NC ARRL SECTION NEWSLETTER

January 27, 2026

GREETINGS FROM THE HIGH COUNTRY

At 4:30 PM on Monday we looked at various web sites to assess whether we dodged a bullet with Winter Storm Fran last night and earlier today. 

Some forecasts suggest that Tuesday may be tough with respect to weather.  It was 11 degrees where I live between Boone and Blowing Rock.   The main roads have been heavily salted and can be seen to be wet on various web cams.  My driveway and car are covered with ice and I plan to stay inside until the stuff coating the secondary roads, trees, driveways and steps melts when it gets warmer.

However, we will most likely experience a rough night Tuesday night.  Winds will gust up to 40 mph and the actual the air temperature will get down around 0 degrees with a chill factor down around -10 degrees.

News coverage shows hundreds of power line truck that have been brought in from Florida and other states and the trucks are staged in various locations in North Carolina.  Southwestern North Carolina has borne most of the damage from Winter Storm FRAN with about 12,000 customers without power.  Up here in the Northwest, Blue Ridge Energy reports five of their 82,000 customers are without power.  The situation is quite different than that in Nashville, TN where it is expected to take 5-6 days to restore power to the 150,000 customers whose power lines have been pulled down by ice and fallen trees. 

Having lived through Hurricane Helene during which thousands of poles and miles of cable had to be replaced, everyone is hoping that the restoration of normal service will go quickly.  Helene involved hundreds of out-of-state volunteers, including numerous church groups, who came to help total strangers because the need was apparent.

ARRL MATTERS

The ARRL Board of Directors met in Hartford for its winter meeting on January 18-19.  As is customary, draft minutes have been circulated to Board Members and once approved by the Board, the actions taken by the Board will be shared with members

Among the actions taken that have been made public are:

·        Rick Roderick (K5UR) was re-elected for a two -year term as ARRL President.  David Minster (NA2AA) was chosen to continue as CEO and Secretary.  Various new and returning officers, Directors and Vice Directors were selected to set policy for the League.

·        Regarding the Leagues’ Pass the Bill campaign involving overriding POA rules about antennas, the ARRL increased funding for ARRL lobbying in Washington.

·        Prior to the Board meeting, Board committees met on January 15 resulting in the following actions:

·        Programs & Services Committee. Among the Committee's decided to move forward with a new single-band DXCC (DX Century Club) Honor Roll Award for qualifying                 operators.

·        Administration & Finance Committee. The Committee discussed and approved the 2026 plan, later approved unanimously by the Board, amending it to include additional funding for advocacy efforts in Washington, DC. These efforts include continuing work      to advance the Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act (bills H.R.1094 and S.459) through committee and toward final passage.

·        Emergency Communications and Field Services Committee.   Approved removing the annual limit on the number of ARRL-sanctioned hamfests a group may sponsor. The change allows, for instance, radio clubs to seek sanctioning for recurring events such as monthly swapfests or tailgates.  The ECFSC also agreed to evaluate a standardized reporting form to streamline the Section Traffic Manager's monthly reporting process. Additionally, the Committee reviewed the monthly reporting process for the Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®), including interest in advancing broader adoption of                the new Form 4 and its impact on the accuracy of reported volunteer hours.  Finally, the Committee unanimously approved setting a minimum eligible age of 21 for the position of ARRL Section Manager.

Here are highlights of some of the other actions taken at the Board meeting:

·        Board members discussed the final report from the Election Review Committee that was formed at the Board's Second Meeting in July 2022.

·        ARRL Foundation. The Board heard a report from ARRL Foundation President David Norris, K5UZ. The Foundation provides philanthropic support for amateur radio by way of the ARRL Foundation Scholarship Program, Division Convention Grant Program, and through other grants and funds. In 2025, the Foundation awarded 171 scholarships totaling approximately $800,000, through the generosity of ARDC - Amateur Radio Digital Communications, individuals, and clubs. Norris also reported that the Foundation awarded 35 grants valued at $60,580, and two Division Convention Grants totaling $13,264. The Foundation will hold its annual meeting on January 29, 2026.

