Today, I managed to make a QSO via a repeater in London (GB3LV) using #Echolink. The repeater is connected to a larger network, and I had a QSO with EA7KNK from Spain. Many repeaters seem to be connected via a wide variety of networks, so you can connect via Echolink and then end up via Allstar in Spain on another repeater or an operator's hotspot in Turkey...
In any case, the first Hamchallenge of the year has been completed HC01S #hamchallenge @hamchallenge

If anyone else is still working on the challenge, I am now QRV on DB0BLO, which can also be reached via Echolink (call for DK4MJ).

I tried some repeaters on Echolink in the last days, but didnt have luck to get someone. Today I called CQ via Echolink and had a nice QSO with Harry G0LHX from England. Well we talked about the weather and exchanged late seasons greetings :) anyway... the challengs is not solved yet. hc01 @hamchallenge #hamchallenge

#hamchallenge week 2 - Make a QSO in a mode you are unfamiliar with!

Try and find an uncommon digital mode or maybe make a CW-QSO on 2 m? Use your imagination and get on the air! https://www.hamchallenge.org/challenges/3/toots #hamradio

@VE6LK last year got the better of me, #hamchallenge was one thing to fall off the list. I'm keen to give it a bit more of a solid go this year.

Working on HC01 already, hopefully make an echolink QSO in the next day or so.

Thanks for letting is know about the #HRWB #hamchallenge discord chat.
@hamchallenge

If you wish to chat with others about #hamchallenge, those folks at Ham Radio Workbench have opened up a channel on their Discord https://discord.gg/CQ44rkWa (thanks @smitty!)

Who else is doing the 52 week ham radio challenge for 2026? https://www.hamchallenge.org/ #hamchallenge

And of course I did a lot of #HamChallenge|s in 2025. If I count correctly, I completed 25 challenges and tried an additional 5 challenges. That was a lot of fun and I learnt and discovered many new things!

@DJ5CW : Thanks again for setting this up!

The #hamchallenge is starting into its second year!

In 2025 we had 70 different participants who submitted 798 toots. The most successful participant was Ian, M0TRT (@ian) who completed 41 challenges!

Thanks to Phil, DL9PK (@phikes) for taking over the organization and operation of the 2026 edition. He rewrote the website, open sourced it (https://github.com/phikes/hamchallenge.org), and collected challenges for the coming year.

Here's to a successful second year, and thanks for all the fun we had in 2025!

last year I ditched the #hamchallenge from my list of things at some time, because of health problems. I am happy there is a @hamchallenge in 2026 again. Lets see how far I get this year 📻

#HamChallenge Week 44: Receive a QRSS signal on the HF bands

Inspired by an article in CQ DL (monthly magazine of DARC) I used now and then the software FSKview to monitor the #QRSS in the #30m band.

I definitely saw some QRSS signals (examples in the pictures below). However I find it very hard to visually decode these signals. I haven't yet decoded a call sign with certainty. Therefore I do not yet claim success for this challenge.

@hamchallenge #HC44 #hamradio #amateurfunk #Amateurfunk

#HamChallenge Week 19: Simulate an antenna!

A while ago I found this interesting antenna design for a 23 cm antenna, that I might built in future: https://bergtag.de/sbw2024_4-1.html

I simulated the antenna using the software MMANA-GAL basic: http://gal-ana.de
The simulation shows that the antenna has a very useful antenna pattern and antenna gain is about 12.0 dBi / 9.8 dBd, so very close to the promised "ca. 10 dB".

@hamchallenge #HC19S #hamradio #amateurradio #amateurfunk

#HamChallenge Week 20: Decode the RTTY transmission of DWD on 10101 kHz

I just decoded this weather report using #fldigi:

GENERAL SYNOPTIC SITUATION:
A LOW 1013 IS MOVING FROM BELARUS TO EASTERN UKRAINE. A
HIGH 1028 OVER THE CZECH REPUBLIC IS MOVING TOWARDS
ROMANIA WHILE WEAKENING. A STEADILY WEAKENING RIDGE WILL
REMAIN OVER SOUTHERN NORWAY. A DEEP LOW 977 WEST-SOUTHWEST
OF IRELAND IS MOVING TO THE CELTIC SEA. A FRONT WILL SHIFT
ACROSS THE ENGLISH CHANNEL TODAY [...]

@hamchallenge #HC20S

Alright, the final #HamChallenge round-up of the year is done - and with it, a retrospective of all the year's ham radio achievements and plans for 2026. It's the Christmas Wrap-up!

https://ianrenton.com/blog/52-week-ham-radio-challenge-roundup-weeks-49-52/

Huge thanks to @DJ5CW, and the other @hamchallenge contributors, I've done so many more fun things this year than I otherwise would have!

#HamChallenge Week 50: Receive an APRS message or beacon

This year I set up a #APRS receiver using my FT-847 connected to my computer running the software packages DireWolf and APRSIS32 and monitored local APRS traffic from time to time. I received some repeaters announcing their frequencies, some hams broadcasting the locations of their cars and a club station promoting the forthcoming club events.

@hamchallenge #HC50S #hamradio #amateurradio #Amateurfunk

For the 52nd challenge, ‘Create an Infographic or Webcomic!’, I will give this a try. #hamchallenge HC52 @hamchallenge

The 52nd and final #HamChallenge of 2025 is to create an infographic or webcomic. I'm not sure if this is really an infographic but for a while I've wanted to do a custom bandplan using https://bandplan.ham.guide/ to use the UK 60m allocation and add some more annotations. Here's the HF version. VHF/UHF one coming soon, along with the final round-up blog post of the year!

@hamchallenge HC52S

#hamchallenge week 52 - the final one for 2025! Create an Infographic or Webcomic (about ham radio)! This may be the most challenging one, but why not give it a try between all the Christmas chores? https://hamchallenge.org/2025/52 #hamradio

Are there any details available yet for the 2026 52 week #HAMChallenge ?
#hamchallenge2025
#hamchallenge2026

#HamChallenge Week 33: Build an antenna and make a contact with it.

Two weeks ago I built a simple delta loop antenna for 144 MHz from about 2 m of wire and a screw terminal to BNC adaptor. I simple hung this contraption with some cords into the window frame and tuned it by twisting the ends of the wire entering the screw terminal. I was able to make 21 contacts in a local VHF contest (Brandenburg-Berlin-Contest) with this antenna.

@hamchallenge #HC33S #hamradio #amateurradio #Amateurfunk

#HamChallenge Week 14: Implement and describe a backup solution for your ham radio log.

I use RumLogNG on macOS, and after filling in the log database I run a shell alias that copies the main database to a file containing today’s date, in my cloud storage folder. It also gets backed up by Time Machine every so often. I also take full ADIF exports regularly, for reading into WSJT-X and various online logbooks.

@hamchallenge #HC14S #hamradio