The ARRL HF Band Planning Committee is seeking comments and suggestions from the Amateur Radio community on its report to the ARRL Board. At the Board’s January meeting, the committee presented its specific recommendations in graphical form for each HF band and each US license class, with the goal of increasing harmony on the HF bands, particularly between CW and digital users.

“In general, the ...

During a teleconference meeting this week, the AMSAT Board of Directors elected Clayton Coleman, W5PFG, of Granbury, Texas, as AMSAT President. Coleman had served as a member of the Board of Directors and as AMSAT Secretary from 2017 until 2019, and he has volunteered in several other capacities for AMSAT, including as chair of the 2016 AMSAT Space Symposium. He succeeds Joe Spier, K6WAO, who r...

The company with sole rights to salvage artifacts from the RMS Titanic has gone to court to gain permission to carry out a “surgical removal and retrieval” of the Marconi radio equipment on the ship, a Washington Post article reports. The Titanic sank in 1912 on its maiden voyage after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic. As the radio room filled with water, radio operator Jack Phillips t...

The Amateur Radio Newsline Amateur Radio Club will sponsor an informal activation of WA6ITF, the call sign long held by Newsline cofounder Bill Pasternak, who died 5 years ago. Pasternak would have turned 72 on February 7. With Bill Orenstein, KH6IAF, Pasternak created the original Amateur Radio Newsline as the Westlink Radio Network, recruiting volunteer broadcasters to contribute ham radio ne...

 Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has announced the names of schools and organizations selected to host amateur radio contacts with International Space Station crew members during the second half of 2020. Ten proposals were accepted to move forward in the selection process and placed in a scheduling queue for an amateur radio contact between July and December 2020. Altho...

On January 24, President Donald Trump signed into law the “Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act” or the “PIRATE Act.” The measure, which amends the Communications Act of 1934, authorizes enhanced penalties for violators. Under the new law, pirate radio broadcasters would be subject to a fine of not more than $2 million, and violators could be fined up to $100,000 for each day ...

The popular QRZ.com amateur radio website has dropped its verified member program, which the site instituted last year in an effort to combat fraud and password phishers. Termination of the program was due to “a number of factors,” the site’s founder and president Fred Lloyd, AA7BQ, explained in a post. Lloyd said the change will “transition our online swapmeet rules to reflect more open polici...