DECEMBER 10 2025 NC ARRL SECTION NEWSLETTER

GREETINGS FROM THE HIGH COUNTRY

Up here at 3850 feet above sea level, winter can truly be said to have arrived.  At mid-day on Wednesday the temperature warmed up to 44 which was a good bit warmer than 24 hours ago when the temperature was 26 degrees .  The trees, rhododendron, my car and the deck had five inches of wet snow yesterday but some melting has occurred today.  The mountains remain snow covered but most of the roads have been have been treated with salt and grit. Public schools in Ashe, Avery and Watauga  have delayed opening or are offering remote learning.

The forecast later in the week is for several days of cold weather, additional snowfall, all of which are ideal for the ski slopes. Appalachian, Beech and Sugar have significant amounts of natural and man-made snow.  Each location has webcams on which you can see the crowds and the snow conditions.  For those interested, you can see the conditions in real time:

https://www.beechmountainresort.com/mountain/winter-trail-map/

https://appskimtn.com/live-cams   

https://skisugar.com/cams/ 

https://nchighpeaks.org/davis

 

When I go into Boone, parking lots seem crowded with shoppers and a lot of cars are carrying Christmas trees that were bought up here and are being taken home to decorate.  Appstate is in the midst of exams and a number of students will be graduating this week or will be going away for the Christmas holiday.  Expect the weekend to involve high winds and cold weather so dress warmly and be careful when driving or walking.  Ice can cause a lot of problems due to falls and auto accidents.

ARRL MATTERS

·         The Pass the Bill campaign continues.  ARRL continues to ask licensed hams as well as GMRS licensees to participate in the ARRL effort to urge members of Congress to pass legislation that would limit the ability of HOA/POA groups to prohibit and otherwise restrict the installation of ham and GMRS antennas within subdivisions.  Information on how to participate in the campaign can be found at https://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-wants-every-ham-to-help-us-pass-the-bill /

 

·         The Year of the Club.  ARRL has designated 2026 as the Year of the Club and has organized a number of activities that will draw attention to and participation in clubs.  Among the special activities for 2026 are:

a.      Recognition of Club Newsletters.  Clubs may submit their club newsletters for potential recognition at the Huntsville Hamfest in August 2026.  Information can be found at https://www.arrl.org/club-newsletter-contest ,

 

b.      Recognition of Club Webpages.  ARRL seeks entries from clubs who wish to compete for a special recognition at the Huntsville Hamfest in August 2026 that will recognize superior efforts in preparing and maintaining their club webpage. Information can be found at http://www.arrl.org/club-website-contest ,

 

c.       Club Photos.  Clubs are urged to submit photos of club events and activities which may be chosen to be published in QST.  Information can be found at https://www.arrl.org/club-photos.

 

d.      Club members who are also ARRL members.   ARRL plans to issue special recognition to clubs which have more than 70% of their club members who are also ARRL members.  (Discussed in November 5, 2025 Executive Committee meeting minutes).

 

e.      ARRL continues the club rebate program.  Clubs that collect dues and applications for new ARRL members will be rebated $15 by ARRL.  Renewals of existing ARRL members will generate $5 for the club.

 

f.        There is a club purchase price of $250 for a collection of ARRL books if a club purchases the books as a gift to a local. school or university library.

 

·         NTS Updates.  ARRL and Radio Relay International recently announced changes in how messages entered into the National Traffic System should be handled.  Changes were made in the precedent codes for messages and a monthly newsletter has been introduced to guide persons who wish to become traffic handlers.  Information can be found at https://nts2.arrl.org/ and a discussion about the updated instructions about message handling can be found at https://nts2.arrl.org/hx-handling-instructions/ .

 

·         Recent changes in ARES.    ARRL recently made several changes that affect the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES):

a.      Josh Johnston (K4MHV) Emergency Management Director at ARRL HQ has been given additional duties and now serves as Manager of Field Services and Emergency Management following the resignation at HQ of Mike Walters who formerly headed Field Services.

b.      For counties that wish to operate an ARES group, ARES Form 2 is to be submitted each month.  Failure to submit the Form 2 each month (by the 5^th ) will result in removal of the local ARES EC.  Local EC’s report to N4TAB Auxcomm and ARES leader who collates local ARES Form 2 reports into an ARES Form 4 that reports on activities within the entire NC Section.

c.      ARRL recently added a requirement to complete on-line FEMA courses 100, 200, 700 and 800 plus the in-class ICS300 course to the ARRL training courses listed as requirements for persons who wish to be appointed as the local ARES Emergency Coordinator.

d.      North Carolina has 100 counties.  Groups in approximately five counties have ARES groups while over half of the 100 counties follow the National Incident Management System standards and are affiliated with local and State emergency management agencies.

e.      ARES groups that fail to meet the training requirements and reject operating under the Incident Management System are not likely to be activated by Emergency Management when a disaster occurs.

f.        EM on the federal, state and local levels expect emergency messages to and from the field to reach the addressee within 30 minutes.

g.       The most recent ARRL Annual Report is available at http://www.arrl.org/annual-reports.

