Outages Affect Receipt of Applications, FCC License Processing 

The Newington, Connecticut, US Post Office, which serves ARRL Headquarters, is without power, so ARRL is receiving little or no mail, affecting the receipt of amateur radio exam session paperwork as well as other mail and parcels. The outage is a result from damage due to Tropical Storm Isaias. In addition, the FCC electronic batch filing system was down for about 24 hours and did not process a...

Campus Radio Clubs Face an Altered Fall Landscape 

Many colleges and universities are preparing incoming students for fall classes, amid a complex landscape of re-entry plans due to COVID-19. Schools are pursuing a variety of instructional modalities, including live and asynchronous online classes, reduced-size or no in-person classes, and hybrid classes with some mix of it all. At schools where in-person attendance is allowed, the emphasis is ...

The K7RA Solar Update 

Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: Sunspot Cycle 25 is under way. We saw one new spot on July 28 and two new ones on August 2 and 3. The daily sunspot numbers were 22 and 23 on the dates of their appearance, and the total sunspot area grew on Wednesday to 160 millionths of the visible solar disc. The total sunspot area was smaller the next day, August 6, but the daily sunspot number increased fr...

SAQ Alexanderson Day in the Age of COVID-19 

Despite mid-summer conditions, at least seven US listeners, most of them radio amateurs, were able to copy the 17.2-kHz signal from the SAQ Alexanderson Alternator at the World Heritage Grimeton Radio Station in Sweden. The July 5 transmission from the vintage electro-mechanical transmitter commemorated the annual Alexanderson Day. All told, more than 600 reception reports [report updated on 20...

New England Division Convention Canceled Due to COVID-19 

Initially scheduled for July, the Northeast HamXposition, host of the 2020 ARRL New England Division Convention, was moved back to November because of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, the in-person event is off until next summer, although some activities will take place online this year. Renamed before the 2019 show, the Northeast HamXposition has succeeded the long-running annual Boxboro hamfest...

Radio Amateur Takes Part in Historic First Commercial Human Spaceflight to ISS 

Bob Behnken, KE5GGX, was one of two NASA astronauts who made spaceflight history over the weekend. Behnken and Doug Hurley were the first astronauts since the 1970s to make a water landing, after their Crew Dragon capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday. On May 30, the pair made history as the first live crew to be launched into space in a commercial vehicle, for a stay on the Int...

ARRL Volunteer Monitors Recognize Good Operators 

ARRL Volunteer Monitors recognized 13 operators in 10 states with Good Operator letters during the second quarter of 2020. Among the operators recognized were CW and SSB operators on 20 and 40 meters, outstanding net operators on 2 meters (including a net control of the Central Indiana SKYWARN Net), and an operator on 40 meters who demonstrated exemplary courtesy and assistance to amateurs with...

Hurricane Watch Net Reactivates as Hurricane Warning Posted for the Carolinas 

With the National Hurricane Center (NHC) expecting Tropical Storm Isaias to become a hurricane again later today and make landfall this evening, the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) reactivated at 1600 UTC on 14.325 MHz. HWN Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, said the net will shift operations at 2300 UTC to 7.268 MHz, where it will remain until no longer needed by the NHC. A hurricane warning is in effect...

The K7RA Solar Update 

Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: Finally, sunspots have returned! Two sunspots now are visible, both from new Solar Cycle 25. The daily sunspot number was 11 for July 21-27, rising to 22 for July 28-30.

Recently, we have noticed an improvement in propagation due to seasonal sporadic-E activity.

Average daily sunspot numbers rose from 3.1 to 14.1 this week, and average daily solar flux edged up f...