Welcome from the Section Manager

We would like to invite you to browse through the information listed here and take advantage of the services offered to you as a member of the American Radio Relay League. The ARRL Field Organization is here to serve you. If you have a problem, question or simply need more information, please feel free to contact anyone on the IL section staff. They will be happy to hear from you and will either answer you directly or steer you to the right person.

ARRL Club Liability Insurance Information

ARRL is aware that some amateur radio clubs who had been insured by Marsh/AIG, a previous provider of the ARRL Club Liability Insurance Program, are receiving notices that their club liability insurance is not being renewed. ARRL discontinued its relationship with Marsh/AIG in 2011, but some clubs who had previously enrolled in the policies were still renewing with the old provider -- and not in the current ARRL program.

 

The current program administrator (since 2015) for the ARRL-sponsored Club Liability Insurance Program is Risk Strategies. ARRL has a strong relationship with the current administrator who understands the importance of local amateur radio clubs and will help clubs seek new policies. Risk Strategies also administers the ARRL Equipment Insurance Plan for members.

 

Clubs that are affected by the loss of coverage from the previous provider are encouraged to contact Risk Strategies. Please visit Risk Strategies online at arrlinsurance.com or by phone at 1-866-819-0209 (please leave a message and your call will be returned).

 

 

ARRL is not able to help them with questions on insurance and all questions should be directed to Risk Strategies.

 

 
11/11/2023 & 11/12/2023
FCC Amateur Radio License
Weekend Review Class
Elmhurst Fire Station #1
404 N York Street
Elmhurst, IL 60126
More Information
11/18/202 &  11/19/2023
Fort Wayne Hamfest & Computer Expo
ARRL Central Division Convention

County War Memorial Coliseum
4000 Parnell Ave.
Fort Wayne, IN 46801
More Information
Sunday, January 14, 2024
WCRA 57th
ANNUAL MID-WINTER HAMFEST
(ELECTRONIC HOBBY EXPO)
Kane County Fairgrounds Expo Center
525 S. Randall Rd., St Charles, IL
(coordinates: N 41.9056, W 88.34232)
Hamfest Information
Club Information
1/27/2024
Winterfest
ARRL Midwest Division Convention
Collinsville, IL
More Information
June 2, 2024
Starved Rock Radio Club Hamfest
Mendota Tri-County Fairgrounds
503 1st Ave.
Mendota, IL 61342
09/21/2024 &  09/22/2024
Midwest Superfest
Three Sisters Park
17189 IL-29
Chillicothe, IL 61523
More Information
Interested in digital

I would like to encourage all that are interested in digital VHF/UHF modes to attend the

November 21,2023 Mt Vernon Amateur Radio Club (ARCOM) meeting located at the Mt Vernon Airport at 7PM.

Our speaker for the evening will be John King (W9KXQ). He will be discussing DMR, DSTAR, Fusion, P25 and other modes.

For those unable to attend in person it will be available on Thom Beebe’s (W9RY) ZOOM site.
For Zoom information contact W9RY at w9ry@w9ry.com.
Steve, WA9SWW
ARRL Volunteers On the Air Event is Underway

ARRL's yearlong operating event, Volunteers On the Air, or VOTA, began January 1, 2023. The event is organized as part of ARRL's 2023 theme, "Year of the Volunteers," which recognizes the contributions of ARRL member volunteers, and offers opportunities to become more active and involved in amateur radio and ARRL.

VOTA encourages participants to make contacts with ARRL members and volunteers, earning points for each contact. Point values have been assigned (see the Points Table at vota.arrl.org). All scoring is automatically calculated through ARRL's Logbook of The World (LoTW, www.arrl.org/logbook-of-the-world). If you are already an LoTW user, continue to upload your QSOs there to participate. If you're a new LoTW user, visit Getting Started with LoTW.

As part of the event, there will be week-long activations by W1AW portable stations operating in all US states and territories. W1AW/# portable operations are worth 5 points for each contact, and they can be contacted on all bands and modes. There's also an opportunity to earn the W1AW Worked All States Award. There will be two week-long W1AW operations from each of the 50 states.

Later in the event, an on-line scoreboard, the VOTA Leaderboard, will be activated, allowing each participant to see how their score measures up with other participants throughout the year.

Only two-way contacts qualify for points (cross-band, cross-mode, and repeater contacts are not valid), using any mode (CW, phone, or digital) - including EME and satellite operations - on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, 2, and 1.25 meters, as well as 70 centimeters, VHF/UHF/SHF, and microwave bands available to US amateurs above 2 meters (2190-, 630-, 60-, 30-, 17-, and 12-meter band contacts are not counted for credit in this event).

Join the fun! Visit the official VOTA website for further details: vota.arrl.org.
W1AW/9
12/6/2023
If you are interested in operating as W1AW/9
on any of the days/evenings
contact Thom at w9ry@w9ry.com and he will send you the link for providing your information.


2023 is the ARRL Year of the Volunteers. With that, ARRL will be holding Volunteers On the Air (VOTA), a year-long on-air celebration that recognizes the organization's abundant volunteer support and contributions. By using ARRLS Logbook of The World (LOTW, www.arrl.orgl logbook-of-the-world), participants making contacts in 2023 will accumulate points, as well as contact new stations and make new friends all over the world.

From January 1 (0000 UTC) to December 31, 2023 (2359 UTC), hams can participate in the VOTA event, which will include special week-long activations by W1AW portable stations from all 50 states and most US territories. Each W1AW portable activation will begin on a Wednesday at 0000 UTC and end the following Tuesday at 2359 UTC, and each state will be activated twice.


Visit the VOTA online dashboard (https://vota.arrl.org) for a complete list of dates and stations to be activated.

For more information email Thom Beebe at
W9RY(at)ARRL.
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