New Members / HamSCI Activities and Resources
Gary Mikitin, AF8A
HamSCI Community - We picked up just under 100 new names on this list in April/May/June. The following may help the newer members acquaint themselves with HamSCI and its many resources.
Welcome to HamSCI, the Ham radio Science Citizen Investigation. We are a community of many talents and experience levels, all sharing an interest in unlocking the mysteries of the Earth’s ionosphere its influence on radio wave propagation*.
One of HamSCI’s strengths comes from its citizen scientist volunteers, many of whom are licensed ham radio operators. The other strength originates with the researchers, academics and institutions which provide the scientific foundation for HamSCI’s activities. More detail can be found at hamsci.org/about-hamsci
HamSCI offers many opportunities for participation, all of which are described on our website, hamsci.org.
- Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS), a ground-based multi-instrument system capable of measuring various aspects of the space environment. There are many types of instruments under the PSWS umbrella. Some lend themselves to homebrew construction, others are semi-kit-based, and others are still under development. hamsci.org/psws and a brand new Google Group, hamsci-psws
- On-air operating events (for both licensed hams and non-licensed listeners) such as the Meteor Scatter QSO Party: hamsci.org/MSQP or, see past events at hamsci.org/eclipse
- Regular meetings (telecons), open to all who are interested, typically held on Zoom. Some are technical in nature, where hardware and software discussions involving HamSCI’s research are held, other cover operational aspects of HamSCI’s projects, and another has an educational focus, with speakers from within and without the HamSCI Community. hamsci.org/get-involved. (Telecons are recorded and available on HamSCI’s YouTube channel: youtube.com/@hamsci )
- HamSCI’s website is a great resource, especially the Search function. If there’s a topic of interest Search and find everything from peer-reviewed scientific papers to volunteer-authored presentations on citizen scientist experiences. hamsci.org/search
- In-person meetings, such as the annual HamSCI Workshop, the Dayton/Xenia Hamvention, and, in some years, the Orlando Hamcation and the Rocky Mountain National Convention. Throughout the year, HamSCI members meet at scientific conferences, such as AGU and CEDAR. Look for meeting notices in the HamSCI Google Group.
- HamSCI’s quarterly Newsletter has news about past and future HamSCI happenings, such as research projects, in-person meetings and on-air events. Many issues include HamSCI member profiles, stories on tools and techniques used in HamSCI's research work, plus general interest pieces. hamsci.org/newsletter
- Popular press: HamSCI has been the subject of many articles in the ARRL's monthly publication, QST, easily found in the QST archives. In fact, the August, 2025 issue of QST has an 18-page section devoted to HamSCI arrl.org/qst (available to ARRL members only, or perhaps at your local library)
73 (ham radio shorthand for ‘best wishes’),
The HamSCI Community
*For those interested in learning about the topic, consider Here to There: Radio Wave Propagation, a book published by the American Radio Relay League in 2023.