In the log this week
* Parks on the Air Delists Virginia WMAs and State Fishing Lakes From The POTA Database
* HamSCI Meteor Scatter QSO Party
* Contest Spotlight: ARRL 10 Meter Contest
* FCC Expands Access to the 60 Meter Band
* MVARC Holiday Party 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
Parks on the Air Delists Virginia WMAs and State Fishing Lakes From The POTA Database
Logo Courtesy Parks on the Air
Parks on the Air Virginia mapping coordinator Sean Pyne W4BKR announced on a Facebook post that all State Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) and State Fishing Areas in the Commonwealth of Virginia have been inactivated on the POTA.app site. He states that there have been increasing conservation officer contact with activators at many WMAs and most State Fishing Lakes due to not having a Special Use Permit (SUP). When activators have filed for an SUP that request has been denied. Sean notes that authorities have indicated that all future requests would also be denied. The reasoning is that “amateur radio activity is considered outside the intended purpose of these areas”.
Allen Graves AG4VA sent a follow-up email on the SOTAppalachia groups.io to address the SOTA side of things and recommends suspending SOTA activations in Virginia in State WMAs including Blue Mountain, Fork Mountain, Jack Mountain, Fort Lewis Mountain, and Short Hills High Point which all reside in various WMAs. Allen goes on to share some research he has done about the WMAs and Fishing lakes and the legal basis for these issues. The properties are designated for primary uses only (to include hunting, fishing, wildlife restoration, habitat protection, and boating and angling access). Anything not on that list is defined as a special use (including bird watching, photography, hiking, amateur radio, and school groups among others). The need for special use permits predates the existence of POTA and SOTA. He advocates some solutions in his email including pursuing blanket exemptions, simplified permits, or partnerships with the agencies. Hopefully some progress can be made in those directions, but for now, it is best to refrain from radio operations in Virginia WMAs and State Fishing Lakes.
This highlights the importance of ensuring that we do our best as amateur radio operators to maintain positive interactions with those who manage the public areas we use for portable operations. To that end, Sean had some advice. Always try to keep your activation footprint small and minimize impact on the environment and other park users. If you do have an encounter with the authorities it is important to be respectful and polite. If you are asked to leave, do not argue. If you have permits, show them, but don’t escalate the situation. And finally, if you have problems contact the state mapping representatives so they are aware and can work to address them.
More information can be found at https://qrper.com/2025/12/pota-sites-deactivation-in-virginia-wildlife-management-areas-and-fishing-lakes/ and https://groups.io/g/SOTAppalachia (requires membership).
HamSCI Meteor Scatter QSO Party
On December 12-13 HamSCI is hosting their Meteor Scatter QSO Party. The QSO Party is a combination of an operating event and a citizen science endeavour that seeks to better understand propagation via meteor scatter. Activity will be on 6 meters (50.260 MHz) and 10 meters (28.145 MHz) using the MSK144 mode during this year’s Geminid meteor shower. They need stations that can both be Two-Way (transmit/receive) and Monitor stations (receive only) and will be using reception reports sent to PSKReporter (so make sure to set your software to report as described on their web site). If you run FT8, you’re already setup as WSJT-X supports MSK144. This is a great way to be a part of scientific exploration into our hobby while having a whole lot of fun. For more information check out the HamSCI Meteor Scatter QSO Party site at https://www.hamsci.org/msqp.
Contest Spotlight: ARRL 10 Meter Contest
This weekend brings this year’s highly anticipated ARRL 10 meter contest on December 13-14, 2025. This is a great contest that can be worked by all amateurs, regardless of license class. Since we are near the top of Cycle 25 propagation should be excellent to make lots of contacts around the globe. The contest starts at 0000 UTC on Saturday (7 PM ET Friday) and goes until 2359 UTC Sunday (6:59 PM ET Sunday). The band will, of course, be the 10 meter band. Contacts can be made on Phone and CW and you can contact stations only once per mode.
Categories of operation include Single Operator and Single Operator Unlimited which can enter as CW Only, Phone Only, or Mixed-Mode. Multioperator stations can only enter as Mixed-Mode. The Single Operator category can’t use spotting assistance, however Single Operator Unlimited and Multioperator stations may use spotting assistance. Power levels include High (more than 100 Watts), Low (between 5 and 100 Watts), and QRP (5 Watts or less). There is also a Limited Antennas Overlay for those using single element antennas no more than 50 feet elevation at its highest point. The exchange for US, Canadian, and Mexican stations is to send their State or Province. DX stations send a serial number, and Maritime Mobile stations send their ITU region. So for me in Virginia, my exchange would be “599 VA”. Phone contacts count for 2 QSO points while CW contacts count for 4 QSO points. Multipliers include US States, Canadian Provinces, Mexican States, DXCC entities, and ITU Regions. Total score is QSO Points multiplied by the sum of Multipliers. Logs must be submitted within 7 days of the conclusion of the event, with Cabrillo formatted logs being the preferred method.
This may be one of the last opportunities to work this contest during Solar Cycle 25, so get on the air and have some fun this weekend. Full rules and details can be found at https://www.arrl.org/10-meter. Good luck.
