Classic HamClock

First an introduction to the architecture of the classic HamCLock system. Developed and operated by Elwood Downey (WB0OEW). With the passing of Elwood on January 29th, 2026, the future of HamClock was in jeopardy. He left a statement on his server and on autoreply for his e-mail that the HamClock project is terminated and existing HamClock software will cease to operate in June of 2026 due to server shutdown. When you look at the picture to the right you see that all traffic goes through this server and taking the server out of the picture everything stops.

It should be mentioned that the actual code for HamClock running on the users’ devices is open source but not all the software running on the backend server. However, we know what data is required and where it comes from which provides a path for a replacement.

There were some early activities to gain access to the servers and keep it running. These might still be underway, but it is a delicate matter and would require contacting the estate of Elwood. I am not sure if this is still pursued and it might not be necessary anymore as you will see if you read on.

I mentioned before that there are a lot of capable people in our hobby and immediately there were groups actively working to find ways to replace the backend server and keep HamClock ticking after the June 2026 deadline.

Unfortunately, there is also a lot of misinformation published on the different social media platforms. I want to provide you with the most accurate information about the projects keeping HamClock alive. You can then make an informed decision which solution is right for you.

Is there a future for HamClock?

The simple answer is YES. There are too many users for HamClock to just fade away. Services we are used in the past were phased out and replaced with new ones (remember iTunes). Key people left and got replaced with someone else. Sometimes it is easy and sometimes it is difficult to find continuum. In the ham radio community, there are many smart people with very diversified knowledge. As it shows there are couple teams already at work to solve the challenge for a replacement They are already making huge progress finding ways to keep HamClock alive.

Here are the three most promising projects.

HamClock dot com

This project is by Bruce Edrich (W4BAE).  He operates a replacement server and is trying to develop and implement the same functionality as classic HamClock. However, it is still not complete and not 100% stable. There are many reports of early adaptors that their devices are locking up and require a factory reset. I am sure that it will be eventually sorted out.

Currently it is a single person developing it and the code for the backend server is not open source.

Architecture is the same as the Classic HamClock and bares the same problem with a single maintainer on a private server.

The conversion of existing HamClock hardware devices is relatively simple if you are familiar with editing Linux system files. Instructions can be found at HamClock.com.

Open HamClock Backend

This is not the same as Open HamClock which is covered in the next section.

Open HamClock Backend (OHB) is a community project by a team of developers with Brian Wilkins (KO4AQF) as the main contributor. It is fully open source, and it runs on servers in a commercial data center. Another example of what the ham radio community is capable of. The hosting in the data center is donated. This provides very high availability with no costs for anyone.

The basic architecture is also the same as the classic HamClock. But additionally, there is a way to run OHB on your device and not relying on a central server. If OHB is installed locally then it will fetch the necessary data direct from the sources.

Open HamClock

Open HamClock is a different approach to HamClock. It goes away from the thick client-based architecture which only receives data, to a web-based architecture were a webserver provides a webpage. After the initial loading it is then updated dynamically with data. Because all the information for rendering must come from the server, this solution will have a much higher requirement regarding the stability of your internet connection. It also has limitations on image resolution and readability on smaller screens.

All your devices in your house have to connect now to the webserver instead of connecting to your HamClock device on your network.

It is nice solution for casual users and if you don’t want to have a permanent device installed.

Summary

HamClock is alive and will be alive for a long time. The classic HamClock server might go away but you can keep on going with a new solutions no matter what device you are using now. We recommend setting up your device for OHB. It is stable and was extensively tested with our Quadras. There are still some minor pending changes but you don’t have to do anything to receive these. They are done at the backend server and will just update with the data you receive.

N0LSR Design supports and promots the OHB project because it is an open source community project with multiple contributors.

Hamclock.com is a good second choice but it still needs a bit more work. I am concerned that is closed code and only one person have all the keys.

For Legacy Quadra and Quadra 4k by Inovato, and the HK1RBOX by N0LSR Design an easy way to change the backend server is build in. See the instructions here →.

Udo Koch, N0LSR