ARRL news

An informational webinar about the ARRL Foundation Club Grant Program will be held on Wednesday, May 4, 2022 at 8 PM EDT / 5 PM PDT. This webinar will offer an orientation to the program and provide information on how to apply. Please register in advance for this webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. -- Mike Walters, ...

After a 2-year break, amateur radio fans will reunite on Lake Constance in Friedrichshafen, Germany, from June 24 - 26, 2022, for HAM RADIO -- the 45th International Amateur Radio Exhibition.

Planning for Europe's largest amateur radio exhibition is under way, and this year's theme is "Seeing Friends Again." While amateurs were able to stay connected during the COVID-19 pandemic, Deutscher Amate...

The results are in for the 21st USA Championships in Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF). The 4 days of competitions were held from April 7 - 10 in Prince William Forest Park (PWFP) in northern Virginia. The competition results will help determine the makeup of ARDF Team USA at the 20th ARDF World Championships, set for September 2022 in Serbia.

Thirty participants competed in categories for ...

ARRL Colorado Section Manager Robert Wareham, N0ESQ, has resigned from the position, effective June 30, 2022. "I appreciate all the hard work that you have put in and wish you the best for the future," responded ARRL Field Services Manager Mike Walters, W8ZY.

Wareham has a long history of leadership within ARRL, serving as State Government Liaison, Public Information Coordinator, Section Emergen...

The ARRL Youth Licensing Grant Program, in effect since April 19, 2022, will cover the one-time $35 application fee for new amateur radio license candidates younger than 18 years old for tests administered under the ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) program.

"We are thrilled that we are able to provide this opportunity to our youth candidates," said ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM.

T...

On Wednesday, April 27, in a notice to all VECs, the FCC again asked them to refrain from submitting any amateur radio exam session or license application files while the Commission works to resolve an issue with the Universal Licensing System (ULS) application filing system.

The ULS application filing system was not functioning properly last week and then the FCC indicated the problem was resol...

Updated 4/22/2022 (PM)

The ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) reports that the FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS) electronic batch filing (EBF) system is back online and functioning normally. VECs may resume transmitting sessions and applications. The backlog of files will be processed through the system.

4/22/2022 (midday)

FCC Not Processing License Applications and Exam Session Files

The...

The ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) reports that the FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS) electronic batch filing (EBF) system has been down since midday Tuesday, April 19, 2022, which is the day the FCC application fees became effective for amateur radio.

On Wednesday, in a notice to all VECs, the FCC asked them to refrain from submitting any session or application files while they wo...

John E. Ross, KD8IDJ, is the new ARRL News Editor. Ross was selected for the position following the recent retirement of Rick Lindquist, WW1ME, from the role -- which includes producing news content for the ARRL website, the weekly ARRL Letter, the "Happenings" and "Amateur Radio World" columns in QST, and voicing the weekly ARRL Audio News.

Ross has served as the Public Information Coordinator ...

In recognition of World Amateur Radio Day, held on April 18, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) published articles and social media posts highlighting various facets of ham radio. This included an ITU News interview with Philipp Springer, DK6SP, Chair of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 1 Youth Working Group, and the article, "How to become a radio 'ham' in the d...

The Hawaii Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) conducted an operational readiness drill on April 16 to evaluate their emergency communications abilities if severe weather were to hit the state and disable regular communications.

The exercise simulated a 4-day period of catastrophic rain and wind covering the Hawaiian Islands, from Kauai to the Big Island, which took out power, internet, and...