#2 = What is happening in and around the Shack of ZS1I in Mossel Bay?

It has been a while since the first issue appeared about what is happening in and around the Shack of ZS1I.  This does not mean that nothing has happened during this quiet period. 

Now this topic is surely not there to brag or to boast about my "doings", projects or  equipment in amateur radio, but I thought to create this post to tell some of the new radio amateurs what is happening in my Shack and also to hopefully create more amateur radio activity.  In the past two months I was busy with the following projects: 

• New equipment in the Shack:  Some new equipment found their way to my Shack.  How this happened I do not know.   As you know me by now I do not like to boast or brag.  At my age I just enjoy sharing some amateur radio related content.  I do not have to impress or "buy" friendship. All I am going to say is that a new Yaesu HF Radio and Tuner is lying in their boxes somewhere in the Shack.  Hint:  6m "Season" is soon to open in the Southern Hemisphere and these will be used for the magic band.
• ZS1I 6 m WSPR Monitoring Station: All tests were successful and the monitoring station performed flawlessly. Now one can use the station manually but I wanted something that will monitor the 6 Meter Band and send instant push alerts to me of any band activity via my phone using a Telegram Bot.  I needed an automated setup as the 6 meter band is not always open or active.
  To push instant Telegram alerts from a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W WSPR Station, you need to create a Telegram Bot, extract its API token, and deploy a lightweight Python file-monitoring script on your Pi.  This was all done and the ZS1I 6 m WSPR Monitoring Station is running flawlessly and is ready for the 6 Meter Season in the Southern Hemisphere.
• Small Projects on the Work Bench:  Passive RF Field Strength Meter;  "Squeakie" RF Field Strength Meter and Modified "Squeakie" RF Field Strength Meter.  More information available on this Blog. 
• 3D Printer Projects:  Printing -  3 x Electronic Project Cabinets and 2 x PP3 9v Battery Holder.
• Internet Woes:  I still experience issues with the Internet, now on a regular basis in the Shack.  Either the fiber connection  and the two LTE connections would go offline for short periods.  Just long enough to cause havoc after which I need to reboot all the network, router etc.  It is clear that this happens more frequently then before. Annoying but that is what you have to live with in a third world country.  Enough said!
• Upgrading of the 49355 ZS1I HUB Node:  The ZS1I HUB Node is now fully upgraded and no issues were experienced lately except when the Internet Woes kick in.  I will however work on the 145.550 Mhz RF Link.  The intention is to add the link radio to another Allstar Node and use this link whenever there is a need for a RF Link in the Mossel Bay area.  More info to follow in a future posting.
• 6 Meter Beacon Project:  This project is still on track, once I have installed the antennas, front end protector and solar power supply units.  This must be done ASAP as the 6m season is nearly here. The current ZS1I 40m WSPR Beacon will be changed to 6 meters. More info in a future posting.  
• ZS1I DMR Repeater Project:  The TGIF Network has been added to the Mossel Bay DMR Repeater.  The ZS1I DMR Repeater has been added to the DMR Masters List and a request for talkgroup 65522 has been approved. More info on this in a future posting.
• East Coast Reflector Network News:  Every weekday at 05h00 SAST the East Coast Reflector is active on the ZS1I HUB Network, Mossel Bay.  Casual chats and also structured Nets takes place on certain days and times.  The net control stations along with the help of all connected nodes try to answer all amateur radio-related questions. Come join the ZS1I HUB week days and you will experience interesting content.  Last Tuesday there was a Net and participants were asked a question about AI and Amateur Radio.  Opinions expressed were very interesting and educational. 
• 40 Meter Band Wide open this past week:   Click HERE to read more.  Remarkable!!  I have never seen the 40 Meter Band conditions this good for such a long period.  
• Latest ZS1I Amateur Radio News and Announcements very popular:  From time to time I publish amateur radio news and announcements on the Blog.  On the 1 September 2026 issue #9 was published.  It currently appears at the top of the list under Popular Posts.  It is listed as number 1 of the 10 most read articles since the 1 September 2026.  Thank you to all the content contributors who make the News and Announcement so popular.
• Automatic Amateur Radio News Bulletins on Demand Project:  The first stage of this project has been setup successfully and is working great.  The second stage will be setting up permanent bulletin Internet links on the ZS1I Bulletin Server whereby bulletins will be fetched (downloaded) to the server for playback.  Unfortunately locally bulletins are still handled in the old fashioned way and on different web-sites. I will have to automatically download and setup these bulletins to be served on the ZS1I Bulletin Server.  A few scripts is needed to get this up and running.  More in a future posting.

