Authorities in Bahrain have notified the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) that the Amateur Radio Association of Bahrain (ARAB) is not authorized to represent Bahrain radio amateurs internationally. At the IARU Region 1 Executive Committee meeting held in May, Chariman Don Beattie, G3BJ, said he had told Bahrain authorities that initial recognition of ARAB as an IARU member society was b...

The Radio Association of Western New York (RAWNY) will undertake a one-time activation of Motor Island in the Niagara River on August 6 for the US Islands Awards Program, using the club’s W2PE call sign.

“This small island, also known as Pirate Island, is under the protection of the New York Department of Conservation and has never been activated by any Amateur Radio activity,” said RAWNY Secret...

July 12 brought exciting times to VHF enthusiasts, when strong E skip propagation and a maximum usable frequency (MUF) approaching 200 MHz opened things up on 2 meters. Often a good indicator of favorable propagation above 6 meters is changing conditions on the FM broadcast band.

Signals of distant FM stations overtaking those of the local stations can be a useful indicator that favorable propag...

It’s taken a couple of weeks, but the FCC has resolved a computer programming problem that had affected its ability to accept and process batch-filed Amateur Radio applications, resulting in a backlog for the Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) and others taking advantage of automated processing. The FCC information technology staff had been attempting to fix the glitch affecting the Universal...

An amended version of the Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301, received a unanimous favorable report on July 13 from members of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee. The bill now will go to the full House for consideration. Before reporting the bill out of committee, the panel first voted to accept the amended language “in the nature of a substitute.” Rep Greg Walden, W7EQI (R-OR), who ...

Lars Kalland, SM6NM, at the SAQ Grimeton Heritage Site station in Sweden issued a preliminary report on July 12, noting that 297 listener reports were received, and most listeners were able to copy at least part of the July 3 “Alexanderson Day” commemorative transmissions on 17.2 kHz. The vast majority of the reports were from Europe, but four listeners in the US were able to hear the SAQ signa...

The ARRL Board of Directors will meet July 15-16 in Windsor, Connecticut, for its second meeting of 2016. The session will mark the first Board meeting for ARRL’s new CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, who joined the Headquarters staff on February 29 and became CEO on April 18 upon the retirement of David Sumner, K1ZZ. Gallagher also serves as secretary to the Board.

Among other business, the Board will ...

Ham Radio Outlet (HRO) has announced plans to hire an unspecified number of Amateur Electronic Supply (AES) employees, when AES shuts down its four locations in late July. In addition, the current AES Headquarters store in Milwaukee will become HRO’s newest location later this summer, following renovation. On July 1, AES announced that it was going out of business and ending retail operations a...

A Capitol Hill lockdown delayed the start of the Energy and Commerce Committee markup session on July 12. Police had ordered the lockdown while investigating a suspicious item found in an employee’s backpack earlier in the day. Once the session did get under way about 40 minutes late, Committee Chairman Rep Fred Upton (R-MI) spoke briefly in support of H.R. 1301 and an “Amendment in the Nature ...

A computer programming problem affecting the FCC’s ability to accept and process automated, batch-filed Amateur Radio applications since late June still has not been fully resolved. The FCC information technology staff has been looking into the issue, which is affecting the Universal Licensing System (ULS) Electronic Batch Filing (EBF) system. When the issue first cropped up on June 28, it init...

A free ARRL Training Webinar, “Contesting as Training for Public Service,” hosted by Ward Silver, N0AX, will take place on Sunday, July 24, 8 until 10 PM EDT (0000-0200 UTC on July 25). All are invited to join the audio-slide presentation online or via telephone.

“Think of contests as a ham radio fitness center,” Silver said. “Public service teams are always looking for enjoyable activities to i...

ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, and Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U, recently visited Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to further explore areas of cooperation and partnership, in line with the Memorandum of Agreement that ARRL and FEMA signed in 2014.

During the June 29 visit, Gallagher and Corey met with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, KK4INZ. FEMA Chief Technology Off...

Given the level of enthusiasm at the 2016 running of Dayton Hamvention® in mid-May, attendance may have seemed up, but for all intents and purposes, it held steady at 25,364 visitors, event officials report. That figure was down only slightly from the 25,621 attendees reported for 2015, but above the 25,000 mark for the second year in a row. For those keeping track, in 2014 the official count w...

The full House Energy and Commerce Committee markup of the Amateur Radio Parity Act (H.R. 1301) and four other bills has been rescheduled for July 12. Originally set for June 23, the session was postponed after the committee, with most members absent, convened on June 22 for about 10 minutes to hear opening statements. If necessary, the markup session will continue into the next day.

The panel, ...