ARRL Club News for October 21, 2025 undefined

 

 

 

 

October 21, 2025

Editor:

 

Icom when you want to give those you love the very best

 

In this Issue:

 

 

 

ARRL Announces Year of the Club

 

Ham radio clubs make up the backbone of ARRL. Clubs of all sizes have decades-long histories, and many are more than 100 years old! ARRL has designated 2026 as the Year of the Club to celebrate theses pillars in our communities. Go to the website and see what is already underway, and be sure to check back as new promotions are announced. Celebrate Year of the Club all year on air, online, and with your club!

 

Upcoming ARRL Club Contests

Club Newsletter Contest

 

As part of ARRL’s Year of the Club, ARRL is hosting a Club Newsletter Contest.

 

A club newsletter can keep members informed of news and upcoming events, keep them engaged between meetings and activities, teach them about ham radio skills and technology, remember something they enjoyed, inspire them to set an operating goal, or even make them laugh — the sky’s the limit! ARRL wants to see what your club does with the mix of information that can go into a newsletter. Enter the Club Newsletter Contest for the chance to have your newsletter honored in QST. Here are the rules and requirements:

 

The Club Newsletter Contest is open to ARRL Affiliated Clubs that have published a newsletter for at least 1 year.

 

Submit PDF files of 1 years’ worth of consecutively published issues — no gaps — ending with your most recent issue. If your newsletter is monthly, submit 12 consecutive issues. If your newsletter is bimonthly, submit six consecutive issues. If your newsletter is quarterly, submit four consecutive issues.

 

Publication dates may span 2024/2025/2026, if necessary. For example, if your newsletter is published monthly and the September 2025 issue is your most recent publication at the time of your submission, send us all 12 issues from October 2024 through September 2025. Do not send additional issues once you have already submitted 1 years’ worth of issues.

 

Submissions must include a completed Club Newsletter Contest Submission Form (), which asks for information about your club and newsletter, as well as a 500-word statement on the purpose of your newsletter, including how the newsletter’s contents and design fulfill that purpose.

 

Part of the judging process will include a comparison of these statements with the newsletter samples.

 

Winners will be notified in May 2026, with awards presented at Huntsville Hamfest in August 2026.

 

Winners will be announced in a 2026 issue of QST, as part of ARRL’s Year of the Club celebration. The QST article may present material from the 500-word statements supplied in the winners’ Club Newsletter Contest Submission Form. Please note that winners may be asked to supply high-resolution files of specific newsletter pages.

 

Submission Deadline: Friday, January 30, 2026, 4 p.m. Eastern time.

 

Submit your Club Newsletter .

 

Club Website Contest

 

Open to ARRL Affiliated Clubs that maintain a club website.

 

Submissions must include a completed Club Website Contest Submission Form (), which asks for basic information about your club and its website, as well as a 500-word statement on the purpose or goals of your website, including how the features and configuration of the website fulfill the purpose/goals. Part of the judging process will include a comparison of your statement with the website itself.

 

Submission Deadline: Friday, January 30, 2026, 4 p.m. Eastern time.

 

NOTE: Once you send your Submission Form, you may update content (text, images, data) on your website as needed, per your club’s normal operation, but you may not make significant changes to the site’s structure or functionality until April 1, 2026.

 

Winners will be notified in May 2026, with awards (a certificate or plaque) presented at the Huntsville Hamfest in August 2026.

 

Winners will be announced in a 2026 issue of QST, as part of ARRL’s Year of the Club celebration. The QST article may present material from the 500-word statements supplied in the winners’ Club Website Contest Submission Form.

 

Submit your Club Website .

 

Club Presentation

At their September 2025 meeting, the Ski Country Amateur Radio Club (SCARC), K0RV, in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, enjoyed a presentation by Violetta Latham, KN2P, about involving youth in ham radio and her personal journey. The club provided her with a sendoff from Colorado to her upcoming DX/contesting adventure to the South Cook Islands (E51) and Curaçao (PJ2). Photo by Mike Ferguson, K0MF.

 

Hams in Public

The San Angelo Amateur Radio Club (SAARC), W5QX, obtained a booth at the Community Center in Ballinger, Texas, for the annual Ballinger Gun, Knife, and Outdoor Show. They interfaced with the public and educated them on amateur radio and ARRL. All the various forms of amateur radio were presented to those that stopped by. SAARC, through a grant, was able to put up two repeaters in Runnels County. The county was previously on the edge of the served area for weather warnings and general amateur communications. Now, with a 2-meter repeater and a GMRS repeater, the community is better advised of dangerous weather events via the National Weather Service. Ham operators have become more active in Runnels County now that the coverage has been extended to them. Photo by King P. Walker Jr, KC7LOX.

 

Club Spotlight

ARRL would like to know just how your club greets and deals with new members and especially new hams. Please take a few minutes and fill out the survey at . Your answers may be featured in future publications.

 

 

Submitting Info for this Newsletter

ARRL Club News is for radio clubs to show how they are working in the community and the hobby to advance amateur radio. If your club completes a project, supports an event, does an EmComm activation, or activates a park, we want to hear about it. You can submit your newsletter article to us at . We like to get them as text or Word files instead of PDFs. If you have pictures, please submit them with caption information, as well as the name and call sign of the photographer. We want to highlight the good work being done by the clubs and show others in the community. Think of this as a chance to show off your club and your programs.

 

How to Plan and Apply for an ARRL Hamfest or Convention

If your amateur radio club is planning to host a convention, hamfest, tailgate, or swapfest, please consider applying for it to be an ARRL-sanctioned event. To learn what it means to be an ARRL-sanctioned event, and to get some ideas on how to prepare for and conduct a hamfest or convention, visit .

 

To have your event sanctioned, complete the online application at .

 

Please send a copy of the application that returns to you to Steve Ewald at .

 

The ARRL Hamfests and Conventions Calendar can be found online at . In addition, the Convention and Hamfest Calendar that runs in QST each month also presents information about upcoming events.

 

Important Links

ARRL Home:

Find an ARRL Affiliated Club:

Find your ARRL Section:

Find a license class in your area:

Find a license exam in your area:

Find a hamfest or convention:

Email ARRL Clubs:

 

 

ARRL Club News is published every month (12 times each year). ARRL members may subscribe at no cost or unsubscribe by editing their Member Data Page at . Archived issues can be found at

 

Copyright © 2025 American Radio Relay League, Incorporated. Use and distribution of this publication, or any portion thereof, is permitted for non-commercial or educational purposes, with attribution. All other purposes require written permission.

 

 

ARRL Logo

ARRL

225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111-1400

· 860-594-0200
ARRL Facebook
ARRL Instagram
ARRL X
ARRL YouTube
ARRL LinkedIn
ARRL Shop
ARRL Email

© 2025 - ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio®

from this list.