Amateur Radio News and Notes Podcast

In the log this week

* United States Armed Forces Day Crossband Test Saturday, May 9, 2026

* Dayton Hamvention May 15-17, 2026

* QRPARCI Four Days in May Thursday, May 14, 2026

* MVARC Nets on the Air

* What’s happening with DX?

* Solar Activity Update

* Upcoming Contests

* Interesting Online Radio Content

As always, links to all referenced content can be found in the show notes, or at our Substack at mvarc.substack.com.

Thanks for reading Amateur Radio News and Notes. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

United States Armed Forces Day Crossband Test Saturday, May 9, 2026

Saturday brings the Annual Armed Forces Day Crossband Test to the air. The United States Department of Defense runs the event which is open to all licensed amateur radio operators. It is designed to test crossband two-way communications between military stations and radio amateurs as authorized in 47 CFR 97.111. Several military stations at locations around the United States will transmit on military frequencies and will announce the frequencies on the Amateur Radio bands they will monitor. Full details of stations and frequencies can be found at https://www.dodmars.org/mars-comex-information-website/armed-forces-day.

Dayton Hamvention May 15-17, 2026

Image courtesy https://www.make-it.ca/hamvention/

Next weekend brings the 2026 edition of the Dayton Hamvention at the Greene County Fair and Expo Center in Xenia, Ohio. Dayton Hamvention is the biggest hamfest in the world with last year’s attendance of 36,814 attendees. Hamvention starts on Friday May 15th, 2026 from 9 AM to 5 PM and continues Saturday 9 AM to 5 PM and Sunday 9 AM to 1 PM. This year’s theme is “Radio Adventure” and as always there will be a ton of vendors, tailgate sellers, and an extensive lineup of forums. Amateur Radio News and Notes will be there again this year to take in the show and report on the latest developments. If you’re going this year and see me definitely say hello. For more information about Dayton Hamvention including lists of vendors and scheduled forums visit https://hamvention.org/.

QRPARCI Four Days in May Thursday, May 14, 2026

Image Courtesy https://qrparci.org/

Thursday May 14, 2026 brings the 2026 edition of the QRP Amateur Radio Club International’s Four Days in May conference in Fairborn, Ohio. Four Days in May is the preeminent conference relating QRP operation and it is always filled with fascinating talks. This year there is something for everyone with talks about homebrewing, effective QRP operations, the design of the CFT1 radio, learning CW, using amateur radio in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, vibe coding for amateur radio, building a remote magnetic loop antenna, and developing automatic antenna tuners for the 640 meter, 2200 meter, and 1800 Hz bands. In addition to the talks during the conference, Hans Summers G0UPL or QRP Labs and Ashhar Farhan VU2ESE of HF Signals have evening talks to give announcements. Amateur Radio News and Notes will be on the scene once again this year to keep you in the loop. While the in person registrations are no longer available, the Zoom webinar is still available as we go to press on the QRPARCI site. For more information visit https://qrparci.org/fdim.

MVARC Nets on the Air

* 2 Meter FM Net: Tuesdays at 7 PM [146.655/- MHz (141.3 Hz PL Tone) ]

* 2 Meter Digital Net: Immediately Follows 2 Meter FM Net [146.655/- MHz C4FM]

* MVARC Slow Speed CW Roundtable: Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 AM [3.565 MHz CW]

* MVARC Cherry Tree Net: Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 AM [3.920 MHz LSB]

What’s Happening with DX

There will be a lot of DX on the air this week. Stations on the air include Rodrigues Island (3B9G), Kenya (54Z/MM0ZBH), Azores (CU2/HB9BIN), South Cook Islands (E51TLM), Burkina Faso (XT2AW), French Polynesia (FO/F6CBW), Galapagos (HD8R), Western Sahara (S09S), Minami Torishima (JG8NQJ/JD1), and Colombia (HK3JCL).

A calendar of DXpeditions can be found at https://dxnews.com/calendar/ and at NG3K’s Announced DX Operations List at https://www.ng3k.com/misc/adxo.html.

Solar Activity Update

As we go to press the Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 117 and the estimated sunspot number was 59 with 4 numbered sunspot regions visible from Earth. Over the last week the SFI has decreased. Solar activity has been at moderate levels in the last 24 hours. The geomagnetic field has been at quiet to unsettled levels in the last 24 hours and the Kp index reached 3 yesterday. The solar wind peaked at 423 km/s. Solar activity is predicted to be at low levels with a chance of M-class flares today through Sunday. The geomagnetic field is forecast to be at quiet to active levels today and Saturday and at quiet to unsettled levels on Sunday. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is at 1% today through Sunday. R1 to R2 radio blackouts are possible with a predicted probability of 45% today through Sunday. R3 or greater blackouts are possible with a 10% chance predicted today through Sunday. It remains a fantastic time for amateurs to get on the air and work the world.

Good sources of real-time solar information include https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/ and https://solarham.com/. A good overview of conditions can be found at https://dx.qsl.net/propagation/. To see D-layer absorption data and associated radio blackouts, visit https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/d-region-absorption-predictions-d-rap. To see real-time Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) and Critical Frequency (foF2) information from radiosonde data, visit https://prop.kc2g.com/.

Upcoming Contests

This weekend brings the Flemish Windmill Contest, the VOLTA WW RTTY Contest, the CQ-M International DX Contest, the SKCC Weekend Sprintathon, the Canadian Praries QSO Party, the 50 MHz Spring Sprint, and the 4 States QRP Second Sunday Sprint. As always the K1USN SSTs, the MSTs, and the CWTs will also be on the air.

The full contest calendar with events and exchanges can be found at https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php.

Interesting Online Radio Content

Caitlin K8FAE and Mike K8MRD have a challenging activation at Okeechobee Battlefield State Park -

Kevin W1DED talks to Nick VK9DX about his thoughts on ham radio from Norfolk Island between Australia and New Zealand -

Craig KM6LYW looks at the Tidradio TD-H9 for use in digital modes -

IMSAI Guy does a 6-part series on understanding filters for RF -

Takeshi JS1QIZ goes camping and operates QRP CW in Japan during a contest (in Japanese) -

Walt K4OGO tests out the Micro PA50 and Micro PA100 Amps in the field -

Michael W8CI tells you what to expect at this year’s Dayton Hamvention -

Hayden VK7HH gives his soldering tips for success -

Josh KI6NAZ takes the spectrally impure anniversary Baofeng and replaces the radio with a compliant one -

Ciprian YO6DXE builds an EFHW antenna with a FT140-43 for QRP operation -

Michael KB9VBR experiments with a center loaded vertical modification -

Ramon EA5IW takes us to the mountains of Spain for a 2 Watt QRP contact with Belgium -

Mike K8MRD makes a beginner friendly DIY HF antenna -

Forrest KI7QCF re-activates his first SOTA and announces a CW paddle giveaway -

Hans G0UPL shows an improvement to the QMX and QMX+ firmware to improve power supply performance -

Bobby W6IWN shows a DIY 3 Element Yagi for portable -

Ben VE6SFX shows his new antenna winder design -

Tim K5OHY shows different 1/4 wave vertical setups and how to get gain via parasitic elements -

That’s it for this week.

Best 73,

Ed

N2EC

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mvarc.substack.com

In the log this week

* Icom Teases X-026 Radio Ahead of Dayton Hamvention

* Hamlib Wins 2026 Amateur Radio Software Award

* The FCC Grants AST SpaceMobile Limited Use of 70 cm Amateur Band

* MVARC Nets on the Air

* What’s happening with DX?

* Solar Activity Update

* Upcoming Contests

* Interesting Online Radio Content

As always, links to all referenced content can be found in the show notes, or at our Substack at mvarc.substack.com.

Thanks for reading Amateur Radio News and Notes. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Icom Teases X-026 Radio Ahead of Dayton Hamvention

Images Courtesy Icom

Icom’s Japanese Facebook page teased a prototype radio to be shown at this month’s Dayton Hamvention called the X-026 in a short video. In the video a radio with what appears to be a detachable head and separate base unit is shown along with a car having two different antennas. As you can imagine, speculation online abounds, but one of the leading theories is that we may be looking at a mobile HF/VHF/UHF rig being shown in Dayton as a potential successor to the Icom 7100. The 7100 is still in production and was originally shown at the Tokyo Ham Fair in 2012 and released generally in 2013, so it may be ready for a refresh. That said, details are few, so we’ll have to stay tuned to see what develops. Amateur Radio News and Notes will be at Dayton Hamvention again this year, so we’ll make sure to give you all the details as they become available. To see the teaser reel from Icom visit https://www.facebook.com/reel/1740855356941241.

Hamlib Wins 2026 Amateur Radio Software Award

Image Courtesy Amateur Radio Software Award

The Amateur Radio Software Award committee announced that the 2026 recipient of the Amateur Radio Software Award will be the Hamlib project. The Hamlib project allows for other software applications to access and control a wide array of amateur radio rigs and devices. The project allows for the abstraction of the control logic so other applications don’t need to know the details of each individual rig interface. Hamlib has existed for over a quarter century, but is still actively maintained by its core development team. Congratulations to the Hamlib team for this well deserved award. For more information about the award visit https://arsaward.com/ and to check out Hamlib visit https://hamlib.github.io/.

The FCC Grants AST SpaceMobile Limited Use of 70 cm Amateur Band

The Federal Communications Commission published its Authorization and Order DA 26-391 on April 21, 2026 authorizing AST & Science, LLC’s AST SpaceMobile service to utilize frequencies in the amateur radio 70 cm band on an emergency basis. The application to use those frequencies had brought significant pushback from the amateur radio community as the AST SpaceMobile constellation seeks to launch 248 satellites in non-geostationary orbit for the purpose of providing space-based mobile phone services with the authority to deploy 223 additional satellites. While the primary frequencies in use are the bands used by cell phones and in the SHF bands for backhaul, they requested and were given the right to utilize the frequencies of 430.5, 432.3, 434.1, 435.9, and 439.5 MHz with a bandwidth of 50 kHz in the 70 cm bands for what are termed “Emergency Operations Only” outside the U.S. only.

The FCC noted significant opposition to the operation in the bands but said “AST has shown that harmful interference from AST’s transmissions to other authorized operations, including to amateur operations, in the 430-440 MHz band is extremely unlikely, and, if such interference, should occur, AST is capable of ceasing such transmissions.” The Authorization and Order continues “Regarding objections and concerns raised by members of the amateur radio community, see AST Modification Grant n.15, we have continued to not receive any complaints of harmful interference for AST’s already-authorized operations in the 430-440 MHz band. In addition, we will continue to limit AST operations in the band to emergency operations when no other bands are available for the 223 additional satellites authorized herein for a period not to exceed 24 hours. We find that this will further mitigate any possibility of harmful interference”. The full Authorization and Order can be found at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-26-391A1.pdf.

