2025 World Amateur Radio Day is April 18

What: Ham Radio Open House for World Amateur Radio Day 2025 

Who: All amateur radio operators worldwide  

When: WARD is Friday, April 18, 2025, at 0000 UTC until Saturday, April 19, 2025 at 0000 UTC but the Ham Radio Open House can be held any time in April, as works best for your local club.  

Where: A global event covering all regions of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU)  

Why: World Amateur Radio Day, held on April 18 each year, is celebrated worldwide by radio amateurs and their national associations which are organized as member-societies of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). It was on this day in 1925 that the IARU was formed in Paris. American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Co-Founder Hiram Percy Maxim was its first president. A major theme for 2025 is celebrating 100 years of IARU.  

How:  

Get Ready for "Ham Radio Open House" for World Amateur Radio Day 2025

To help promote amateur radio science and technology, and to honor the 100th anniversary of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), ARRL is inviting radio clubs and schools to organize a Ham Radio Open House in April, centered around World Amateur Radio Day on April 18, 2025. The event is intended to highlight the Amateur Radio Service for its development and practice of the latest radio communications and technology, and as a hands-on pathway into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields for the next generation. In April 2025, amateur radio clubs, school stations, and other groups will have the opportunity to advance public knowledge about ham radio by welcoming their communities into their stations for the Ham Radio Open House, around World Amateur Radio Day. The focus will be on scientific advancement and demonstrating cutting-edge technology. This is a chance to not only shape the conversation about modern ham radio but also to show how it serves as a steppingstone and testbed for many young people pursing future STEM education and high-tech careers.  

One Million Acts of Science

ARRL has teamed up with HamSCI -- Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation -- and the science community organization SciStarter to invite the public to participate in One Million Acts of Science during April, which is Citizen Science Month. By hosting a Ham Radio Open House at your group’s station in April, you'll introduce individuals who might never otherwise find out about today’s amateur radio where science and technology intersect with fun and learning. Clubs are encouraged to showcase the latest weak-signal modes, such as FT8 using WSJT-X or other digital modes. This could be a great opportunity to explore new areas of amateur radio and demonstrate how the service is at the cutting edge of electrical engineering.  

HamSCI and SciStarter Collaborations

HamSCI (hamsci.org) has built a community by connecting radio amateurs and citizen scientists in ionospheric research. The Solar Eclipse QSO Parties held during the 2023 annular eclipse and the 2024 total solar eclipse provided significant data for researchers studying the ionosphere's response to the eclipses, wrapped into fun operating events.   SciStarter is working to engage people from all walks of life in one million acts of science during Citizen Science Month in April (scistarter.org/citizensciencemonth), to promote public participation in scientific research. ARRL’s Ham Radio Open House provides a unique opportunity to help achieve that goal.

Imagine your open house visitors seeing a Software-Defined Radio (SDR) waterfall display and then hearing what the signal they see on the screen sounds like—that’s an act of science! Taking it a step further, let them take a Standing Wave Ratio (SWR) measurement of an antenna, modify it slightly, and take another reading. They’ve just gathered data, made a physical change, and measured the impact of their modifications. Not only is that an additional act of science, but it's also a great way to engage people in hands-on learning about ham radio. With this kind of involvement, visitors will be more likely to return for a club meeting or participate in future events. Clubs will be asked to track those acts of science and submit a report to ARRL detailing the number of acts and the total number of visitors.

Amateur radio experimenters were the first to discover that the short-wave spectrum could support long-distance radio signal propagation. In the rush to use these shorter wavelengths, amateur radio was “in grave danger of being pushed aside,” the IARU’s history has noted. Amateur Radio pioneers met in Paris in 1925 and created the IARU to promote the interests of amateur radio worldwide and to protect and enhance its spectrum privileges. Today, the IARU is a federation consisting of more than 160 national amateur radio organizations in as many countries and separate territories. The International Secretariat of the IARU is ARRL  The National Association for Amateur Radio® in the United States.

On World Amateur Radio Day, all radio amateurs are invited to take to the airwaves to enjoy our global friendship with other amateurs, and to show our skills and capabilities to the public.

World Amateur Radio Day is not a contest but rather an opportunity to “talk” about the value of amateur radio to the public and our fellow amateur colleagues. It is also a great opportunity to talk about your radio club and amateur radio in local media as a lead-up to ARRL Field Day (held each year during the fourth full weekend in June) and another ham radio related activity in your community – such as volunteers who serve in local emergency communication readiness including the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service®.

Here are just a few ways to participate in, and promote, World Amateur Radio Day:  

• Get a station on the air! Create your own personal “event” to talk about amateur radio to others, including family and friends.

