By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
ARRL Contributing Editor

This week, Surfin’ discovers what is really on the horizon.

Last time, I mentioned using Infoplease’s Distance Calculator to determine the distance between two points.

After reading that, Mike Masterson, WN2A, suggested that I use the Hey, What’s That? Web site next time. After I visited the Web site, I thought, “This is exactly what I had always...

 The ARRL Board of Directors will hold its 2010 Second Meeting July 16-17 in Windsor, Connecticut. Directors, Vice Directors and ARRL Board Officers will be in attendance, including three Vice Directors who will be at their first Board meeting: Rod Blocksome, K0DAS, of the Midwest Division, Kent Olson, KA0LDG, of the Dakota Division and Grant Hopper, KB7WSD, of the Northwestern Division. The Bo...

First organized in May 1933, the ARRL A-1 Operator Club has a proud history and occupies an important place in Amateur Radio tradition. Communications Manager Ed Handy, W1BDI, announced its formation with these words in the July 1933 edition of QST:

Are you an A-1 Operator? Excellence in stations has often been emphasized. Yet, station performance, equipment, adjustment, etc., are but part of th...

Michael B. Kaczynski, W1OD, of Bristol Connecticut, died unexpectedly on Tuesday, July 6, 2010 at Bristol Hospital. He was 51. An ARRL Life Member, Kaczynski worked at ARRL Headquarters from 1979-1987 starting off at the DXCC Desk, then becoming a Communications Assistant, Technical Information Specialist, Lab Technician and eventually an Assistant Technical Editor and Contest Manager; at the t...

For hams who are fans of the television quiz show Jeopardy! -- where contestants have to answer in the form of a question -- the July 6 show was a real treat: Andrea Salt, KE7OPV, of Gilbert, Arizona, was a contestant. But what makes Andrea’s time on Jeopardy even more special is that she is only 13.

All this week, Jeopardy! is hosting their annual Kids’ Week. To be eligible to participate in Ki...

For hams who are fans of the television quiz show Jeopardy -- where contestants have to answer in the form of a question -- the July 6 show was a real treat: Andrea Salt, KE7OPV, of Gilbert, Arizona, was a contestant. But what makes Andrea’s time on Jeopardy even more special is that she is only 13.

All this week, Jeopardy is hosting their annual Kids’ Week. To be eligible to participate in Kids...

For hams who are fans of the television quiz show Jeopardy -- where contestants have to answer in the form of a question -- the July 6 show was a real treat: Andrea Salt, KE7OPV, of Gilbert, Arizona, was a contestant. But what makes Andrea’s time on Jeopardy even more special is that she is only 13.

All this week, Jeopardy is hosting their annual Kids’ Week. To be eligible to participate in Kids...

By H. Ward Silver, N0AX
ARRL Contributing Editor
n0ax@arrl.net

Summer time brings out the 6 meter “Magic Band” aficionados as action via sporadic-E (Es) propagation heats up. The annual Perseids meteor shower brings additional excitement during mid-August as the Earth sweeps through the debris of the comet Swift-Tuttle. With so many new radios offering all-mode operation on 6 meters, why not press...

In the quarterly report for the ARRL’s 500 kHz Experimental Station for the period ending May 2010 (see link to PDF below), Experiment Coordinator Fritz Raab, W1FR, reported that since the experiment began in late 2006, 20 of the 32 participating stations are currently active. The FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology granted the WD2XSH experimental license to the ARRL in September of that...

In the quarterly report for the ARRL’s 500 kHz Experimental Station for the period ending May 2010 (see link to PDF below), Experiment Coordinator Fritz Raab, W1FR, reported that since the experiment began in late 2006, 20 of the 32 participating stations are currently active. The FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology granted the WD2XSH experimental license to the ARRL in September of that...

By Gary Hoffman, KB0H
Contributing Editor

As I stated in my last column, APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) had interested me for some time. I just couldn’t seem to find any documentation that was simple enough for me to understand. Nor did there appear to be any “starter kits” on the market.

All that changed when I discovered the Byonics MicroTrak Ready-To-Go, which, for me, was literally...

ARRL Headquarters will be closed in observance of Independence Day on Monday, July 5. There will be no W1AW bulletin or code practice transmissions that day. League Headquarters will reopen Tuesday, July 6 at 8 AM Eastern Daylight Time. We wish everyone a safe and festive holiday weekend.

With more than 400 million active users, Facebook is the most popular social network site on the Internet. And since radio amateurs are generally a social bunch, many hams are active on Facebook. Thanks to Herman May, KE5HYW, the ARRL has its own Facebook page. Check out the page to see a lot of features you won’t find anywhere else, such as pictures from ARRL events and interactive status upda...

With more than 500 Field Day reports already received -- and more coming in every day -- it’s safe to say that this year’s ARRL Field Day was a smashing success! Conditions, at least on the East Coast, were quite good. Operators at W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station, worked many stations during Field Day, including a few California stations on 6 and 10 meters, as well as North Dakota ...

Most stations reported not-so-great conditions for ARRL Field Day last weekend, but there were sporadic-E openings on 6 and 10 meters. Geomagnetic conditions were a bit rough, with the Planetary A index in double digits for both days, June 26-27. Conditions at mid-latitude were not too bad, but in Alaska, the College A index was 20 and 22. With atmospheric noise from seasonal thunderstorms, it ...

By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor

This week, Surfin’ successfully makes a connection between radio jacks and flapjacks. 

We made our annual trek up I-91 to Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, to lunch at Polly’s Pancake Parlor, which is a 440-miles round trip through some of the prettiest country in New England, if not the New World.

Polly’s became an annual thing to do when we began vacationing...

Just two days before the start of ARRL Field Day, Amateur Radio operators in South Central Pennsylvania were preparing for a regularly scheduled bi-annual exercise involving the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, located on the Susquehanna River. The drill is required as part of the licensing process for the power plant.

“Nuclear power plants have to do well in emergency planning as part of thei...

Compiled by S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL News Editor
news@arrl.org

This feature -- including convenient Web links to useful information -- is a concise monthly update of some of the things ARRL is doing on behalf of its members. This installment covers the month of June.

The ARRL, in comments and reply comments to the FCC, stated that it supports employee participation in drills, reflecting the p...

The winner of the QST Cover Plaque Award for June is Donald Huff, W6JL, for his article “Homebrew Challenge II Winner #1 -- The Lowest Cost Entry.” Congratulations Donald! The winner of the QST Cover Plaque award -- given to the author or authors of the best article in each issue -- is determined by a vote of ARRL members on the QST Cover Plaque Poll Web page. Cast a ballot for your favorite ar...

Billed as Europe’s biggest Amateur Radio exhibition, HAM RADIO 2010 was held in Friedrichshafen, Germany, June 25-27, 2010. The event is held annually in the Lake Constance region. This was the 35th international Amateur Radio exhibition and the 61st Lake Constance Convention of Radio Amateurs, sponsored by the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC), which established the fair. As part of the Lake...