MVARC Nets on the Air

* 2 Meter FM Net: Tuesdays at 7 PM [146.655/- MHz (141.3 Hz PL Tone) ]

* 2 Meter Digital Net: Immediately Follows 2 Meter FM Net [146.655/- MHz C4FM]

* MVARC Slow Speed CW Roundtable: Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 AM [3.565 MHz CW]

* MVARC Cherry Tree Net: Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 AM [3.920 MHz LSB]

What’s Happening with DX

There will be a lot of DX on the air this week. Stations on the air include Rodrigues Island (3B9G), Bonaire (PJ4TB), Kenya (54Z/MM0ZBH), Ogasawara (JD1BMH), Azores (CU2/HB9BIN), South Cook Islands (E51TLM), Burkina Faso (XT2AW), French Polynesia (FO/F6CBW), Gambia (C5B, C5C), Comoros (D60DX), Central Kiribati (T31TTT), Minami Torishima (JG8NQJ/JD1), Colombia (HK3JCL), and South Orkney Islands (LU1ZA).

A calendar of DXpeditions can be found at https://dxnews.com/calendar/ and at NG3K’s Announced DX Operations List at https://www.ng3k.com/misc/adxo.html.

Solar Activity Update

As we go to press the Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 143 and the estimated sunspot number was 142 with 6 numbered sunspot regions visible from Earth. Over the last week the SFI has increased. Solar activity has been at low levels in the last 24 hours. The geomagnetic field has been at quiet to unsettled levels in the last 24 hours and the Kp index reached 5 yesterday. The solar wind peaked at 530 km/s. Solar activity is predicted to be at low levels with a chance of M-class flares today through Sunday. The geomagnetic field is forecast to be at quiet to unsettled levels today and Sunday and at quiet levels on Saturday. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is at 10% today through Saturday. R1 to R2 radio blackouts are likely today with a predicted probability of 65% today through Saturday. R3 or greater blackouts are possible with a 10% chance predicted today through Saturday. It remains a fantastic time for amateurs to get on the air and work the world.

Good sources of real-time solar information include https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/ and https://solarham.com/. A good overview of conditions can be found at https://dx.qsl.net/propagation/. To see D-layer absorption data and associated radio blackouts, visit https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/d-region-absorption-predictions-d-rap. To see real-time Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) and Critical Frequency (foF2) information from radiosonde data, visit https://prop.kc2g.com/.

Upcoming Contests

This weekend brings the RCC Cup, the SBMS 2.3 GHz and Up Contest and Club Challenge, the Microwave Spring Sprint, the ARI International DX Contest, the F9AA Cup on PSK, the 7th Call Area QSO Party, the Indiana QSO Party, the Delaware QSO Party, the New England QSO Party, and the WAB 7 MHz Phone Contest. As always the K1USN SSTs, the MSTs, and the CWTs will also be on the air.

The full contest calendar with events and exchanges can be found at https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php

Interesting Online Radio Content

Kevin W1DED talks with Mark K1RX about how POTA skills can translate into contesting -

George VK2AOE builds an inexpensive 70 cm beacon for a Fox Hunt -

Stuart VE9CF talks to Molly W3NY and Julius AK9IT about their POTA expedition to the Dry Tortugas -

Josh KI6NAZ takes a look at the 25th Anniversary Baofeng with disappointing spectral purity -

Dr. Tamitha Skov WX6SWW takes a look at solar flares and recent space weather -

Andreas HB9BLA builds a programmable signal generator for receiver testing -

Mike K8MRD shows how to use a slicer to get your call sign on 3D prints -

Shortwave Investigations takes a look at mystery signals on the shortwave bands -

Stuart VE9CF talks about ways to protect your privacy in amateur radio -

Michael KB9VBR talks about POTA interactions with Nets and shows how he deals with conflict -

Josh KI6NAZ speculates about the Icom X-026 -

Ara N6ARA does a speed-build of the Pebble HF kit radio -

Lewis M3HHY talks about places where radio scanners are illegal -

Josh KI6NAZ tries out a 3D printed antenna launcher -

Walt K4OGO talks about getting the most performance out of your end fed half wave antenna -

That’s it for this week.

Best 73,

Ed

N2EC

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mvarc.substack.com

In the log this week

* SteppIR Communication Systems to Return to the Amateur Radio Market

* MVARC Breakfast and Meeting Tomorrow 4/25/2026

* MVARC Nets on the Air

* What’s happening with DX?

* Solar Activity Update

* Upcoming Contests

* Interesting Online Radio Content

As always, links to all referenced content can be found in the show notes, or at our Substack at mvarc.substack.com.

Thanks for reading Amateur Radio News and Notes. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

SteppIR Communication Systems to Return to the Amateur Radio Market

SteppIR Communication Systems, maker of remotely tunable Yagi-Uda antennas announced they are returning to the amateur radio market. SteppIR announced their departure from the amateur market in June of 2025 to focus on their commercial customers. In their most recent announcement they say that they will be able to return many of their amateur products to the market with warranty support and services in place. They have also teased new products on the horizon and reduced prices. Along with the return of Cushcraft and Hy-Gain last week, the amateur radio antenna market is regaining a lot of options for operators looking for more gain. More information can be found at https://consumer.steppir.com/

MVARC Breakfast and Meeting Tomorrow 4/25/2026

Photo Courtesy Corey KN4YZY

Tomorrow, Saturday, April 25, 2026, is the date of our next monthly breakfast. As usual we will meet up at 8 AM in the IHOP at 7694 Richmond Highway in Alexandria, Virginia for great conversation, camaraderie, and breakfast too. We have been having a great turn out in the last few months and there is always room for you to join in the fun.

After the breakfast we have our monthly in-person meeting will be held at 10:30 AM at the Gerry Hyland Government Center, at 8350 Richmond Highway in Alexandria, Virginia where our speaker will be Nick AJ4YB who will be talking to us about the club’s repeater with a look at the current facilities and a bit of history as well. We hope to see you there.

MVARC Nets on the Air

* 2 Meter FM Net: Tuesdays at 7 PM [146.655/- MHz (141.3 Hz PL Tone) ]

* 2 Meter Digital Net: Immediately Follows 2 Meter FM Net [146.655/- MHz C4FM]

* MVARC Slow Speed CW Roundtable: Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 AM [3.565 MHz CW]

* MVARC Cherry Tree Net: Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 AM [3.920 MHz LSB]

What’s Happening with DX

There will be a lot of DX on the air this week. Stations on the air include Marquesas Islands (TX9W), Bermuda (VP9KF), Gambia (C5B, C5C), Comoros (D60DX), Central Kiribati (T31TTT), Minami Torishima (JG8NQJ/JD1), Colombia (HK3JCL), and South Orkney Islands (LU1ZA).

A calendar of DXpeditions can be found at https://dxnews.com/calendar/

Solar Activity Update

As we go to press the Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 128 and the estimated sunspot number was 71 with 4 numbered sunspot regions visible from Earth. Over the last week the SFI has increased. Solar activity has been at high levels in the last 24 hours. The geomagnetic field has been at quiet to unsettled levels in the last 24 hours and the Kp index reached 3 yesterday. The solar wind peaked at 496 km/s. Solar activity is predicted to be at moderate levels with a slight chance of X-class flares today through Sunday. The geomagnetic field is forecast to be at quiet to unsettled levels today, at quiet to active levels levels Saturday, and quiet to minor storm levels on Sunday. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is at 10% today through Sunday. R1 to R2 radio blackouts are likely today with a predicted probability of 55% today and a 60% chance predicted on Saturday and Sunday. R3 or greater blackouts are possible with a 10% chance predicted today and a 15% chance predicted Saturday and Sunday. It remains a fantastic time for amateurs to get on the air and work the world.

Good sources of real-time solar information include https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/ and https://solarham.com/. A good overview of conditions can be found at https://dx.qsl.net/propagation/. To see D-layer absorption data and associated radio blackouts, visit https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/d-region-absorption-predictions-d-rap. To see real-time Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) and Critical Frequency (foF2) information from radiosonde data, visit https://prop.kc2g.com/.

Upcoming Contests

This weekend brings the Tipalayo DX Contest, the SP DX RTTY Contest, the UK/EI DX Contest on CW, QRP to the Field, the Helvetia Contest, the Nebraska QSO Party, the Florida QSO Party, the UA1DZ Memorial Cup, the Samuel Morse Memorial Contest, and the BARTG Sprint 75. As always the K1USN SSTs, MSTs, and CWTs will also be on the air.

The full contest calendar with events and exchanges can be found at https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php

Interesting Online Radio Content

Colin MM0OPX shows us how he packs and prepares for portable operations -

Kevan 2E0WMG goes for a paddle by kayak and shows us his maritime mobile antenna setup while operating on an island -

Craig KM6LYW shows us new features in the beta version of DigiPi -

Gabe KL1FI shows us how he received SSTV signals from the International Space Station -

Hayden VK7HH talks about used radios and potential pitfalls to look out for -

Mike K8MRD takes a look at the Sky Hook and the Pod for vertical antennas -

Adam K6ARK and Mark KD7DTS have some “Type 2 Fun” on a very challenging SOTA activation -

Bobby W6IWN takes a look at the Chameleon CFM34 carbon fiber mast -

Adam K6ARK and Mark KD7DTS activate Edgar Peak for an ATNO SOTA activation -

Dugbo KD7DUG takes us along for an SOTA activation and asks where amateur radio will take you -

Josh KI6NAZ takes a look at the W0AEZ batteries for Icom rigs -

Callum M0MCX shows us his 160 meter vertical antenna project -

Forrest KI7QCF shows the Spooltenna Ultra antenna in action -

Ara N6ARA gives an extensive behind the scenes of how he built his April Fools Day Retro Rig -

Stuart VE9CF talks about reciprocal licensing issues between the US and Canada -

Patrick KJ7SZU of Geochron does a head to head comparison of the performance of their different products -

Steve KM9G shows the All in One Cable for digital modes -

That’s it for this week.

Best 73,

Ed

N2EC

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mvarc.substack.com

In the log this week

* Contest Spotlight: CQMM DX Contest

* MFJ Sells Cushcraft and Hy-Gain Brands to ITU

* Event Spotlight: Parks on the Air Support Your Parks Weekend April 18-19, 2026

* World Amateur Radio Day is April 18, 2026

* MVARC Nets on the Air

* What’s happening with DX?

