Whiskey Delta Five Mike

Ti-Michelle Connelly, NJ6T, of Yuma, Arizona, who served as ARRL East Bay Section Manager from 2003 until 2007, died last week. An ARRL Life Member, she was 72.

The California native also held other Field Organization appointments, including Net Manager, Affiliated Club Coordinator, Assistant Section Manager, and Official Emergency Station. Connelly was also an ARRL VEC and W5YI Volunteer Examin...

The ARRL HF Band Planning Committee is seeking comments and suggestions from the Amateur Radio community on its report to the ARRL Board. At the Board’s January meeting, the committee presented its specific recommendations in graphical form for each HF band and each US license class, with the goal of increasing harmony on the HF bands, particularly between CW and digital users.

“In general, the ...

The popular QRZ.com amateur radio website has dropped its verified member program, which the site instituted last year in an effort to combat fraud and password phishers. Termination of the program was due to “a number of factors,” the site’s founder and president Fred Lloyd, AA7BQ, explained in a post. Lloyd said the change will “transition our online swapmeet rules to reflect more open polici...

On January 24, President Donald Trump signed into law the “Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act” or the “PIRATE Act.” The measure, which amends the Communications Act of 1934, authorizes enhanced penalties for violators. Under the new law, pirate radio broadcasters would be subject to a fine of not more than $2 million, and violators could be fined up to $100,000 for each day ...

 Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has announced the names of schools and organizations selected to host amateur radio contacts with International Space Station crew members during the second half of 2020. Ten proposals were accepted to move forward in the selection process and placed in a scheduling queue for an amateur radio contact between July and December 2020. Altho...

The Amateur Radio Newsline Amateur Radio Club will sponsor an informal activation of WA6ITF, the call sign long held by Newsline cofounder Bill Pasternak, who died 5 years ago. Pasternak would have turned 72 on February 7. With Bill Orenstein, KH6IAF, Pasternak created the original Amateur Radio Newsline as the Westlink Radio Network, recruiting volunteer broadcasters to contribute ham radio ne...

The company with sole rights to salvage artifacts from the RMS Titanic has gone to court to gain permission to carry out a “surgical removal and retrieval” of the Marconi radio equipment on the ship, a Washington Post article reports. The Titanic sank in 1912 on its maiden voyage after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic. As the radio room filled with water, radio operator Jack Phillips t...

AMSAT-NA President Joe Spier, K6WAO, has resigned, citing personal reasons. Spier, of Weimar, California, had served as AMSAT’s president since October 2017. Prior to that, Spier was AMSAT’s executive vice president and vice president of Educational Relations. He also served as an AMSAT News Service editor and as a member of the ARISS Education Team. Executive Vice President Paul Stoetzer, N8HM...

A powerful magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the province of Elazig on January 24. Radio amateurs affiliated with the national International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) member-society TRAC assisted in the response.

Aziz Sasa, TA1E, at TRAC Headquarters reported, “The affected area was very small and the intensity limited; our involvement was also limited.” He said two TRAC branches in the affected ...

This week we finally saw the return of sunspots, over seven of the last eight days, January 24-30. Average daily sunspot numbers rose from zero to 11.1, while average daily solar flux jumped from 71.2 to 72.9.

Geomagnetic indicators remained very quiet, signaling continued great conditions on 160 and 80 meters.

Predicted solar flux over the next month and a half is 74 on January 31 through Februa...

Contest University (CTU) professors and the course outline for sessions that will be held in conjunction with Dayton Hamvention® 2020 have been posted.

The keynote speaker for the Top Band Dinner on Friday, May 16, will be Glenn Johnson, W0GJ, who will discuss the VP6R DXpedition to Pitcairn Island.

The keynote speaker for the Contest Dinner on Saturday, May 17, is Bryant Rascoll, KG5HVO.

CTU, the...

ARRL’s Committee on Communication with Members has launched three new online discussion forums as part of its ongoing efforts to enhance and improve communication between ARRL leadership and members or prospective members. The new forums, which focus on antenna law, regulatory issues, and support for new amateur radio licensees, will go live on Thursday, January 30, at 0400 UTC.

The committee l...

The State QSO Party Challenge is a competition comprised of other contests, namely state and provincial QSO parties. As explained on the website, the annual cumulative score program is open to any radio amateur who participates in any approved state QSO parties (SQPs).

Participants just need to submit their QSO party scores to 3830scores.com to enter the challenge. Participants’ cumulative score...

Past ARRL Southeastern Division Director Harmon "Dale" Strieter, W4QM (ex-W4DQS), of Cocoa Beach, died on January 6. An ARRL Life Member, he was 92 and a founding member of the Maxim Society.

Strieter was ARRL Southeastern Division Director from 1970 until 1973.

During World War II, he served as US Maritime Service radio officer in the Pacific. After the war, he received a bachelor’s degree in el...

The University of Washington’s HuskySat-1 3U CubeSat, launched November 2, 2019, is set to deploy on January 31 after the vehicle that carried it to the International Space Station undocks. HuskySat-1 has remained stowed aboard a Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply vehicle. Within 24 hours after Cygnus’ departure from the ISS, HuskySat-1 and SwampSat 2 will be deployed into orbit. After deployment, ...