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  • Other Information
  • Special Operating Events
• Test Sessions
• Hamfests/Conventions/Conferences
• News From the ARRL
• • Amateur Radio Runs with the Chicago Marathon
  • FCC Announces Intent to Delete Minor Part 97 Provisions
  • In Brief...
• Education and Training
• Closing Items

News From the ARRL Letters

Amateur Radio Runs with the Chicago Marathon

Amateur radio operators serve their communities across the United States in many ways, before and When All Else Fails®. Using their skills as communicators, their personal equipment, and the Amateur Radio Service, the “hams” provide a needed boost to public safety radio systems.

The 47th Bank of America Chicago Marathon, held on October 12, 2025, featured 55,000 runners from around the world. And, for this 17th year, a team of 155 amateur radio operators from 6 states assisted the 2000 medical personnel volunteering for the event.

Amateur radio operators were partnered with the medical teams to help coordinate responses, arrange for re-supplies, and provide situational awareness for the organizers.

About 60% of the amateur radio teams come from local clubs and they train their own people. There are 5 local radio clubs that have repeaters in tall buildings throughout the city to help reach some of the far ends of the course, but also deployed were 5 portable UHF repeaters, in Grant Park and in other select places where there was a need for backup resources. Organizers wanted to make sure every team had at least three ways to reach the Forward Command tent in Grant Park.

One hundred ham radio operators were stationed at the 20 course medical tents and one medical hub. They supported the medical teams and communicated their requests for transport, supplies or other course-related information, using traditional radio channels. In the Forward Command tent, the hams had 10 net control operators and logging specialists. For several years, the Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) has been used to track some of the medical personnel in the Grant Park area. This has been a useful tool since the post-race scene is crowded with thousands of runners and friends. APRS was also used to help locate patients, medical teams, and amateur radio operators.

Medical Communications Lead Rob Orr, K9RST, said ham radio is important to the event, but is just one small component of a very complex event that requires 10,000 volunteers to be successful.

“Ham radio has a unique role and works alongside the other specialty service groups required to support an event of this magnitude. We are grateful to the hams who have shared their expertise, time, and resources over the years. This event has shown the public, the city officials, and the runners that ham radio is very much alive and doing well.”

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FCC Announces Intent to Delete Minor Part 97 Provisions

As part of a much larger overhaul focused on deleting almost 400 obsolete wireless regulations, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced plans to delete or modify four minor provisions of Part 97.

ARRL’s Washington Counsel has reviewed the proposal and agrees that the deletions are to obsolete rules and will have no impact on today’s modern Amateur Radio Service. One of the deletions was suggested by ARRL as part of an earlier FCC request for public input on rules ripe for deletion.

The proposed regulatory changes are to:

• Delete § 97.27. This provision relates to the FCC’s right to modify station licenses. The Commission rationale for deletion is that it duplicates Section 316 of the Communications Act. Its deletion will result in no substantive change to the right of the FCC to modify a station license.
  
• Delete § 97.29. This provision specified the procedure to replace paper licenses. The FCC stopped producing paper licenses at the end of 2020, having implemented a system that allows any licensee to download license originals using the password-protected area of the FCC’s ULS computer database system that is web-accessible. The ARRL proposed deleting this section in comments filed earlier this year.
  
• Delete § 97.315 (b)(2). This provision grandfathered HF amplifiers purchased before April 28, 1978 by an amateur radio operator for use at that operator's station and also grandfathered those manufactured before April 28, 1978 for which a marketing waiver was issued. The applicability of this rule has long passed.
  
• Delete § 97.521(b) and Appendix 2. This rule and appendix relate to VEC regions, which were based on the traditional amateur call sign areas. The FCC no longer limits VECs to regions and there is no reason for doing so given the nature of remote exams.

“Direct Final Rule” proceedings such as this are limited to rules that are no longer applicable because they have sunset by operation of law; govern an expired event; regulate an obsolete technology; regulate virtually a null set of FCC licensees; regulate an outdated market structure; or otherwise are no longer used in practice or otherwise in the public interest. The deletions will become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register unless the Commission finds that adverse comments filed within 20 days of publication raise significant issues that merit additional consideration.

ARRL will continue to engage with the FCC in the regulatory and rulemaking process as part of our mission to promote and protect the art, science, and enjoyment of amateur radio, and to develop the next generation of radio amateurs.

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In Brief..............

ARRL Solar Report

Solar activity reached moderate levels due to M-class flare activity.

Region 4246 underwent significant evolution, growing in overall size while gaining multiple new spots. Subsequently, AR4246 was the main provider of activity which included an M1.2 flare October 13. Several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) with potential Earth-directed components are in the mix at this time. Additional modeling efforts are underway to perhaps confirm those suspicions. The largest flare was a long-duration M4.8/2n on October 15. Modeling efforts showed the ejecta to be on a northward trajectory and not on an Earthward course.

Other notable activity included a prominence eruption off the ENE limb-first visible in LASCO C2 imagery on October 14. Given the location of the event, initial analysis suggests this ejecta to be well into foul-ball territory and not Earth-directed. Additional modeling efforts are underway to perhaps confirm this suspicion.

Slight decay was observed in the intermediate portion of Region 4248 as it grew in length. Region 4247 was in decay as well. The remaining regions were unremarkable in comparison. No new regions were assigned numbers this period. Minor to moderate (R1-R2) radio blackouts are likely for the next 3 days, with a slight chance for an isolated R3 (strong) event, due to the current and potential flare activity of Regions 4246 and 4248.

