Club Announcements

Solar activity increased dramatically this reporting week (April11-17), and thirteen new sunspot groups emerged. One appeared onApril 11, two more on April 13, three more on April 14, another twoon April 15, one more on April 16 and another two on April 17. OnApril 18 an additional two sunspot groups emerged, and the dailysunspot number increased to 247.The daily sunspot number was 199 on April...

Colorado State University (CSU) hurricane researchers predict an active Atlantic hurricane season (June 1 to November 30) in their initial 2024 forecast.ARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, attended the National Hurricane Conference in Florida in late March, where the CSU prediction was issued. "The common discussion at the National Hurricane Conference this year was the...

Death Valley National Park is in a remote desert in southern California, where mobile phone networks are spotty at best. On Saturday, April 6, a radio amateur and his family were enjoying the park when their vehicle became stuck in mud in a dangerous area. Without access to a cell network, the ham called for help on the 10-meter band.According to a news release from the Black Swamp Amateur Radi...

Millions of people across the United States got to see a rare solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024.The path of totality -- the line of darkness where the moon fully occluded the sun -- stretched through the South Pacific, Mexico, central Texas, the Ozarks, the Midwest, the Rust Belt area, and to New England through the Maritimes. In all, 14 ARRL Sections were impacted directly and several mor...

I did not see last Monday's eclipse, except on television. Here inthe Pacific Northwest, we only got a 20% exposure, and skies wereovercast.As they moved across the country displaying successive totality, Inoticed the prominences on the edge of the disk. There were alwaysbetween one and three little red spots at the edge.Solar activity over the past reporting week, April 4-10, remainsweak.Avera...