Ham Radio

The 5th annual Youth "Dream Rig" Essay Contest has begun to accept submissions.

The contest is sponsored by The Intrepid-DX Group, a U.S.-based 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization that promotes amateur radio activities around the world and recognizes the importance of including youth in the amateur radio hobby.

Contestants must be USA or Canadian amateur radio license holders aged 19 or younger. A...

Key solar indicators were lower this week, with average daily solar
flux down from 194.3 to 170.5 and average daily sunspot numbers
declining from 129.3 to 127.7.

On October 22, Spaceweather.com reported:

"THE SUN IS TAKING A QUICK BREAK: Solar Max is hard work. Just ask
the Sun. After flaring almost without pause for the past 10 months,
the Sun is taking a quick break. Solar activity has been low fo...

Updated 10/23/2024

The ARRL DXCC® System has been returned to service, and our staff is again processing applications for credit toward DXCC awards. The queue includes nearly 3,000 award applications submitted via Logbook of The World® (LoTW®) accounts and mailed paper applications. We are processing the backlog as quickly as possible, and will provide additional progress updates.

For now, the on...

Updated 12:36 PM EDT, Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Power has been restored. There may be minor disruptions to some services as certain systems are returned to service. We thank you for your patience. Our staff can also be reached by telephone: 860-594-0200.

Original story 9:00 AM EDT Tuesday, October 22, 2024

ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut, is experiencing a power outage this morning, Tu...

Saturday, October 19, 2024 8:00 PM Eastern Update:

The following information was received from The Hurricane Watch Net:

The Hurricane Watch Net will be activated this afternoon for Hurricane Oscar at 3:00 PM EDT (1900 UTC). This storm has developed quickly over the past 12 hours and it intensifying still. Hurricane conditions could affect portions of the southeastern Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Isl...

The 19th Annual ARRL Online Auction sponsored by RT Systems Inc. opened on Friday, October 18, at 10 AM EDT. The auction continues through Thursday, October 24.

This year’s auction features over 200 items and includes ARRL Product Review equipment, vintage books, new donations, ARRL Lab tested donations, and the ever-popular ARRL Lab “Mystery” boxes.

Visit the auction website, register to bid, an...

The 23rd USA and 12th IARU Region 2 Radio Orienteering Championships, held October 5 - 13, 2024, brought together more than 50 competitors from 13 U.S. states, as well as participants from Canada, Australia, Uganda, and China.

Set in the scenic parks and forests near Chelsea, Dexter, Pinckney, and Brighton, Michigan, the event was organized by the Southern Michigan Orienteering Club (SMOC), with...

The big weekend for Scouts around the world is here. Jamboree On - The - Air (JOTA) and Jamboree On - The - Internet (JOTI) is the world’s largest Scouting event. The three-day event runs from October 18 - 20, 2024 using amateur radio and the internet to connect Scouts worldwide for a full weekend of on-air and online activities that promote friendship and global citizenship. In 2023, JOTA/JOTI...

The ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology wrapped up up its final cohort for 2024. Eight educators from across the country gathered at ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut, last week to learn how to incorporate radio technology into their lessons. Eighty-five educators have gotten hands-on with radio technology through the program in 2024.

On Thursday, October 10, as Hurricane Mi...

Kees Van Oosbree, WØAAE, received the 2024 Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Award during the ARRL Forum at the North Star Radio Convention / ARRL Minnesota State Convention held in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota on Saturday, October 5, 2024.

Van Oosbree is an active member of the radio community in Minnesota and at Iowa State University, where he is treasurer of the university's amateur radio club. He is ac...

Average daily sunspot numbers changed from 160 to 129.3 and average
daily solar flux from 261.3 to 194.3. Geomagnetic numbers were
higher, with planetary A index rising from 21.4 to 39.3.

Seven new sunspot groups emerged this week, with two on October 10,
two on October 13, two more October 14 and one more on October 15.

Predicted solar flux is 170, 160, and 165 on October 18-20, 170 on
October 21-22...

This is seriously off topic, but there was good viewing of comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS about an hour after local sunset here in Rhode Island tonight.  It was fairly easy to find using a smartphone camera, but I had to wait a bit longer to see it with my naked eye.  The full moon rising, even though on the other side of the sky, was so bright that it eventually washed out the comet.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS gets its name from the facilities that first spotted it back in 2023: the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Tsuchinshan means Purple Mountain) and the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).

Photo taken at 7:04 PM local time (23:04 UTC) looking almost due west from Exeter RI

Thanks to Carl, K9LA for contributing to this week's bulletin.

"SUBJ: ASWFC GEOMAGNETIC DISTURBANCE WARNING ISSUED AT 2220 UTC/10 OCTOBER 2024 BY THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE WEATHER FORECASTING CENTRE.

"A halo CME first observed on 09-Oct arrived at Earth at 10/1515UT, resulting in G4 geomagnetic conditions on 10-Oct. G4 geomagnetic conditions are expected on 11-Oct, with a chance of G5. G2 geomagneti...

Solar Cycle 25 has been an exciting one for sure, with many X-level solar flares and a few excellent opportunities for those of us who live around 41 degrees latitude to see auroral activity.

This past week several notable flares corresponded with large Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) that were Earth effective. One of those flares impacted earth and produced a Major G4 Geomagnetic storm (in fact, it was just a tick below the level of Extreme G5). The CME impacted earth after 1500z Oct 10, causing the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF/Bz) to point south, creating perfect conditions for aurora.

Here in RI, last light was around 6:45 PM local time and by 7:15 we were in a remote area with good views to the North, East, and West.  The display was stunningly bright to the naked eye.  At one point the red/pink color in the sky was so intense that I noticed the ground was reflecting the color.  The photos below were taken between 23:20 and 23:30 UTC.

The Geomagnetic storm continued for almost 12 hours as shown in the Space Weather Prediction Center graph below.

As always two wonderful sources for Amateur Radio operators interested in solar condition are:

• https://solarham.com/
• https://www.spaceweather.com/

Space Weather Prediction Center record of K Index showing severe conditions around October 10

Photo by author taken around 23:25 UTC in Exeter Rhode Island

Photo by author taken around 23:20 UTC in Exeter RI

Thursday, October 10, 2024 1:00 PM Eastern Update:

The hurricane nets have each suspended operations as the focus shifts from response to recovery. 

More information to come via ARRL News and in The ARRL Letter. 

Thursday, October 10, 2024 9:30 AM Eastern Update:

Amateur radio operators are in service across the State of Florida. The Florida SARNET has been placed in a restricted net condition to e...

Editor’s note:  The following story was submitted by Don Gardner, W7PJ, ARRL Idaho Section Emergency Coordinator.

On the evening of September 21, 2024, Greg Owen, WX7Z, heard an amateur radio emergency call on the VHF frequency known as the national simplex calling frequency, 146.52 MHz. Ed Clark, K7ELC, was calling to get medical help for a 51-year-old man who had rolled his four-wheeler.

Mac M...

The first weekend of October is when ARRL encourages local groups to hold the Simulated Emergency Test, or SET. Throughout September, ARRL shared materials about resilience through National Preparedness Month. Now, as entire areas are washed away in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the utility value of amateur radio is more necessary and visible than ever.

When disaster strikes, infrastructur...