• Find out more about World Amateur Radio Day by checking the IARU website and other Resources listed below.

• Create and hold a special net or on-air event on World Amateur Radio Day to raise the level of attention for the celebration, and to encourage other hams to talk about our hobby. Consider creating and offering a commemorative certificate for contacting your special activation. It can be an electronic one as these are cost effective.

• Get the word out! If you are an ARRL Public Information Coordinator, Public Information Officer, or responsible for radio club publicity, send a press release and conduct some public relations outreach to highlight the day and/or events. Talk about all of the activities radio amateurs have continued to support during the pandemic, and how amateur radio serves our communities. Find recent examples of amateur radio in-the-news at www.arrl.org/media-hits.

• Promote your personal World Amateur Radio Day activity(ies) on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook by using the hashtag #WorldAmateurRadioDay. Make sure you send it to various clubs, reflectors, and media.

Join us in celebrating World Amateur Radio Day and all the ways amateur radio brings us together!

Massachusetts boasts a stunning coastline with numerous beautiful beaches catering to various preferences. On Cape Cod, the National Seashore offers gems like the expansive Race Point Beach in Provincetown and the picturesque Coast Guard Beach in Eastham, known for their dunes and surf. Closer to your location in Gloucester, Good Harbor Beach provides lovely views and walkability to islands at low tide, while nearby Wingaersheek Beach is famed for its calm waters and large tidal flats perfect for exploring. Further north, Crane Beach in Ipswich impresses with its vast conservation land and rolling dunes. Heading south, Horseneck Beach State Reservation in Westport offers miles of sand on Buzzards Bay, while Duxbury Beach is a popular barrier beach. Don't forget the islands; Martha's Vineyard features the beautiful South Beach (Katama), and Nantucket offers family-friendly spots like Jetties Beach. Rounding out the list could be Singing Beach in Manchester-by-the-Sea, famous for its unique sand, or Nantasket Beach in Hull with its long shoreline.

Net Topic Question:

Do you enjoy going to the Beach?

Dining out remains a popular activity, with Americans averaging 3 visits to restaurants per month and spending around $166 monthly on dining, though takeout and delivery are also frequent choices.

Here's a more detailed look at the current state of dining out popularity:

Frequency and Spending:

· Average Dining Out: Americans dine out an average of 3 times per month.

· Average Takeout/Delivery: They order takeout or delivery even more frequently, averaging 4.5 times per month.

· Spending: Americans spend an average of $166 a month per person on dining out.

· Budget Allocation: The typical household allocates almost 53% of its food budget to dining out.

Reasons for Dining Out:

· Convenience: Three-quarters of people dine out because they don't feel like cooking, and 51% find it more convenient.

· Socialization: 44% enjoy the social aspect of dining out.

Microsoft Corporation is a multinational technology giant with a history deeply intertwined with the evolution of personal computing. It was founded on April 4, 1975, by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their initial focus was on developing and selling BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800, an early personal computer. The name "Microsoft" itself is a combination of "microcomputer" and "software."

A pivotal moment in Microsoft's early history came in 1980 when IBM approached them to create an operating system for its new personal computer. This led to the creation of MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System), which became the standard operating system for IBM PCs and, subsequently, for a vast majority of personal computers. This dominance in the operating system market laid the foundation for Microsoft's future growth.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Microsoft continued to innovate, most notably with the development of the Windows operating system. Windows, with its graphical user interface, revolutionized personal computing, making it more accessible to a wider audience. The release of Windows 95, in particular, was a watershed moment, solidifying Microsoft's position as a dominant force in the software industry. Since then, Microsoft has expanded its reach into numerous other areas, including server software, cloud computing with Azure, gaming with the Xbox, and various productivity and enterprise solutions.

Net Topic Question:

What was the first Computer Operating System that you used?

What do you currently use?

On April 2, 1792 Congress passed the Coinage Act, establishing the first national mint in the United States. During the Colonial Period, monetary transactions were handled using foreign or colonial currency, livestock, or produce. After the Revolutionary War, the U.S. was governed by the Articles of Confederation, which authorized states to mint their own coins. In 1788, the Constitution was ratified by a majority of states and discussions soon began about the need for a national mint.

Congress chose Philadelphia, what was then the nation’s capital, as the site of our first Mint. President George Washington appointed a leading scientist, David Rittenhouse, as the first director. Rittenhouse bought two lots at 7th and Arch Streets to build a three-story facility, the tallest building in Philadelphia at the time. It was the first federal building erected under the Constitution.

Coin production began immediately. The Act specified the following coinage denominations:

• In copper: half cent and cent

• In silver: half dime, dime, quarter, half dollar, and dollar

• In gold: quarter eagle ($2.50), half eagle ($5), and eagle ($10)

In March 1793, the Mint delivered its first circulating coins: 11,178 copper cents.

