Open HamClock Backend - Another HamClock Server Option

Udo Koch, N0LSR has great support for the Inovato Quadra and is marketing the same hardware as Inovata has stopped its sales due to health issues.  At https://www.n0lsr.com/, Udo discusses the future of Hamclock and gives a rundown of the currently three dominant Hamclock related projects: Classic HamClock, Open HamClock Backend (OHB) which Udo supports, and Open HamClock, a browser-based site (that offers an alternative presentation to the traditional HamClock theme.

Classic HamClock : This project is the product of Bruce Edrich, W4BAE and his team of volunteers.  I've profiled the Classic Hamclock backend extensively in my Feb. 25-26 posts and had been running that backend version for a few days.  The current version is still being tweaked (as are all of the projects) and I like it.  However, RandomWire states "that there are a lot of reports that devices are locking up and will require a full factory reset to come back.  I therefore caution not to use the hamclock.com server solution and rather go with OHB" (see below).

Open HamClock Backend (OHB): OHB is from the efforts of Brian Wilkins, KO4AQF and his team.  Based on Udo's suggestions, I'm now trying that backend and I have to say that I really like the map renderings.  The only issue I've found so far is that the VOACAP window (as opposed to the VOACAP related maps) does not seem to populate for the moment, but this may simply be a current propagation issue.  According to Udo, the OHB server has the advantage of being open sourced and not being centrally based.  OHB pulls data in directly from the sources.  Udo provides detailed OHB changeover instructions at: https://www.n0lsr.com/tipsandtricks.  RandomWire also opines that OHB is the most stable and advanced solution and is ready for prime time.  

Open HamClock (OHC); I've run the third option, Open HamClock for a couple of weeks.  This option is browser based and should not be confused with Open HamClock Backend (OHB).  I like the information it provides, but have issues in trying to customize it to my liking.  It also radically differs from the traditional HamClock theme which I actually prefer.

How to Set Up Your First Flight Simulator At Home

What works and what to skip when it comes to buying your first flight sim

Some students arrive at their first flight lesson surprisingly comfortable in a cockpit. 

They understand the purpose of most instruments and generally know what most of the various knobs and switches do. They already have some rudimentary flows. Their eyes naturally scan the instruments in a familiar rhythm. 

You can tell they’ve spent time in a home simulator.

However, once they take to the air for the first time, it is not hard to distinguish between those who have only flight simulator software and a joystick and those who have a more realistic setup. Some do well while others struggle as they get used to the feel of real controls, refine their rudder coordination skills, and attempt to tune radios and VORs without the option of hitting a “pause” button. 

The difference is not how much time they spent in the sim. It’s what they used, and how they used it.

Home simulators can be excellent tools, but they can reinforce good habits or train bad ones. They can accelerate learning or slow a student down.

With the right hardware, even a modest home setup can provide real value. With the wrong hardware, all you may be building is muscle memory for mistakes. You don’t need to spend a fortune, but not all budget gear is created equal.

Here’s what’s worth your money—and what isn’t:

How to Update the Inovato Quadra to the Classic HamClock Backend

Here's a great video and instructions from Don, W8CPT on updating the Inovato Quadra to the Classic HamClock backend (as discussed in yesterday's (February 25) post).

The written instructions mentioned on hamclock.com, follow Don's video.

 

 

1.  Exit HamClock, then click on the terminal icon at the bottom of the screen.

2.  Type the following command and press Enter: sudo nano /etc/hosts

3.  If asked for a password, the default Quadra password is 1n0v@t0 — note that both characters that look like the letter O are zeros. The password won't show up as you type it — that's normal, just type it and press Enter.

4.  Use the arrow keys to move to the bottom of the file and add this line:  

3.128.20.228    clearskyinstitute.com

5.  Press Ctrl+O (that's the letter O, not zero) to save the file, then press Enter to confirm.

6.  Press Ctrl+X to exit nano.

7.  Type exit and press Enter to close the terminal, then restart HamClock.

Instructions to update the backend to yet another HamClock project, Open HamClock Backend, will follow in a couple of days 

New Backend HamClock Server Available

The first known community backend server for HamClock is now available for all HamClock users. The project, hamclock.com, is free for anyone to use and will keep existing HamClock installs running indefinitely.

