Red River Radio Amateurs

“ARRL Education Specialist Wayne Greene, KB4DSF, returns to the podcast to walk readers through his May/June 2025 On the Air article, Building Simple Antennas for 10 and 15 Meters.”¹

The following story appeared in the March 18, 2025 issue of ARRL Club News:

Your club is planning to staff a table at a local community fair or event. Offer to send radiograms. Recruit volunteers to explain what a radiogram is and, later, send the messages. Who in your radio club is active on the traffic nets? How many members know the radiogram format or know how to send a radiogram message on the air? Fear not! Your club can put its best foot forward and hold an amateur radio message fair with minimal traffic-handling skills using an exciting new tool: the Radiogram Portal!

Many Technician class amateurs miss out on fun and skills learning of traffic handling because they reside in areas of the country where local traffic nets on VHF repeaters don’t exist. The Virtual NTS Training Net (VNTN) seeks to address this problem with the creation of a Zoom-based local traffic net that can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection.

First Responders, Amateur Radio Operators, and members of the public who are interested in becoming SKYWARN® storm spotters—and current spotters who wish to refresh their skills—must do so by watching the NWS WFO Grand Forks 2025 SKYWARN® Storm Spotter Training video.

⚠️ In-person SKYWARN® Storm Spotter training will not be conducted in 2025.

“This month, ARRL Education Specialist Wayne Greene, KB4DSF, returns to the podcast to update us on ARRL’s new monthly livestream, On the Air Live. The April session of On the Air Live will be a tutorial on the Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS). A handheld radio will allow you to use the APRS. Listen in to find out how easy it is, and how to join the April 22 session of On the Air Live. “¹