• Deadline for 2023 ARRL Foundation Scholarship Program is January 4, 2023
• New Section Managers Appointed -- Incumbent Section Managers to Continue New Terms in April 2023
• Amateur Radio Emergency Service Members Support Nevada County Office of Emergency Services
• Colonel Jerry Wellman, W7SAR, Former ARRL Utah SEC and Life Member, Receives Top Honors
• Amateur Radio Featured on Montana Public Television
• When All Else Fails: Amateur Radio Helps Rescue Lost Hiker
• Amateur Radio in the News
• ARRL Podcasts
• The K7RA Solar Update
• Just Ahead in Radiosport
• Upcoming Section, State, and Division Conventions

The application deadline for the 2023 ARRL Foundation Scholarship Program is January 4, 2023, at 12 PM Eastern Time. More than 100 scholarships ranging from $500 to $25,000 will be awarded in 2023 to radio amateurs who are pursuing higher education. While the terms of each scholarship vary, many of the awards may be applied to tuition, books, fees, and other educational expenses.

Applicants must be active, FCC-licensed amateur radio operators. Active foreign amateur radio operators are eligible for scholarships established by Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) and administered by the ARRL Foundation. Every applicant must submit a completed online application by the deadline.

ARRL intern Jherica Goodgame, KI5HTA, was among the 2022 ARRL Foundation Scholarship winners. She attends the University of Mississippi.

The ARRL Foundation will be utilizing the same scholarship management platform for 2023 scholarships that was used for 2022 scholarships. Transcripts and additional required documents must be submitted with the online application and not emailed separately. Some scholarships require additional documents, such as a letter of recommendation from a sitting officer of an ARRL Affiliated Club. Applications without accompanying transcripts and additional required documents (if applicable) will not be considered.

Additional information and a link to the application can be found at www.arrl.org/scholarship-program.

The ARRL Foundation Scholarship Committee will review all applicants for eligibility and award decisions. Recipients will be notified in May 2023 via USPS and email. Awards are mailed directly to recipients' schools.

In 2022, there were 139 Foundation Scholarships awarded, totaling $921,250.

The ARRL Foundation administers programs to support the amateur radio community, and was established in 1973 by ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio®.

Betsey Doane, K1EIC, has been appointed by ARRL Headquarters as the Connecticut Section Manager, as of November 23, 2022, to fulfill the role on a limited basis, while the search continues for a full-time Section Manager. Doane, of Shelton, was previously the Connecticut Section Manager for 25 years, from 1991 to 2016.

Chuck Motes, K1DFS, of Plainville, has served as ARRL Connecticut Section Manager for the last 6 years. He decided not to run for a new term of office when his third term concluded on September 30, 2022.

Ralph Fettig, NØRDF, will become the ARRL North Dakota Section Manager on January 1, 2023.

Fettig, of Minot, was the only nominee to submit a petition to run for office when the re-solicited nomination period closed on December 9, 2022. As the sole nominee, he has been declared elected. Although his elected 18-month term of office starts on April 1, 2023, Fettig has been officially appointed by ARRL Field Services Manager Mike Walters, W8ZY, to start early on New Year's Day.

North Dakota Section Manager Richard Budd, WØTF, of York, decided not to run for a another 2-year term of office that began on October 1. Budd, however, voluntarily extended his service as Section Manager until a new Section Manager could be installed.

Charles O'Neal, KE4AIE will begin his term as ARRL Kentucky Section Manager on January 1, 2023.

Charles O'Neal, KE4AIE, of Glasgow, Kentucky, has been appointed as the ARRL Kentucky Section Manager, starting January 1, 2023, after he was the only nominee for the position when the nomination deadline passed on December 9, 2022. Although O'Neal's elected 2-year term of office officially begins on April 1, 2023, Field Services Manager Mike Walters, W8ZY, appointed him to start on New Year's Day because the position has been open for the past few months.

Kentucky Section Manager Steve Morgan, W4NHO, decided to step down this past July, before the current term of office concludes on March 31, 2023. Morgan, of Owensboro, has served as Section Manager since 2017. He has been serving simultaneously as the Section Traffic Manager and Affiliated Club Coordinator. Morgan was also the ARRL Kentucky Section Manager from 1991 to 1997.

