MFJ Enterprises, Inc founder Martin F. Jue, K5FLU, announced that as of May 17, 2024, the company will cease on-site production at their Starkville, Mississippi, facility. Ameritron, Hy-Gain, Cushcraft, Mirage, and Vectronics brand products will be affected by the shutdown. In a letter posted to social media, Jue said he is looking forward to retiring. Times have changed since I started this bu...

The 2024 ARRL National Convention is just 3 weeks away, on May 17 -- 19, 2024. The event is being hosted by Dayton Hamvention in Xenia, Ohio.

ARRL has a significant amount of technical content planned for the convention program. (see the full rundown at www.arrl.org/expo). There are also presentations planned to challenge and inspire attendees throughout each step of a radio amateur's journey in...

Recycled glasses will be sent home with Argentinian campers attending the 2024 YOTA Summer Camp in the Americas, so that amateur radio operators and youth can safely watch the Annular Solar Eclipse in October. Donations are only being accepted in person at the Dayton Hamvention YOTA Booth #4304 from May 17 - 19 and at the YOTA Summer Camp in the Americas in Halifax, Novia Scotia, Canada, from J...

The 2024 ARRL National Convention, hosted by Dayton Hamvention®, is just a month away, and the convention program guide is now available at www.arrl.org/expo. The ARRL Events app is also ready to use, encouraging everyone planning to attend to preview all of the Hamvention exhibits, forums, and related activities.

Download the free ARRL Events app, or access the content from an internet browser....

On Monday, April 15, 2024, ham radio operators provided communications for the 128th running of the Boston Marathon. More than 280 radio amateurs participated in the event.

The marathon is one of the largest events for which hams provide communications support.  

It drew volunteers from many different places. "Operators are volunteering across Start, Course, Finish, Transportation, and various op...

"ASWFC GEOMAGNETIC DISTURBANCE WARNING ISSUED AT 0733 UTC/26 APRIL2024 BY THE AUSTRALIAN SPACE WEATHER FORECASTING CENTRE.

"A coronal hole wind stream has moderately enhanced the solar wind
speed and been associated with several hours’ worth of southward IMF
parameter Bz. For this reason, it is possible that periods of G1-G2
geomagnetic storm conditions may be observed.

"INCREASED GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVI...

Solar activity increased dramatically this reporting week (April
11-17), and thirteen new sunspot groups emerged. One appeared on
April 11, two more on April 13, three more on April 14, another two
on April 15, one more on April 16 and another two on April 17. On
April 18 an additional two sunspot groups emerged, and the daily
sunspot number increased to 247.

The daily sunspot number was 199 on April...

Colorado State University (CSU) hurricane researchers predict an active Atlantic hurricane season (June 1 to November 30) in their initial 2024 forecast.

ARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, attended the National Hurricane Conference in Florida in late March, where the CSU prediction was issued. "The common discussion at the National Hurricane Conference this year was the...

Death Valley National Park is in a remote desert in southern California, where mobile phone networks are spotty at best. On Saturday, April 6, a radio amateur and his family were enjoying the park when their vehicle became stuck in mud in a dangerous area. Without access to a cell network, the ham called for help on the 10-meter band.

According to a news release from the Black Swamp Amateur Radi...

Millions of people across the United States got to see a rare solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024.

The path of totality -- the line of darkness where the moon fully occluded the sun -- stretched through the South Pacific, Mexico, central Texas, the Ozarks, the Midwest, the Rust Belt area, and to New England through the Maritimes. In all, 14 ARRL Sections were impacted directly and several mor...

I did not see last Monday's eclipse, except on television. Here in
the Pacific Northwest, we only got a 20% exposure, and skies were
overcast.

As they moved across the country displaying successive totality, I
noticed the prominences on the edge of the disk. There were always
between one and three little red spots at the edge.

Solar activity over the past reporting week, April 4-10, remains
weak.

Avera...

A poster promoting 2024 ARRL Field Day has been released on the Field Day web page, www.arrl.org/field-day. The two-sided informational poster features this year's theme "Be Radio Active". It includes a space for clubs to fill in information about their planned activation so that members of their community can come visit the site.

More resources for promoting 2024 ARRL Field Day are being develo...

ARRL is working to engage the next generation of radio amateurs right in the classroom. Many young people have become active hams because of the ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology.

This donor-funded effort brings teachers from across the United States together to get them excited about radio through hands-on experiments. The Institute then trains them on how to take that excitement b...

As part of the fun at Dayton Hamvention®, youth attendees are invited to participate in the 2024 ARRL Youth Rally on Saturday, May 18. The day will include a special agenda of activities and presentations intended to engage and inspire young hams and young newcomers to amateur radio.

The Youth Rally is intended for students who are 11 to 21 years of age. While Hamvention offers free tickets for ...

In one of nature's most spectacular visual displays, on April 8, 2024, the sun will align with the moon and the Earth, casting a shadow that will transit much of North America.

Spectacular Display and Gathering

Millions will gather along the path of totality - the section where the sun is fully blocked by the moon - to witness something that happens, on average, once every 375 years for any place...

With the big increase in sunspot numbers and solar flux reported in
last week's Propagation Forecast Bulletin ARLP013, I hoped the trend
would continue, but numbers this week were lower.

Five new sunspot groups emerged, one each day from March 30 through
April 3.

Average daily sunspot numbers went from 147 to 60, and average daily
solar flux declined from 191.9 to 136.9.

Geomagnetic numbers were much ...

 A dramatic increase in solar activity emerged over the past week, and geomagnetic activity reacted as well.

Two new sunspot groups appeared on March 21, then one new group emerged each day over March 22-25.

Average daily solar flux rose from 153.3 to 191.9, and average daily sunspot numbers increased from 94.3 to 147.

The highest sunspot number over last week was 171 on March 22, which was the...

While attending the North Carolina State School for the Blind (now known as Governor Morehead School for the Blind) in Raleigh, Hampton met several sighted friends involved in the amateur radio community and began attending radio club meetings with them. As a result, he became a licensed amateur radio operator at the age of 12, despite the requirement that an operator must be able to read, copy...

World Amateur Radio Day (WARD) is celebrated each year on April 18.

The theme for 2024 is, "A Century of Connections: Celebrating 100 Years of Amateur Radio Innovation, Community, and Advocacy." The global event covers all of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) regions and spans 2 days: Thursday, April 18, 2024, 0000 UTC to Friday, April 19, 2024, 0000 UTC.

On April 18, 1925, the IARU wa...

The ARRL Puerto Rico Section has a new online training course for prospective amateur radio operators. Fifty-three students have enrolled in the course, taught by ARRL Technical Coordinator and Instructor Carlos Roig, WP4AOH, who draws from the ARRL License Manual and the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators pool of questions for the Spanish Zoom course. The course is open to ...