Major work includes: rewriting the VOACAP propagation engine with cubic interpolation, building weather pressure maps in both millibar and inHg units at five resolutions, adding aurora map generation, real-time PSK Reporter spot data, Kp index from NOAA SWPC, overhauling satellite TLE tracking, and hardening the entire server for production use serving 1,600+ HamClocks.

With the passing of HamClock creator Elwood Downey (WB0OEW) on January 29 of this year, HamClock will stop working in June unless users point their installations to a new backend service. Updating existing HamClock installations is a relatively simple task. Users several options, including updating their hosts file, or updating the command used to start HamClock. Both require only simple text changes.  Full instructions are on hamclock.com.

Hamclock.com is run by Bruce Edrich (W4BAE), to whom, along with his team of contributors, the ham community owes a huge debt of gratitude.

In Bruce's words:

FCC Fines Radio Pirate $2,391,097

On January 22, 2026, the FCC released its annual report on the implementation of the PIRATE Act on broadcasting on FM and AM or adjacent bands.

Historically, the fight against pirate radios has proved to be tough because of the lack of repression capacity. For the past 5 years, pirate hunting has become a priority. Authorities have become aware of the danger to the public of such broadcasts as they can disrupt authorized stations that broadcast important public safety emergency alert messages.

The PIRATE Act increases the maximum penalties for operators of pirate radios and gives the FCC increased control over the owners and managers who allow the broadcast of pirate radio from their premises.

The FCC is conducting targeted checks and lawsuits against station owners as well as broadcasting site providers.

The amount of the fine is calculated based on the number of months the station aired.

Here's a partial list of the pirates walking the plank:

New Seasonal Landing Record - On Ice!

The ice runway at Alton Bay Seaplane Base (B18) on New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee has set a new seasonal landing record.

Last Monday, 42 aircraft touched down on the frozen surface, bringing the season’s total to 774—surpassing the previous record of 764 set in 2025.

First established in the 1960s, the runway has long been a cherished—if sometimes unpredictable—winter tradition. Warm spells forced cancellations in 2023 and 2024.

WQ2XDM - New US Experimental Callsign For Radio Propagation Tests At 40 MHz & 70 MHz

John, EI7GL reports on interesting experimentation to be conducted by John, K9JMS in the 40 MHz (8m) and 70 MHz (4m) bands under a new individual experimental license issued by the FCC.

John, K9JMS recently received permission from the FCC to carry out propagation tests at 40 MHz (8m) and 70 MHz (4m) and he was granted the callsign WQ2XDM for a period of two years.

Note that this is NOT an amateur radio licence and no two way communications are allowed. Its purpose is strictly for "scientific and engineering-based propagation research".

The 40 MHz and 70 MHz bands are NOT amateur radio bands in the United States and this is a case of someone getting a permit to make narrow band digital transmissions and seeing if the signals are heard. 

John describes it as follows... "WQ2XDM Propagation Research - Florida-based experimental station studying low-VHF propagation on the 4 meter (70 MHz) and 8 meter (40 MHz) bands using weak-signal digital modes including WSPR and FT8."

The licence has the following conditions attached...

Best Propagation Tools

A new video by DX Engineering illustrates some of the best propagation tools  presently available to radio amateurs.  I use a few of them and look forward to exploring all of them.  Good stuff!

The Radio That Started it All For Me

This is a repost of my 11/6/2025 post regarding |the radio that started it all" for me.  While the original is long gone, I would dearly love to have another one in my ham shack.  Who knows, maybe the original will turn up!  One can only hope.  If you get a lead on one of these, please let me know!

When I was in my teens, my parents got me a Globe Electronics 65-320 short wave receiver for Christmas. For a kid into radio, this was like finding a Tesla Roadster under the tree. This was the radio that started it all for me. The rest is history.

These receivers are quite rare now...and they're not known for their selectivity or sensitivity. Nevertheless, this was special - my first radio. Just thinking about it still gets my blood pumping...just like Ralphie and his Red Ryder BB gun ("You'll shoot yer eye out, kid"). This radio was an example of the "All American Five"..using a complement of five tubes: 3BW4, 50C5, 12AVG, 12BA6 and a 12BE6.  