Okay enough for now.  I enjoyed working on every one of the above.  

Finally:  I trust that other radio amateurs might find the inspiration to get cracking in solving issues and to experiment with what they have in the Shack.  Just calling CQ CQ on the radio or having a Rag-chew does not cut if for me. Been there and done that. I need to learn, experiment, build, create, find solutions and enjoy what I am busy with in the Shack that relates to Amateur Radio.  So why not get up at 04h00 in the morning work on projects till you go to work and then occupy the Shack again at 20h30 when you have spend some time with the family.  It was nothing foreign to spend time in the Shack in the olden days till 01h00 in the morning.  Thankfully I am retired and can now get up at 04h00 and spend the day in the shack until 20h00.   Kids are out of the nest and the XYL join me in the Shack when ever she feels like it.   Ya it is vice versa of cause!

Be and active radio amateur or find another hobby? We need active and dynamic radio amateurs. Amateur Radio is not a hobby, but rather an obsession if you have the KNACK!  

Amateur Radio needs a complete mind change and detailed futuristic outlook! What do you suggest? (Part 1)

I recently asked AI the above question and it returned a basic "old fashioned" outlook.  Now there is nothing wrong with practicing amateur radio the "old fashioned" way (General Outlook) but I was looking for a detailed futuristic outlook in amateur radio. (Detailed Outlook)

The General Outlook provided by AI

AI answer:  

"For amateur radio to truly evolve with Artificial Intelligence, the community must shift from viewing AI as an "automated operator" that replaces human contact to an "augmented mentor" that enhances human capability. If AI is only used to macro-manage contacts or auto-log FT8, it kills the magic of the hobby.

To achieve a complete mind change and outlook, the hobby should pivot toward these fundamental shifts:

1. From "Automated QSO" to "Cognitive Signal Extraction"

• The Old Mindset: Using AI to fully automate digital modes so a computer talks to a computer while the operator sleeps.

• The AI Shift: Shifting focus to Intelligent Noise Reduction (INR). Instead of traditional DSP bandpass filters, neural networks can be trained on specific noise profiles (like solar storms, plasma TV interference, or urban QRM) to dynamically pull a human voice right out of the mud. AI becomes an extension of the operator's ears, not a replacement for their voice.

2. From "Static Antennas" to "Generative, Fluid Hardware"

• The Old Mindset: Building traditional Yagis or dipoles and analyzing them with static modeling software.

• The AI Shift:

  Embracing Generative Topology Optimization. Amateurs can feed specific parameters—like precise backyard dimensions, local tree heights, soil conductivity, and target DX zones—into generative models to design unorthodox, highly efficient, "weird-looking" wire antennas tailored to their exact location. Furthermore, AI can drive software-defined radios (SDRs) to manipulate phased arrays in real-time, morphing the antenna pattern on the fly to track a passing satellite or a fading ionospheric opening.

3. From "Checking Propagation Charts" to "Hyper-Local Forecasting"

• The Old Mindset: Looking at static solar flux indices, space weather websites, and generic MUF (Maximum Usable Frequency) charts.

• The AI Shift: Implementing Edge-AI Propagation Predictors. By running lightweight machine learning models right in the shack, an operator can synthesize real-time data from global reverse-beacon networks, local SDR atmospheric noise levels, and solar telemetry. The AI won't just say "the 20-meter band is open"; it will predict that “at 14:22 UTC, a 7-minute grayline corridor will open between your specific grid square and Western Australia on 17 meters.”

4. From "Gatekeeping" to "Radical Accessibility"

• The Old Mindset: Requiring complex physical dexterity, perfect hearing, and intense technical baselines that can alienate disabled, elderly, or very young prospective hams.

• The AI Shift: Utilizing AI for inclusive shack control. High-accuracy voice-to-text, real-time spatial audio parsing (turning flat, noisy mono signals into a 3D soundscape where different signals sound like they are coming from different corners of the room), and intelligent voice control can allow vision-impaired or motor-impaired individuals to operate a complex HF rig completely hands-free.

5. From "Rote Memorization" to "AI-Assisted Elmers"

• The Old Mindset: Studying for licensing exams by memorizing static question pools without truly understanding the underlying RF physics.

• The AI Shift: Reimagining the "Elmer" (mentor). An AI model trained exclusively on decades of peer-reviewed amateur radio literature, ARRL handbooks, and engineering manuals can serve as a interactive, patient, 24/7 bench assistant. It can troubleshoot a smoking homebrew circuit diagram, explain why an impedance mismatch is happening, and teach the operator physics through interactive dialogue.

