NOTE: For the latest information, please visit https://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-systems-service-disruption

On or around May 12, 2024, ARRL was the victim of a sophisticated network attack by a malicious international cyber group. ARRL immediately involved the FBI and engaged with third party experts to investigate.

This serious incident was extensive and categorized by the FBI as “unique,” compromising network devices, servers, cloud-based systems, and PCs.

ARRL management quickly established an incident response team. This has led to an extensive effort to contain and remediate the networks, restore servers, and staff are beginning the testing of applications and interfaces to ensure proper operation.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as our staff continue to work through this with an outstanding team of experts to restore full functionality to our systems and services.

We will continue to update members as advised and to the extent we are able.

This story will be updated with new developments.

ARRL previously reported that we are responding to a serious incident involving access to our network and headquarters-based systems. Several services have been affected, including those administered by the ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (ARRL VEC).

Exam Registrations and Materials. ARRL Volunteer Examiners (VEs) should continue to submit exam registrations and material requests. While we are unable to post new or revised exam session dates and details to the website, we can ship out exam materials. Please remember that most exam materials are available on our website (www.arrl.org/resources-for-ves).

Processing Applications to the FCC. We have resumed the processing of Amateur Radio License applications with the FCC. This includes applications for new and upgrade licenses, individual applications, and club license applications. Exam sessions will be submitted to the FCC in chronological order, from earliest test dates to the latest. Please allow additional time for our processing as the exam session backlog is cleared.

International Radio Permit and License Class Certificates. We are currently unable to create International Amateur Radio Permits, License Class Certificates, and Volunteer Examiner (VE) badges, certificates, and stickers. New ARRL VE applications and renewals are unable to be processed at this time.

ARRL Youth Licensing Grant Program | FCC Application Fee Reimbursement Information. ARRL is continuing to accept reimbursement forms to cover the one-time $35 application fee for new license candidates younger than 18-years of age for tests administered under the auspices of the ARRL VEC. Reimbursement checks may take longer than normal to be processed at this time.

ARRL VEC cannot be reached by telephone at this time. We appreciate your patience as ARRL continues to work on restoring access to affected systems and services.

Please refer to https://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-systems-service-disruption for the most up to date information.

Updated 5/29/2024

Please refer to for updated information:
https://www.arrl.org/news/view/arrl-systems-service-disruption

This update includes information about the status of several services as we continue to respond to a serious incident involving access to our network and systems.

The ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (ARRL VEC) has resumed the processing of Amateur Radio License applications with the FCC. A more comprehensive update on the status of ARRL VEC services is available here.

There has been no interruption to visitor operating at W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station. The station resumed voice bulletins on Thursday, May 23. All other scheduled transmissions, including Morse code practice, and code and digital bulletins, will resume on Thursday, May 30. Please refer to the regular operating schedule at www.arrl.org/w1aw-operating-schedule.

After last week’s distribution of the ARRL Letter, our e-newsletter service has resumed. Current editions of ARRL Club News and The ARES® Letter have also been distributed.

ARRL Store orders have resumed shipping. Orders are being fulfilled from earliest order dates to the latest. Please allow additional time for our processing.

There has been no disruption to the @arrl.net email forwarding service, though forwarding email addresses and aliases cannot be modified at this time.

Our telephone system is unavailable at this time.

We appreciate your patience as we continue working on restoring access to affected systems and services.

This story will be updated with new developments.

Please refer to for updated information:
https://www.arrl.org/news/view/arrl-systems-service-disruption

Updated 5/17/2024

Some members have asked whether their personal information has been compromised in some way. ARRL does not store credit card information anywhere on our systems, and we do not collect social security numbers. Our member database only contains publicly available information like name, address, and call sign along with ARRL specific data like email preferences and membership dates.

Original story below:
5/16/2024

We are in the process of responding to a serious incident involving access to our network and headquarters-based systems. Several services, such as Logbook of The World® and the ARRL Learning Center, are affected. Please know that restoring access is our highest priority, and we are expeditiously working with outside industry experts to address the issue. We appreciate your patience.