From the owner's manual:

"Your world wide Globe 'Ceiver is designed to bring you the finest in all-band radio reception. It's latest superheterodyne circuit will tune from 500 kilocycles to 30 Megacycles to bring you countless shortwave stations as well as standard broadcast programs. You will hear foreign and domestic broadcasts, ships at sea, police, amateurs and aircraft. A special CB band allows you to hear local two-way radio communications between homes, cars and trucks.Included in your receiver are such special features as a built-in , sensitive ferrite loop antenna for clear, broadcast band reception...a collapsible whip antenna for shortwave reception...an electrical Bandspread control for separating closely spaced amateur and shortwave stations...a BFO for CW reception...a headphone jack...a switch that permits you to silence the receiver without turning it off. All of these combined features will give you many hours of "World-Wide" listening pleasure."

Amateur Astronomers Detect Signal From Voyager 1 Spacecraft, 15 Billion Miles Away

 

Amateur astronomers using the Dwingeloo Radio Observatory in the northeastern Netherlands have picked up a signal from NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft, over 25 billion kilometers (15 billion miles) away.

The Voyager probes, launched in 1977, have performed spectacularly well over nearly half a century, flying past various planetary bodies and studying them before continuing to the outer reaches of the Solar System. Voyager 1, the first of the two probes to launch, is now 171 astronomical units (AU) from Earth, where 1 AU is the average distance from Earth to the Sun. 

On November 13 of this year, Voyager 1 is expected to hit a new landmark for humanity; the first time a human-made object has reached a full light day from Earth. When that happens, it will never be possible to communicate with the probe from Earth without factoring a full day's travel time for the signal.

While a resounding success, the probes are starting to show some signs of wear and tear. A diminishing fuel supply has taken its toll, forcing NASA to shut down scientific instruments to keep the rest of the craft running. There have also been several glitches, with Voyager 1 sending back a garbled pattern of zeros and ones for a time due to corrupted memory, then shutting down its main transmitter entirely. The latter problem was solved in October 2024 by switching temporarily to a transmitter not used since 1981. Since then, communication with the aging spacecraft has been steady, with NASA's Deep Space Network regularly receiving data from both probes. It's no easy feat, given the distances involved.

"When An App Outlives Its Creator"

The following edited article by Peter Vogel, VE7AFV appeared in The B.C. Catholic, a publication of the Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada.  For me, this article was timely and poignant and exactly summed up my feelings.  

While I greatly appreciate the hard work now underway by several teams in creating a "competing" HamClock-like resources, I especially appreciate the efforts of the team working to keep the vision of HamClock alive as it was originally envisioned by Elwood Downey, WB0OEW (SK).

OpenClaw, Clawdbots, Moltbots, Moltbooks, Claude Code, GPT 5.3, Grok Imagine, Opus 4.6, agentic AI, AGI, ASI … so much for tech terms in the news as I write this column.

Do you ever get the feeling that you can’t keep up with the breakneck speed of technological evolution? “Evolution” doesn’t even seem an appropriate word for the circumstances.

In recent days, one of my niche areas of interest, amateur radio, lost an innovator, Elwood Downey, who created and operated a widely used application called HamClock. Although it had started life as just that, a clock display with various time formats radio people use, it had morphed over time into a very sophisticated interface giving tremendous detail about radio signal propagation and space weather metrics.

Those in the amateur radio field learned of his passing through a note he left on his website and through an auto-response email. Not only did it announce his passing, but it noted his HamClock service would cease to run in June of this year.

Now you might think programs don’t just cease to work spontaneously. Well, in this case, HamClock was heavily dependent on what we call a server backend, with associated internet domain names. It will indeed cease to function.

Scientists Detect a Magnetic Reversal Near Earth

Scientists have discovered an unexpected event happening in Earth’s magnetic field — a sudden flip in magnetic direction called a “switchback.” 

Until now, these strange magnetic twists were mainly seen far away in the flowing solar wind. This is the first time one has been detected so close, inside Earth’s own magnetic surroundings.

