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Beginning this summer, the Brandmeister DMR network will no longer support certain devices with DMR IDs that begin with the number 1. Hams utilizing the Brandmeister network with affected DMR IDs are encouraged to request a new ID from RadioID. Brandmeister is requiring their users to obtain DMR IDs that adhere to a Mobile Country Code (MMC) standard to help facilitate automated process that make up the Brandmeister network.

5-digit CAP+ IDs will stop working June 1st. 7-digit personal radio IDs starting with 1 will stop working January 1, 2026. Repeaters with 6-digit radio IDs starting with 1 will continue to work indefinitely.

Dear ARRL Member,

On March 12, 2025, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Public Notice titled “In Re: Delete, Delete, Delete,” seeking input from the public on FCC rules that may be outdated, unnecessary, or in need of modification. This inquiry is part of the FCC’s ongoing effort to alleviate regulatory burdens across various services, including the Amateur Radio Service.

As part of this review, ARRL is conducting a thorough examination of the provisions in Part 97 and related rules that affect amateur radio operators. ARRL’s written comments, which will be prepared by our FCC Counsel and the ARRL Executive Committee, will include consideration of feedback we received from members.

Members who want to share comments and concerns about this matter are urged to share your feedback directly with ARRL. Please submit your comments by March 31, 2025 and use the following feedback form:

www.arrl.org/fcc-public-notice-march-2025

ARRL will submit our official filing to the FCC by the April 11 deadline. After that, there will be an opportunity for reply comments at the FCC until April 28, and then later, opportunities for public comment on any rules the FCC proposes to delete or modify.

While the FCC Public Notice is a broad inquiry that does not single out any specific radio service, ARRL is nonetheless committed to protecting the Amateur Radio Service, promoting its public interest goals, and ensuring your right to access radio spectrum.

ARRL will continue to work on this matter, and we will inform members as more news develops.

Thank you,, 73

ARRL Executive Committee

Every July, QST, the membership journal of ARRL, publishes a special issue with an EmComm focus. This issue is a perfect opportunity for your ARES group to share your experiences doing exercises and drills, as well as participating in responses, so other groups will benefit from your experience. Here’s what QST is looking for:

–1,200 to 1,800 words–Tell the story of your participation in an exercise or response with a “how-to” angle. For example, if your club designed an exercise, talk about the rationale that led to the choice of the exercise scenario and parameters.

–2-5 high-resolution images–Include captions that explain what’s happening in the photos, the names and call signs of any hams pictured, and the name (and call sign, if applicable) of the person who took each photo.

Send the manuscript and photos to qst@arrl.org by May 1.

Amateur Radio station WX4NHC is located at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, Florida. The station has been totally assembled from donated equipment and is operated by an organized group of volunteer amateur radio operators since 1980. Read about its history.

WX4NHC activates whenever a hurricane is within 300 miles of landfall in the areas of the western Atlantic, the Caribbean or the eastern Pacific. The team of operators also provides emergency backup communications from NHC to NWS Offices and other agencies in case of local landfall. The NHC operators work in conjunction with the Hurricane Watch Net, VoIP WX-Talk Hurricane Net and other volunteer networks to collect real-time surface reports for the NHC hurricane specialists via amateur radio using many modes such as HF and VHF/UHF voice, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) systems, EchoLink and IRLP, and Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS). Input also comes from two non-amateur volunteer weather observer networks–ON-NHC (Observers Network), and CWOP (Citizens Weather Observers Program), using on-line reporting, email and fax. WX4NHC also relays hurricane advisories via the amateur radio nets to the hurricane affected areas and governmental agencies when conventional means of communications have been interrupted.

Observers’ surface reports provide the forecasters with supplemental weather and damage data that are not normally available to them and are frequently incorporated into their advisories as they provide a human perspective and eyewitness accounts of what people are experiencing during a hurricane. The WX4NHC team has been nationally recognized for its volunteer international humanitarian efforts by the National Hurricane Conference and the South Florida Hurricane Conference.