Amateur radio licensees would pay a $50 fee for each amateur radio license application if the FCC adopts rules it proposed this week. Included in the FCC’s fee proposal are applications for new licenses, renewal and upgrades to existing licenses, and vanity call sign requests. Excluded are applications for administrative updates, such as changes of address, and annual regulatory fees.

The FCC pr...

The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) logged 29.5 hours of continuous operation in advance of Hurricane Laura, beginning at 1300 UTC on August 26, and after the storm made landfall. 

The ARRL Board of Directors has elected David Minster, NA2AA, of Wayne, New Jersey, as ARRL’s new Chief Executive Officer, starting on September 28. Minster is currently Managing Partner at Talentrian Partners, a management consulting firm serving the consumer goods and luxury goods industries.

Minster began his career as a software engineer, moving into management at Unilever, as a Chief Infor...

ARRL is seeking a National Club Coordinator who will act as the primary point of contact for Section Affiliated Club Coordinators. Section Affiliated Club Coordinators work with clubs to foster and coordinate activities to promote recruiting and training of new radio amateurs, endorse ARRL membership, and impart a positive image of amateur radio within the community.

In addition to maintaining l...

The FCC has granted an ARRL request for a 30-day waiver to facilitate relief communications in the wake of Hurricane Laura. The waiver temporarily permits amateur data transmissions at a higher symbol rate than currently permitted under the FCC’s rules. ARRL pointed out in its request that Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) members would be working with federal, state, and local emergency m...

Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®) teams along the Gulf Coast were ready to assist as needed after Hurricane Laura made landfall as a powerful and deadly Category 4 storm along the Texas-Louisiana border with sustained winds of 150 MPH. The National Hurricane Center (NHC)-predicted “unsurvivable storm surge” was in the vicinity of 20 feet or greater, driving Gulf waters inland into waterwa...

Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES®) teams along the Gulf Coast have plans in place to deal with Hurricane Laura, now expected to make landfall as a powerful and dangerous Category 4 storm. “Catastrophic damage will occur” in a Category 4 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warns. More than a half-million people in Louisiana and Texas have been ordered to evacuate ahead of the sto...

One down, one to go. The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) says that a vastly weaker Tropical Storm Marco made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River on Monday at around 2300 UTC, with maximum sustained winds of 40 MPH. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects Tropical Storm Laura, now just below hurricane strength, “to become a major hurricane over the northwestern Gulf of Mexico on Wedne...

The candidates for the 2020 ARRL Division Elections are now official. ARRL members will choose between two candidates for Director in the Dakota, Great Lakes, and Midwest Divisions in this year’s election cycle, and from among three candidates for Vice Director in the Great Lakes Division. In the Atlantic and Delta Divisions, incumbents are unopposed for both Director and Vice Director. In the ...

With Hurricane Laura set to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday, the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) will activate at 1300 UTC on Wednesday, on its primary frequency of 14.325 MHz, with simultaneous operation starting on 7.268 MHz at 2100 UTC.

“Of course, any change in the forward speed of this storm would change the timing of landfall,” HWN Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, pointed out. “Laura...