In 1795, the Mint became the first federal agency to employ women: Sarah Waldrake and Rachael Summers were hired as adjusters. Learn about their contribution to the Mint’s history and about other trailblazing women at Women at Work.

In the early 1800s, America experienced its first two gold rushes: first in North Carolina and then in Georgia. Demand on the Philadelphia Mint to melt, refine, and produce coins from this gold pushed the Mint to its limits. In 1835, Congress passed legislation to establish three new branch Mints located in Charlotte, NC; Dahlonega, GA; and New Orleans, LA. Charlotte and Dahlonega concentrated on processing the miners’ gold into coins, while New Orleans minted both gold and silver coins to keep up with a growing America.

In 1861 at the beginning of the Civil War, the Confederacy gained control of these three facilities, sporadically making Confederate coinage before converting all of them to assay offices. The U.S. regained possession of the facilities in 1862. Dahlonega never reopened, and Charlotte opened briefly in the 1870s as an assay office. The New Orleans Mint opened in 1879 to produce silver and gold coins until it stopped coining operations in 1909.

Mint Expands West

In 1849, the California Gold Rush brought a flood of people west for the chance to get rich. Transporting the gold east all the way to the Philadelphia Mint was time-consuming and risky. In 1854, a branch Mint opened in San Francisco to convert the miners’ gold into coins. By the end of that year, the San Francisco Mint produced $4,084,207 in gold coins.

Gold fever spread to Colorado in 1858, bringing hundreds of people to settle around the new city of Denver. In 1862, Congress approved a branch Mint in Denver and bought the building of Clark, Gruber and Company, a private mint. The following year, the Denver facility opened as an assay office for miners to bring gold to be melted, assayed, and cast into bars. It didn’t produce any gold coins, as was originally intended. In 1895, Congress converted the Denver facility back to a Mint, and in 1906 it produced its first gold and silver coins.

In 1864, in response to Oregon’s own gold rush, Congress authorized a branch Mint in Dalles City, Oregon and constructed a building. However, no minting or assaying duties were ever performed. Congress gave the building to the state in 1875 to use for educational purposes.

The country’s largest silver strike, referred to as the Comstock Lode, started in Nevada in 1859. Congress authorized a branch Mint in nearby Carson City. The Carson City Mint opened in 1870 to accept deposits from the Comstock Lode and to mint coins. During its operation, it produced eight different coin denominations. Congress withdrew its mint status in 1899 when the Comstock’s ore declined, but it continued as an assay office until 1933.

Assay Offices

Gold and silver pouring in from strikes throughout the West created the need for assay offices around the country to assess and process the metal ore. Most closed in the early 1900s when the metal deposits waned. The New York Assay Office in Manhattan was the notable exception; it stayed in operation for almost 130 years, finally closing in 1982.

Bullion Depositories

The Mint’s demand for the gold and silver needed to produce coins in increasing quantity for the growing U.S. population meant that there needed to be a secure location to store the country’s bullion. In 1936, the Fort Knox Bullion Depository opened in Kentucky. The next year, the facility received its first shipment of gold from the Philadelphia Mint and New York Assay Office. The bullion was shipped by train through the U.S. mail.

In 1938, the West Point Bullion Depository opened to store silver bullion. It remained a storage facility until 1973 when it started producing pennies to reduce the production pressure on the Mint facilities. It also produced Bicentennial quarters in 1976, and gold medals starting in 1980. It gained official status as a Mint in 1988.

Today, the Mint maintains production facilities in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Denver, and West Point, and a bullion depository in Fort Knox.

DID YOU KNOW?
The Treasury Department has more than 1.1 BILLION $1 coins in storage, partly because of the schemes people were playing with their credit card rewards programs. This, despite the fact that no $1 coins have been minted for circulation since 2011.

• The Loophole:

The U.S. Mint allowed individuals to purchase dollar coins with credit cards, offering free shipping in the continental U.S. 

• The Scheme:

Frequent fliers and "travel hackers" would buy thousands of dollar coins with credit cards that offered frequent flyer miles as a reward. 

• The Process:

After receiving the coins, they would deposit them into their bank accounts, then use the deposited funds to pay off the credit card balance. 

• The Result:

This allowed them to accumulate a large number of frequent flyer miles without actually spending money on flights, effectively gaining free travel. 

• The Mint's Response:

The U.S. Mint eventually closed this loophole, stating that the activity was a clear abuse and misuse of the program. They now require payments for coins to be made by wire transfer or check. 

• Impact:

The scheme contributed to the buildup of unused dollar coins in Federal Reserve vaults.