In a January 5 Public Notice, the FCC requested comments on whether the current 14 Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (VECs) are sufficient to facilitate the efforts of their accredited Volunteer Examiners (VEs) in administering amateur radio examinations, or whether up to five additional VECs should be authorized. The ARRL VEC is the largest of the 14 VECs in the US. Comments are due by February ...

The 2021 running of the AM Rally will take place from 0000 UTC on Saturday, February 6 to 0700 UTC on Monday, February 8. The annual AM Rally operating event encourages all operators to explore amateur radio’s original voice mode by showcasing the various types of amplitude modulation equipment in use today, ranging from early vacuum-tube radios to the latest SDR-based transceivers.

“Participati...

Thanks to a grant from the Yasme Foundation, the northernmost Reverse Beacon Net (RBN) node in Europe went online on December 22. It was made possible by a Yasme Foundation initiative to provide additional Reverse Beacon Network nodes in underserved areas.

The latest node to become active is hosted by Radio Arcala, OH8X, very close to the Lapland Region. At and above the Arctic Circle during hou...

Croatia has joined the small number of countries to allow operation on the new 40 MHz (8-meter) band. Dragan Mojsilovic, 9A6W, reports that national telecom authorities there have granted him a 1-year experimental license to operate from 40.660 MHz to 40.700 MHz, in the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band.

Croatia becomes the fifth country to offer at least some operating authority in...

The Japan International DX Meeting (JIDXM) committee, in cooperation with CQ magazine, has announced awards to DXpedition teams and individuals who made outstanding contributions to the world’s DX community. The 2020 JIDXM award program will recognize the VP8PJ South Orkney DXpedition Team (February 2020), the VP2VB Yasme Memorial Expedition Team (March 2020), and the TO0Z St. Barthelemy Expedi...

SEA-PAC, designated as the 2021 ARRL Northwestern Division Convention, will not take place as an in-person gathering this June.

“The SEA-PAC Executive Committee has been closely monitoring the continuing COVID-19 pandemic situation and has determined that the safest course of action for all is to cancel the 2021 in-person event,” SEA-PAC 2021 Chair John Bucsek, KE7WNB, announced this week. “This...

ARRL invites nominations for awards that recognize excellence in amateur radio educational and technological pursuits. Nominations are also open for the Hiram Percy Maxim Award, ARRL’s premier award to honor a young licensee. 

The Hiram Percy Maxim Award

The Hiram Percy Maxim Award is the premier honor for a radio amateur and ARRL member younger than 21 whose accomplishments and contributions are...

Contester and logging software developer Dave Pruett, K8CC, of Allen Park, Michigan, died on December 29. An ARRL member, he was 66. Although slowed in recent years by health issues, he is considered to have been a significant contributor to the contesting community. After obtaining the source code for the CT contest logger, Pruett wrote new code, and “his NA software breathed new life into the...