It’s nearing the time of Churches and Chapels on the Air again! Here in the U.S., Churches and Chapels on the Air (CHOTA) is a fairly new concept. A few years ago, I was fortunate to play a leading role a couple in getting a few operators on this side of the pond to get on the air for this very special event. For over a half century now, it has been led by WACRAL, 

Last week, I taught a one-day Tech Class at DEFCON, arguably the premiere cybersecurity/hacker conference in the U.S. It was my fourth year teaching this class under the auspices of the Ham Radio Village. This year, there were 66 people in the class.

If there’s anything that radio amateurs like to kvetch about it’s licensing. How many license classes should there be? How difficult should the tests be? What kind of privileges should each class get?

Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the debate was incentive licensing. Incentive license was supposed to be an effort to get radio amateurs to upgrade their technical skills. As you progressed up the ladder from Novice to Extra, you received more operating privileges, mainly on the HF bands. In practice, however, it stripped privileges from General Class hams, and so many of them got upset with the ARRL—which backed the program—that I believe it was the start of the ARRL’s demise.

This summer, I have been activating the Iron Belle Trail, US-13184, a lot.  This is a newly-added POTA entity and it runs through Bandemer Park, which is less than a mile from my house as the crow flies, and less than a mile and a half by car. I can be on the air in 20 minutes or less from the time I leave my house.

If you’ve read my blog at all in the past, you know I’m not a fan of David Minster, NA2AA, ARRL’s current CEO. He’s driving down membership, which is now well under 20% of licensed radio amateurs. He’s driving away staffers, too. The latest to go is Steve Goodgame, K5ATA, ARRL’s Education and Learning Manager. In my humble opinion, his tenure has been a disaster.

There is a quiet irony at the heart of amateur radio. Ours is a hobby built on the principle of communication — of reaching out across continents, of connecting with strangers in the ether, of broadcasting our presence to the world. We accept, willingly and openly, that our callsigns are public. Our names and addresses are registered with national regulators. Anyone with internet access and a passing curiosity can look us up. That is the deal we sign when we get our licence, and most of us are perfectly comfortable with it.

But there is a world of difference between information that is publicly available and information that is actively handed to someone without our consent. And that distinction — painfully obvious in law, in ethics, and in plain common sense — appears to be one that our national organisations are struggling to grasp.

Last August, I got an email from Skip, K4EAK. He wrote: I’m a member of an RV club (the Family RV Association) which has an amateur radio chapter. FRVA’s annual convention will be next March in Perry, Georgia, and ARC is going to do a one-day prep session, followed by the Element 2 Tech exam the next morning. We’ll be using your “No Nonsense” guide, encouraging the participants (as you suggest) to read through it several times, take a few practice tests, and then attend the session before taking the exam. We also plan to follow your prep-day schedule and outline of topics.

Recent conflicts in Ukraine and across the Middle East have exposed a recurring and uncomfortable truth: when governments or military actors want to control the narrative, they don’t just shape the message—they switch off the medium. Internet shutdowns, cellular blackouts, and the targeted destruction of communications infrastructure have repeatedly severed citizen journalists from the outside world.

For a generation raised on always-on connectivity, the proposed solution is often more connectivity—satellite internet services such as Starlink. These platforms undeniably provide critical lifelines for journalists and NGOs operating in hostile environments. But from a systems engineering perspective, they introduce a familiar risk: centralisation. No matter how advanced, any network dependent on a relatively small number of ground stations, satellites, or control systems represents a potential single point of failure—whether through technical disruption, regulatory pressure, or direct attack.

Earlier this week, the Dayton Hamvention announced its 2026 award winners. This year’s Technical Achievement Award winner is Bob Famiglio, K3RF. It’s hard to argue with this choice. As the Hamvention press release points out….