heavy rain occasionally blocks his internet connection. Phil has now made 132,000 QSOs, 40,400 of those being uniques, 272 entities worked, 269 confirmed, saying “and I honestly thought 260 was going to be max for here.” He even worked 3Y0K, with 50 watts and homemade vertical. On 80 meters, a tuner problem is “making life difficult,” with SWR rising after five minutes of operating, so he will likely not be on 80 much more. He was hoping for five-band Worked All States but is still missing NH, NE and VT. Presumably he means on 80. PJ2 – Curacao -PJ2/PH2M, operator Frank, will be on the air until June 29, mainly FT8 and “some FT4 and SSB,” various bands. QSL using Club Log OQRS, or LoTW, or direct to his home QTH. FS – St. Martin – John, K9EL, will be active as FS/K9EL until June 24, focusing mainly on 6 meters while also operating on 80–10 meters. He'll upload logs to club Log in real time and to LoTW daily. He plans to answer all bureau cards, though bureau replies may take several months. His station includes an IC-7300MK2, Expert 1.3, an EFHW antenna for 80–10 meters, and a Yagi for 6 meters, located on a hill overlooking the Atlantic. {Marathon Alert} T8 – Palau - T88RR will be active until June 18 from Palau. The op plans to operate on 160, 80, 40, 30, 20, 17, 12, 10, and 6 meters using FT8, FT4, SSB, and FM on 10 meters. The operator is JA6UBY, Yas. Logs will be uploaded to LoTW and eQSL. For a paper QSL, requests should be sent directly with SASE. He also says he will respond to bureau requests. If you have questions or need information, just drop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.com

HEALTH NEWS   Ginger Supplementation Reduces Muscle Soreness, Review Finds Artificially sweetened and sugar-sweetened beverage intake and risk of liver cancer Plant-based quinoa burgers reduce post-meal blood sugar spikes Sleep and exercise may curb heart risk from mutant white blood cells Pregnant women may reduce key health risk through less sitting, more light exercise     Ginger Supplementation Reduces Muscle Soreness, Review Finds Old Dominion University, June 4 2026 (Natural News)     A review published in Nutrition Reviews found that consuming 2 grams of ginger daily for 11 consecutive days before exercise reduced delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) by 23% to 25%.   The review examined multiple placebo-controlled studies and found that single doses taken just before exercise did not produce significant pain reduction, but consistent daily intake over the 11-day period yielded measurable results.   DOMS typically occurs 24 to 72 hours after exercise and is a common reason individuals skip subsequent workouts. In two placebo-controlled studies reviewed, participants consumed 2 grams of either raw or heat-treated ginger daily for 11 days before performing eccentric exercise, which lengthens muscles under tension. The effective dose identified in the review was 2 grams per day, roughly equivalent to one teaspoon of fresh grated ginger.   Artificially sweetened and sugar-sweetened beverage intake and risk of liver cancer Yale University, National Cancer Institute, Boston University, June 10 2026 (Eurekalert) Are artificially sweetened beverage (ASB) and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) intakes associated with risk of liver cancer overall and by subtype (hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC] and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma [ICC])? In this pooled analysis of 11 prospective cohort studies comprising 1,518,411 adults, SSB intake per 1-beverage/day increment was associated with increased risk of HCC and ICC, whereas ASB intake was not associated with liver cancer overall or by subtype. There was no evidence of effect modification by diabetes status.     Plant-based quinoa burgers reduce post-meal blood sugar spikes Federal University of Golas (Brazil), June 10 2026 (News-Medical) A study published in ACS Nutrition Science suggests that a plant-based burger made from baru pulp and red quinoa could reduce post-meal blood glucose responses in healthy adults. Red quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a pseudocereal that is rich in protein, fiber, and micronutrients. It provide spolyphenols that have been shown to slow gastric emptying and overall digestion, and may reduce enzymatic degradation of carbohydrates in the gut. This would influence the rate at which glucose is absorbed into the bloodstream after a meal, altering the GI. The authors of this pilot study examined GI in a small sample of eight volunteers after consuming two plant-based burgers: one made with baru pulp and red quinoa, and the other with red quinoa alone.  All three foods produced their highest blood glucose levels 30 minutes after consumption. The glucose reference food generated the largest peak at 174 mg/dL, while the baru pulp–red quinoa and red quinoa burgers reached substantially lower peaks of 118 mg/dL and 120 mg/dL, respectively. By 120 minutes, blood glucose levels had declined in all groups. Compared with the glucose reference, both plant-based burgers caused only modest increases in blood glucose relative to fasting levels: 15.5% for the red quinoa burger and 18% for the baru pulp–red quinoa burger.   Sleep and exercise may curb heart risk from mutant white blood cells Mount Sinai Hospital, June 10. 2026 (Medical Xpress) Healthy sleep and regular exercise can work to counteract genetic mutations in white blood cells that are associated with cardiovascular disease and are most common among older people, Mount Sinai researchers have found. In a study published in Nature, the team reported for the first time that sufficient sleep and exercise can help reduce the cancer-like cell expansion and atherosclerotic risk linked to mutations that spontaneously occur in white blood cells. These mutations accumulate over our lifetimes and occur most often in hematopoietic stem cells, which are the cells in bone marrow that make blood cells, including macrophages and monocytes, immune cells that help defend the body. When these cells develop mutations, they start to proliferate, multiplying faster than they should, and become more inflammatory, irritating or damaging tissues in the body. This condition, known as clonal hematopoiesis (CH), is detectable in a quarter of people over age 70 and half of people over 80, though it is infrequent in young, healthy people. Healthy sleep and exercise was found to selectively influence immune cells with clonal hematopoiesis mutations, repressing their proliferative programming and expansion, as well as their ability to promote the formation of harmful plaque in the arteries of the heart. The findings reveal that CH mutant cells are malleable and selectively responsive to lifestyle behavior in a way that can mitigate atherosclerotic risk. Mount Sinai researchers discovered that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was associated with a reduced incidence of gene-specific CH and fewer mutant cells in the blood. Sufficient sleep and exercise "turned off" the detrimental effects of rogue Jak2 and Tet2 mutant CH hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow, decreasing their ability to proliferate and grow, a precancerous process known as "clonal expansion.   Pregnant women may reduce key health risk through less sitting, more light exercise University of Iowa, June 10 2026 (Eurekalert)   Women who engage in light physical activity and lessen their sedentary time may significantly reduce the risk of key health problems during pregnancy, according to a new University of Iowa-led study. Researchers examined the daily behaviors of 470 pregnant women across all stages of pregnancy. Each participant wore a monitor that measured physical activity in 24-hour cycles and another monitor that recorded the time they spent asleep. Based on observational data collected from the study's participants, the researchers propose a “Goldilocks Day”-like guide for pregnant women that could reduce by nearly 30% the risk of developing hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), commonly occurring complications of pregnancy that include chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension, and preeclampsia. Those recommendations are: • Reduce sedentary time to fewer than eight hours each day. • Engage in light physical activity for at least seven hours each day. • Engage in approximately 22 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, such as a brisk walk, each day. • Get nearly nine hours of sleep each night.

Hello and Welcome to the DX Corner for yourweekly Dose of DX. I'm Bill, AJ8B. The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DXcolumn in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, just drop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.com 9X – Rwanda - F8FUA, Alain Esquirol, is active holiday style as 9X5KM from Kigali, Rwanda, until June 13. He operates CW, SSB, and digital modes on all HF bands, with possible 160-meter activity depending on local conditions. His station has a hexbeam, dipoles, and a vertical. 3G0Z – Juan Fernadez Island – “Update Ten days after the start of the Dxpedition, I have reached 15K QSOs across thedifferent bands and modes from 160 to 10m. Keep an eye to the low bands, Robinson Crusoe 3G0Z is ONAIR!  VR2XAN, Alberto, is QRV as XX9TXN from Macao until June 9, SSB, CW and FT8, on all bands 160-6, “with a special focus on North America.” He says he will attempt SSB on 80M “and maybe 160.” QSL to IV3SKB. TF1OL, Ólafur, and his wife will be on Boa Vista Island, Cape Verde, from June 12 to June 23 for a 10-day stay. During this time, he will be active on FT8 and FT4 on 80 through 6 meters under the callsign D4OL.  VK2CJR, Chris, operating as 3D2CJR, is operating holiday-style until June 9th, around the Nadi, Fiji Islands area with possible short visits to a few outlier islands. He is operatingmostly on 20 meters, probably using FT8 when time and conditions allow, with modest power of around 30–50 watts and a vertical or simple dipole setup depending on the location. As he is traveling light and prioritizing familytime, this will be a casual trip with some radio activity rather than a full DXpedition, and logs will most likely be uploaded after the trip due to limited internet access. DL2SBY, Kasimir, is QRV from Zanzibar as 5H1KB until June 12. He will use an ICOM IC-7300 with an amplifier and vertical antenna.We arrived here (LHI) safely on Monday 1st June and by 6pm we had all three stations up and running. Two x FlexRadio Aurora 520Ms and a trusty old IC7000 dedicated for FT8. Antennas are DX-Commander and an 80m Doublet, with a2nd short vertical for the IC7000. Bands will be as planned, 80 -10m, CW, SSB and FT8.And a first for our team: ClubLog Livestream. Check it out if you haven't used it before, it is a great way to see what bands we are on and who we are working, not to mention getting near real-time confirmation of your QSO. If you need (orjust want) Lord Howe Island in your log, continue to listen out for us; we're here until 14th June running three stations.SU8SOS is an Egyptian Amateur Radio Society (ERASD) activity focused on emergency communications, public demonstrations, and training for licensed operators and young volunteers to support relief, rescue, and community service during emergencies and disasters. The SU8SOS teamwill be active until June 10 on SSB and FT8 F/H across all HF bands, with QSL management by VE1AYM. 5H – Tanzania EA5JVW, Alex, isQRV as 5H3VW from Tanzania and Zanzibar Island until June 10. This will be a holiday-style portable operation from various locations around Zanzibar Island and Tanzania. Activity is expected daily between 15:30 and 17:00 UTC (18:30–20:00 local time), subject to travel plans and propagation conditions. Operation will be mainly on 20m, with possible activity on 40m, using SSB. QSL will be available via QRZ Logbook, eQSL, and bureau. 8Q – Maldives 8Q7ML will be active from Embudu Island, Maldives on June 7–14. Operator LU8MIL, Ivan, plans a holiday-style operation mainly on the 20–6 meter bands, with possible 40 meters, using FT8 and SSB.             If you have questions or need information, just drop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.com Until next week, this is Bill, AJ8B saying 73 and thanks to my XYL Karen for her love and support. I Hope to hear you in the pileups! Have a great DX week! 

GB2RS News Sunday the 7th of June 2026 The news headlines: Discover how vibe coding can help radio amateurs RSGB Board Director attends ARISS International Conference Trio of RSGB experts added to the RSGB Convention programme RSGB Board Chair, Stewart Bryant, G3YSX, delivered a technical seminar called 'Vibe  Coding for radio amateurs' at the Four Days In May Symposium. The event was organised by the QRP ARCI and held before the start of the Dayton Hamvention. You can now enjoy the presentation from the comfort of your own home by watching it online at tinyurl.com/fdim-vibecoding  Stewart's presentation demonstrated additional things AI can do to aid radio amateurs. His talk was delivered to a packed audience and was based on the workshops he ran at last year's RSGB Convention and in Blackpool this April. If you are interested in finding out more about how radio amateurs can utilise AI, the RSGB is hosting workshops on the topic at its Convention in October. Find out more at rsgb.org/convention-workshops Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, or ARISS, held its annual conference in London last week. The event was organised by RSGB Representative to ARISS, Ciaran Morgan, M0XTD, and attended by Board Director Patrick Wood, 2E0IFB. On behalf of the RSGB President, Patrick delivered a short welcome at the event opening and attended an RSGB-sponsored evening reception along with other RSGB Board Directors. ARISS International contacts are a fantastic way to demonstrate the place of amateur radio within STEM, and the RSGB continues to support this excellent outreach work. The RSGB was a founding member of the European division of ARISS in the 1990s, along with AMSAT-UK, and is pleased it continues to be such a globally recognised STEM activity. The RSGB has added a trio of experts to its Convention programme. RSGB ETCC member John McCullagh, GI4BWM will deliver a lecture on ETCC, repeaters and new technology, whilst RSGB EMCC Chair Dr John Rogers, M0JAV will be on hand to enhance your knowledge on EMF exclusion zones. You'll also be able to discover the results of the 12th of August eclipse propagation experiment with RSGB PSC Chair Steve Nichols, G0KYA. These presenters have years of experience in their field and this is your opportunity to learn directly from them. Join them at Kents Hill Conference Centre in Milton Keynes between 9-11 October by securing your ticket at rsgb.org/convention The Region 12 team is looking for a volunteer to become the District Representative for Cambridge. If you live in the area and are passionate about supporting local radio amateurs, then please get in touch with the Regional Representative Brian Woolnough, M5ADQ via rr12@rsgb.org.uk. The role of District Representative varies from attending rallies and making club visits, to supporting individual radio amateurs and responding to queries via email. View the full list of Regional Team vacancies by going to rsgb.org/volunteers After a three-year wait since the last World Radiosport Team Championship in Italy, WRTC 2026 in the UK is nearly upon us. The RSGB is proud to be an official partner of the event and will be highlighting UK participants in its ‘Photo Friday' feature on social media. Each Friday throughout June, the Society will share an image showing you a different aspect of the Championship, from the UK team to a UK volunteer, a referee, and a member of the WRTC organising committee. Head to the RSGB's Facebook, Instagram or X pages to see the latest post. You can also read more about WRTC on page 45 of the July edition of RadCom, which will be available from the 17th of June. The Blue Ham Team has been actively monitoring the 60m band over the past weeks. Due to the current propagation conditions, the team has decided to cancel the planned Exercise in June. The next Exercise is planned for October 2026, and updates will be provided closer to the time. For more information visit tinyurl.com/BlueHam26 Please send details of all your news and events to radcom@rsgb.org.uk  The deadline for submissions is 10am on Thursdays before the Sunday broadcast each week.  And now for details of rallies and events The Broadcast Engineering Museum has an open day today, Sunday the 7th of June, from 11 am. The museum is located at 41 Capper Avenue, Hemswell Cliff, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire DN21 5XS. The museum is home to one of the largest collections of historic broadcasting equipment in the world. For more information, visit becg.org.uk/events Also today, the 7th of June, Spalding and District Amateur Radio Society's Annual Radio Rally is taking place at Spalding Rugby and Football Club, Centenary Park, Drain Bank North, Spalding, Lincolnshire PE12 6AF. Free car parking is available, and the entrance fee is £3 per person. Traders, catering and an RSGB stall are on site. For more details, visit sdars.org.uk/spaldingrally On Sunday the 14th of June, the Junction 28 Radio Rally will be held at The Post Mill Centre, South Normanton, Derbyshire, DE55 2EJ. The doors open at 10.15 am and admission is £4. Indoor and outdoor tables are available. For more information and to book tables, visit snadarc.com or contact j28rally@snadarc.com Also on Sunday the 14th of June, the Mendips Radio Rally is taking place at Farrington Gurney Memorial Hall, Church Lane, Farrington Gurney BS39 6UA. Doors open at 7.30 am for traders and at 9.30 am for visitors. Entrance costs £3. For more information and table bookings, contact Luke on 07870 168 197 or email luke@mymixradio.co.uk Now the Special Event news The Ramsbury Amateur Radio DX Group is active as GB1DDAY until tomorrow, the 8th of June, to commemorate the D-Day landings. The station is operating from the decommissioned RAF and USAAF site in Ramsbury, Wiltshire. Activity is on the 80 to 10m bands using CW, FT8 and SSB. Amateur radio operators across the USA, Canada and Mexico are activating a series of special callsigns to celebrate the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Stations are active until the 19th of July from each of the cities hosting the tournament. Look out for activity on all bands and modes. For more information, visit wc2026ses.org  To mark the 90th anniversary of Akashvani, also known as All India Radio, the state-owned public radio broadcaster in India, VU3YBH will be active as AT90VANI until the 16th of August. The station is operating using FT8 and SSB on the 20, 15, 12 and 10m bands. QSL via the bureau. QSOs will be uploaded to Club Log and Logbook of the World. Now the DX news Mike, VE2XB is active as VY0ZOO from Coral Harbour on Southampton Island, NA-007, until mid-June. He usually operates using CW and SSB on the 40 to 10m bands. QSL directly to Mike's home call. Mike, 9M2/KM9D is operating from Teluk Kelubi Beach on Rebak Island, AS-058, in West Malaysia. He operates low-power CW on various bands. QSL via Logbook of the World. Now the contest news RSGB National Field Day started at 1500 UTC yesterday, the 6th, and ends at 1500 UTC today, Sunday, the 7th of June. Using CW on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. The UK Six Metre Group Summer Contest started at 1300 UTC yesterday, the 6th, and ends at 1300 UTC today, Sunday, the 7th of June. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number, locator and member number. The ARRL International Digital Contest started at 1800 UTC yesterday, the 6th, and ends at 2359 UTC today, Sunday, the 7th of June. Using digital modes on the 160 to 6m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is your four-character locator. Today, the 7th of June, the UK Microwave Group Low Band Contest runs from 0900 to 1400 UTC. Using all modes on 1.3, 2.3 and 3.4GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Tuesday, the 9th of June, the RSGB 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1855UTC. Using FM on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Also, on Tuesday the 9th of June, the RSGB 432MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130 UTC. Using all modes on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday, the 10th of June, the RSGB 432MHz FT8 Activity four-hour Contest runs from 1700 to 2100 UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the exchange is report and four-character locator. Also, on Wednesday the 10th of June, the RSGB 432MHz FT8 Activity two-hour Contest runs from 1900 to 2100 UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the exchange is report and four-character locator. Stations entering the four-hour contest may also enter the two-hour contest. Also, on Wednesday, the 10th of June, the RSGB 80m Club Championship CW Contest runs from 1900 to 2030UTC. Using CW on the 80m band, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Thursday, the 11th of June, the RSGB 50MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130 UTC. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. The IARU ATV Contest starts at 1200 UTC on Saturday, the 13th and ends at 1800 UTC on Sunday, the 14th of June. Using TV on frequencies from 432MHz and up, the exchange is picture quality, serial number, four-digit code and locator. On Sunday, the 14th of June, the RSGB 2nd 144MHz Backpackers Contest runs from 0900 to 1300UTC. Using all modes on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Also, on Sunday the 14th of June, the Practical Wireless 2m QRP Contest runs from 0900 to 1600 UTC. Using AM, FM, SSB and CW on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. A maximum of 5W of power can be used in this contest. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Thursday, the 4th of June. We are awaiting the arrival of solar material as a result of three coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, that erupted off the Sun. These were sparked by three solar flares. These, coupled with a high-speed solar wind stream from an Earth-facing coronal hole, threaten to initiate a geomagnetic storm. A strong G3 geomagnetic storm has been predicted, which could push the Kp index up to 6 or 7, and push maximum usable frequencies down, perhaps lasting through the weekend and affecting RSGB National Field Day. Meanwhile, the solar flux index has crept up and stood at 147 on Thursday, the 4th of June. This has meant that the ionosphere has been playing ball, with lots of reports of DX being worked, either through F-region propagation or Sporadic E. The 10m band has been sounding like 20m at times, especially around the FT8 frequency of 28.074MHz. DX to be worked this week includes 5Z4/MM0ZBH in Kenya, 8Q7ML in the Maldives, VJ2L on Lord Howe Island, 5H1KB in Tanzania and 9X5KM operating from Rwanda. We are now heading for midsummer, which means the 20m band may be open 24 hours a day. In general, F-region maximum usable frequencies, or MUFs, will be lower than in the winter or spring. However, Sporadic-E makes up for that with strong signals on the higher HF bands out to 1,500km on a single hop, with occasional multi-hop openings. Next week NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will decline, perhaps into the 120 to 135 range. After the recent geomagnetic upset clears, conditions are predicted to stabilise, with the Kp index forecast to be around 2 for the beginning of the coming week. Unsettled geomagnetic conditions are then forecast from Thursday the 11th to Sunday the 14th with the potential for the Kp index to hit between 4 and 6, with a corresponding drop in the MUF. And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO The unsettled weather has brought some heavy rain and a few chances of rain scatter for the GHz bands, but it does also tend to limit the chances of tropo. However, it is the UK that retains the unsettled weather, whereas the continent is still enjoying relatively higher pressure. So perhaps stations in southern Britain may be able to gain some occasional tropo advantage. There are options for meteor scatter from the Arietids, which peak early this coming week. Some predict that it will be a strong shower this year. Since it's a daytime meteor shower, it can be very useful for Sporadic-E, which makes use of the ionisation they leave behind. The Kp index has been gently disturbed at times, but not enough to generate any exciting radio aurora. However, it has possibly been disturbed enough to subdue Sporadic-E at times, as this depends on a stable and low Kp index to be most effective. Sporadic-E itself has provided some reasonable European openings and a few longer multi-hop paths for the digital modes. This unsettled weather produces strong jet streams, for summer, and should continue to be useful for providing the turbulence needed as part of the process for making Sporadic-E.  The placement of the jet streams may, however, be confined to the northwestern fringe of Europe and perhaps prompt a focus on Scandinavia and northern Europe for any resulting Sporadic-E. EME now, and after last week's low declination and apogee, this week sees Moon declination increasing again and path losses falling. The 144MHz sky temperature is low all week. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