This story will be updated with new developments.

Montana PBS has a stream live function on their web site: So anyone can watch the “ HAM” program if they want at https://www.montanapbs.org/live/

They can also see the schedule here:

https://www.montanapbs.org/schedule/#page=schedule&day=20221124&provider=Broadcast

Even if other hams are out of the viewing area, they should be able to watch by streaming using the above link.

The Date is Thanksgiving evening @ 7:30 PM Mountain Standard Time.

I have attached the official logo for the Program. It’s simply called – “Ham”.

Here’s the pr info from the UM students who produced the program..:

“Join us as we investigate the culture of Montana Amateur Radio Operators, or “hams”, as they recount their admiration for the global Amateur Radio community.”

Very 73

Dennis Lane

Hello Team,

I hope this finds each of you well!

In response to the newly adopted FCC guidelines for evaluating environmental effects of RF emissions, we have added a direct link under our Resources Menu to the ARRL Website for the recently announced RF Exposure Calculator.

Best of 73,

Michael – KG7HQ

For over 100 years amateur radio and ARRL — the National Association for Amateur Radio® — have stood for the development of the science and art of communications, public service, and the enhancement of international goodwill. Amateur Radio’s long history and service to the public has solidified the well-earned reputation that “Amateur Radio saves lives.”

Amateur Radio Operators, due to their history of public service, their training, and the requirement that they be licensed by the FCC have earned their status as a component of critical communications infrastructure and as a reliable resource “when all else fails.”

Amateur Radio is about development of communications and responsible public service. Its misuse is inconsistent with its history of service and its statutory charter. ARRL does not support its misuse for purposes inconsistent with these values and purposes.

How did you do?

Thanks again to Bill (KL7BB) we have some fun presented to us to help pass non-on-the-air time while practicing social distancing. The below crossword puzzle is our first round in testing your knowledge around amateur radio. Answer key will be posted in the future.

How did you do?

With thanks to Bill (KL7BB) We have some fun presented to us to help pass non-on-the-air time while practicing social distancing. The below crossword puzzle is our first round in testing your knowledge around amateur radio. Answer key will be posted in a week.

Hint: Some words may be hyphenated

Good Luck!

With approximately 60 days until the event, the Executive Committee has made the decision to cancel the SEA-PAC convention for 2020. Convention fees paid will be refunded. 

This conclusion is based on the deadly seriousness of the virus, the rate of expansion, and the recovery time after the crisis apex is achieved. But more importantly, it is based on the genuine concern for the health and safety of the attendees, vendors and presenters. 

Details regarding this cancellation will be posted at www.seapac.org. 

Thank you for your understanding and we are looking forward to the next SEA-PAC on 4, 5, and 6 June 2021. 

Gary J Takis K7GJT

SEA-PAC 2020 Chairman 

5/15/19 – As of this morning, It appears we have all the artifacts removed, and the site back to it’s original function. I personally apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
73 de KG7HQ

If our efforts to apply continuous improvements to this new site, we installed a function that is behaving badly as it is interfering with our user profiles and login in functions.

We have tried removing the offending plugin but have found that it is leaving artifacts behind that will prevent all but the Administrators from being able to login. I have a ticket in with the coder on this as well as I will be digging in to see if I can manually remove these left overs without impacting the site.

You may see some weird looking site elements as I step through working on this. If this is the case, please stop by a little later as I don’t intend to impact the users for long lengths of time.

Thank you es 73, KG7HQ

It seems appropriate that the ARRL Northwestern Division would publish its newsletter today, as today is World Amateur Radio Day! Every April 18, radio amateurs worldwide take to the airwaves in celebration of World Amateur Radio Day. It was on this day in 1925 that the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) was formed in Paris.

