ARRL News

19 April 2024

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the national association for amateur radio, connecting hams around the U.S. with news, information and resources.

• The K7RA Solar Update

  Solar activity increased dramatically this reporting week (April
  11-17), and thirteen new sunspot groups emerged. One appeared on
  April 11, two more on April 13, three more on April 14, another two
  on April 15, one more on April 16 and another two on April 17. On
  April 18 an additional two sunspot groups emerged, and the daily
  sunspot number increased to 247.
  
  The daily sunspot number was 199 on April...

• Active Hurricane Season Predicted for 2024

  Colorado State University (CSU) hurricane researchers predict an active Atlantic hurricane season (June 1 to November 30) in their initial 2024 forecast.

  ARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, attended the National Hurricane Conference in Florida in late March, where the CSU prediction was issued. "The common discussion at the National Hurricane Conference this year was the...

• Amateur Radio Saves Family in Death Valley National Park

  Death Valley National Park is in a remote desert in southern California, where mobile phone networks are spotty at best. On Saturday, April 6, a radio amateur and his family were enjoying the park when their vehicle became stuck in mud in a dangerous area. Without access to a cell network, the ham called for help on the 10-meter band.

  According to a news release from the Black Swamp Amateur Radi...

• Ham Radio Active During Eclipse

  Millions of people across the United States got to see a rare solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024.

  The path of totality -- the line of darkness where the moon fully occluded the sun -- stretched through the South Pacific, Mexico, central Texas, the Ozarks, the Midwest, the Rust Belt area, and to New England through the Maritimes. In all, 14 ARRL Sections were impacted directly and several mor...

• The K7RA Solar Update

  I did not see last Monday's eclipse, except on television. Here in
  the Pacific Northwest, we only got a 20% exposure, and skies were
  overcast.
  
  As they moved across the country displaying successive totality, I
  noticed the prominences on the edge of the disk. There were always
  between one and three little red spots at the edge.
  
  Solar activity over the past reporting week, April 4-10, remains
  weak.
  
  Avera...

• 2024 ARRL Field Day Poster Released

  A poster promoting 2024 ARRL Field Day has been released on the Field Day web page, www.arrl.org/field-day. The two-sided informational poster features this year's theme "Be Radio Active". It includes a space for clubs to fill in information about their planned activation so that members of their community can come visit the site.

  More resources for promoting 2024 ARRL Field Day are being develo...

• ARRL Seeking Applicants for Assistant Education and Learning Manager

  ARRL is working to engage the next generation of radio amateurs right in the classroom. Many young people have become active hams because of the ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology.

  This donor-funded effort brings teachers from across the United States together to get them excited about radio through hands-on experiments. The Institute then trains them on how to take that excitement b...

• Register Now for the 2024 ARRL Youth Rally!

  As part of the fun at Dayton Hamvention®, youth attendees are invited to participate in the 2024 ARRL Youth Rally on Saturday, May 18. The day will include a special agenda of activities and presentations intended to engage and inspire young hams and young newcomers to amateur radio.

  The Youth Rally is intended for students who are 11 to 21 years of age. While Hamvention offers free tickets for...

• Ham Radio's Many Roles During Solar Eclipse

  In one of nature's most spectacular visual displays, on April 8, 2024, the sun will align with the moon and the Earth, casting a shadow that will transit much of North America.

  Spectacular Display and Gathering

  Millions will gather along the path of totality - the section where the sun is fully blocked by the moon - to witness something that happens, on average, once every 375 years for any place...

• The K7RA Solar Update

  With the big increase in sunspot numbers and solar flux reported in
  last week's Propagation Forecast Bulletin ARLP013, I hoped the trend
  would continue, but numbers this week were lower.
  
  Five new sunspot groups emerged, one each day from March 30 through
  April 3.
  
  Average daily sunspot numbers went from 147 to 60, and average daily
  solar flux declined from 191.9 to 136.9.
  
  Geomagnetic numbers were much...

• The K7RA Solar Update

   A dramatic increase in solar activity emerged over the past week, and geomagnetic activity reacted as well.

  Two new sunspot groups appeared on March 21, then one new group emerged each day over March 22-25.

  Average daily solar flux rose from 153.3 to 191.9, and average daily sunspot numbers increased from 94.3 to 147.

  The highest sunspot number over last week was 171 on March 22, which was the...

• Southeastern Repeater Association (SERA) President Wade "Danny" Hampton Jr., K4ITL, passed away February 28, 2024.

  While attending the North Carolina State School for the Blind (now known as Governor Morehead School for the Blind) in Raleigh, Hampton met several sighted friends involved in the amateur radio community and began attending radio club meetings with them. As a result, he became a licensed amateur radio operator at the age of 12, despite the requirement that an operator must be able to read, copy...

• World Amateur Radio Day is April 18, 2024

  World Amateur Radio Day (WARD) is celebrated each year on April 18.

  The theme for 2024 is, "A Century of Connections: Celebrating 100 Years of Amateur Radio Innovation, Community, and Advocacy." The global event covers all of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) regions and spans 2 days: Thursday, April 18, 2024, 0000 UTC to Friday, April 19, 2024, 0000 UTC.

  On April 18, 1925, the IARU wa...

• New Training Course Offered by the ARRL Puerto Rico Section

  The ARRL Puerto Rico Section has a new online training course for prospective amateur radio operators. Fifty-three students have enrolled in the course, taught by ARRL Technical Coordinator and Instructor Carlos Roig, WP4AOH, who draws from the ARRL License Manual and the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators pool of questions for the Spanish Zoom course. The course is open to...

• Amateur Radio Importance Highlighted at National Hurricane Conference

  The National Hurricane Conference was held March 25 - 28, 2024, in Orlando, Florida. Amateur radio was well represented at the event. A series of workshops were held that focused on amateur radio's involvement in hurricane tracking, coverage, and recovery.

  Among the presenters was the Assistant Amateur Radio Coordinator of WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) Julio Ripoll, WD4R.   Ripol...

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