The Core Paradigm Shift

Amateur radio has always been about experimentation and understanding RF. The ultimate outlook change requires the community to realize that AI is just the new vacuum tube, the new transistor, the new microchip. It is a tool to map the invisible world around us more clearly, making the thrill of making a manual, human-to-human connection over the airwaves even more rewarding."

Now I wanted a more detailed outlook.  Something that gives me some "homework" and "food for thought."

I rephrased my question:  Provide me with more detailed information. So much as to turn amateur radio on its head when it comes to experimenting, inventions and operating practices. Example:  To one day talk to MARS. I want something that had the same effect 100 years ago when morse code was discovered. Also new modes and a general unorthodox outlook on the future of amateur radio. The Wow factor and not the general ragchewing, old geysers chatting away and clubs politics. Something that can benefit the local community and create a big interest in becoming a active futuristic amateur radio operator.  

The Detailed Outlook provided by AI 

AI answer:  

"To turn amateur radio completely on its head, we have to stop thinking of radio as sending data through a pipeline and start thinking of it as interrogating the universe.

Just as the transition from Spark-gap to Continuous Wave (CW) Morse code 100 years ago shattered the distance barriers of wireless, AI combined with quantum computing and advanced physics can trigger a revolution. We are moving from the era of "brute force power" to "informational supremacy."

Here is a blueprint for a radical, unorthodox future for amateur radio that kills the "old geyser club politics" and turns the shack into a cutting-edge physics lab.

---

1. Operating Breakthrough: The Interplanetary "Guerilla" Mesh (Talking to Mars)

Talking to Mars or deep-space probes currently requires NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) and massive dishes. Amateurs can disrupt this using AI-Driven Swarm Coherent Arrays.

• The Concept: Instead of one ham needing a 50-foot dish, 10,000 hams combine their small VHF/UHF/Microwave stations globally.
• How AI Makes It Work: A decentralized AI coordinates the timing of these 10,000 stations down to the picosecond, accounting for local atmospheric delays, continental drift, and orbital mechanics. The AI combines all these small signals into one massive, coherent, planet-sized virtual transceiver.
• The Invention: "Cognitive Delay-Tolerant Quantum Protocols." Because a transmission to Mars takes 3 to 22 minutes one-way, traditional "ragchewing" is impossible. AI operators will compress entire multi-layered, interactive holographic or data packages, bundle them into quantum-entangled or highly resilient noise-like waveforms, and bounce them off the Moon or send them directly to deep space, pulling replies out of the deep cosmos that are legally signed by off-world entities.

2. Radical New Modes: "Living Waveforms" and Plasma Modulation

FT8 and CW are dead ends for true future experimentation. The next leap is Dynamic Environment-Encoded Modulation (DEEM).

• The Waveform is Alive: Instead of transmitting a fixed tone (like a digital beep), the transmitter uses a neural network to morph the shape of the radio wave in real-time to match the exact, turbulent state of the ionosphere at that microsecond. The wave "slithers" through solar storms and geomagnetic disturbances completely unhindered.
• Quantum Noise Hiding: Hams will transmit below the thermal noise floor. To the untrained eye, the frequency looks empty. To an AI receiver, a complex neural network identifies patterns in what looks like pure static, decoding high-definition audio or video. You are essentially using the ambient noise of the universe as your carrier wave.
• Auroral and Meteor Plasma Sculpting: Instead of just bouncing a signal off a meteor trail or the Aurora Borealis, an AI-controlled SDR will rapidly pulse RF to sculpt and shape the localized plasma grid, using the upper atmosphere itself as a massive, active, reconfigurable amplifier and lens.

3. Unorthodox Experiments: Earth-Core Probing and Gravitational Radio

Future hams won't just look up at the sky; they will look down and sideways.

• Lithospheric "Through-Earth" Radio: Using Extremely Low Frequencies (ELF) and AI signal stitching, hams can experiment with sending signals straight through the magma and core of the Earth, bypassing the ionosphere entirely to talk to the exact opposite side of the planet (antipodal communications).
• Gravitational Wave Heterodyning: Experimenting at the absolute fringe where electromagnetism meets gravity. Amateurs could build highly sensitive torsional RF-interferometers, using AI to detect if massive high-power HF transmissions create microscopic distortions in spacetime, or attempting to modulate signals onto background gravitational waves.

