26 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.

• New Book Release: Salty Walt’s Portable Antenna Sketchbook
• ARRL Teachers Institute Application Deadline April 30

  Applicants for the summer 2025 sessions of the ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology must apply by April 30 to be considered. The application process is straightforward. Interested educators can find the web form at www.arrl.org/ti. ARRL covers all the costs of the TI, including travel, but there is a $100 application fee if the teacher is accepted.

  The Teachers Institutes are a product...

• ARRL Exhibits and Forums Planned for 2025 Dayton Hamvention
• The ARRL Solar Report

  Solar activity has been at low levels with only minor C-class
  flaring through April 24, 2025, and is expected to be moderate with
  a chance of M-class flares (R1-R2, Minor-Moderate) through April 26.
  No Earth-directed Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) have been observed.
  A southwest CME was observed on April 23 and is considered to be
  far-side due to the lack of any on-disk plasma motion/flare
  activity.
   ...

• Amateur Radio Helps 2025 Boston Marathon

  Over 280 amateur radio operators volunteered during the 129th running of the Boston Marathon on April 21, 2025. 

  Operators were working at virtually every location connected with the race, including the starting line, the entire course, the finish line, transportation, and various operations centers including the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), the State EOC Unified Command Cen...

• W1AW Facility Closed to Visitors April 28-30 for Maintenance
• ARRL Ham Radio Open House Events Making Headlines
• 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...