Every so often a story comes along that shows just how far a lifetime in this hobby can carry someone — and how they choose to give back at the end of it.

ARRL, The National Association for Amateur Radio®, has announced a historic $1 million gift from Dr James M. Galm, W8WTS — an entrepreneur and lifelong amateur radio operator who spent his career solving complex energy and engineering problems, and is now turning his attention to the next generation of problem solvers coming up through the hobby.

Where the Money's Going

The gift will directly support several ARRL programmes, including the ARRL STEM education initiative within the Education and Technology Program, and the Spectrum Defence Fund, which underpins ARRL's work protecting amateur radio's access to spectrum. Beyond that, Dr Galm designated a substantial portion of the gift as unrestricted support — split between the ARRL Diamond Club, which feeds the general fund, and the Second Century Fund, ARRL's unrestricted endowment, which will be invested to support ARRL's operations in perpetuity.

Direct-to-device satellite service is one of the fastest-moving stories in the industry right now, and it keeps brushing up against amateur radio spectrum along the way.

The FCC has given Texas-based AST SpaceMobile until 12th September to complete its trial of direct-to-device cellular broadband service over the 800 MHz band. The company has been operating under a 30-day permit, testing delivery to everyday consumer mobile phones in Lanham, Maryland, and near its own headquarters in Midland, Texas.

Back in April, the regulator approved AST's use of 817–824 MHz for uplink and 862–869 MHz for downlink. AST has strategic partnerships with Verizon and AT&T, and is positioning itself as a rival to SpaceX's Starlink, which is also active in the direct-to-device space.