FCC Expands Access to the 60 Meter Band
On December 9, 2025 the FCC released its Report and Order FCC 25-60 which among other actions, expands the Amateur Radio allocation on the 60 meter band to include a new region of spectrum from 5351.5 kHz to 5366.5 kHz. This is in addition to the discrete channels already assigned at 5332, 5348, 5373, and 5405 kHz. This new allocation harmonizes with a proposal from WRC-15 to allocate it globally in all ITU regions with a maximum of 15 Watts equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) which is about 9.15 Watts effective radiated power (ERP). This means that inside the new 15 kHz allocation we are limited to 9.15 Watts ERP. The FCC decided to limit it to this lower level to protect the Federal operations on the band which are the primary users. (the Amateur service is permitted usage on a secondary basis). The four channels that are outside this range are still permitted to run at 100 Watts.
The amendments to the rules should be effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. The full Report and Order can be found at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-25-60A1.pdf and the sections relating to the 60 meter band allocation are on pages 18-24. Additional coverage can be found at https://qrper.com/2025/12/welcome-breaking-news-our-60-meter-band-just-got-bigger/.
MVARC Holiday Party Recap
Image Courtesy Corey KN4YZY
Last night, we had a great turn out to our annual MVARC Holiday Party at the Hybla Valley Denny’s. We had lots of great conversation and enjoyed each other’s company. We hope that you and yours have an absolutely wonderful holiday season.
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 South Sudan (Z81D), Madagascar (5R8IC), Mali (TZ4AM), Colombia (HK3JCL), Gabon (TR8CR), Greenland (OX7A, OX7AM, OX7AKT, OX3LG), Gambia (C5YK), Solomon Islands (H44MS), Marcus Island Minami Tori Shima Islands (JG8NQJ/JD1), and Antarctica (DP0GVN, FT4YM).
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 147 and the estimated sunspot number was 123 with 7 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 major storm levels and the Kp index reached 6 yesterday. The solar wind peaked at 500 km/s. Solar activity is predicted to be at moderate levels with a slight chance of an X-class flare Friday and moderate conditions through Sunday. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is at 10% today, 5% Saturday, and 1% on Sunday. R1 to R2 radio blackouts are likely in the near term with a predicted probability of 65% today, 60% Saturday, and 55% on Sunday. R3 or greater blackouts are possible with a 10% chance predicted today and 5% Saturday and Sunday. There is a chance of 6 meter propagation so keep an eye on the band and spotting clusters to be ready for the next time the magic band does its thing. 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 10-Meter Contest we spotlighted earlier as well as the PODXS 070 Club Triple Play Low Band Sprint, the TRC Digi Contest, the SKCC Weekend Sprintathon, the ARI 40/80 Contest, the International Naval Contest, the QRP ARCI Holiday Spirits Sprint, 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
Josh KI6NAZ talks about the new 60 meter band allocation -
Bob WV1W gives his 10 tips for CW head copy -
TJ K9KJ shows us how to use Remote Ham Radio -
Mike K8MRD uses iFTX on his iPhone to run FT8 while portable -
Thomas K4SWL, Scott VA3EKR, and Vlado N3CZ activate SOTA together -
Walt K4OGO builds a portable cubical quad antenna -
Jeff KF0MYB and Joe KF0MYJ take a look at the radio station in Stranger Things to see how accurate it was -
The Smokin Ape talks counterpoises for End Fed Half Wave antennas -
Mike K8MRD goes over some hacks to elevate your Baofeng experience -
Mort G4BSK looks into fixing his QMX radio -
Walt K4OGO does hotel balcony portable with a small MA-01 antenna system -
EarthSky talks about why the earliest sunset isn’t usually on the shortest day -
Paul OM0ET shows us how to flash the firmware on the Quansheng UV-K1 -
Michael KB9VBR talks about the Virginia POTA State WMA and Fishing Lake removals -
Callum M0XXT shows us how he fixed his 40 meter 4-Square antenna system -
The Broadcast Engineer shows us the new Cincinnati Public Radio broadcast studios -
Mark KD7DTS celebrates his SOTA goat milestone with friends -
Matt M0DQW takes a look at the SharkRF M1KE digital mode transceiver -
Craig KM6LYW gives a 6 month update for his Packet Radio node -
Jerry KM4ZKB shows us how he builds, tunes, and deploys his ZS6BKW antenna -
Tim K5OHY shows us his Challenger PVC Mount for fast portable deployment -
Kevin W1DED debriefs Dan N6MJ on his CQ WW CW Win at EF8R -
Kevin W1DED debriefs Chris KL9A on his CQ WW CW 2nd Place Finish at CQ9A -
George VK2AOE talks about his love of QRP Labs -
Kevin KB9RLW shows how to install Satdump on Linux -
Evan K2EJT shows his Winter SOTA Loadout -
Mike K8MRD shows his QMX Go Bag -
Stuart VE9CF talks about the Virginia POTA WMA and Fishing Lake removals -
Linas LY2H shows us his first Beverage Antenna -
Walt K4OGO takes a look at a V-Beam Antenna -
That’s it for this week.
Best 73,
Ed
N2EC