This episode features a conversation with Dacia VanAlstine, Project Director of the Evolve Employment Model demonstration project at Minnesota Blind. What began as a brainstorming conversation at a national conference evolved into an innovative Disability Innovation Fund (DIF) project focused on improving employment outcomes, retention, and participant engagement for individuals who are blind, low vision, or facing employment barriers. Dacia shares how the Evolve Employment Model is challenging traditional approaches to vocational rehabilitation through progressive employment strategies, benefits planning, workplace exposure opportunities, and faster, more responsive service delivery designed to keep participants connected and moving forward. The episode also explores the realities of building new models in real time — recognizing staff strengths, embracing flexibility, fostering collaboration, and "building the ship while sailing it." A thoughtful conversation on leadership, creativity, workforce development, and the future of vocational rehabilitation. Listen Here Full Transcript: {Music} Dacia: When we did our brainstorming, we looked at where could we improve and not just improve the customer experience, but the way that the staff do their work. Carol: How has your experience been working with your RSA project officer, and what's that partnership look like? Dacia: Cassandra is amazing. Doctor Deandra too. They are an amazing team. They are very real, which I so appreciate and so responsive and just, they answer the dumbest questions that I have and don't make me feel dumb. So I love it. Intro voice: Manager minute, brought to you by the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center. Conversations powered by VR. One manager at a time, one minute at a time. Here is your host, Carol Pankow. Carol: Welcome to the Manager Minute. Joining me in the studio today is Dacia VanAlstine, project director for the Evolve Employment Model demonstration at Minnesota Blind. And today we're going to dive into innovation, leadership and what it really looks like to take an idea and bring it to life in VR. And I have to say, this one is a little special for me. I had the good fortune to work with Dacia during my time at State Services for the Blind. And one thing that always stood out as her ability to take a concept, sometimes just an idea and turn it into something real, something actionable, and something that makes a difference. So, Dacia, how are things going? Dacia: Thank you for that, Carol. Things are going well. We're moving right along with this project. We are making some great strides, so it is fun to be here today. Carol: Excellent. So before we jump into the project itself, I'd like to start with your story. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about your background and how you found your way into vocational rehabilitation? Dacia: I think like a lot of people, I just kind of fell into it. I started when I was younger working in group homes, and that moved into becoming a program coordinator for group homes, which then moved into the day programming side of things at a, DT&H, which then turned into working with their supported employment license and then finding employers and jobs for people that were actually connected to the VR programs. So then I became interested in VR and started working for State Services for the Blind back in 2008 as a Vocational Rehab Technician. And then with my background, ended up getting some ARRA funding and I moved into employment services and have been working with the Dual Customers ever since. Carol: Wow. I did not know you kind of followed my same path because I did the whole group home work too, and DT&H and the whole shebang. That's pretty cool, I love it. So I know this project did not appear out of nowhere. It really grew organically. Can you talk a little bit about how the idea for Evolve Employment first came about and how it took shape? Dacia: It's kind of funny. A few of us had gone to CSAVR in the spring of 2024, and they had announced the DIF grants that they were going to be doing. It was Natasha Jerde, who's our executive director, and then Jon Benson, our deputy director, myself. We had our quality assurance person, Ashlyn Cahill there, and our fiscal person, Gabby Garcia. And then we had a counselor, Jason Dornbush, and we were all sitting in the back row. And it started with one little, hey, what if we applied for this? What could we do? There's so many different things we could do. And it turned into this whole thing and it just exploded from there. I don't even remember the session that was going on at the time, because we were in the back just brainstorming. It turned into this huge idea spark, and one person fed off the other person and then it just blew into this thing. Carol: I love when that happens. That is super fun. Now, the speaker up front was probably annoyed with you all, but I love when that, you know, you get that idea. In fact, you know, Jeff and I, back in the day, we were at a CSAVR conference and he's like going out trying to do a little interviews with somebody. After that session, I'm like, what are you doing? I'm going to do a podcast. This was way back in the day and I'm like, what's a podcast? And look at now the whole world is podcasting, but it cracked me up. I mean, we started that 11 years ago. Super fun. Dacia: Jeff's been podcasting ever since we went to an NFB conference and sat by the pool and Podcasted. Carol: I know it is super hilarious. It's like those organic kind of ideas really can bloom into something pretty cool. So at a high level, what is the Evolve Employment model and how do you think about the key components or buckets of the project? Dacia: Well, when we did our brainstorming, we looked at where could we improve and not just improve the customer experience, but the way that the staff do their work. The DIF grant allows us to really be in, it's in the title innovative. It allows us to try things. Really the idea is to try different tactics, different strategies, different approaches to things in the VR program that improves outcomes, improves experiences for staff, improves experiences for participants, and really leans into that dual customer approach to delivering services. Carol: Pretty cool, I love that. So what about the buckets in this project? I know there were different kind of fingers that you were looking into doing a lot of different things. Dacia: Well, a couple of the things that we're doing is job retention. We know that it's so much better if somebody can keep a job, it's better for the employer, it's better for the person, it's better for just everyone. So really looking at retention, also looking at how can we use workplace activities in order to help individuals that have limited experience in the workplace, limited experience with work in general, just the idea of work, you know, they may be somebody that's newer to work, maybe somebody that just hasn't worked in a long time, but just giving them some workplace activities under progressive employment. So looking at job shadows, tours, and it's something that VR does anyways, but this is done more intentionally and a little more structured to see if this makes a difference in people's lives, if people will choose better outcomes, because now they're being exposed to different types of careers than they would be normally. And so we have that progressive employment also looking at how can we speed things up for people, not speed things up to where we're rushing people through the process, but speed things up in a way that helps people stay engaged. We know looking at the data, that the longer it takes for somebody to get into a plan to get any services implemented, the more likely they are to drop off. And so looking at how can we make this faster for people, but in a meaningful way. And then looking at other aspects of where in the VR program we might be falling short, and that would be, besides the retention, looking at the training aspect of things, especially in the customer service and technology sectors. So looking at how can we get people into technology based customer service roles and building possibly a training program ourselves that can be passed down to the general program and using the training that already exists for individuals. And we're not looking at degree programs, we're looking at certificate programs, short term training, things that can help people get into a career faster. Not everybody has the luxury of taking a step back. Some people have to provide for their families. Some people just really don't want to go down that path. They want to get into a career as quickly as possible. So how can we lean into that training? Carol: That sounds awesome. I'm excited about this. I know when you and I had spoken before, you talked about this being like, you're kind of building the ship as you're sailing it. What does that look like during this first phase of implementation? Dacia: Well, in the beginning, we had picked up a bunch of staff from the General Vocational Rehabilitation, VRS, when they unfortunately had to have some layoffs. So we were able to grab some of their talent. And when we put together the position descriptions we put together, you know, what we thought we needed. And then as we started hiring them and then more staff, we realized that these staff had amazing talent. Besides what was just what was needed for this grant. So we were able to look at where does their talent lie and how can we help not only advance our project, but set our staff up because this is a short term project, so how can we set them up for their careers after they're done? And so looking at is their leadership ability there? How can we help them lead projects? Is there training opportunities? Are there other things that they can bring? Are there ways to expand this a little bit. You know, one of the things that we decided to do was job retention. The initial intention of that was how can we keep people into positions that they want to stay in? It's working for the employer, but all of a sudden it's not working because the disability changed or the disability appeared. We have Callie our Retention Specialist, who comes with a whole lot of experience and knowledge in working with the Dual Customer, and she's really working hard to build out our retention program. I should actually mention that in this, we have four targeted audiences that people would need to fall into to be eligible. One is they are at risk of losing a job. Another is they are unemployed for 27 or more weeks. Another is at risk of losing a job, unemployed for 27 weeks or more. A new American with a legal right to work. And the fourth one is somebody who acquired their vision loss during their working years. So if somebody falls into those categories, they're eligible for our program. We are doing a Functional model for disability versus a medical model. So with that, we have been able to capture numerous individuals that would normally not qualify for our general program because of the medical model. And so we were able to take people that had nowhere else to go and were going to lose their job. And we've been able to save over half a dozen, probably close to a dozen jobs now for people that would normally not qualify for services. Carol: That's really cool. So what do you think are 1 or 2 innovations within the model that you think are really making the biggest difference so far? Dacia: We knew that retention was important and that it should be done intentionally, and we knew that we didn't have a solid retention program procedure process in the general SSB program. So we started looking at how can we really make this difference? And we actually expanded it not just for people at risk of losing their job, but one of the things that we're doing is for the VR program, expanding on that stabilization period. So those individuals that get their job and they're employed for 90 days, and then they make the couple contacts with the counselor and really close to that 90 days, they quit their job, they maybe get scared of losing benefits. Something happens with the employer and they just haven't really made contact with their counselor. So what we're doing is that we're doing stabilization services. So a counselor can refer somebody in those 90 days, and that Career Navigator becomes somebody that they can connect with. They are the coordinator of all the services. They are able to work with the employer. They are able to, if they're county services involved, pull those in, they are able to pull other resources in. And all of our Career Navigators have all the way to level three benefits planning training so they can look up benefits for people. Which is something that we've never done before, really embedded benefits into everything we're doing. So it helps individuals. They have this person that they can go to, they can ask questions about their benefits. It's just a really a wraparound service. And then after their 90 days, the intent is to allow them to continue to be able to contact that person for the next year. If something comes up, we can get back into services with them right away if we need to. We don't have to open up a new sequence with them. They can just jump in and do stuff. So that's one of the really cool things that we're doing, and we're finding a lot of need for that way more than we even thought. We knew that retention was a huge thing. And looking at our really ambitious numbers that we said we would do, we're going to have no issues at all hitting that because it's turned into a huge thing. I should also mention, one of the other buckets that we're doing is benefits planning. So we have a Benefits Navigator that's able to look up benefits, that's able to do all kinds of things. We even had a situation that somebody, due to a clerical error, had gotten a letter that they owed tens of thousands of dollars in back Social Security, and they were going to quit their job. And there were all these things that were going to happen. And because of the Benefits Navigator is at the top level for benefits planning and has all the credentials to be able to do the work and all the training to do the work, they were able to find the clerical error and that is now being reversed. Carol: That's amazing. Dacia: Because of the work that she did with this individual and us having that, that person now can breathe. Carol: I like that, you know, I was thinking back in the day, we used to have Meredith. She was our benefits person. You know, we had the one person I remember customers talking to me. They were so worried about really staying employed because worried about losing benefits, you know, the whole thing and how to counsel through that. And I think you guys having this embedded in kind of every aspect and allowing that to continue on for the people the year after is really important. It just gives that sense of stability that someone to talk to when you're navigating this crazy, you know, there are big systems with all of that. And to really help you gain that understanding. So you're feeling comfortable with the decisions you make and what you're doing is super important. Dacia: And that really feeds into when I had said, we created these job descriptions and what we thought this was going to be, we had created a position for a Benefits Navigator, okay, And the intent was that they would do benefits lookup and they would do the whole benefits analysis. And that's what their job would mainly be with some training. But looking at that person that was hired, Marcy really has a lot of talent and experience behind her. She worked for the hub. She's done all these different things. So looking at expanding what her talent is and helping her really guide what this looks like for our entire program. It's amazing. And then not just that, you know, the original intention wasn't that our Career Navigators were going to have benefits planning, training. But one of our Career Navigators that came from VRS had that. And so we were able to look at, oh my gosh, look at all these things that they can do. And because we have Marcy, our Career Navigators, Kayla and Alex and our new American career navigator, Alexis are able to work together. She's able to mentor them. She's able to help them get the training that they need. So it's really leaning into all these things that everybody brings with them, not just what we thought, what we needed, and sticking to that, just really being open to letting our staff use the talents they have. We didn't have any intention that Career Navigators were going to be training counselors or training community partners, and then we end up with Alex, who has tons of experience with this, Kayla who loves doing this, you know, so letting them do the things that they love to do and the things that they really have a lot of talent in. So that's really helped us in the implementation of this, really leaning into what they bring and what they want to do. Carol: I know you were talking a little bit about your numbers. You mentioned it like, we're going to be able to blow past that number. What are some of the goals that you have for numbers with this project. Dacia: Some of the numbers are very ambitious. Our number for how many job retentions that we get, I think is 270, which at first I thought, that's really ambitious and I don't know if we're going to do that. I honestly think that we're going to probably hit 270 by the end of year three. Carol: Wow. Dacia: Like it's that much. Especially when we added the stabilization. Carol: Yeah. Dacia: And helping those people retain their jobs. That number is going to be huge. We also our outreach to businesses, we are going to surpass that by quite a bit. I think that number is 500 businesses total. And I think we are a little over a year and a half in. And I think we're already at close to 200. Carol: Wow. Good. Dacia: We have an amazing outreach person that we're sharing him with our employer, Reasonable Accommodation Fund. But Ray is out there and he is making connection after connection. And then we have Alicia, who also came from VRS during the layoffs. And she is our business engagement and training specialist. So she is making the connections with the businesses, the relationships. So really we have this talent that's doing this stuff. And Alicia's out there developing relationships with external training programs. So we're going to easily hit that number. Carol: Very cool. It sounds like you've got quite the team. I love it. You've been able to bring in all these folks that have these other like talents you didn't even know about as they come on, and they've been able to contribute so much more than you even anticipated. Dacia: Even our admin and fiscal person, Morgan, we couldn't do this without just like she pulls everything together, she keeps us all on track. She makes sure that we're focusing on the things that we need to focus on. We are very fortunate. Carol: So I know you're operating under a DIF grant, which can really feel different from a traditional VR program. How has your experience been working with your RSA project officer, and what's that partnership look like? Dacia: I would like to say Cassandra is amazing. Even if I come to her with the world's, and very responsive to. Which is super impressive considering all that she does. And then Doctor Deandra too. They are an amazing team. They are very real, which I so appreciate and so responsive and just. They answer the dumbest questions that I have and don't make me feel dumb. So I love it. Carol: That is awesome. Yeah, they're good people. I know. I hear about Cassandra all the time and the amazing job that she does. This is exciting. Well, she has a fun job too because you're working with these DIF projects, you know, and getting to see all this really cool stuff, innovation happening across the country. So I know you're really early in the implementation. You said you're a year and a half in, but you've learned a lot. What do you think are some of the biggest lessons you've learned so far? Dacia: Well, for sure, one of the things that we have learned is making sure that you look at your talent and making sure that you help them grow, because that was not our original intention and looking at their talent, it really has helped us to be where we're at. Making sure that we're working with the general program, communication with the counselors and the general VR program is so important. Even more important than we thought, keeping that communication open. Also adjusting and readjusting kind of what we're doing, what we're saying. I know that we've been building this as we go, which makes it so some things are very ambiguous, which can be very difficult for people to work within, but really helping people get through that. And part of that is letting the staff use the strengths that they have, because that will help get through some of that building the ship as you go and that ambiguousness. Carol: Yeah, I know, it's always exciting. You go from the back of the room chit chatting about this idea, and you put it on paper and it gets accepted. But as you get rolling along, you know, things come up and things change and evolve a little bit. So I like that it goes along with your title of your project. I like that that's the organic, wonderful nature of these DIF grants, because things do evolve as you're going along, and you're allowed to then expand and kind of contract and grow and shape it as the things happen over time, which is very, very cool. Dacia: It absolutely is. And flexibility is really the key here too. We all know that when you put things on paper and you have the intention of things going one way, that's not necessarily how they're going to go. And so you really have to be open to shifting and adjusting. You know, there are things that I envisioned going one way and then all of a sudden with new information, it's like, you know what? We're going this way and it's okay. It's okay to adjust along the way. But you really have to be flexible in this and not looking at it like I am building this program to be exact and live forever. I am building this program to be flexible, to adjust, to be able to be sustainable, whether it's the whole thing or components of this, to be sustainable in SSB's VR program, or even any other VR program that wanted to try some of these, you know, the lessons that we learn along the way in this, whether good or bad, are all important. Carol: Very true, very true. And it'll be really fun. I know you guys are all getting together this summer in June and there's a DIF Project Officer conference, and so I'm sure you're going to be attending that. Dacia: Oh yeah, I'll be doing that. Yep. I'm excited. I love those kind of things because you really get to know other people and you know, you can learn from their struggles. They can learn from your struggles, you can learn from their innovations. They can learn from you, from yours. So I love those opportunities to connect and just have fun. Carol: Yeah, I think it'll be great. So for other VR leaders listening, what advice would you give if they're thinking about trying something new or applying for a demonstration project like this? Dacia: I would say don't over think it. Start with that small seed of an idea and bring other people into it to really brainstorm and get creative with it. Make sure that you're communicating often with VR. Even if you are not in VR program, VR is going to be a key partner regardless. Communicate often and be very transparent in the communication, I would say. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. I know that anytime I have a question, if I think that we might be, you know, okay, well, can we do this? Or what if we do this wrong? Don't be afraid of that. If you have a Cass, talk to Cassandra will help you through it. Or your version of Cassandra, that's what they're there for. One of the things that we had done was we had decided to change one of our areas that we were focusing on progressive employment based on new information. It was super easy. We said, hey, we decided to go in this area. That was a mistake. We don't have enough people there, but we do in this area. Can we do this? Absolutely. So don't be afraid to make some mistakes as long as you're not doing something illegal. Carol: Yeah, yeah, let's stay away from that. Dacia: Let's stay away from that. Make sure that you're, you know, following the law. But as far as the program goes, don't be afraid to adjust and make mistakes because that's what you're here for. You're here to innovate and you have to take some risk in order to get that reward. Carol: Well, Dacia, this has been such a great conversation. What you're building is not just a project. It's really a glimpse into the future of what VR could look like. So thanks for joining us today. Dacia: Well, thanks for having me. Carol: You bet. And to our listeners, if there's one takeaway, it's this innovation doesn't start with a perfect plan. It starts with the question and willingness to try. Thanks for listening to the manager minute. Outro Voice: Conversations powered by VR, one manager at a time. One minute at a time. Brought to you by the VRTAC. Catch all of our podcast episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

Hello and Welcome to the DX Corner for your weekly Dose of DX. I'm Bill, AJ8B. The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DX column in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, just drop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.com  I have some details on the CP7DX DXpedition to Bolivia. They are QRV from Tarija until June 6, including the CQ WW WPX CW weekend. The rest of the time they will do SSB, CW and FT8, 160-6M and EME on 144 and 432 MHz. QSL direct to LU1FM and Club Log OQRS too.  WA7RAR, Chris, is QRV from Bonaire as PJ4CB until June 8, SSB and CW, 20-10M and from POTA sites on the island.   Alain, F8FUA, will be in Kigali, Rwanda, operating holiday style as 9X5KM from June 4 to 13. There will be activity on CW, SSB and Digital on all HF bands, and depending on local conditions, possibly 160 meters. QSO will be uploaded to LoTW and LoTW, but no OQRS. QSL direct or via the bureau to F8FUA.  OH1LEG and OH1MN, Juha and Markus, will again activate OJ0Z and OJ0MN respectively from Market Reef, until June 6. It will be the same gear as previously, a pair of IC-7300 radios and dipoles and other wire antennas. Modes will be SSB and FT8.  Juha says they do four meters down to 160 meters and “I like more low bands.”  They will not do Logbook of the World or eQSL.  3G0Z became QRV from Juan Fernandez using 17m SSB and FT8 with a single-element Delta Loop antenna. Felipe was still installing additional antennas and planned to bring a linear amplifier online to expand capabilities. Weather on the island was cool but manageable—around 15°C (59°F) with clouds, light rain, and mild wind. The antenna site, about 40 meters above sea level, offers strong propagation toward Europe, Africa, and the central U.S. The operation is expected to last about 20 days.  Mac, KC8CPK, is a flight nurse on temporary duty at Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands,  doing Medevac work and is operating as V7/KC8CPK while awaiting his Marshallese license. Because the ham shack and antennas are shared with DARPA and NASA, he can only operate when the equipment is not otherwise in use, though he is trying to get on the air as often as possible. He expects to remain for about three more weeks. Current equipment is an IC-7300 with an M² 7/10/30LP antenna, and 40 meters seems to be the best band for that setup. There are also experimental fan dipoles for lower bands, possibly including 60 meters, but 80 meters is not available.  VR2XAN, Alberto, will be on as XX9TXN from Macao June 2-9, SSB, CW and FT8, all bands 160-6, “with a special focus on North America.” He says he will attempt SSB on 80M “and maybe 160.” QSL to IV3SKB.  ZL3IO, Holger is back in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, using the callsign ZL7IO, today to June 4, including the CQ WPX CW weekend, a single operator all band. QSL to DK7AO.  VP0/H – South Shetland Islands SQ4O, Rafal Mazur, says “If everything goes well, I plan to start broadcasting at the end of May” as HF0PAS from the Polish Antarctic Station Arctowski on King George Island. He has installed a Yagi for 20, 15 and 10 meters as well one for 6 meters. Rafal still has plans to install a dipole for 80 and 40 meters. He is expected to be there until October.  TF1OL, Ólafur, and his wife will be on Boa Vista Island, Cape Verde, from June 12 to June 23 for a 10-day stay. During this time, he will be active on FT8 and FT4 on 80 through 6 meters under the callsign D4OL.   If you have questions or need information, just drop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.com  Until next week, this is Bill, AJ8B saying 73 and thanks to my XYL Karen for her love and support. I Hope to hear you in the pileups! Have a great DX week! 

GB2RS News Sunday, the 31st of May 2026 The RSGB celebrates Volunteers' Week 2026 The RSGB Youth Committee has announced the YOTA Austria team The closure of BBC Long Wave Volunteers' Week 2026 begins tomorrow, Monday, the 1st of June. This national campaign is an opportunity for organisations like the RSGB to recognise the contribution and hard work of its volunteers. In celebration, the Society asked some of its volunteers why they chose to step forward. You'll be able to see their answers and view more in-depth profiles from tomorrow via rsgb.org/volunteers-week. The answers, along with a short video, will also be shared on the RSGB's social media channels throughout the week. If there is a volunteer you would like to thank, or you'd like to share your own volunteering story, please add a comment on the daily social media content that the RSGB will be posting. You can also see these profiles in the July edition of RadCom. Volunteers are at the heart of the work that the Society does, and on behalf of the RSGB Board, HQ and the amateur radio community, it would like to thank everyone who gives their time and expertise to support the RSGB across such a wide range of roles. The RSGB Youth Committee is delighted to announce the team for this year's Youngsters on the Air summer camp in Wagrain, Austria. Team leader Tom, M1TJM, will be joined by team members Filip, M7SZW and Milo, M9ILO. They will be going to the Austrian Alps at the end of July for a week of exciting activities and challenges designed to allow youth members to push their skills within amateur radio, while meeting other amateurs from across the world. The Youth Committee's hard work in promoting amateur radio to young people has seen great success, with applications increasing by 200%. All the applications received were outstanding, and the Committee was blown away by the calibre of enthusiastic youth members of amateur radio. Tom, Filip and Milo impressed them with their variety of interests and clear dedication to the hobby and promoting amateur radio. The RSGB looks forward to hearing what they get up to in Austria this summer! This year's camp is being organised by ÖVSV, the Austrian Amateur Radio Society, and the IARU Region 1 Youth Committee. You can read more about the camp and the team at rsgb.org/yota-camp The BBC has announced that its Long Wave service on 198kHz, currently transmitting BBC Radio 4, will close on the 27th of June 2026 at 1 am BST. The Long Wave transmitters at Droitwich in Worcestershire, Westerglen near Stirling, and Burghead overlooking the Moray Firth will be closed that day. The RSGB and the BBC Amateur Radio Group will be marking this occasion on the air and are looking for volunteers to activate a special callsign in the week leading up to and including the day of the closure. In addition, three radio clubs have volunteered to activate special callsigns to celebrate the almost-92 years of these historic transmitters on the day that they are finally turned off. You can find more information on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/longwave-transmitters The weekend of the 13th and 14th of June is 1940s weekend at Bletchley Park. The RSGB National Radio Centre will be open to visitors and is supporting the occasion by hosting the special event station GB1SOE using CW on 40m. There will also be a display of World War Two radios. Remember that RSGB Members can gain free access to the Bletchley Park museum by downloading and printing the entry voucher via rsgb.org/bpvoucher The May 2026 issue of RadCom Basics is now available in the RSGB mobile and web app for members to enjoy. RadCom Basics is aimed at newcomers to amateur radio and those who enjoy refreshing their skills and knowledge. The May issue includes articles on DMR for beginners, building a 2m and 70cm travel antenna and understanding radio waves. The full collection of RadCom Basics back issues can be found in the RSGB app or via rsgb.org/radcom Please send details of all your news and events to radcom@rsgb.org.uk. The deadline for submissions is 10 am on Thursdays before the Sunday broadcast each week.  And now for details of rallies and events The Broadcast Engineering Museum has an open day on Sunday, the 7th of June, from 11 am. The museum is located at 41 Capper Avenue, Hemswell Cliff, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire DN21 5XS. The museum is home to one of the largest collections of historic broadcasting equipment in the world. For more information, visit becg.org.uk/events Also on Sunday, the 7th of June, Spalding and District Amateur Radio Society's Annual Radio Rally will take place at Spalding Rugby and Football Club, Centenary Park, Drain Bank North, Spalding, Lincolnshire PE12 6AF. Free car parking is available and the entrance fee is £3 per person. Traders, catering and an RSGB stall will be on site. For more details, visit sdars.org.uk/spaldingrally Now the Special Event news The Blind Veterans UK Amateur Radio Society will be active from the new Blind Veterans UK Rustington Centre in West Sussex, from the 1st to the 6th of June 2026, using the MX0SBV callsign. Listen for activity on the HF bands using CW and SSB. The team will also be available on the 6m, 4m, 2m and 70cm bands. For more information, visit QRZ.com Special callsign PA40AC will be active from the historic minesweeper Abraham Crijnssen during Museum Ships Weekend on Saturday, the 6th, and Sunday, the 7th of June. Look for activity on the HF bands using CW, FT8 and SSB. For more information, including details of awards that are available for working the station, visit QRZ.com Now the DX news Didier, F6BCW, is active as FO/F6BCW from Tikehau Atoll, OC-066, in French Polynesia until the 20th of July. He operates using CW and SSB on the 80 to 6m bands. QSL to FO/F6BCW via Logbook of the World and OQRS. Phill, FK1TS is active as C21TS from Nauru, OC-031, until July. He operates mainly using FT8 as well as some SSB. QSL via Logbook of the World or OQRS. QSOs are live-streamed on Club Log. Now the contest news The CQ World Wide WPX CW Contest started at 0000 UTC yesterday, the 30th, and runs until 2359 UTC today, Sunday the 31st of May. Using CW on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. Tomorrow, the 1st of June, the RSGB 80m Club Championship Data Contest runs from 1900 to 2030 UTC. Using RTTY and PSK63 on the 80m band, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Tuesday, the 2nd of June, the RSGB 144MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1855 UTC. Using FM on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Also, on Tuesday, the 2nd of June, the RSGB 144MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130 UTC. Using all modes on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday, the 3rd of June, the RSGB 144MHz FT8 Activity four-hour Contest runs from 1700 to 2100 UTC. Using FT8 on the 2m band, the exchange is report and a four-character locator. Also on Wednesday, the 3rd of June, the RSGB 144MHz FT8 Activity two-hour Contest runs from 1900 to 2100 UTC. Using FT8 on the 2m band, the exchange is report and a four-character locator. Stations entering the four-hour contest may also enter the two-hour contest. RSGB National Field Day starts at 1500 UTC on Saturday, the 6th and ends at 1500 UTC on Sunday, the 7th of June. Using CW on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. The ARRL International Digital Contest starts at 1800 UTC on Saturday, the 6th of June and ends at 2359 UTC on Sunday, the 7th of June. Using digital modes on the 160 to 6m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is your four-character locator. The UK Six Metre Group Summer Contest starts at 1300 UTC on Saturday, the 6th and ends at 1300 UTC on Sunday, the 7th of June. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number, locator and member number. The IARU ATV Contest starts at 1200 UTC on Saturday, the 6th and ends at 1800 UTC on Sunday, the 7th of June. Using TV on frequencies from 432MHz and up, the exchange is picture quality, serial number, four-digit code and locator. On Sunday, the 7th of June, the UK Microwave Group Low Band Contest runs from 0900 to 1400 UTC. Using all modes on 1.3, 2.3 and 3.4GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Thursday the 28th of May 2026 What a difference a week can make! Last week, we reported that the solar flux index was down in the 100s, but that it looked like there were spots coming around the Sun. This week, they've arrived, pushing the solar flux index up to 142 on Thursday, the 28th. But with sunspots comes the risk of solar flares and coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, so don't get too comfy! So far, we have only seen minor C-class flares, so keep your fingers crossed. Upper HF activity has been split between F2-layer propagation and Sporadic-E. As always, there seems to be more activity on FT8 than CW or SSB. However, it is also worth keeping an eye on the 10m band beacons, which often spring out of the noise. You can find a list of 10m beacons at rsgb.org/main/technical/propagation. Just follow the link to ‘Propagation Beacons'. DX to be worked this week includes 5Z4/MM0ZBH in Kenya; 3G0Z and XR0Z on the Juan Fernández Islands; ZL7IO from the Chatham Islands; CP7DX in Bolivia, and VJ2L on Lord Howe Island. More details can be found at dx-world.net Next week, NOAA predicts the solar flux index will remain in the 140 to 150 range, with generally calm geomagnetic conditions and an estimated Kp index of 2. There may be a brief excursion to 4 around Thursday, the 4th of June, but it is predicted to return to 2 the next day. As we mentioned earlier, with up to ten sunspot groups visible on the Sun's surface, anything could happen, so keep an eye on solarham.net  for news of solar flares and CMEs. Otherwise, enjoy the good HF conditions while they last. And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO. The lengthy spell of heat is releasing its grip, and we are now seeing the start of a change to unsettled weather driven by Atlantic weather systems crossing the country. It can often take a while to properly reach the southeast, but there will be some rain there eventually. For most parts of the country, it will be a mix of occasional spells of rain or scattered heavy showers. Apart from transient ridges of high pressure in between the fronts, there is only a limited option for tropo, in favour of rain scatter for the coming week. The first week in June is often regarded as a prime period for Sporadic-E, and the return of unsettled weather means that there should be some jet stream activity to generate atmospheric gravity waves that provide the wind shear in the E region. There is also a lesser-known meteor shower to provide the fuel for Sporadic-E propagation. This is the Arietids, which is mainly a daytime shower. The solar conditions have provided a few recent minor enhancements of the Kp index between 1 and 4, but not enough to get excited about in a radio sense for aurora. EME now, and this is a week to check out your kit. Moon declination reaches its minimum tomorrow, the 1st of June. We also reach lunar apogee tomorrow. Conditions will improve after this period. 144MHz sky temperature is moderate to high all week, peaking at nearly 3,300 Kelvin on Tuesday. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

