Nearby World Amateur Radio Open House Events, April 16-21+, 2025
https://www.arrl.org/open-house
Saturday April 19, 2025
The Providence Radio Association (W1OP) invites you to an ARRL World Amateur Radio Open House at the PRA this Saturday April 19th, 2025 – 10am to 2pm.
This will be another open house where members and the public will see what the Providence Radio Association is all about. Come see the clubhouse, our rooftop log-periodic antenna and get on the air. Hope to see you there! https://w1op.com/
Clubhouse GPS location: 30 Ludlow Street, Johnston RI 02919 – on top of historic Neutaconkanut Hill
Friday April 18, 2025
https://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/
W1AQ is offering another in-person licensing exam Friday evening, April 18, 2025. Interested to learn more? Reach out. Or just visit them at their clubhouse in the Rumford section of East Providence, RI.
Contact: Martin Dean Chapman, Email: [email protected]
Remember: there is no Morse Code requirement for getting an Amateur Radio license.
Wednesday April 16, 2025 (Zoom)
The Virtual National Traffic Training Net (VNTN)
https://nts2.arrl.org/2025/03/15/virtual-nts-training-net/
Get started on Radiograms – all levels and license classes welcome. Structured communication basics + practice for Field Day bonus points
VNTN Virtual NTS Training Net: 7pm in April; moving to 8pm in May
The RI Section is SHORT on traffic handlers! Learn the basics and help out once a week or month as you are able.
More on Radiograms and the National Traffic System:
- https://nts2.arrl.org
- https://nts2.arrl.org/radiogram/
Friday April 18, 2025 1-3pm
Nearby Bridgewater State University in the Eastern MA Section is holding an Open House on World Amateur Radio Day, April 18, 2025. Paul Fredette, K1YBE from the Newport County Radio Club (NCRC) shared the following invitation. For more information and to RSVP, please contact him at [email protected]
“Every April 18, radio amateurs worldwide take to the airwaves in celebration of World Amateur Radio Day.
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU, https://www.iaru.org/) is celebrating its centenary in 2025 so a special focus year for us.
Since its founding on April 18 in Paris, France, IARU has worked to promote innovation in amateur radio and to encourage the growth of the service in communities throughout the world.
We invite you to come on Friday April 18 and experience an Amateur Radio shack on the Bridgewater State (MA) campus in DMF room 290 from 1 pm to 3 pm. In addition to getting on the radio, you can compose a Radiogram for delivery to anyone worldwide and find out how to get your Amateur Radio License.
Saturday – Monday April 19-21, 2025
630 meter expedition for planned first RI activation
Historic 630m (472–479 kHz) RI activation planned for this Saturday to Monday by Eric NO3M, traveling from Pennsylvania to Burlingame Campground in Rhode Island. The goal is to complete “Worked All States – and help everyone that wants that coveted QSO from little Rhode Island. https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?attachments/630m-was-list-19aug24-pdf.1223859/
He will be operating “FST4 – a 4-GFSK extreme weak-signal amateur radio communications mode, designed especially for the MF and LF bands.” https://www.sigidwiki.com/wiki/FST4
Eric NO3M previously earned a distance award for 630m: New 630-Meter Distance Record Claimed
That 2019 contact “represented the culmination of 2 years of effort: “Hopes were wearing thin as we were moving away from the recent equinox on September 23,” he said. “Even when the path may have been open over the past 3 weeks, either end would be plagued with QRN.” He said that while the opening that facilitated the record-breaking contact was not comparably as strong as past openings, “something special was obviously at play.” The contact covered 9,307.5 miles (14,979 kilometers), topping the previous record of 8,351.9 miles set by Roger Crofts, VK4YB, and Kenneth Roberson, K5DNL, by nearly 1,000 miles.
Tichansky said his transmit antenna is a 67-foot top-loaded vertical, and the receive antenna is a full-sized eight-circle array comprised of short verticals. The transmit/receive at VK4YB is a linear-loaded vertical.”
For more on the 630 meter Amateur Band privileges that opened in 2017, see:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/630-meter_band
- New Bands! FCC Issues Amateur Radio Service Rules for 630 Meters and 2,200 Meters
“It’s a big win for the Amateur community and the ARRL,” ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, said. “We are excited by the FCC’s action to authorize Amateur Radio access for the first time on the MF and LF spectrum. As amateurs begin using these new allocations in the next few weeks, we encourage the entire Amateur Radio community, as secondary users, to be especially attentive to the rules.”
It has not been an easy win, however. ARRL has been trying since the 1970s to convince the FCC to allow amateur access to parts of the spectrum below the Standard Broadcast Band. Through the Utilities Telecoms Council (UTC), electric power utilities have opposed Amateur Radio use of the MF and LF spectrum, raising unsubstantiated fears of interference to unlicensed Part 15 power line carrier (PLC) systems used to manage the power grid. The FCC said the Amateur Radio service rules it has adopted for 630 meters and 2,200 meters allow for co-existence with PLC systems that use the two bands.
April is Citizen Science Month – Contribute to One Million Acts of Science
https://scistarter.org/citizensciencemonth-report
ARRL has teamed up with HamSCI — Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation — and the science community organization SciStarter to invite the public to participate in One Million Acts of Science during April, which is Citizen Science Month. By hosting a Ham Radio Open House at your group’s station in April, you’ll introduce individuals who might never otherwise find out about today’s amateur radio where science and technology intersect with fun and learning. Clubs are encouraged to showcase the latest weak-signal modes, such as FT8 using WSJT-X or other digital modes. This could be a great opportunity to explore new areas of amateur radio and demonstrate how the service is at the cutting edge of electrical engineering.
HamSCI and SciStarter Collaborations
HamSCI (hamsci.org) has built a community by connecting radio amateurs and citizen scientists in ionospheric research. The Solar Eclipse QSO Parties held during the 2023 annular eclipse and the 2024 total solar eclipse provided significant data for researchers studying the ionosphere’s response to the eclipses, wrapped into fun operating events. SciStarter is working to engage people from all walks of life in one million acts of science during Citizen Science Month in April (scistarter.org/citizensciencemonth), to promote public participation in scientific research. ARRL’s Ham Radio Open House provides a unique opportunity to help achieve that goal.