Many years ago, Amateur Radio experimenters were the first to discover that the short wave spectrum — far from being a wasteland — could support worldwide propagation. In the rush to use these shorter wavelengths, Amateur Radio was “in grave danger of being pushed aside,” as the IARU’s history has noted. Amateur Radio pioneers met in Paris in 1925 and created the IARU to support Amateur Radio worldwide. (Note that this is a full nine years after the ARRL was formed!)

Just two years later, at the International Radiotelegraph Conference, Amateur Radio gained the allocations still recognized today — 160, 80, 40, 20, and 10 meters. Certainly a day for celebration! The IARU today proclaimed; “It is a day for all of Amateur Radio to tell the world about the science we can help teach, the community service we can provide, and the fun we can have.” Get on the radio and have some fun today!

Your Director is just back from California, where last weekend I attended the International DX Convention down in Visalia, along withapproximately 600 other hams from around the world. It was great to finally meet several DX hams that I have worked many times over the years, and see other hams that I’ve not seen since the 1980s! That said, it was a working weekend too, as I also assisted with the manning of the ARRL booth at the event, and sat as a panelist at the ARRL Forum, where we discussed the issues. As a member of the ARRL Board’s Programs and Services Committee, it was great to be able to attend both the DX and Contest Forums to hear information on issues facing the various Board advisory committees. About 30 former ARRL members renewed their membership that weekend, which I believe is a sign of good times ahead for the League. It was also great to see so many of you there!

On another note, diligent work continues on our new NW Division website,
https://www.arrlnwdiv.org. Please go on-line and get a log-on and password set up for the site. Then stay in tune with all the happenings within our Division! We now have a Division Forum and swap page, information on Assistant Directors, Division advisers, links to the event calendar, and much more.

On the topic of Assistant Directors (AD), these are defined as ARRL member appointments made by the Division Director, and are a vital part of the Division as both subject matter experts, and as administrators. Mark and I would not be able to do our jobs without their diligent efforts, I want to thank all of them, past and present, for their tireless service to the Division. I have recently completed an evaluation of the prior AD list, and many on the old list have decided to retire. This is to be expected, as many were appointments dating back to the 1990s! I am proud to announce the following new, (and, in some cases, continuing), appointments as Northwestern Division Assistant Directors:

Daniel Stevens, KL7WM: Education/Training, Seattle Area
Delvin Bunton, NS7U: Education/Training, Vancouver, WA / Portland, OR
Area
Lynn Burlingame, N7CFO: Event Calendar
Phil Kane, K2ASP: FCC Matters
Bill Balzarini, KL7BB: STEM Outreach, Seattle Area
Dave Cole, NK7Z: RFI/EMI Technical Resource
Steve Aberle, WA7PTM: Tribal Liaison
Michael Sterba, KG7HQ: Webmaster / Social Media Admin

Finally, as many of you know, at the January Board meeting I was elected as a Director for the ARRL Foundation. This is a very important non-profit organization, separate from the ARRL, and focuses on providing scholarships and grants, (some $1.2 million predicted for this year), to deserving students and organizations. At the present time, all members of the Foundation’s Scholarship committee, (myself included), are evaluating some 230 candidates for 77 different scholarship opportunities ranging from $500 to $5000. For more information about the ARRL Foundation, check out their web page:

http://www.arrl.org/the-arrl-foundation.

I hope to see many of you at SeaPac, host of the Northwestern Division Convention, May 31st-June 2nd!

Diary of the Vice Director Volume 1, April 2019

Mike and Key Swapmeet was another success this year. “Unofficial reports” put the number of folks registering at over 2000 and more than 500 behind the tables selling. It’s hard not to find what you are missing in your shack at this event. (yes, that was a shameful plug.) Dir. Ritz and I along with WWA SM Simpson staffed the ARRL booth all day and saw the usual crowd along with a number of folks that stopped by to say hello I had never met.

Also, this year at Mike and Key, I offered to check cards for the ARRL® DXCC awards program and had three takers. It is very cool to see some of these cards and help with the program. I’m sure the WVDXC (Williamite Valley DX Club) will be checking cards and have a table set up at SEA-PAC® this year as they also manage the 7th area QSL bureau. If you are not aware of this program stop by the WVDXC booth and ask! Or you can always email me as well.

