World Amateur Radio Day 2024

World Amateur Radio Day (WARD) is celebrated each year on 18th April 2024.

The theme for 2024 is, "A Century of Connections: Celebrating 100 Years of Amateur Radio Innovation, Community, and Advocacy." The global event covers all of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) regions and spans 2 days: Thursday 18th April 2024, 0000 UTC to Friday 19th April 2024, 0000 UTC.

On 18th April 1925, the IARU was formed in Paris and will celebrate its centenary in 2025. American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Co-Founder Hiram Percy Maxim was the organization's first president.

All radio amateurs are invited to take to the airwaves to enjoy the global friendship with other amateurs and to show their skills and capabilities to the public. WARD is not a contest but rather an opportunity to talk about the value of amateur radio to the public and fellow amateur colleagues. It is also a great opportunity to talk about local radio clubs and amateur radio in local media as a lead-up to ARRL Field Day, which is held each year during the fourth full weekend in June. You can also promote your personal WARD activities on social media platforms like X and Facebook by using the hashtag #WorldAmateurRadioDay.

ARRL - https://www.arrl.org/news/view/world-amateur-radio-day-is-april-18-2024

FCC Implements Two-Factor Authentication For Registration System

In an effort to make its online registration system more secure, the Federal Communications Commission is introducing two-factor authentication while signing on. As of the 29th of March, those wishing to access the Commission Registration System known as CORES will need to request a six-digit secondary verification code to be sent to their email address.

They will be required to enter the code into the system before they can go forward with logging in. This requirement will affect anyone looking to reset a password, request a new Federal Registration Number or to pay any application or regulatory fees.

Source - ARNewsline - https://www.arnewsline.org/

BBC Radio 4 Dropping AM/Medium-Wave in April 2024

Effective 15th April, Radio 4 will no longer be available on medium-wave. Medium-wave listeners will need to retune their radio to alternative platforms.

With these two terse sentences at the bottom of a related announcement, the BBC signalled the end of BBC Radio 4’s service on medium-wave, called AM in the United States and Canada. The service will still be available on FM, DAB, digital TV and online.

The frequencies were only being used to support its longwave service, which has been scheduled for closing this month since May of last year.

“MW transmission of Radio 4 is ending as there will no longer be a longwave variant of Radio 4’s schedule. There’s no Radio 4 service on MW, it has always been there to support LW. There are only nine transmitters in total providing very little coverage, and affected listeners will have access to Radio 4 on FM even if they don’t have a digital radio.”

— BBC spokesperson Laura Zetterberg