4/27/2022

On Wednesday, April 27, in a notice to all VECs, the FCC again asked them to refrain from submitting any amateur radio exam session or license application files while the Commission works to resolve an issue with the Universal Licensing System (ULS) application filing system.

The ULS application filing system was not functioning properly last week and then the FCC indicated the problem ...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has released a final version (March 2023) of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Functional Guidance. The guidance, which provides a framework for communications resources within incident management, officially includes support from amateur radio operators. The expanded Communications Unit ...

Update: Wedneday, March 22, 2023 @ 12:41 PM Eastern Time:

Telephone service was quickly restored at ARRL Headquarters. Incoming and outgoing phone calls are working. Thank you for your understanding.

Wedneday, March 22, 2023 @ 10:00 AM Eastern Time:

ARRL Headquarters is currently experiencing a telephone outage. Incoming and outgoing phone calls have been disrupted. We are currently working with o...

Wedneday, March 22, 2023 @ 10:00 AM Eastern Time:

ARRL Headquarters is currently experiencing a telephone outage. Incoming and outgoing phone calls have been disrupted. We are currently working with our provider to correct the issue.

Members and prospective members are encouraged to visit the ARRL website to access most services | www.arrl.org. Many program representatives can be reached via emai...

Tornado season is fast approaching, and amateur radio operators will again play a key role in helping the National Weather Service (NWS) issue accurate and timely warnings. In fact, March through May is considered the most active period for tornadoes to develop.

The NWS reports there have already been 255 preliminary filtered reported tornadoes and 213 confirmed tornadoes in the United States in...

Six new sunspot groups emerged over the past week, two on March 9,
another on March 10, one more on March 12, and another two on March
14.

Sunspot numbers and solar flux declined this week.

Average daily sunspot numbers softened from 143.6 to 118.7, and
average daily solar flux from 181.6 to 153.6.

Predicted solar flux is 135, 140, 138, and 135 on March 17-20, then
132, 132 and 130 on March 21-23, 155...

Ron Cramer, KD8ENJ, of Dayton, Ohio, passed away on Saturday, March 11, 2023. He was Vice President of the Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) and previously served as its President.

Cramer was General Chairman of Dayton Hamvention®, the world's largest annual gathering of radio amateurs, from 2017 to 2018. In 2017, he was among the Hamvention leadership and team who helped successfully relo...

Due to anticipated severe winter weather, ARRL Headquarters will be closed on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, for the safety of our staff. The Headquarters lobby & store, and W1AW will be closed to visitors on Tuesday. We anticipate reopening on Wednesday, March 15, at 8 AM Eastern.

ARRL reminds members and prospective members to access information and services online at www.arrl.org.

The Software Defined Radio Academy (SDRA) has issued a call for papers for the 2023 Ulrich L. Rohde Award. This award, named after Dr. Ulrich L. Rohde, N1UL, was created in 2022 and is presented to those who have completed innovative research in the field of software-defined radio (SDR). It's a paper award that requires a written submission by applicants. There are first - second - and third -p...

Last weekend (March 4 - 5, 2023) was the phone segment of the ARRL International DX Contest.

Although the deadline to submit logs is 2359Z on March 12, preliminary numbers already show an increase in submissions compared to the same period last year. Conditions were favorable for much of the world, and many operators took to social media to talk about their wins.

Italian ham Chris Diemoz, IX1CKN,...

So far this month, two new sunspot groups appeared on March 1,
another one on March 2, three more on March 3, one more on March 5,
two more on March 6, and another on March 7, then two more on March
9.

Average daily sunspot numbers rose from 126.3 to 143.6.

Average daily solar flux changed from 158.2 to 181.6

Average daily planetary A index declined from 27.7 to 14.6, and
average middle latitude numbe...

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has announced that several schools are planning to communicate with orbiting astronauts in the coming weeks.

Lana'i High & Elementary School in Lana'i City, Hawaii, will attempt the contact between March 20 and 24, 2023. Students attending the high school already study amateur radio and the research being done on the ISS, among other scien...

The 2023 Hamvention Awards committee, chaired by Michael Kalter, W8CI, has announced the 2023 Hamvention award winners.

The Special Achievement Award recipient is Dr. Jason McDonald, MD, N2TPA. He is an active, well-known Amateur Extra-class operator who earned his license in 2003. Dr. McDonald began as a radio frequency engineer before changing careers to become a trauma surgeon. Dr. McDonald’...

This was a busy week for geomagnetic storms. A solar wind stream
from an equatorial hole and a CME blew geomagnetic numbers seemingly
off the scale, with the planetary A index on Monday hitting 94.
Aurora was visible as far south as 40 degrees latitude. Imagine a
line running from Reno, Nevada through Provo, Utah then Denver, then
the Kansas-Nebraska state line, Quincy, Illinois, Dayton, Ohio and
Phi...

Due to anticipated severe winter weather, ARRL Headquarters will be closed on Tuesday, February 28 for the safety of our staff. We expect things will be back to normal on Wednesday, March 1.

W8LT is the call sign for the Amateur Radio and RF Club at The Ohio State University (OSU).

The university club has a long history, and archive records indicate that 1926 was the year it officially became a club, likely making it the oldest one on campus. W8LT is just 3 years shy of celebrating its 100th anniversary.

In the early 1920s, the call sign started out as 8LT, until the Radio Act of 192...

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program is seeking formal and informal educational institutions and organizations, either individually or working together, to host an amateur radio contact with a crew member on board the International Space Station (ISS).

ARISS anticipates the contact will be held between January 1, 2024, and June 30, 2024. Crew scheduling and ISS or...

John Gendron, NJ4Z, has been named the recipient of the 2022 Roanoke Division ARRL Service Award. This award is the highest and most prestigious recognition of an ARRL member operator within the Division's four states who has shown consistent and extensive leadership.

First licensed as a Technician in 2016, Gendron quickly advanced to the General- and Amateur Extra-class licenses. At the same ti...

Solar activity plunged this reporting week, although there was great
the excitement when the solar flux on February 17 was reported as a
record breaking 343.1.

Because it was the noon reading, it is still reported by NOAA as the
solar flux, but this was a false reading when the observatory at
Penticton, British Columbia was swamped by energy from a solar
flare.

So, in this report, I have chosen the 18...