Venus Echoes, 5W to Argentina, and HOAs Still Hating Antennas: Today's Ham & Pirate Radio Digest

Quiet weekend? Not if you count bouncing radio off Venus or a Japanese ham making a 5-watt QRP contact to Argentina with a mobile whip during CQWW. The bands were busy, the dishes were pointed skyward, and the usual suspects were arguing about antennas and rules.

Earth-Venus-Earth: “VENUS ECHO” Actually Worked

Dutch and German amateurs using the big dishes at Dwingeloo and Stockert successfully bounced a signal off Venus and decoded a short message from the return. Distance one way ~42 million km, round-trip light time about five minutes, and they had to average a long stretch of data while carefully correcting Doppler smear from the relative motions.

This is only the third amateur EVE success ever (AMSAT-DL did the first in 2009). They used an M-FSK waveform developed with the Open Research Institute. Smaller stations even had a chance to hear related Moon-bounce tests around the same time.

Why it matters: microwave and deep-space techniques keep getting more accessible to serious amateurs. The raw data is supposed to be released. Check Open Research Institute and the Dwingeloo reports for the details.

Remark: Pointing a 25-metre dish at Venus and extracting a message from the noise is the kind of project that makes ordinary EME look like a warm-up. Respect.

5 Watts, Mobile Whip, Argentina – Japan Style

Japanese operator ひろはる (JJ0TUC / マツモトAB98) worked LP1H in Argentina on 28 MHz SSB with 5 W QRP and a mobile whip antenna from Matsumoto during the CQWW DX SSB contest. He was visibly excited: “Earth’s other side with a mobile whip… I can’t quit amateur radio.”

Why it’s interesting: classic QRP magic on 10 metres during a major contest. Propagation did the heavy lifting, but the operator still had to be there and hear it.

Remark: Every time someone pulls this off, a dozen people immediately say “I should have been on the air.” Classic.

First EME for Club Station BI8AQ

Chinese club station BI8AQ (Longquan Mountain) completed its first successful EME (moonbounce) experiment in the early hours. Photos and video of the setup made the rounds.

Why it’s interesting: more clubs are stepping up to EME. It’s still a significant technical milestone for most stations.

Remark: Congrats to the team. Next stop: Venus?

HOAs vs. the Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act

HOA lobbying groups (Community Associations Institute) held a summit opposing the Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act. They want HOA approval rights over antenna placement preserved. The story circulated via Amateur Radio Daily and was picked up in several digests.

Why it’s interesting: the eternal antenna war continues. Emergency preparedness language keeps running into property-rights arguments.

Remark: Some things never change. The only reliable HOA-approved antenna remains the one you never tell them about.

Pirate Radio Vibes and CQRadio

CQRadio (@CQPirateRadio) has been active, sharing theme songs and inviting people on the mic. Mentions of classic Radio Caroline DJs also floated around. The free-radio aesthetic is alive, even if most of the action is online these days.

Why it’s interesting: the cultural thread from the offshore pirates never fully died.

Remark: Still the most fun way to get in trouble with regulators if you do it the old-fashioned way.

Bonus: License Renewal Payment Failures

Amateur Radio Weekly noted that roughly 1 in 18 hams who start a renewal fail at the payment step (~227 per month, ~4.63%). Not glamorous, but quietly important.

Remark: The most common DX contact some people make is with their own credit card.

What to check out / try

If you have any microwave capability or access to a decent dish, look into the EVE data releases and Open Research Institute materials. On the QRP side, 10 metres is still capable of surprises with a simple whip when the ionosphere cooperates. And if you’re renewing a licence, maybe double-check the payment page.

Stay curious, keep the SWR low, and don’t let the HOA see the ladder.