* Solar Activity Update

* Upcoming Contests

* Interesting Online Radio Content

As always, links to all referenced content can be found in the show notes, or at our Substack at mvarc.substack.com.

Thanks for reading Amateur Radio News and Notes. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Contest Spotlight: CQMM DX Contest

This weekend brings the 2026 edition of the CQMM DX Contest from 0900 UTC on Saturday, April 18 (5 AM Eastern Time on Saturday) until 2359 UTC Sunday (7:59 PM Eastern Time Sunday). This contest seeks to promote unity and integration of amateur radio operators around the world, support the chase for two CWJF awards in Brazil, and to promote the art of CW around the world. To that end, it is a CW only contest on the 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands. Although it is organized in Brazil, it is an international contest and participants are grouped by continents.

Power classifications include High Power up to 1500 Watts (or local maximum power), Low Power up to 100 Watts, and QRP up to 5 Watts. Operating categories include Multi Operator-Single Transmitter All Band for HP/LP, Single Operator-Single Transmitter All Band for HP/LP/QRP, Single Operator Single Band for HP/LP, and Single Operator All Band for a station run by a YL. The rules allow for the use of DX clusters and skimmers during the contest. Contacts are considered valid when validated in both ops logs, unless the missing op is in at least 5 logs, so if you participate, it is recommended you submit a log even if just participating casually.

Contacts may be made 1 QSO per band per station. When calling CQ it is recommended to to send “TEST CQMM CALL” where call is your call sign, but “CQ TEST MM” is also acceptable. For the exchange members of the CWJF will send RST + Continent + M (so for a South American station it would be “599 SAM”), non-Members will send RST and Continent (so for North American stations “599 NA”), QRP stations will send “RST + Continent + Q” (so European QRP would be “599 EUQ”), YL Stations send “RST + Continent + Y” (so a YL in Oceania would send “599 OCY”), and Multi-Op stations would send “RST + Continent + C” (so an African club would send “599 AFC”). Valid continent abbreviations are Africa (AF), South America (SA), North America (NA), Asia (AS), Europe (EU), Oceania (OC), and Antarctica (AN). QSO Points are 1 point within the same DXCC entity, 2 points on the same continent but different DXCC entity on 10/15/20 meters and 4 points on 40/80 meters, 3 Points between different continents on 10/15/20 meters and 6 points on 40/80 meters, 10 points with CWJF members and YLs regardless of location, and 3 points for Maritime Mobile /MM stations regardless of location.

Multipliers include different prefixes in South America valid for all 5 bands separately, and DXCC entities valid once. Maritime mobiles don’t count as a valid multiplier. The final score is the sum of points for all bands multiplied by the sum of multipliers. Certificates will be available for all participants and plaques will be awarded for the highest score in each category regardless of continent. Logs should be submitted electronically to [email protected] in Cabrillo 3.0 format by July 30th. More information on the contest and the full rules can be found at https://www.cqmmdx.com/rules. This promises to be a fun one, so give it a try this weekend. Good luck.

MFJ Sells Cushcraft and Hy-Gain Brands to ITU

MFJ Enterprises announced that they have sold the Cushcraft and Hy-Gain brands to ITU corporation. Cushcraft and Hy-Gain have a long history of making antennas for the amateur radio market along with other related accessories. In May 2024 MFJ shut down on-site production at their Starkville, Mississippi facility which impacted the production of these brands products. With the acquisition of the brands by ITU the brands should return to manufacturing. ITU plans to open a production facility in Linton, Indiana that is expected to bring 20-50 jobs to to the area. All the designs, equipment, and rights for the brands were included in the sale. ITU estimates it will take about two months to move the equipment from Mississippi to Indiana. More information can be found at https://www.lintonnews.com/itu-corporation-re-purposes-linton-armory-facility-to-house-iconic-amateur-radio-manufacturing-free-article/.

Event Spotlight: Parks on the Air Support Your Parks Weekend April 18-19

This weekend brings Parks On The Air’s Support Your Parks Weekend. The weekend is a quarterly event which encourages operators to get out into the parks and on the air to have as much fun as possible. The excitement begins at 0000 UTC on Saturday (8 PM Eastern Time Friday Night) until 2359 UTC on Sunday (7:59 PM Eastern Time Sunday). Usually there are hundreds of operators out in the parks and lots of opportunities to get less frequently activated parks and locations in the log. There are also special awards to win for activating or hunting during the event. For more information and spotting assistance visit https://pota.app/. Good luck.

World Amateur Radio Day is April 18, 2026

Saturday, April 18th marks the 101st anniversary of the founding of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) and to celebrate amateurs around the world are getting on the air for World Amateur Radio Day. The American Radio Relay League, an IARU member society, is encouraging amateurs to celebrate by having an amateur radio “Open House” by getting on the air and getting the word out to the community. There are likely to be several IARU member societies on the air during the day, so check on the bands and spotting networks to find stations to celebrate with on the air. More information including maps of expected open house events can be found at https://www.arrl.org/open-house and https://www.iaru.org/on-the-air/world-amateur-radio-day/. Good luck.

MVARC Nets on the Air

* 2 Meter FM Net: Tuesdays at 7 PM [146.655/- MHz (141.3 Hz PL Tone) ]

* 2 Meter Digital Net: Immediately Follows 2 Meter FM Net [146.655/- MHz C4FM]

* MVARC Slow Speed CW Roundtable: Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 AM [3.565 MHz CW]

* MVARC Cherry Tree Net: Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 AM [3.920 MHz LSB]

What’s Happening with DX

There will be a lot of DX on the air this week. Stations on the air include Svalbard (JW5E), Marquesas Islands (TX9W), Bermuda (VP9KF), Gambia (C5C), Comoros (D60DX), Central Kiribati (T31TTT), Minami Torishima (JG8NQJ/JD1), Colombia (HK3JCL), and South Orkney Islands (LU1ZA).

A calendar of DXpeditions can be found at https://dxnews.com/calendar/

Solar Activity Update

As we go to press the Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 105 and the estimated sunspot number was 57 with 3 numbered sunspot regions visible from Earth. Over the last week the SFI has increased. Solar activity has been at low levels in the last 24 hours. The geomagnetic field has been at quiet levels in the last 24 hours and the Kp index reached 1 yesterday. The solar wind peaked at 355 km/s. Solar activity is predicted to be at low levels with a chance of M-class flares today through Sunday. The geomagnetic field is forecast to be at quiet to major storm levels today, at unsettled to major storm levels Saturday, and unsettled to minor storm levels on Sunday. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is at 1% today through Sunday. R1 to R2 radio blackouts are possible today with a predicted probability of 30% today through Sunday. R3 or greater blackouts are unlikely with a 5% chance predicted today through Sunday. It remains a fantastic time for amateurs to get on the air and work the world.

Good sources of real-time solar information include https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/ and https://solarham.com/. A good overview of conditions can be found at https://dx.qsl.net/propagation/. To see D-layer absorption data and associated radio blackouts, visit https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/d-region-absorption-predictions-d-rap. To see real-time Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) and Critical Frequency (foF2) information from radiosonde data, visit https://prop.kc2g.com/.

Upcoming Contests

This weekend brings the CQMM DX Contest on CW we mentioned earlier, the World Wide Holyland Contest, the ES Open HF Championship, the Worked All Provinces of China DX Contest, the Dutch PACCdigi Contest, the World Time Zone Challenge, the EA-QRP CW Contest, the Feld Hell Sprint, the International Vintage Contest HF, the ARRL Rookie Roundup on SSB, Florida State Parks on the Air, Texas State Parks on the Air, Georgia State Parks on the Air, the Michigan State QSO Party, the Ontario QSO Party, the Quebec QSO Party, and the Run for the Bacon QRP Contest. As always the K1USN SSTs, MSTs, and CWTs will also be on the air.

The full contest calendar with events and exchanges can be found at https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php

Interesting Online Radio Content

Michael KB9VBR tries out the Spooltenna Ultra -

Sean W9FFF shows his DX-PERt Antenna System -

Tim K5OHY shows a remote band switching relay using Bluetooth -

Mike K8MRD talks about links for End Fed Half Wave antennas -

Lewis M3HHY talks about why the FCC banned cellular capable scanners -

Hayden VK7HH gives his 5 favorite used amateur radios -

Stuart VE9CF uses a parasitic vertical array to get gain and work DX while portable -

Josh KI6NAZ uses the $40 Cardputer to operate FT8 with a QMX -

Kurt ON7OFF shows an implementation of Thetis SDR on the web -

Walt K4OGO uses a Yaesu FT-897 on the beach -

Mike K8MRD shows how he builds his “Ultimate Linked PackTenna” -

Stuart VE9CF talks about mitigating noise to pull out weak signals -

Hayden VK7HH builds a long range Meshcore repeater -

Mike K8MRD looks at the Digitenna EFHW spool based antenna -

That’s it for this week.

Best 73,

Ed

N2EC

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mvarc.substack.com

In the log this week

* Contest Spotlight: QRP ARCI Spring QSO Party

* FCC Warns Licensee About Out-of-Band Transmissions

* MVARC Nets on the Air

* What’s happening with DX?

* Solar Activity Update

* Upcoming Contests

* Interesting Online Radio Content

As always, links to all referenced content can be found in the show notes, or at our Substack at mvarc.substack.com

Thanks for reading Amateur Radio News and Notes. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Contest Spotlight: QRP ARCI Spring QSO Party

This weekend brings the latest QRP Amateur Radio Club International Spring QSO Party from 0000 UTC until 0600 UTC on Saturday, April 12 (that’s Friday from 8 PM until Saturday at 2 AM Eastern Time). The contest focuses on QRP operation, so that means 5 Watts or less. Bands are 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters. And the number of points per QSO are 5 points for members, 4 points for a non-member on a different continent, and 2 points for a non-member on the same continent. Since it is a QRP contest, the multipliers relate to power. More than 5 Watts has a multiplier of 1, 1 to 5 Watts gets a multiplier of 7, 250 milliwatts to 1 Watt gets a multiplier of 10, 55 milliwatts to 250 milliwatts gets a multiplier of 15, and 55 milliwatts or less gets a multiplier of 20. The total score is the number of points for all bands multiplied by states/provinces/countries for all bands, multiplied by the power multiplier. The exchange is RST. State/Province/Country, and ARCI Member number for members and RST, State/Province/Country, Power Output for non-members. So for me in Virginia, my exchange would be “599 VA 17399”. Suggested centers of operation are at 1810, 3560, 7030, 14060, 21060, and 28060 kHz and they ask you listen around 7040 for ops using rock bound rigs. Logs are due at https://www.qrpcontest.com/ on or before April 28. This will be a great way to test your operating skill and equipment. For more information and full rules visit https://qrparci.org/contest/spring-qso-party. Good luck.