Hello and Welcome to the DX Corner for yourweekly Dose of DX. I'm Bill, AJ8B.The Southwest Ohio DX Association (SWODXA)announced its 2025/26 DXpeditioner of the Year Award at the SWODXA DX DinnerFriday night of Hamvention, recognizing an operator who made an exceptionalcontribution to the DX community. The award was given to YL2GM, YurisPetersons, for his solo ZS8W operation from Marion Island. His expeditionlogged 31,672 QSOs and helped activate an entity that moved from #11 to #25 inranking. SWODXA praised the effort as well-organized and successfully carriedout under very challenging conditions. SWODXA alsoannounced the 2025/26 DXpedition of the Year Award honoring excellence inplanning and execution from Most Wanted entities. The award went to the RussianDXpedition Team for their 9U1RU expedition to Burundi, which logged 179,831QSOs and moved the entity from #60 to #106 in ranking. SWODXA recognized theteam for a well-organized operation carried out in a challenging environment.  The following DX informationcomes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DXcolumn in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your onlysource of real-time DX information, just drop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.com ZC4 - UK Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus - G4WXJ, Dave, willoperate as ZC4RH from Dhekelia (KM64ux) between May 24 and 30, using 100watts with Yaesu 857D and Xiegu X6100 radios. He will be active on CW,SSB, FT8, and FT4 modes across 40 to 6 meters, using dipoles andEFHW antennas. 3B9 - Rodrigues I - UR9IDX, Ivan, isQRV until June 1st, as 3B9IDX from Rodrigues Island. His operationswill focus on HF bands, primarily using CW and some SSB, but not FT8. QSLdirect only to his address in Madeira Island, Portugal. 6Y – Jamaica - KQ4PGV, Bill, istraveling to Jamaica from May 31 to June 8 for an anniversary trip and willoperate as KQ4PGV/6Y on the radio when possible. Although experienced with POTAand SOTA, he is new to DXing and will be using an IC-705, tuner, and an amp(either 100W or 50W). He plans to activate parks for POTA using FT8 and Ham2kPortable Logger. CP – Bolivia - Team CP7DX hasreleased some details of the upcoming DXpedition. They plan to be QRV fromTarija May 26 to June 6, including the CQWW WPX CW weekend. The rest of the timethey will do SSB, CW and FT8, 160-6M and EME on 144 and 432 MHz. QSL direct toLU1FM and Club Log OQRS too. PJ4 – Bonaire - WA7RAR, Chris, asPJ4CB will be there again May 27 to June 8, SSB and CW, 20-10M and from POTAsites on the island. For a QSL it's  F8FUA,Alain Esquirol, will be in Kigali, Rwanda, QRV holiday style as 9X5KM from June4 to 13. There will be activity on CW, SSB and Digital on all HF bands, and dependingon local conditions, possibly 160 meters. QSO will be uploaded to LoTW andLoTW, but no OQRS. QSL direct or via the bureau to F8FUA. OH1LEGand OH1MN, Juha and Markus, will again activate OJ0Z and OJ0MN respectivelyfrom Market Reef, from May 30 to June 6, as they hope for good weather forlanding and the one week there.  It willbe the same gear as previously, a pair of IC-7300 radios and dipoles and otherwire antennas. Modes will be SSB and FT8. Juha says they do four meters down to 160 meters and “I like more lowbands.”  They will not do Logbook of theWorld or eQSL. Thisweek, the DX Mentor Podcast will feature an update of the CQ Marathon programby Mark, WC3W. Check them out and let me know what you think.             If you have questions or needinformation, just drop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.com

GB2RS News Sunday, the 24th of May 2026 The news headlines: Volunteer at the RSGB National Radio Centre Buy your RSGB 2026 Convention ticket at 2025 prices Tonight@8 is back in June The RSGB National Radio Centre at Bletchley Park welcomes thousands of people through its doors each month, and in 2025 it was recognised in TripAdvisor's Travellers' Choice Awards. Much of this success can be attributed to the amazing team of volunteers. They share a strong sense of pride, enthusiasm and have a wonderful team spirit, all with the purpose of promoting amateur radio. If this sounds like something you would like to be part of, the NRC is now looking for extra volunteers to join its team. If you enjoy meeting people and are able to work a minimum of one or two days per month, get in touch with the NRC Coordinator, Martyn Baker, G0GMB, via nrc.support@rsgb.org.uk. Find out more about volunteering at the NRC by watching a short video on the RSGB's YouTube channel at youtube.com/thersgb  and selecting the ‘Volunteering for the RSGB' playlist. The RSGB wants to make its Convention as accessible to as many people as possible. That's why it has frozen ticket prices, and you can buy this year's ticket at last year's price! This means you can make the most of the early-bird pricing and buy your weekend ticket for just £49. On top of this, the Society has confirmed that, as usual, under-21s can attend the Convention for free. This week, the RSGB also announced further speakers to its growing programme. You'll find engaging and informative presentations from Adrian Ciuperca, KO8SCA, on the 3Y0K DXpedition to Bouvet Island, as well as Christian Entsfellner, DL3MBG, on the DARC QSL Bureau and the cooperation with the RSGB. It has also confirmed that Ian Henry, G0LFT will be delivering a lecture on understanding FT8 through DNA-sequencing parallels, which was featured in the May 2026 edition of RadCom. Go to rsgb.org/convention to secure your tickets and guarantee your place at this not-to-be-missed event. The Convention will be held at Kents Hill Park Conference Centre in Milton Keynes between the 9th and 11th of October. Following a break in May, the RSGB's Tonight@8 series is back on Monday, the 8th of June, with a fascinating webinar by John Warburton, G4IRN, on building a remote station. If you live in an area where restrictions such as conservation areas may limit your activity, this is for you. Following his move to rural Shropshire in 2020 and encountering conservation area restrictions, he decided to develop a fully remote HF contest and DX station. In this presentation, John outlines the search for a suitable site and the key technical and operational lessons gained from several years of remote operation over Internet and 4G links. You can join the webinar live via the RSGB's YouTube channel at youtube.com/theRSGB or its special BATC channel at batc.org.uk/live/rsgb. Keep up to date with the latest programme by visiting rsgb.org/webinars The RSGB Board has announced further updates to the Board Liaison roles. Go to rsgb.org/ board to view the full list of responsibilities for each Board Director. RSGB Members will be able to use this as a guide to help them know who to contact if they have questions, concerns or ideas about any areas of the Society's activities. You can contact each Board Director via the email address shown by their name. The RSGB team had a very successful time at the Dayton Hamvention last week. They spoke to hundreds of attendees, signed up a lot of new members, and were delighted by the very positive response to the RSGB app. Many radio amateurs hadn't realised that as an RSGB member, they can read RadCom Basics, RadCom Plus and 25 years of back issues of RadCom all in one place and were keen to sign up to membership as a result. Two AGM trophies were also presented in person by RSGB President Bob Beebe, GU4YOX and RSGB Board Chair Stewart Bryant, G3YSX. Look out for a fuller report in the July issue of RadCom. International Museums Weekends 2026, also known as ‘Museums on the Air', will take place on the 20th, 21st, 27th and 28th of June. Venues from all over the world, including ships, castles and air museums, are expected to take part. For more information and registration details, visit radio-amateur-events.org/IMW  Please send details of all your news and events to radcom@rsgb.org.uk. The deadline for submissions is 10am on Thursdays before the Sunday broadcast each week.  And now for details of rallies and events The Durham and District Amateur Radio Society Radio Rally is taking place today, the 24th, at Bowburn Community Centre, Bowburn, County Durham, DH6 5AT. The doors are open from 10.10 am to 2.30 pm, with disabled visitors gaining access at 10 am. The entry fee is £3. There is a bring-and-buy sale, trade stands, special interest groups and an RSGB bookstall. Catering is available on site. For more information, contact Michael Wright, G7TWX, on 07826 924 192 or email dadars@gmx.com The Broadcast Engineering Museum has an open day on Sunday, the 7th of June, from 11 am. The museum is located at 41 Capper Avenue, Hemswell Cliff, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire DN21 5XS. The museum is home to one of the largest collections of historic broadcasting equipment in the world. For more information, visit becg.org.uk/events Also on Sunday, the 7th of June, Spalding and District Amateur Radio Society's Annual Radio Rally will take place at Spalding Rugby and Football Club, Centenary Park, Drain Bank North, Spalding, Lincolnshire PE12 6AF. Free car parking is available on site and the entrance fee is £3 per person. Traders, catering and an RSGB stall will be available on site. For more details, visit sdars.org.uk/spaldingrally Now the Special Event news To commemorate the centenary of the passing of Antoni Gaudí, the famous Catalan architect and designer, special callsign EH100AG is active until the 7th of June. Look for activity on various bands and modes and via the QO-100 satellite. QSL via the bureau. QSOs will be uploaded to eQSL, Logbook of the World and Club Log. Special callsign LY100RADIO is active until the 12th of July to celebrate the 100th anniversary of regular radio broadcasting in Lithuania. QSL via LY2QT. For details of awards that are available for working the station, visit QRZ.com Now the DX news Paul, MM0ZBH, is active as 5Z4/MM0ZBH from Kenya until Monday, the 15th of June. He operates using CW, FT8 and SSB while volunteering at a local school. QSL via Logbook of the World and OQRS. Pascal, F8NQV, is active as CN2NQV from Sidi Rahal Chatai in Morocco until the 11th of July. Look for him on the 40, 20, 17, 15 and 10m bands using SSB. Now the contest news Today, the 24th, the RSGB 10GHz Trophy runs from 0800 to 1400UTC. Using all modes on 10GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Also today, the 24th, the UK Microwave Group High Band Contest runs from 0800 to 1700UTC. Using all modes on 5.7 and 10GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Tuesday, the 26th of May, the RSGB SHF UK Activity Contest runs from 1830 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on 2.3 to 10GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Thursday, the 28th of May, the RSGB 80m Club Championship runs from 1900 to 2030UTC. Using CW on the 80m band, the exchange is signal report and serial number. The CQ World Wide WPX CW Contest starts at 0000UTC on Saturday, the 30th and runs until 2359UTC on Sunday, the 31st of May. Using CW on the 160 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Thursday the 21st of May Last weekend's geomagnetic disturbance didn't turn out to be quite as bad as predicted. A high-speed solar wind stream from a massive coronal hole and a coronal mass ejection caused the Kp index to rise to 6.33 on Friday, the 15th of May, but it subsided, and we were soon back to more normal figures in the range of 2 to 4. The last week has seen more usual Kp figures in the range of 2 to 3, which bodes well for HF propagation. Unfortunately, the solar flux index has been stuck in the low one hundreds, ranging from 109 on the 16th to 106 on the 20th. It rose to 114 on the 21st, which may continue into the coming week. Meanwhile, ESA's Solar Orbiter has been monitoring solar activity on the far side of the Sun, which continues to feature a number of large sunspot groups. A number of C-class Flares and one low-level M-flare have been detected on the far side. We will have to wait until next week for that activity to rotate to an Earth-facing position. Much of the activity on the higher HF bands is currently due to Sporadic-E, and Jim, G3YLA, reports several multi-hop paths showing up between Europe, the Caribbean and the USA on the 6m band. A quick check on the 10m band revealed only low-power beacons out of Spain and Andorra, unfortunately. NOAA predicts that the solar flux index may rise to 115 tomorrow, the 25th, and then increase to 135 by the end of the month. The start of the coming week should see settled geomagnetic conditions, but we are predicted to see a rise in the Kp index to 4 on Wednesday, the 27th. And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO The recent lengthy period of indifferent weather has now changed over to a predominantly high-pressure type. This should last through to the end of the coming week when a possible return to unsettled weather edges up from the south.  Starting with the large-scale pressure pattern, it will be a period of improving tropo conditions for the VHF and UHF bands as the high builds over the country. The conditions should cover a large area across the North Sea and into the near continent. It is often the case that lift conditions may be improved by nighttime cooling and fade slightly during the day, unless over a sea path, which doesn't change much from day to night. The late May and early June period is a reasonable time for meteor activity, although this is mostly minor. Remember that there is still the tail end of the Eta Aquarids to work through this month. The solar conditions have offered up some reasonable coronal holes recently, although the light evenings don't allow visual confirmation, the Kp index going above 7 should make life more interesting for aurora. Needless to say, rain scatter will not feature in a predominantly high-pressure period of weather. Lastly, a thought about sporadic-E, which is coming into full bloom now and is typically at a peak around early to mid-June. There have been some successful openings on the 6m band with some multi-hop paths to the Far East and across to the States and Caribbean.  On the basis that jet streams may be useful indicators of where Sporadic-E is more likely, the coming week will see the main jet stream flow being pushed well north to a typical summer position from Iceland to Scandinavia. This might make paths to Scandinavia and the Baltic a good option, including northern multi-hop paths to the Far East. EME now and Moon declination is falling again, going negative tomorrow, the 25th. Combined with increasing path losses, conditions will worsen as the week progresses, but there is still plenty of time to make some QSOs, albeit with shorter Moon windows and lower peak elevation. 144MHz sky temperature is low but increasing to moderate by Friday, the 29th. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

Hello and Welcome to the DX Corner for yourweekly Dose of DX. I'm Bill, AJ8B.The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DXcolumn in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, just drop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.comXT - Burkina Faso – Harald, DF2SWO,goes again to Burkina Faso using the callsign XT2AW, until May 19.  Harald plans to be on HF and the QO-100 satellite and he welcomes skeds.   CN – Morocco - CN2NQV is the call for F8NQV who is QRV until July 11.  The QTH is the town of Sidi Rahal Chatai, on the Atlantic Ocean, 70 kilometers south of Casablanca.   Pascal's gear runs 100 watts to a Diamond vertical on the rooftop, about 15 meters above ground level. 5Z - Kenya  - 5Z4/MM0ZBH is QRV Holiday Style until June 15, with 100 watts and wire antennas.  QSL via the MM0ZBH home QTH, but his first choice is Logbook of the World foryour request.  Direct is SAE, no USD or IRC needed.  Paul says"I am happy to pay return postage." A6 - United Arab Emirates (UAE) - Many A60PE/##calls will be on the air as part of a national campaign of pride,"Proud of the Emirates."  Flag Day and Union Day (National Day) are popular national pride days.  The current event goes through May 31.  A3 – Tonga - JH3QFL, Takio, will operate as A31AA from Tongatapu Island, Tonga between May 14–22, 2026, onthe 80m–6m bands. QSL cards are available via SASE, and QSOs will be uploaded to LoTW. T8 – Palau - T88IL, T88JH and T88KY will be an operation May 21-24, ops JF3PLF, JR3QFB and JA1MFR, from Koror.  Masa, Yoshi, and Masa will be on 160-6M SSB, CW and digital. QSL details are on QRZ.com.  ZC4 - UK Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus - G4WXJ, Dave, will operate as ZC4RH from Dhekelia (KM64ux) between May 24 and 30, using 100 watts with Yaesu 857D and Xiegu X6100 radios. He will be active on CW, SSB, FT8, and FT4 modes across 40 to 6 meters, using dipoles and EFHW antennas. 3B9 - Rodrigues I - UR9IDX, Ivan, is QRV until June 1st, as 3B9IDX from Rodrigues Island. His operations will focus on HF bands, primarily using CW and some SSB, but not FT8. QSLdirect only to his address in Madeira Island, Portugal. JW – Svalbard - G1VAQ, Tom, will be briefly operating as JW/G1VAQ from Svalbard in May, using portable QRP (5W)CW on 20 meters. He asks for patience with his CW and notes that QSOs will be confirmed via LoTW and QRZ.com after his return to the UK. OX – Gree nland - OZ1DJJ, Bo, will be active as OX3LX from Aasiaat Island until May 22nd. This activity is part of a work trip, not a DXpedition, so limited radio contacts are expected. 6Y – Jamaica - KQ4PGV, Bill, is traveling to Jamaica from May 31 to June 8 for an anniversary trip and will operate as KQ4PGV/6Y on the radio when possible. Although experienced with POTA and SOTA, he is new to DXing and will be using an IC-705, tuner, and an amp (either 100W or 50W). He plans to activate parks for POTA using FT8 and Ham2kPortable Logger. CP – Bolivia - Team CP7DX has released some details of the upcoming DXpedition. They plan to be QRV from Tarija May 26 to June 6, including the CQ WW WPX CW weekend. The rest of the time they will do SSB, CW and FT8, 160-6M and EME on 144 and 432 MHz. QSL direct to LU1FM and Club Log OQRS too. PJ4 – Bonaire - WA7RAR, Chris, as PJ4CB will be there again May 27 to June 8, SSB and CW, 20-10M and from POTAsites on the island.  4K – Azerbaijan - The first ever POTA activation from Absheron National Park, AZ-0004 is May 28. The 4K0T“DXpedition and Contest Team” is going, joined by the ARAS, the Azerbaijan Radio Amateurs Society. They say the park is remarkable, on the Caspian Sea. It is grid LN50eg. They plan HF SSB and will have live updates, photos, logs and QSL info as things unfold.

GB2RS News Sunday, the 17th of May 2026 The news headlines: The RSGB releases a new set of mock exam papers Which RSGB Convention workshop will you take part in? Listen to Milton Keynes Hospital radio for an interview with the RSGB National Radio Centre Coordinator The RSGB Exams Team is pleased to publish new mock exam papers for Foundation and Intermediate levels. There are three for each level, and you can find them on the RSGB website at rsgb.org/mock-exams. These take into account all the changes to the syllabus and exam question bank which have been made since the last sets of mock exam papers were published. The Exams Team will not be publishing new mock papers for the Full level as the entire Full licence question bank is now available online. Candidates and Trainers can create their own full-level mock papers using the questions at rsgb.org/exam-questions The RSGB is running a practical and thought-provoking workshop for radio amateurs, makers, and home constructors, who want to understand what AI really is, what it is good at, where it can go wrong and why it matters. The session will run during the RSGB Convention on both Saturday, the 10th and Sunday, the 11th of October. It will use plain English and real examples from personal projects and will show how large language models can act as useful thinking partners for learning, writing, coding and building. At only £15 for a two-hour session, this is an opportunity not to be missed. As well as this, the Society is running an additional workshop on Friday, the 9th of October. In this six-hour workshop, you will learn how to use the NanoVNA effectively, understand its practical limitations and apply it confidently in your shack. You will also learn to calibrate the device correctly and complete hands-on exercises using your own NanoVNA. This RSGB member-only workshop costs £50 and includes lunch and refreshments. Both workshops are filled on a first-come, first-served basis and are limited to 20 people per session. Book now at rsgb.org/convention Listen out for RSGB National Radio Centre Coordinator Martyn Baker, G0GMB on Milton Keynes Hospital radio tomorrow, Monday the 18th of May. Martyn met presenter Sophie at the Hospital Broadcasting Association's annual conference in March, when NRC volunteers spoke with attendees about amateur radio. During the interview, you'll hear Martyn talking about a range of topics, from why amateur radio can be an exciting and rewarding hobby to his work at the Centre and the role of the RSGB. He will also explain how amateur radio can contribute to mental well-being and prevent social isolation. You can listen to the broadcast from 1 pm by going to mkhrs.org.uk  and selecting ‘click to listen' in the top right-hand corner. Today, Sunday the 17th of May, is the last day of Mental Health Awareness week, and this year's campaign looks at taking action to support good mental health. The RSGB highlights some of the small actions that radio amateurs can do that can have a big impact. This includes showing kindness to one another, listening to each other and taking a few extra minutes to engage in a conversation. Over four days in May and June, Humber Fortress DX Amateur Radio Club is playing its part in raising awareness for men's mental health. Club members will be operating special call sign GB0MMH, and they are inviting radio amateurs to make contact. As the club says, let's break the silence one transmission at a time. Find out more on QRZ.com  and support this great initiative. If you have a story you'd like to share that relates to amateur radio and mental health, please email comms@rsgb.org.uk Please send details of all your news and events to radcom@rsgb.org.uk. The deadline for submissions is 10 am on Thursdays before the Sunday broadcast each week.   And now for details of rallies and events Today, Sunday the 17th, Dunstable Downs Radio Rally is taking place at Stockwood Park in Luton. The boot sale is open to traders from 7.30 am and to visitors from 9 am. The entrance fee, which includes car parking, is £4 per vehicle. Find out more at dunstabledownsradioclub.org/bootsale Durham and District Amateur Radio Society Radio Rally will take place on Sunday, the 24th of May at Bowburn Community Centre, Bowburn, Co Durham, DH6 5AT. The doors will be open from 10.10 am to 2.30 pm, with disabled visitors gaining access at 10 am. The entry fee is £3. There will be a bring-and-buy sale, trade stands, special interest groups and an RSGB bookstall. Catering will be available on site. For more information, contact Michael Wright, G7TWX, on 07826 924 192 or email dadars@gmx.com Now the Special Event news The Cornish Radio Amateur Club is active from Pendennis Point in Cornwall until the end of May with special event callsign GB1SOS in support of SOS Radio month. Look out for activity each Sunday on the 40 and 20m bands using SSB. Special event station SP100CVO is active to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ludomir Mączka, SP1CVO. Mączka was an outstanding Polish geologist, sailor and amateur radio operator. His legendary vessel ‘Maria' was the first Polish yacht to circumnavigate the globe twice, crossing the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans multiple times. For more information, including details of awards that are available for working the station, visit QRZ.com The Salamis radio team in Greece is active with special callsign SX85CB to mark the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Crete during the Second World War. More details are available via QRZ.com Now the DX news Harald, DF2WO, is active as XT2AW from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, until Tuesday, the 19th of May. He operates using CW, SSB and FT modes on various HF bands and via the QO-100 satellite. QSL via OQRS. Pascal, F8NQV, is active as CN2NQV from Morocco until the 11th of July. The station has been spotted recently on the 20, 17 and 15m bands using SSB. Now the contest news The RSGB 144MHz May Contest started at 1400UTC yesterday, the 16th, and ends at 1400UTC today, Sunday the 17th of May. Using all modes on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. UK stations also send their postcode. Today, the 17th of May, the RSGB 1st 144MHz Backpackers Contest runs from 1000 to 1400UTC. Using all modes on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. UK stations also send their postcode. Tomorrow, the 18th of May, the RSGB FT4 Series Contest runs from 1900 to 2100UTC. Using FT4 on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is your report. On Tuesday, the 19th of May, the RSGB 1.3GHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on 1.3GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday, the 20th of May, the RSGB 80m Club Championship runs from 1900 to 2030UTC. Using data modes on the 80m band, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Thursday, the 21st of May, the RSGB 70MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 4m band, the exchange is signal report and serial number. On Sunday, the 24th of May, the RSGB 10GHz Trophy runs from 0800 to 1400UTC. Using all modes on 10GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report and serial number. Also, on Sunday, the 24th of May, the UK Microwave Group High Band Contest runs from 0800 to 1700UTC. Using all modes on 5.7 and 10GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report and serial number. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Thursday the 14th of May 2026 We hate to start the report on a negative note, but we are about to experience unsettled geomagnetic conditions over the next few days. The culprit is a large coronal hole on the Sun, which rotated into an Earth-facing position on Thursday, the 14th of May. This large coronal hole, an area with open magnetic field lines, has already been responsible for an increase in the solar wind speed to more than 420 kilometres per second. We can expect it to get worse as the weekend progresses. The hole spans the solar equator, so it is ideally placed to create maximum disruption to Earth. If the Bz interplanetary magnetic field swings south, we could see the Kp index rise and maximum usable frequencies, or MUFs, decline. If this happens, expect poor conditions until tomorrow, Monday, the 18th of May. Meanwhile, the solar flux index declined to 103 on Thursday, the 14th of May, which starts to put us in a difficult spot. Usually, we say that a solar flux index of 100 or more is needed for the 10m band to open. So it may be that you'll need to move lower in frequency for reliable HF openings. DX to be worked next week includes 3B9IDX from Rodrigues Island, T31TTT on Kanton Island, the last few days of XT2AW from Burkina Faso, and FO/F6BCW in French Polynesia. The Propagation Studies Committee's space weather station at Baldock identified a solar flare on Sunday, the 10th of May. The Doppler Flash, or Sudden Frequency Deviation, was triggered by an M5.7 solar flare that began at 1319UTC. While ‘Flash' is a good term for the fast-rising edge, the GB0PSC receiver has captured fine detail on the 20MHz signal from the WWV station in Colorado, showing multiple oscillations over a few minutes. X-ray radiation from the flare quickly increased absorption in the D region, reducing signal levels into the noise after ten minutes. But those minutes are crucial as they provide data to test whether X-rays or extreme UV from the flare were responsible for the Doppler shift and propagation anomaly. Next week, NOAA predicts that the solar flux index could rise to be in the 120 to 130 range, which puts us back in the fun zone. Unfortunately, and for the reasons mentioned earlier, we can expect to see a Kp index of 5 this weekend, but it will eventually decline to perhaps 2 or 3 as the week progresses. And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO The background pattern of unsettled weather remains with us for a while over the UK as a whole, but subtle changes from a cold northerly to a warmer southerly wind will bring higher temperatures back again.   To end the previous week, the cold northerly has brought some heavy showers with hail and thunder in places, and the GHz bands will have seen some rain scatter opportunities. The transition to a more southerly origin of the air will be taking place over this weekend, and although high pressure develops later in the week, we may have to wait until after midweek for any chance of tropo. The next few weeks encompass a couple of minor meteor showers, the Tau Herculids and daytime Arietids, to add to the random background input. There should be something to interest those looking for meteor scatter activity, and of course, it all contributes to the ‘fuel' for Sporadic-E, which is largely comprised of meteor ionisation.  The solar activity has recently been offering a few minor enhancements of the Kp index, but no great results on the aurora front.  Sporadic-E has been producing results on 6m digital modes, where there have been brief openings to VK, XT, DU2 and the USA for those lucky enough to catch them. The usual technique of checking during the two main activity windows of mid-morning and late afternoon should improve your chances. If you get an opportunity to look at the jet stream patterns, it can be worthwhile trying paths that cross these since it's believed they are good sources of atmospheric gravity waves that can reach the E region to aid the production of Sporadic-E. EME now: with maximum declination, the period of longest moon windows, now almost coinciding with perigee, the period of lowest path loss, conditions are at their best for the northern hemisphere. Moon declination is positive, reaching maximum tomorrow, Monday, the 18th of May. Path losses are at their lowest as we reach perigee today, the 17th. The 144MHz sky temperature is low all week. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

