General Class and above license holders in the United States will soon have access to an expanded portion of the 60 Meter band.

Specifically, the Commission allocated 5351.5 - 5366.5 kHz (60 meters) to the amateur service on a secondary basis with a permitted power of 9.15 watts ERP. The Commission also authorized amateurs to continue using four existing channels outside of the 5351.5 - 5366.5 kHz band centered on 5332, 5348, 5373, and 5405 kHz on a secondary basis with a permitted power of 100 watts ERP.

This new allocation is in line with the regulations adopted during the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference.

Source: ARRL

The first HamTV transmission from the International Space Station (ISS) since 2018 occurred on October 18, 2025. As part of an ISS contact with the 1st Radford Semele Scout Group in the United Kingdom, HamTV was utilized in addition to FM voice over onboard amateur radio equipment.

ARISS has uploaded a compilation of video feeds received from ground stations in Europe.

The HamTV setup on ISS has been out of commission for repairs since 2018 but was just recently brought back online in July.

Source: ARISS

On December 1st 1924, the 200kW Alexanderson alternator with the call sign "SAQ" was put into commercial operation with telegram traffic from Sweden to the United States. 101 years later, the transmitter is the only remaining electro-mechanical transmitter from this era and is still in running condition. On Christmas Eve morning, Wednesday December 24th 2025, the transmitter is scheduled* to spread the traditional Christmas message to the whole World, on 17.2 kHz CW.

Transmission Schedule

• 08:20 CET (07:20 UTC): Live stream on YouTube begins.
• 08:30 CET (07:30 UTC): Startup and tuning of the Alexanderson Alternator SAQ.
• 09:00 CET (08:00 UTC): Transmission of a Christmas message from SAQ.
• 08:00 CET (07:00 UTC): The transmitter hall at World Heritage Grimeton is opened for visitors.

E-QSL reports may be submitted online.

Source: SAQ Grimeton

HamSCI will host the second half of its 2025 meteor scatter QSO party December 12-13. The December event will take advantage of the Geminid meteor shower and allow amateur radio operators to conduct QSOs via MSK144 mode. HamSCI expects hundreds of participants on the 6 meter and 10 meter bands.

In addition to QSOs, HamSCI is requesting audio recordings of decoded pings. This is possible through the WSJT-X software suite.

Source: HamSCI

The following are summaries and excerpts from the minutes of the November 2025 ARRL Executive Committee Meeting. The purpose of this post is to highlight in-progress items that ARRL might not normally promote through marketing channels, but hams might be interested in learning more about. Readers are encouraged to view the entire document for additional context.

Pass the Bill
Pass the Bill has generated significantly more activity compared to previous efforts to pass HOA/antenna related legislation. https://send-a-letter.org/hoa/ has seen over 44,000 sign-ups with the strongest support coming from Texas, California, Florida, Ohio, Missouri, and Michigan. [Page 1,9,10]

Membership

• Membership was at 130,240 for October. [Page 1]
• ARRL has targeted 50,000 lapsed members with 1,500 people engaging. [Page 2]
• It's believed the ARRL Sweepstakes has generated a 60% increase in Diamond Club membership. [Page 2]
• The Collegiate Amateur Radio Program now features 40 participating universities, a record high participation rate. [Page 2]

Products & Outreach

• ARRL has had success selling their end-fed half wave antenna and plan to offer additional antenna products. "Success" was not defined. [Page 3]
• ARRL may create a coding competition which is expected to kick off in early 2026. It's expected that participants must be less than 22 years of age. [Page 2,4]
• Due to continued decrease in participation in the ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, the contest may be shortened to accommodate younger operators who typically only operate for 6-8 hours within the current 24-48 hour contest period. [Pages 8,9]

IARU Restructuring
It appears the IARU restructuring plan that made headlines earlier this year may not materialize as originally proposed.

...after getting feedback from the regions, the Administrative Council announced that under a revised restructuring plan, the regional organizations would not be eliminated.

The previous proposal would have eliminated ARRL's power to nominate the IARU President and Vice President, leaving the task to the individual member societies.

ARRL is expected to retain nomination authority, but consult with a new nomination committee made up of regional society members.

As the International Secretariat, ARRL provides support to the International Amateur Radio Union through financial contributions and covering travel and administrative expenses within the six-figure range. With this financial support, ARRL retains the authority to select the president and vice president of the IARU. [Page 12,13]

Additional Topics
Additional items in the minutes include:

• Establish permanent program for ARES
• Directors Workbook
• Three-year Strategy Communication to Members
• Develop and implement 10 Band DXCC Award
• Apply digital contest frequencies for Field Day
• Create lifestyle book on high-performance clubs
• FCC Counsel's update
• Recognition of new Life Members

Source: ARRL