SECTION TRAFFIC REPORT

Each month, Dave Roy (W4DNA), Section Traffic Manager, prepares a report on the traffic and other activities of the various traffic nets within the North Carolina Section.  Set out below are the reports for October and November 2025.  Technical limitations in the ARRL email system necessitate a shortened STM report.  Complete copies of Dave’s reports are archived at ncarrl.org.   Thanks go out to Dave , the various Net Managers and the traffic handlers.

 

HENDERSON COUNTY SIMULATED EMERGENCY TEST

Scott Sutton (N4LNC), Western Branch Auxcomm and ARES Coordinator held a training exercise on November 15, 2025.  Participants used hf and vhf frequencies, SHARES WINLINK channels as well as activating the DMR system that ties together 18 PRN DMR repeaters in western North Carolina.

Refresher about operating on the PRN DMR network.

a.      The PRN repeaters are listed at the webpage (ncprn.net).’

b.      There is no connection between Brandmeister and the PRN system.  There is no linkage               from the PRN system to other networks.

c.      The PRN system only carries those talkgroups which are listed at ncrp.net.

d.      Over 220,000 radio id numbers have been issued.  Keeping all those radio id’s, call signs and names may be a challenge and some radios can hold only 1000 userid’s.

e.      There is a CBridge (a computer server) which is programmed by the system manager(s). The CBridge determines which talkgroups are useable on the system and how various repeaters in the system are linked together.  There are 24/7 linkages and other linkages that are created on-demand such as Chat 1 and Chat 2.

f.        There is a DMR net each Tuesday night at 8 pm which links the local talkgroup on Roanoke, Wytheville, West Jefferson, Wilkesboro, Boone, Sugartop, Lenoir, Crowders, Charlotte,  Wingate, Albemarle, Spruce Pine, Burnsville, Hendersonville, Cullowhee, Sylva and Franklin.

MISCELLANEOUS DATA

·                  The FCC DATABASE SHOWS THAT AT DAYS’S END (12/9/24)  amateur radio licenses were distributed as follows:

US     4553-N 363307-T    185097-G     27529-ADV                 157688-EXT    738174 TOTAL

NC 110-N        10668-T        6084-G          847-ADV         5371-EXT 23080 TOTAL  

 

·                     ARRL MEMBERSHIP DATA

      NC SECTION            3,951

      ROANOKE DIV      10,927      

      US TOTAL            129,455

 

SILENT KEY REPORTS

Most often I hear of the passing of a ham from someone in their club or by reading each of the club newsletters that I receive from across the state.  Once I have a link to a published obituary I forward the information to ARRL with a request that the person be listed in a future issue of QST.  I have followed that procedure over 200 times while serving as Section Manager.

 

Yesterday I learned of the passing of Ms. Dorothy “Dot” McCracken who held the call AD4D (Extra). She may have been the oldest living ham in North Carolina and I visited with her in 2024 and 2025 when I went to the WSCARS hamfest in Waynesville. 

 

Our conversations were enjoyable and she shared memories of hams I heard years ago on the Mt. Mitchell and Mt. Pisgah repeaters.  She had grit, like many authentic mountain people, and took it as an insult when somebody told her that females don’t have the ability to learn Morse code.  She taught me how I-40 and the Fontana Dam had significant impacts on the generally isolated and economically challenged Lost Province in North Carolina. 

 

Dot was 101 years old when I last spoke with her and I was looking forward to visiting with her again this summer at the assisted living facility about two miles from the hamfest site. 

 

Rest is peace, Dot, and thank you for all that you did with the public schools and with ham radio during your long and full life.  And thank you, Tommie (KF4PYX) for introducing me to Dot and her daughter Janet.

 

CLOSING COMMENTS

 

Only three more weeks remain in 2025 and the new year may well involve significant challenges and some changes. 

 

The ARRL Board of Directors will meet in Connecticut in January.  There  are 15 Directors who serve three year terms, five Directors are elected each year as are the 15 Vice Directors.  Jim Boehner N2ZZ Roanoke Director and Bill Morine (N2COP) Roanoke Vice Director were elected in 2024 and began three year terms on January 1, 2025.  ARRL announced the results of elections held in August 2025 indicating that incumbents either won contested elections or were re-elected without opposition. Information can be found at https://www.arrl.org/news/2025-arrl-board-of-directors-election-results/

 

There are 71 Section Managers who are elected for two year terms that begin in January, April, July or October.  A ballot, campaign statement and photo of the candidates will be sent to you in January  and ARRL members residing in North Carolina will have the opportunity to choose who will serve a two-year term job as Section Manager that begins on April 1, 2026..  I will be a candidate on your ballot.

 

While serving as Section Manager I have produced approximately 125 Newsletters like this one since I became Section manager on April 1, 2021 and traveled 4000 miles during Field Day in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.  Each of the previous newsletters is archived at ncarrl.org.

 

I couldn’t do the Section Manager job without the help of volunteers who are leaders in Emergency Communications, Youth Activities, Web Masters, working with State Government, and Technical Experts.  Thanks also go out to the leaders of the various amateur radio clubs across North Carolina.  

 

Regardless of your title, thank you for the support, courtesies and the opportunities to serve that you have given me.  I hope each of you continue to do your part to keep ham radio interesting, active and ready to help when emergencies occur,

 

I wish each of you and your family good health and enjoyable times over the Holidays and throughout 2026.  Merry Christmas.

 

73, Marv, WA4NC

NC Section Manager

Boone