ARRL Director, Vice Director Election Results Announced 

ARRL has announced the results of contested elections for Director and Vice Director. Ballots were opened and counted on November 16 in seven contests within five ARRL Divisions.

Here are the final tabulations:  

Central Division Director  

Kermit Carlson, W9XA 1,898  

Valerie Hotzfeld, NV9L 1,755  

Mr. Carlson was declared elected.  

Hudson Division Director  

Ria Jairam, N2RJ 1,292  

Mike Lisenco, N2...

The K7RA Solar Update 

A single sunspot appeared on November 13-14, yielding a daily sunspot number of 11 over both days. The sunspot number increased to 13 on the following day, November 15. The average daily sunspot number for the reporting week (November 8-14) was 3.1, after no sunspots during the previous seven days.

Average daily solar flux rose from 67.7 to 68.5.  Average daily planetary A index declined from 12...

 

A SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle lifted off flawlessly at 2046 UTC on November 15 from Cape Canaveral, carrying the first Amateur Radio payload destined for geostationary orbit. About 32 minutes after launch, SpaceX reports the spacecraft was successfully deployed into a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).

Positioned at 25.5° E, the satellite will carry an Amateur Radio S-band and X-band payload capab...

Noted Contester, AR-Cluster Developer Terry Gerdes, AB5K, SK 

Well-known contester and AR-Cluster developer Terry Gerdes, AB5K (ex-KX6OI), formerly of Texas, died on November 13 in Belize, where he had recently relocated and married. He was 69. An Arkansas native who was initially licensed as WB5SFA, Gerdes held a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Arkansas. In the 1980s, he operated from the Marshall Islands as KX6OI while tracking m...