The government in Myanmar has given limited amateur operating privileges to Martti Laine, OH2BH. He will use XZ2D. Laine reports that authorities in the Southeast Asian nation have only permitted him to operate on 15 meters and higher, but he is hoping to obtain permission to operate on a spot frequency on 20 meters.

“Getting 14.065 kHz temporarily for the duration of 48 hours would be magic,” ...

Two new Section Managers have been declared elected in the just-concluded fall election cycle. Ballots for the Alaska and the Tennessee Section Manager elections were counted on November 19 at ARRL Headquarters. Eight incumbent Section Managers ran without opposition during this election cycle. All of terms of office start on January 1.

In a very close race in Alaska, David Stevens, KL7EB, recei...

The world’s longest-lived satellite, AO-7, turned 45 years old this month. It was launched on November 15, 1974, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. After nearly 7 years of service, AO-7 was thought to have reached the end of its life in June 1981 due to battery failure, and a premature obituary appeared in the AMSAT Satellite Report.

In an interesting footnote, although AO-7 was thoug...

Connecticut native Melissa Stemmer has joined the ARRL Headquarters staff as Development Manager. Born and raised in Waterbury, Stemmer earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Connecticut in 1998, and she worked in that field for more than 15 years. After deciding that a career change was in order, Stemmer went back to school, earning a master’s in organizational leadershi...

Don Greenbaum, N1DG, of Duxbury, Massachusetts, has been appointed to the NOAA/US Fish and Wildlife Service Community Group. He will participate in meetings to discuss the development of the Monument Management Plan that will provide for effective direction over the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM). He will serve as a citizen-at-large representative.

His input in the disc...

With just 3-1/2 days left for substantive work, delegates at World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19) face a daunting workload as the conferees try to reach consensus on several remaining issues including the agenda for the next WRC. The final session of the conference plenary to approve texts for inclusion in the Final Acts of the conference is set to wrap up at noon on Thursday, Nove...

CWops is now accepting nominations for its Award for Advancing the Art of CW for 2020. The award recognizes individuals, groups, or organizations that have made the greatest contribution(s) toward advancing the art or practice of radio communication by Morse code. Candidates for the award may be authors of publications related to CW; CW recruiters, trainers, mentors, coaches, and instructors; p...

A new Director and Vice Director have been elected in the ARRL’s Southeastern Division, based on results from ballot tabulations on Friday, November 15, in the 2019 ARRL Board of Director elections. Mickey Baker, N4MB, defeated incumbent Director Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, 2,132 votes to 1739 votes. Also, challenger James Schilling, KG4JSZ, (1,356 votes)  defeated incumbent Vice Director Joseph Tirit...

Listen to the new episode of ARRL Audio News on your iOS or Android podcast app, or online at http://www.blubrry.com/arrlaudionews/. Audio News is also retransmitted on a number of FM repeaters. Click here and then scroll down to see the list.

Even with little to no solar activity, it is amazing how many long-distance HF contacts are possible, even without using weak signal modes such as FT8.

Recent DXpeditions, such as the ones on Pitcairn Island and Marquesas, had little trouble piling up the contacts, even on ten meters. It helps that we are in the fall season.

No sunspots over the past week, and average daily solar flux was about t...

Dayton Hamvention® is inviting nominations for its 2020 awards. Nominations are due by February 15, 2020. Awards will be granted for Amateur of the Year, Club of the Year, Technical Achievement, and Special Achievement.

The Amateur of the Year Award is given to a radio amateur who has made a long-term commitment to the advancement of amateur radio. This individual will have a history of ham rad...

AMSAT says it had to maneuver some regulatory challenges in establishing its partnership with the University of Washington to share the just-launched HuskySat-1. The satellite went into space on November 2 aboard a Cygnus cargo vessel, which docked to the International Space Station. HuskySat-1 will be boosted into a higher orbit and deployed in January, and once it completes its primary missio...