ARRL, RFinder, Join Forces

The ARRL has formed a partnership with online repeater database RFinder in which RFinder will become the League’s primary source of data for its annual Repeater Directory and subscriptions to RFinder will replace the ARRL’s current “TravelPlus for Repeaters” software and online apps. 

According to the ARRL Letter, the ARRL will receive a portion of each $9.99 annual subscription to RFinder,  The printed Repeater Directory will continue to be published.

Ham Radio in the Mainstream Media

Amateur radio was featured in a recent podcast by radio technology reporter Kim Komando. According to ARRL Media and Public Relations Director Sean Kutzko, KX9X, the 15-minute segment focused on the value of ham radio during emergencies. 

And the technology blog, Hackaday¸ recently featured a profile of Rufus Turner, W3LF (SK), said to be the first African-American radio amateur in the United States. The ARRL Letter says Turner helped develop the venerable 1N34A diode and wrote a 1949 article in Radio-Electronics magazine in which he explained how to build your own transistor before they were commercially available.

New Extra Class Question Pool Released

The Question Pool Committee of the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators has released the updated question pool that will be used for Amateur Extra Class license exams between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2020. Committee chair Rol Anders, K3RA, told the ARRL Letter that the new pool “place(s) more emphasis on digital communications, digital test equipment, software defined radios and propagation/space weather.” The new questions also cover some additional topics, including antenna types commonly used by amateurs. The new question pool may be downloaded from <http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=365>.