·        The Board approved several ARRL awards as recommended by the Programs and Services Committee, including the 2025 Doug DeMaw Technical Excellence Award, the 2025 George Hart Distinguished Service Award, and the 2025 ARRL International Humanitarian Award. In addition, the Board recognized several ARRL Affiliated Clubs in honor of their long-standing anniversary milestones.

·        Executive Committee (EC). Directors re-elected to the EC include Bill Lippert, AC0W (Dakota); Art Zygielbaum, K0AIZ (Midwest); Jim Boehner, N2ZZ (Roanoke), and Scott Yonally, N8SY (Great Lakes). Newly elected to the EC is Ed Wilson, N2XDD (Hudson Division).

·        ARRL Foundation Board: ARRL Director Bill Lippert, AC0W (Dakota), was re-elected, and Foundation Board Directors Craig Thompson, K9CT, and Dr. Ed Snyder, W1YSM, were re-elected for 3-year terms.

·        The complete minutes of the 2026 Annual Meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors will be available soon on the ARRL website.

·        The next meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors is scheduled for July 17 - 18, 2026.

The above information about the recent Board actions comes  from the “ARRL Member Bulletin” issued by ARRL on January 21, 2026.

SECTION TRAFFIC REPORT

Each month Dave Roy (W4DNA), Section Traffic Manager, prepares a report on the activities of the various nets held in our Section.  Set out below is an abbreviated version of his report.  The complete report with additional details can be viewed at ncarrl.org.  Thanks go out to Dave and the various net managers, as well as our dedicated traffic handlers for their support for traffic handline, a function that goes back to a basic function of ham radio.

 

 

REMINDERS ABOUT UPCOMING HAMFESTS

·        ORLANDO HAMCATION - Central Florida Fairgrounds and Expo Park, February 13-15. This is one of the two largest hamfests held in the United States.  Hamcation is very popular with hams from the northern states and Canada who eagerly head for Florida for milder weather than they have back home.  Information can be found at https://www.hamcation.com/.

 

·        CHARLOTTE – Cabarrus Arena and Event Center, 4751 Hwy 49 N., Concord, NC 28025. March 6-7 2026. This is one of the three large hamfests held each year in North Carolina.  Information can be found at https://charlottehamfest.org/  Forum, testing, flea market, and dealers.

 

·        RARSFEST-Jim Graham Building, State Fairgrounds, Raleigh NC on April 4, 2026.  This hamfests has equipment demos, license testing, speakers, food, air conditioned indoor space and a large indoor flea market.  Info can be found at https://www.rarsfest.org/.

 

·        Winston-Salem Spring Fest, held by the FORSYTH AMATEUR RADIO CLUB ON April 25, 2026  Information can be found at https://w4nc.com/hamfest/

 

·        DAYTON HAMVENTION – DAYTON AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, Greene County Fair and Expo Center,  Xexia , Ohio.  MAY 15-17, 2026.  This is a large hamfest with exhibits and presentations located within several buildings.  There is also a large outdoor flea market which has a reputation that if you are looking for a part or an older radio, if you can’t find it at Dayton it probably can’t be found anywhere.  Forums, demonstrations,  EmComm vehicles, license testing, food,  brand new products shown by manufacturers reps, ARRL officials, FCC officials.  Info can be found at https://hamvention.org/

FIELD DAY

In order to emphasize skills and teamwork which would be needed during a disaster, ARRL established FIELD DAY as a nationwide training session.  Some operators view Field Day as a contest and seek to make as many contest as possible within a 24 hour period over the last weekend in June.  Others view Field Day as an opportunity to set up one or more stations, using emergency power and temporary antennas.   For some ham groups, becoming skilled in setting up stations that will be needed to provide communications when and where normal communications are disrupted, being asked to send simulated emergency messages emergency agencies and Red Cross.

Field Day is 2026 will be held from 18:00 UTC Saturday to 20:59 UTC Sunday (June 27-28, 2026). 

ARRL will soon publish rules as to transmitting power, publicity about Field Day, invitations to local officials and opportunities to have a GET ON THE AIR station so that persons without a license can learn about the excitement of operating and making contacts with other beginners while learning about disaster communications.

Clubs should make a special effort to get newly licensed hams on the air and to use their first Field Day as a learning experience that will stay with for as long as they remain interested in ham radio.

