ARRL News

German special event station DL250BTHVN will be active between December 16, 2019, and December 17, 2020, to honor the 250th anniversary of the birth of famed composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The Beethoven anniversary year will take place under the auspices of Germany’s Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Beethoven was born in December 1770 in Bonn, Germany, and lived there for the first 22...

The NOAA/NASA-co-chaired international Solar Cycle Prediction Panel has released its latest forecast for to forecast Solar Cycle 25. The panel’s consensus calls for a peak in July 2025 (±8 months), with a smoothed sunspot number of 115. The panel agreed that Cycle 25 will be of average intensity and similar to Cycle 24. The panel additionally concurred that the solar minimum between Cycles 24 a...

In Antarctica, Chris Cianflone, W2RTO, is on the air from KC4USV at McMurdo Station, mostly operating FT8 on 14.075 MHz. The station has a tribander for 20, 15, and 10 meters and a Kenwood TS-480 feeding a 500 W amplifier, which, he said “sounds like it’s on its last legs.” Given the 24 hours of daylight this time of year and the challenging terrain, the lower bands are unusable in Antarctica, ...

SAQ, the call sign of the 1920s vintage Alexanderson transmitter in Grimeton, Sweden, is set to be on the air for its annual Christmas Eve transmission. SAQ transmits CW with up to 200 kW on 17.2 kHz. Tune-up is scheduled to begin at around 0730 UTC, with the holiday message transmitted on December 24 at 0800 UTC. SAQ will livestream the event. SAQ has introduced a new reception report form for...

The theme for the 2020 Dayton Hamvention® will be “Amateur Radio, The Future.” Hamvention General Chair Jack Gerbs, WB8SCT, invited Hamvention attendees to celebrate amateur radio’s past, present, and future.

“As amateur radio operators, we enjoy many modes of operating,” Gerbs said. “We also enjoy challenges such as satellite communications, moonbounce, meteor scatter, and more. What truly exci...

Melissa Pore, KM4CZN, of Vienna, Virginia, is the 2020 recipient of the Carole Perry Educator of the Year Award, Orlando HamCation has announced. The award, which recognizes outstanding contributions in educating and advancing youth in amateur radio, was first awarded last year to its namesake, Carole Perry, WB2MGP, in honor of her work teaching students about ham radio. Pore is an Amateur Radi...

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.

No sunspots again this week. This run of zero sunspots has persisted for over three weeks.

In last week’s bulletin, we erroneously said that average daily sunspot number for the week was 70.4, but as KB8W pointed out this was the value of average daily solar flux. Average daily solar flux for this week, November 28 through December 4, was 70.2.

Geomagnetic indicators were very quiet, with average...

The FCC is amending its Part 97 Amateur Service rules relating to RF exposure safety. In a lengthy document in ET Docket 19-226 released on December 4 that addresses a broad range of RF safety issues, the FCC said current amateur radio RF exposure safety limits will remain unchanged, but that the amateur-specific exemption from having to conduct an RF exposure evaluation will be replaced by the...

Dayton Hamvention® is increasing the cost of admission and its booth fees. Hamvention General Chair Jack Gerbs, WB8SCT, announced this week that general admission would rise by $4 per ticket to $26 in advance or $31 at the gate for all 3 days. The cost of flea market spots will go up by $5 per space, and inside exhibitors will pay $30 more.

“Hamvention has always strived to produce a very high-q...

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contact with astronaut Dr. Drew Morgan, MD, KI5AAA, and students at Council Rock High School in Pennsylvania will be livestreamed. The contact will take place at approximately 1756 UTC on Thursday, December 5. Morgan is a native of New Castle, Pennsylvania. Several Warminster Amateur Radio Club members, including Michael Shanbla...

The oldest known US radio amateur, Cliff Kayhart, W4KKP, received his ARRL Centurion Award plaque in November. The award recognizes hams who have achieved centenarian status. Kayhart, who lives in White Rock, South Carolina, is 108. The ARRL Board of Directors conferred the award on Kayhart at its July 2019 meeting.

At the November meeting of the Dutch Fork Amateur Radio Group in Little Mountain...

The United Nations Amateur Radio Club, 4U1UN, at UN Headquarters in New York has been on the air recently. Adrian Ciuperca, KO8SCA, recently was on site to replace and test a serial cable, and, while there, made some 100 contacts.

“Now that all works, we should hear the 4U1UN more often on the air,” he commented. QSL via HB9BOU.

4U1UN is a separate DXCC entity. The 4U1UN Facebook page reported th...

Russian cosmonauts were expected to activate VHF FM Slow Scan TV (SSTV) image transmissions from the International Space Station, starting Wednesday, December 4, until Friday, December 6 (UTC). December 4, until 1650 UTC; December 5, from 1125 until 1715 UTC, and December 6, 1020 UTC until 1640 UTC. Transmissions will be sent on 145.800 MHz FM (5-kHz deviation) using SSTV mode PD-120. Once rece...