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ARRL News

23 April 2025

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

• ARRL Ham Radio Open House Events Making Headlines

  ARRL Ham Radio Open House events are garnering press around the country. In Yaphank, New York, on Long Island, an event held by the Suffolk County Radio Club was featured in Newsday (paywall).

  Reporter Joe Werkmeister profiled the club’s event that drew out a crowd of visitors. ARRL Hudson Division Director Ed Wilson, W2XDD, who serves as Vice President of the club, was quoted in the story.

  Many...

• The ARRL Solar Report

  Spaceweather.com reports a Cannibal Coronal Mass Ejection on April 15 sparked geomagnetic storms. On April 16, the storm became severe (G4) with Northern Lights sighted as far south as France. The storm is subsiding now to a category G1/G2, which could still produce high-latitude auroras.

  Although Regions AR4062 and AR4064 have been relatively quiet they are more structurally complex than ant...

• Former ARRL Vice Director Wayne Overbeck, N6NB, SK

  Former ARRL Vice Director and Contest Advisory Committee Chairman Wayne Overbeck, N6NB, passed away Saturday April 12, 2025. He was 82 years old. Overbeck held an Amateur Extra-class license and was active in amateur radio for over 68 years. He served four terms as an elected ARRL Vice Director, from 1984 to 1993, and was also chairman of the ARRL Contest Advisory Committee during the 1970s and...

• Paul “Tad” Cook, K7RA, SK

  Paul “Tad” Cook, K7RA, passed away on April 13, 2025. 

  For 36 years, Cook wrote the weekly W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin and the K7RA Solar Update for the ARRL Letter. He retired in January 2025, citing a recent ALS diagnosis and on March 8, Cook received the ARRL President’s Award presented to him by ARRL Northwestern Division Director Mark Tharp, KB7HDX.

  Several weeks ago, Robin Amundson,...

• World Amateur Radio Day – International Amateur Radio Union Formed 100 Years Ago

  April 18th is honored as World Amateur Radio Day, when we celebrate the founding of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). The organization was born out of a meeting in Paris on April 17, 1925. ARRL took a leadership role in its founding, with ARRL Founder Hiram Percy Maxim, then 1AW, serving as the first President of IARU.

  As reported by Kenneth B. Warner, 1BHW, in the June 1925 edition...

• ARRL Videos Document Next Generation DXing Program at International DX Convention
• ARRL Files Comments Responding to FCC Request for Input

  ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® filed comments [PDF] with the Federal Communications Commission in response to its request for public input on alleviating unnecessary regulatory burdens by deleting or modifying rules, In the Matter of Delete, Delete, Delete.Implementing ARRL’s  suggestions would promote and protect the art, science, and enjoyment of amateur radio, and enhance...

• The ARRL Solar Report

  Due to most of the regions on the solar disk being fairly simple in
  their magnetic complexity, solar activity is expected to remain at
  low levels with a chance for M-class flares (R1 to R2, or Minor to
  Moderate).
  
  Solar wind parameters are expected to trend further towards nominal
  levels as the Coronal Hole High-Speed Stream effects continue to
  wane.
  
  Additional enhancements from another negative polari...

• Effort to Save Marconi Towers in Canada – Public Invited to Vote on Project

  There’s an effort underway to save some of Marconi’s original towers, and an online poll is open for people to vote on it being a restoration project through the “Next Great Save” project from the National Trust for Canada.

  Some of Marconi’s first messages were received and transmitted using the Battle Harbour Marconi Towers, thought to be the last of their kind standing in North America. News o...

• Interesting ARRL Ham Radio Open House Locations

  ARRL Ham Radio Open Houses are happening all over the western hemisphere, and more dates are being added each week. Throughout the entire month of April, radio clubs, schools, and even museums are opening their doors to help introduce the public to amateur radio. They will show of their ham radio stations, demonstrating the technology and innovation enjoyed by radio amateurs today. 

  Some of the...

• ARRL Iowa Section Wins Ham Exemption to Handsfree Law

  ARRL volunteers in the Iowa Section have cause to celebrate. Their state-level advocacy work on behalf of amateur radio has resulted in an exemption to the state’s handsfree law that covers ham operators.

  Iowa Senate File 22 (SF22), a bill addressing distracted driving, had been in development since 2020. Former ARRL Section Manager Lelia Garner, WAØUIG, and Iowa Section State Government Liaison...

• ARRL DXCC Statement on Mount Athos Operation SV1GA/A

  The ARRL DXCC Desk has determined that the operation by a DXpedition team from Mount Athos meets the DXCC award program’s accreditation criteria. Contacts with the team, which operated in January 2025 using the call sign SV1GA/A, will therefore count toward DXCC. Additionally, due to actions taken by local authorities that resulted in the early termination of the operation, any future operation...

• The ARRL Solar Report

  Solar activity is likely to be moderate (R1-R2, Minor-Moderate) with
  a slight chance for X-class flares through April 5.
  
  The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet to minor storm levels
  on April 4 and 5.
  
  NOAA Geomagnetic Activity Probabilities for April 5 and 6 forecast a
  15% chance, and then a 1% chance, of a Moderate storm for the
  reporting period.
  
  The forecast of solar and geomagnetic activity c...

• HamSCI Call for Operators and Monitors 2025

  HamSCI, Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation, is preparing now for a series of meteor scatter (MS) experiments later this year and need amateur radio operators to help.

  While the target storms are in August (Perseids) and December (Geminids) preparation and testing is already underway. This is a combination 'special event' and a contest to generate contact data during meteor scatter events u...

• The ARRL Repeater Directory® — 2025 Edition Now Powered by RepeaterBook

  ARRL is excited to announce that the new 2025 edition ofThe ARRL Repeater Directory® is now powered byRepeaterBook, amateur radio's worldwide repeater database.

   

  “This collaboration ensures that amateur radio operators across the country have access to one of the most comprehensive and up-to-date collections of repeater information available,” said Garrett Dow, KD6KPC, of RepeaterBook.

   

  Dow p...

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