For the winter season Section Manager election cycle, there will not be balloted elections. The following incumbent ARRL Section Managers ran un-opposed, and they have been declared re-elected and will begin their new 2-year terms of office on April 1, 2023: Rick Paquette, W7RAP (Arizona); James Ferguson, N5LKE (Arkansas); Lelia Garner, WAØUIG (Iowa); Malcolm Keown, W5XX (Mississippi); Steven Lott Smith, KG5VK (North Texas); Bob Turner, W6RHK (Orange), and Garth Crowe, WY7GC (Wyoming).

There were no Section Manager nominees from Montana for the next term of office. ARRL Montana Section Manager Paul Stiles, KF7SOJ, of Billings, decided not to run for a new term of office. Since no nominations from Montana were submitted, a re-solicitation for nominees will appear in the April and May 2023 issues of QST.

Thanks to Steve Ewald, WV1X, ARRL Field Organization Supervisor, for information contained in this story.

Ten Nevada County Amateur Radio Emergency Service^®, NC-ARES^®, members were sworn-in as Nevada County Office of Emergency Services (NC-OES) Disaster Service Worker Volunteers during their December 1, 2022, meeting at the Nevada County Airport in California.

Lt. Sean Scales, Nevada County Safety Officer (NCSO), Emergency Operations Coordinator and Office of Emergency Services, administered the oath.

Nevada County ARES members are sworn in as Nevada County OES Disaster Service Worker Volunteers. L-R (seated) Robin De Negri, N6ZPO and Peter Mason N6ERL. L-R (standing) Cal McKitrick, AI6MC; Martin Twer, AJ6OH; Mark Triolo, N6PVI; Sean Robichaud, K6ACN; John Hart, KE6FIQ; Jeff Wagner, KK6CUG, and Jan Woldseth, KB6FMZ. Not pictured is Drew Mazer, KN6MMK. [Cal McKitrick, AI6MC, photo]

NC-ARES and NC-OES signed a Memorandum of Understanding in May to establish the cooperative relationship.

"NC-ARES volunteers are another local resource Nevada County OES can call upon to support our community," said Lt. Scales.

Peter Mason, N6ERL, NC-ARES Emergency Coordinator added, "ARES members use their radio equipment and training to provide radio communications support to local agencies during emergencies, including Nevada County OES and the American Red Cross."

NC-ARES sponsors a free educational program for local neighborhoods called Neighborhood Radio Watch. "In three in-person meetings, households learn the benefits of, and how to use, handheld General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) radios to communicate during emergency situations when internet, phone, and cell services become unavailable or fail," said Mark Triolo, N6PVI, NC-ARES GMRS Program Leader.

ARES is a program of ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio®.

Thanks to Peter Mason, N6ERL, Nevada County ARES Emergency Coordinator for information contained in this story.

Colonel Jerry Wellman, W7SAR, former ARRL Utah Section Emergency Coordinator (SEC), was recently named the National Volunteer Emergency Manager of the Year, the highest honor given to a volunteer emergency manager, by the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM).

Wellman served as the Utah Wing Civil Air Patrol commander from September 2009 to May 2013. He served as the emergency services training officer for the Salt Lake Senior Squadron, and currently serves as the Phoenix Cadet Squadron's assistant officer for communication and for education and training.

At the award ceremony on November 14, 2022, Wellman was cited for being "active in enhancing his own emergency management professional development, while relentlessly contributing to his community." He taught emergency management communications classes in Arizona, Utah, and Colorado, and chaired the Kearns, Utah, Metro Township Emergency Planning Commission.

He also served on the Utah State Emergency Response Team and volunteered in the state Emergency Operations Center, contributing more than 150 days during the COVID-19 response and during floods, fires, and winter storms. He also served as an air operations coordinator on three search and rescue missions.

Wellman was licensed in 1972 and holds an Amateur Extra-class license. He is an ARRL Life Member and a Life Member of REACT International.

