Dear Member, 

At the 2024 ARRL Annual Meeting held in January, the Board of Directors unanimously voted to approve the establishment of a committee to assure the existence of a set of ethical standards and guidelines for Board Members as called for in ARRL By-Law 42. In addition, the committee was tasked to review By-Laws 42 (Ethics and Elections Committee) and 46 (Conflict of Interest Policy) f...

The ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology is growing next year, and a number of social media stars are coming together to help it happen. On Saturday, November 30, a live fundraiser telethon is set to take place on the Ham Radio Crash Course YouTube channel. Host Josh Nass, KI6NAZ, will be joined by several web-famous hams to talk radio and raise money. The proceeds benefit the ARRL Ed...

ARRL® The National Association for Amateur Radio® announces the results of the 2024 ARRL Division elections.

In the ARRL New England Division, Tom Frenaye, K1KI (1,593 votes), of West Suffeld, Connecticut, was declared the winner, defeating current Director Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC (1,452 votes).

Frenaye has previously served on the ARRL Board of Directors in several capacities, including as Director...

The National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) Question Pool Committee (QPC) has removed one Extra Class pool question and one General Class pool question from use. Both Extra pool question E2A13 and General pool question G8C01 have been deleted from use on examinations as the two questions each have more than one correct answer. The deleted questions must be removed from ex...

Only five new sunspot groups emerged this week. First was on
November 7, next on November 9, two more on November 11, and another
on November 13.

Average daily sunspot number declined from 193.4 to 141.6, while
average daily solar flux went from 248.4 to 203.7.

Predicted solar flux is 145 on November 15-16, 155 on November
17-18, then 145 on November 19, 140 November 20-21, then 235, 240,
255 and 260 ...

Results are published, and the numbers are in. They paint a picture of a very active 2024 ARRL Field Day. Nearly 1.3 million contacts were reported during the 24-hour event. That is up from 2023’s 1.25 million contacts. That’s likely indicative of the continued rise of Solar Cycle 25 leading up to the event, but more people also participated this year.

Entries were received from all 85 ARRL and ...

On Armed Forces Day, May 1971, 53 years ago, two amateur operators working as WZ6SNI, activated San Nicolas Island, IOTA NA-066. At 61 miles, San Nicolas is the most remote of the Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California and is owned by the US Navy.

Now, weather permitting, Will Costello, WC6DX, has been authorized to be active from San Nicolas Island November 8 - 12, 2024. He is tak...

A rare November hurricane made landfall in western Cuba as a Category 3 storm Wednesday and continued to move slowly toward the northwest Thursday morning. Volunteer ham radio operators were there to provide surface reports to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Hurricane Rafael left Cuba’s 10 million residents without power and on Thursday afternoon was a Category 2 storm moving away from C...

 ARRL® The National Association for Amateur Radio® has two closures coming up for our headquarters in Newington, Connecticut:

ARRL will be closed on Friday morning, November 8, 2024, for an employee meeting. During the short closure, members are encouraged to use the ARRL website, www.arrl.org, for membership renewals, publication purchases, and to access most benefits, services, and programs. T...

Tuesday, November 5, 2024, 11:00 AM Eastern Update:

The following information is from the Hurricane Watch Net:

The Hurricane Watch Net will be activated today, Tuesday, as planned, with one minor update. After further review of the timing of the storm and the distance from land, we need to modify our plans. All will remain the same with the exception that we will now operate overnight

Activation P...

ARRL® The National Association for Amateur Radio® is pleased to announce that the 19th annual ARRL Online Auction, sponsored by RT Systems Inc, raised $47,000 for amateur radio STEM education. 

The event was held from October 18- 24, 2024. In addition to hundreds of views, the auction saw 329 individual bidders vying for equipment, vintage books, “mystery junk boxes” from the ARRL Lab, and more....

Solar activity increased this week. Average daily sunspot number
went from 127.7 to 197.4 and average solar flux from 170.5 to 240.2.

Predicted solar flux is 270 on November 1-2, 265 and 260 on November
3-4, 250 on November 5-7, 214, 195 and 182 on November 8-10, 172,
168, 174 and 165 on November 11-14, and 162 on November 15-16.

Predicted planetary A index is 5, 8, 15, and 10 on November 1-4, 5
on N...

The University of Scranton in Pennsylvania has a new amateur radio station, W3USR. A dedication was held at the university’s Loyola Science Center on Friday, October 25, 2024, led by Dr. Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, an associate professor of physics and electrical engineering, and club advisor for the University of Scranton Amateur Radio Club.

The new W3USR University of Scranton Amateur Radio Sta...

The 2025 ARRL Foundation Scholarship Program will begin accepting applications on October 30, 2024. Applications will be accepted through January 6, 2025.

More than 100 scholarships ranging from $500 to $25,000 will be awarded. All applicants must be active, FCC-licensed amateur radio operators. 

Information, along with the link to the online application, can be found on ARRL’s website: https://w...

The 5th annual Youth "Dream Rig" Essay Contest has begun to accept submissions.

The contest is sponsored by The Intrepid-DX Group, a U.S.-based 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization that promotes amateur radio activities around the world and recognizes the importance of including youth in the amateur radio hobby.

Contestants must be USA or Canadian amateur radio license holders aged 19 or younger. A...

Key solar indicators were lower this week, with average daily solar
flux down from 194.3 to 170.5 and average daily sunspot numbers
declining from 129.3 to 127.7.

On October 22, Spaceweather.com reported:

"THE SUN IS TAKING A QUICK BREAK: Solar Max is hard work. Just ask
the Sun. After flaring almost without pause for the past 10 months,
the Sun is taking a quick break. Solar activity has been low fo...