A magnetic switchback happens when magnetic field lines suddenly bend and briefly turn the opposite way, almost like a river that reverses its flow for a moment. This shows that Earth’s magnetic shield is not always calm and steady. Instead, it can act in a restless, turbulent way, changing in just a few seconds.

This discovery is important because it could help scientists better understand space weather and how it affects our technology. Learning more about these magnetic changes may improve forecasts that protect satellites, power systems on Earth, and astronauts in space. It also reveals that Earth’s magnetic field is more active and complex than previously thought.

"Aliens? Nope!"

On the heels of yesterday's post, "Aliens? Where?" comes the late Richard Feynman, explaining why aliens have not, cannot and will not reach earth. Whatever your position on the subject is, you have to admit that Dr. Feynman's comments on the nature and limitations of the universe would seem to put the matter to bed.

    

 Another Feynman video, "Aliens Will NEVER Arrive: The Feynman Reality Check" explains further:

"Aliens? Where?"

Here's an interesting discussion from Rick Donaldson, N0NJY (Ham Radio For Preppers) on the evidence - or lack thereof - of whether we are alone.  (For the record, during my flying days, I never spotted a UFO, but I have to admit, I've been one on occasion.  But I digress.)

Some decades ago when I was a young fella, I got involved in reading about UFOs in general, because I read a book called “The Interrupted Journey” by John Fuller. It was the story of Betty and Barney Hill of Portsmouth, NH, who were driving home from Canada on the night of 9/19/1961, when they sighted a “flying saucer”. The encounter left them shaken. The book left me curious. As a young lad I’d already begun the study of various sciences, including, but not limited to astronomy. The book made me question the idea we “are alone” out here in the Galaxy.

Hams To Mark 96th Anniversary of Pluto's Discovery

Do you want to come visit Pluto? It doesn't involve space travel - it just means you're committed to helping mark yet another anniversary of its discovery.

Just to be clear, we're talking about this guy...

...not this guy:

NASA selects 34 global volunteers to track the Orion spacecraft during the crewed Artemis II mission’s journey around the Moon

The Artemis II test flight will launch NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, carrying the Orion spacecraft and a crew of four astronauts, on a mission into deep space. The agency’s second mission in the Artemis campaign is a key step in NASA’s path toward establishing a long-term presence at the Moon and confirming the systems needed to support future lunar surface exploration and paving the way for the first crewed mission to Mars.

While NASA’s Near Space Network and Deep Space Network, coordinated by the agency’s SCaN (Space Communication and Navigation) program , will provide primary communications and tracking services to support Orion’s launch, journey around the Moon, and return to Earth, participants selected from a request for proposals published in August 2025, comprised of established commercial service providers, members of academia, and individual amateur radio enthusiasts will use their respective equipment to passively track radio waves transmitted by Orion during its approximately 10-day journey.

Saving HamClock

Keith Maton, G6NHU is the owner behind the G6NHU dxspider DX cluster which is specifically fine tuned to work well with HamClock.  In the past, Keith was instrumental in helping me configure the dx cluster in my own HamClock, and I'm grateful and appreciative of his knowledge.  

With the pending June 2026 demise of HamClock (see my 1/30/26 post, "The End of HamClock: RIP WB0OEW") due to the untimely recent passing of its creator, Elwood Downey WB0OEW, efforts are underway in the ham community to recreate the backend server which powers the informational content carried by Hamclock.  Keith specifically notes:

"I fully support Brian Wilkins (KO4AQF) with his work to reverse engineer the output from the HamClock server. I think this is the best method to try and keep HamClock functioning past June. If we can build another source for the data and replicate that at multiple places around the world we can be sure we won’t end up in this situation again.

https://github.com/BrianWilkinsFL/open-hamclock-backend

If you’re able to help with this project, or know anyone who can assist, please contact Brian directly.

Thank you."

I want to add that Austin Parsons, KN4LNB is also involved with the backend project.  I wish I had the knowledge and skills to help out with this project, but unfortunately I don't.  As it is, the ham community should be very grateful for the efforts of guys like Brian, Austin and Keith who care enough to save HamClock.