On Thursday, November 24, 2022, Thanksgiving evening, MontanaPBS aired a documentary about amateur radio that was appropriately titled, HAM. The 25-minute program was produced by students, in cooperation with the Greater Montana Foundation, as well as the School of Journalism and the School of Visual & Media Arts at the University of Montana (UM) in Missoula. Several local amateur radio operators were featured in the program, including Lance Collister, W7GJ; Dennis Lane, KR7Q; Mike Leary, K7MSO, and Keith Graves, NE7R. Together, they talked about how amateur radio has evolved and their experiences as active hams.

The program is available to watch on the MontanaPBS website, at www.montanapbs.org/programs/ham.

ARRL member Lance Collister, W7GJ, of Frenchtown, Montana, was among the hams featured in the student-produced documentary.

"I was happy to agree to the interview," said ARRL member Dennis Lane, KR7Q, who was among a handful of hams featured in the video, such as Lane and his wife, Debi; Lance Collister, W7GJ; Karen Orzech; Mike Leary, K7MSO; Keith Graves, NE7R, and Lois Graves, W7LAG. "The students visited my home and ham shack in early March of 2022. They seemed to be interested in the human-interest aspect of ham radio," Lane continued. "I tried to emphasize the relationships and lifelong friendships that I have enjoyed over my 45 years in the hobby."

Lane also shared, "When I told the students about Parks on the Air®, they asked if they could come with me on my next POTA activation. I was happy to have them join me at Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge in Stevensville." During the activation, Lane made radio contacts on both VHF and shortwave, using an end-fed half-wave antenna. "One of the first contacts I made was in Alaska. They seemed very excited about that."

The UM student film crew included Grace Wolcott, Kal Bailey, Jared Benge, Karter Bernhardt, Julien Dousset, Maiya Fleck, Marcia Heydt, Natalie Verploegen, and Ryan Weibush. Lane published these personal videos from the filming:

• https://www.montanaartqwerks.com/My-Ham-Radio-Page-de-KR7Q/Mpbs/i-wqc9jJz/A

• https://youtu.be/S_UBc-b-Nek (YouTube)

Editor's note: The following event took place on Sunday afternoon, December 11, 2022, and was told to ARRL News by Raul "Skip" Camejo, AC1LC, Public Information Coordinator for the ARRL New Hampshire Section.

The amateur radio repeater on the summit of Gunstock Mountain helped connect the lost hiker in a remote area of New Hampshire. The repeater is affiliated with New England Digital Emergency Communications Network, NEDECN.

A New Hampshire man and his dog went out for a day hike yesterday in the Belmont area of central New Hampshire. Things went well until his cell phone battery died. With darkness near and a prediction of snow, a leisurely day hike was quickly turning into a serious health and safety issue for the hiker.

Fortunately for him, he is also an amateur radio operator and brought along his digital mobile radio (DMR) handheld radio with him. With no cell phone capability, he made a call on the DMR New Hampshire statewide channel through the Gunstock (Mountain) DMR repeater, seeking assistance. His call was answered by Bill Barber, NE1B, who was monitoring the channel. The hiker asked Barber to call his wife, because he could not text or get "pinged" with his dead cell phone. Barber contacted the hiker's wife, and she was glad to hear that someone was in contact with him. Unfortunately, he did not know exactly where he was and believed he would have to walk through brush for an hour or more to get to a road.

His wife called the local police department, who began a search with their local fire department. Amateur radio was the only communication from about 4:30 to 6:30 PM. Barber was able to make contact with Rick Zach, K1RJZ, who lives closer to the search area, and was familiar with the area's snowmobile trails and roads. Zach coordinated communication between the responding police units and the lost radio operator on the New Hampshire Statewide talkgroup.

Police and fire units attempted to assist in the search by activating their sirens in different locations to try to obtain a location on the ham operator, but he was not able to hear them.

Another amateur radio operator, Chuck Cunningham, K1MIZ, was monitoring the events on Net Watch and noticed that the lost ham had accidentally changed channels. This information was passed along, and 2-meter DMR communication continued until the lost ham walked out to a road and was able to advise searchers of his location. The search and checkout ended successfully at 6:30 PM.

