Registrations for the 2017 International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend (ILLW) have topped the 200 mark for the August 19-20 event. The ILLW is 20 years old this year, and with some 8 weeks to go, 220 planned operations have registered throughout the world, including 26 in the US (Germany is leading registrations with 45. Australia has 30 so far). During the annual event, Amateur Radio stations w...

The commemorative call sign OF1ØØHQ will be on the air during the IARU HF World Championship event July 8-9 to mark Finland’s 100th anniversary.

“Finland has been under Swedish and Russian rule, and has had to fight her way to her own destiny of freedom in securing her identity during the World War II,” well-known Finnish radio amateur Martti Laine, OH2BH, pointed out in announcing the HQ multip...

Average daily sunspot numbers rose this reporting week (June 15-21) from 4.9 to 29.4. The previous week had four days with no sunspots, and this week there were no zero sunspot days, hence the dramatic increase in the average.

Average daily solar flux barely budged from 74.4 to 74.6

Average daily planetary A index went from 7.3 to 9.4, and mid-latitude A index from 6.9 to 8.1.

Predicted solar flux...

The ARRL will sponsor a 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season Webinar on Monday, July 17, at 8 PM ET (0000 UTC on Tuesday, July 18). The approximately 90-minute session will address the role of Amateur Radio during the 2017 Hurricane Season. Anyone interested in hurricane preparedness and response is invited to take part in this online presentation.

Topics will include a meteorological overview of the ...

Sacramento Valley Section Official Observer Coordinator (OOC) Norm Lucas, WB6RVR, died on June 19, after suffering an apparent heart attack. He was 67. Lucas had been an OO since 1989 and OOC since 2003.

Licensed in 1964, Lucas was a past president of the Northern Amateur Relay Council of California (NARCC) and actively lobbied for the revision of California’s distracted driving bill. He was a ...

“Generators” is the topic of the new (June 22) episode of the “ARRL The Doctor is In” podcast. Listen...and learn!

Sponsored by DX Engineering, “ARRL The Doctor is In” is an informative discussion of all things technical. Listen on your computer, tablet, or smartphone -- whenever and wherever you like!

Every 2 weeks, your host, QST Editor-in-Chief Steve Ford, WB8IMY, and the Doctor himself, Joel ...

To commemorate its 20th anniversary, ARISS is planning to transmit a set of 12 slow-scan television (SSTV) images that capture the accomplishments of ARISS over the years. SSTV transmissions from the International Space Station will take place on 145.800 MHz FM around the July 15-16 weekend.

“We are planning for at least a 2-day operation, but are working for a potentially longer operation,” AR...

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has announced that he intends to appoint Rosemary C. Harold to serve as chief of the Enforcement Bureau. Michael Carowitz, who has been serving as acting bureau chief, will become the Bureau’s deputy chief. Harold is an attorney with experience within the FCC agency and in private practice; she’s also a former journalist.

“This agency has a critical role to play in enforci...

ARRL Field Day is upon us! If you’re still in the dark about how to use the logging software that your club or group will employ this weekend, these videos may help. For those logging with the popular N3FJP Amateur Radio Software, developer Scott Davis, N3FJP has posted an 11-minute Quick Start video that should be sufficient to get you going.

If your group is using N1MM Logger+, then check out...

Jerry Buxton, N0JY; Clayton Coleman, W5PFG; Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA; Peter Portanova, W2JV, and Paul Stoetzer, N8HM, have been nominated to serve on the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors. Ballots will go out in mid-July to AMSAT-NA members, and candidate statements will accompany them. The top four vote-getters will be elected to the Board, with an alternate chosen based on the next highest number of...

Maxim Memorial Station W1AW at ARRL Headquarters has announced its Field Day 2017 bulletin schedule. The Maritime Radio Historical Society station K6KPH will transmit the W1AW Field Day 2017 bulletin for the benefit of West Coast stations.

Friday, June 23

Mode

Pacific

Mountain

Central

Eastern

UTC

CW

5:00 PM

6:00 PM

7:00 PM

8:00 PM

0000 (Sat)

Digital

6:00 PM

7:00 PM

Amateur Radio came to the rescue of the INSPIRE-2 CubeSat, built by the University of Sydney in collaboration with the Australian National University, and the University of New South Wales. According to Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA), the CubeSat is designed to “explore the lower thermosphere, for re-entry research and in-orbit demonstration of technologies and miniaturized sensors” and ...

Thirteen schools and organizations will move into the second phase of the selection process to host the earthbound end of an Amateur Radio contact with an International Space Station (ISS) crew. Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is in the process of selecting schools and groups to host ARISS contacts during the first half of 2018. The 13 prospective hosts now will submit ...

Well-known scientist and radio amateur Ulrich Rohde, N1UL, is the recipient of the 2017 W.G. Cady Award, “for pioneering research, development, and commercialization of signal-generating and processing devices for commercial and scientific applications.” Sponsored by the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control (UFFC) Society, the Cady Award recognizes outstanding contributions r...

At 2311 UTC on June 14 the Australian Space Weather Forecast Centre issued a geomagnetic disturbance warning:

“In the second half of the first UT day (15 June) the solar wind is expected to be influenced by a High Speed Solar Wind Stream. On the second UT day (16 June) the speed can reach 700 km/s. The geomagnetic activity is expected to reach active levels. Isolated minor storm periods are poss...