FCC Warns Licensee About Out-of-Band Transmissions

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a warning to a Pennsylvania amateur radio operator who was causing interference to local emergency public service communications on 470.4375 MHz. The operator appeared to be unknowingly transmitting on that frequency by using a BTech UV-Pro HT that has a feature called “Audio Relay” that acts as a simplex repeater on a frequency, receiving and retransmitting audio received on a frequency. That HT allows users to transmit on frequencies outside the amateur radio bands, so the operator was essentially echoing emergency communications on that frequency. When agents identified the signal as coming from the operators residence, he surrendered the radio to the agents and the interference stopped. This is a reminder that many radios have the ability to transmit on frequencies outside of the amateur band privileges, so it is important to make sure you stay within the amateur bands. More information about the warning can be found at https://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-warns-licensee-on-out-of-band-transmissions.

MVARC Nets on the Air

* 2 Meter FM Net: Tuesdays at 7 PM [146.655/- MHz (141.3 Hz PL Tone) ]

* 2 Meter Digital Net: Immediately Follows 2 Meter FM Net [146.655/- MHz C4FM]

* MVARC Slow Speed CW Roundtable: Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 AM [3.565 MHz CW]

* MVARC Cherry Tree Net: Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 AM [3.920 MHz LSB]

What’s Happening with DX

There will be a lot of DX on the air this week. Stations on the air include Rouma (3X3A), Ghana (9G5RR, 9G5CC, 9G5ZP), Bermuda (VP9KF), Gambia (C5C), Comoros (D60DX), Central Kiribati (T31TTT), Minami Torishima (JG8NQJ/JD1), Colombia (HK3JCL), and South Orkney Islands (LU1ZA).

A calendar of DXpeditions can be found at https://dxnews.com/calendar/

Solar Activity Update

As we go to press the Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 96 and the estimated sunspot number was 103 with 5 numbered sunspot regions visible from Earth. Over the last week the SFI has decreased. Solar activity has been at moderate levels in the last 24 hours. The geomagnetic field has been at quiet levels in the last 24 hours and the Kp index reached 2 yesterday. The solar wind peaked at 426 km/s. Solar activity is predicted to be at low levels with a chance of M-class flares today through Sunday. The geomagnetic field is forecast to be at quiet to minor storm levels today, at unsettled to minor storm levels Saturday, and quiet to active levels on Sunday. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is at 5% today and at 1% Saturday and Sunday. R1 to R2 radio blackouts are possible today with a predicted probability of 25% today and unlikely on Saturday and Sunday with a 5% chance predicted. R3 or greater blackouts are unlikely with a 1% chance predicted today through Sunday. It remains a fantastic time for amateurs to get on the air and work the world.

Good sources of real-time solar information include https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/ and https://solarham.com/. A good overview of conditions can be found at https://dx.qsl.net/propagation/. To see D-layer absorption data and associated radio blackouts, visit https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/d-region-absorption-predictions-d-rap. To see real-time Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) and Critical Frequency (foF2) information from radiosonde data, visit https://prop.kc2g.com/.

Upcoming Contests

This weekend brings the QRP ARCI Spring QSO Party we mentioned earlier, the JIDX CW Contest, the SKCC Weekend Sprintathon, the OK/OM DX Contest on SSB, the Yuri Gagarin International DX Contest, the IG-RY World Wide RTTY Contest, the DIG QSO Party on CW, the RSGB FT4 International Activity Day, the New Mexico QSO Party, the Missouri QSO Party, the Georgia QSO Party, the North Dakota QSO Party, the Africa FT4 DX Contest, the Hungarian Straight Key Contest, and the 4 States QRP Second Sunday Sprint. As always the K1USN SSTs, MSTs, and CWTs will also be on the air.

The full contest calendar with events and exchanges can be found at https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php.

Interesting Online Radio Content

Callum M0MCX talks about why he set up an unconventional tower setup -

Stuart VE9CF tries out the Guohetec DP200 antenna -

Walt K4OGO uses the REZ Portable Delta Loop -

Tim K5OHY activates the Guadalupe Mountains for SOTA and POTA -

Stuart VE9CF interviews Walt K4OGO and talks portable DXing -

Lidi KQ3Q shows how to go hands free with an IC-7300 and an inexpensive gaming headset -

Hayden VK7HH looks at using LoRa for APRS -

Save it for Parts tries tor receive signals from the Artemis II moon mission -

Craig KM6LYW looks at several HTs to see which has a better in-built TNC -

Mike K8MRD activates with POTA Power in Texas -

Ara N6ARA debuts his “RetroRig” for April Fools Day -

Mike K8MRD talks about “POTA Platinum” for April Fools Day -

Stuart VE9CF talks to Holy Cluster creator 4X1XP -

Jason KM4ACK talks about the BTech UV Pro feature that caused the FCC warning to be issued for interference -

Kevan 2E0WMG activates Honey Island -

That’s it for this week.

Best 73,

Ed

N2EC

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mvarc.substack.com

In the log this week

* Contest Spotlight: CQ World Wide WPX Contest

* DXpedition Update: CY0S Sable Island

* DXpedition Update: S21WD Bangladesh

* Amateur Radio News and Notes on Spring Break Next Week

* MVARC Nets on the Air

* What’s happening with DX?

* Solar Activity Update

* Upcoming Contests

* Interesting Online Radio Content

As always, links to all referenced content can be found in the show notes, or at our Substack at mvarc.substack.com

Thanks for reading Amateur Radio News and Notes. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Contest Spotlight: CQ World Wide WPX Contest

This weekend continues the fun of contest season with the CQ World Wide WPX Contest on SSB (CW comes at the end of May). WPX is one of the most popular contests of the year and an easy way to work a ton of DX very quickly. The objective of this contest is to make as many contacts with as many different prefixes as possible during the 48 hours of the contest. The fun starts on 0000 UTC on Saturday, March 28 (that’s 8 PM Eastern Time Friday Night) until 2359 UTC on Sunday (that’s 7:59 PM Eastern Time on Sunday Night). The bands of operation are the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands. The exchange is RST plus a progressive serial number starting with 001. So for my 42nd contact, the exchange would be “59 42”. The score is the total number of QSO points multiplied by the number of distinct prefixes worked. For the purposes of the contest a prefix is the letter and number combination forming the first part of the call. So for me (N2EC) my prefix would be N2. As you can imagine, there are a lot of prefixes out there, so these multipliers can escalate quickly, and the contest encourages a lot of rare prefixes and special event stations on the air. QSO points between stations on the same continent but different countries are worth 1 point on the high bands (10, 15, and 20 meters) and 2 points on the low bands (40, 80, and 160 meters). North American stations only get 2 points on the high bands and 4 points on the low bands. Contacts between stations on different continents are 3 points on the high bands and 6 points on the low bands. Entry categories include Single Operator All Band or Single Band at QRP (5 Watts or less), Low Power (100 Watts or Less), and High Power (up to 1500 Watts). There are also overlay categories for Single Operators for Tribander or Single Element antennas, a Rookie category for ops licenesed less than 3 years, Classic Operator where ops only run 24 of the 48 hours and use no spotting assistance, and Youth with ops 25 years of age and younger. For Multi-Operator categories (all band only) there are Single Transmitter or Multi-One at High and Low Power, Two Transmitter or Multi-Two, and Multi-Transmitter or Multi-Unlimited with a maximum of 6 transmitters, one per band, at any one time. There is also a Multi-Transmitter Distributed or Multi-Distributed which allows up to 6 signals from different locations so long as they are in the same DXCC Entity and CQ Zone. Logs must be submitted within 48 hours of the end of the contest. The full details and rules can be found at https://cqwpx.com/rules/. Good luck.

DXpedition Updates: CY0S Sable Island

Image Courtesy https://www.dx-world.net/cy0s-sable-island-dxpedition-2026/

As we went to press the CY0S DXpedition in Sable Island had over 76,000 QSOs in the log on their ClubLog Livestream. They have been all over the bands and loud to the East Coast. This week Tim K3LR of DX Engineering interviewed the team from Sable Island and got an idea of how their operation has been going and what the setup looks like. They’ll be on Sable Island until March 31st, so if you haven’t gotten them in the logs, now is the time.

More information can be found at:

https://www.dx-world.net/cy0s-sable-island-dxpedition-2026/

https://www.qrz.com/db/CY0S

https://t-rexsoftware.com/cy0s/index.htm#reloaded

Good luck.

DXpedition Update: S21WD Bangladesh

Image Courtesy https://next-generation-dx.com/s2/

Another active DXpedition is S21WD in Bangladesh who had logged over 38,000 QSOs as we went to press in the log on their ClubLog Livestream. This DXpedition is being led by a group of young amateurs and has been very successful so far. They plan to be on the air until April 1st, so look for them on the bands. More information can be found on their site at https://next-generation-dx.com/s2/. Good luck!

Amateur Radio News and Notes on Spring Break Next Week

Amateur Radio News and Notes will be taking the week off next week for Spring Break, so there won’t be an edition next week. We plan to be back in action on April 10 for the next episode. In the meantime, we wish you and yours a great start to Spring and good DX.

MVARC Nets on the Air

* 2 Meter FM Net: Tuesdays at 7 PM [146.655/- MHz (141.3 Hz PL Tone) ]

* 2 Meter Digital Net: Immediately Follows 2 Meter FM Net [146.655/- MHz C4FM]

* MVARC Slow Speed CW Roundtable: Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 AM [3.565 MHz CW]

* MVARC Cherry Tree Net: Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 AM [3.920 MHz LSB]

What’s Happening with DX

There will be a lot of DX on the air in the next two weeks. Stations on the air include Sable Island (CY0S), Bangladesh (S21WD), Montserrat (VP2M), Saint Kitts and Nevis (V47T), Madeira Island (CQ3W), Martinique (TO7O, FM/EA1BP), Bermuda (VP9/AA1AC), Central Kiribati (T31TTT), Antigua (V62K), Greenland (OX3LX), Cook Islands (E51ANQ), Macau (XX9W), Vanuatu (YJ0CA), Ghana (9G5RR, 9G5CC, 9G5ZP), Sint Maarten (PJ7AA), South Orkney Islands (LU1ZA), Austral Islands (TX5EU), Minami Torishima (JG8NQJ/JD1), Colombia (HK3JCL), and Solomon Islands (H44MS).