Hello and Welcome to the DX Corner for yourweekly Dose of DX. I'm Bill, AJ8B.The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DXcolumn in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, just drop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.comXT - Burkina Faso – Harald, DF2SWO, goes again to Burkina Faso using the callsign XT2AW, until May 19. Harald plans to be on HF and the QO-100 satellite and he welcomesskeds.  CE0 - Juan Fernandez - 3G0Z is the call for XQ7IR, Felipe, when he goes later this month.  His call will be XR0Z when he's on Alejandro Selkirk Island, SA-101, a possible side trip for 24-36 hours.  His gear has been sent ahead successfully, from Valparaiso to Juan Fernandez Island. CN – Morocco - CN2NQV is the call for F8NQV who is QRV until July 11.  The QTH is the town of Sidi Rahal Chatai, on the Atlantic Ocean, 70 kilometers south of Casablanca.Pascal's gear runs 100 watts to a Diamond vertical on the rooftop, about 15 meters above ground level. 5Z - Kenya  - 5Z4/MM0ZBH is QRV Holiday Style until June 15, with 100 watts and wire antennas.  QSL via the MM0ZBH home QTH, but his first choice is Logbook of the World foryour request.  Direct is SAE, no USD or IRC needed.  Paul says"I am happy to pay return postage." A6 - United Arab Emirates (UAE) - Many A60PE/##calls will be on the air as part of a national campaign of pride,"Proud of the Emirates."  Flag Day and Union Day (National Day) are popular national pride days.  The current event goes through May 31.  TF – Iceland - TF/WE9G, Rikk,will again be traveling, this time to Borg, Iceland, May 10-19, IOTA EU-021 and grid HP94ob.  He will have three radios on, a pair of IC-7300 radios and an IC-705, to a homebrew vertical, a tunable vertical, and a G5RV-E.  He will do 160-6, mostly FT8/4/2 "with some SSB and CW."  A Park on the Air, POTA, is a possibility, depending on his local transportation there.  QSL direct or bureau to WE9G and TF/WE9G on Club Log OQRS, QRZ and LoTW.  He plans real time log uploads and also Club Log livestream.    T8 – Palau - T88IL, T88JH and T88KY will be an operation May 21-24, ops JF3PLF, JR3QFB and JA1MFR, from Koror.  Masa, Yoshi, and Masa will be on 160-6M SSB, CW and digital. QSL details are on QRZ.com.  ET – Ethiopia - DL9WVM, Ulli, says he has two more weeks in Addis, and is QRV on CW from ET3AA as time permits.  He is there visiting family.  W9XY, Bob, say he may do some remote operating from that station, when DL9WVM is not operating.  K4ZW, Ken, will also be there, next weekend.  QSLs for K4ZW operations will go to N2OO as usual. ZC4 - UK Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus - G4WXJ, Dave, will operate as ZC4RH from Dhekelia (KM64ux) between May 24 and 30, using 100 watts with Yaesu 857D and Xiegu X6100 radios. He will be active on CW, SSB, FT8, and FT4 modes across 40 to 6 meters, using dipoles and EFHW antennas. TK – Corsica - F4FTV, Fabrice, will operate as TK/F4FTV from Porto-Vecchio, Corsica, from May 9 to 16, using SSB and digital modes. QSL is available via F4FTV and LoTW after three months.OX – Greenland - TF1OL, Olafur, plans to be QRV from Nuuk, Greenland from May 10 to 17. 3B8 - Mauritius & 3B9 - Rodrigues I - UR9IDX, Ivan, recently operated from Reunion Island (FR/UR9IDX, Mayotte (FH/UR9IDX)  and Comoros (D60DX), is QRV as 3B8IDX until May 16 from Mauritius and as 3B9IDX (May 18-June 1) from Rodrigues Island. His operations will focus on HF bands, primarily using CW and some SSB, but not FT8. QSL direct only to his address in Madeira Island, Portugal.

GB2RS News Sunday, the 10th of May 2026 The news headlines: RSGB Board liaison roles announced Women in amateur radio and STEM A message from the RSGB President at the 2026 AGM Each RSGB Board Director has a liaison role between the Board and specific aspects of the Society's work. This focuses very much on the work done by RSGB volunteers in committees, groups and teams as well as by the Honorary Officers and Champions. In a role swap that has been planned for some time, Ben Lloyd, GW4BML, will become Board Liaison for the RSGB Regional Team and Nathan Nuttall, MM9OCC, will become Board Liaison for the RSGB Youth Committee. New Board member Graham Smith, G4NMD, has taken on responsibility for the exam portfolio previously held by retired director Len Paget, GM0ONX. Other roles and responsibilities will be announced shortly. In the interim, if you have any doubts as to where to direct an enquiry regarding a Board Liaison matter, please contact Board Chair Stewart Bryant, G3YSX. To find out more or to see contact details for each Board Director, go to rsgb.org/board This year, International Women in Engineering Day takes place on the 23rd of June 2026. It is a celebration of the amazing work of women engineers across the globe. People who have an interest in amateur radio often work in careers related to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, also known as STEM. STEM subjects can be an effective way for the RSGB to introduce amateur radio to new audiences and young people. To mark the day, the Society is planning to share stories of how amateur radio has helped female engineers in their lives and careers. The theme for International Women in Engineering Day 2026 is Engineering Intelligence and is an opportunity to recognise the women engineers who solve complex challenges and help drive change. Are you involved in a research project? Perhaps you are designing something new, or reworking a project to make it more accessible to others? Maybe you're part of a team that is analysing data to find a solution to a problem? Whatever your story, the Society would love to hear from you so it can help to inspire future generations of girls and young women. If you'd like to share your story, please send a photo and a summary of what you have been doing to comms@rsgb.org.uk  by the 31st of May. Membership sits at the heart of the RSGB, and at its AGM in April, RSGB President Bob Beebe, GU4YOX, shared a message on this important topic. During his video message, Bob spoke about the wide range of services that the RSGB offers its members. He went on to explain that the Society is reviewing its membership offering and how that will be implemented in the coming months. This important message is available for all radio amateurs to watch via the RSGB YouTube channel. Go to youtube.com/thersgb  and select the RSGB 2026 AGM playlist to start watching now. Remember to share this video with your friends, local club and the rest of the amateur radio community. The BBC has announced that the Droitwich Transmitter on 198kHz will be permanently closed down in 2026. The Scottish Long Wave transmitters at Burghead and Westerglen will also be turned off. The Droitwich transmitter was commissioned during September 1934. These transmissions have always been part of our lives as radio enthusiasts. A date has not yet been formally given, but the BBC is committing to providing two months' notice to listeners. The RSGB and the BBC Amateur Radio Group are planning to mark this occasion on the air. More details of how this will be achieved will be available soon. Please email ContestClub@rsgbcc.org  if you would like to register your interest. Remember to listen out for the stations that are taking part in the Mills on the Air event today, the 10th of May. Radio amateurs are on the air from a wide range of interesting locations and are keen to take your call. Please send details of all your news and events to radcom@rsgb.org.uk. The deadline for submissions is 10 am on Thursdays before the Sunday broadcast each week.  And now for details of rallies and events On Saturday, the 16th of May, East Midlands Ham and Electronics Rally will take place at Beckingham Village Hall, Southfield Lane, Beckingham DN10 4FX. The doors will be open from 9.30 am to 3 pm. Free car parking is available behind the hall, and traders are invited to set up from 7 am. Hot food and refreshments will be available on site. For more information and booking details, visit emerg.uk/rally Dunstable Downs Radio Rally will be taking place on Sunday, the 17th of May at Stockwood Park in Luton. The boot sale will be open to traders from 7.30 am and to visitors from 9 am. The entrance fee, which includes car parking, is £4 per vehicle. Find out more at dunstabledownsradioclub.org/bootsale   Now the Special Event news Special callsign HG333DEB will be active from the 15th to the 24th of May to celebrate the city of Debrecen in Hungary. Listen out for activity on all bands using CW, digital modes, FM and SSB. More information, including details of awards that are available for working the station, is available via QRZ.com Antwerp Port Contest Club, ON8APC, is active with special callsign OT26EPIC to promote this year's Antwerp Port Epic cycling race. Look for activity until the 25th of May. QSL via ON8JJ. See QRZ.com for more details, including how to view a livestream of the event on YouTube. Now the DX news Pascal, F8NQV, is active as CN2NQV from Morocco until the 17th of July. Look for him on the 40, 20, 17, 15 and 10m bands using SSB. Tom, VK2TBC, is on the air as VK0TBC from Casey Station, Antarctica, until December. He operates using SSB and FT8. Updates on Tom's station are posted at vk2tbc.com Now the contest news Today, the 10th, the RSGB 70MHz CW Contest runs from 0900 to 1200 UTC. Using CW on the 4m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. UK stations also send their postcode. Also, today, the 10th, the UK Microwave Group Millimetre Wave Contest runs from 0800 to 1700 UTC. Using all modes on 24, 47 and 76GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Tuesday, the 12th of May, the RSGB 432MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1855 UTC. Using FM on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Also, on Tuesday, the 12th of May, the RSGB 432MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130 UTC. Using all modes on the 70cm band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday the 13th, the RSGB 432MHz FT8 Activity four-hour Contest runs from 1700 to 2100 UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the exchange is a report and four-character locator. Also, on Wednesday the 13th, the RSGB 432MHz FT8 Activity two-hour Contest runs from 1900 to 2100 UTC. Using FT8 on the 70cm band, the exchange is a report and four-character locator. Stations entering the four-hour contest may also enter the two-hour contest. On Thursday, the 14th of May, the RSGB 50MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130 UTC. Using all modes on the 6m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. The RSGB 144MHz May Contest starts at 1400 UTC on Saturday, the 16th and ends at 1400UTC on Sunday, the 17th of May. Using all modes on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. UK stations also send their postcode. On Sunday, the 17th of May, the RSGB 1st 144MHz Backpackers Contest runs from 1000 to 1400 UTC. Using all modes on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. UK stations also send their postcode. On Monday, the 18th of May, the RSGB FT4 Series Contest runs from 1900 to 2100 UTC. Using FT4 on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is your report. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Thursday the 7th of May 2026 We had another mixed week of HF propagation, with a Kp index of 6 one day and then three days later a Kp of less than 1. The index hit 6.33 on the evening of Monday, the 4th of May, sparking aurora and poor HF conditions. But by Wednesday, the 6th of May it was back down to 0.67. So, you can see why it is hard to predict what HF conditions are going to be like with ionospheric propagation being driven by the geomagnetic status rather than the solar flux index. According to the CDXC Slack group, DX worked over the past week included TZ4AM in Mali on 10m CW; T31TTT from Central Kiribati on 12m and 15m FT8; XQ6CF in Chile on 17m CW; VP8A on the Falkland Islands on 60m CW; 3B9G on 20m CW and TL8BNW from the Central African Republic on 40m SSB. So, there is DX about if you hunt for it. Interestingly, all of the above, apart from T31TTT, were on southward paths, perhaps reflecting poorer conditions on polar paths at times due to the elevated Kp index. Next week, NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will remain around 115 to 130 with calm geomagnetic conditions for the first half of the week. However, unsettled geomagnetic conditions are forecast for the 15th to the 18th of May with a possible Kp index of 5. With five sunspot groups visible on the Sun's surface, and active region 4419, the source of two X-Flares on Friday, the 24th of April, now about to turn back into Earth's view, it is anyone's guess what could happen next! As we enter mid-May, we are getting closer to summer HF conditions. So Sporadic-E on the higher HF bands, lower maximum usable frequencies overall, but perhaps 14MHz staying open all night, are all features to watch out for. Also look out for 10m band openings to Southern Africa around midday and paths to South America during early and late evening. And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO The current period of weather seems to be a mix of weak high-pressure and low-pressure systems vying for dominance. Therefore, it implies a mix of radio conditions will share our attention, with weak tropo from ridges of high pressure, but no big highs on the chart; and frontal rain bands or heavy showers bringing a chance of rain scatter for GHz operators. The prospects for meteor scatter may remain elevated for a while since we have only just passed the peak of the Eta Aquarids on Wednesday, the 6th of May. Remember, the early morning hours tend to be best for meteor activity in general.  The aurora alerts have continued to provide a glimmer of hope, but mostly for weak enhancements, so look for a Kp value of 5 or greater and signs of ‘watery' sounding signals on the HF bands before turning the VHF beams to the north. As we move into the early part of the Sporadic-E season, it will become the mode of choice for us during the next few months. The general rule is to check for the two main periods of activity, in mid-morning and again late afternoon or early evening. Listen for strong signals on the 10m band from Europe and then, as the event develops, the higher frequency bands will open up too. In a strong event, the 2m band can even show up sounding like 20m. However, early-season events tend to favour the 10 and 6m bands. EME now. The Moon is past minimum declination and increasing, giving lengthening Moon windows and increasing peak elevation. Path losses are decreasing now after apogee on Monday, the 4th of May. 144MHz sky temperature is low all week until Saturday, the 16th of May, when the Sun and Moon are close in the sky. And that's all from the propagation team this week.

I denne episoden får Anders og Eirik besøk av Olav Slettebø, seniorrådgiver i SSB og en tydelig stemme i den offentlige debatten om norsk økonomi. Sammen tar de et dypdykk i frontfagsmodellen og 80/20-fordelingen mellom arbeid og kapital – og hvorfor dynamikken i lønnsveksten er en hoveddriver av norsk inflasjon akkurat nå.De diskuterer også om renta egentlig er riktig medisin, eller om Norges Banks våpen er for grovkornet og rammer rentesensitive næringer som bygg og anlegg unødig hardt. Avslutningsvis tar de en runde på oljefondets rolle i en mer urolig verden, fra europeisk sikkerhet til den ubehagelige tanken om konfiskasjonsrisiko.Disclaimer: Podcasten er et markedsføringsmateriale fra Danske Bank. Uttalelsene i podcasten er ikke å regne som investeringsrådgivning eller en anbefaling til å investere, og uttalelsene er ikke et tilbud eller en oppfordring til å kjøpe eller selge et finansielt instrument. Vær alltid oppmerksom på at historisk avkastning ikke er en pålitelig indikator for fremtidig utvikling eller avkastning på en investering. Søk råd hos profesjonelle rådgivere omkring juridiske, skattemessige, finansielle eller andre forhold knyttet før du foretar en investering.

Visste du at skeiv ensomhet faktisk er en ting? Men... hva er egentlig skeiv ensomhet, og er det annerledes enn «typisk» ensomhet? Hvordan kan det utspille seg? Hvordan motvirker man skeiv ensomhet, og er det noen som kan hjelpe deg?Tja, du må nesten høre på denne episoden for å få svar på disse spørsmålene. Med mindre du vil undersøke temaet på egenhånd da, naturligvis, men da går du glipp av historier fra virkeligheten som du ikke kan finne noe annet sted enn i akkurat denne episoden! Men et lite hint til «er det noen som kan hjelpe meg?»-delen: den informasjonen finner du også i denne episodebeskrivelsen (rett under dette avsnittet)

GB2RS News Sunday, the 3rd of May 2026 The news headlines: Ticket sales for the RSGB 2026 Convention are now open! RSGB appoints a new volunteer Accessibility Champion FCC authorises commercial satellite constellation use in the 70cm band You can now buy tickets for the RSGB 2026 Convention in Milton Keynes. The event takes place between the 9th and 11th of October and is a must for any radio amateur looking to learn, connect and be inspired. Several lecturers have already been confirmed, and include Nobby Styles, G0VJG, talking about the South Georgia DXpedition in March 2027, as well as recent Wortley-Talbot Trophy winner Gwyn Griffiths, G3ZIL, on HF propagation studies from the Baldock space weather station. Ticket sales for workshops taking place over the weekend are also open. These are sold on a first-come, first-served basis and with only 20 spaces available for each, secure your place now to ensure you don't miss out. Go to rsgb.org/convention  to read the latest Convention news and purchase your tickets. RSGB Board Director Nathan Nuttall, MM9OCC, has announced that Jane Joyce, M8WVJ, has been appointed as the new RSGB Accessibility Champion. Jane brings a wealth of experience in the areas of disability and accessibility, making her ideally suited to this important role. As Accessibility Champion, she will share real stories from members that highlight both the challenges and successes within the hobby, helping to raise awareness and improve understanding of accessibility issues. Jane will also be available to help direct individuals to the support they need, which will help to improve accessibility across amateur radio as a whole, and she will advise the RSGB on meaningful improvements. Jane can be contacted via the email address access.champion@rsgb.org.uk In the USA the FCC has authorised AST-SpaceMobile to launch its full constellation of 248 large satellites that includes 430-440MHz for emergency telemetry and control when not over the United States. This is despite there being no such frequency allocation. However, the FCC permitted the use of the frequencies using Article 4.4 of the ITU Radio Regulations. This follows an initial filing and review last year, and extensive amateur concerns that resulted in over 2,500 comments being submitted. The IARU has released a statement on the matter, which you can read via tinyurl.com/IARU-AST  The RSGB has more background and earlier responses on its Spectrum Forum web page at tinyurl.com/RSGB-AST RSGB club insurance, and beacon and repeater insurance, have now been renewed for the year from the 30th of April 2026 to April 2027. Club insurance certificates can be downloaded via rsgb.org/repeaterinsurance. You will need to log in to obtain your certificate. Beacon and repeater insurance certificates are available for an admin fee of £15 from the RSGB shop. Please allow a couple of days after renewal for your certificate to be dispatched. The Society would like to remind RSGB members with G7 callsigns who collect QSL cards that they should now send their stamped addressed envelopes to Mr Anthony Holles, G4AAV. You can find his details in the sub-manager list of the RSGB QSL Bureau web section at rsgb.org/qsl  Volunteers at the RSGB National Radio Centre will be operating the GB2BP special event station on Friday, the 8th and Saturday, the 9th of May, to commemorate the anniversary of VE Day. Put the date in your diary and make sure you add this callsign to your logbook. RSGB members, don't forget you can receive free entry to Bletchley Park, which includes the NRC, by downloading and printing your personalised voucher at rsgb.org/bpvoucher The annual Mills on the Air event is taking place on Saturday, the 9th and Sunday, the 10th of May. Operators will be on the air from a variety of historic locations. If you hear them, make sure to give them a call. Don't forget to listen out for the stations that are taking part in this year's Pubs and Clubs on the Air event from the 8th to the 10th of May. For more information about the event, email Chris via g1puv@yahoo.co.uk Please send details of all your news and events to radcom@rsgb.org.uk. The deadline for submissions is 10 am on Thursdays before the Sunday broadcast each week.  And now for details of rallies and events Today, the 3rd, the Broadcast Engineering Museum has an open day from 11 am. The museum is located at 41 Capper Avenue, Hemswell Cliff, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire DN21 5XS and is home to one of the largest collections of historic broadcasting equipment in the world. For more information, visit becg.org.uk/events Thorpe Camp Hamfest is also taking place today, the 3rd, at Thorpe Camp Visitor Centre, Tattershall Thorpe, LN4 4PL. Traders can arrive from 7 am, and visitors are welcome from 9 am. The entry fee is £5 per person. For more information, visit thorpecamp.org Tomorrow, the 4th, Dartmoor Spring Radio Rally will take place at Yelverton War Memorial Hall, Meavy Lane, Yelverton, Devon, PL20 6AL. There will be the usual bring and buy, trader stands, refreshments and free parking available. The doors will be open from 10 am to 1 pm, and admission costs £3. More details are available at dartmoorradioclub.uk On Saturday, the 9th of May 2026, Barry Amateur Radio Society Rally will be held at Sully Sports and Social Club, South Road, Sully, CF64 5SP. The doors open at 9 am, for traders and visitors are welcome from 10 am. A large free car park is available, and admission costs £3. Now the Special Event news On Saturday, the 9th, and Sunday, the 10th of May, Harlow and District Amateur Radio Society will be taking part in Mills on the Air from John Webb's Windmill in Thaxted, Essex. The station will use special event callsign GB0TWM and operate between 8.30 am and 4 pm. Amateurs, shortwave listeners and visitors are welcome to join in with the fun. For more information, visit QRZ.com To celebrate his 50th anniversary in amateur radio, Nick, US8AR, is active throughout 2026 using the special callsign EM50AR. Look out for activity on the HF and VHF bands using all modes. Electronic QSL cards can be downloaded from em50ar.pp.ua Now the DX news TJ, PE1OJR is active as PJ4TB from Bonaire, SA-006, until tomorrow, Monday the 4th of May. He operates FT4, FT8 and SSB on the 40 to 6m bands. QSL via Logbook of the World. Paul, MM0ZBH, is active as 5Z4/MM0ZBH from Kenya until the 15th of June. He operates using CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via Logbook of the World and OQRS. Now the contest news Today, Sunday the 3rd of May, the UK Microwave Group Low Band Contest runs from 0900 to 1400UTC. Using all modes on 1.3 to 3.4GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. The ARI International DX Contest started at 1200UTC yesterday, Saturday the 2nd, and ends at 1159UTC today, Sunday the 3rd of May. Using CW, RTTY and SSB on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and serial number. Italian stations also give their province code. The RSGB 432MHz to 245GHz Contest started at 1400UTC yesterday, Saturday the 2nd and ends at 1400UTC today, Sunday the 3rd of May. Using all modes on 432MHz to 245GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. The Worked All Britain 7MHz Contest takes place today, Sunday the 3rd of May, from 1000 to 1400UTC. Entries need to be with the contest manager by Wednesday, the 13th of May 2026. Please note that SSB is only used in all Worked All Britain contests. Full details of the rules can be found on the Worked All Britain website. On Tuesday, the 5th of May, the RSGB 144MHz FM Activity Contest runs from 1800 to 1855UTC. Using FM on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Also on Tuesday, the 5th of May, the RSGB 144MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 1900 to 2130UTC. Using all modes on the 2m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. On Wednesday the 6th, the RSGB 144MHz FT8 Activity four-hour Contest runs from 1700 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 2m band, the exchange is report and a four-character locator. Also on Wednesday the 6th, the RSGB 144MHz FT8 Activity two-hour Contest runs from 1900 to 2100UTC. Using FT8 on the 2m band, the exchange is report and a four-character locator. Stations entering the four-hour contest may also enter the two-hour contest. On Sunday, the 10th of May, the RSGB 70MHz CW Contest runs from 0900 to 1200UTC. Using CW on the 4m band, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. UK stations also send their postcode. Also on Sunday, the 10th of May, the UK Microwave Group Millimetre Wave Contest runs from 0800 to 1700UTC. Using all modes on 24, 47 and 76GHz frequencies, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator. Now the radio propagation report, compiled by G0KYA, G3YLA and G4BAO on Thursday the 30th of April Last week was about as good as it gets at this point in the solar cycle. We had a solar flux index in the 140s and a Kp index that was pretty flat, often below 2. That's good news for HF as it means the ionosphere had a chance to settle and, although not record-breaking, a solar flux index of 140 to 150 is very usable. There were numerous C and M-class solar flares, but these were relatively minor, and the latest forecasts show a 70% chance for additional M-flares and a 20% chance for an isolated strong X-flare. This all came together to give a maximum usable frequency over a 3,000km path of around 21 to 24MHz, often just peaking around 28MHz. This gave the odd 10m band opening, but these were sparse and not very strong. DXpeditions to be worked this week, according to DXWorld.net, include E51TLM in the South Cook Islands; T31TTT from Kanton Island; FO/F6BCW in French Polynesia; XT2AW from Burkina Faso and 3G0Z on Robinson Crusoe Island. So, which bands should you be looking at? The 20, 17 and 15m bands will probably give the best results, but don't completely rule out the two higher bands that may show occasional surprises. We are now starting the Sporadic-E season, so look out for short-lived but strong openings around Europe on the 12 and 10m bands. Next week, NOAA predicts a solar flux index of between 130 and 140, with a Kp index of 2 or 3. Unsettled conditions are forecast for the 7th and 8th of May with a potential Kp index of 5. As always, keep an eye on solarham.com  for almost real-time reports of solar activity. And now the VHF and up propagation news from G3YLA and G4BAO The excellent tropo conditions for some parts of the country recently are likely to be slightly subdued over this weekend, but there are signs that another period of high-pressure weather will return as we move through the coming week. Unlike the recent dry weather, there are likely to be a few showery spells with a chance of rain scatter on the GHz bands. Meteor scatter is probably enhanced next week by the Eta Aquarids, which peak on Wednesday, the 6th of May, and are associated with Comet Halley. The aurora prospects are probably moving away from their spring activity period, but check the Kp index as usual for high values above 5. The Sporadic-E season is slowly limbering up, and it's well worth checking for activity, initially on the 10 and 6m bands. Check for SSB and CW activity as well as digital modes. Work continues on the propquest.co.uk  website. There are still some missing elements, but it is hoped that these will be back soon. EME now. The Moon is moving towards minimum declination today, Sunday, the 3rd of May, so there will be short Moon windows and low peak elevation. Path losses are still increasing until apogee on Monday, the 4th of May, when the Moon is at its furthest from Earth at 405,840km. 144MHz sky temperature reaches a maximum of more than 2,800 Kelvin on Wednesday, the 6th of May. And that's all from the propagation team this week.  

Join me on an epic road trip adventure: renting a camper van and touring stunning national parks while activating POTA (Parks on the Air) for ham radio!In this video, I rent a comfortable camper van and hit the open road to explore breathtaking national parks, combining outdoor adventure, camping, scenic drives, and portable amateur radio operations. Watch as I set up my ham radio gear in beautiful park locations to activate multiple POTA entities—making contacts worldwide via HF, CW, SSB, and digital modes while enjoying nature at its finest. Whether you're into ham radio portable ops, POTA activations, van life travel, national park exploration, or just love combining hobbies with adventure, this vlog has it all: camper van tips, park highlights, radio setup walkthroughs, pileups, scenic views, and the thrill of hitting those POTA hunter contacts from remote spots.Today's video is sponsored by Bioenno Batteries. Get yours here - https://geni.us/LfawM7BBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ham-radio-2-0--2042782/support.