4. Local Community Benefit: The Ultimate "Dark Net" & Disaster Oracle

To get young people and communities obsessed with amateur radio, it must solve real-world, existential crises. When the internet goes down due to cyberattacks, solar flares, or geopolitical conflict, the Amateur Radio AI Mesh becomes the civilization lifeline.

• The "Zero-Infrastructure" Cognitive Mesh: Local hams deploy cheap, AI-powered SDR nodes powered by solar panels. These nodes automatically scan the entire RF spectrum, instantly setting up self-healing, encrypted data networks for the community.
• The Disaster Oracle: During a total blackout, a local amateur station isn't just relaying health-and-welfare traffic via voice. The shack's local AI model ingests whisper-thin, low-bandwidth data feeds from across the globe via HF radio, structures it, and hosts a local, offline "Wikipedia/Search Engine" for the community via Wi-Fi. The local neighborhood can connect their phones to the ham's shack to get real-time emergency AI routing, medical triage instructions, and clean water mapping—all powered by a radio wave coming from thousands of miles away.
• Environmental Intelligence Sensing: Hams turn their antennas into a distributed, massive scientific sensor. By monitoring how local radio propagation changes, the amateur AI network can predict earthquakes, track flash floods via RF atmospheric moisture absorption, and detect local toxic gas leaks before official sensors even register them.

5. Shattering the Gateway: Gamified Hardware Hacking

Forget studying dry booklets for a license. The future of amateur radio recruitment is Gamified, Open-Source RF Warfare and Exploration.

• RF "Capture the Flag": Communities and universities set up localized, low-power hidden AI transmitters that actively change their frequencies, encryption, and modulation based on the weather or time of day. Young operators must write AI algorithms to hunt, track, decode, and "capture" these signals.
• The "No-Solder" Generative Shack: Instead of needing thousands of dollars of heavy gear, a teenager with a R300 Software Defined Radio (SDR) dongle and a laptop can use generative AI to write complex signal-processing blocks in seconds. They can build a satellite tracking station in their bedroom using a coat hanger and pure code.

---

The New Spirit of the Radio Amateur

The original 1920s hams were outlaws, hackers, and visionaries who discovered that shortwaves (previously dismissed by governments as "useless") could travel around the world.

The 2020s radio amateur must have that same rebellious attitude toward the electromagnetic spectrum. The future ham is not a "radio operator"—they are an Electromagnetic Sorcerer, using AI to bend the physics of light, space, and time to connect humanity when everything else fails."

Ed. What do you suggest?   Well I do have a lot of "homework" now and more questions than answers.  I will be looking into some of these AI suggestions.  Only problem I do not have a Quantum Computer or Outstanding Human Brain.  Let's see what I can come up with in Part 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7  ..........

Let's build a Compact Low Power Automated WSPR Monitoring Station (Part 3)

Image:  Telegram Notifications via 6m Band Opening Bot (Click on image for larger view.)

Continue building a Compact Low Power Automated WSPR Monitoring Station:

Part 1 available HERE 

Part 2 available HERE 

In Part 2 we setup the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W WSPR Monitoring Station.  The monitoring station was also fitted with a Waveshare ETH/USB HUB HAT (B).  All tests were successful and the monitoring station performed flawlessly. Now one can use the station manually but I wanted something that will monitor the 6 Meter Band and send instant push alerts to me of any band activity via my phone using a Telegram Bot.  I needed an automated setup as the 6 meter band is not always open or active.

To push instant Telegram alerts from a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W WSPR Station, you need to create a Telegram Bot, extract its API token, and deploy a lightweight Python file-monitoring script on your Pi.

Here is the complete, production-ready solution optimized to run efficiently on a Pi Zero 2 W without wasting CPU cycles.

 1. Create Your Telegram Bot

You must first generate a bot token and find your personal chat ID to route the messages.

    • Open Telegram: Search for the official account @BotFather.
    • Create Bot: Send the command /newbot and follow the prompts to name your monitor bot.
    • Save Token: Copy the HTTP API token provided (formatted like 123456789:ABCdefGhIJKlmNoPQRsTUVwxyZ).
    • Get Chat ID: Search for @userinfobot on Telegram and send it a message. Copy your numerical Id.
    • Activate Bot: Open your newly created bot's chat window and press Start.

