ARRL News

More than 80,000 contacts went into logs at YOTA suffix stations and others participating in December Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) Month, with most operations in International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (IARU-R1). The final tally included 46,989 on SSB, another 28,064 on CW, some 3,814 on FT8, and the rest on various other modes.

“This year, as many as 44 participating stations made 82,938 QSO...

The new 2019 ARRL Repeater Directory® is now shipping. It includes “crowdsourced” listings contributed by users, repeater owners, and volunteer frequency coordinators. This means more listings that are and updated more often. With 28,000 listings, the ARRL Repeater Directory® is the most complete printed directory of on-the-air repeaters, covering repeater systems throughout the US and Canada.

R...

Akio Taguchi, JE2QIZ/AC7XZ, reports that he has received a license from the Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) Ministry of Transportation and Communication. His call sign there will be XZ2B. Taguchi explained that Myanmar only permits Amateur Radio operation from 20 MHz to 300 MHz at a power of just 25 W, and he plans to operate a "fishing rod antenna" from his hotel.

Because license fees in Myan...

Long-pending Amateur Radio antenna litigation that ARRL helped to fund has finally borne fruit. The Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division: Second Judicial Department has ruled in the case of Myles Landstein, N2EHG, that the Town of LaGrange, New York, not only overstepped its state-granted authority by assessing excessive fees, but violated the limited federal preemption PR...

AMSAT has announced its 50th Anniversary Awards Program, to help celebrate 50 years of keeping Amateur Radio in space. Satellite and HF contacts can help participants to earn one of these awards:

• 50th Anniversary AMSAT OSCAR Satellite Communications Achievement Award

• 50th Anniversary AMSAT Satellite Friends of 50 Award

• AMSAT on HF 50th Anniversary Award

The 50th anniversary AMSAT OSCAR Satellite ...

The US Islands (USI) Awards Program celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and is offering a commemorative award for both chasers and activators for contacts made between January 1 and December 31.

To qualify, chasers must confirm 25 islands during 2019, as a club or individual, and activators must qualify or activate 25 islands in any combination, making at least 15 contacts for both new isl...

Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) has announced that Gabor Horvath, VE7JH, is the recipient of the RAC Amateur of the Year Award for 2018.

“Gabor has demonstrated an intense commitment to diverse aspects of Amateur Radio, and in 2010 he was recognized as the Pacific Northwest VHFer of the Year for consistently promoting and encouraging VHF/UHF/microwave activity in the Pacific Northwest,” RAC Pres...

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.

In this reporting week, January 3-9, average daily sunspot number increased from 4.1 to 7.7. Average daily solar flux increased from 70.4 to 71.6.

Average daily planetary A index went from 9.3 to 7.4, and average mid-latitude A index went from 7.6 to 6.1.

Predicted solar flux for the next 45 days appears to mostly toggle between two values, 70 and 71, with one exception. Predicted solar flux is 6...

Maxim Memorial Station W1AW is seeking a volunteer station located on the US West Coast that can serve as another ARRL Qualifying Run CW transmitting station. The west-coast station shares in the transmission of a monthly Qualifying Run for the benefit of those on the west coast.

The minimum requirements are:

• Ability to transmit a good, high-quality, stable, high-power (at least 1 kW) CW signal o...

The FCC is not processing any Amateur Radio applications as the partial government shutdown approaches its fourth week. The FCC suspended “most operations” at mid-day on Thursday, January 3, although an appearance of activity continues. For radio amateurs, the shutdown means that while the Universal Licensing System (ULS) continues to accept applications for all valid purposes, the FCC will not...

The Society of Midwest Contesters (SMC) has announced an expansion of the North American Collegiate Championship (NACC), which takes place in conjunction with the North American QSO Party (NAQP). The inaugural event last January only covered the NAQP SSB event. This year, the NACC will also cover the NAQP RTTY event. NCJ (National Contest Journal) sponsors the NAQPs. The NAQP SSB runs from 1800...

The Intrepid DX Group is seeking nominations for its annual Intrepid Spirit and Humanitarian awards.

“We wish to recognize the individual or group that most displayed their Intrepid Spirit this past year,” the announcement said. An Intrepid Spirit is defined as “bold, courageous, dedicated, innovative, fearless, generous, resolute, and visionary in their approach to Amateur Radio,” according to ...

The ninth Youngsters On The Air (YOTA) summer camp will be held in Bulgaria, with the Bulgarian Federation of Radioamateurs (BFRA) hosting the event.

“In this YOTA Camp, we will be continuing with our train-the-trainer program, which will be the main theme of the week,” IARU Region 1 Youth Working Group Chair Lisa Leenders, PA2LS, said in announcing the annual event. “Participants will be workin...

Leaders of the 3Y0Z Bouvet Island DXpedition, which was abruptly aborted last February before the team was able to land on the island, are offering several options for partial refunds to those who contributed to their venture. The turn of events was a huge disappointment for the DX community, as well as for the DXpedition team.

“Let me take this opportunity to thank you again for your financial...

The 2019 Orlando Contest Dinner, sponsored by the Florida Contest Group (FCG) in conjunction with Orlando HamCation, will be held on February 8. A social hour gets under way at 5 PM, with a barbecue buffet to follow at 6:30 PM. Dinner speaker will be Andy Blank, N2NT, a CQ Contest Hall of Fame member and CQ World Wide 160 Meter Contest director. For more information and to purchase tickets, vis...

The winning article for the January 2019 QST Cover Plaque award is “The 2-Meter Slot-Cube Antenna” by John Portune, W6NBC. 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 February issue today.