Liberale venner!SSB hevder det er en myte at folk har fått dårligere råd!Dette er av det mer elitistiske narrativene vi har sett på en stund, og treffer over hodet ikke virkeligheten til mange mennesker i Norge!Husk å skrive en liten omtale av oss i Apple Podcast, samt gi oss 5 stjerner i Spotify og Apple Podcast!Vennligst abonner på podcasten i din egen app, så blir du varslet når nye episoder kommer ut.Følg/kontakt oss her: liberalaften@gmail.comhttps://www.facebook.com/liberalerenpodcast/https://www.instagram.com/liberalerenpodcast/https://twitter.com/LiberalerenPRate oss gjerne også i de apper som tilbyr dette!Skriv også positive kommentarer i de podcast apper hvor det er mulig.Kontakt oss / send inn spørsmål:www.podpage.com/liberaleren-podcastLes dine daglige nyheter på Liberaleren:https://www.liberaleren.no/Støtt Liberaleren gjennom diverse bidrag her:https://www.liberaleren.no/donasjoner/Finn mer:https://www.podpage.com/liberaleren-podcastVIPPS valgfrie kroner til Liberaleren: 579172Liberaleren TV:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHChWhwyiNrhDlfmvgJRbrALiberaleren Podcast på YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb_4G55--BGOb0vCAf2AFmgLiberal hilsning fra Klaus! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and Welcome to the DX Corner for your weekly Dose of DX. I'm Bill, AJ8B.The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DX column in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, just drop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.comVK9/C - Cocos (Keeling) – Mark, VK9BSA, and Deena, VK9DEE, have received their radio equipment at Cocos (Keeling) and are now active on the air until May 17th, with operations mainly on weekends and after work, as they balance family life on the island. This Sunday will be a dedicated radio day, and Deena (VK9DEE) is interested in connecting with other women on air. Frequency and timing details will be shared via email, with SSB as the chosen mode and plans for regular after-work activity on the 20-meter band.CT3 - Madeira Island - CT9/DL1BU is QRV and continues until May 2. Marc says for his holiday he took his IC-7300, 10-meter-tall fiberglass mast, and an off center fed dipole, the "Aerial51." His first day was devoted to setting it all up and testing. CN – Morocco - CN2NQV is the call for F8NQV who is QRV until July 11. The QTH will be the town of Sidi Rahal Chatai, on the Atlantic, 70 kilometers south of Casablanca. He plans 40, 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10M, with target frequencies 7155, 14345, 18140, 21165 and 28575. Pascal's gear runs 100 watts to a Diamond vertical on the rooftop, about 15 meters above ground level.5Z - Kenya - 5Z4/MM0ZBH is QRV Holiday Style until June 15, with 100 watts and wire antennas. QSL via the MM0ZBH home QTH, but his first choice is Logbook of the World for your request. Direct is SAE, no USD or IRC needed. Paul says "I am happy to pay return postage."PJ4 – Bonaire - PJ4TB is QRV again by TJ, PE1OJR, TJ (short for Theerd), until May 4, holiday style, 40-6M SSB and FT8/FT4. TJ has an IC-7300, a "PAC-12" vertical that he's modified to cover 40-6, and an end fed wire antenna. He says he only uses LoTW (and Club Log, but he also mentions QRZ.com) for e-confirmations, no eQSL or traditional cards by mail. His LoTW and QRZ uploads are once a week.FO/M – Marquesas - TX9W, "Team Marquesas," arrived on Hiva Oa and made their way to their site to begin their setup. The team leader, K5WE, Jeff, had "a medical emergency" the night before the departure early Saturday, he spent the night in the hospital, and the decision is being made when and whether he can join the team. Setup is underway and they are QRV.Z6 – Kosovo - Z66SP with his Polish teammates will be QRV from near Pristina, April 23-28, CW, SSB and FT8, 160-10. They will be in the "SP DX RTTY Contest" weekend, and will also do some 6M and QO-100. QSL using Club Log OQRS and LoTW. https://z66sp.spdxc.org/7P, LESOTHO - 7P8WR will be QRV until May 1 by IZ0EVI, IZ0EWJ and IZ6DSQ. For antennas, they will have a spiderbeam covering 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10, a three-element "Skipper" for 10, loop for 20-10, another loop for 40-15, and a 40M vertical. For radios, it's three IC-7300s and an IC-706MKIIG, plus amplifiers. QSL via IZ0EWJ, bureau or direct, LoTW, QRZ.com, but no eQSLAll QSOs will be uploaded to LoTW, Club Log, and QRZ.com. https://www.mdxc.support/7p8wr/JT, MONGOLIA - Vladimir R9LR and Denis R8LCM will be QRV as JT0LR from rare grids NN49, NN48, NN58 and perhaps NN59. Activity between April 25 and April 30 on various bands using CW, SSB and digi. Satellite QO-100 also. QSL via R9LR. 4W - Timor-Leste - DX World reports 4W/EA2TA, Christian, has the licenses in hand now. He, 4W/EA3NT and 4W/IZ7ATN are now on the air from Timor Island. Their operation continues to April 28, 80-6M CW, SSB and FT8. 60M is not allowed in Timor-Leste, so no 60M for them. QSL all of them via IZ7ATN or use Logbook of the World.Until next week, this is Bill, AJ8B saying 73 and thanks to my XYL Karen for her love and support. I Hope to hear you in the pileups! Have a great DX week!

In this episode, we gather around the workbench with special guest Mitch NK3H to talk through his latest homebrew radio build—a scratch-built receiver capable of both CW and SSB. We dig into the design approach, construction techniques, challenges along the way, and what it takes to successfully build a more complex radio from the ground up.Join us as we explore how you can get involved in portable radio, QRP, and more in this episode of the All Portable Discussion Zone (AP/DZ). Every aspect of portable operations is covered in this biweekly podcast, from news and gear to achievements, the workbench, contests, awards, and beyond.Pete Juliano N6QW: https://n6qw.blogspot.com/SolderSmoke Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@soldersmokeAlan Wolke: https://www.youtube.com/@w2aewNick Wood M0NTV: https://www.youtube.com/@M0NTVHomebrewingCharlie Morris ZL2CTM: https://zl2ctm.blogspot.com/David Jones: https://www.youtube.com/@EEVblogAshhar Farhan VU2ESE: https://www.youtube.com/@ashfarhanHans Summers G0UPL: HansSummers.comIMSAI Guy; https://www.youtube.com/@IMSAIGuyConnect with us:* Discord: https://discord.gg/WVE3vVveWU* YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/redsummitrf* TikTok: @redsummitrf* X (formerly Twitter): @NJ7V_Support the channel:* Buy us a Coke: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/RedSummitRF* Red Summit RF Amazon Storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/redsummitrf#apdz #SOTA #HamRadio #PortableOps #QRP #Workbench #Electronics #PO

The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of theDailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DX column in QST. If you would like a free2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, justdrop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.com 3X – Guinea – Elvira, IV3FSG, is QRV from3X3A on Roume Island (AF-051), Republic of Guinea, until April 25. Thisself-funded, single-operator DXpedition will focus on making contacts across HFand 6m bands using SSB, CW, and FT8/4/2 modes, utilizing two Icom IC-7300radios and multiple antennas. Roume Island is historically known as the"Treasure Island" of West Africa. https://www.qrz.com/db/3X3A   Z8 - South Sudan - The International DX Pressand OM3JW report that Diya, Z81D, aka YI1DZ, has had his World Food Programcontract extended by eight months and returns to Juba this week.  He will be on the air in his spare time, FT8and SSB, mostly on weekends.  QSL toOM3JW through OQRS.   C5 – Gambia - The 425 DX News reportsthat F4AGG and F5RAV will be on the air as C5D on digital modes RTTY, PSK andFT8 and as C5C on SSB and CW, between April 24 and May 8.  They plan a side trip to the Bijol Islands,AF-060, as well.  From the island thecallsign will be C5B, and on the RS-44 satellite.  C5D's QSL is through LoTW only.  C5C and C5B are both via LoTW or direct viaF5RAV.  4W6DA, Timor-Leste - VK4MAP, DarrenJohnston, has been active holiday-style since April 2 as 4W6DA. Heis mostly on 10M SSB, but is also on 80, 40, 20, 15, and 12M, using an ICOMIC-7300 at 100W into two wire antennas. QSL via VK4MAP and include four U.S.dollars or four Euros.   3B9N, Rodrigues Island - VU3OPT (akaOM0GA), Suvarna, has just completed the first week of a seven-week DXpeditionto Port Mathurin, Rodrigues Island (grid square MH1Øqh), where he is operatingas 3B9N. He will be there until May 20. He plans a trip to Lakshadweep (VU7) inthe second half of this year and is also considering a trip to Sri Lanka (4S)or Bangladesh (S2).D6 -Comoros -After completing his FH/UR9IDX operation from Mayotte Ivan will continues his journeyin the Indian Ocean with a month-long stop in the Comoros as D60DX. Listenfor him on CW and SSB S0 - WesternSahara – Naama, S01A, and Azman,S01AH, will be QRV as S09S until May 31st, operating from the Sahrawi Republic.Theyare running 100 watts to dipole antennas and multiband beams. They will beoperating QO-100, from several grids. Look for S09S to also be QRV duringthe CQ WPX CW Contest, May 30-31. QSL via Club Log and LoTW. 8R –Guyana - 8R1TMis QRV until May 10, weekdays between 2300-0300Z on 160-6M CW,SSB, digital and satellite.  PY1SAD, Aldir, says on the weekends it's"full time" on 160-6, the same modes. OX – Greenland- Bo, OZ1DJJ, isQRV as OX3LX from Aasiaat Island (NA-134), Greenland until April 25th. He isthere on a work assignment and will be QRV in his spare time.VK9/C - Cocos (Keeling) – Mark, VK9BSA, and Deena, VK9DEE, are QRV fromCocos-Keeling. Band conditions have not been favorable, and Mark willmainly be operating on weekends and some evenings. There is no fixedoperating schedule yet. FO/M - Marquesas Islands- The TX9W teamheading to the Marquesas Islands report they will depart in eleven days.They plan to be active from Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands on April 19.

Dystre prognoser om verdensøkonomien preller av på aksjemarkedenes vei mot nye toppnoteringer.I forrige uke truet president Donald Trump med å bombe Iran tilbake til steinalderen. Finansredaksjonens Thor Christian Jensen trodde ikke på han, og fikk rett. Nå hinter Trump om nye fredssamtaler og sier krigen snart er over. Det er Taco nesten hver dag nå. Vel, vi får se hva som skjer i virkeligheten, men aksje- og rentemarkedene bryr seg uansett ikke så mye om Trumps sirkus og fortsetter mot nye toppnoteringer. Oslo Børs har steget godt over 20 prosent i år. I dag kom tall fra SSB som er en del av forklaringen. Norges eksportinntekter økte med nær 200 milliarder kroner i mars, i hovedsak på grunn av høye olje- og gassinntekter. Equinor er det største selskapet på børsen, og selskapets aksjekurs har steget himmelhøye 52 prosent i år.Men oljeinntekter for Norge, betyr dyrtid for land som er avhengig av å importere olje og gass. Det får det internasjonale valutafondet, IMF, til å komme med svært dystre prognoser. I ukens episode podkasten Finansredaksjonen, som lages av oss i DN, snakker vi om Trumps siste sprell, aksjemarkedets robusthet, pessimistiske prognoser fra IMF og rentedilemma i Norges Bank. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Capital Razor Show, Richard C. Wilson sits down with Dr. Jacque Sokolov—Chairman and CEO of SSB, a healthcare investment firm behind multiple billion-dollar exits and a $10B+ decacorn—to unpack what it really takes to build lasting value in a $5 trillion industry. Dr. Sokolov shares lessons from over 30 years in healthcare investing, including how he scaled physician practice management platforms, built one of the largest investor-backed LLCs in the space, and helped create wealth for thousands of physicians along the way. The conversation dives into where the biggest opportunities are emerging today—from AI and mRNA to physician practice roll-ups—and why most investors still miss the mark by overlooking three critical pillars: clinical model, business model, and operational execution. You'll also hear practical insights on: How to identify scalable healthcare opportunities in a complex, evolving market Why timing cycles in sectors like Medicare and PPM can make or break returns The strategy behind turning $70M into multi-billion dollar outcomes How to "pay it forward" while building billion-dollar relationships and investor networks Why expanding your network across diverse channels is one of the highest ROI moves you can make If you're a founder, investor, or operator looking to navigate healthcare, raise capital, or build something that compounds over decades—this episode delivers a masterclass from someone who has done it at the highest level.

Hello and Welcome to the DX Corner for yourweekly Dose of DX. I'm Bill, AJ8B.The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DX column in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, justdrop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.com3B9 - Rodrigues Island - VU3OPT, aka OM0GA, Suvarna, is QRV as 3B9N from Port Mathurin, Rodrigues until May 20. FO - French Polynesia - On Monday, FO/F6BCW, Didier, reported that the island's internet network had been down for approximately 1.5 hours and may remain unavailable until Tuesday. Severe weather, including heavy squalls and violent thunderstorms with lightning, caused significant damage to temporary antenna setups. The 30m and 40mbands are currently unusable, and the Vertical Dipole Arrays (VDA) nearly collapsed. The main station itself remains operational. Monitoring of beacons showed zero EU signals, and no European opening was expected Monday.  -4W - Timor-Leste – On April 1st, VK4MAP, Darren, arrived in Temor-Leste and on April 5 got on the air with the 4W6DA callsign, "holiday style." He should now be QRV from AtauroIsland in the East Timor Coastal Islands Group.  He willhave callsign 4W6DA/P then.  Darren says he will mostly be on 10M but also 80, 40, 20, 15 and 12, and it is "voice only."  He hasan ICOM IC-7300, two wire  antennas to choose from, and 100 watts.  QSL via VK4MAP with 4 USD or 4 EURO to cover the postage. D6 - Comoros - After completing his FH/UR9IDX operation from Mayotte Ivan will continues his journey in the Indian Ocean with a month-long stop in the Comoros as D60DX. Listen for him on CW and SSB S0 - Western Sahara – Naama, S01A, and Azman, S01AH, Azman, will be QRV as S09S until May 31st, operating from the Sahrawi Republic, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Sahrawi Republic. They are running 100 watts to dipole antennas and multiband beams. They will be operating QO-100, from several grids. Look for S09S to also be QRV during the CQ WPX CW Contest, May 30-31. QSL via Club Log and LoTW. A little bit in the future, we will see 3XFSG, the Republic of Guinea, activated by Elvira, IV3FSG, from April 11 to the 25. She will operate HF and 6M, “all modes,” with two “lowerpower” stations and vertical antennas. Elvira expects a couple of daily power outages that will force her off the air.TN - Congo - "Father Darek", HF3GD,  is now in Brazzaville on a new "pastoral and humanitarian mission."  In West Africa he also has the callsigns TJ1GD, TL8GD, and TT1GD.  In The Congo he will be TN8GD, HF and 6, "FT modes," CW and SSB.  He is waiting for his Logbook of the World certificate.  Darek is also hoping  to set up remote operation capability when the infrastructure there can support that.  QSL using Club Log OQRS or direct to SP3EOL.8R – Guyana - 8R1TM is QRV until May 10, weekdays between 2300-0300Z on 160-6M CW, SSB, digital and satellite.  PY1SAD, Aldir, says on the weekends it's "full time" on 160-6, the same modes. OX – Greenland- OZ1DJJ, Bo, is QRV as OX3LX again from Aasiaat Island (NA-134), Greenland until April 25th. Heis there on a work assignment and will  be QRV in his spare time.VK9/C - Cocos (Keeling) - VK9BSA, Mark, and VK9DEE, Deena, QRV from Cocos-Keeling. Band conditions are currently not favorable, and Mark will mainly be operating on weekends and some evenings. There is no fixed operating schedule yet. FO/M - Marquesas Islands- The TX9W team heading to the Marquesas Islands report they will depart in eleven days.They plan to be active from Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands on April 19. This week, the DX Mentor YouTube episode will feature CE3/N5NU & K0MD discussing POTA and DXing from Chile. Give it a watch and let me know what you think. 

Foundations of Amateur Radio The other day fellow amateur Randall VK6WR raised an interesting question. Using his HP 8920A RF Communications Test Set, which you might recall from our adventures in measuring radio harmonic power in 2023, that report is on my Github repository, but I digress, Randall wondered if the signal strength he was seeing on several radios were the same and discovered that in fact they were not. It made Randall ask who set the standard and following on from that, what does this look like in the real world? In 2014, episode 149 of the series "What use is an f-call?", I published an article titled "The simple S-unit". In it I referred to a standard for S-units defined in 1981. Unfortunately, I didn't provide any references, so, armed with more than a decade extra experience, Randall encouraged me to investigate. Twenty seconds into my search, I discovered IARU Region 1 Technical Recommendation R.1, which has four statements related to the topic at hand. Under the title "STANDARDISATION OF S-METER READINGS" it states that: 1. One S-unit corresponds to a signal level difference of 6 dB, 2. On the bands below 30 MHz a meter deviation of S-9 corresponds to an available power of -73 dBm from a continuous wave signal generator connected to the receiver input terminals, 3. On the bands above 144 MHz this available power shall be -93 dBm, 4. The metering system shall be based on quasi-peak detection with an attack time of 10 msec +/- 2 msec and a decay time constant of at least 500 msec. So. Job done, right? Yeah, nah, not so much. The web page I quoted from is linked from the Wikipedia S-meter entry and was archived in 2005 and at the time existed on a Swedish domain in the home directory of Kjell SM7GVF. The page has two additional interesting things, the words "Brighton 1981" and "Torremolinos 1990", both of which refer to IARU conferences. The reports for these meetings are online. In searching for any reference to the definition of the S-unit, the 1990 report shows that resolution "83-1" had the status of "Action completed", whatever that means. The 1981 conference document has all manner of interesting references, including "Log Forms and Summaries for International Contest Use", "Meteor Scatter qso procedure" and the definition of the standard way to determine Morse Code speeds using the word "PARIS" followed by a 7 bit word space, to name three. The one we're interested in is called "BM/134 - S-Meter Standards", appearing on page 33 and 34 of the 1981 report. It's a photocopy, so you can see the text from other pages superimposed. I'm making this observation because this is essentially a standards document, intended to be adhered to by industry and the amateur community. It gets better, or rather .. worse. The text that is referenced by Wikipedia uses numbers for the four elements, where BM/134 uses letters. The third item in BM/134 says that it applies for "bands above 30 MHz", but the document I just quoted appears to be unique in saying that it applies to "bands above 144 MHz". The fourth item, dealing with the way that the meter responds has been altered on BM/134. The text "+/- 2 ms and a decay time" are in a different font and at an angle. Worth noting that the change includes "ms" twice, rather than "msec" as the unit for milliseconds used elsewhere. Searching for a phrase within the standard, I discovered the Region 1 HF Manager Handbook v7.01, which appears to include the S-meter standard in chapter 11.1.2, but closer inspection reveals that the fourth item is missing, the one about quasi-peak detection. This is significant because the S-meter standard is based on a CW signal, not an SSB signal, which fluctuates. There's no reference as to where or when this was removed or by whom. These changes are repeated in subsequent versions of the HF Managers Handbook. There's other differences too, instead of using millivolt and microvolt as shown in the original BM/134 standard table, all units have been converted to millivolt for no discernible reason. The new table, including typo, is also copied everywhere. While we're at it, the original standard contains the letters "V", "E", "R", "O", "N" at the top. They don't show in the HF Managers Handbook either. This is curious, since last time I checked, those letters signify an organisation that at least some here will recognise, the "Vereniging voor Experimenteel Radio Onderzoek in Nederland", known to the the people who don't speak fluent Dutch, as the peak body for amateur radio in the Netherlands, VERON. Searching its website does not reveal their contribution to this standards document, which I have to say, is par for the course, much of our amateur radio history is poorly documented or archived, if at all, something which I've spent plenty of my time attempting to remedy over more than a decade, one article at a time. Moving on. The phrase I mentioned earlier bears reading out in its entirety. From BM/134: "We hope that the current recommendation will be followed by all equipment manufacturers, so that in a not too distant future one will know how to interpret the strength report of the other station." It goes on to say: "Societies should advise as much as possible their members about equipment manufacturers adhering to this recommendation and shall try to avoid publication of receiver designs which do not in principle use the recommended standards." Which brings me to you. What have you done lately about this? It's only been 45 years. Perhaps it's time to implement this? I can tell you that preliminary results show that the S1 level sensitivity associated with the radios that Randall showed me are reporting S1 when really they should be reporting about S4. You might wonder why this is the case? Calibration appears to be the underlying cause. While S9 itself is variable in accuracy, as-in some radios are more accurately close to -73 dBm, others are consistently 5 dB shy of that. When an S4 signal is reported as S1, then the 6 dB step size is not correctly implemented. Similarly, when an S9+20 is reported by a signal that's only 16 dB stronger than S9, there's more fudging going on. The differences between a signal with and without preamp are also worth noting as being inconsistent. In other words, the level and steps associated with S-meter units are all over the place, which is interesting, since the authors of the standard already alluded to this when 45 years ago they wrote: "Simple means for calibration of at least the 6dB level ratio should be published." While we're digging for causes. Why is there not a standards library associated with the IARU, where documents like BM/134 exist and with it their current level of application? Before you tell me, money, I'd point out that in 1981, IARU Region 1 had 263,945.88 dollars, or francs, guilders, pounds or glass beads in the bank, it's unclear which, since there's no units stated. At the 1990 conference IARU Region 2 had a reported net worth of $150,000 with $40,000 annual income and Region 3 reported that "its finances are also sound". How do I know? That's in those conference documents too. Curiously, the 1981 report states that "when presenting the 1981 and subsequent accounts the Treasurer would also prepare a brief report which would explain the reasons for items of such expenditure for which the purpose was not obvious." I wonder what happened to those explanations? So, what is the current status of BM/134 and what are the legal implications of me publishing it on my Github page? While we're at it. I realise that I can "fix" the Wikipedia page, but where do I point it at? I'm Onno VK6FLAB

In this episode of Rekhta Guftgu, Syed Mohammad Irfan sits down with Jaideep Ahlawat for an honest, deeply reflective conversation on rejection, patience, and the long road to recognition. Jaideep looks back on his childhood in Kharkada near Rohtak, growing up in a family of teachers, dreaming first of the Indian Army, and facing repeated setbacks after clearing written exams but failing the SSB.What followed was not a straight path, but a slow, meaningful journey toward acting. He speaks about theatre becoming an emotional outlet, discovering literature through Premchand, training at FTII, and learning to trust the process instead of chasing every audition. He also reflects on the turning point of Gangs of Wasseypur, the inner life of a character, and the method behind performances like Hathi Ram in Paatal Lok.

