Welcome to New Members/Subscribers

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Gary Mikitin, AF8A

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Jan 6, 2026, 8:08:48 PM (5 days ago) Jan 6
to HamSCI

Hello HamSCI - We’ve had 68 people join this group in the last calendar quarter.  Some may not be aware of all of HamSCI’s moving parts, so here is a brief primer on our activities.


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. A few highlights:

  • 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
  • On-air operating events (for both licensed hams and non-licensed listeners) such as the Meteor Scatter QSO Party,  hamsci.org/MSQP (while the 2025 events are past us, there’s a good chance we’ll continue this event in 2026) 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 inside and outside the HamSCI Community.  hamsci.org/get-involved. (Telecons are recorded and available on HamSCI’s YouTube channel: youtube.com/@hamsci ).  (Some of the telecons are currently on ‘winter break’, but by the end of January, all will have restarted.)
  • 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
  • In-person gatherings, such as the annual HamSCI Workshop coming up in March, the Orlando HamCation in February, and the Dayton/Xenia Hamvention in May.  Throughout the year, HamSCI members meet at scientific conferences, such as AGU and CEDAR.  Look for meeting notices here in the HamSCI Google Group.
  • 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


73 (ham radio shorthand for ‘best wishes’),


The HamSCI Community

ham...@hamsci.org


*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.


George Thomas

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Jan 8, 2026, 9:50:58 AM (4 days ago) Jan 8
to HamSCI
Is setting up a WSPR beacon a good way for new comers to participate. Is data from WSPR reporting actively used in the group's research? 

Dr. Nathaniel A. Frissell Ph.D.

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Jan 8, 2026, 10:51:33 AM (4 days ago) Jan 8
to ham...@googlegroups.com

Hi George,

 

I would recommend a WSPRDaemon receiver as the best way to start contributing. This will collect multiple types of data, including WSPR, FT8, and HF Doppler. You can also use it as a general coverage HF SDR receiver. We are currently drafting new documentation on how to set this up here: https://github.com/HamSCI/PSWS_Documentation/wiki/HF-wsprdaemon-Receiver

 

Yes, we do actively use WSPR data in our research with quite a few publications making use of it, including. You can read a recent review of this here: https://doi.org/10.3389/fspas.2023.1184171

 

73 de Nathaniel W2NAF

 

---------------------

Nathaniel A. Frissell, Ph.D., W2NAF

Associate Professor

Department of Physics and Engineering

University of Scranton

HamSCI Lead

 

 

From: ham...@googlegroups.com <ham...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of George Thomas
Sent: Thursday, January 8, 2026 9:51 AM
To: HamSCI <ham...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [HamSCI] Re: Welcome to New Members/Subscribers

 

WARNING: This message originated from a source outside of the university.

 

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