By Duncan MacLachlan, KU0DM
ARRL Youth Editor
ku0dm@arrl.net
June 8, 2010

For five days in July, a group of young amateurs will learn what it’s like to BE the DX with the aid of contesting greats and a world renowned station.

It’s every ham’s dream: sitting in a tropical oasis, running Europe for hours on end -- with determining what band you should be on being the hardest part of the entire trip...

The National Space Weather Program Council will be conducting a forum in Washington, DC today. The Space Weather Enterprise Forum, to be held at the National Press Club, will discuss how solar storms affect today’s technological society. This is the fourth year in a row that policymakers, researchers, legislators and reporters have gathered in Washington DC to share ideas about space weather. T...

This year, the ARRL will be using Twitter to promote Field Day events. According to ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, more and more people, both young and old, are using social networking sites -- such as Twitter and Facebook -- to keep their friends up-to-date with their latest activities. The account for ARRL’s Field Day actions with Twitter is ARRL_FD. Sign up to cr...

In keeping with Boy Scouts of America’s centennial theme -- Celebrating the Adventure, Continuing the Journey -- four retired badges have been brought back for the group’s 100th anniversary. The effective date for earning these new merit badges -- Carpentry (1911-1952), Tracking (formerly Stalking, 1911-1952), Pathfinding (1911-1952) and Signaling (formerly Signaler, 1910-1992) -- is April 1, 2...

The average daily sunspot numbers were up nine points to 25.3 for this week, compared to the May 20-26 period; the average daily planetary A index rose nearly 10 points to 14.3, and this rise in geomagnetic instability came with the increase in solar activity. Sunspot numbers for May 27-June 2 were 11, 12, 43, 40, 39, 14 and 18, with a mean of 25.3. The 10.7 cm flux was 72.7, 73.2, 73.7, 73, 72...

Realize it or not, like it or not, the world has gone metric. Born in 1600s and 1700s Europe, the metric system has grown to be the prevailing measurement system. It is the official system in all countries except Myanmar, Liberia and the US. Though we have been slow to adopt the metric system here in the US overall, US branded automobiles are almost completely metric worldwide now.

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Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
June 4, 2010

This week, Surfin’ solves the mystery surrounding our little friend -- the battery.

When I was a kid, I had a love-hate relationship with batteries. I loved those circa-1959 D- and C-cells when I powered up a toy and that toy performed as expected. I hated them when I powered up a toy and nothing happened.

I hated them even more when I popped th...

In what some are calling a “goofy yet mesmerizing stunt,” a North Carolina ham crossed the English Channel on Friday, May 28 tied to a bundle of helium balloons. Hours later, he ended a quiet and serene flight in the middle of a French cabbage patch. Jonathan Trappe, KJ4GQV, of Raleigh, was strapped in a specially equipped chair below a bright cluster of balloons when he lifted off early Friday...

Students from the Trinity Christian School at Wanniassa in the Australian Capital Territory made history on May 29 with the first Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact to be held in Canberra. The event was part of the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) Centenary Dinner on May 29. More than 200 people attended the event, including international guests IARU President...

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 May.

Almost 150 ARRL staff members, officers, Board members and volunteers made their way to Dayton for the ARRL EXPO at the 2010 Day...

The winner of the QST Cover Plaque  Award for May is Mert Nellis, W0UFO, for his article “Build an Ampere-Hour Meter for Portable Operations.”  Congratulations Mert! 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 article ...

Lots of RF will be generated on 6 meters and up the weekend of June 12-13 during the 2010 ARRL VHF QSO Party. While many amateurs think of the VHF+ bands as a “local” band for public service, emergency communications or even a bit of fun on FM repeaters, weak-signal VHF+ enthusiasts know better. Even with a modest station, it’s possible to work hundreds, or even thousands of miles, on the VHF b...

At the 2010 Dayton Hamvention®, the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) and the ARRL sponsored a game that involved searching for hams visiting from outside the USA. According to ARRL Membership and Volunteer Programs Manager Dave Patton, NN1N, the idea was to obtain calls and names from as many different DXCC entities (from outside the USA) as possible by making “eyeball QSOs” during the ...

The North Texas Microwave Society (NTMS) will host the 14th International EME Conference in Dallas, Texas on August 12-14. This is the first time the conference has been held in the US since 2004. Whether you are an experienced EMEer or new to EME, the conference will offer a wide range of technical, social and site-seeing activities. Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR, President and Chief Executive Offi...

The Atlantic hurricane season could be the busiest since 2005, when Katrina and Rita caused massive destruction along the same part of the Gulf Coast now struggling with the largest offshore oil spill in US history, government scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said last week. According to NOAA’s predictions, the 2010 season may spawn as many as 23 named ...

Bernard Joseph “Burt” Amero, VE1AMA of Auburn, Nova Scotia, Canada, passed away Tuesday, May 25, after a long battle with cancer. He was 67. Burt was known worldwide as the founder of “Network 105”. Established in 1986, Network 105 is a global packet radio network that is active today on 14.105 MHz. Burt was also quite active in various public service functions through the years. Online condole...

This weekend is the CQ WPX CW Contest and conditions may be a little rough. Our current sunspot group 1072 has reached the Sun’s western horizon and is shrinking, and to top it all off, what looked like a possible emerging spot on Wednesday was not to be.

There is a stiff solar wind heading toward Earth, and the predicted planetary A index for May 28-31 is 20, 20, 22 and 15. The predicted solar ...

By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
May 28, 2010

This week, Surfin’ kicks the tires on a cool new online HF propagation tool.

Jari Perkiömäki, OH6BG, wrote that VOACAP Online, a Web-based propagation prediction application, is now up and running and making HF propagation predictions between any two points on the globe. (VOACAP is arguably one of the best HF prediction engines available toda...

Last month, New Zealand’s Radio Spectrum Management (RSM) -- that country’s equivalent of the FCC -- charged and fined Alan Potter, ZL3II, of Christchurch, for transmitting outside the terms and conditions of the General User Radio License for Amateur Radio Operators. Potter was charged in the Christchurch District Court on April 14 and found guilty of breaching Section 113 of the Radiocommunic...