Brian stated: 

Mason Matrazzo KM4SII, radio science and engineering research competition winner

I'm particularly proud to highlight Mason Matrazzo, KM4SII, who in addition to being a noted ham radio operator and DX'er in his own right, is the grandson of Dan and Marlo Matrazzo.  (Marlo is my wife Jane's lifelong friend from childhood.)  

Mason is a first-year PhD student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), and is is the first Auburn University student to win the Ernest K. Smith Student Paper Competition.  Needless to say, we are all pretty proud of Mason!

Part of the National Radio Science Meeting, the competition was held Jan. 6–9 in Boulder, Colorado. The meeting was co-sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Antennas and Propagation Society and the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and organized by the U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Radio Science.

Mason's study, “Parametric Modeling and Analysis of Lightning Sferic Waveforms for D-Region Remote Sensing,” demonstrated how radio waves generated by lightning can be used to track changes in the lowest region of the ionosphere — a layer of the atmosphere that affects long-distance communication.

This work could help scientists better determine ​the way the ionosphere varies over time and space, enhancing the understanding and prediction of how critical communication systems are affected by changes, including space weather events such as solar flares.

They That Go Down To The Sea

Sadly, the fishing town of Gloucester, Massachusetts lost another trawler this past week 20 miles offshore. It has been reported that seven souls were on board with one body having been recovered as of this writing.  

The Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial commemorates the thousands of fishermen lost at sea in the first three centuries of Gloucester's history.  It has become a symbol of the Gloucester since it was cast in 1925.  It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

One of the crew was 22-year-old Jada Samitt.  According to Jon Cunningham, K1TP, of neighboring Rockport and creator of As The World Turns, a popular ham blog, Jada's family stated that she moved from Virginia to MA to study environmental biology.  Being on the crew was her first big job at sea and was "her dream".  

Jada Samitt, 22

The Lily Jean, its captain, Gus Sanfilippo, and his crew were featured in a 2012 episode of the History Channel show “Nor’Easter Men.” Sanfilippo is described as a fifth-generation commercial fisherman, fishing out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, in the Georges Bank. The crew is shown working in dangerous weather conditions for hours on end, spending as many as 10 days at sea on one trip fishing for haddock, lobster and flounder.  

May God bless Jada, Gus, and his crew and comfort their families.

84th Anniversary of the Marine 9th Defense Battalion

Today, February 1, marks the 84th anniversary of my father's unit, the Marine 9th Defense Battalion, the "Fighting Ninth".  Formed in 1942, the Battalion earned a Presidential Unit Citation for their action on Guadalcanal.  Guadalcanal is considered the turning point in the World War II Pacific Theater as it marked the first major American offensive against Japan, halted Japanese expansion and shifted the strategic initiative to the Allies.  The victory laid the groundwork for subsequent Allied successes in the Pacific and also prevented the Japanese invasion of Australia.  I am immensely proud of my father and his fellow Marines.

Uncommon valor was a common virtue.

Semper Fidelis

Turning Lead Into Gold

 

Physicists trying to recreate conditions just after the Big Bang have accidentally done something once thought impossible: they turned lead into gold.

The discovery happened at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland during experiments by the ALICE team. Scientists were smashing lead atoms together at nearly the speed of light to study how matter behaves under extreme energy and heat.

During these experiments, some lead atoms passed very close to each other without fully colliding. These “near-miss” encounters created powerful electromagnetic fields that knocked protons out of the lead atoms. 

Since lead has three more protons than gold, removing exactly three protons caused the remaining nucleus to briefly become gold.

The amount of gold produced was incredibly tiny. Scientists estimate a total of about 29 trillionths of a gram, with roughly 89,000 gold atoms forming per second during collisions. 

The gold couldn’t be seen directly, but researchers detected the released protons using special instruments, confirming the transformation. Small traces of thallium and mercury were also formed when fewer protons were removed.

CERN scientists say the finding has no commercial value—the gold produced is trillions of times too small to be useful—but it is scientifically important. 

Understanding these atomic changes helps physicists better analyze collider data and design future experiments to explore the fundamental nature of matter.