American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources

1. One Down, One to Go: The ARRL International DX Contest Gears Up for SSB

   With the CW portion of the ARRL International DX Contest now a series of fading dits and dahs in the memories of participants, preparations for the SSB portion of the DX Contest -- the weekend of March 3-4 -- are already underway.

   According to ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, for this contest, stations in the US and Canada work only DX stations, and DX stations only work the US and...

2. Section Managers Winter Election Results

   Two ARRL Sections -- Eastern Pennsylvania and Louisiana -- will get new Section Managers, as of April 1, 2012. Two other Sections -- San Diego and Virginia -- will keep their incumbent Section Managers. Ballots for these races were counted Tuesday, February 21 at ARRL Headquarters.

   Eastern Pennsylvania

   After serving more than 11 years as Eastern Pennsylvania Section Manager, Eric Olena, WB3FPL, o...

3. Republic of South Sudan Assigned Prefix

   After a wait of more than seven months after being accepted as a member of the United Nations, the Republic of South Sudan received its prefix block from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU): Z8. On July 14, 2011 -- after South Sudan’s admittance to the UN -- the new country became a DXCC entity by way of Section II, 1(a) of the DXCC rules.  -- Thanks to The Daily DX for the information

4. March Qualifying Runs

   The W1AW and West Coast Qualifying Runs were inadvertently left out of the March 2012 issue of QST. Here is the missing information:

   W1AW Qualifying Runs are 10 PM EST Friday, March 9 (0300 UTC March 10) (10-40 WPM) and 7 PM EDT (2300 UTC) Tuesday, March 20. The West Coast Qualifying Run will be transmitted by station K6KPH on 3581.5, 7047.5, 14047.5, 18097.5 and 21067.5 kHz at 2 PM PDT (2200 UT...

5. Bill Simons, W9BB, Silent Key; Developed Shure Microphones

   William A. Simons, W9BB (ex-W9YXJ), passed away in Minnesota on January 2, 2012 at the age of 84. He earned his Class B ticket in 1941 at the age of 14 and converted a cathedral radio into his first transmitter. Later, Bill earned DXCC using homebrew gear of his own design. Eventually he earned a top spot on the ARRL DXCC Honor Roll.

   Bill’s professional career spanned 31 years with Shure Inc -- ...

6. Payroll Tax Bill Includes Provision for Amateur Radio Study

   A bill that passed both the House and the Senate today includes a provision for a study of the uses and capabilities of Amateur Radio Service communications in emergencies and disaster relief.

   If passed into law, Section 6414 (see below for text) of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 mandates the completion of the study, with a report of the findings to the House Committee ...

7. The K7RA Solar Update

   We are more than halfway through the winter season, and today -- February 17 -- is 58 days after the winter solstice. Propagation should improve as we approach the vernal equinox on March 20, which is just 32 days from now. Solar activity is still in the temporary doldrums, with sunspot numbers below 100, but the weekly average of daily sunspot numbers rose this week by more than 15 points to 5...

8. WRC-12 Comes to a Close in Geneva

   The World Radiocommunication Conference 2012 (WRC-12) concluded its deliberations today with the signing of the Final Acts that revise the Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the use of radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits. More than 3000 representing 165 out of ITU’s 193 Member-States attended the four-week Conference, braving the extreme winter conditions prevailing...

9. Surfin’: Learning Circuits and Electronics Online

   By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
   Contributing Editor

   This week, Surfin’ goes back to electronics school, but it’s free and online this time.

   This came from Bob Perlman, KG6AF, the other day: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) -- which has had an open courseware initiative for several years -- is now taking the next step and making courses available online. Called MITx, this initial effort should ...

10. WRC-12 Delegates Place Possible 5 MHz Allocation on Agenda for Next WRC

    One of the responsibilities of each WRC delegation is to set the agenda for the next WRC. WRC-12 delegates approved an Amateur Radio-related agenda item for the upcoming WRC-15: To consider the possibility of making an allocation of an appropriate amount of spectrum, not necessarily contiguous, to the Amateur Service on a secondary basis within the band 5250-5450 kHz (see below for the complete...

11. Boys, Rain and Radio

    Promoting Amateur Radio at the local level can be very rewarding. Three radio groups in Des Moines, Iowa joined forces with the National Weather Service and PowerFilm Solar to support the Mid-Iowa Boy Scout Council’s 100th Year of Scouting celebration.

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12. ARRL 500 kHz Experimental Group Sparked Interest in MF Operation

    In September 2006, the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology granted a Part 5 experimental license -- WD2XSH -- to the ARRL on behalf of a group of radio amateurs who were interested in investigating spectrum in the vicinity of 500 kHz. Called the ARRL 500 kHz Experiment, this group of hams -- led by Fritz Raab, W1FR -- received permission to experiment and do research between 505-510 kHz ...

13. A Tale of Two Towers
14. ARRL Headquarters to Close in Observance of Presidents Day

    ARRL Headquarters will be closed in observance of Presidents Day on Monday, February 20. There will be no W1AW bulletin or code practice transmissions that day. ARRL Headquarters will reopen Tuesday, February 21 at 8 AM Eastern Standard Time. We wish everyone a safe Presidents Day holiday.

15. RAC to Split Ontario into Four Sections

    On February 6, Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) issued a statement on their website that the Ontario Section would be split into four new RAC Administrative Sections, effective September 1, 2012. The reason given for the restructure was “...to create a management model that better communicates with, and represents the interests of, the overall Ontario Amateur population.” The Ontario Section will...