ARRL

It’s a tradition for Hamvention® … it must rain for at least part of at least one day … and this year didn’t disappoint! Showers and even the occasional downpour popped up on and off Saturday, prompting flea market shoppers to periodically flee inside to dry out. Then a thunderstorm in the early hours of Sunday morning left the flea market a bit muddy. But spirts ran high for the closing day of...

Hamvention® 2026 in Xenia, Ohio, is officially under way, with large crowds filling the five exhibit halls, four forum rooms, and the giant flea market. Here’s a summary of Friday, May 15.

In the ARRL Expo area, attendees interacted with program representatives and volunteer leadership officials, including ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA, and President Rick Roderick, K5UR. Emergency Communications...

Solar activity remained at low levels this past week. Region 4436 was
responsible for the majority of the C-flare activity, including the
largest flare of the period, a C2.3 that peaked on May 13. Region
4432 rotated off the west limb. Two new regions were numbered during
the past 24 hours. Region 4437, which has since decayed to plage, and
4438, resulting in a total of 4 numbered regions now on the...

Hamvention® 2026 in Xenia, Ohio, officially begins on Friday morning, May 15. But several hundred hams arrived early to take part in pre-Hamvention activities. ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® was already on site at the Greene County Fairgrounds, exhibitors were busy setting up their booths. We snapped a few late afternoon photos of setup work at several booths, including Carlso...

Solar activity was at low levels this past week with occasional
B-class and isolated low-level C-class flares. The largest event of
the period was a C1.4/Sf flare from Region 4429 on May 5.

There are currently six numbered regions on the visible disk as 4434
decayed to plage and Region 4428 rotated beyond the western limb as
an E-type group. The remaining regions mostly showed signs of decay.
Region ...

The Garden School Amateur Radio Club in Jackson Heights, New York, K2GSG, was started in September 2016 as a way to implement the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) standard at the school.

Currently, the Club has 13 members ranging from 4th graders to 12th graders and is an Affiliated Club of ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio®.

Well, last week they got a big su...

The Boston Software Defined Radio User Group, SDR-Boston, is hosting the New England Workshop for Software Defined Radio 2026 (NEWSDR), June 4 - 5, at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Massachusetts.

The primary goal of this workshop is to provide a forum that enables software defined radio (SDR) enthusiasts to get together, collaborate, and introduce SDR concepts to those inte...

Hamvention® 2026 is just over a week away, and the world’s largest in-person amateur radio gathering promises another three-day weekend of total immersion in all things ham radio. According to the Dayton Amateur Radio Association, more than 30,000 people are expected to descend on the Greene County Fair and Expo Center in Xenia, Ohio, on May 15-17. Attendees will discover the latest and greates...

Ever wanted to operate amateur radio satellites but felt intimidated by tracking the “birds” or unsure about the equipment needed? ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio®'s new book, Satellite Operating for Amateur Radio, is now shipping and shows just how approachable, exciting, and rewarding satellite communication can be.

Written by Tony Milluzzi, KD8RTT, the book offers a clear step...

The ARRL Foundation’s 2025 Bill Orr, W6SAI, Technical Writing Award has been awarded to Dr. Ethan Miller, K8GU, and Dr. Nathaniel A. Frissell, W2NAF, for their August 2025 QST article, “About Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances.”

The editors of QST nominated Miller and Frissell in August 2025, the ARRL Foundation Board approved the awards in January 2026, and the award plaques were distributed to...

This announcement was originally published in the ARRL Letter on February 19, 2026. ARRL members can subscribe to the weekly ARRL Letter at www.arrl.org/opt-in-out.

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The National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) Question Pool Committee (QPC) released a February 19, 2026, revision to the new 2026 - 2030 Technician Class question pool. Questions drawn from that pool are vali...

This announcement was originally published in the ARRL Letter on December 18, 2025. ARRL members can subscribe to the weekly ARRL Letter at www.arrl.org/opt-in-out.

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On December 18, 2025, the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) Question Pool Committee (QPC) released the revised 2026-2030 Technician Class (Element 2) question pool. It will be required for all Amateur ...

Amateur radio operators will participate in the Department of Defense’s Armed Forces Day (AFD) Crossband Test on May 9, 2026. The annual event will not impact any public or private communications.

For more than 50 years, military and amateur stations have participated in this interoperability exercise between the amateur and government radio services. The AFD Crossband Test provides a unique opp...

Solar activity remained at low levels this past week with numerous C1
flares from Region 4420, which exhibited growth during the period.
Region 4419 showed minor decay, particularly in its trailing spots,
while producing a lone C1.0 flare. Region 4422 was numbered during
the period but remained inactive. No Earth-directed CMEs were
observed in coronagraph imagery.

Solar activity is expected to contin...

Dayton Hamvention 2026 features a wide range of forums to appeal to amateur radio operators of all interests, experience levels, and ages. The Hamvention Forums Committee has assembled a diverse lineup covering technical topics, operating skills, and emerging interest areas. 

On opening day, Friday, May 15, there are 22 forums beginning at 9:15 AM with HamSCI: The Ham Radio Science Citizen Inves...

This story was updated 4/27/2026

The University of Pittsburgh had a unique opportunity last week...helping NASA track Artemis II’s Orion spacecraft on its mission to the moon and back! Students from the university’s Panther Amateur Radio Club (PARC) were among the students and faculty who participated.

Faculty advisor Juan Manfredi, NAØB, said the school responded to a request from NASA to submit...

Solar activity was at very low levels with only isolated B-class
flaring, mostly from Region 4416.
 
There are currently four numbered regions on the visible disk. Region
4416 remains the largest group by area but exhibited signs of
structural weakening, including flux submergence and a slight decay
of its intermediary pores. Region 4419 was the most complex group on
the disk and showed flux emergen...