Whiskey Delta Five Mike

As a result of the 2019 AMSAT Board of Directors election, Jerry Buxton, N0JY; Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA; Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK; and Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, were elected by the AMSAT membership to serve for 2 years. The First Alternate is Brennan Price, N4QX. The Second Alternate is Howie Defelice, AB2S. Both will serve 1-year terms.

Total number of votes cast was 1,052 (892 electronic plus 1...

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.

No sunspots this week, and as of Wednesday we’ve seen 15 spotless days in a row. This is the solar minimum. The current Solar Cycle (24) is expected to end by the end of this calendar year.

Average daily solar flux declined from 69.4 to 68.1. Average daily planetary A index declined slightly from 8.9 to 8.3, but average daily mid-latitude A index rose from 7.7 to 8.

Predicted solar flux is 68 on ...

ARRL’s Ad Hoc Legislative Advisory Committee will meet with several members of Congress later this month in Washington to introduce new Committee members, reacquaint the lawmakers with Amateur Radio’s most-pressing issues, seek their input on the best ways to achieve ARRL’s objectives in Congress, and request their continuing support. Committee members have completed a comprehensive analysis of...

ARRL is seeking an emergency management director to oversee a team responsible for supporting ARRL emergency communication programs and services, including the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®) and National Traffic System (NTS), and to work with staff to develop standards, protocols, and processes designed to support the Field Organization. This is a full-time, exempt position at ARRL Hea...

The winning article for the September 2019 QST Cover Plaque award is “A Slightly Off-Center-Fed Dipole” by Brian Machesney K1LI/J75Y.

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 October issue today.

“Demystifying the Language of Morse Code” will be the focus of the new (September 19) episode of the So Now What? podcast for Amateur Radio newcomers.

If you’re a newly licensed Amateur Radio operator, chances are you have lots of questions. This biweekly podcast has answers! So Now What? offers insights from those who’ve been just where you are now. New episodes will be posted every other Thur...

In ex parte comments filed on September 17 in WT Docket 16-239, ARRL renewed its request that the FCC delete symbol-rate limits for data transmissions in the Amateur Service rules. As it did in its initial filing, ARRL asked the FCC to couple the removal of the symbol rate limits with the adoption of a 2.8 kHz bandwidth limit. In response to a 2013 ARRL Petition for Rulemaking (RM-11708), the F...

HamSCI and the Case Amateur Radio Club of Case Western Reserve University (W8EDU) will sponsor a “Festival of Frequency Measurement” on WWV’s centennial, October 1, from 0000 to 2359 UTC (starting on Monday evening, September 30, in the Americas). The event invites radio amateurs, short-wave listeners, and others capable of making high-quality frequency measurements on HF to participate and pub...

The Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club (MDARC) Disaster Recovery Program for the 2018 Carr and Camp Fires has made a $1,000 grant to the California Amateur Radio Linking Association (CARLA) toward the cost of rebuilding one of its destroyed sites. The CARLA network of repeaters provides coverage across California and Western Nevada to provide reliable communication during significant local, region...

The Taurus-1 (Jinniuzuo-1) CubeSat carrying an Amateur Radio FM-to-Codec-2 transponder was launched on September 12 from China’s Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The CubeSat was developed by Aerospace System Engineering Research Institute of Shanghai for youth education and Amateur Radio. The transponder is similar to that used on the LilacSat-1 (LO-90) CubeSat and can use the same software, on...

Well-known Canadian radio amateur J Allen, VY1JA, of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, has announced that he’s retiring from ham radio, citing long-term health issues and hearing loss. The familiar VY1JA call sign also has been retired. Allen will begin dismantling his station and antennas as early as this weekend. His last contact was with KA4UPI on September 14. He has uploaded his logs to Logbook...

Radio World reports that the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) has resumed testing digital radio broadcasting on the 80-meter amateur band after a 2-year absence. North Korea is transmitting with the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) protocol. The latest transmissions on 3.560 MHz began in mid-August.

“It appears unclear at this time, however, whether the current series of transmiss...

Starting on Monday, September 16, WWV and WWVH will broadcast a US Department of Defense message to mark the centennial of WWV and to announce the WW0WWV special event from September 28 until October 2 at the WWV transmitter site near Fort Collins, Colorado. The DoD message transmissions will air until October 1.

Kevin Utter, N7GES, a member of the WW0WWV Centennial Committee, recorded the audio...

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.

[UPDATED: 2019-09-17 @ 1450 UTC to provide additional detail and clarity.] Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) has announced what’s being called “a very generous grant” to Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) to help fund its next-generation Interoperable Radio System (IORS) and associated infrastructure improvements and enhancements. ARISS said the IORS will replace...

No sunspots this week. Average daily sunspot numbers declined from 3.4 to zero. At the same time, average daily solar flux rose from 67.4 to 69.4.

Geomagnetic activity quieted, with average daily planetary A index declining from 19.9 to 8.9, while average daily mid-latitude A index went from 16.7 to 7.7.

Predicted solar flux is 68 on September 13-22, 69 on September 23 through October 5, 68 on Oc...