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 ...

At the request of ARRL  The National Association for Amateur Radio® (ARRL), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted a waiver allowing amateur radio operators to participate in a special event commemorating the 81st anniversary of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

On December 6 and 7, ham radio operators can make crossband contacts with the Battleship IOWA, now moored in the Port...

No new sunspots appeared over the past reporting week, November 24 to 30.  But sunspots were visible every day.  Then on December 1 three new sunspot groups emerged.  The sunspot number rose from 12 to 49 and the total sunspot area went from 10 to 330.

Sunspot numbers and solar flux declined during this reporting week (November 24 to 30), with average daily Sunspot number dropping from 66 to 46,...

Dr. Kristina Collins, KD8OXT, earned her PhD in Electrical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University on November 18, 2022. Dr. Collins' thesis, Development of a Low-Cost Meta-Instrument for Distributed Observations of Ionospheric Variability, focuses on the development of the HamSCI Grape Personal Space Weather Station Network. Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) serves as a...

The BEARS of Manchester Amateur Radio Club in Manchester, Connecticut, spent Thanksgiving Day providing amateur radio communications support for the 86th Manchester Road Race.

The race, a 4.748-mile course that begins and ends on Main Street in downtown Manchester, has been a Thanksgiving Day tradition since 1927. This is the 30th consecutive year the BEARS of Manchester Amateur Radio Club has p...

On December 1, 2022, YOTA begins a month-long, special event to celebrate young amateur radio operators -- YOTA Month 2022. YOTA is Youth or Youngsters on the Air. Amateur radio operators aged 25 and younger will be on all bands using all modes throughout the month to make contacts around the world. In 2021, YOTA participants worldwide made 119,516 contacts, surpassing their goal of 100,000 con...

Students at Five Bridges Junior High School in Stillwater Lake, Nova Scotia, Canada, finally had an opportunity to talk with an astronaut onboard the International Space Station (ISS) via ham radio.

On Wednesday, November 23, 2022, the students were able to talk with Astronaut Josh Cassada, KI5CRH, for about 11 minutes as the ISS passed over northern Europe.

The students were anxious to ask quest...

The Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA) will celebrate its 75th anniversary on December 5, 2022.

Founded in 1947, QCWA's mission includes promoting "friendship and cooperation among Amateur Radio (Wireless) operators who were licensed as such at least a quarter of a century ago."

Today, QCWA has 230 chapters in the US. During the organization's 75 years, it has had nearly 40,000 members. ...

ARRL Headquarters was closed for the holiday last Thursday and Friday, so this bulletin is delayed until Monday, but has fresh content from Sunday night.

At 2228 UTC on November 27, the Australian Space Weather Forecasting Centre issued a geomagnetic disturbance warning. “A coronal hole wind stream is expected to induce G1 periods of geomagnetic activity from mid-30 - November to 01-December.”

So...

ARRL Headquarters will be closed on Thursday and Friday, November 24 - 25, 2022, for the Thanksgiving holiday. There will be no W1AW bulletin or code practice transmissions on those days. ARRL HQ will reopen on Monday, November 28, at 8 AM EST.

On behalf of ARRL, Happy Thanksgiving! We are thankful to our members and member-volunteers, and all radio amateurs who help us advance the art, science,...

The Dodge County Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) has received the 2022 Disaster Volunteer Award at the ServeNebraska Step Forward Awards Luncheon on November 4, 2022.

Presented by Nebraska First Lady Susanne Shore, the award recognizes Dodge County ARES for a critical role in responding to the 2019 flooding in Fremont, Nebraska, and the surrounding areas. Dodge County ARES took signific...

The Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) will induct Dr. Ulrich Rohde, N1UL, as a fellow during ceremonies in mid-December. Dr. Rohde is only the third foreign fellow elected by the INAE, preceded by Dr. Jeffrey Wineland, who won a Nobel Prize in Physics, and Dr. Philip H. Knight.

In the formal announcement issued November 19, 2022, the INAE thanked Dr. Rohde for "outstanding contributi...

The annual SKYWARN™ Recognition Day (SRD) on-the-air activity will take place Saturday, December 3, 2022, from 0000 to 2400 UTC. For US time zones, activity begins on the evening of Friday, December 2, 2022.

SKYWARN Recognition Day was developed in 1999 by the National Weather Service (NWS) and ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® to honor the contributions that SKYWARN volunteers ma...

ARRL Southeastern Division Director Mickey Baker, N4MB, of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, overcame challengers for his position in the 2023-2025 election cycle. Ballots counted on November 18 showed Baker (2,785 votes) defeating challengers Vice Director James Schilling, KG4JSZ (1,000 votes), and John Willis, KB4DU (673 votes).

For the position of Vice Director, Jeff Beals, WA4AW (1,516 votes), o...

Jon McCombie, N1ILZ, will become Section Manager (SM) of the ARRL Eastern Massachusetts Section on January 1, 2023. McCombie, of Eastham, was the only nominee to submit a petition to run for office when the nomination period closed in early September. As the sole nominee, he has been declared elected.

This past year, McCombie has been Assistant SM to Tom Walsh, K1TW, who has been the SM of the E...

[revised 11/21/2022]

The 2022 ARRL November Sweepstakes Phone will run from 2100 UTC on Saturday, November 19 to 0259 UTC on Monday, November 21. This is the phone/SSB version of the contest, as the CW Sweepstakes counterpart ran during the weekend of November 5 - 7 -- so get your microphones ready!

 The annual ARRL November Sweepstakes is the premier domestic contest in the US and Canada, and th...

Dayton Hamvention® 2023 is just over 6 months away, and next year's Hamvention team has selected "Innovation!" as the event theme.

The team reports that, in just one word, the theme encompasses the world of amateur radio today. "There are so many exciting 'Innovations!' worldwide in amateur radio. We want to capture the spirit, and we expect to see many of these throughout the coming year and pr...

At 0334 UTC on November 18, the Australian Space Weather Forecast
Centre issued this geomagnetic disturbance warning:

"A moderately large coronal hole will rotate into a geoeffective
location by 19-Nov. Combined with possible weak glancing interaction
of recent CMEs, geomagnetic activity is expected in the coming days.

"INCREASED GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY EXPECTED DUE TO CORONAL HOLE HIGH SPEED WIND STRE...

ARRL headquarters was closed on Friday, November 11, so this
bulletin is delayed until Monday, but edited and updated Sunday
night.

Two new sunspots appeared November 1, one more November 3, two more November 4, one more and then another on November 6 and 7, another on November 9 and again on November 10, and one more on November 13. But sunspot numbers and solar flux seem modest lately, and so ar...