The Entry level license committee is winding down its activities and staying in a holding pattern at least until the July board meeting as the work it was originally tasked to do, is essentially done. As some have heard, an “unofficial” word came down from the FCC that we would not be getting another license if asked for and needed to work with what we have. That caused the committee to change gears, and focus on the privileges associated with the current Technician license. That proposal was approved by the ARRL board during the 2018 January meeting. More information is on the ARRL web under news.

The ARISS, (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station), committee had its first kick off meeting March 21st. This is a great group of folks with a real passion for the program. I learned a ton during the 2-hour meeting. It was more of an orientation for the new folks than anything, but now the work begins.

t was great to see everybody at the Yakima Hamfair last weekend! Upcoming events I am looking forward to attending are: NW Div. Convention (SEA-PAC®) on June 1st and 2nd, Wenatchee Hamfest on June 7th, 8th and 9th, the PNW DX Convention in Everett on August 9th, 10th, and 11th, the Spokane Hamfest on September 28th, the PNW VHF conference in Issaquah on October 12th. And the “APRS Summer Gathering” is also on my list this fall.

A few Division statistics for the month of February:

324 new licenses issued

72 upgraded licenses

12,348 ARRL members in Division (+.2% from 2018)

If you have any questions or input on any of the committees feel free to shoot me an email. That is the best way to contact me.

73, Mark
Mark J. Tharp, KB7HDX
ARRL Vice Director
Northwestern Division

ARRL Northwestern Division
Director: Michael T Ritz, W7VO

w7vo@arrl.org

Update 3/23/2019: I believe the initial sprint is over with the major website functions installed and operational. Two of the most notable is the additional of an active forum area and the ability for users to add their own avatar without using an off-site provider such as Gravitar.

The next stages will mostly be focused on fit and form of the site as we go in and clean up the elements that needed to be reworked for function. This is a bit more labor intensive as each correction will require verification in a half dozen different web browsers to verify the user experience is matching regardless of site permission levels.

This is where you come in! If you find and element that dosn’t appear correctly, please drop us a note as with more eyes looking, we can expedite needed updates. Who said that your voice isn’t important??

Thank you for taking the time follow this journey!

Update 3/17/19: We have made great strides forward on the site build. There have been related resource links added and background infrastructure built. We will be “reflecting” our announcement and newsletter content on Facebook (@NWDIVARRL) and Twitter (@arrlnwdiv). Like the email subscriptions we enjoy as ARRL members, this will help give exposure to a broader audience to support our transparency goals. We will not be connecting directly to these social media services for privacy reasons.

The Division Leadership is actively bouncing ideas off each other on adding interactive services such as forums to support our amateur radio hobby. This would be a great opportunity for each to share your thoughts on sustaining hobby related topics. Let us hear your voice!

Update 3/13/2019: We had a little bit of a rough ride, but have successfully stepped through and debug some underlying code conflicts. The unintended result was impactful to the user base as it both prevented registrations and posting comments. We apologize for the inconveniences this has caused and strive to minimize these escapes in the future.

We have expanded on our onsite pages and have started to link outwards to important resources. We don’t desire to replicate any resources, but to have them conveniently available as a service.

The Division Leadership Team has been huddling around your inputs as a method to provide two-way communications, visibility and transparency. Don’t forget to make your voice heard in the comments area as propagation of late hasn’t allowed us to hear the silent thoughts.

Update 3/4/2019: Since the original post, we have added in several elements to the site. There are 2 pages under construction where the Division elected and appointed leaders are described and listed. In addition, each of the Section contact information has been provided as a means to guide to your localized resources.

The latest ARRL news has it’s own page which is constantly updated with news, information and resources published by HQ.

We would be re-missed not to mention the link to PNW Events and Happenings hosted and maintained by Lynn, N7CFO. We encourage to visit his supporting site to get the latest and greatest on amateur radio events in our region and beyond.