Thanks to the efforts of Bill Barber, NE1B (ARRL Life Member); Rick Zach, K1RJZ (ARRL member), and Chuck Cunningham, K1MIZ.

Barber listed some very important lessons learned from the incident:

• Radio batteries last longer on DMR radios than on analog mode.

• Even his wife had trouble with her cell phone coverage at home.

• Monitor your local state DMR channel to help others nearby.

• You may want to program 146.52 FM next to your state channel for signal strength direction finding if and when you're out of repeater range. Some hams still monitor 146.52 MHz simplex.

• Stay on the primary channel until you know more hams are nearby to direction find your signal.

• Hike with DMR. Network sites cover many areas of New England that do not have any cell service.

• Hike with a flashlight.

And I would like to add one more item to the list. My son is one of the leaders of Pemigewasset Valley (New Hampshire) Search & Rescue Team and unfortunately responds to too many calls for lost hikers. One very important item that he stresses is that hikers file a "flight plan." Let someone who is not going on the hike know where you are going, how long you expect to be gone, and what communication equipment or capability you have with you. This also applies if you are going out hunting, fishing, or boating.

Raul "Skip" Camejo, AC1LC
Public Information Coordinator
ARRL New Hampshire Section
ac1lc@arrl.net

ARRL Public Information Officers, Coordinators, and many other member-volunteers help keep amateur radio and ARRL in the news.

"New Ham radio antenna placed on tower high above Mattoon" / Journal Gazette & Times-Courier (Illinois), December 9, 2022. - The Moultrie Amateur Radio Klub is an ARRL Affiliated Club.

"Amateur radio operators sworn in by Nevada County OES" / The Union (California), December 9, 2022. -Thanks to the Nevada County Amateur Radio Emergency Service®.

"Amateur Radio Club works to provide radio communication for local community" / LaGrange Daily News (Georgia), December 9, 2022. -- The LaGrange Amateur Radio Club is an ARRL Affiliated Club.

"Ham radio repeater connects lost hiker with help" / The Laconia Daily Sun (New Hampshire), December 13, 2022. -- Thanks to the New England Digital Emergency Communications Network, NEDECN.

Share any amateur radio media hits you spot with us.

In the latest episode of the ARRL On the Air podcast, Ginger Wilder, KI5TJE, discusses her first time running an amateur radio net. Get ready to be the next Net Control operator for your local net.

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.

The On the Air podcast is available on iTunes (iOS) and Stitcher (Android). The On the Air podcast and ARRL Audio News are also on blubrry -- On the Air | ARRL Audio News.

Tad Cook, K7RA, of Seattle, Washington, reports for this week's ARRL Propagation Bulletin, ARLP050:

Caption Solar disk image taken December 15, 2022, courtesy of NASA SDO/HMI.

Heightened sunspot activity over the past week no doubt produced the great conditions during last weekend's ARRL 10-Meter Contest.

Compared to the previous 7 days, average daily sunspot numbers jumped from 85 to 136.9, while solar flux averages increased from 137.5 to 150.

Geomagnetic indicators were lower, with planetary A index decreasing from 14.4 to 7.7, and middle latitude A index decreasing from 9.1 to 6.

Higher sunspot numbers and lower geomagnetic indicators are an ideal combination for favorable HF propagation.

New sunspots appeared every day except December 12, with one new sunspot on December 8, another on December 9, three more on December 10, another on December 13, and one more on December 14.

The latest prediction from the United States Air Force (USAF) via National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows solar flux at 164, 160, 158, and 156 on December 15 - 18; 154 on December 19 - 20; 150 and 125 on December 21 - 22; 120 on December 23 - 28; 125, 130, and 135 on December 29 - 31; 145 on January 1 - 8; 140, 130, 125, and 120 on January 9 - 12, and 115 on January 13 - 18.

Predicted planetary A index is 5 on December 15 - 17; 8 on December 18 - 20; 12, 20, 15, and 12 on December 21 - 22; 20 on December 25 - 28; 12, 10, 12, 8, 5, and 18 on December 29 through January 3; 10 on January 4 - 5; 8 on January 6; 5 on January 7 - 14, and 10 on January 15 - 16.

