Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: Up until September 23, we saw 32 consecutive days with no sunspots. Then new sunspot group AR2773 appeared, which has a magnetic signature indicating it’s part of new Solar Cycle 25. Spaceweather.com noted it was a weak one, and may not persist for long. The daily sunspot number for September 23 was 13, indicating three sunspots visible in that group, but the s...

ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, has appointed Phil Temples, K9HI, of Watertown, Massachusetts, as New England Division Vice Director. He succeeds Mike Raisbeck, K1TWF, who was elected earlier this year as ARRL First Vice President. President Roderick made the appointment after consulting with New England Director Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, and the region’s Section Managers.

“I want to thank al...

Former West Virginia Section Manager Karl Thompson, K8KT, of Charleston, West Virginia, died on July 28. He was 80. Thompson served as West Virginia Section Communications Manager (SCM) from 1979 until 1983, and, after the position was renamed, as Section Manager from 1984 until 1994. He continued serving the Section as an Assistant Section Manager and Technical Coordinator.

Current West Virgini...

After counting the ballots, AMSAT has announced its Board of Directors. In order of votes received, Mark Hammond, N8MH (707); Paul Stoetzer, N8HM (703), and Bruce Paige, KK5DO (667), were elected as AMSAT Directors for terms ending in 2022. Stoetzer, a former Board member and current Executive Vice President, fills the seat being vacated by AMSAT veteran Tom Clark, W3IO. Howie DeFelice, AB2S (5...

AMSAT-OSCAR 7 (AO-7), the oldest amateur radio satellite still in operation, is nearing a return to full illumination by the sun, which should take place around September 25 and continue until around December 26. AMSAT’s vice president of operations Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, says that during this period, AO-7 likely will switch between modes A (2 meters up/10 meters down) and B (70 centimeters u...

Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) volunteers will take part in the Department of Defense (DOD) Communications Exercise 20-4, starting on October 3 and concluding on October 26.

The MARS focus is interoperability with ARRL and the amateur radio community. “Throughout the month of October, MARS members will interoperate with various amateur radio organizations that will be conducting their an...

Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: Lots of news lately about the solar cycle, but no sunspots. Today, September 18, is the 29th consecutive day with no sunspots.

The news this week was about the Solar Cycle 24 minimum, announced recently as having occurred during December 2019 and indicating the start of Solar Cycle 25. The reason that announcement is just coming out now has to do with the nature...

Northern Florida Section Emergency Coordinator Karl Martin, K4HBN, is requesting that stations not directly involved in the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®) response to Hurricane Sally please avoid 3.950 MHz (primary) and 7.242 MHz (backup). ARES has activated in four Northern Florida counties. Shelters are open, and power and telecommunications outages are widespread, Martin reports.