Northwestern News Volume 3 April, 2026
Hello fellow Northwestern Division ARRL members.
Spring has sprung, and as hard as it is to grasp I’ve had to mow my
crazy lawn five times already this season. Water is flowing in the
canals here in Eastern Washington and the trees are in bloom. The valley
is busy with all things agriculture and along with that comes the busy
season for Hamfests and Swap-meets. Upcoming ARRL sanctioned events in
the Division are listed below and I hope to see many of you at one or
more. Michael or I try to make all of these but sometimes timing is
everything and works against us.
Upcoming ARRL sanctioned events in Division: (see n7cfo.com for more
detail)
N7YRC Tailgate on April 11th in Union Gap, WA
Kootenai ARS Hamfest April 25th in Coeur d’Alene, ID
SCARC Electronic Flea Market and Hamfest on May 9th in Stanwood, WA
SEA-PAC, the Northwestern Division Convention will be on June 5-6
IEVHF Swap Meet on June 6th in Spokane Valley, WA
Apple City ARC Swap Meet and Hamfest June 12th and 13th in Dryden, WA
Glacier Waterton Hamfest and MT. Section convention July 17, 18 and 19
at the Glacier Meadow RV Park, Glacier, MT.
Chehalis Valley ARS Tailgate on July 25th in Chehalis, WA
Kitsap County ARC Hamfest on October 10th in Bremerton, WA
ARRL National Convention: https://hamfest.org/
Our League holds a National Convention every two years and this year it
will be held in conjunction with the Huntsville Hamfest on August 22nd
and 23rd at the Von Braun Center. I might note NASA has a huge presence
in Huntsville so you can check off two bucket list items by attending.
Go to a great Convention and spend an extra day or two and take in all
the NASA offerings. (Yes that was a shameful plug for NASA)
ARRL Foundation update:
The foundation has finished up with the first round of Scholarship
applications and has made award recommendations for the ARDC grants.
This year, thanks to ARDC, we were able to award right at 570,000 in
scholarships. Round two will start soon where we review and award the
ARRL scholarships. The goal is to have this all done and ready for
public announcements by the middle of May.
Field Day is right around the corner. This year it’s the 27th and 28th
of June (always the 4th full weekend) If your group is going out and
setting up a station remember to list it on the ARRL Field Day locator.
https://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator This is a no cost way to
advertise where you will be.
Similar to the Field Day locator, ARRL has developed a Club Finder page:
https://clubs.arrl.org/map/ just enter your zip-code and find clubs near
you, great for new hams.
Also relatively new is an ARES group finder:
http://www.arrl.org/find-an-ares-group
April 17th and 18th Michael and I will be back in Newington for the
Administration and Finance committee meeting. This committee meets in
person at the annual, and second meeting of the full board and two other
times in-between the BOD meetings. We have a large amount to discuss as
well as receiving updates from ARRL staff.
As we move into the summer months I hope you have the chance to get out
and visit with your fellow Amateurs at hamfests, club picnics or club
meetings. As I was told a long time ago, “ham radio should not be done
alone”. Take a new ham to a repeater site for yearly maintenance, Show
a new ham your shack aka professional Amateur Radio Station. Encourage a
new Ham to get on a contest or get involved with a local net. Ask your
fellow club members if they are receiving the weekly or monthly ARRL
bulletins. We have run across an issue about opting in and out of
various newsletters. Some members have reported that they
“unsubscribed” from a specific item, but now are not receiving
anything. You can check your subscriptions by going to your profile
after logging into the ARRL web by clicking your name at the top and
then selecting (E-Newsletters and notifications).
In March I was able to “drop in” via ZOOM and visit with the Voice
of Idaho Club. https://voiceofidaho.org/ They run a fun and informative
meeting on the Second Wednesday of the month and have a great website.
(I hope they have submitted it for the competition this year
https://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-year-of-the-club-website-contest-call-for-submissions
hint hint)
That’s it for now.
Mark, HDX
Mark J. Tharp KB7HDX
ARRL Director, Northwestern Division
And now let’s hear from Vice-Director Sterba.
Greetings Northwestern Division!
Spring greetings across the great Northwestern Division!
This first quarter has flown by quickly with several successful events
happening. Let me start with extending my personal thanks for the
invitation and warm reception at the Clark County ARC Awards Banquet.
This was a fantastic opportunity to witness a member driven service
club. This group emulates best in community engagement practices with a
highly diverse portfolio of engaging interests. If you are looking for
ideas to help engage your local club members or broader community, look
at this group. https://www.w7aia.org/
Speaking of events. I also had the privileged of attending the 43rd
Annual Mike and Key Electronics Show and Swapmeet in Puyallup, WA. and
really had a fantastic time. The attendance was appearing to approach
pre-2019 levels. While fielding questions, I enjoyed observing the
renewed interest in the ARRL. I’m seeing a change in demographic with
younger men and women enjoying the event and taking time to stop by the
ARRL table to join. With this shift in population, you can feel the
sense of community rebuilding.
I have had the privilege of receiving inputs and thoughts from many of
our membership across the division. With these, I have communicated them
openly with Director Tharp to better understand best approaches
collectively. In addition to these, I also have been able to fill open
time with being in-person at some local events and meetings.
As a reminder, the most current list of Hamfests, Conventions, and
other gatherings, can be found at the website maintained by Assistant
Director Lynn Burlingame, N7CFO at:
http://www.n7cfo.com/amradio/hf/hf.htm You may also find this link
available on our division website at: https://arrlnwdiv.org
Spring Safety. We all know better than to do something unsafe when
attending to our stations. Yet, safety incidents such as falls from
towers or electrical shocks happen. While there are no national
statistics measuring these instances, we do hear about them from time to
time. Amateur radio safety focuses on preventing electrical shock, RF
exposure, and physical injury during installation and maintenance. Key
considerations include proper station grounding, using insulated tools,
maintaining distance from transmitting antennas, and utilizing fall
protection (harnesses) when working on towers. Always disconnect power
before adjusting components and be aware of overhead power lines. For
additional information, visit https://www.arrl.org/safety
Populations at the time of this writing (Lagging Indicators):
Northwestern Division Membership:
- 10,152 (Decrease from 10,185)
- 64 (New)
- 66 (Lapsed that re-joined)
National Membership: - 128,371 (Decrease from 128,734)
License Counts: - 71,038 (Division total)
- 141 (Division New)
- 70 (Division Upgrades) (Reporting repaired)
- 735,630 (National total)
It has been relatively quiet within the Division that last couple of
months. Director Tharp and I welcome all feedback, questions, or
suggestions from our members. Please feel free to reach out via email or
phone to discuss anything on your mind. Additionally, we encourage you
to share relevant news or updates with us, and we would be happy to
include them here. We look forward to hearing from you.
Enjoy Amateur Radio… Be Active, Be Positive, Be Safe, as your voice
carries
Respectfully your servant,
Michael A. Sterba, KG7HQ
ARRL Vice Director
Northwestern Division
kg7hq@ARRL.org
ARRL Northwestern Division
Director: Mark J Tharp, KB7HDX
kb7hdx@arrl.org