ARRL News

The ARRL Foundation is now accepting applications for grants to amateur radio organizations. The grants program awards limited funding to organizations for eligible amateur radio-related projects and initiatives, particularly those with a focus in educating, licensing, and supporting amateur radio activities. Youth-based projects and initiatives are especially encouraged. The ARRL Foundation gr...

The ARRL Atlantic Division has new leadership. Tom Abernethy, W3TOM, who had served as an ARRL Director, representing the Atlantic Division since 2015, stepped down on January 6, 2023.

Vice Director Robert "Bob" Famiglio, K3RF, of Media, Pennsylvania, is the new Division Director. ARRL Section Manager for Maryland/DC Marty Pittinger, KB3MXM, of Owings Mills, Maryland, has been appointed Vice Dir...

Solar activity softened again this week, with average daily sunspot
numbers changing from 162 to 80.7, and solar flux from 198.9 to
139.5.

This is quite a dramatic shift from the excitement of a couple of
weeks ago. To review, average weekly sunspot numbers from the first
Propagation Forecast bulletin of 2023 went from 97 to 135.9, 173.4
and 162. Average weekly solar flux from 157.8 to 181.2, 221.8 a...

The Missouri S&T Amateur Radio Club, W0EEE, at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T), is gearing up for an early celebration of their 100 years. Club President Morgan Lyons, KI5SXY, said the station first went on the air in 1923 as the M.S.M Radio Club, broadcasting basketball games from the Jackling Gym on the grounds of the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy (MSM)....

From the first week of this year, we saw a dramatic and welcome
increase in solar activity, but it softened in this reporting week,
January 19-25.

Average daily sunspot numbers starting with the final reporting week
for 2022 were 96.1, 97, 135.9. 173.4 and 162.

Over the same period, average daily solar flux was 143.8, 157.8,
181.2, 221.8 and 198.9.

The northern hemisphere Winter Solstice was over a mo...

There are two new Yaesu transceivers in use at ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut. They arrived via a generous donation from Yaesu USA.

The Yaesu FTDX101MP transceiver is a welcome addition to Studio 1 in W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station.

The company has donated an FTDX101MP and FTDX10, both HF/50 MHz transceivers. In arranging the donation, Yaesu Vice President, Sales and Cr...

Orlando HamCation® is February 10 - 12, 2023, and hosts the ARRL Southeastern Division Convention. In partnership with HamCation, ARRL's free mobile app is available to help attendees navigate the large event, which is held at the Central Florida Fairgrounds and Expo Park.

The free ARRL Events app is now available and already includes HamCation's full program, so attendees can browse and schedul...

The World Radiosport Team Championship Sanctioning Committee (WRTC-SC) is accepting proposals for hosting the 2026 WRTC event. The World Radiosport Team Championship is an on-site amateur radio competition, usually held every 4 years.

Previous WRTCs have been held in Seattle, San Francisco, Slovenia, Finland, Brazil, Russia, Boston, and Germany. WRTC 2022, delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ...

The North Coast Contesters will host the 29th Annual Dayton Contest Dinner at the Hope Hotel, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, on Saturday night, May 20, 2023, at 6:30 PM. Master of Ceremonies will be John Dorr, K1AR, and the 2023 Keynote Speaker is Bryant Rascoll, KG5HVO. Rascoll, of Montgomery, Alabama, was the 2018 recipient of the Bill Pasternak Memorial Amateur R...

Winter Field Day (WFD), sponsored by the Winter Field Day Association, is coming again. This year, the dates are January 28 and 29. Radio clubs around the country are activating for this event. Complete rules can be found on the WFD website, at Home - Winter Field Day. Combining this with ARRL's yearlong event, Volunteers On the Air, is a great way to make contacts that count for both activitie...

Many amateur radio operators and satellite watchers have been predicting the date and time of reentry for FalconSAT-3 (FS-3). While all reentry predictions are something of a guessing game due to the large number of variables affecting the upper atmosphere, it is certain that the end for FS-3 will be coming very soon, possibly the week of January 16 - 21, 2023.

Radio Amateur Satellite Corporatio...

Last week's Propagation Forecast Bulletin ARLP002 opened with "Wow!"
I don't know what to say about this week, except it is beyond wow.

This actually has me thinking about Solar Cycle 19.

Lately we have seen solar flux at the same levels we saw at the peak
of Solar Cycle 23. If we are about 30 months away from the peak of
this Solar Cycle 25, could this get us to the 1957-59 levels last
seen in Solar...

On Tuesday, December 27, 2022, the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) conducted its latest ionospheric experiment of bouncing radio signals off an asteroid passing near Earth's orbit (see the ARRL News story from December 23, 2022).

A frosty landscape surrounds antennas at the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program site in Gakona, Alaska, on December 20, 2022. [JR Anc...

Just a month ahead of its big event in Florida, Orlando HamCation® has announced the 2023 HamCation Award winners.

Ken Lyons, KN4MDJ (left), is a 2023 Carole Perry Educator of the Year Award winner. Photo courtesy of HamCation.

Ken Lyons, KN4MDJ, and Jim Storms, AB8YK, are the 2023 recipients of the Carole Perry Educator of the Year Award. The award is given to individuals who have made outstandi...

Wow! Sunspot numbers up, geomagnetic disturbances down. What could
be better? Okay, maybe Solar Cycle 19, but that was 66 years ago and
by far the all time largest.

But this is now, we are in Solar Cycle 25, and this sunspot cycle is
emerging better than the consensus forecast. It is predicted to peak
about 30 months from now in Summer 2025.

Solar cycles tend to ramp up faster than they decline, so w...

Arnaldo de Jesús Coro Antich, CO2KK, passed away January 8, 2023. Coro was born on July 2, 1942. He was a founding member, since 1966, of the Federation of Radio Amateurs of Cuba [Federacion de Radioaficionados de Cuba].

"At the age of 12, [Coro] joined what was then the Radio Club de Cuba, the association that brought together radio amateurs in the capital in the late 1950s," included a report ...

Two new sunspot groups emerged on December 29, one more on December 30 and another on January 1, then two more on January 5.

Solar activity was a little higher, with average daily sunspot
number rising from 96.1 to 97, and solar flux averages rose 14
points to 157.8.

On Thursday, January 5 the sunspot number rose to 103, above the
average of 96.1 over the previous seven days.

Predicted solar flux is ...

Three of the four new astronauts on February's planned launch of the SpaceX Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) are amateur radio operators.

The four crew members that comprise the SpaceX Crew-6 mission pose for a photo during a training session on the crew access arm at the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A in Florida. From left are, Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev, Pi...

The Service Academies Radio Group (SARG) was recently formed for alumni and amateur radio operators who are interested in the five U.S military academies.

William Curry, W5CQ, founder and net control operator for the SARG Net, said two months ago there was a new interest in forming a group and net. He noticed that only one military academy, West Point, W2KGY, was still operating a club station. ...

Bud Kozloff, W1NSK, has been appointed as the ARRL Connecticut Section Manager starting on January 1, 2023.

Kozloff, who lives in Redding, Connecticut, is currently the president of the Candlewood Amateur Radio Association and a member of the Yankee Clipper Contest Club. He was appointed by ARRL Field Services Manager Mike Walters, W8ZY, after consulting with New England Division Director Fred K...