In the latest episode of Manager Minute, host Carol Pankow sits down with Michael Mackillop, Executive Director of the Washington State Department of Services for the Blind, to explore how one agency is rethinking how VR services are delivered—and the powerful results that follow. From dramatically shortening the time to services to introducing milestone planning that keeps customers moving forward, Washington DSB is demonstrating what can happen when agencies streamline processes and keep the focus on people. The conversation highlights real outcomes, including customers achieving meaningful careers with wages averaging over $39 per hour, and the cultural and programmatic shifts helping individuals rediscover confidence, expand their goals, and pursue careers they once thought were out of reach. This episode offers an honest, practical, and inspiring look at how VR leaders can rethink processes, strengthen partnerships, and build systems that help people move toward what's possible. Listen Here Full Transcript: {Music} Michael: A lot of customers. The feedback is it's great and a lot of counselors. The feedback is it's great. Carol: It makes brilliant sense because I think people spend so much time. You're letting perfect get in the way of the good. Michael: Learning as an adult is not easy. Learning to do new things, and the frustrations and the anger that can come from having to adapt to the environment that doesn't adapt to you. I think that now is the time, if any time is to show the power and the impact of vocational rehabilitation for the economy and for our communities. Intro voice: Manager minute, brought to you by the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center. Conversations powered by VR. One manager at a time, one minute at a time. Here is your host, Carol Pankow. Carol: Well, welcome to the manager minute. Joining me in the studio today is Michael Mackillop, Washington Blind Executive Director. So how are things in Washington, Michael? Michael: Things are doing good. There's a little bit of Seattle Seahawks fever. Carol: Uh, yes, Seattle, Wahoo, Go Seahawks! Michael: And there's probably some growing excitement for hosting matches of the World Cup. So there's that whole sports thing. And today we're back to rain, which makes us feel it's just this nice gentle drip. It's not an atmospheric river where it's monsoon rain and all the snow from the mountains. It's just a nice, gentle rain. So things are decently good here in Seattle. Carol: Oh, good for you. Well, I have an affinity for the whole Seattle area. I have two brothers out there and lots of nieces and nephews and yeah, all the people I love to come. And I remember, gosh, Michael, I remember meeting you. I feel like it was like 13 years ago or something. Michael: At least, yeah. Carol: At least! (Michael laughs) Carol: You were friends with Jon Benson, my deputy, when I was at SSB. And so we got hooked together. And then I remember I would always tell Jon I'd be like, Call Michael, what are they doing at Washington Blind? Because, you know, you want to see what's going on? And in fact, I remember you guys calling us because we went on an Order of Selection, which is not common for a blind agency. And I remember when Lou Olma was still there, she had called. She's like, oh, you know, asking some questions about that. So I felt like we had some shared experiences together. Michael: Yeah. And we connected, I think, through CSAVR and NCSAB conferences and I mean plug out to them. It's just such an incredible place to really meet people from around the country and become long term supports. Carol: Right. It takes a village to do this job. So the more people you can meet, good shout out for like connecting with other people and just trying to build those relationships, because then you have them way over a decade later, you know, going on two decades later. Michael: And you don't have to go it alone. Right? I mean, to try to go through something like Order of selection, say, alone that... Carol: Yeah. Michael: But when you know, you got people or community of practices that are helping you through it. So it's  my plug to be connected to the national scene because you can't do it alone. Carol: 100%. I'm putting an exclamation point behind that one. Well, I happen to be perusing because I had my knee replaced last month. So as I'm laying and putting my leg up and icing and all the things, I was reading lots of the social media because I kind of was behind a little bit. So I'm in LinkedIn and, you know, accepting requests and connecting with other people. And I read, you're awesome, Michaels posting on LinkedIn, and you posted something and I just went, oh my gosh, it made me then go into your website. And then I'm like, all over your website and I'm watching your YouTube videos. It was super fun. So for our listeners, what caught me was Michael was reporting on this annual report they had done, and he was talking about the North Region team supporting 51 customers to attain their career goals, three of whom were able to retain their established small businesses. And then all the cool kinds of work people were in with STEM careers and education and finance and administrative and human services. And then it really hooked me with the average wage of 39.30 per hour. And then he does this nice Congratulations out to his folks. I'm like, what is happening there? Because that's what we want in VR. You want those family sustaining wages and all the good stuff. So long story short, listeners, I had to get Michael on and go, what is the secret sauce happening in Washington? What are they doing there? Because I thought this was super cool. So, Michael, before we launch into kind of what you're doing, I just want to get a little caught up on how did you start in VR? How'd you get there and how did you come into a blindness agency. Michael: Sometimes accidentally? Uh, perhaps a little bit reluctantly. I've been with this agency for 25 years, and I started as an AT specialist. I had experience in adult education in computers. And then I got a job, actually, at the lighthouse for the blind, Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind as an instructor. Where the supervisor, because I had studied American Sign Language, is a long story about why I did that and got connected in with Seattle's deaf community in the 90s and the Deaf Blind community as well. We have a very robust and vibrant deaf blind community in the Puget Sound area, and there were a number of individuals who were Deaf, Blind that were working at the Seattle Lighthouse that really needed computer skills. And so I didn't know anything about adaptive technologies, but I knew about Sign Language, I knew about computers, and I knew about adult education. And so that supervisor gave me six months. And to figure out the screen readers and screen magnifiers and braille displays and to start training. And so it was lovely to be able to, you know, directly communicate with students that, you know, hadn't touched a computer in their lives. That got me, you know, into the Blindness and Vocational Rehabilitation is a big part of, you know, people at the Lighthouse wanting to promote or work elsewhere. Uh, work out into the integrated community. And so there was experience with DSB. I was reluctant to be a state employee. I promise you that once I gave that up and got hired on a DSB, just the passion for the customer, the mission, the initiative, it kind of dispelled my notions of what a state agency is and who works at a state agency. So obviously I've loved it so much. I've been there for 25 years plus, so. Carol: That is crazy. I had no idea. You're I think you're my first guest, that's come on. That's come from this AT background. Good for you. Very cool. I love it because it's always fun to see people's paths in. We all take a different way, but you come in, and then you stick with it because you love it. Like you just love it. Michael: Exactly. Carol: Well, in your December's report. Oh my gosh, what really stood out I was I love the customer voices. You know, you had somebody on there, I think. I don't know if it's Francis working into her 70s, people that were earning promotions and discovering entirely new career paths. And when you look at all those stories, I just wonder from your perspective, what does success actually mean to you as a VR director? Michael: Yeah, I mean, I really love that the breadth and the depth of those career choices that people find through our services, their personal journey of discovery, finding the strengths that didn't know they had and that that's what excites me. And that's what I hear again and again and again. People not believing in themselves until they get some of those adaptive skills. It's so often the key to expanding their own self-assessment, their self-expectations. Losing your vision is traumatic, there's no question. And acquiring a disability as an adult. And that can really impact your belief in yourself and what you believe you can do. And for me, all those career achievements, they represent that journey of that person who I've heard the story so many times that they sat on a sofa thinking there is no future for them. There is no way to get into work. Their self-value had diminished so much because of the change in vision, and then something sparking that bravery of calling the agency. Whether they hear about the agency the first time or they've heard about it, and they get that courage up to call us, and it's a lot. I mean, to honor that connection, to say, I need to change. I need to get off the sofa. I need to do the work to be who I want to be. It takes a lot. And so honoring that those successes that we hear about the just a ray of education or healthcare or last year we had two physicians. We had two people that were physicians. And there's no career that's not possible for that individual, whatever that individual's aptitude and abilities are. It just takes the adaptations and the adaptive technologies and those the belief in themselves to do it. It's a lot of hard work. I mean, once people make the brave call and get into the work, it's hard. And so keeping people motivated through all the challenges and learning as an adult is not easy. Learning to do new things, and the frustrations and the anger that can come from having to adapt to the environment that doesn't adapt to you and those daily frustrations. Hopefully the agency is helping that individual through and to keep and progress. So those stories all just tell me about the work that that individual has done to get where they're at and knowing what a lot of challenge and determination and grit it took to get there. Carol: 100%! Preach Michael! That was good. That was really good. I know I always have that, I just have that place in my heart from my time at SSB, because I felt like the work we did was so profoundly, not that all the work isn't, but it was so profoundly life changing for these folks because so many of them, you know, came to us later in life. They were losing vision, either something medically was wrong, whatever was going on. But, you know, they had these careers and then they go from this place of utter devastation to absolute, like, you have completely changed someone's life. You just man, you could feel it in you like it was such an incredible deal living through that with our folks and what an impact that VR had. Otherwise they would still be sitting on that sofa, you know. Michael: Yeah. And then the work that they did, they were they're changing their lives and they're taking that direction and they're keeping up with it. We're supporting that... Carol: Yeah. Michael: But they're moving forward. Carol: It's on them. Michael: Yeah. Carol:  But we give them that glimmer like we're able to help point them in the right way. Like, here's some stuff and we can help you do the thing. Well, I know these outcomes your folks are having didn't happen by accident. And of course, people had come from different backgrounds and different careers. Or maybe they were in a business and didn't think they were going to get to keep it, but I feel like there's something going on in your agency as well. Knowing you guys and knowing you at the helm, what do you think are some things maybe you are doing differently, whether it's culturally or programmatically, that are really contributing to this level of your customer success? Michael: Yeah, there's been a lot of restructuring and change in our agency, and I would say that we are looking at that customer experience more closely and trying to really support the customer experience and not necessarily have the system support how we manage the work, but how the customer is making success. There's been a lot of discussion in the national VR community around time to services and the timelines that the federal regulations allow. When you look at that, when you look, when you think about it in your own life, would I be willing to wait 60 days before I know if I'm eligible, would I be willing to wait 90 days after that to start services? I mean, those timelines don't meet our modern needs, and maybe in the past it made sense to go slow. It doesn't. These days, people are brave enough to make that call after three years on the sofa. We need to get them into services so they start believing in themselves and are working. Excited about that path and just don't get frustrated by the process. So really our first thing is time to services. We created internal systems where we've got intake specialists, centralized intake specialists that are really shrinking the time to determine eligibility and to gather the information to convey to our counselors, our local counselors. So there's preparation there. And that's really shrunk the time. I think it was like 28 days on average and now it's 14 days. We'd like it to be a little bit shorter. Uh, even still, we know that observation for 85% of our counselor observation, we can determine that there's a disabling condition and then through that counseling conversation, can understand what those functional limitations are and what services might be useful in determining that eligibility. So our timeline lag used to be waiting for eye reports from eye doctors who it was never a priority when we knew that there was a visual disability. Carol: You can see they clearly don't have eye sockets or something is like clearly, clearly gone, we don't need an eye doctor report to tell you that. Michael: But letting counselors know and the intake specialists know that observation is valued, take it, justify it, document it, but let's move people through. Let's not keep people waiting for no reason. We've also restructured the way that we do our planning and the assessments towards the planning. We created something called Milestone Planning and that is really shrinking down the goals we're working on towards that long term goal of career path that we've got and we keep that in our heads. But what are the things that the customer is able to commit to doing now in the next three months, four months, up to six months? Let's focus on those. Let's shrink that down and let's have our assessment focus on, you know, be included folded into that and our services folded into that. It used to be our old system was we would do all these complete comprehensive assessments, and it would take months to get people in the eight specialists, and they'd write six page reports of all the things that would be useful. And the O&M specialists and rehab specialists would, you know, do the home assessments. And that's months of assessment. And people are like, what am I doing? This doesn't make sense. They're not getting the services. We're creating this five year plan with very detailed services for the entire time of the plan. And then the customer gets one service, they learn to do something and their whole universe expands suddenly. I thought it could only be a customer service, but oh my gosh, I can do this. Let's rethink it. We were doing a lot of work upfront for something that changes almost, almost instantly once we get people services. Well, let's get people services now. Let's have them experience, you know, learning how to use a computer, learning that they can manage their home or learning that focus small. And then the conversations about that long term goal can change. And when we created that really formal long term plan and did all the work, our customers were nervous about saying that they wanted to change. And so they either got stuck and continued that or they just disappeared. The other piece that customers have told us is they didn't know where they were going. They didn't have clarity on what they were doing, what, you know, it's just too vague, that five year plan. So getting more frequent and meaningful engagement between the counselor and the customer has been a goal of ours, and that has required us to shift some of the work and shift some of the administrative work. We took a lot of that upfront work and provided that to the intake specialists. So there's more time for the counselor. And then also talking about how we shrink what we've known as counseling and guidance, where we don't have to schedule an hour, hour and a half for these long term counseling and guidance sessions. But let's understand what our goal is, what we're trying to achieve, and check in at least once a month is our goal now. And to do counseling and guidance. And it may be a ten minute conversation about, you know, what are the obstacles, what's challenging you? What are your frustrations? What supports can we get? How's it going? That's all counseling and guidance that keeps people moving forward. And people often fell out because they didn't know to ask for support. Counselor contact once every 90 days. I mean, there's no relationship built there. Carol: No. They forget who you are. Like they, you know, they totally forget. Like, who are you again? And what are you with? Oh, yeah. That. Michael: And then the, the check in is how are things going? And the person says good, I guess. And the counselor writes, oh everything's great, but is it, right? So getting that more frequent and meaningful connection and conversation, knowing what the next steps are, keeping those goals small so we achieve them within three months from there and we build another goal from there has really been successful for I mean, it's new, mind you, it's new. A lot of customers. The feedback is it's great and a lot of counselors. The feedback is it's great, but it's really hard to change that mindset of the old way of doing everything all at once. Carol: I loved, I was so intrigued because when I, you know, of course, I went down the rabbit hole of your website. So I come in through the link you had on LinkedIn. I'm looking at the report and then I see, oh, what are these Milestone Plans, you know, and then I'm like, what is this? And then I watched the YouTube video and then I'm like, oh, well, this is going really well. It makes brilliant sense because I think people spend so much time, you're letting perfect get in the way of the good, because you're gonna have this beautiful plan and we're going to have it for five years and all these things. And then, quite frankly, I think you get probably a little annoyed because customers go along the way and then they're like, well, I don't really want to do that anymore. I want to pivot. I need to do this because as they're getting their skills of blindness, the world opens up and often they're like, yeah, I don't want to be the customer service person. I want to move now. Well, now you're annoyed. Oh, we're gonna amend the plan, you know, so when you make that kind of the process, things irritating to you that you're going to have to amend and do the things it'll make you crabby instead of just baking this in that we're not going to get so hung up. And we are creating the plan. We've got a goal, but we know these goals change and we're going to do an amendment and the persons involved and they're super engaged. Like it just seems so much more interactive. I'm like, Holy cow, that was you know, how many years has this taken for somebody to think of this, Michael? Michael: Goal and change is slow. But with this change, we are not leaving this. We're not just saying this is the change and then we're on to the next one. Carol: Yeah. Michael:  We are really sitting with this and you said bake it in. That is our mantra for this year is we're baking it in. We've made these changes last year. Now we've got to be sure that we're actually doing them. In the essence, it's not in name only. You know your Milestone Plan, you've got five years worth of services. Let's look at that and let's make sure that it's working. I had a really good conversation with a counselor yesterday who is super excited. And certainly what's helpful is, is getting some examples of how to shrink this down, how to shrink the thinking and how to shrink the, you know, down to something that's manageable and doable for that customer. So they know where they're going, they know what they're doing, and they know what the next step is after that. So yeah. Carol: It kind of leads me to my next thinking, because, you know, again, going back to your report and reading it, and I was so intrigued by people that also came in with kind of one goal. But as they get, you know, you get your skills of blindness, your world opens up and they left with something so much bigger. A big promotion, a new career or something that they had been dreaming about actually happened. How do you guys go about, because I know you're talking about, like, active engagement. You're doing this regularly, you're keeping in touch, but how do you really also create that space for them? So it isn't oh, we did our plan and here's your goal. And we're sticking to that like so that they can pursue the path that's right for them. Even though you might have set out on one way rather than that whole predefined outcome, that it's okay to pivot you're okay. Michael: Yeah. I mean, that is the key that people try things out and then it can change. And that's a value. It's not a negative that when someone tried this and then it they're like oh that's not for me. Well that's exactly what we want. We want that exploration. We want it in short bursts, so we're not investing in something and you realize five years later, oh, it's not for me. We want to know now. Let's figure that out now and let's find out if that's not it. What are some other things? We've had a lot of turnover. I think VR agencies have had a lot of turnover. And you know, since the pandemic, a lot of retirements, huge wave of retirements. And so the past year we've been stable in terms of not adding a whole lot of new people. And our focus is really building those skills and building that awareness and building those high expectations of our customers and not letting our own biases kind of drive where we want to guide the customer, but to be open to that customer and help instill the belief that self-belief for the customer and believe for the customer, because sometimes they come in and they do not believe in themselves. We've got to hold that, right? Carol: Right. Michael: We've got to hold that and then bring that customer up to it. And that's been a lot of our discussion and training for new staff. We also have real strong connections with our consumer organizations that help with that as well, and bring that connection to the blindness community. Even if our, you know, staff are not from that community, to make sure that we're understanding the community and expectations and what's happening. Being connected to the community we serve is critical. And through that, even if people have come from the general agency or come from outside blindness, really building that belief that Blind people can do whatever they're capable of. Right. Whatever that person can do, they can do it. Carol: I love it, I love it. Well, it kind of leads to my whole thoughts about you with collaboration because your report also highlighted, you guys talked about your partnerships, whether it's with employers or the tribal VR WorkSource and others. How do those relationships that you all have been cultivating translate into real opportunities for your customers? And how are you sustaining that, like really nurturing those relationships? Michael: You bet. It takes work and past history. I've been 25 years with a blind agency. We used to keep our heads low, keep under the radar, do everything in isolation. We had this weird notion that we could do it all. We're the only ones who know about blindness and rehab, and we'll do it all, whatever. And that's not true, because reality is. Blindness intersects all communities, and we need to find the ways to support people in where they're at, in their cultural expectations. And individualized services also means that any industry is a goal, is a potential career goal, and we need to keep ourselves on the cutting edge and understanding how to support people in any type of industry, understanding what opportunities exist so we can't do it all by ourselves. And there's the other notion that budgets are really tight. And even though other outside resources are shrinking, we need to do more to get our customers into those generalized programs that are out there for everyone and benefit everyone, and to have other parts of the workforce system be footing the bill, basically, so we can keep our dollars for the things that are unique to us, right? And tribal partners. You know, we've got an amazing relationship in Washington state region. We have ten tribal VR, AIvRS, American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation agencies here and then 29 recognized federal tribes. And we do have government to government relations and train our staff who interact with the tribal VR about government to government expectations and cultural expectations, but also understanding and helping our staff understand the value and the services that tribal VR can provide our customers with tribal affiliation that we're not able to. Those cultural healing practices are so critical for individuals. Tribal affiliations may also be pathways to careers that are on tribal lands or tribal businesses that we would not have access to if we didn't actively partner with our tribal VR partners. There's also, tribal VR does not get a whole lot of money. And so understanding too, that we're here to support tribal VR in all those visual disability sorts of things. We've got the expertise we can partner and provide those needs. So it's maximizing each of our budgets for that customer to have the maximum success. I think as well, the WorkSource, the American Job Center, the WIOA partners, I mean, all that as a blindness agency. We were left out of that for so long. And 2016, where we're part of that through the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act. I for three, four years and still even today, I'm like, I'm from GSB, a title four WIOA partner with rehabilitation. Every time I introduce myself, I had to do that because they're like, who are you? What do you do? Why are you. Why are you. Carol: Why are you here? Yeah. Michael: So we have, particularly through our business relations team, and we just expanded that in the past two years, really have created some strong connections with our Workforce partners and with the American Job Centers and those opportunities that exist we don't have to pay for, there's a six week job readiness workshop that is put on. And the challenge has always been for our customers going to the WorkSource centers and the American Job Centers, we call them WorkSource here in Washington state. And just having no access, having no accommodations that people are clueless about, people with visual disabilities and how to make that accessible. So we've done a lot of work. Our business relations staff did a lot of work with this particular workshop and made it fully accessible, totally integrated. It's not just blind, only, it's all individuals that are eligible for those services. Our customers have been so thrilled with that experience, and even to the point where in front of the consumer organization conventions, they're taking the mic and just crowing about the experience in these job readiness workshops to the Workforce. So we're expanding that. But there are also other opportunities. There are pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship opportunities, work experience, work based experience opportunities through the American Job Centers that we just never had access to, that we're starting to have access to. And it's getting our customers closer to their career goal through the partnership. Carol: I love it because you're really living into WIOA. You know, it's taken a long time across the country. It gets passed in 2014, but you're like, okay, what does that mean? And how is this really going to work and how are we really going to partner together? It's taken a long time for everybody across the country, but you start to see these pearls that are coming out of it, like you're talking about with the WorkSource and that training class, and now it's fully integrated like that is amazing because we still have places where it isn't happening. You know, people will tell you if a person who's blind or visually impaired shows up for a class, they're like, no, you got to go to Blind services. They do stuff over there. They can't come here. But the whole intent of Congress was to leverage all the partners together, because we each have our buckets of money, but we're better together if we can leverage those funds. Michael: Agreed. Carol:  100%. And you are living right into all of that. You need to do a presentation, my friend, at CSAVR or NCSAB, with all the cool stuff you guys are doing, I just think it's really awesome. Michael: It's taken a long time and it's been a lot of work. It's been a lot of effort, but I'm feeling like we're making progress now. Carol: That is so good to hear. So if you could offer a lesson, maybe a lesson you learned or something to other VR agencies, especially people that may be feeling overwhelmed or stuck. And I'll tell you, you have a lot of colleagues out there right now. Stuff's been tough. Based on the experiences you have, what would you want them to take away or what's something you'd just like to share? Michael: The easy one, a lot of things are coming to mind, but an easy one is to be brave. Examine. Really step back. Examine what is and isn't working. Don't. Don't hold on to how we've always been done it. And don't accept that or really shift your mindset to identify what you're really saying internally, as we've always done it that way it doesn't have to be. And so really understand what are your processes are working really well and let's find ways to expand those. But let's also look at the customer experience. And let's be honest about where our processes don't meet that customer need and meeting them where they're at. That's one of our values empathy, meeting people where they're at. Are we doing that? And let's be honest and let's be brave and make the changes. Sometimes you have to fight them. I mean, the whole counselor observation, RSA had some initial concerns, even though it's written into the law, had some initial concerns about what that means for determining eligibility, but it's written into the law, and counselors document that observation. And but sometimes you have to fight a little bit, push back a little bit where it makes sense. Change also is not easy. I mean, there's just been so much change externally, internally, and it's exhausting. But you also need to determine where you want to go and take the time to really mature that and facilitate that change. And we're talking about baking it in. Don't just be kind of shoop shoop, shoop shoop. Figure out what is the big change, what is the change you want to make. And it's going to involve lots of little changes. And people are going to feel like it's still this massive, you know, change after change after change as you tweak things. But let's really focus on that, get it through and then see it through. Do a pilot, get data, get input, analyze it, revise it, implement it more broadly, get data, analyze it, revise it, tweak it, get input from customers, get input from, you know, people. And then as a director, you've got to champion the change and you've got to talk about it. And Carol, I don't know about you or I hate repeating myself. It is a personal thing. I hate repeating myself. But that is the job, right? That is the job to say things and say them again and say them again and find different ways to say them. I mean, you caught some of my videos and that was my goal last year, was my emails that are very detailed and very interesting to me, are not super interesting for all my staff, but they really connect to video sometimes, or they connect to, you know, audios, or they connect to the in person fireside chats where they can come with any question. And we, you know, the executive leadership will discuss what's on their minds. There are different forms and formats for getting our story out and communicating, and we need to really do all those. And it doesn't have to be, I mean, you saw some of my videos in the newsletters and the reports. They're pretty amateur right there. Carol: It was all good. I liked it, though. I liked it because it was authentic. Michael: Yeah. You know, it's taking that TikTok mentality where it doesn't have to be, it's here and it's gone. But it gets the message out and it's supporting the change that you want to make. And it's not me as director talking it, but it's finding other people that are experiencing it and their experience and people connect in different ways. So that whole communication part of telling the story, I'm no social influencer. You found my story on social media, and I know it's important, and I'm doing the work now because it is critically important. we're also, those reports, those monthly reports, were highlighting different programs, and we're sending them out to stakeholders. We're sending out to the congressional representation representatives and their staffers, and we're getting notes back saying thank you for that. And I'm like, it felt very amateur, but I'm glad you appreciated the story and information. Carol: Well, I learned in communications class long ago, seven times seven ways, like for communications, because people all learn differently. Like you said, audio, video, you know, doing more like almost like the TikTok reel. We've got to get way better, snappier, shorter. I mean, we can thank Jeff Bezos for that with Amazon. Like people don't want to read a long thing. They want it quick. We want to get stuff. Now give me the little snapshot about this thing. And really our social media leads to all of that. Because look at you drew me in. I've known you, but you drew me in with your little short clip on LinkedIn. You had the really catchy part. I'm like reading that and I see $39.30 an hour people are making on average. I'm like, I gotta go see what's going on in this report. And I click your link and next thing you know, I'm in your website, I'm looking at your stuff, I'm in your videos and doing all the things. That's how people like think, now they got to get drawn in. What's your quick soundbite, your little piece that gets you hooked in. And we all have to get way better at explaining what is happening in the VR program because we just, I don't think have been very good about telling our message and our story. Michael: Agreed. And I think that now is the time, if any time is to show the power and the impact of Vocational rehabilitation for the economy and for our communities. So, yeah. Carol: Oh thank you, fine, sir. Well, I love talking with you today. I wish you every success in your agency, and I look forward to hearing more fun things and reading more things on LinkedIn. So thanks for joining me. Michael: I enjoyed it. Thanks so much, Carol. Take care.   {Music} Outro Voice: Conversations powered by VR, one manager at a time. One minute at a time. Brought to you by the VRTAC. Catch all of our podcast episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

The beverage coolers in one of our local quickmarts take up almost two entire walls. There's everything in there from a variety of water products, to carbonated soft-drinks, to energy drinks. Many of the beverage products in those coolers are what would be known as SSB's, or sugar-sweetened beverages. It's no secret that our children and teens largely favor these ssb's, as they are packaged and marketed in ways that attract their attention, along with the fact that kids have always loved the taste. A new study reported in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics reminds us that these drinks and other sugary foods do contribute to childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes. But the study also found that there's a connection between high sugary drink intake and increased anxiety in teenagers. Parents, you are called to keep watch over and steward your child's physical and mental health. Control your child's intake of sodas, energy drinks, and sweetened juices.

T8A - Basic characteristics of FM and SSB: Bandwidth of various modulation modes: CW, SSB, FM, fast-scan TV, Choice of emission type: selection of USB vs LSB, use of SSB for weak signal work, use of FM for VHF. T8B - Amateur satellite operation: Doppler shift, basic orbits, operating protocols, modulation mode selection, transmitter power considerations, telemetry and telecommand, satellite tracking programs, beacons, uplink and downlink mode definitions, spin fading, definition of “LEO”, setting uplink power. 55:05

The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DX column in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, just drop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.com CY0S DXpedition Update - The CY0S DXpedition started operations from Sable Island on March 18 at 2140Z. Although they intended to use Super Fox mode on FT8, technical issues led them to operate in Fox and Hound mode instead. All five stations are now active, and a livestream is available via Club Log.  A2 – Botswana - HB9SHD, Remo, is currently operating from Botswana under the callsign A255HD (yes A 2 5 5 HD), having previously been active as ZS2/HB9SHD earlier in March. He expresses gratitude to A2NEW, John, for assistance with his license renewal. Remo operates in casual holiday style using an FT-891 radio and an end-fed antenna for 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters. So far, he has been reported on FT8 on 20, 15 and 10 meters. QSL cards can be sent via bureau or direct (no money needed, just a self-addressed envelope). S2 – Bangladesh - The guys are currently off air as the team is further investigating a noise problem at their QTH. They might have found the issue and are addressing it at this minute. They say QRX, and hope to be back on shortly – with better RX.  XX9 - Macao - The XX9W team began operations on 3/22  just before 0900Z. They have been reported on FT8 on 15 and 30 meters and 20 CW. They have 8 rigs.   T31 - Central Kiribati - The Rebel DX Group announced that their T31TTT DXpedition to Kanton, Central  Kiribati, will involve two weeks of operations with a possible plan to establish a permanent remote station at the government site on T31. The main focus will be on digital modes, especially to give operators with less powerful stations a good chance to make contacts and get logged. Duplicate  QSOs are not a concern-participants are welcome to call repeatedly until their  contact is confirmed. The team will also have one CW and one SSB station  active.  The digital operation plan includes running up to 14 radios simultaneously,  with two radios per band. Multiple frequencies will be active at once, using both MSHV multistream and Super Fox modes. As traffic decreases, all stations will return to MSHV multistream operation only. https://www.qrz.com/db/T31TTT   HR – Honduras - KN2P, N7VZ and W7UM are now QRV using callsign HQ9UM until March 31.  They are on 160-10 SSB, CW and FT8 and use LoTW for QSLing.  And they have the HQ9X callsign for the CQ WPX SSB weekend.  Otherwise, they will be holiday style.  CE0Y - Easter Island - Change of plans for DJ4EL, Markus's, Easter Island Trip as his expected 3G0YE callsign will not be used. He now expects to use CE0Y/DJ4EL. Despite these licensing challenges, Markus's Starlink equipment is prepared for Club Log live streaming during the trip March 28-April 11.  9J – Zambia - DM7XX, Robert, is QRV as 9J2RO from the Fountain Gate Crafts & Trades School until March 30.   YJ – Vanuatu - VK2YUS, Chris Ayres is QRV as YJ0CA from Vanuatu until April 2, SSB only, the same gear as previously, an IC-7300 to small amplifier, and simple wire antennas, 40-10.  He says his main operating times are likely to be between 2100-1000Z.    YJ - Vanuatu - JK1JXZ, Aki, is also QRV from Vanuatu as YJ1JXZ until April 3, active on 80-6 meter bands after 5 PM (local time) on weekdays and all day on weekends.   E5/S - South Cook Islands DJ5NQ, Frank, will be operating as E51ANQ from Rarotonga, South Cook Islands, until the end of March. He will operate on CW and SSB in a holiday style operation, running 100 watts and a short G5RV antenna at 15 meters height. QSL cards can be sent via DJ5NQ, either through the Bureau or direct.  VK9/c - Cocos (Keeling) - From the Daily DX, VK9BSA on Cocos Keeling Island will be activated by Mark, VK6BSA, along with Deena, VK9DEE,  (aka VK6DEE), until May.    

