The K7RA Solar Update

March 2021 Volunteer Monitor Program Report

The Volunteer Monitor (VM) Program is a joint initiative between ARRL and the FCC to enhance compliance in the Amateur Radio Service. This is the March 2021 Volunteer Monitor Program Report

The FCC delayed action on the renewal application of a General Class licensee in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, in order to review allegations of repeated transmission of obscenities and failure to properly identi...

ARISS USA Gets IRS 501(c)(3) Recognition

ARISS-USA, a Maryland nonprofit corporation, has earned recognition from the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a Section 501(c)(3) charitable, scientific, and educational organization. ARISS-USA is the US segment of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) international working group. With this IRS determination, donations to ARISS-USA become tax-deductible in the US, ret...

Traditional Amateur Radio Contesting Faces a Demographic Cliff

Frank Howell, K4FMH, followed up his two-part National Contest Journal (NCJ) series, ?The Demographics of Contesting,? with a post to his Social Circuits blog, called ?Lemmings over a Demographic Cliff?? (His original articles appeared in the July/August and September/October 2020 issues of NCJ.) Howell points to data showing that radio contesters are older than the average ARRL member. Taking ...

YOTA Announces New Three-Times-a-Year Contest

?Team YOTA? of Youngsters on the Air in IARU Region 1 has announced it will sponsor a new contest, the YOTA Contest. Open to all radio amateurs, it takes place three times a year and runs just 12 hours. YOTA said the aim is to boost on-the-air activity by younger radio amateurs and to support YOTA. The contest will take place on different 12-hour windows on three Saturdays.

The opening event wil...

Amateur Radio Community Invited to Take Part in MARS Exercise on 60…

Radio amateurs are invited to take part in the MARS exercise now under way until April 10 in support of the US Department of Defense. The five USB channelized 60-meter frequencies are available for interoperability (communication between services).

By convention, Channel 1 is designated the calling channel. This convention is established to train the amateur radio community to reach out on Chann...

Oklahoma SM Kevin O?Dell, N0IRW, Stepping Down; Mark Kleine, N5HZR,…

The K7RA Solar Update

Celebrate World Amateur Radio Day 2021 on April 18

Sunday, April 18, is World Amateur Radio Day (WARD). This year marks the 96th anniversary of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), founded at the 1925 International Radiotelegraph Conference in Paris. ARRL cofounder and first president, Hiram Percy Maxim, 1AW, was there, and today, ARRL is the International Secretariat of the IARU. ARRL has resources that members can use to celebrate WA...

Past ARRL San Diego Section Manager and Southwest Division Vice Dir…

Past ARRL San Diego Section Manager (SM) and Southwest Division Vice Director Tuck Miller, NF9T (ex-NZ6T), of Danville, Illinois, died on March 10. An ARRL Life Member, he was 67. Miller served as San Diego SM from 1998 until 2002, when he was elected as Southwestern Division Vice Director. He was re-elected as San Diego SM in 2006 and served briefly before having to resign for health reasons.

M...