DMR TUTORIAL

I was multitasking while preparing this newsletter.  Part of my time and attention was directed toward report about Winter Storm Fran that were carried on tv, electronic news as well las ham radio.  I also listed to the PRN DMR system and shifted my attention between the storm and this newsletter.

Listening to the DMR and watch the electronic log for the  CBridge (server) that manages the connections on the NC/SC DMR system.  I hope that the following  comments will be received as they are intended, which is to help recent DMR operators to learn how to make their radios mosat useful.

a.        Go to the web site (https://ncprn.net/?page_id=12). Please remember that only the repeaters listed on that page can be reached through the PRN system.  If a repeater is not listed on that page, it most likely cannot be reached through the PRN system.

b.        Listed along with the particular frequency for  a PRN repeaters, also shown are the talkgroups which are carried on that particular repeater. 

c.        PRN repeaters do not carry the many, many talkgroups which are part of the Brandmeister network.  The PRN system is not connected to the Brandmeister server or the TGIF network  Both these non-PRN servers can be reached with a hotspot through your portable radio and your home wifi network.

d.        Talkgroups, like Brandmeister 91 (Worldwide) that are not listed as being on the PRN repeater page will be rejected by the server and will not show up on  the last heard listing and will not be passed on to Brandmeister.

YEAR OF THE CLUB ACTIVITIES

ARRL wishes to draw attention to and offer support to clubs during 2026.  The following activities are being undertaken:

·        Affiliated clubs (which must have at least 50% of the club members belonging also to the ARRL) can apply for a special recognition if the club as either 75% or 90% of club members who belong to the ARRL.

·        A special version of the Worked All States certificate (called the WAS-250 certificate) can be earned during 2026 (despite having already earned the normal WAS certificate previously).  The WAS-250 Certificate celebrates the 250^th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

·        Related to the WAS-250 is a schedule that provides for each state to have stations on the air during two designated weeks during the year.  North Carolina will have stations scheduled during the week of April 4 and August 30.  North Carolina clubs which volunteer and are scheduled will operate with the special call W1AW/P4.  More information will be discussed below.

·        ARRL continues to offer special pricing to clubs that wish to purchase a selection of books focusing on ham radio for gifting to a public. School, or college library. 

·        An additional benefit from ARRL involves sharing of membership dues. When a club collects membership renewals ($5) or a new membership application ($15) ARRL will rebate the appropriate amount back to the club in which the club collects applications and writes one check to the ARRL to cover the membership fees

·        ARRL seeks information on non-emergency activities undertaken by you r club.  Go to https://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-activity-report and report on your club activities.

·        ARRL seeks photos of club activities which will be consider for possible publication in QST or other ARRL media.

HELP WANTED

YEAR OF THE CLUB COORDINATOR – NC SECTION

One or more volunteers are needed to coordinate the two weeks of operations by NC Section Stations that wish to operate during the week of April 4 or August 30.  This involves receiving on-line requests and scheduling clubs to operate using W1AW/4. 

The coordinator will receive requests from clubs to operate on particular bands, at agreed upon times and using certain modes.  A computer program has been prepared to keep track of these operating parameters which will be published so operators across the country will be assured that North Carolina stations will be on the air and be contacted as operators seeks to confirm contact with NC and earn credit for the WAS-250 Certificate.   Please contact WA4NC@ARRL.ORG for further information.

CLOSING COMMENT

Winter Storm FRAN did not cause as much damage was was feared.  We got off easy  compared to Tennessee and some other states.  Although the damage up here in the High Country was minor, we owe a debt of gratitude to the line crews who made the needed repairs to restore power during the awfully cold weather.  Up here near Tweetsie Railroad, the overnight (Monday) was -2 degrees and the chill factor got down to -10.  At 2 pm on Tuesday, the sun had come out and the temperature has warmed up  to 23 degrees.  Another storm is expected to provide snow here this weekend.

Thanks need to be given to the power companies, the snow plow and salt spreader crews as well as the police, fire, rescue and ems crews  who are out in the cold tending to our needs when, I suspect most wish they could stay inside wih family, keeping warm and enjoy home life like most of us who do not have to be outside.

Marv, WA4NC

NC Section Manager

Boone