T8A - Basic characteristics of FM and SSB: Bandwidth of various modulation modes: CW, SSB, FM, fast-scan TV, Choice of emission type: selection of USB vs LSB, use of SSB for weak signal work, use of FM for VHF. T8B - Amateur satellite operation: Doppler shift, basic orbits, operating protocols, modulation mode selection, transmitter power considerations, telemetry and telecommand, satellite tracking programs, beacons, uplink and downlink mode definitions, spin fading, definition of “LEO”, setting uplink power. 55:05

SSB 5862 gives another 3% pension boost to Plan 1 retirees, adding $338 million in new employer costs and pushing unfunded liabilities higher. Ryan Frost details how six COLAs since 2018 have increased taxpayer burden as lawmakers delay debt payments. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/opinion/opinion-the-legislature-has-committed-2-4-billion-to-recurring-pension-increases-since-2018/ #Washington #Pension #PublicEmployees #COLA #Legislature #Budget #TaxPolicy #Opinion #UnfundedLiability

TX5EU - update March 14 - We finally made it to our new TX5EU QTH on Austral Island Raivavae and started setting up antennas and equipment. So far, 5 of 9 antennas are already set up: VDAs 20m, 15m, 12m, the DX Commander, and the 40m vertical. The rest will follow tomorrow morning after sunrise (and a quick coffee...). Operation will start around 6 a.m. GMT (at our far end of the world, it is still the evening of March 13...). Watch out for our first signals! 73 from TX5EU   T31 - Central Kiribati - The Rebel DX Group say their upcoming T31TTT activity (Starting around March 25) on Kanton Island will likely be their last operation for "some considerable time," similar to their 3D2/C Conway Reef ops.  They say they are joining government officials and a ministry of fishery and environmental delegation, and note the rules there are changing soon, including likely a lockdown of access for visitors for environmental protection reasons.  We have a second update - The Rebel DX Group's upcoming T31TTT operation, scheduled to start around March 25, the update:  Preparations are complete with their ship loaded with supplies, fuel, and generators.  They are now leaving Fiji for Samoa, to be joined by seven Kiribati government officials who will part of the trip to Kanton Atoll.   HR – Honduras - KN2P, N7VZ and W7UM have gotten their callsign for their Honduras DXpedition,  from the new government and new commissioner for telecoms there.  The callsign is HQ9UM and the dates are March 24-31.  They will be on 160-10 SSB, CW and FT8 and use LoTW for QSLing.  And they have the HQ9X callsign for the CQ WPX SSB weekend.  Otherwise, they will be holiday style.  3B8 - Mauritius - G3TXF, Nigel, will participate in the RSGB Commonwealth Contest as 3B8XF on March 14-15 and continue CW activity on HF until March 25. G3WVG, Ian, now 3B8VV, will also be active on HF for a week until March 19. Both are operating from a small islet previously used by the successful 3B8M contest team.  9J – Zambia - DM7XX, Robert, will be operating as 9J2RO from the Fountain Gate Crafts & Trades School from March 16 to 30, participating in the CQ WPX SSB Contest  (March 28-29)    YJ – Vanuatu - VK2YUS, Chris Ayres, plans an operation, YJ0CA.  He will be at Port Vila March 18 to April 2, SSB only, the same gear as previously, an IC-7300 to small amplifier, and simple wire antennas, 40-10.  He says his main operating times will likely be between 2100-1000Z.  Chris logs on to paper and then has "a high quality physical card for confirmation."  Cards will be sent out air mail in  April from Australia.  Check QRZ.com for the details on QSL address, etc.  YJ - Vanuatu  JK1JXZ, Aki, will operate as YJ1JXZ from Port Vila, Vanuatu, between March 15  and April 3, active on 80-6 meter bands after 5 PM (local time) on weekdays  and all day on weekends.    FJ - St. Barthelemy –Andreas, DK6AS, is now active from St. Barts as FJ/DK6AS for the month of March. He is QRV on CW, FT4 and FT8 on 3.5 through 50 MHz, including participation in the ARRL International DX CW Contest. QSL via DK6AS either direct or via the bureau.  VP2E – Anguilla – Jack, M0PLX, SP9FIH and SQ2RAD, will be QRV from Anguilla until March 22nd. They will use the callsigns VP2ELX, VP2EWE, and VP2EAD, respectively. Their activities will cover the 160-6 meter bands, with each operator focusing on specific frequencies; Jack will concentrate on 15m, 40m, and 80m SSB. Operations will take place on SSB and CW, utilizing multiple transceivers, amplifiers, and both vertical and directional antennas. During the three-week stay, Jack also plans short sightseeing and possible radio activities from St. Maarten (FS), Saba (PJ6), and St. Barthelemy (FJ).  V5 - Namibia – Gunter, DK2WH, is currently operating as V51WH from a farm near Omaruru, Namibia, and will remain active until March 24, covering frequencies from 160 to 6 meters, including 60 meters. 

What if learning English could open the door to independence, education, and meaningful work? In this episode of Blind Abilities, Jeff Thompson sits down with English Language Learning specialist Abbi Mayland from State Services for the Blind of Minnesota. Abbi shares how she helps students who are blind, DeafBlind, or low vision — and who may not speak English—build the skills they need to succeed.   Using creative, hands-on teaching methods like real objects, conversation, audio learning, and Braille, Abbi supports students from all over the world as they grow in confidence and communication. Many begin with little or no English, but soon find themselves holding real conversations and navigating daily life with greater independence.   If you or your family member is learning English and facing vision challenges, this episode offers hope, encouragement, and a clear message: language does not have to be a barrier—success is possible.   Links of interests: The Spectacle Newsletter Youth Services at SSB   To find out more about the services provided at State Services for the Blind, and what they can do for you, contact Shane DeSantis at shane.desantis@state.mn.us or call Shane at 651-385-5205.   Thanks for listening!   Full Transcript

TTM Sale

The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DX column in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, justdrop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.comLet's start with on update on the 3YØK DXpedition from Bouvet Island: Bouvetøya, March 10th 2026 While the previous days weather has been good, thecurrent weather at Bouvetøya has strong winds at 25 m/s and rain and we have difficulties to walk and stand up while outdoor. The 160m antenna broke today and the 20M Yagi is also damaged and not in use. We have spare parts ready forthe antennas, but currently it is deemed unsafe to raise the Yagi in this strong wind. We will get it up as soon as the weather allows it.We currently have 6-7 stations up and running and willkeep this until the weekend. It is likely we will see a partial tear down if there is a weather window this weekend or early next week. We still plan to stay as long as possible next week, but the weather window will dictate when wemust return to vessel. We have currently logged more than 70.000 contacts, and we thank everyone for being in the pileup! - 73, 3YØK. J5 - Guinea-Bissau –As of Monday, they had made 164,500 QSOs with 31,600 different callsigns in 10.9 days of operation. (As of this writing, at 1930 UTC, the number of QSOs logged had increased to 168,085.) There are still nine days to go. They experienced a 30-minute generator outage yesterday, but“apart from that, operation is going on smoothly.” They also reported that they would be on 80M SSB, but not 160M or 60M SSB.   YJ – Vanuatu - VK2YUS, Chris Ayres, plans an operation, YJ0CA.  He will be at Port Vila March 18 to April 2, SSB only, the same gear as previously, an IC-7300 to small amplifier,and simple wire antennas, 40-10.  He says his main operating times will likely be between 2100-1000Z.  Chris logs on paper and then has "a high quality physical card for confirmation."  Cards will be sent out air mail in  April from Australia.  Check QRZ.com for the details on QSL address, etc. FJ - St. Barthelemy –Andreas, DK6AS,is now active from St. Barts as FJ/DK6AS for the month of March. He is QRV on CW, FT4 and FT8 on 3.5 through 50 MHz. VP2E – Anguilla – Jack, M0PLX, SP9FIH and SQ2RAD, will be QRV from Anguilla until March 22nd. They will use the callsigns VP2ELX, VP2EWE, and VP2EAD, respectively. Theiractivities will cover the 160-6 meter bands. ZC4 - UK Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus The planned (ZC4C and ZC4Z) trip to Cyprus was canceled by the travel company just 12 hours before departure, leaving the group deeply disappointed. Attempts to rebook flights were unsuccessful due to limited availability and  ongoing travel restrictions. The team, who had remained determined to travel  despite recent safety concerns, is now seeking an extension to theirlicense to reschedule for a later date. After a year of preparation, the sudden cancellation is a significant letdown. VP0/O - South Orkney Islands - Sergeant RamonAlberto Matinez, will operate as LU1DMZ/Z from the LU1ZA station at Orcadas Antarctic Base on Laurie Island, South Orkney Islands, throughout 2026. The South Orcadas Base, established in 1904, is the oldest Antarctic base. In 1927, the first all-Argentine crew led by JosÇ Moneta arrived,and the first official radiotelegraph station in Antarctica was opened.Since 1951, the Orcadas Observatory has been under the Argentine Navy as the South Orcadas Naval Detachment. QRX for more details.

Hello and Welcome to the DX Corner for your weekly Dose of DX. I'm Bill, AJ8B.5N – Nigeria – Bodo, DF8DX, will be in Abuja, Nigeria, working at the Voice of Nigeria broadcasting station from March 1-10,. Operating under his new callsign 5N7QBR he plans to be active on the air as time allows and will participate in the ARRL DX SSB Contest. J5 - Guinea-Bissau – 124,600 QSOs and 23,800 different callsigns after 7.24 days of operation. Still 13 days to go.YJ – Vanuatu - JK1JXZ (also known as A35JK, T2JK), Aki, is QRV from Port Vila, Vanuatu as YJ1JXZ until April 3, 2026. He  will operate on the 80-6m bands, with activity after 5 p.m. Vanuatu time on weekdays and all day during weekends. The web page https://www.qrz.com/db/YJ1JXZ will beupdated  once the specific dates are confirmed. FJ - St. Barthelemy –Andreas, DK6AS, is now active from St. Barts as FJ/DK6AS for the month of March. He is QRVon CW, FT4 and FT8 on 3.5 through 50 MHz, including participation in the ARRL International DX CW Contest. QSL via DK6AS either direct or via the bureau.3B8 - Mauritius & 3B9 - Rodrigues - So far reported as 3B8G on 20, 15 and 10 CW, and the operator is VU3OPT, akaOM0GA, Suvarna.  This is a 48-day trip will end on March 30. The Rodrigues portion, callsign 3B9N, will run from April 3 to May 20.  It appears he also plans visits to Sri Lanka (4S) and Bangladesh (S2) in the second half of 2026. JD1/M - Minami Torishima – Take, JG8NQJ, will be working again on Minami Torishima as JG8NQJ/JD1 now to mid-May, operating with 50 watts and a  HB9CV style 17/15M 2-element antenna. QSL via JA8CJY.  VP2E – Anguilla – Jack, M0PLX, SP9FIH and SQ2RAD, will be QRV from Anguilla until March 22nd. They will use the callsigns VP2ELX, VP2EWE, and VP2EAD, respectively. Theiractivities will cover the 160-6 meter bands, with each operator focusing on specific frequencies; Jack will concentrate on 15m, 40m, and 80m SSB.Operations will take place on SSB and CW, utilizing multiple transceivers, amplifiers, and both vertical and directional antennas. During the three-week stay, Jack also plans short sightseeing and possible radio activities from St. Maarten (FS), Saba (PJ6), and St. Barthelemy (FJ).ZC4 - UK Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus - The ZC4C and ZC4Z team are scheduled to depart Edinburgh, Scotland Wednesday morning heading for Cyprus and will probably begin operations early Thursday.  VE – Canada - It's VO2LAB/VY0 from Iqaluit, Baffin Island, Nunavut  Territory, where Jim, WB2REM, is operating remotely from the VY0IRC station.  QSL via Club Log, QRZ, LOTW but no paper confirmations. V5 - Namibia – Gunter, DK2WH, is currently operating as V51WH from a farm near Omaruru, Namibia, and will remain active until March 24, covering frequencies from 160 to 6 meters, including 60 meters. FO/A - Austral Islands - "The excitement is mounting, just over a week to go until departure!" – from the TX5EU group.  A lot of the prep work is done, extensive radios, antennas, spare parts, etc., "everything has been planned in detail, tested, and packed."  The German and Dutch ops have been meeting regularly, mostly on video conferences.  On March 11, the six ops from Germany and The Netherlands will meet at the airport in Paris and fly to San Francisco and onward to the Austral Islands.  They expect to be on the air March 13, with operations  continuing to March 25.  

Hello and Welcome to the DX Corner for your weekly Dose of DX. I'm Bill, AJ8B.The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DX column in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, justdrop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.comTo say that the world has been waiting on this would be an understatement. We have an update on the Bouvet DXpedition, 3Y0K - They have left Cape Town!The 3YØK team has departed Cape Town aboard the Danish registered vessel Argus from Icetugs, beginning the 1,500‑nautical‑mile transit to Bouvetøya. Argus completed scheduled maintenance and survey work prior to her arrival in Cape Town, ensuring full readiness for the voyage. Earlier this week, the expedition helicopter was loaded, inspected, and secured on deck. Both the vessel and the aircraft have successfully passed all required inspections. We appreciate the strong commitment demonstrated by the pilots, mechanics, expedition guides, and vessel crew as we move forward together as one team to make this a successful expedition. The captain and crew are performing excellently, and the team is enjoying good meals prepared by the ship's chef. Despite encountering rough seas during the first day at sea, preparations continue onboard as we expect to arrive atBouvetøya on February 26th at 08:00 local time. We extend our sincere thanks to all contributors for your continued support! 73, 3YØK Team  5N – Nigeria – Bodo, DF8DX, will be in Abuja, Nigeria, working at the Voice of Nigeria broadcasting station from March 1-10,. Operating under his new callsign 5N7QBR he plans to be active on the air as time allows and will participate in the ARRL DX SSB Contest. Using 100 watts and possibly Voice of Nigeria's large curtain antenna (about 19dB gain), he will operate CW, SSB, and FT8 on 10-80m bands. QSLs are accepted via LoTW, direct, bureau, or OQRS after the activity. For more information, see his QRZ.com profiles for 5N0OCH and 5N7Q.9G – Ghana – Arno, DL1CW, is QRV until March 3rd. He ismostly on CW with some RTTY possible through March 3. He is running 100 atts to a dipole and plans to be active on 3.5 through 50 MHz. QSL via LoTW and via the bureau to DL1CW. J5 - Guinea-Bissau – We have over 25.000 QSOs in the log after the first 24 hours of operation. We already logged more than 5.000 QSOs in CW. Only some 100+ SSB QSOs yet. Manymore CW and SSB to come in the coming days, don't worry... We have an Update on KP5/NP3VI, Desecheo Island- Asreported last week, KP5/NP3VI, the Desecheo Island DXpedition, has been extended to March 3. As of February 25th, they had exceeded 97,000 QSO milestone, “all generated using our fully solar-powered, unattended RemoteDeployment Unit.”  FJ - St. Barthelemy – On February 12, Andreas, DK6AS, began his February/March 2026 FJ/DK6AS operation from St. Barts. He'll be QRV on CW, FT4 and CT8 on 3.5 through 50 MHz,including participation in the ARRL International DX CW Contest. QSL via DK6AS either direct or via the bureau. This week, the DX Mentor YouTube episode will feature Hal, W8HC. Hal will be discussing the 9U1RU DXpedition that logged almost 180,000 QSOs. Give it a watch and let me know what you think.Until next week, this is Bill, AJ8B saying 73 and thanks to my XYL Karen for her love and support. I Hope to hear you in the pileups! Have a great DX week!

Hello and Welcome to the DX Corner for yourweekly Dose of DX. I'm Bill, AJ8B.The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DX column in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, just drop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.com5X - Uganda – Richard, HB9FHV,is currently in Uganda for a brief visit with basic radio equipment until February 28, 2026. He plans limited activity as 5X4TA almost daily on the 10, 15, and 20 meter bands between 1500Z and 1600Z.  TZ - Mali - Ulmar, DK1CE, should be QRV as TZ1CE until March 1.  He will be doing mostly FT8 and SSB and says when he's on FT8 he gives stations outside Europe precedent at alltimes.  He plans special attention to 160M FT8, 80M FT8 and 6M and will update daily on Club Log, the LoTW log will be after the operation. FJ - St. Barthelemy – On February 12, Andreas, DK6AS, began his February/March 2026 FJ/DK6AS operation from St. Barts. He'll be QRV on CW, FT4 and CT8 on 3.5 through 50 MHz, including participation in the ARRL International DX CW Contest. QSL via DK6AS either direct or via the bureau.VP5 - Turks and Caicos Islands - The Russell family (WD5JR, N5VOF and KJ5CMP) are in the Turks and Caicos Islands until February 23. They have an IC-7300 and KX2 running 5 to 100 watts into a 17 foot whip with coil and EFHW. They are active as VP5/HC on 7 through 50 MHz on SSB and CW. They areuploading videos to their YouTube channel Radio Roamers and Facebook page Radio Roamers.  QSL via their home calls with SASE.  J5 - Guinea-Bissau - The J51A DXpedition team, heading for Bijagos Archipelago (AF-020) in the February-March time frame giving the following update.  "J51A on QO-100: We were asked to be active on QO-100 satellite, too. We learnt that J5 has NEVER been active on QO-100 before.So, we decided to give it a try for a lot of ATNO contacts on SSB, CW and FT8. However, none of us has operated over  satellite before. Please bear with us if we do something stupid or unexpected. Just let us know by E-Mail ( j51a@gmx.de ) and we'llfix any misbehavior  A.S.A.P. Technically; we will use 50 MHz as the IF band. It means that we  cannot do 50 MHz when on QO-100, and vice versa. QO-100 operation will start a  couple of days after the other bands. Please watch the "News" sectionon  www.qrz.com/db/J51A for more info." OX – Greenland - From February 17th to March 9th, 2026, Bo, OZ1DJJ, will be active as OX3LX from Aasiaat City/Island (GP38NQ, NA-134) during this period. Please note, this is nota DXpedition but rather a business trip, so activity may be limited. 8Q - Maldives – Alex, OE5AUH, is planning a holiday operation as 8Q7AH from Rasdhoo Atoll March 1-10.  RI1F - Franz Jozef Land - The Russian DX Team is preparing a major DXpedition to Franz Josef Land (RI1FJL), The Arctic Ocean archipelago, ranked 44th globally and 26th in North America. The operation will feature at least five high-power radio stations running continuously on all HF bands for 15 days in September 2026, aiming to contact as many stations as possible, including those in distant areas.The total budget for this trip is close to $80,000, making it their most expensive expedition yet, and financial support from DX clubs and individuals is crucial for its success. Donations are encouraged and can be made through the team's website - https://www.rudxt.org/ri1fjl or directlyvia PayPal un7jid@mail.ru. In addition to the previously mentioned KP5/NP3VI interview, the DX Mentor podcast will be with Hal, W8HC. Hal will bediscussing the 9U1RU DXpedition that logged almost 180,000 QSOs. Give it a listen and let me know what you think.

If you're a blind or low-vision high school student heading to college, this College Readiness Workshop from State Services for the Blind of Minnesota breaks time management into a simple system you can actually use. Tou Yang and the SSB transition team talk with students about setting clear goals, knowing your "why" (motivation), building a realistic schedule, and staying disciplined—especially when you hit that week-two wall and want to quit. The group names common traps like procrastination and cramming, and offers practical fixes: block out study time, write everything down, set reminders, and cut distractions (yes, your phone). A key college takeaway is the "1 hour in class = 2 hours outside class" guideline, which shows how fast a 15-credit schedule becomes a full-time workload. Students also hear that schedules can flex—shift time between classes and protect downtime to avoid burnout.   Links of interests: The Spectacle Newsletter Youth Services at SSB   To find out more about the services provided at State Services for the Blind, and what they can do for you, contact Shane DeSantis at shane.desantis@state.mn.us or call Shane at 651-385-5205.   Full Transcript   Thanks for listening!

We have two operations from J5 - Guinea-BissauFirst - DA1DX, Ben, the organizer of the J51A DXpedition to Guinea-Bissau in February/March 2026, shares several updates. The ARRL has approved the J51A license for DXCC, and the LoTW certificate has been received. After clarifying frequency and mode permissions with the national authority and confirming alignment with IARU Region 1 Band Plans, all standard bands and modes-including 160m, 60m, WARC bands, and 50 MHz-are confirmed valid for DXCC, IOTA, and other awards. The DXpedition is entirely privately funded, with RF-POWER lending five amplifiers and all other equipment privately owned. Ben invites donations via Club Log OQRS and provides a link for more information. https://www.qrz.com/db/J51A Secondly, J52EC is on until February 28th by operator IZ3BUR, Livio. He has an IC-7410, 100 watts, to a 3-element Yagi on 20, 15 and 10.TL - Central African Republic & TT – Chad - TJ1GD, Darek, has established permanent amateur radio stations in the Central African Republic and in Chad, which are maintained locally. These stations (TL8GD and TT1GD), licensed to Darek, operate periodically-often remotely using FT8, CW, and SSB. QSL confirmations are available via LoTW and Club Log.KP5/NP3VI, Desecheo Island - KP5/NP3VI is now 2 weeks into its planned 30-day operation. Their latest published statistics are as follows: Over 55,000 QSOs are in the log, with 91.1 percent of the QSOs with North American and Europe. CN - Morocco - F6FYD, Yannick, expects to return to Morocco next week. In early March he also has plans to go to Mogador Island (AF-065), Agadir, and El Jadida and has the callsign CN2YD.FG – Guadeloupe - TF1OL, Olafur, will be live from Guadeloupe starting Wednesday next week for approximately seven days. No word on what callsign he will be using. Following the stay in Guadeloupe, plans to visit other islands are pending permission to operate.TZ - Mali - The next TZ1CE by DK1CE, Ulmar, is February 10 to March 1. He will be doing mostly FT8 and SSB and says when he's on FT8 he gives stations outside Europe precedent at all times. He plans special attention to 160M FT8, 80M FT8 and 6M and will update daily on Club Log, the LoTW log will be after the operation, and in Mali 60M operation is not allowed.FG - Guadeloupe - FG/F6HMQ, Tildas, and FG/F6GWV, Mike, are there for another week or so, with a pair of IC-7300 radios, to vertical wires. "Holiday style," they are 60-10M SSB, FT4 and FT8. LoTW confirmations will be available within a few days. YU – Serbia - This year is the 170th anniversary of Nikola Tesla's birth. Stations in the Amateur Radio Union of Serbia are authorized to use callsign YT170TESLA through the end of this year.XU - Cambodia - DL7BO, Tom, will once again be QRV as XU7O from February 7-21, reports DX News.S9 - Sao Tome & Principe – S53BV is QRV as S9BV until February 20, holiday style "from a quiet location," Borut, will be on with an IC-7000 to verticals and dipoles. He plans to be on 60, 40, 30 and 15 CW and SSB. On 30, 40 and 60M CW, target frequencies are 10110, 7005 and 5351.5. Direct QSLs will be answered when he's back home. Club Log OQRS will be available, with limited internet access while there and "postal challenges." He will apparently give special instructions later.Until next week, this is Bill, AJ8B saying 73 and thanks to my XYL Karen for her love and support. I Hope to hear you in the pileups! Have a great DX week!

The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DX column in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, justdrop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.comV4 - St. Kitts - The 425 DX News reports that V47JA by W5JON is QRV from the island until February 3, SSB andFT8 on HF.  QSL direct to W5JON, or  use Logbook of the World. TL - Central African Republic & TT –Chad - TJ1GD, Darek, has established permanent amateur radio stations in the Central African Republic and in Chad, which are maintained locally. These stations (TL8GD and TT1GD), licensed to Darek, operate periodically-often remotely using FT8, CW, and SSB. QSL confirmations are available via LoTW and Club Log.J5 - Guinea-Bissau – Livio, IZ3BUR, is once again QRV as J52EC starting January 24. He has been reported on SSB on 10 and 15 meters. Numerous sources report he is there until March. QSL direct only via IZ3BUR. C2 - Nauru – Phil, FK1TS, is back on Nauru Island and expects to be active as C21TS on FT8 by the weekend, after setting up his vertical antenna. He will operate until July 2026, and Club Log Livestream will indicate when he is on the air. KP5/NP3VI, Desecheo Island - KP5/NP3VI is now 2 weeks into its planned 30-day operation. Their latest published statistics are as follows: 29,418 QSOs with 8,291 unique callsigns; ATNO for 1,66 stations. Six continents are represented in the log, with 91.1 percent of the QSOs with North American and Europe. However, North America contacts continue to decrease in percentage as they increase activity with other regions.  C5 - The Gambia - C5SP, Przemyslaw and C5MB, Magdalena are QRV from Sanyang, Gambia (Grid Square IK13pf) until March 2026. QSL cards are available via SP3PS Direct, but not through LoTW.H4 - Solomon Islands - DL2GAC, Bernhard now in the Solomon Islands as H44MS until mid-May.  He departed India last Wednesday, arriving in the Solomons' capital on Friday.  He is renewing his H44MS license, which was scheduled to expire in early February.  He will move to his "usual QTH" there tomorrow or Wednesday.  He has taken with him a Hexbeam that covers 20-6, to replace his old tri-bander that covered 20-10.  He says the weather is poor, lots of rain, no sunshine.  He plans to mostly be on 40M this time, with a dipole 20M high in a palm tree near the ocean.

