In the log this week
* The SV1GA/A Mount Athos DXpedition Accepted by ARRL for DXCC Credit
* Radio Amateurs of Canada Will Not Attend Hamvention This Year
* ARISS Announces ISS SSTV Transmissions April 11-16 for the International Day of Human Space Flight
* MVARC Nets on the Air
* What's happening with DX?
* Solar Activity Update
* Upcoming Contests
* Interesting Online Radio Content
Thanks for reading Amateur Radio News and Notes. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
The SV1GA/A Mount Athos DXpedition Accepted by ARRL for DXCC Credit
Image Courtesy Christian Manhart, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO via Wikimedia Commons
Less than a week after the SV1GA/A team released a statement predicting extensive delays on DXCC accreditation, the ARRL announced that they determined the DXpedition met the accreditation criteria. I can confirm that my QSO with SV1GA/A was confirmed and the DXCC entity for Mount Athos now shows up in my list of entities worked. The ARRL noted that due to the actions taken by local authorities in the autonomous region in Greece, "any future operations by this team from Mt. Athos will require additional documentation for securing accreditation for DXCC credit". This is great news for the 5,965 operators who got in their logs for a total of 13,511 QSOs. The team made 1,903 CW, 634 SSB, and 10,974 FT8 QSOs during their brief time at Mount Athos. The statement from ARRL can be found at https://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-dxcc-statement-on-mount-athos-operation-sv1ga-a.
Radio Amateurs of Canada Will Not Attend Hamvention This Year
Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC), the national amateur radio organization of Canada, announced in a press release dated April 8, 2025 that their Board of Directors voted unanimously to cancel their plans to operate a booth at this year's Dayton Hamvention. Citing the strained relationship between the US and Canada due to trade disputes and suggestions of Canada becoming a U.S. State by American officials, they announced the cancellation "with deep regret". Calling it a "complex and evolving situation", RAC said it is "[their] hope that [they] will be able to return to Hamvention in future years and [they] hope that Canadian Amateurs who do attend the event will have a safe and enjoyable experience". The full RAC press release can be found at https://www.rac.ca/rac-will-not-attend-hamvention-this-year/.
ARISS Announces ISS SSTV Transmissions April 11-16 for the International Day of Human Space Flight
ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) has announced that the International Space Station will be transmitting Slow Scan Television (SSTV) signals to commemorate the International Day of Human Space Flight today through the 16th. There will be 12 special images transmitted and if you decode them they encourage you to send them to the ARISS web site at http://ariss-usa.org/ARISS_SSTV/ and apply for an award. Transmissions will be on 145.800 MHz in the PD120 mode. More information can be found at https://mastodon.hams.social/@ARISS_Intl/114305089301542620
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 week. Stations on the air will include Fakarava Atoll (TX7XG), Chichijima Ogasawara Islands (JD1BOI, JD1BON), British Virgin Islands (VP2VI), Koror Island Palau (T88UW), Marcus Island Minami Tori Shima Islands (JG8NQJ/JD1), Dominica Island (J79WTA), Cayman Islands (ZF2LC), Gabon (TR8CR), Mali (TZ4AM), Majuro Atoll Marshall Islands (V73MT), Solomon Islands (H44MS), and Antarctica (DP0GVN).
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 158 and the estimated sunspot number was 113. Over the last week the SFI has decreased. Overall solar activity has been low of late with the geomagnetic field at quiet to active levels. Only C-class flares have been seen recently with the largest being a C5.3 from region 4060. Solar wind has been slightly elevated due to coronal hole high speed streams and that elevation is expected to continue through the 13th. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is low at 1%. R1 to R2 radio blackouts are at a a predicted probability of 45%. R3 or greater blackouts unlikely with a 5% chance predicted. There is a reasonable chance of 6 meter propagation through the middle of the month, so keep an eye on the band and spotting clusters to be ready for openings. HF conditions have been favorable overall. It remains a fantastic time for amateurs of all license classes 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
On the contest calendar this weekend we can look forward to the QRP ARCI Spring QSO Party, 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, Texas State Parks on the Air, the New Mexico QSO Party, the North Dakota QSO Party, the Africa FT4 DX Contest, the International Vintage Contest HF, the Hungarian Straight Key Contest, the ARRL Rookie Roundup on SSB, and the 4 States QRP Group 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 Northern California DX Foundation released their latest newsletter with tales of DXpeditions and fun on the air - https://ncdxf.org/newsletters/2025-SPRING.pdf
Steve KM9G looks into ferrite choice for UnUns -
Josh KI6NAZ installs a Meshtastic node on his roof -
Steve KM9G does a deep dive on getting FT8 to run on an Icom IC-703 -
Kevan 2E0WMG takes a look at the (tr)uSDX for ultralight portable operations -
Chuck KK6USY looks at an inexpensive Yagi for 70 cm -
Ramon EA5IW uses a President Lincoln radio for mountaintop portable -
Kevin KB9RLW shows how to do multi-color text with your 3D printer in FreeCad -
Walt K4OGO plays with the JPC-7 Portable Antenna -
Mike K8MRD looks at the REZ Antenna Systems Scout Antenna -
George VK2AOE attempts to resurrect a Realistic DX-160 -
Dugbo KD7DUG uses the QRP Labs QMX for SSB and CW from San Marcos High Point -
Matt M0DQW ventures into LEO Satellite work with the Arrow II Antenna -
David DL1DN shows off version 4 of his 2m and 70cm Moxon antenna -
Walt K4OGO announces his new antenna book published by the ARRL -
James KE8PZN tries hunting satellites -
Steve KM9G takes a look at a 100 Ah LiFePO4 Battery -
Kevin KB9RLW does a follow up on the resolution of the IC-705 PL tone issue -
Josh KI6NAZ talks about Ham Radio vs Satellite communications devices -
That's it for this week.
Best 73,
Ed
N2EC
