The ARRL West Central Florida Section is marking its 20th anniversary this year. The Section newsletter, the WCF Presser, includes information on celebratory activities. A K4WCF special event in January will activate all 10 of the Section’s counties, with additional K4WCF special events later in the year. The West Central Florida Section website also has a new look for the 20th anniversary cele...

John Litz, NZ6Q, has been appointed as the ARRL San Joaquin Valley Section Manager to succeed Dan Pruitt, AE6SX, who died on December 27. Litz will complete the remaining term of office that runs through June 30, 2021. ARRL Radiosport and Field Services Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ, made the appointment, effective immediately, after consulting with Pacific Division Director Jim Tiemstra, K6JAT, an...

A single new Cycle 25 sunspot appeared over the past week, January 1 through January 8. NOAA did not record or number the new spot until January 2, but Spaceweather.com indicated it (sunspot region 2755) began on January 1.

Then another new Cycle 25 spot emerged on Thursday, January 9, with a daily sunspot number of 14. I was excited to see Spaceweather.com post “Solar Cycle 25 Continues to Inte...

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.

The February issue of Digital QST is now available for viewing on your desktop or laptop. Click here to view the issue. It is also available for reading on your Apple, Android, or Kindle Fire device.

• Build an affordable D-STAR Hotspot
• Learn about CAT
• Ham-friendly homes and a hidden wire antenna
• See the craftsmanship of the Combo Key
• Take a look back to May 1970

                …and much more!    

ARRL is inviting nominations for awards that recognize educational and technological pursuits in amateur radio. Nominations are also open for the League’s premier award to honor a young licensee.

• The Hiram Percy Maxim Award recognizes a radio amateur and ARRL member younger than age 21, whose accomplishments and contributions are of the most exemplary nature within the framework of amateur radi...

Puerto Rico Section Manager Oscar Resto, KP4RF, reports that several Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers have been deployed to earthquake-ravaged regions of the island at the request of the American Red Cross. Initial operations got under way in the town of Yauco, where the Red Cross has a central warehouse for the earthquake relief effort. Operations are on VHF and UHF, although ...

 Well-known DXer and DXCC card checker Peter Glasmacher, DK5DC/AA6HM, of Werl, Germany, died unexpectedly on January 12. An ARRL member, he was 68. Glasmacher served as the editor of the monthly DX column “DXtra” in CQ DL, the official journal of the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC), to which Glasmacher also belonged. Glasmacher was a familiar face at Ham Radio, held each June in Friedrichsh...

The Sultan of Oman Qaboos Bin Said, A41AA, died on January 10. He was 79. The Diwan of the Royal Court has declared 3 days of mourning, with the flag flown at half-mast for the next 40 days. The sultan was the patron and sponsor of the Royal Omani Amateur Radio Society (ROARS) and its A47RS club station. He had been the Sultan of Oman since 1970. 

The Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC) this year is honoring 35 years of software-defined radio (SDR) technology with special call sign and special DOK.

“In order to acknowledge the high importance of digital signal processing for communications technology in general, and amateur radio in particular, a special event station DL35SDR will be active from the greater Munich area throughout 2020,” ...