ARES Volunteers Reported Responding to Severe Weather 02/16/2021
Weather gone wild might be an apt description of the conditions in many parts of the US, with sub-freezing temperatures in areas not prepared for that sort of thing. Aberrant weather seems to be happening across many US regions. Snow has fallen in Texas and Oklahoma, accompanied by record-setting temperature readings.
The severe weather has caused power and telecommunications outages, and ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers in southern Texas have been called up by served agencies to help fill the resulting communication gap. The National Weather Service (NWS) says a weather system will help to create a new wave of low pressure in the Gulf of Mexico that will become the next winter storm to track across the Lower Mississippi Valley and into the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys.
Fall DXpedition to Willis Island Set, Outing to Mellish Reef Postponed 02/16/2021
The Daily DX reports that a team from the Hellenic Amateur Radio Association of Australia (
HARAOA) is planning a November 3 – 13 DXpedition to Willis Island, which ranks #38 on Club Log’s
Most Wanted List. The group has put off plans to include a stint from Mellish Reef, last activated in 2017. “With time away from jobs a consideration for the ops, Mellish is being put off to 2022,” said team leader John Chalkiarakis, VK3YP.
The seven operators for this fall’s DXpedition will be from Australia and New Zealand. They’re in the process of obtaining a permit from Parks Australia, which is “required to ‘camp’ at these Australian Coral Sea marine parks.”
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the national association for amateur radio, connecting hams around the U.S. with news, information and resources.
The secondary mission is to perform scientific experiments involving radiation detection and take pictures of Earth.
The solar-powered spacecraft, created by UL Lafayette’s CAPE Satellite Team, was launched with nine other CubeSats as part of NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (
ELaNa) program. A Virgin Orbit LauncherOne rocket attached beneath a wing of a customized Boeing 747 was dropped high above the Pacific Ocean. It climbed about 225 miles above Earth and then ejected the satellite.
The CAPE satellites are named for the university’s Cajun Advanced Picosatellite Experiment program, designed to prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Former ARRL Southwestern Division Director Art Goddard, W6XD, SK 02/16/2021
Former ARRL Southwestern Division Director Art Goddard, W6XD, of Costa Mesa, California, died on February 13. An ARRL Life Member, he was 78. First licensed in 1956, Goddard was an electrical engineering graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Montana State University. He worked for Collins Radio and later for Boeing, from which he retired as an executive.
After several years working with local governments in southern California on proposed antenna ordinances, he was elected ARRL Southwestern Division Vice Director in 1995, serving two terms before being elected Director in 2001. After retiring from the ARRL Board, he continued to follow ARRL affairs and advocate for stronger public relations on behalf of amateur radio.