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School won’t be out this summer for Army MARS members as they begin the second round of an intensive retraining program — MARS 101 — that begins July 5. The 12 week course is designed to align MARS procedures with the newly-revised National Incident Management System (NIMS), as well as the Army’s own updated role in civil support. It will be delivered to members via e-mail; Army MARS personnel will also be required to participate in on-the-air discussions with other members in their respective states.

On the afternoon of Monday, June 29, US Supreme Court Justice David Souter — in one his last official duties on the high court — swore in Julius Genachowski as the new Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Genachowski, who clerked for Souter after finishing law school, will complete the four years remaining in the term of outgoing FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein. Both Genachowski and current FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell — Genachowski for his initial term and McDowell for his first full term — were confirmed by the US Senate on June 25.

Larry E. Price, W4RA, was honored at an evening reception following the first full day of Ham Radio 2009 convention activities in Friedrichshafen, Germany on Friday, June 26. The reception was hosted by the convention sponsor, the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC), and was attended by officials and guests from dozens of IARU Member-Societies. In a presentation made by IARU Vice President Ole Garpestad, LA2RR — who had served as President of the Norwegian Radio Relay League (NRRL) from 2000-2002 — Price was honored with the highest award of the NRRL, Knight of the Order of the Golden Key. The award was given for Price’s many years of service to the IARU, the ARRL and Amateur Radio in general. IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH, then conferred the title of IARU President Emeritus upon Price. Price served as ARRL President from 1984-1992 and as IARU President from 1999-May 2009. For more on the convention, see the Friedrichshafen blog.

ARRL Headquarters will be closed in observance of Independence Day on Friday, July 3. There will be no ARRL Audio News, W1AW bulletin or code practice transmissions that day. The ARRL Letter will be posted a day early on Thursday, July 2. League Headquarters will reopen Monday, July 6 at 8 AM Eastern Daylight Time. We wish everyone a safe and festive holiday weekend.

WB8IMY was away from home on Field Day, yet still managed to catch a bit of the Field Day spirit.

Models, parts, designators, references — they’re all part of the radio game. The more you tinker and swap and change, the more of these little bits of "radio DNA" get lodged in your gray matter — and there’s nothing you can do about it. Resistance is futile! So load up on wireless weirdness and have fun with a whole catalog of conundra.

Along with the bug spray and toolbox, don’t forget your camera when you head out to Field Day this weekend. We are looking for good-quality photos — well lit, in focus, action-oriented subject matter — of your Field Day operation. A few tips: Be sure your photos are high-resolution; remove the date stamp; if you have more than two, send them two at a time to avoid overloading the e-mail system; when you e-mail them to qst@arrl.org, use the subject line FD09 Photos, and include complete caption information — and the photographer’s name and call sign! Thank you! We’re always on the lookout for good Field Day photos for possible use in QST, in other ARRL publications or on our Web site.

Due to storm-related power outages at ARRL HQ, there will be no ARRL Audio News for Friday, June 26, 2009. The ARRL Letter was sent out on schedule. We apologize for any inconvenience.

On the same day — June 25 — that the Senate confirmed the nominations of Julius Genachowski as FCC Chairman and current Commissioner Robert McDowell, President Barack Obama nominated Democrat Mignon Clyburn and Republican Meredith Attwell Baker to be FCC Commissioners. If Clyburn and Baker are confirmed by the Senate, the FCC would be at its full complement of five Commissioners.

On June 24, 2009, the ARRL filed a petition with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit asking the Court to order the Federal Communications Commission to comply with the Court’s 2008 decision that remanded the FCC’s ruling on Access BPL for further action.

Two new sunspots appeared last week, numbered 1022 and 1023, and both were Solar Cycle 24 spots, with 1022 lasting through June 23 and 1023 until June 24. On June 24, geomagnetic indices were unsettled. Sunspot numbers for June 18-24 were 0, 0, 0, 12, 24, 12 and 14 with a mean of 8.9. The 10.7 cm flux was 68, 67, 67, 67, 68, 68 and 67 with a mean of 67.4. The estimated planetary A indices were 4, 4, 6, 7, 3, 4 and 19 with a mean of 6.7. The estimated mid-latitude A indices were 2, 1, 5, 6, 2, 5 and 16 with a mean of 5.3. This weekend is ARRL Field Day, and conditions should be stable; Planetary A index is predicted to be around five, which is quiet.

It was just another day, helping out at another event. It was the third year in a row that 16 year old Cody Anderson, KI4FUV, of Harriman, Tennessee, had volunteered to help out the Roane County Amateur Radio Club (RARC) with the Run for the Child event. But it was the first time that he would help save a life.

Just nine day after Julius Genachowski — the man President Barack Obama picked to head the Federal Communications Commission — appeared before the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the Senate confirmed his nomination as FCC Chairman.

This week’s Surfin’ discovers why the Sun’s spots are in hiding.

As most any ham knows, Field Day is by far the most popular operating event of the ham-land calendar. Every June thousands of radio amateurs pack up or set up in some way to participate in this wonderful event.