Solar wind parameters continued to reflect the influence of a negative polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). Total field decreased slightly from 6-7 nT to 4-5 nT. The Bz component was +/- 6 nT at times, but was mostly near neutral or northward for the majority of the period. Solar wind speeds finally dipped below 600 km/s and phi was predominantly in the negative solar sector.

Solar wind parameters are expected to continue at enhanced levels, although gradually waning, and continuing through October 17, due to CME arrivals from October 11 - 13 originating from AR 4246.

The 10.7 -centimeter flux: October 16 - 21, 150; October 22, 145.

Predicted sunspots: October 16, 128; October 17, 122; October 18, 135; October 19, 119; October 20, 140; October 21, 114; October 22, 146.

For more information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL Technical Information Service, read A quick Guide to HF Propagation Using Solar Indices, and check out the Propagation Page of Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA.

A propagation bulletin archive is available. For customizable propagation charts, visit the VOACAP Online for Ham Radio website..

On the air LIVE -Join ARRL's Education Specialist Wayne Greene, KB4DSF, as he describes and demonstrates how VarAC can be leveraged to keep in contact with family and loved ones who live outside of an area where all grid communications are damaged or destroyed due to a natural or man-made disaster, no matter your license class. Date: October 28, 2025, 8 PM Eastern, Register Now

On The Air - Get Inspired for Contest Season  - ARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, joins the podcast in support of the September/October 2025 article “The EOC: Serving at the Hub,” by Rick Palm, K1CE, which talks about what an Emergency Operations Center, or EOC, is, and offers tips for hams who are serving at an EOC for the first time. Josh takes us through more Emergency Operations Center functions, as well as what hams need to know before they walk into one.. Listen Now

ARRL Audio News - Listen to ARRL Audio News, available every Friday. ARRL Audio News is a summary of the week's top news stories in the world of amateur radio and ARRL, along with interviews and other features.

For additional updates also see the ARRL News feed...

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Education and Training

• ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration - The ARRL has many ways to continue your education in things Amateur Radio. For more information go to the ARRL Training web pagee. and the Online Course Catalogg
• FEMA Online Trainingg - FEMA has numerous Independent Study Program courses available for Ham Radio Operators and others interested in emergency support and are recommended by ARES. For a list of courses check the FEMA ISP training web site.  Look for courses:
  • IS-100c - Introduction to Incident Command System, ICS-100
  • IS-200c - ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
  • IS-700b - National Incident Management System (NIMS) An Introduction
  • IS-800dd - National Response Framework, An Introductionn
• Weather Spotter Training --To be a certified Weather Spotter in the State of Nebraska, you must attend a weather spotter training session, take two on-line courses, and pass a written exam provided by your local Emergency Coordinator. The on-line courses can be found on the ucar.edu web site.
  • Skywarn Spotter Convective Basics Online Training Module
  • Role of the Skywarn Spotter Online Training Moduleee
• Are you interested in getting a license or upgrading and would like to attend a class? Take a look at YouTube. There are YouTube videos available that were recorded during actual class sessions. Videos are available for training for all license classes. These have been recorded in 2049 and 2019 and are based on the latest editions of the ARRL Study Guides.  In addition there is a link to hamstudy.org
  
  • Link to the Tecnician Class recorded fall 2025 - first lesson - https://www.youtube.com/live/MzWpExCVN64?si=R_oV7Rfsoir1HFwo
  • Link to General Class recorded 2024 - first lesson - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Au90k_gKDE&list=PLZ_9BZQ8gpzh7NC1WVKwCCmOTULSj1f93&index=1
  • Linkl to Extra Class recorded Fall 2024 - https://www.youtube.com/live/kYHm4PL2SHM?si=xUhfnXFkvGC6zME5
  • Ham Radio Crash Course (Minimal Fee Required) - Tech, Gen, Extra - https://www.youtube.com/c/hamradiocrashcourse/videos
  • Ham Study: On line study program (minimal fee required) https://hamstudy.org/
• Learn CW - The CW ops' CW Academy (CWA) offers free, remote Morse code classes at four separate levels -- beginner through advanced, running from not knowing the code at all to reaching 25 WPM. CWOps also provides a CWOps Test (CWT), an hour-long event every Wednesday at 1300 and 1900 UTC, and Thursdays at 0300 UTC. -- Thanks to The ARRL Contest Update.
  For more information and CW assistance (ELMER) contact Bruce, K8UDH
• Did you know you can practice code on-line? The ARRL posts their code practice files on the web. These audio files can be played on line or downloaded for later play back on your own computer. Practice files are available for 5, 7.5, 10, 13, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 Words per Minute. To find the files click the following link: http://www.arrl.org/code-practice-files
• The ARRL offers Webinars, live and pre-recorded, of their Learning Network pagee. There are many subjects of interest to hams at all levels. Check-out this learning resource.  New talks/lectures are added frequently

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CLOSING ITEMS

The EVARC weekly net meets every Monday evening at 7:30 PM on the club 2 meter repeater (146.73 - ). Check-in to the net to hear an update on activities of other club members, announcements of local interest, and any late breaking information. Everyone is welcome to check in.

The EVARC weekly digital meets every Thursday evening at 7:30 PM on the club 440 repeater (444.250 + and Wires-X room 63967). Check-in for general discussion and a weekly trivia question.

Want to try your hand as Net Control? Contact Andy, KF0CSI.

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