ARRL News
- June 14, 2021
- 3Y0J DXpedition to Bouvet Island Cancelled
The Intrepid-DX Group announced over the weekend that it has cancelled its long-anticipated 3Y0J DXpedition to Bouvet Island. The DXpedition team had planned to travel to Bouvet via the RV Braveheart, owned by Nigel Jolly, K6NRJ. Jolly has told the DXpedition that Braveheart is being sold and he’s cancelled its contract for the 3Y0J voyage.
“The global pandemic has impacted the expedition chart...
- June 11, 2021
- The K7RA Solar Update
Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: Sunspot activity has shown steady but modest increases over the past 3 weeks, with average daily sunspot weekly averages rising from 24.9 to 28 to 34.9. Oddly, average daily solar flux for the same 3 weeks was 77.8, 77.8, and 77.7, remarkably unchanged week after week.
Average daily planetary A index went from 6.1 last week to 5.9 in this week’s report, and midd...
- June 10, 2021
- IARU Attends ITU Wireless Power Transmission Sessions
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) represented the Amateur Service at a recent International Telecommunication Union (ITU) recent virtual meeting on the topic of wireless power transmission (WPT), attended by some 350 delegates. ITU Working Party 1A Working Group WG1A2 was of most relevance to IARU, covering the topic of WPT. The focus is on WPT’s impact on the radio spectrum.
IARU co...
- June 10, 2021
- Separate SATERN Nets Now Operational
The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) launched a new SATERN International SSB Net on June 2 on 14.325 MHz. Net sessions will take place Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 11 AM Central Daylight Time, in cooperation with the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN), which has used 14.325 MHz for many years during its own activations. Just down the band, another net sporting the same SATERN ...
- June 10, 2021
- WSJT-X version 2.4.0 Now Generally Available, Version 2.5.0 on the Horizon
WSJT-X version 2.4.0 now is available in general release. According to co-developer Joe Taylor, K1JT, WSJT-X version 2.4.0 includes a new digital mode, Q65. This protocol is designed for two-way contacts over especially difficult propagation paths, including ionospheric scatter, troposcatter, rain scatter, TEP, EME, and other types of fast-fading signals.
“On paths with Doppler spread more than ...
- June 8, 2021
- ARDC Grant Will Support HAMNET Expansion in Europe
Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) has awarded a grant to support European expansion of HAMNET, a high-speed digital network that interconnects automated amateur radio stations using links in the 13-, 6-, and 3-centimeter bands, the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC) reports. This marks the first international grant from ARDC since it began awarding grants in 2019.
“Amateur radio is a ...
- June 4, 2021
- Interactive LightCube Satellite Set to Launch in Late 2022
NASA has selected LightCube along with 13 other small research satellites to fly as auxiliary payloads aboard rockets launching between 2022 and 2025. The launch opportunity is provided through NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI). Being designed, built, and tested by an interdisciplinary team of students, advisors, and engineers across multiple organizations, LightCube is a microsatellite e...
- June 4, 2021
- The K7RA Solar Update
Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: Solar Cycle 25 activity continues this week, with no spotless days since May 6. The average daily sunspot number rose modestly this week from 24.9 to 28 while the average daily solar flux held steady at 77.8.
Predicted solar flux over the next month is 75 on June 4 - 6; 72 on June 7 - 11; 76 on June 11; 78 on June 12 - 15; 80 on June 16 - 18; 78 on June 19 - 22;...
- June 3, 2021
- ARRL Executive Committee to Meet
The ARRL Executive Committee will meet in virtual session (Zoom) on Tuesday, June 8, at 11:00 AM EDT (1500 UTC). The session will include updates from the CEO and the Secretary, the FCC Counsel’s update, and a discussion of FCC-related matters, including non-amateur/non-Part 90 imported handheld radios; a progress report from the Legal Structure Review Committee; and updates from the EMC and Em...
- June 1, 2021
- Former AMSAT Director Andy MacAllister, W5ACM, SK
Former AMSAT Board of Directors member Andy MacAllister, W5ACM, of Houston, Texas, died on May 19 after a brief illness. An ARRL and AMSAT Life Member, he was 68. MacAllister had worked at NASA and was a member of the Johnson Space Center and Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Clubs. More recently, he was the Chief Engineer for Rice University’s radio station KTRU.
“Andy and I had a great time at many...
- May 28, 2021
- The K7RA Solar Update
Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: The 10.7-centimeter solar flux rose this week, and on Wednesday May 26 it reached 88, the highest it’s been since December 7, 2020, when it was 89.5. The next day at 2300 UTC, the flux value was 94.2.
The official flux value is always the local noon reading at Canada’s Dominion Radio Astrophysical Research Facility in Penticton, British Columbia, 177 miles north...