A calendar of DXpeditions can be found at https://dxnews.com/calendar/

Solar Activity Update

As we go to press the Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 152 and the estimated sunspot number was 103 with 7 numbered sunspot regions visible from Earth. Over the last week the SFI has increased. Solar activity has been at moderate levels in the last 24 hours. The geomagnetic field has been at quiet to unsettled levels in the last 24 hours and the Kp index reached 3 yesterday. The solar wind peaked at 543 km/s. Solar activity is predicted to be at low levels with a chance of M-class flares today through Sunday. The geomagnetic field is forecast to be at quiet to unsettled levels today and Sunday and at quiet levels on Saturday. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is at 1% today through Sunday. R1 to R2 radio blackouts are possible in the near term with a predicted probability of 30% today through Sunday. R3 or greater blackouts are unlikely with a 5% chance predicted today through Sunday. It remains a fantastic time for amateurs to get on the air and work the world.

Good sources of real-time solar information include https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/ and https://solarham.com/. A good overview of conditions can be found at https://dx.qsl.net/propagation/. To see D-layer absorption data and associated radio blackouts, visit https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/d-region-absorption-predictions-d-rap. To see real-time Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) and Critical Frequency (foF2) information from radiosonde data, visit https://prop.kc2g.com/.

Upcoming Contests

This weekend brings the CQ World Wide WPX Contest on SSB, the Sasquatch Stomp, the Bill Windle QSO Party, and the Africa All Mode International DX Contest. Next weekend brings the Louisiana QSO Party, the Mississippi QSO Party, the YBDXPI SSB Contest, the PODXS 070 New Member Jamboree, the EA RTTY Contest, and the SP DX Contest. As always the K1USN SSTs, MSTs, and CWTs will also be on the air.

The full contest calendar with events and exchanges can be found at https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php.

Interesting Online Radio Content

Mort G4BSK shows how to test QRP Labs QMX Power PCBs -

Stuart VE9CF tells you why you should do CQ WPX this weekend -

Craig KM6LYW makes a radio data go box -

Mike K8MRD shows us the impressive mobile setup of David N0LUV -

Kevan 2E0WMG takes us along for a paddle in his kayak as the tides rise -

Walt K4OGO gives his top 5 Vertical Antennas and announces his new book -

Tim K3LR talks to the CY0S team from Sable Island -

Stuart VE9CF talks to Tim K3LR about radio contesting -

Thomas K4SWL shows us the new handheld Pebble HF rig -

Stuart VE9CF shows how to customize the output of PoLo for your activations -

Walt K4OGO deploys an NVIS antenna on the beach -

Ben VE6SFX shows his slot antenna design for 2 meters and 70 centimeters -

Hayden VK7HH talks about using WSPR for antenna testing -

James KE8PZN does some satellite work while portable -

Mike K8MRD talks about 3D prints for Amateur Radio -

Pia DL7PIA talks about her mother Petra DL5PIA’s award winning run for the YL WWA 2026 -

That’s it for this week.

Best 73,

Ed

N2EC

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mvarc.substack.com

In the log this week

* Contest Spotlight: Virginia QSO Party

* DXpedition Spotlight: CY0S Sable Island

* Voice of America Staff Reinstated by U.S. District Court

* Indiana Passes HOA Bill

* MVARC Nets on the Air

* What’s happening with DX?

* Solar Activity Update

* Upcoming Contests

* Interesting Online Radio Content

As always, links to all referenced content can be found in the show notes, or at our Substack at mvarc.substack.com

Thanks for reading Amateur Radio News and Notes. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Contest Spotlight: Virginia QSO Party

This weekend brings the 2026 edition of the Virginia QSO Party. The fun starts on Saturday, March 21, 2026 at 1400 UTC (10 AM on Saturday Eastern Time) until Sunday, March 22 at 0400 UTC (Midnight Saturday Night Eastern Time) and then continues at 1200 UTC on Sunday (8 AM Eastern Time Sunday) until 2400 UTC Sunday (8 PM Eastern Time Sunday). The VA QSO Party is always one of the best organized and most participated in QSO parties of the year. This year there is a twist for the Bonus Stations with a series of of 6 1x1 calls with a K4 prefix that spell out “LOVERS” with their suffixes to commemorate the “Virginia Is For Lovers” slogan with 50 points being awarded per station. There is even a certificate for those who get a clean sweep of all the lovers stations. There is another bonus competition to work Virginia club stations with 20 points per bonus station. As always there are 28 plaques for the high achievers and tools including a DX Cluster and mobile tracker on the VAQP Site.

The exchange is serial number and County or Independent City for VA stations and Serial Number and State/Province/or “DX” for non-VA stations. So for my 42nd contact at my QTH in Fairfax County, Virginia my exchange would be “42 FFX”. All bands except the WARC bands are permitted and use of spotting clusters is permitted. Operating categories include QRP (under 5 Watts), Low Power (150 Watts and under), and High Power (over 150 Watts). Stations can be worked once per band and mode. Modes allowed are CW, Phone, and Digital, but you need to be able to get the exchange, so FT8 isn’t practical while RTTY will work. Operating classes include Single Operator, Multi-Single, and Multi-Muli with Fixed, Mobile, Expedition, and Rover categories for Multiple and Single Band entries. Logs must be submitted by April 15.

This is always a blast, and your author hopes to join in this weekend, so if you hear me give me a call. Full rules and a whole lot of information can be found at https://www.qsl.net/sterling/VA_QSO_Party/2026_VQP/2026_VQP_Main.html. Good luck.

DXpedition Spotlight: CY0S Sable Island

Image Courtesy https://www.dx-world.net/cy0s-sable-island-dxpedition-2026/

The highly anticipated CY0S DXpedition to Sable Island is already underway and as of 0040 UTC they had 13,422 QSOs in the log with some truly massive pileups. Sable Island is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean about 95 nautical miles southeast of Nova Scotia. It is a narrow sandbar that is about 26 miles long but only 0.75 miles wide at its widest point. It is known for wild horses. The CY0S team plans to be on the island until March 31st. The team plans to work 160 meters to 6 meters as well as EME on 23 centimeters. For FT8 they plan to run Super Fox in times of heavy pileups and Fox/Hound mode later on. Being so close to the East Coast, they have been loud and busy. More information can be found at:

https://www.dx-world.net/cy0s-sable-island-dxpedition-2026/

https://www.qrz.com/db/CY0S

https://t-rexsoftware.com/cy0s/index.htm#reloaded

Good luck.

Voice of America Staff Reinstated by U.S. District Court

Image Courtesy https://www.voanews.com/

For the last year Voice of America employees have been on paid administrative leave as the current administration sought to reduce the state run broadcaster to its “statutory minimum”. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that shutdown violated federal administrative law. His order requires full-time employees to return to work by March 23 and resume international broadcasting. More information can be found at https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/03/17/voice-of-america-firings-illegal-judge-finds/.

Indiana Passes HOA Bill

Earlier this month the State of Indiana passed House Bill 1152 which stipulates “A homeowners association may not adopt or enforce a regulation, rule, or other policy that has the effect of prohibiting a person from maintaining an amateur radio antenna on a property that the person owns, rents, or leases.” This law will go into effect on July 1, 2026 and should greatly assist amateurs in enjoying their hobby from their homes. While this applies only to the State of Indiana, there is legislation currently being considered by the U.S. House and Senate (H.R. 1094 and S. 459) that would enact similar protections nationwide. As the new law in Indiana shows, protections like this are possible. The ARRL has been encouraging amateur radio operators around the country to visit https://send-a-letter.org/hoa/ and fill out the form to have letters sent in support of the measure to your members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to extend protections like those enacted in Indiana nationwide.

MVARC Nets on the Air

* 2 Meter FM Net: Tuesdays at 7 PM [146.655/- MHz (141.3 Hz PL Tone) ]

* 2 Meter Digital Net: Immediately Follows 2 Meter FM Net [146.655/- MHz C4FM]

* MVARC Slow Speed CW Roundtable: Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 AM [3.565 MHz CW]

* MVARC Cherry Tree Net: Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 AM [3.920 MHz LSB]

What’s Happening with DX

There will be a lot of DX on the air this week. Stations on the air include Sable Island (CY0S), Saint Kitts and Nevis (V47T), Maderia Island (CQ3W), Central Kiribati (T31TTT), Antigua (V62K), Bangladesh (S21WD), Belize (V31YL, V31WX), Greenland (OX3LX), Macau (XX9W), Austral Islands (TX5EU), Vanuatu (YJ0CA), Ghana (9G5RR, 9G5CC, 9G5ZP), Sint Maarten (PJ7AA), South Orkney Islands (LU1ZA), Minami Torishima (JG8NQJ/JD1), Colombia (HK3JCL), and Solomon Islands (H44MS).

A calendar of DXpeditions can be found at https://dxnews.com/calendar/

Solar Activity Update

As we go to press the Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 106 and the estimated sunspot number was 38 with 2 numbered sunspot regions visible from Earth. Over the last week the SFI has decreased. Solar activity has been at low levels in the last 24 hours. The geomagnetic field has been at quiet levels in the last 24 hours and the Kp index reached 1 yesterday. The solar wind peaked at 428 km/s. Solar activity is predicted to be at low levels with a slight chance of M-class flares today through Sunday. The geomagnetic field is forecast to be at unsettled to major storm levels today, at active to major storm levels on Saturday, and at unsettled to minor storm levels on Sunday. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is at 1% today through Sunday. R1 to R2 radio blackouts are possible in the near term with a predicted probability of 15% today through Sunday. R3 or greater blackouts are unlikely with a 1% chance predicted today through Sunday. It remains a fantastic time for amateurs to get on the air and work the world.

Good sources of real-time solar information include https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/ and https://solarham.com/. A good overview of conditions can be found at https://dx.qsl.net/propagation/. To see D-layer absorption data and associated radio blackouts, visit https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/d-region-absorption-predictions-d-rap. To see real-time Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) and Critical Frequency (foF2) information from radiosonde data, visit https://prop.kc2g.com/.

Upcoming Contests

This weekend brings the Virginia QSO Party, the PODXS 070 Club St Patrick’s Day Contest, the John Moyle Memorial Field Day, the BARTG HF RTTY Contest, the Popov Memorial Contest, the Russian DX Contest, the AGCW VHF/UHF Contest, the Feld Hell Sprint, and the UBA Spring Contest on SSB. As always the K1USN SSTs, MSTs, and CWTs will also be on the air.

The full contest calendar with events and exchanges can be found at https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php.

