The Collegiate QSO Party begins on Saturday, October 4 at 0000 UTC, and runs until Sunday, October 5 at 2359 UTC. This operating event focuses on amateur radio clubs at colleges and universities around the world. Each fall, the event provides opportunities for clubs to demonstrate amateur radio to new members, engage with alumni, and promote activity throughout college and university communities. The event is open to all radio amateurs. For more information, visit collegiateqsoparty.com.

The California QSO Party (CQP) begins on Saturday, October 4 at 1600 UTC, and concludes on Sunday, October 5 at 2200 UTC. CQP Chairman Dean Wood, N6DE, states that all 58 California counties will be active on both CW and phone. 24 videos of activity in the 2024 CQP are available at cqp.org/av.html. Complete rules are available at www.cqp.org/Rules.html.

The Maine QSO Party begins on Saturday, September 27 at 1200 UTC, and concludes on Sunday, September 28 at 1200 UTC. Visit www.ws1sm.com/MEQP.html for complete rules.

The Calvert Amateur Radio Association will be using a special call sign for their fair activation later this week. It's K3F. No indication of frequencies to be used, although the plan is for VHF, UHF, HF and GMRS (GMRS being the operator's call sign). UHF and VHF will likely be through the two club repeaters.

The club has a table and will allow people to communicate via Amateur radio.

Wednesday- 4 pm to 10 pm
Thursday thru Saturday- 9 am to 10 pm
Sunday- 11 am to 6 pm

(From ARRL.org, and of interest to those who are DXers, especially if you missed the last Bouvet activation)

09/19/2025

The 3YØK DXpedition to Bouvet Island has packed its shipping container of gear. The team spent the weekend near Oslo, Norway, getting things ready, including generators, tents, tools, and — most importantly — radios, antennas, and amplifiers. This checks off another large box on the to-do list before they depart in February of next year.

ARRL has launched a nationwide grassroots campaign aimed at securing the passage of federal legislation that would grant Amateur Radio Operators the same rights to install antennas on their property as those enjoyed by users of TV antennas, wireless internet, and flagpoles.

The decision was adopted in a meeting chaired by the Vice President of the Republic in charge of Defense and State Security, H.E. Nguema Obiang Mangue, together with the Prime Minister and representatives from the sectors of Security, Defense, Finance, Transport, Treasury, and the Telecommunications Regulatory Office (ORTEL). The suspension stems from a breach in the established protocols for granting licenses.

Amateur Radio operators and organizations from the greater DC/Baltimore region and beyond are invited to exhibit their portable emcomm stations at an educational event to demonstrate different approaches to providing emergency communications following a disaster or major incident. Participants are also invited to show how they have configured their personal sustainment kits.

In September 1965, Hurricane Betsy hit Florida, the Bahamas, and the central US Gulf Cost. The damage was nearly $1.42 billion, earning the storm the nickname Billion Dollar Betsy. Forecasting for storms like Betsy was still in its infancy.

As ARRL continues the September series on National Preparedness Month, we turn to a critical element for radio amateurs and especially Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) volunteers: their station.

Many hams have a home station from which we operate on a regular basis. Is your station set up to operate or have the ability to operate off the grid or on alternate power sources? There are many ways to set this up to run on battery power and could even be done temporarily if you don’t have a permanent battery backup situation.

September is National Preparedness Month, and ARRL is working to help radio amateurs have a plan for family resilience. Many hams enjoy public service as part of their operating. Being ready to activate for a served agency through the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) involves not only being licensed and trained, but also prepared and equipped.

September is National Preparedness Month, which is a good time to look at your personal, family, and community resilience levels. For 2025, the National Preparedness Month theme is “Preparedness Starts at Home.”

Amateur radio is a valuable resource for communication and community service before and during times of crisis, and can be a significant factor in your home’s level of preparedness.

Designs for Discreet Amateur Radio Operating!

The Swedish Amateur Radio Society, SSA, will celebrate its 100-year anniversary on September 10, 2025, with a special award activity. Beginning September 10 through October 12, SSA will feature a diploma activity that involves contacting SSA’s anniversary stations on as many of the 160 – 6-meter bands and modes as possible. There will be 10 special call signs on the air: SB100SSA, SC100SSA, SD100SSA, SE100SSA, SF100SSA, SH100SSA, SI100SSA, SM100SSA, 7S100SSA and 8S100SSA.

(From Flagstaff Business News)

There will be a major pileup in the Flagstaff area in September. Fortunately, it won’t be on the highways, but rather on the airwaves. 
                                     
A unique international amateur radio event, “Route 66 On The Air,” sponsored by the local Northern Arizona DX Association (NADXA), will be coming to town Sept. 6-14, and will welcome more than 10,000 amateur radio operators to connect across continents to celebrate Route 66.

(Full info at https://www.ohqp.org/index.php/rules/ )

Objective:
For Amateurs inside the state of Ohio to make contact with as many Amateurs as possible both inside and outside of Ohio. For Amateurs outside the state of Ohio to make contact with as many Ohio stations as possible. Non-Ohio stations may work only Ohio stations, while Ohio stations may contact anyone.

Purpose

Promote contacts between as many Hawai’i and non-Hawai’i stations as possible.

Rules

1. Operating period is 48 hours from 0400 UTC Aug 23 through 0359 UTC Aug 25, 2025.

Note: That’s 6pm Friday Aug 22 in Hawaii.

2. Stations must be worked only on the 10, 15, 20, 40, 80, and 160 meter bands.

3. Stations can be worked only once per band-mode (CW, SSB, digital).

4. Digital mode includes ALL digital modes (RTTY, PSK, QPSK, FT-x, VarAC, etc) as “digital”

5. Use of spotting networks is permitted and encouraged.

(Adapted from viennawireless.net)

From arrl.org

On Wednesday, August 13, 2025, the Kopernik Observatory in Vestal, New York, will be running a High Altitude Balloon Camp for local high school students.