ARRL News

Edward E. “Ed” Wetherhold, W3NQN, of Annapolis, Maryland, died on July 9. He was 93.

Licensed in 1947, Wetherhold was an electrical engineer who served in the US Air Force Reserve before spending 30 years at the Annapolis Signal Analysis Center of Alliant Techsystems (formerly the defense division of Honeywell).

Wetherhold was best known within the amateur radio community for designing and manufa...

Many stations are reported to have made Earth-moon-Earth (EME) SSTV transmissions on last year’s 50th anniversary celebration of the moon landing.

“We could only do it on the exact date 50 years later, and EME conditions were not very good last year,” said Jan van Muijlwijk, PA3FXB, of the PI9CAM team at Dwingeloo Astronomic Observatory. “[W]e saw many stations joining the SSTV party, and we we...

AMSAT Vice President of Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY, said that while it was disappointing that the amateur transponder on HuskySat-1 (HO-107) was not available any longer, following the satellite’s science missions, the overall HuskySat-1 project and mission “were quite beneficial for our partner and for AMSAT.” The linear transponder module (LTM) on HuskySat-1 was operational for more than ...

The Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) will gain 15 new nodes, thanks to the Yasme Foundation. These new nodes will be added in regions where there is a need for reception reports to support amateur radio operation and where those reports will also have scientific value for geophysical research. Yasme was assisted in this effort by supporting grants from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) an...

Former North Texas Section Manager Tom Blackwell, N5GAR, of Dallas, Texas, died on May 14. An ARRL Life Member, he was 65. Blackwell served as North Texas SM from 2005 until 2009.

Blackwell graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in the College of Business Administration. He attended graduate school at the University of Texas at Dallas. He was an original petitioner in the Petition for ...

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.

The June newsletter of the International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 Monitoring System (IARUMS) reports that what’s being called “the Russian-Ukrainian radio war” continues apace.

“The Russian-Ukrainian radio war remained on a high escalation level also in June,” IARUMS Region 1 Coordinator Peter Jost, HB9CET, said. “Almost every day, we heard the massive spiteful and provocative broadcasts. In...

ARRL has a new way to let members know when the digital editions of QST and other publications are available. Distributed via email, The ARRL Current offers a monthly overview of ARRL publications and member benefits. The inaugural edition launched in June.

Subscribe now to receive each issue going forward. Manage your email preferences from your ARRL account (members must first be registered on...

ARRL has invited applications for the position of Awards and Programs Assistant at ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut. This is a full-time, non-exempt opening in the Radiosport and Field Services Department. The pay range is from $16.08 to 19.30 per hour.

The Awards and Programs Assistant assists with all Radiosport and Field Services Department activities, with an initial priority on L...

The winning article for the July 2020 QST Cover Plaque award is “A Vertical End-Fed Dipole with a Folded Stub” by Jacek Pawlowski, SP3L.

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 August issue today.

The Maritime Radio Historical Society (MRHS) and the National Park Service have announced that the annual KPH Night of Nights has been canceled due to COVID-19 precautions. This would have been the 21st such event, which commemorates what is believed to be the last commercial Morse transmission in the US.

While KPH, KFS, and K6KPH will not be on the air for Night of Nights XXI, MRHS members will...

The Maritime Mobile Service Net (MMSN) on 14.300 MHz came to the assistance of a sailing vessel on June 25. MMSN control operator Steven Carpenter, K9UA, took a call on 20 meters from Ian Cummings, KB4SG, the skipper of the Mystic Lady, then some 40 miles east of Florida. Cummings reported that his engine had failed as he was attempting to return to his home port of Stuart, Florida. He not only...

No sunspots this week. The pattern persists, and this surprises me. But Spaceweather.com reported a couple of weak, barely emerging spots, never numbered, and by their magnetic polarity were from new Cycle 25.

We rely on NOAA for official sunspot numbers, and the most recent one reported was 11 on June 15. See ftp://ftp.swpc.noaa.gov/pub/indices/DSD.txt.

Average daily solar flux over the recent r...

The Intrepid-DX Group, a US-based IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes amateur radio in developing countries, has announced its first Youth Essay Contest. The prize is a new Icom IC-7300 transceiver, which the winner must agree to keep and use for 1 year.

Participants will prepare a two-page essay answering these questions: (1) What are your amateur radio goals? and (2) What can w...