ARRL

Listen to the new episode of ARRL Audio News on your iOS or Android podcast app, or online at http://www.blubrry.com/arrlaudionews/. Audio News is also retransmitted on a number of FM repeaters. Click here and then scroll down to see the list.

ARRL congratulates Amateur Radio educator Carole Perry, WB2MGP, for being the first recipient of the newly established Carole Perry Educator of the Year Award, presented on February 9 by Orlando HamCation®. The award, to be given annually in Perry's name, recognizes outstanding dedication in educating and advancing today’s youth about Amateur Radio.

A fellow and director of the Radio Club of Ame...

Bill Thompson, W2MTA, who headed the ARRL Western New York Section from 1980 until 1999, died on February 16. An ARRL Life Member, he was 87.

Formerly of Newark Valley, New York, Thompson was licensed in 1952. He was a Marine Corps Veteran of the Korean War and later was employed by IBM in various posts. In 2009, Thompson was honored with ARRL’s Knight Distinguished Service Award, which recogniz...

This week and next week, a number of radio amateurs from around the globe are attending the ITU Conference Preparatory Meeting (CPM) in Geneva, in advance of World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19) this fall.

Already, there has been a lot of activity from the International Radio Club, 4U1ITU, including a casual effort in the ARRL International DX Contest (CW) last weekend where, despit...

The winning article for the February 2019 QST Cover Plaque award is “Installing Coax Crimp Connectors” by Dino Papas, KLØS. The QST Cover Plaque Award -- given to the author or authors of the most popular article in each issue -- is determined by a vote of ARRL members on the QST Cover Plaque Poll web page. Cast a ballot for your favorite article in the March issue today.

No sunspots are visible since January 30. The lack of sunspot activity has persisted for over 3 weeks, as of February 21. This past week (February 14-20) the average daily solar flux was only marginally higher, rising just barely from 70.4 to 70.6. Geomagnetic indicators were lower, with average daily planetary A index declining from 8.1 to 4.9, and average daily mid-latitude A index (measured ...

Four new ARRL Section Managers have been declared elected in the just-concluded winter election cycle, and one incumbent Section Manager was re-elected to a new term. Section Manager election ballots were counted on February 19 at ARRL Headquarters. Four incumbent Section Managers ran without opposition during this election cycle. All terms start on April 1.

In Iowa, Lelia Garner, WA0UIG, of Rob...

The new ARES Plan adopted by the ARRL Board of Directors at its Annual Meeting in January represents an effort to provide ARES with a clearly defined mission, goals, and objectives; specific training requirements, and a system for consistent reporting and record-keeping. The Board’s Public Service Enhancement Working Group (PSEWG) spent more than 3 years crafting the ARES Plan which, ARRL offic...

The Belgian Dutch-language weekly The Sunday (de Zondag) recently reported incorrectly that just 153 Amateur Radio licensees existed in the country, dramatically proclaiming, “Amateur Radio permits have dropped drastically in 5 years,” and asking, “Where have the radio hobbyists gone?” The error was based on a misunderstood parliamentary exchange. The facts are that 153 new licenses were issued...

ARRL’s HF Dipole Antennas for Amateur Radio is a collection of 20 HF dipole antenna designs from the pages of QST between 2000 and 2017. It includes innovative antenna projects for single-band and multiband antennas, as well as antennas for portable applications.

Portable Antennas

• “An Easy-to-Make Three-Band Dipole for ARRL Field Day”

• “A Field-Portable Multi-Band Rotatable Dipole Antenna”

• “A Smal...

The second Conference Preparatory Meeting (CPM) in advance of World Radio Communication Conference 2019 (WRC-19) this fall got under way on February 18 at International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Headquarters in Geneva. Delegates from around the world are attending.

This CPM will prepare a consolidated report that will support of the work of WRC-19, based on contributions from various adminis...

Antarctic Activity Week (AAW) 2019 is under way until February 24, with special call signs on the air. The goal of the event is to promote interest in Antarctica, where many countries have established research facilities.

Some of the call signs to listen for are: Australia, VK2ANT; Austria, OE16AAW, OE88WAP, OE89ANT, and OE90AAW; Belgium, OR16ANT; France, TM16AAW, TM16WAP, and TM1ANT; Italy, II2...

The group that’s been activating Macau as XX9D for the past week or so reports its biggest challenge is not so much managing the pileups but hearing the pileups in the first place due to high noise levels. Nonetheless, the group has managed some 18,000 contacts on 160 through 6 meters, and the operators credit FT8 with making many of those possible.

“All team members are a little bit disappoint...

The FCC is reminding electronic device retailers that Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) procedures are now in effect and being enforced. In an FCC Enforcement Advisory released February 15, the FCC Enforcement Bureau (EB) pointed out that marketers of RF devices may be subject to new compliance requirements provided in the SDoC procedures.

“In general, a device subject to SDoC is one t...

Authorities and major internet providers in Russia intend to disconnect the country from the internet as part of a planned experiment purportedly aimed at enhancing national security, the Russian news agency RosBiznesKonsalting (RBK) has reported. The stated reason for the experiment is to gather insights and provide feedback and modifications to a proposed law introduced in the Russian Parliam...

Listen to the new episode of ARRL Audio News on your iOS or Android podcast app, or online at http://www.blubrry.com/arrlaudionews/. Audio News is also retransmitted on a number of FM repeaters. Click here and then scroll down to see the list.