In Friday's bulletin we will have reports from the 10-meter contest and some 6-meter observations.

Sunspot numbers for December 8 through 14, 2022, were 115, 116, 111, 141, 142, 159, and 174, with a mean of 136.9. The 10.7-centimeter flux was 143, 149.1, 141.7, 147,7, 150.8, 153, and 164.7, with a mean of 150. Estimated planetary A indices were 11, 11, 8, 10, 6, 4, and 4, with a mean of 7.7. Middle latitude A index was 9, 9, 6, 7, 5, 3, and 3, with a mean of 6.

Send your tips, questions, or comments to k7ra@arrl.net.

A comprehensive K7RA Solar Update is posted Fridays on the ARRL website. For more information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL Technical Information Service, read "What the Numbers Mean..." 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.

Share your reports and observations.

A weekly, full report is posted on ARRL News.

• December 15 - 16 -- Walk for the Bacon QRP Contest (CW)

• December 16 -- AGB-Party Contest (CW, phone, digital)

• December 16 -- Russian 160-Meter Contest (CW, phone)

• December 17 -- Feld Hell Sprint (digital)

• December 17 -- OK DX RTTY Contest (digital)

• December 17 -- RAC Winter Contest (CW, phone)

• December 17 - 18 -- Croatian CW Contest (CW)

• December 17 - 18 -- Stew Perry Topband Challenge (CW)

• December 18 -- ARRL Rookie Roundup (CW)

• December 18 - 19 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest (CW)

• December 21 -- NAQCC CW Sprint (CW)

• December 21 -- VHF-UHF FT8 Activity Contest (digital)

Visit the ARRL Contest Calendar for more events and information.

• January 7 | Ham Radio University, hosting the ARRL New York City-Long Island Section Convention, an online event

• January 20 - 21 | Southwest Florida Regional Hamfest, hosting the ARRL Southern Florida Section Convention, Fort Myers, Florida

• January 27 - 28 | Capital City Hamfest 2023, hosting the ARRL Mississippi State Convention, Jackson, Mississippi

• January 28 | Winterfest, hosting the ARRL Midwest Division Convention, Collinsville, Illinois

• February 10 - 12 | Orlando HamCation, hosting the ARRL Southeastern Division Convention, Orlando, Florida

• February 25 | HAM-CON, hosting the ARRL Vermont State Convention, Colchester, Vermont

• March 3 - 4 | BirmingHamfest, hosting the ARRL Alabama Section Convention, Trussville, Alabama

• March 3 - 4 | Greater Houston HamFest, hosting the ARRL Texas State Convention, Rosenberg, Texas

Search the ARRL Hamfest and Convention Database to find events in your area.

Submissions for the ARRL Letter and ARRL News can be sent to news@arrl.org. -- John E. Ross, KD8IDJ, ARRL News Editor

ARRL -- Your One-Stop Resource for
Amateur Radio News and Information

• Join or Renew Today! Eligible US-based members can elect to receive QST or On the Air magazine in print when they join ARRL or when they renew their membership. All members can access digital editions of all four ARRL magazines: QST, On the Air, QEX, and NCJ.

• Listen to ARRL Audio News, available every Friday.

• The ARRL Letter is available in an accessible format, posted weekly to the Blind-hams Groups.io email group. The group is dedicated to discussions about amateur radio as it concerns blind hams, plus related topics including ham radio use of adaptive technology.

Subscribe to...

• NCJ -- National Contest Journal. Published bimonthly, features articles by top contesters, letters, hints, statistics, scores, NA Sprint, and QSO parties.

• QEX -- A Forum for Communications Experimenters. Published bimonthly, features technical articles, construction projects, columns, and other items of interest to radio amateurs and communications professionals.

Free of charge to ARRL members...

• Subscribe to the ARES Letter (monthly public service and emergency communications news), the ARRL Contest Update (biweekly contest newsletter), Division and Section news alerts and much more!

• Find ARRL on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram!