HamClock Instructions and Tips for Open HamClock Backend Setup

Here are setup instructions (and more!) for HamClock and tips on how to connect your version of HamClock to Open Hamclock Backend (OHB) which is an open source backend server and the one that I use and recommend.  Just follow this link:

https://ohb.works/open-hamclock-backend-instructions/

They Took Down the Internet. They Couldn't Take Down Shortwave

 Iran’s internet was knocked to minimal connectivity.

60+ hours of near total blackout.

Government communications — gone.

State media — gone.

Public services — gone.

But on 7910 kHz — a signal kept transmitting.

Twice a day. Every day. Crossing every border. Through every cyberattack. Through every jammer Iran could deploy.

Shortwave didn’t flinch.

While world leaders scrambled and cyber warfare raged — ham radio operators and shortwave listeners were already tuned in. Already logging. Already analyzing. Ham operators worldwide detected and tracked a new Farsi numbers station within minutes — as it played out live on HF

We just needed an antenna.

This is not nostalgia. This is not a hobby. This is the most battle-tested communications technology in human history — and the Iran war just proved to the entire world that it still works when nothing else does.

HF radio crossed every border they tried to close.

Tune in yourself:

📻 7910 kHz — USB mode

🕐 02:00 UTC & 18:00 UTC daily

Check out w2re.com and follow Ham Radio 24-7 on Facebook.

The Potato Patch Fleet, Maine, 1917

When WWI U-boats threatened shipping, the U.S. Navy was short on patrol boats. In Maine, lobstermen and potato farmers converted their own boats. Elmer Brooks, 58, took his 30-foot Mabel B and mounted a surplus machine gun to the bow with planks and rope. The “Potato Patch Fleet” patrolled for subs in fog, 200 miles offshore, with no radios. They never sank a U-boat, but their presence stopped coastal shelling. The Navy gave Elmer a commendation. He hung it in his barn next to his seed potatoes.

39 Airports, 1 Grand Adventure

74 DAY CIRRUS JOURNEY FOCUSES ON GROWING REAL-WORLD PILOT SKILLS

Recounted by Blake Freedland in Flying Magazine

Like most pilots, I've always dreamed of a grand trip.  A shared passion for challenge, adventure and flying eventually drives all of us avgeeks to leave our comfort zones and explore.  So, to celebrate our graduation from Tufts University and Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts, I decided to fly across the U.S. and parts of Canada in my Cirrus SR22 with one of my best friends and copilot, Dylan Tamaroff. Our goal was to see new places, meet people, discover hidden gems, and most importantly, learn. I wanted to push myself, sharpen my skills, and become a better aviator.

Pilot Blake Freedland (right) and co-captain Dylan Tamaroff flew across the U.S. and Canada in a Cirrus SR22. 

While I had around 500 hours and seven years under my belt, I hadn’t flown much outside of my South Florida and Boston bubble. Most of our landings were at KFXE and KBED. Flying was not really a means of travel for me but rather a hobby. So I embarked on this once-in-a-lifetime flying journey. Dylan and I landed at 39 airports over the course of our 13,000 sm, 74-day, 100-flight-hour trip.

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Iran’s Internet Blackout Becomes World Record‑Longest

Iran’s nationwide internet blackout has now lasted over 38 consecutive days, according to monitoring group NetBlocks, making it the longest state‑level internet shutdown documented anywhere in the world.

Since late February 2026, most Iranians have been cut off from the global internet, with real‑time connectivity reduced to near‑zero levels. Only a small fraction of users can access limited services via VPNs or satellite connections, and most online traffic remains confined to heavily restricted domestic networks.

The shutdown severely restricts access to independent news, communication platforms, and international information, leaving ordinary citizens largely isolated from the wider world.