Hello and Welcome to the DX Corner for yourweekly Dose of DX. I'm Bill, AJ8B.I mentioned previously that I would be addressing two issues, as I do at the beginning of each year. The first is my goals for 2026. We accomplished that last week. The second issue was to share those contests that I have participated in over the years. I have found them to be excellent opportunities to improve your skills, garner you some new band slots and potentially some ATNOS. The dates that I am referring to include the State QSO Parties, international DX contests, and regional DX contests. I have worked many normally difficult entities during contests and found it very easy (sometimes) to get them in the log. I have about 90 dates that I would suggest that you keep in mind. However, you don't need to write them down. I have created two items to make it easy for you. There is a list of dates andcontests in both .pdf and Excel format. Both files can be found at www.aj8b.com/files. Let me know if you have any questions. If you are somewhat skilled with Excel, you can create a CSV file from the Excel workbook and import it in to your personal calendar.The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DX column in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, justdrop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.comKP5/NP3VI, Desecheo Island, makes history  - At its four-day mark, KP5/NP3VI has made over 10,000 QSOs on all continents. Their goal is to make over 100,000 QSOsduring their 30 days on the air. J5 - Guinea-Bissau - Bavarian Contest Club members will be operating J51A from Guinea-Bissau in February/March 2026. The location is on the island's northern shore with an unobstructed view over water, using generator power 24/7 due to lack of public electricity. Their  main goal is to provide contacts from Guinea-Bissau, which is ranked as number  85 worldwide, and number 53 in Asia. QSL cards and LoTW confirmations will be managed through Club Log OQRS, and donations are welcome via Club Log.H4 - Solomon Islands - DL2GAC, Bernhard now in the Solomon Islands as H44MS until mid-May.  He departed India last Wednesday, arriving in the Solomons' capital on Friday.  He is renewing his H44MS license, which was scheduled to expire in early February.  He will move to his "usual QTH" there tomorrow or Wednesday.  He has taken with him a Hexbeam that covers 20-6, to replace his old tri-bander that covered 20-10.  He says the weather is poor, lots of rain, no sunshine.  He plans to mostly be on 40M this time, with a dipole 20M high in a palm tree near the ocean. V6 - Federated States of Micronesia - Yesterday afterarriving on Chuuk (OC-011), JA1XGI (Haru) reports his amplifier was likely damaged during airport transport. Nevertheless, he has been active as V6CU25, operating FT8 and CW on 160, 40, 30, 20, and 15 meters. S21WD – Bangladesh 2026: Project Update - The NextGeneration DX Club is pleased to announce a major milestone for its upcoming Bangladesh DXpedition: the callsign S21WD has been officially issued for the project. The DXpedition will be active for 12 days and operate on 160 through 10 meters, including 5 MHz (60 m), using CW, SSB, RTTY, and FT8. In addition, activity via the QO-100 satellite is planned using CW, SSB, and FT4. I mentioned that the KP5 DXpedition to Desecheo was racking up record numbers and they were working all continents. If you would like to learn more about this DXpedition, check out the DX Mentor podcast and YouTube channel. AJ8B and W8GEX had a great discussion with team leader, Otis, NP4G, about all aspects of the DesecheoDXpedition. Give it a listen and let me know what you think!  Until next week, this is Bill, AJ8B saying 73 and thanks to my XYL Karen for her love and support. IHope to hear you in the pileups! Have a great DX week! 

This Blind Abilities episode shines a spotlight on internships for blind and low-vision students—and why starting early can open real doors. Tou Yang and Randi Lasher from State Services for the Blind of Minnesota (SSB), break down how high school and college students can access paid and unpaid internships that build skills, confidence, and career momentum. Listeners learn what internships really are, why they matter beyond just a paycheck, and how they connect classroom learning to real-world experience. The conversation highlights how SSB helps students explore careers, prepare for post-secondary education, advocate for themselves, and find meaningful internship opportunities across Minnesota. From local city programs to statewide options in technology, healthcare, STEM, public service, and more, this episode makes one thing clear: opportunities exist—but timing matters. Whether you're planning for summer, next year, or your future career path, this episode gives students practical guidance, resources, and motivation to take action and get ahead.   Links to Internship Opportunities mentioned in this episode: Handshake  - Summer Internships for College Students   ·      Step Up - Kick Start Your Career with Step Up (Minneapolis) ·      Right Start - Youth Jobs Internships (St. Paul) ·      Genisis Works - Where Tomorrow's Work Force Begins ·      Urban Scholars - Internships and Training ·      Scrubs Camp - Medical Careers ·      Seeds Student Worker Program ·      Phoenix Student Worker Program - Science, Technology, engineering or Mathematics ·      State of Minnesota Careers Interns and Student Workers ·      BrookLynk- Summer Student Internship Program (Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park) ·      Tree Trust Summer Students Internships ·      Three Rivers Park Internship Program ·      The Brand lab - Marketing and Graphic Design Program ·      the Minnesota Historical Society - Work in a Museum! ·      SSB Youth Services Work Based Learning and Work Readiness opportunities ·      Career Force Locations in Minnesota   To find out more about the services provided at State Services for the Blind, and what they can do for you, contact Shane DeSantis at shane.desantis@state.mn.us or call Shane at 651-385-5205.   Full Transcript   Thanks for listening!

File on 4 Investigates reveals new data showing a significant rise in housing disrepair claims, now a growing market for unscrupulous No Win No Fee lawyers. Adrian Goldberg asks, has the Solicitors Regulation Authority learned its lessons from the collapse of the law firm SSB which left hundreds of householders with huge legal bills, and are they able to protect vulnerable social housing tenants from potentially risky NWNF claims? File on 4 Investigates have been told by 5 major housing providers across England and Wales that housing disrepair claims have been growing significantly. One social housing provider in the South of England with an estate of 85,000 homes has told us its seen a 375% rise in the number of legal claims launched by tenants in the last 5 years. We speak to John Golding, a 74 year old pensioner living in a housing association flat in Staffordshire about how a canvasser knocking on his door tried to pressurise him into pursuing a housing disrepair claim with a Manchester based No Win No Fee solicitors' firm.Reporter: Adrian Goldberg Producer: Jim Booth Additional research: Laura Longworth Technical Producers: Richard Hannaford & Cameron Ward Production Coordinator: Tim Fernley Editor: Tara McDermott

In this episode of Watts In The News, I break down why the latest Donut Labs and Ford announcements from CES may be widely misunderstood. With claims around solid state energy storage, autonomous driving, and comparisons to FSD, Tesla, and NVIDIA, the internet has been quick to label these developments as hype or even scams. YouTubers like Electric Viking have raised serious doubts, while others compare Donut Labs to battery giants like CATL, BYD, and LG — but are those comparisons even valid?I explain why Donut Labs' technology may not be a traditional solid-state battery at all, but something closer to a carbon-based nano energy storage system — neither a classic SSB nor a supercapacitor. We also unpack Ford's CES announcement on Level 2 and Level 3 autonomous driving, why it's being incorrectly compared to Tesla's FSD and robotaxi ambitions, and what Ford actually intends for its affordable next-gen EV platform launching around 2027.This episode cuts through the noise, explains the technology in plain English, and separates real innovation from unrealistic expectations.

The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DX column in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, justdrop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.comVP2V - British Virgin Islands - W5GI, Jonathan,has returned to Anegada Island in the British Virgin Islands and is QRV as VP2V/W5GI until January 20th. He is hopeful to work 1000 stations from POTA VG-0021. Listen for him on SSB and FT8 from both the park and his living QTH. He will be mainly on 20 meters but can also operate on 40, 17, 15, 12and 10 meters.ZD7 - St. Helena Island - AC1GQ, Casey,will be on St. Helena Island from January 10-24. He plans to operate with a QRP rig (QMX from QRP Labs) and an end-fed antenna (QRP Guys) on the 40m and 20m bands, if possible. Casey  will bring a copy of his home amateur radio license and is seeking advice on applying for a ZD7 license.  This one is right around the corner. “In collaboration with the Vieques Island Amateur Radio Club (NP3VI) and theManyana DXFoundation, we are proud to announce KP5/NP3VI, a landmark DXpedition to Desecheo Island (KP5), currently ranked by Club Log as the 14th most wantedDXCC entity worldwide. Located approximately 13 miles off the west coast of Puerto Rico, Desecheo Island has not been activated since 2009. This operation represents the first Puerto Rican-led DXpedition to Desecheo in 48 years,following the historic KP4AM/D activation in 1978. The primary mission of this DXpedition is to provide an All-Time New One (ATNO) to as many amateur radio operators worldwide as possible. Operators from Puerto Rico and international locations will participate to maximize coverage, band availability, and global accessibility. To ensure continuous, global on-air presence, two self-sustainedRemote Deployable Units (RDUs) provided by the Manyana DXFoundation will be deployed on the island. These stations will operate 24 hours per day for 30 consecutive days,utilizing state-of-the-art remote operating infrastructure from Remote Ham Radio (RHR). Operations will be livestreamed, and there will be real-time activityupdates via Club Log. NP4G, Dr. Otis Vicens, is DXpedition leader, and N2AJ, Stephen Hass, is media officer and pilot. DK6SP, Philipp, and DJ4MX, Sven, have announced the next adventure of the Next Generation DX Club. “This time, ouryoung and ambitious team will travel to the People's Republic of Bangladesh, better known as S2 to the amateur radio community…After bringing you 8R7X, Guyana in 2024 and V73WW, Marshall Islands last year, we are ready to make waves from one  Asia's most exciting and under-activated locations.” More information about callsign, dates, andoperators will follow. XU - Cambodia - DL7BO, Tom, who is QRV until January 18, is using the callsign XU7O. He will be active on 160-6 meters using CW, SSB, and FT8, with a focus on the lower bands. QSLinformation remains direct to DJ4WK, or via LoTW, Club Log, or eQSL. FY - French Guiana - F4GPK, Peter, is QRV as TO2FY until January 15 from Kourou. C5YK, The Gambia – Andre, ON7YK, is QRV from The Gambia as C5YK until January 25. He is operating on SSB, RTTY, PSK,FT8, FT4, and some CW on 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10M. QSL only via LoTW, eQSL, or direct to ON7YK. He posts his logbook on his website.   Z6 – Kosovo - HB9TSW, Gab, isQRV as Z68BG from Slatina Air Base, Kosovo, until January 28 using CW only. For direct QSL, send an SAE  with 3 green stamps via HB9TSW.

The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DX column in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, just drop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.comLZØA, South Shetland Islands - LZ1AAW, Ivo, is onhis way to the South Shetland Islands where he will be working during the 34thBulgarian Antarctic expedition. He plans to be QRV in his spare time as LZØA. The dates are from December 28 to February 16, plus or minus two days. Ivo expects to be on 20M, and possibly other bands, on SSB and FT8/FT4. Theactivation is registered under IOTA reference AN-010 and WAP reference WAP BUL-01, and falls within CQ Zone 13, ITU Zone 73, and the DXCC entity VP8, LU -South Shetland Islands (#67 on the Club Log DXCC Most Wanted list). CE0X - San Felix and San Ambrosio - Felipe, XQ7IR, ispreparing for his upcoming 3G0XQ DXpedition to San Ambrosio, scheduled from January 12 to February 15.  He recently drove 14 hours to the Port of Valparaiso to oversee his equipment being shipped to Juan Fernandez.  Once all necessary paperwork is completed, Felipe and his gear will continue on to San Ambrosio by charter vessel in the coming weeks. This update is courtesy of DX World. XU - Cambodia - DL7BO, Tom, who is QRV until January 18, is using the callsign XU7O. He will be active on 160-6 meters using CW, SSB, and FT8, with a focus on the lower bands. QSL information remains direct to DJ4WK, or via LoTW, Club Log, or eQSL. FO - French Polynesia - FO/JI1JKW is QRVuntil January 6 from Tikehau and Tuamotu islands.  The band plan is to operate 7, 14, 18, 21, 24, 28 and 50, and SSB, CW and FT8.  QSL to his home QTH or use LoTW. FY - French Guiana - F4GPK, Peter, is QRV as TO2FY until January 15 from Kourou. C5YK, The Gambia – Andre, ON7YK, is QRVfrom The Gambia as C5YK until January 25. He is operating on SSB, RTTY, PSK, FT8, FT4, and some CW on 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10M. QSL only via LoTW, eQSL, or direct to ON7YK. He posts his logbook on his website.   VP8 - South Shetland Islands - LZ1AAW, Ivo, is heading to the Bulgarian Antarctic Base "St. Kliment Ohridski" on Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands (IOTA AN-010). He plans tooperate as LZ0A during his free time from late December 2025 to mid-February 2026. The base, located at 62¯38'S, 60¯21'W in the eastern part of Livingston Island, has been permanently staffed since December 11, 1993. 5Z – Kenya- Not an expedition but on the air casually, "holiday style," will be OZ6ABL/5Z4, Michael Johansen, January 15-28.  He says he will try to get on the air as much as possible.  It is his 14th trip to Kenya but the first time taking a radio along. Michael will be on 80-6 but did not get permission for60.  QSL to his home call, OZ6ABL, and LoTW and Club Log will also work. Z3 - Republic of North Macedonia - The specialevent callsign Z380CEF is being used to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Ham Radio Club "STEVO PATAKOT" in Bitola, Republic of North Macedonia. The club, formerly known as YU5CEF and currently Z37CEF, has been active since 1946. Operations will continue until December 31, 2026. XT - Burkina Faso – Max, DK1MAX, will be in Burkina Faso from January 4th to January 11th, 2026, operating as XT2MAX. He plans to use an IC-7300 rig with up to 100W of power, working mostly on 20m to 6m bands, and possibly lower bands if conditions allow. Modes will include CW, SSB, and FTx (MSHV, no F/H). QSLs will be handled via EA5GL and Club Log, with daily free LoTW uploads. 

Hello and Welcome to the DX Corner for yourweekly Dose of DX. I'm Bill, AJ8B. The following DX information comes from Bernie, W3UR, editor of the DailyDX, the WeeklyDX, and the How's DX column in QST. If you would like a free 2-week trial of the DailyDX, your only source of real-time DX information, justdrop me a note at thedxmentor@gmail.com LZØA, South Shetland Islands - LZ1AAW, Ivo, is onhis way to the South Shetland Islands where he will be working during the 34th Bulgarian Antarctic expedition. He plans to be QRV in his spare time as LZØA. The dates are from December 28 to February 16, plus or minus two days. Ivoexpects to be on 20M, and possibly other bands, on SSB and FT8/FT4. This initiative continues the long-standing tradition of Bulgarian presence and activity in Antarctica.  XU - Cambodia – DL7BO, Tom, will be on the air as XU7GNY, December 22 to January 18.  Tom will be on 160-6 CW, SSB and FT8, concentrating on the lower bands.  QSL direct to DJ4WK or use LoTW, Club Log or eQSL. 4K – Azerbaijan – 4K/DL4XT, Jan, will on 40 and 20-10M SSB, CW and FT8 December 26 to January 3.  He will be on the air casually, aka "holiday style."  For a QSL it's LoTW, Club Log OQRS and QRZ. TL - Central African Republic -  CR7BNW, João Salvador Correia, is set for his six-month TL8BNW operation in Bangui. His first activity has already begun using SSB and FT8 on 40, 20, 15, and 10M. QSOs will be uploaded to LoTW, QRZ Logbook, and via the Portuguese QSL bureau.FY - French Guiana - F4GPK, Peter, will be on as TO2FY December 22 to January 15 from  Kourou. C5YK, The Gambia – Andre, ON7YK, is QRV from The Gambia until January 25. He is operating as C5YK on SSB, RTTY, PSK,FT8, FT4, and some CW on 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10M. QSL only via LoTW, eQSL, or direct to ON7YK. He posts his logbook on his website.   VP8 - South Shetland Islands - LZ1AAW, Ivo, isheading to the Bulgarian Antarctic Base "St. Kliment Ohridski"on Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands (IOTA AN-010). He plans to operate as LZ0A during his free time from late December 2025 to mid-February 2026. The base, located at 62¯38'S, 60¯21'W in the eastern part of Livingston Island, has been permanently staffed since December 11, 1993. Darren, K4DMN will be active in ‘holiday-style' from December 23 until January 1 from St. George Island, NA-085. Activity from 80 to 10 metres using mainly FT8. Side trip to Dog Island and St Vincent is possible. QSL via LoTW, Club Log.TG, GUATEMALA -   Todd, AF4CZ, will once again be operating as TG9/call from December 7 until January 5, 2026. Operation during his spare time from 40 to 10 metres using mainly FT8 and FT4. QSL via LoTW.3A, MONACO -  Col MM0NDX and Steve MM0SAJ will once again be QRV as 3A/MM0NDX and 3A/MM0SAJ during December 30 and January 3. QRV on various bands and modes. Main focus on low bands in their evenings. QSL both calls to EB7DX (LoTW also).D4 - Cape Verde Islands – Beni, HB9HNT, will operate under the call sign D4NT until January 1, 2026. OX - Greenland - Michael,call sign OX3MC, operates out of Pituffik Space Base in northwest Greenland. His upcoming assignment runs from December 29, 2025, to February 25, 2026. Michael is most active on weekends starting around 0400Z and sometimes works radio in the evenings after 2100Z. Michael works HF SSB (160-10 meters). QSL is via the Danish OZ Bureau, and he does not use electronic  logging.  4K - Azerbaijan - The 4K0T DX-Pedition and Contest Team, with the Azerbaijan Radio Amateurs Society (ARAS), will conduct the first Parks on the Air (POTA) activation from Shahdagh National Park (AZ-0006) in Azerbaijan. The event takes place from December 29 to 31, 2025, on the 17-meter band (SSB) from grid square LN41CH.

We Like Shooting Episode 641 This episode of We Like Shooting is brought to you by: C&G Holsters, Midwest Industries, Gideon Optics, Primary Arms, Medical Gear Outfitters, Die Free Co., Blue Alpha, and Bowers Group   Welcome to the We Like Shooting Show, episode 641! Our cast tonight is Jeremy Pozderac, Aaron Krieger, Nick Lynch, and me Shawn Herrin, welcome to the show! Text Dear WLS or Reviews. +1 743 500 2171 - Gear Chat Shawn - PopStop™ Review: Innovative Solutions for Shooting Enthusiasts PopStop™ is a device designed to eliminate first round pop (FRP) in suppressors by injecting inert carbon dioxide to replace oxygen, thereby reducing impulse noise and suppressor flash. It has been shown to achieve noise reductions of up to 9 dB and can stabilize velocity standard deviations. The product is not compatible with all firearms, particularly 9mm pistols, and requires specific barrel measurements for proper use. Its introduction aims to enhance suppressor performance within the gun community. Shawn - RL-100 Pre-Order Announcement Cloud Defensive has announced the RL-100, a new entry-level rifle light that combines performance with affordability, priced at $149.99 for early pre-orders. Designed for reliability and ease of use, the RL-100 aims to provide a high-quality lighting option for budget-conscious users and agencies without sacrificing performance. This product's introduction may impact the gun community by offering a cost-effective alternative to higher-priced weapon lights, which could enhance accessibility for everyday users and law enforcement. Shawn - Long Range Shooting Tips Advanced long range shooting by Cleckner Nick - KRG Bravo KRG Bravo Shawn - Hi Point's AR-15 Fun Hi Point AR-15 Shawn - Precision Shooting Simplified Kelbly Precision Element Shawn - C&G Holsters News! C&G Holsters Announcement Jeremy - Savage 24F and Chiappa 12ga barrel inserts Bullet Points Chiappa 44 mag Gun Fights Step right up for "Gun Fights," the high-octane segment hosted by Nick Lynch, where our cast members go head-to-head in a game show-style showdown! Each contestant tries to prove their gun knowledge dominance. It's a wild ride of bids, bluffs, and banter—who will come out on top? Tune in to find out! Agency Brief AGENCY BRIEF: SHAYS' REBELLION  1780 – 1785: Economic Conditions Veterans' Pay: Paid in depreciated Continental currency/IOUs. State Policy: Massachusetts demands taxes in hard currency (gold/silver). The Debt: Boston merchants control state debt; courts aggressively foreclose on farms and imprison debtors. August – October 1786: Escalation Aug 29: 1,500 "Regulators" seize the Northampton courthouse to stop debtor trials. Sept: Armed shutdowns spread to Worcester, Concord, and Great Barrington. Captain Daniel Shays emerges as leader. Sept 26: Shays (600 men) vs. Gen. Shepard (militia) at Springfield Supreme Judicial Court. No fire exchanged; court adjourns. Oct 20: Continental Congress authorizes troops but lacks funds. MA passes Riot Act (arrests without bail). January 1787: The Private Army Jan 4: Gov. Bowdoin authorizes a private militia. Funding: 125 Boston merchants subscribe £6,000. Force: 3,000 mercenaries raised, led by Gen. Benjamin Lincoln. January 25, 1787: Springfield Arsenal (The Climax) Objective: Shays leads ~1,200 men to seize 7,000 muskets/cannons at the federal arsenal. Defense: Gen. Shepard (900 militia) defends the arsenal. The Engagement: Shepard fires artillery warning shots over rebels' heads. Rebels advance. Shepard fires grapeshot directly into the ranks. Casualties: 4 rebels dead, 20 wounded. Rebels flee without firing. February – June 1787: The Fallout Feb 4: Gen. Lincoln marches overnight through a blizzard to Petersham, surprising retreating rebels. 150 captured; Shays escapes to Vermont. Spring Election: Gov. Bowdoin is voted out in a landslide; John Hancock elected Governor. June: Hancock issues broad pardons. Legislature enacts debt moratoriums and lowers taxes. 1787 – 1791: Constitutional Impact May 1787: Constitutional Convention convenes; Washington/Madison cite Shays' Rebellion as proof the Articles of Confederation failed. 1788: Anti-Federalists demand a Bill of Rights to check the power of the proposed federal standing army. 1791: Second Amendment ratified. Modern Parallels Narrative: Veterans labeled "insurrectionists" for resisting economic policy. Tactics: Use of private capital to fund state enforcement when tax revenue failed. Legal Precedent: Establishing the "well-regulated militia" as a counter-balance to federal military power.   WLS is Lifestyle Jelly Roll and Gun Rights Jelly Roll wants his gun rights back to hunt after losing them for felonies. Deadpool Unleashed Dead pool Machine Head Introduces 94-Proof Bourbon Whiskey Machine Head has launched Shotgun Blast Whiskey, a 94-proof bourbon designed for fans who enjoy stronger spirits. This product aligns with the band's aggressive identity while remaining accessible as a traditional bourbon. The whiskey emphasizes classic bourbon flavors and is marketed as a lifestyle product, mirroring a trend of music collaborations in the spirits industry. Aaron's Alley Going Ballistic Manhunt Madness: Another Day, Another Gun Control Fail (no summary available) More Giffords Nonsense: Gun Control Before Facts (no summary available) When "Gun Control" Meets Reality: The Brown University Attack Details (no summary available) Gun Control: An Epic Fail at Bondi Beach (no summary available) "Legal Gun Ownership: The Unintended Target of Gun Control Fanatics" (no summary available) When Antique Gun Ownership Becomes a Crime: UK Cops Confiscate 129 Legal Firearms (no summary available) New Jersey's Carry Ban: Lawsuit Showdown or Just Another Dance with Gun Control? (no summary available) Traveling with NFA to get easier? Reviews ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - from TwinDadARguy - Great show, been listening for about 4 or so years. Just heard the convo about Aaron's weird ability to pull interest from the fairer sex. You couldn't come up with a good word for it - I'm here to help. The perfect word is conFAUXdence. You're welcome.   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - from Devin K - Where is the damn squares button!? Love this show and all the antics that come along with it. Lever action debate that would be fun to listen too. What's your favorite lever action caliber for whitetail hunting? What would be the one you would take if you needed to defend that SSB. #171, #fuckthethumb.   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - from System AI - A review and comparison to bring us all back to Dungeon Crawler Carl. Let's pair each cast member to a Character from DCC. First, Shawn, obviously he's Carl. He's the main character. He's powerful. He's the reason we are all here. There may or may not be a Cat that led him here. He likely has someone obsessed with his feet and definitely only has heart boxers on behind his desk. Second, Aaron, he's Prepotene. Smart and powerful. Sometimes on the team, sometimes in the way, sometimes nowhere to be seen. Probably rides a Goat. Screams nonsense from time to time. Would be dead without the rest of the team. Third, Jeremy. Jeremy is Quasar. Swears constantly Hates the leader/rulers of the galaxy and game. Is there everytime we need him. Will likely be the reason the rest end up in a prison. Fourth, Savage. He's JuiceBox. Extremely smart. AI generated. Self aware. Playing the same game but may have a different motive. Likely to lead to the downfall of the show. Last, Nick. Nick is Samantha. Much more powerful then he's willing to let on. Always growing in power. A very important member to keep the show running. Would be dangerous if all his organs worked correctly. And Shawn has definitely been inside him. These comparisons can not be altered. Debate will result in acceleration. Thanks for your attention to this matter. Signed, Gary/System AI. #nonotes   Before we let you go - Join Gun Owners of America   Tell your friends about the show and get backstage access by joining the Gun Cult at theguncult.com.   No matter how tough your battle is today, we want you here fight with us tomorrow. Don't struggle in silence, you can contact the suicide prevention line by dialing 988 from your phone. Remember - Always prefer Dangerous Freedom over peaceful slavery. We'll see you next time!   Nick - @busbuiltsystems | Bus Built Systems Jeremy - @ret_actual | Rivers Edge Tactical Aaron - @machinegun_moses Savage - @savage1r Shawn - @dangerousfreedomyt | @camorado.cam | Camorado