Interesting Online Radio Content

Walt K4OGO operates beach portable with the Yaesu ATAS 25 antenna -

Stuart VE9CF talks to Sebastian KI2D about Ham2k Portable Logger -

Mike K8MRD tests out the LDG Z-11ProII automatic antenna tuner -

Dr. Tamitha Skov WX6SWW takes a look at an Earth directed solar storm -

Ian 4F1EBD shares footage of the 3Y0K DXpedition leaving Bouvet -

Tim K5OHY talks about the CFT1 QRP Radio Kit -

Save it for Parts does satellite radio work through the International Space Station -

Lewis M3HHY looks at the MLite-880 Shortwave Radio -

Tim K3LR talks to Michael W8CI about the recently announced Hamvention award winners -

Josh KI6NAZ upgrades his Elecraft KX2 to allow for USB C charging -

Hayden VK7HH does SOTA and POTA from Tasmania -

That’s it for this week.

Best 73,

Ed

N2EC

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mvarc.substack.com

In the log this week

* Dayton Hamvention Announces 2026 Award Winners

* HamSci Conference This Weekend

* Bouvet Island 3Y0K DXpedition Update

* Guinea-Bissau J51A DXpedition Breaks QSO World Record

* MVARC at Vienna Wireless Association Winterfest This Weekend

* MVARC Nets on the Air

* What’s happening with DX?

* Solar Activity Update

* Upcoming Contests

* Interesting Online Radio Content

As always, links to all referenced content can be found in the show notes, or at our Substack at mvarc.substack.com

Thanks for reading Amateur Radio News and Notes. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Dayton Hamvention Announces 2026 Award Winners

Image Courtesy https://hamvention.org/

This week the Dayton Amateur Radio Association announced the winners for their 2026 Awards to be presented at Dayton Hamvention.

This year’s Technical Achievement award will be presented to Bob Famiglio K3RF. Bob has spent almost 60 years as an amateur radio operator and has served as volunteer counsel for more than 40 years helping amateurs navigate the legal world as it intersects with radio. He has also been elected for multiple terms and offices at the ARRL as EPA Section Manager, Atlantic Division Vice Director, and most recently Atlantic Division Director. His dedicated service to the amateur radio community has helped many get on the air and enjoy the hobby more fully.

This year’s Amateur of the Year award goes to Dr. Otis Vicens NP4G. Otis grew up in Humacao, Puerto Rico and went to university at Purdue University and then got his dental degree from the University of Puerto Rico school of Dental medicine, completing a speciality program in Pediatric Dentistry at Brookdale University Hospital in Brooklyn, NY. He then returned to Puerto Rico to practice orthodontics. He has been active in DXpeditions including Bouvet, been the president of the Puerto Rico Amateur Radio League in 2012, and helped in emergency coordination during the aftermath of Hurricane Georges in 2017. He is now the president of the International DX Association and was a part of the team that just activated Desecheo Island.

The Special Achievement award goes to Martha and Joe Fell (N3QBE and W3GMS). They work to mentor students and their first student is pursuing a PhD in Electrical Engineering at MIT and their youngest mentee began with them at 8 years old.

The Club of the Year award goes to the Long Island CW Club. LICW is an organization with over 7,800 members in all 50 states and 70 countries that is dedicated to helping amateurs learn and enjoy using Morse code. The club has 182 classes a week taught by dozens of volunteers over Zoom videoconferencing (your author currently teaches Intermediate and Advanced classes with LICW). The club is a welcoming and inclusive organization with a very active community and a strong focus on continuous improvement of curriculum and methods. In addition to the adult classes, the club has a vibrant kids program that has taught hundreds of kids Morse code and seen many go on to be active and proficient operators. The club also has several weekly forums on topics ranging from portable operations, antennas, boat anchors, 3D printing, and more.

Congratulations to all the winners this year. Amateur Radio News and Notes will be at Dayton again this year, so look for more coverage in the weeks ahead. This year’s Dayton Hamvention will be May 15-17, 2026. More information about this year’s awards can be found at https://hamvention.org/event-details/awards/.

HamSci Conference This Weekend

Image Courtesy https://hamsci.org/hamsci2026

This weekend brings the HamSci 2026 Conference hosted by the ARRL at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut. HamSci promotes citizen science investigation using amateur radio. This year there will be talks about personal space weather stations, methods for ionospheric propagation measurement using the HF bands, analysis of the effects of solar eclipses on the HF bands, analysis of potential impacts on medium wave broadcasts due to earthquakes, an analysis of noise as it relates to WSPR, and a tutorial session on baseband processing. And that’s just on Saturday! On Sunday there will be talks on meteor scatter science, an amateur radio HF channel sounder, antenna receive performance validation, data analysis from personal space weather stations, and a lot more. Registration for the in-person event closed a while back, but there is a link to register for the sessions on Zoom on their web site at https://hamsci.org/hamsci2026. This promises to be a fascinating look at the intersection of science and amateur radio.

Bouvet Island 3Y0K DXpedition Update

Image Courtesy https://3y0k.com

The 3Y0K DXpedition to Bouvet Island has been continuing operations this week. The latest log upload at press time was from March 12th where they reported a total of 98,711 QSOs with 22,654 on CW, 58,815 on FT8, and 17,123 on SSB. The team had made contact with 188 DXCC entities and the percentage of duplicate contacts was 5.79%. You can see if you’re in the log and see the latest posted statistics at https://www.m0oxo.com/oqrs/logsearch.php.

In an update from QSL Manager M0OXO on DX News from March 11, it was announced the team will be tearing down a large part of the camp this weekend including Yagi antennas and most tents. Only a small team with 4 radios will remain after that time.

As a reminder, for CW and SSB the DXpedition (like most DXpeditions) will be working split. This means that the team is transmitting on one frequency and will be looking above their frequency for replies. Do not transmit on the same frequency you hear them on as they won’t be listening on that frequency and you will be making it very difficult for others to be able to hear the station in Bouvet. It is important to operate in a courteous manner so that as many operators as possible can participate in the fun together. More details on the band plan and operating details of the DXpedition can be found on their official site. Good luck.

Links with more information can be found at:

The Official Site: https://3y0k.com/

DX News Coverage: https://dxnews.com/3y0k/

Guinea-Bissau J51A DXpedition Breaks QSO World Record

Image Courtesy https://www.dx-world.net/acknowledging-a-qso-world-record/

The J51A team in Guinea-Bissau made history as they surpassed 213,021 QSOs on their DXpedition originally set by the T32C Kiritimati (Christmas Island) DXpedition in 2011. The team has been running an excellent DXpedition, and I have been able to work them on the 12, 15, 17, 30, and 40 meter bands. J51A will continue operations until this Sunday, March 15th at around 1200 UTC with the low band and RX antennas going down first and the Spiderbeams going down a little later. If you haven’t gotten them in the log yet, now is the time. Congratulations to the J51A team for their incredible achievement.

MVARC at Vienna Wireless Association Winterfest This Weekend

Image Courtesy https://viennawireless.net/wp/winterfest/

This Sunday brings the Vienna Wireless Society’s 50th Winterfest hamfest at Oakton High School in Vienna, Virginia. The event starts at 8 AM and goes until 2 PM. This year they’ve sold out all the indoor tables with more than 65 indoor and tailgaiting vendors expected. The Mount Vernon Amateur Radio Club will be there as will your author, so stop by and say hello. Winterfest will also be hosting the 2026 ARRL VA Section Convention from 10 AM to Noon. For those unable to attend the convention in person, Zoom connection information is provided on the Winterfest web site. Winterfest is always a fun hamfest, so stop by this Sunday and we hope to see you there. More information can be found at https://viennawireless.net/wp/winterfest/.

MVARC Nets on the Air

* 2 Meter FM Net: Tuesdays at 7 PM [146.655/- MHz (141.3 Hz PL Tone) ]

* 2 Meter Digital Net: Immediately Follows 2 Meter FM Net [146.655/- MHz C4FM]

* MVARC Slow Speed CW Roundtable: Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 AM [3.565 MHz CW]

* MVARC Cherry Tree Net: Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 AM [3.920 MHz LSB]

What’s Happening with DX

There will be a lot of DX on the air this week. Stations on the air include Bouvet Island (3Y0K), Svalbard (JW8EKA), Cayman Islands (ZF2CA), Saint Kitts (V47JA), Gambia (C5SP), Guinea Bissau (J51A), Austral Islands (TX5EU), Palau (T8OK), Mayotte (FH/UR9IDX), Ogasawara Islands (JD1BON), Vanuatu (YJ0CA), Anguilla (VP2EAD, VP2ELX, VP2EWE), Ghana (9G5RR, 9G5CC, 9G5ZP), Sint Maarten (PJ7AA), South Orkney Islands (LU1ZA), Bangladesh (S21WD), Minami Torishima (JG8NQJ/JD1), Colombia (HK3JCL), and Solomon Islands (H44MS).

A calendar of DXpeditions can be found at https://dxnews.com/calendar/

Solar Activity Update

As we go to press the Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 121 and the estimated sunspot number was 116 with 9 numbered sunspot regions visible from Earth. Over the last week the SFI has decreased. Solar activity has been at low levels in the last 24 hours. The geomagnetic field has been at quiet to unsettled levels in the last 24 hours and the Kp index reached 3 yesterday. The solar wind peaked at 486 km/s. Solar activity is predicted to be at low levels with a chance of M-class flares today through Sunday. The geomagnetic field is forecast to be at quiet to minor storm levels today and Saturday and quiet to active levels on Sunday. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is at 1% today through Sunday. R1 to R2 radio blackouts are possible in the near term with a predicted probability of 20% today through Sunday. R3 or greater blackouts are unlikely with a 1% chance predicted today through Sunday. It remains a fantastic time for amateurs to get on the air and work the world.

Good sources of real-time solar information include https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/ and https://solarham.com/. A good overview of conditions can be found at https://dx.qsl.net/propagation/. To see D-layer absorption data and associated radio blackouts, visit https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/d-region-absorption-predictions-d-rap. To see real-time Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) and Critical Frequency (foF2) information from radiosonde data, visit https://prop.kc2g.com/.

Upcoming Contests

This weekend brings the YB DX RTTY Contest, the SARL VHF/UHF FM Contest, the SARL Field Day Contest, the Commonwealth (BERU) Contest, the SKCC Weekend Sprintathon, the EA PSK63 Contest, the F9AA Cup on SSB, the South America 10 Meter Contest, the DIG QSO Party on SSB, the AGCW QRP Contest, the Oklahoma QSO Party, The Idaho QSO Party, the Wisconsin QSO Party, the Stew Perry Topband Challenge, the TESLA Memorial HF CW Contest, the North American Sprint on RTTY, the UBA Spring Contest on 6 meters, the YOTA Contest, and the Run for the Bacon QRP Contest. As always the K1USN SSTs, MSTs, and CWTs will also be on the air.