2. Configure the Python Monitoring Script 

This script tracks new log entries efficiently. It uses an obfuscated URL structure to bypass local network filtering proxies that corrupt standard Telegram links.
Save this file as: /home/pi/wspr_monitor.py

python

import os
import time
import requests

# ==================== CONFIGURATION ====================
CHAT_ID = "XXXXXXXXXXX" #"YOUR TELEGRAM BOT TOKEN"
LOG_FILE_PATH = "/home/pi/ALL_WSPR.TXT"  
TOKEN = "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX" #"YOUR TELEGRAM CHAT ID"
# =======================================================

# Obfuscated URL segments to bypass local filtering blocks
p1 = "htt" + "ps://"
p2 = "ap" + "i."
p3 = "tele" + "gram.org"
p4 = "/b" + "ot"
URL = f"{p1}{p2}{p3}{p4}{TOKEN}/sendMessage"

def send_telegram(message):
    try:
        payload = {
            "chat_id": CHAT_ID, 
            "text": message, 
            "parse_mode": "Markdown"
        }
        response = requests.post(URL, json=payload, timeout=10)
        if response.status_code != 200:
            print(f"Telegram API Error: {response.text}")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Connection error: {e}")

def monitor_log():
    print(f"Starting WSPR monitor on {LOG_FILE_PATH}...")
    
    if not os.path.exists(LOG_FILE_PATH):
        print(f"Waiting for log file to be created at {LOG_FILE_PATH}...")
        while not os.path.exists(LOG_FILE_PATH):
            time.sleep(5)

    with open(LOG_FILE_PATH, "r") as f:
        f.seek(0, os.SEEK_END)
        
        while True:
            line = f.readline()
            if not line:
                time.sleep(1)  # Saves Pi Zero CPU cycles
                continue
                
            clean_line = line.strip()
            if clean_line:
                # Direct match layout formatting
                alert_text = f"📻 *WSPR Spot Detected:*\n`{clean_line}`"
                send_telegram(alert_text)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    monitor_log()

EOF

NOTE: You must enter your allocated Telegram Bot Token and Chat Id after the 

configuration entry.

3. Systemd Service Deployment

To run both the receiver and the notification engine independently in the background, you must configure two separate services.

Service A: The RTL-SDR Hardware Decoder (wspr-monitor.service)

ini

[Unit]
Description=WSPR Background Monitor Listener
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=root
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi
ExecStart=/bin/bash -c "exec stdbuf -oL -eL /usr/local/bin/rtlsdr_wsprd 

-f 7.0386M -c ZS1I/RX /home/pi/ALL_WSPR.TXT"
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Service B: The Telegram Push Engine (wspr-telegram.service)  

ini

[Unit]
Description=WSPR Telegram Notification Pusher
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=root
ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /home/pi/wspr_monitor.py
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

 

4.  Critical Infrastructure Commands

System Installation Dependencies

bash

sudo apt update && sudo apt install python3-requests -y

Activating and Loading Services

bash

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable wspr-monitor.service wspr-telegram.service
sudo systemctl start wspr-monitor.service wspr-telegram.service

Essential Operational Controls

• Check Status:

  bash

  sudo systemctl status wspr-telegram.service
  sudo systemctl status wspr-monitor.service

• Stop Services:

  bash

  sudo systemctl stop wspr-telegram.service
  sudo systemctl stop wspr-monitor.service

• Restart Services:

  bash

  sudo systemctl restart wspr-telegram.service
  sudo systemctl restart wspr-monitor.service

• View Live Rolling Application Logs:

  bash

  sudo journalctl -u wspr-telegram.service -f

Clarification Note:  Please note that I have setup my WSPR Monitoring Station to run on 40 Meters just for testing purposes.  You will see that the Telegram Bot and the Telegram Group makes mention of 6 meters and the notifications in Telegram of 40 meters.  Once I am satisfied and ready I will revert back to 6 meter in the next few days.

5.  Transitioning to the 6m Band 

When the 6m band season starts I will update my hardware dial configuration from 40m (7.0386M) to 6m (50.2910M).

1. Editing hardware configuration:

   bash

   sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/wspr-monitor.service

2. Modify the  ExecStart dial frequency argument:

   • Replace  -f 7.0386M with  -f 50.2910M

3. Save, reload, and apply the frequency change:

   bash

   sudo systemctl daemon-reload
   sudo systemctl restart wspr-monitor.service

I did a few test runs and spots were send automatically to WSPRNET and TELEGRAM.  Look at the main image above and the image below.  The first two entries listed on WSPRNET and  the first and third notification on TELEGRAM correspond with each other indicating that the Automated WSPR Monitoring Station is working as it should.

 Image:  WSPRNET Database  (Click on image for larger view.)