Whiskey Delta Five Mike

Along with many other ham radio events, SEA-PAC 2020, which was to host the ARRL Northwestern Division Convention, fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic. Standing in for this year’s live event will be the SEA-PAC QSO Party on Saturday, June 6, starting at 1600 UTC and continuing until June 7 at 0400 UTC.

“We may not be able to be with our 2,000+ fellow amateur radio friends this year on this day...

ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, has appointed Dan Grady, N2SRK, of Aurora, Colorado, as the new Rocky Mountain Division Vice Director. Grady will succeed Robert Wareham, N0ESQ, who has stepped down from that post to accept appointment as Colorado Section Manager (SM), taking the reins from SM Jack Ciaccia, WM0G, who resigned effective on June 1 to relocate.

“I am delighted to welcome Dan to ...

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken, KE5GGX, and Doug Hurley, are settling in on board the International Space Station (ISS) after arriving aboard the first commercially built and operated US spacecraft to transport humans into orbit. Behnken and Hurley headed into space on Saturday, May 30, in the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, powered by a Falcon 9 launcher from Cape Kennedy. They docked at the ISS Harm...

A radio amateur is one of two NASA astronauts headed to the International Space Station (ISS) following a May 30 launch of a SpaceX rocket that marked the return of human spaceflight to US soil for the first time in almost a decade. The Saturday launch from Cape Kennedy also marked the first time humans traveled aloft via a commercial spacecraft.

Astronauts Bob Behnken, KE5GGX, and Doug Hurley h...

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.

A recent in-person “social-distancing” amateur radio exam session in Indiana and a “drive-in” session in California are representative of those that are relieving some of the pent-up demand for testing. As the COVID-19 pandemic lumbers on, in-person exam sessions have begun to resume across the US and elsewhere in the world.

“With in-person sessions starting up again around the country, we are h...

No significant solar activity over the past week, and still no sunspots observed since the end of April. According to Spaceweather.com, the percentage of spotless days in 2020 has inched up another notch to 79%.  The percentage of days showing no sunspots for all of 2019 was 77%.

Average daily solar flux for last week was 69.6, up from 69 during the previous week. Average mid-latitude A index wa...

ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Vice Director Robert Wareham, N0ESQ, has stepped down from that post to accept appointment as Colorado Section Manager. Wareham would succeed veteran Colorado SM Jack Ciaccia, WM0G, who resigned effective on June 1 after serving since 2011.

“Jack will be moving to the East Coast to be closer to family, and I wish him only the best as he transitions to this next phase...

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken, KE5GGX, and Doug Hurley will have to wait a few more days to see if the can make US space history, as human spaceflight is poised to return to the US for the first time in almost a decade. SpaceX and NASA scrubbed the launch, which was set for 1833 UTC on May 27. It has been reset for Saturday, May 30, at 1922 UTC.

“Standing down from launch today due to unfavorable ...

A new beta (“release candidate”), WSJT-X version 2.2.0-rc2, is now available for downloading from the WSJT-X website, along with a list of new features. The WSJT-X development team has also published additional FT8 “overflow” frequencies. The WSJT-X 2.2.0-rc2 Release Notes explain:

“Increasing FT8 usage on 40, 30, and 20 meters means that the default 3 kHz subbands are often wall-to-wall with si...

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.

Nominations are being invited in five ARRL Divisions for the volunteer positions of Director and Vice Director, for 3-year terms that start January 1, 2021. Affected Divisions are Atlantic, Dakota, Delta, Great Lakes, and Midwest. A nominee must be at least 21 years old, hold a valid amateur radio licensee, and have been a full ARRL member for a continuous term of at least 4 years immediately p...

The nearly 46-year-old AO-7 amateur satellite made a remarkable contact possible on May 4 between Diego Feil, LW2DAF, in Buenos Aires, Argentina (GF05rk), and Tom Ambrose, ZS1TA, in Cape Town, South Africa (JF95fx). The contact spanned 4,329 miles across the South Atlantic, with both stations aiming at only 2 or 3 degrees above the horizon.

Both stations had been watching orbital predictions for...

A US federal judge in Virginia has given permission to retrieve the ill-fated RMS Titanic’s Marconi wireless gear, which transmitted distress calls from the sinking ocean liner during its maiden voyage. Judge Rebecca Beach Smith of the US District Court in Norfolk ruled that the radio gear is historically and culturally important and could soon be lost within the rapidly decaying wreck. The Tit...

Still no sunspots to report. Spaceweather.com reported on May 20 that the current stretch of days with no sunspots has now reached 18. And with that the 2020 percentage of days with no sunspots has risen to 77%, equal to 2019. Until May 15 that statistic stood at 76%.

Average daily solar flux for the week rose to 69, marginally higher than last week’s average of 68.5. Average planetary A index d...

Judging by the outcome of two tests so far, the new Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Multipoint Telebridge Contact via Amateur Radio concept appears to be a winner. ARISS completed the second test of the new-style radio contact called Multipoint Telebridge Contact via Amateur Radio on May 15, when Airdrie Space Science Club members in Airdrie, Alberta, Canada, interviewe...