The full contest calendar with events and exchanges can be found at https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php

Interesting Online Radio Content

Mike K8MRD turns his QMX into a HT with 3D printing -

Josh KI6NAZ talks to Rob Sherwood NC0B about the Sherwood Engineering List -

Stuart VE9CF talks about updates to the Holy Cluster DX spotting site -

Dr. Tamitha Skov WX6SWW talks about space weather this week -

Hadrian YO2BTW shares video recorded by Chun at Bouvet during the DXpedition-

Ian 4F1EBD shares video of a typical day on Bouvet -

Kevin KB9RLW uses a flag pole as a temporary antenna mast -

Ralph WA2PUX shows how to build an RF sampler -

IMSAI Guy takes a look at an FM Stop filter -

Craig KM6LYW plays with AI on amateur radio -

Ian 4F1EBD shows footage of the arrival of the 3Y0K team at Bouvet -

Michael KB9VBR talks about the upcoming price increases from Yaesu -

Kevan 2E0WMG and Richard G0NAD operate HF portable from Tenerife -

Josh KI6NAZ talks about poor operators on the air -

Ramon EA5IW takes us along for some mountaintop QRP -

Mike K8MRD puts up a 915 MHz Yagi for Meshcore -

Ben VE6SFX makes a slot antenna for VHF -

Ara N6ARA shows us his new TinyFilter portable 2 Meter Bandpass Filter -

That’s it for this week.

Best 73,

Ed

N2EC

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mvarc.substack.com

In the log this week

* Contest Spotlight: ARRL International DX Contest on SSB

* Bouvet Island 3Y0K DXpedition Update

* Yaesu Radio Prices to Increase

* Amateur Radio News and Notes Podcast Celebrates Its First Year

* MVARC Breakfast and Meeting Recap

* MVARC Nets on the Air

* What’s happening with DX?

* Solar Activity Update

* Upcoming Contests

* Interesting Online Radio Content

As always, links to all referenced content can be found in the show notes, or at our Substack at mvarc.substack.com

Thanks for reading Amateur Radio News and Notes. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Contest Spotlight: ARRL International DX Contest on SSB

This weekend brings one of the biggest DX contests on the air, the ARRL International DX Contest this time on SSB. There is so much DX that it may even be possible to get DXCC (100 countries) in a weekend. If you like working DX, this is a great time to get on the air. The contest starts 0000 UTC on Saturday, March 7 (that’s 7 PM ET Friday night) and continues through 2359 UTC Sunday, March 8 (6:59PM ET Sunday). To participate, the DX stations can only work US and Canadian stations, this means this is a contest where the DX is chasing you!

The exchange for the contest on the US/Canada side of things to send a signal report and state/province. DX stations send signal report and power as a number or abbreviation. So for me in Virginia, my exchange would be “59 VA”. Bands are 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters and power classifications are QRP (5 Watts and below), LP (Above 5 W to 100W), and HP (up to 1500 Watts). You can work stations once per band and each QSO is worth 3 points. For US/Canada multipliers are each DXCC entity once per band and for DX it is each State or Province (including DC) once per band. Total score = QSO Points x Multipliers. Logs need to be submitted within 7 days of the end of the contest. Full rules and details can be found at https://www.arrl.org/arrl-dx. Good Luck!

Bouvet Island 3Y0K DXpedition Update

Image Courtesy https://3y0k.com

The highly anticipated 3Y0K DXpedition to Bouvet Island was able to land on Bouvet and logged its first QSO on March 1, 2026. The latest log upload at press time was from March 5th where they reported a total of 24,180 QSOs with 5,721 on CW, 13,558 on FT8, and 4,901 on SSB. North America received 17.6% of the QSOs while Europe got 42.5%, Asia got 31.1%, Africa got 1.3%, Oceania got 1.9%, and South America got 5.6% with the rest being “not determined”. In all the team had made contact with 131 DXCC entities and the percentage of duplicate contacts was 3.28%. You can see if you’re in the log and see the latest posted statistics at https://www.m0oxo.com/oqrs/logsearch.php.

In an update from DXpedition Pilot James KB2FMH on the 3rd he said that both camps had been established with 8 tents in total. One of the camps is situated to maximize conditions toward North America. At that time they had 10 ICOM 7610 radios and 10 assorted ACOM amplifiers with antennas on all bands but 10 meters. He expected the 10 meter antennas to go up on the 4th. Looking at their logs, it appears they were successful. The operation is expected to continue until March 18-20th.

Your author has not yet been successful getting in the logs and the pile-ups have been intense. Sadly, there has been significant deliberate interference (DQRM) so far with stations keying up over the Bouvet station and trying to make it difficult to contact them. A reminder, for CW and SSB the DXpedition (like most DXpeditions) will be working split. This means that the team is transmitting on one frequency and will be looking above their frequency for replies. Do not transmit on the same frequency you hear them on as they won’t be listening on that frequency and you will be making it very difficult for others to be able to hear the station in Bouvet. It is important to operate in a courteous manner so that as many operators as possible can participate in the fun together. More details on the band plan and operating details of the DXpedition can be found on their official site. Good luck.

Links with more information can be found at:

The Official Site: https://3y0k.com/

DX News Coverage: https://dxnews.com/3y0k/

Yaesu Radio Prices to Increase

In a post to their web site dated March 3rd, Yaesu distributor GigaParts announced they had received new wholesale pricing increases from Yaesu for their North American products effective March 1st. As part of those changes, GigaParts expects prices to rise for consumers with the next shipments they receive from 4% to 58% for some products. GigaParts says that existing stock will remain at the current prices until stocks are depleted at which time new shipments will be priced according to the new rates. They cite rising material and manufacturing costs, updated tariffs, and volatility in logistics and operations as bringing on these costs. They also report that previous increases had been absorbed by them in the past, but the new increases no longer make that possible. At press time we didn’t see other retailers referencing these changes, but prices between the retailers is usually the same. GigaParts full statement can be found at https://connect.gigaparts.com/t/important-update-upcoming-pricing-adjustments-for-yaesu-products/2361.

Amateur Radio News and Notes Podcast Celebrates Its First Year

With today’s episode, Amateur Radio News and Notes celebrates a year of keeping you up to date with amateur radio in podcast form. We sent out our first podcast version on March 7, 2025 and a year later, this is our 50th episode. It has been a lot of fun seeing things grow each week and we’re honored that you have taken the time to make us a part of your weekly routine. In addition to distributing the podcast online, we’re delighted to be broadcast each week by 88.3 FM KRHJ in Lamar, Colorado at 6 PM Mountain time on Fridays.

Before it was in podcast form, Amateur Radio News and Notes started as a weekly newsletter on February 23, 2024 sent out to the members of the Mount Vernon Amateur Radio Club. Shortly thereafter we started posting it on our Substack and things started growing from there. It has been a fun two years with lots of fun events and developments in amateur radio along the way. We really are glad you’re here.

If you find anything of interest you think would be good to share here or have any feedback about what you like or what could be improved, feel free to reach out. I’m good on QRZ.

MVARC Breakfast and Meeting Recap

Image Courtesy Corey KN4YZY

Last Saturday the Mount Vernon Amateur Radio Club got together for our weekly breakfast at the IHOP in Hybla Valley. After breakfast we made it over for our in-person meeting where we had an introduction to the club’s new Discord server. It was great seeing everyone, and we look forward to seeing you again this month.

MVARC Nets on the Air

* 2 Meter FM Net: Tuesdays at 7 PM [146.655/- MHz (141.3 Hz PL Tone) ]

* 2 Meter Digital Net: Immediately Follows 2 Meter FM Net [146.655/- MHz C4FM]

* MVARC Slow Speed CW Roundtable: Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 AM [3.565 MHz CW]

* MVARC Cherry Tree Net: Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 AM [3.920 MHz LSB]

What’s Happening with DX

As you would expect on a big DX contest weekend, there will be a lot of DX on the air this week. Stations on the air include Bouvet Island (3Y0K), Bonaire (PJ4G), Guam (AH2R), Dominica (J75A), Guinea Bissau (J51A), Austral Islands (TX5EU), Gambia (C5SP), Palau (T8OK), Mayotte (FH/UR9IDX), Anguilla (VP2EAD, VP2ELX, VP2EWE), Ghana (9G5RR, 9G5CC, 9G5ZP), Sint Maarten (PJ7AA), Bangladesh (S21WD), Minami Torishima (JG8NQJ/JD1), Colombia (HK3JCL), and Solomon Islands (H44MS).

A calendar of DXpeditions can be found at https://dxnews.com/calendar/

Solar Activity Update

As we go to press the Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 146 and the estimated sunspot number was 73 with 5 numbered sunspot regions visible from Earth. Over the last week the SFI has increased. Solar activity has been at low levels in the last 24 hours. The geomagnetic field has been at quiet levels and the Kp index reached 2 yesterday. The solar wind peaked at 456 km/s. Solar activity is predicted to be at low levels with a chance of M-class flares today through Sunday. The geomagnetic field is forecast to be at quiet to minor storm levels today and quiet to active levels on Saturday and Sunday. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is at 1% today through Sunday. R1 to R2 radio blackouts are possible in the near term with a predicted probability of 20% today through Sunday. R3 or greater blackouts are unlikely with a 1% chance predicted today through Sunday. It remains a fantastic time for amateurs to get on the air and work the world.

Good sources of real-time solar information include https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/ and https://solarham.com/. A good overview of conditions can be found at https://dx.qsl.net/propagation/. To see D-layer absorption data and associated radio blackouts, visit https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/d-region-absorption-predictions-d-rap. To see real-time Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) and Critical Frequency (foF2) information from radiosonde data, visit https://prop.kc2g.com/.

Upcoming Contests

This weekend brings the ARRL International DX Contest on SSB we mentioned earlier as well as the Novice Rig Roundup, the Wake-Up! QRP Sprint, the Russian YL/OM Contest, the UBA Spring Contest on CW, the FIRAC HF Contest, the Classic Exchange on CW, and the 4 States QRP Second Sunday Sprint. As always the K1USN SSTs, MSTs, and CWTs will also be on the air.

