ARRL News

October 1, 2025

Amateur Radio Licensing Update During US Government Shutdown

Original Story 10/1/2025
Updated 10/2/2025 (CORES is not available for new registrants)

A bulletin sent to members of ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® included information about the impact of the US Government shutdown on licensing for the Amateur Radio Service.

The government shutdown began at 12:01 Eastern time on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, when Congress had not passed an approp...

October 1, 2025

FCC Issues Notice of Violation for Unauthorized One-Way Transmissions and Denial of Inspection

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a Notice of Violation (NoV) to Mike F. Conte of Naples, Florida, citing alleged rule violations related to unauthorized transmissions and refusal to allow station inspection. The FCC notice by the Regional Director, Region One, Enforcement Bureau, was released on September 29, 2025, and includes that Conte holds an Amateur Radio Service lic...

October 1, 2025

Hurricane Imelda Strengthens, Threatens Bermuda

Hurricane Imelda, now a strong Category 1 storm, is forecast to make landfall on, or come extremely close to Bermuda, late Wednesday evening into early Thursday morning. The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) will activate for the first time this season beginning Wednesday, October 1, 2025, at 3:00 PM EDT (1900 UTC).

Activation times and frequencies are as follows:

3:00 PM EDT (1900 UTC) on 14.325 MHz

7:00...

September 26, 2025

The ARRL Solar Update

Solar activity reached moderate levels this past week. An impulsive
M1.0 flare was observed on September 24 from Region AR4217. Slight
growth was observed in Region AR4226 with an increase in spots near
the leader. New Regions AR4229 and AR4230 were numbered this period.
All other regions were either stable or in decay. No Earth-directed
CMEs were observed. Solar activity is expected to return to lo...

September 26, 2025

ARRL Wants Every Ham to Help Us Pass The Bill

ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® needs every radio amateur in the United States to send letters to Washington as we continue our nationwide grassroots campaign to pass the Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act. The process is simple: click the button at www.arrl.org/HOA, put in your call sign, and press the red SEND MY LETTERS button. It takes mere seconds!

The letters will au...

September 26, 2025

National Preparedness Month: Use Your Ham Radio for Public Service

Amateur radio has long been a vital partner with served agencies in providing communications support, passing traffic, and performing other tasks, both in times of crisis and in times of community service. Through community events, hams help out before and When All Else Fails®.  

The best way to become a part of serving the greater good in your area is by joining your local ARRL Amateur Radio Em...

September 26, 2025

Hams Needed to Track NASA Moon Mission

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is seeking volunteers to passively track the 2026 Artemis II Orion spacecraft as the crewed mission travels to the Moon and back to Earth.

 

The Artemis II test flight will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, KF5LKT; Victor Glover, KI5BKC; and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, KF5LKU, on an appro...

September 25, 2025

NCVEC Question Pool Committee Removes Extra-Class Question E6D07 From Use

The National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) Question Pool Committee (QPC) has announced the immediate removal of Extra-Class question E6D07 from the Element 4 Extra-Class question pool and from use on examinations. The decision was made after it was determined that the question contained more than one correct answer.

The current Element 4 Extra-Class pool, effective July 1...

September 19, 2025

The ARRL Solar Update

Solar activity was at low levels this past week. Low-level C-class
flaring was observed from Regions AR4216 and AR4217, as well as from
Region AR4213 just beyond the Southwest limb. Slight growth was
observed in all spotted regions. No Earth-directed CMEs were
observed. Solar activity is expected to be low, with a chance for an
isolated M-flare (R1-R2/minor-moderate), through September 20.
 
Solar win...

September 19, 2025

ARRL Launches Nationwide Grassroots Campaign to Pass Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act

ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® has launched a nationwide grassroots campaign aimed at securing the passage of federal legislation that would grant Amateur Radio Operators the same rights to install antennas on their property as those enjoyed by users of TV antennas, wireless internet, and flagpoles.

The campaign, announced in an ARRL Member Bulletin on September 17, 2025, follo...

September 19, 2025

Gear Packed for 3YØK DXpedition to Bouvet in February 2026

September 19, 2025

National Preparedness Month: Know Your Risk

Radio amateurs are valuable resources to their communities in times of crisis. This week, hams in Connecticut were featured in news coverage as they participated in a mass casualty drill with St. Vincent Medical Center in Bridgeport. Several scenarios played out in which amateur radio volunteers helped the hospital connect with other medical facilities, including a targeted cyberattack, mass sh...

September 19, 2025

Section Manager Workshop Held at ARRL Headquarters

ARRL Section Managers from around the country were at ARRL Headquarters for a training workshop on September 13, 2025. They visited with program leaders from across the Headquarters staff to learn about all the ways ARRL serves members. Within the ARRL Field Organization, Section Managers are the key frontline volunteers. There are 71 sections spread across the Western Hemisphere. Section Manag...

September 19, 2025

ARRL Launches Nationwide Grassroots Campaign to Pass Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act

ARRL has launched a nationwide grassroots campaign aimed at securing the passage of federal legislation that would grant Amateur Radio Operators the same rights to install antennas on their property as those enjoyed by users of TV antennas, wireless internet, and flagpoles.   

The campaign, announced in an ARRL Member Bulletin on September 17, 2025, follows the reintroduction of the Amateur Radi...

September 18, 2025

ARRL Headquarters Closing Early on Friday, September 19, 2025

ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® headquarters will close at 12 PM Eastern time on Friday, September 19, 2025, for a staff event.

The ARRL Headquarters lobby and store, as well as W1AW, will be open to visitors from 8 AM to 12 PM EDT. Members are reminded that many transactions may be completed on our website at www.arrl.org.

There won’t be any interruptions to the W1AW bulletin o...