Whiskey Delta Five Mike

Ingenuity and craftsman abound within the Amateur Radio community, as shown in the results of the 2019 QST Key Competition. More than two dozen entries were submitted, and the judges gathered in late July to evaluate them. The competition sought Morse key and paddle designs in four categories: straight key, semiautomatic key (bug), paddle, and sideswiper. Each was a mechanical work of art, but ...

[UPDATED: 2019-09-05- @ 1942 UTC] Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®) teams from Florida to Virginia went on alert this week, even before Hurricane Dorian left the Bahamas and started making its way up the southeastern US coast. As of 1800 UTC on September 5, Dorian was back to a Category 2 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 110 MPH. It was 115 miles south-southwest of Wilmington, North...

The African Telecommunications Union (ATU) held its final preparatory meeting ahead of World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19), convened by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Attending the session in South Africa was Brian Jacobs, ZS6YZ, who represented the South African Radio League (SARL) and International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (IARU R1) as part of the South Afr...

The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) has been in continuous operation for Dorian since last Saturday at 2100 UTC, and it plans to remain in operation on 14.325 MHz and 7.268 MHz until further notice, HWN Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, said. The storm, then a Category 5 hurricane, made landfall on Grand Bahama Island with maximum sustained winds of 180 MPH, where it stalled for a day and a half. Only on...

The winning article for the August 2019 QST Cover Plaque award is “Optimizing Propagation on 630 and 2200 Meters” by Robert S. Logan, NZ5A.

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.

As Hurricane Dorian nears the US southeast coast, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai reports the agency been working throughout the weekend to finalize preparations for the storm and coordinate with federal and state partners.

“Our staff has reached out to wireless carriers and broadcasters to offer assistance,” Pai said in a statement. “With our government partners, including FEMA, we have worked to ensure...

In a strategic partnership with Raytheon, US Amateur Radio equipment manufacturer FlexRadio®has been selected by the US Air Force to adapt its off-the-shelf SmartSDR/FLEX-6000 architecture for HF modernization of airborne communications platforms. The new radio will provide beyond line-of-sight, long distance communications for air crews.

“We are excited to convey that our proven modular direct ...

The FCC has granted ARRL’s emergency request for a temporary waiver to permit only those radio amateurs active and involved in Hurricane Dorian response and relief efforts to use the PACTOR 4 digital protocol on HF. The waiver is valid through 2100 UTC on Friday, September 6. The waiver request was necessary because Section 97.307(f) of the FCC’s Amateur Radio Service rules limits digital data ...

Hurricane Dorian, now a dangerous Category 5 storm, hit the island of Abaco in the Bahamas with 185 MPH winds and heavy rain. The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) on 14.325 MHz (7268 MHz alternate) and the VoIP Hurricane Net (EchoLink WX_TALK Conference) remain activated in conjunction with WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center to keep on top of ground-truth weather information and to handle emergen...

Applications for the 2020 ARRL Foundation Scholarship Program will be accepted between September 1 and December 31, 2019.

All applicants must be FCC-licensed radio amateurs, and many scholarships have other specific requirements, such as intended area of study, residence within a particular ARRL Division, Section or state, and license class. Applicants should review the scholarships and check of...

The Florida’s three ARES® Section Emergency Coordinators are collecting information from ARES volunteers in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Dorian. The SECs have set up a volunteer form for Florida ARES members to express their desire to help in the areas of Florida affected by the impending hurricane. The volunteer’s information will be used to fulfill mission requests and allow SECs ...

The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) has been closely watching the progress of Hurricane Dorian and will activate on Saturday at 2100 UTC and remain in continuous operation on 14.325 MHz and 7.268 MHz. 

Over the past 24 hours, the hurricane’s forecast track has shifted slightly, which will take the storm over the northern Bahamas before it strikes southeastern Florida.

As of 1500 UTC, Dorian was some 48...

A new registration system has been established for US stations planning to participate in the 2019 Scouting’s Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) in October. JOTA Coordinator Jim Wilson, K5ND, said the new system will enable JOTA organizers to directly publish station information to facilitate contacts and more readily provide information to those who have registered.

“It will also help us collect inform...

Tad Cook, K7RA, in Seattle, reports: The current stretch of spotless days is now over 3 weeks, according to Spaceweather.com. The continuing quiet seems eerie. For this past reporting week, Thursday through Wednesday, the average daily solar flux (10.7 GHz radiation recorded in Penticton, British Columbia, which roughly tracks with sunspot activity) was only 66. I couldn’t recall when the weekl...