The full contest calendar with events and exchanges can be found at https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php

Interesting Online Radio Content

The ICQ Podcast Interviews Former ARRL Atlantic Division Director Bob Famiglio K3RF about By Law 46 - https://www.icqpodcast.com/download-the-show/2026/2/22/icqpodcast-episode-477-arrl-bylaw-46-changes

Hadrian YO2BTW shares video recorded by Chun at Bouvet during the DXpedition -

Lewis M3HHY talks about strange FSK signals plaguing the 40 meter band and other shortwave disturbances -

Adam K6ARK does SOTA by motorcycle -

Stuart VE9CF gives a quick intro to N1MM for contest logging -

Josh KI6NAZ shows us his Orlando Hamcatation haul -

Jason KM4ACK upgrades the battery in an EMCOMM trailer -

Ara N6ARA shows us how he manufactures the TinyGawant antenna kits -

Michael KB9VBR talks about air travel with lithium batteries -

Lewis M3HHY talks about Iran using bubble jammers to block shortwave signals -

Mike K8MRD shows the K5ACP Molle BNC Antenna Clip -

Colin MM0OPX talks about how to tune a ground-mounted vertical properly -

Alan W2AEW shows how to update the firmware for the SV4401A handheld VNA -

Linas LY2H takes a look at HF whip antennas to see how good they are -

Sean W9FFF shows his POTA Pounder antenna mount -

George VK2AOE shows part 3 of his homebrew QRP 40 meter transceiver build -

Mike K8MRD trades his Yaesu FTX-1F for an Icom 7300MK2 and explains why -

That’s it for this week.

Best 73,

Ed

N2EC

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mvarc.substack.com

In the log this week

* Contest Spotlight: CQ World Wide 160-Meter Contest

* DXpedition Spotlight: J51A Guinea Bissau

* Bouvet Island 3Y0K DXpedition Update

* Desecheo Island KP5/NP3VI DXpedition to be QRT March 3

* HamClock Gets New Community Backend

* MVARC Nets on the Air

* What’s happening with DX?

* Solar Activity Update

* Upcoming Contests

* Interesting Online Radio Content

As always, links to all referenced content can be found in the show notes, or at our Substack at mvarc.substack.com

Thanks for reading Amateur Radio News and Notes. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Contest Spotlight: CQ World Wide 160-Meter Contest

This weekend brings the latest edition of the CQ World Wide 160-meter contest on SSB. The contest starts at 2200 UTC on Friday, February 27th (5 PM Eastern Time Friday) and ends at 2200 UTC Sunday, March 1 (5 PM Eastern Time Sunday). The contest is all about having amateurs from around the world make as many contacts with U.S. states, Canadian provinces, and countries as possible using the 160-meter band. For single operator assisted stations only, operators are able to use one remote receiver within 100 kilometers of the main transmitter if conditions (like local noise) require. This includes WebSDRs, but they must be within the 100 km limit. The unassisted entries may not use a remote receiver.

Single operator stations can work as much as 30 hours of the 48 hour period. Operating categories include Single Operator with no QSO finding assistance allowed for High Power up to 1500 Watts of power, Low Power up to 100 Watts of power, and QRP up to 5 Watts of Power. There is also the Single Operator Assisted categories (High Power, Low Power, and QRP) with spotting assistance allowed and a remote receiver is permitted within 100 km of the station.

The exchange is the RST, State for US, Province for Canada, or CQ Zone for DX. So for me in Virginia, my exchange would be “59 VA”. Multipliers are the 48 contiguous US States plus DC, the 14 Canadian Provinces (VO1 and VO2 count as two provinces), and DXCC countries including WAE countries. Points are awarded as 2 for QSOs in ones own country, 5 points for other countries on the same continent, and 10 points for contacts on other continents. Maritime mobile counts for 5 points but no multiplier. Logs must be submitted by March 6, 2026 at 2200 UTC. This is a great opportunity to make a lot of contacts on the top band. Good luck.

DXpedition Spotlight: J51A Guinea Bissau

Image Courtesy https://www.dx-world.net/j51a-guinea-bissau/

The J51A DXpedition to the Bijagos Archipelago in Guinea Bissau has been very active on the bands in the last week. Your author was able to work them on 15, 17, and 30 meters CW with a strong signal into the East Coast. Yesterday the team reported they had logged 61,300 QSOs in 69 hours of operation. The operators include several members from the Bavarian Contest Club. They are currently scheduled to operate until March 15. Guinea Bissau is a country on the West coast of Africa with a population of about 2 million people. It is currently listed as #84 on the ClubLog Most Wanted List. For more information about the DXpedition with photos, live streams, log searches, and team updates visit https://www.qrz.com/db/J51A and https://www.dx-world.net/j51a-guinea-bissau/. Look for them on the bands and good luck.

Bouvet Island 3Y0K DXpedition Update

Image Courtesy https://3y0k.com

The highly anticipated 3Y0K DXpedition to Bouvet Island departed from Cape Town, South Africa in the last week and has been steadily making its way to Bouvet. On February 25th the team provided an update saying that the boat was in an area of bad weather which was slowing down their journey. They slowed their speed for safety since they would not be missing any weather windows for landing. They were 140 miles from the island when they posted on the 25th and believe that their ETA will be Friday the 27th around 6 PM Local Time (Noon Eastern Time).

The 3Y0K DXpedition is one of the most expensive and logistically complicated in history with a reported budget of around $1.7 million. The plan is to have a 3 week DXpedition although with extreme weather at Bouvet, they will be dependent on weather windows to get to the island via their helicopter. The 3Y0K team has mentioned that they have received reports of individuals pirating the call sign on-air. They ask you not to work the pirates and do say there will be official communications from pilots or a team leader when the team is operational.

Links with more information can be found at:

The Official Site:

https://3y0k.com/

The Ship Tracker:

https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=7104752

DX News Coverage: https://dxnews.com/3y0k/

Desecheo Island KP5/NP3VI DXpedition to be QRT March 3

Image Courtesy https://desecheo2026.com/kp5/

The KP5/NP3VI Desecheo DXpedition has had very successful and extended run with its remote operations with the total number of QSOs exceeding 100,000 as we went to press. Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and this DXpedition is no exception. They are scheduled to be QRT on March 3, 2026. If you haven’t gotten Desecheo in your logs, you still have time, but make sure to act fast. For more information including schedule plans and log searching visit https://desecheo2026.com/kp5/ . Good Luck.

HamClock Gets New Community Backend

Image courtesy https://qso365.co.uk/2024/01/hamclock/

The announcement that the popular HamClock software would stop working after the passing of its creator Elwood Downey WB0OEW set the community into action to provide alternatives to the amateur radio community. This week the team at https://hamclock.com/ announced that they have created a back end server that allows HamClock to continue to function. They have instructions on their site for how to modify your installation to have it work with their back end. Their site says they are already serving over 2,700 HamClock installations. For more information visit https://hamclock.com/.

MVARC Nets on the Air

* 2 Meter FM Net: Tuesdays at 7 PM [146.655/- MHz (141.3 Hz PL Tone) ]

* 2 Meter Digital Net: Immediately Follows 2 Meter FM Net [146.655/- MHz C4FM]

* MVARC Slow Speed CW Roundtable: Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 AM [3.565 MHz CW]

* MVARC Cherry Tree Net: Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 AM [3.920 MHz LSB]

What’s Happening with DX

There will be a lot of DX on the air this week. Stations on the air include Ethiopia (ET3AA), Bouvet Island (3Y0K), Guinea Bissau (J51A), Gambia (C5SP), Palau (T8OK), Anguilla (VP2EAD, VP2ELX, VP2EWE), Bangladesh (S21WD), Desecheo Island (KP5/NP3VI), Colombia (HK3JCL), and Solomon Islands (H44MS).

A calendar of DXpeditions can be found at https://dxnews.com/calendar/

Solar Activity Update

As we go to press the Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 130 and the estimated sunspot number was 43 with 3 numbered sunspot regions visible from Earth. Over the last week the SFI has increased. Solar activity has been at low levels in the last 24 hours. The geomagnetic field has been at quiet to active levels and the Kp index reached 4 yesterday. The solar wind peaked at 613 km/s. Solar activity is predicted to be at low levels with a chance of M-class flares today through Sunday. The geomagnetic field is forecast to be at quiet to unsettled levels today and Saturday and at unsettled to active levels on Sunday. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is at 1% today through Sunday. R1 to R2 radio blackouts are possible in the near term with a predicted probability of 25% today through Sunday. R3 or greater blackouts are unlikely with a 5% chance predicted today through Sunday. It remains a fantastic time for amateurs to get on the air and work the world.

Good sources of real-time solar information include https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/ and https://solarham.com/. A good overview of conditions can be found at https://dx.qsl.net/propagation/. To see D-layer absorption data and associated radio blackouts, visit https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/d-region-absorption-predictions-d-rap. To see real-time Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) and Critical Frequency (foF2) information from radiosonde data, visit

https://prop.kc2g.com/.

Upcoming Contests

This weekend brings the CQ World Wide 160-Meter Contest on SSB, the UBA DX Contest on CW, the South Carolina QSO Party, the North Carolina QSO Party, the North American QSO Party on RTTY, the NA Collegiate Championship on RTTY, the UBA Spring Contest on 2m, the NSARA Contest, the SARL Hamnet 40m Simulated Emergency Contest, and the WAB 3.5 MHz Phone Contest. As always the K1USN SSTs, MSTs, and CWTs will also be on the air.

The full contest calendar with events and exchanges can be found at https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php

Interesting Online Radio Content

Stuart VE9CF talks about the scheduled shut down of Canadian Weather Radio -

Tim K5OHY builds and tests a 300 Ohm Ladder Line Fed Doublet -

Mike K8MRD looks at the new community backend for HamClock and shows you how to switch -

Walt K4OGO takes us behind the scenes at “Shack Day” in Chesapeake, VA -

Dugbo KD7DUG does 2m CW for SOTA -

Jason KM4ACK shows his Hamvention haul -

Mort G4BSK shows how he builds his 3D Printed microphones -

Bob WV1W takes a look at the Xiegu VK-6 Paddles -

Lewis M3HHY listens in to pirates jamming Russian military signals -

Forrest KI7QCF talks about what QRP means to him -

Yuri UT4LW shows his 2BSIQ run for ARRL DX CW -

Mike K8MRD takes us along at the Greater Houston Hamfest -

Lidi KQ3Q builds a 17-five antenna and gets it on the air for POTA -

Dr. Tamitha Skov WX6SWW talks about the first spotless sun in years -

Steve KM9G takes a look at a portable solar power bank for portable operations -

Forrest KI7QCF shows part of his ARRL DX CW run -

Colin MM0OPX tells you why you should be using the 10 meter band right now -

Mark KD7DTS takes us aboard the Battleship Iowa to see the radio facilities -

Peter VK3YE shows what you can do with 10 meters of wire to get on the air -

Mike K8MRD activates POTA with Caitlin K8FAE -

Matt M0DQW takes a look at FT2 for digital communications -

Steve KM9G shows how he uses an inexpensive Z-Match antenna tuner -

That’s it for this week.

Best 73,

Ed

N2EC

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