Earth-Venus-Earth Bounce a First for Netherlands

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Earth-Venus-Earth Bounce a First for Netherlands

A first for a radio telescope in the Netherlands which succeeded in bouncing amateur radio signals off Venus - the latest such achievement by scientists around the world.

Amateur radio signals that were bounced off Venus some 26 million miles away, have returned to Earth where they were picked up by the Dwingeloo Radio Telescope, PI9RD, in the Netherlands, according to news reports on the 25th of March.

The achievement - the second of its kind in Europe - means that amateur radio signals covered a distance that is more than 100 times greater than those that are traveled by Earth-Moon-Earth, or moon-bounce signals.

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Ofcom Proposes Direct Smartphone-Satellite Connections

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Ofcom Proposes Direct Smartphone-Satellite Connections

Smartphone users in the UK could soon be able to connect wirelessly to satellites under a proposal being considered by that nation's regulator.

The UK is poised to have the first European telecommunications system that enables standard smartphones to send and receive signals from space. The system, known as "direct-to-device" technology, connects smartphones wirelessly to satellites. A similar permission was recently authorised in the US by the Federal Co—mmunications Commission.

The UK regulator, Ofcom, is proposing to allocate radio frequencies for use in the UK, especially for rural and other currently underserved communication network areas and is inviting comments from the public until 20th of May. Ofcom believes that this could both facilitate sending texts and internet connections during outages, and that access would be allowed to the mobile airwaves for two-way communications between smartphones and satellite operators' networks. If approved, service could begin to roll out later this year.

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Hams Recognize World Autism Acceptance Week

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World Autism Acceptance Week will take place April 2-8 with an international cohort of amateur radio operators on the air to recognize the event. 2024 saw 17,129 QSOs across 146 countries. Special event stations include:

  • W2A

  • W2A/KL7

  • W2A/KH6

  • GB2AA

  • GB2AAW

  • GB2WAA

  • GB0AAW

  • GB4AAW

  • GB5AAW

  • GB6AAW

  • GB9AAW

  • 8A2AAW

  • 9M4CSI

  • 9A24WAW

  • HI0A

  • S76A

  • VC2AA

  • PA24WAAD

  • PD2024AAW

  • VO1BIG/VE3

  • A60WAAD

  • 7A2M