Buy Your Hamfest Tickets and Tables Today!

General Admission and Vendor Bundle tickets (i.e. a flea market table and vendor admission) are on sale now in the RRRA online box office.

Your advance purchase gets you to the bargains faster at the Dakota Division’s biggest hamfest.

Don’t waste time in the ticket table line ‼️

Through Hurricanes Helene and Milton Amateur Radio Triumphs When All Else Fails

While some residents in hurricane-impacted areas can’t send texts or make calls, amateur radio enthusiasts are helping communicate requests for help and messages between loved ones.

The morning after Hurricane Helene pummeled the eastern seaboard of the US, Thomas Witherspoon inspected the damage to his western North Carolina home. The night before, he listened to the wind whip down trees and snap power lines along the two-mile access road connecting his family to their few neighbors in Buncombe County.

ARES Task Book Updates

In this episode of ARRL’s monthly On The Air podcast: “The ARES Task Book is an important resource and reference for amateur radio operators who hope to be of service to their communities. ARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, joins the podcast to talk about the task book’s place in a ham’s training, as well as recent updates to the book.”1

Observations About 21st Century Emergency Communications via Satellite

In my opinion, the current “best bang for the buck” of emergency communications capability is to invest in a Starlink Mini and corresponding Starlink service, and an independent source of power for it such as the Ryobi 18V ONE+ 120-Watt Power Source With 12V Output that I discussed in Zero Retries 0169. Turn on your mobile phone’s Voice over Wi-Fi feature, and as long as the Starlink Mini has a clear view of the sky, and power (and your billing is up to date), you have a “works anywhere” mobile phone, text messaging, web browser, apps such as Facebook, weather, etc. With the Starlink Mini’s Wi-Fi, laptops, tablets, even smart televisions have Internet access, with enough bandwidth to be able to share.