QST QST QST ARRL members of the Pacific Division.

Dr. Carol KP4MD and I are safely back home after the board meeting in
Newington. I feel that the board meeting was productive and the
initiatives we discussed in the town hall meeting were moved forward.
We will report at the next town hall in our division in the coming
weeks.
I’d like to first turn the pen over to Dr Carol for her report….

Dear Pacific Division Members,
It is an honor to serve the ARRL Pacific Division alongside Director
John Litz, NZ6Q. We appreciate your participation in our Division Town
Hall meetings and welcome your feedback regarding League programs and
services. For local resources and assistance, please continue to look to
your local clubs and Section Managers as your primary points of
contact.

We invite you to join our America250 celebration through the ARRL
America-250 WAS Award and the Year of the Club. Membership in your
clubs enriches your amateur radio experience and is vital to advancing
our hobby within the community. Furthermore, your continued League
membership is essential to maintain the advocacy and resources that our
clubs and members depend on. Please help us keep amateur radio strong by
encouraging your colleagues and new amateurs to become active on the
air, within our clubs, and as ARRL members.

I look forward to seeing you at upcoming Hamfests, Special Events, and
the Pacificon Division Convention.

73,
Carol Milazzo, KP4MD
ARRL Pacific Division Vice Director
kp4md@arrl.org

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I want to start on a somber note and report on the loss to Amateur Radio
of Sharon Taratula, Awards Manager who passed away suddenly in early
February. Sharon had worked at ARRL for over 30 years. She will be
missed. She touched so much of what makes the hobby so great.

Basic information on the Board meeting. The minutes of the meeting are
published on the ARRL website, and I encourage you to read them and ask
questions if there is something there you do not understand. Let me
highlight a couple of things I feel are important to the Pacific
Division.

Overall for the year 2025, maintaining diligence on costs and general
spending, the end of the year was better from a budget perspective than
expected. ARRL still has a revenue problem as in how can the ARRL
generate more revenue. We don’t have a spending problem – not much
more can be cut without affecting services. The Administration and
Finance Committee (A&F) that is looking into several initiatives on ways
to increase membership and to increase the income side of the league –
including our idea to create a membership drive through our clubs and
our field services leadership that benefits new ARRL members.

Membership numbers continue to be a topic of discussion and concern to
all board members. In our own Division, we saw a decrease of 4.5% in
2025, but there were increases in membership in the Sacramento and
Nevada sections. We ended 2025 at 8,219 members in the Pacific Division.
My best estimation using FCC data and QRZ.com is that there are about
80,000 licensed hams in our division. Gaining new members should be
every member’s goal – every affiliated club’s goal. You joined for
a reason, I joined for a reason, and we should share our stories with
newly licensed hams.

DXCC update. The DXCC advisory committee worked up a few items that made
it to the board room, one of which was to add new Honor Roll awards for
individual bands. Watch for more on this as the details get worked out
by staff. Our (Pacific Division) idea of creating a DXCC or
“DXCC-like” award for our DMR, Fusion, D-Star and other “digital
internet assisted” hams was discussed and I was able to exchange some
good ideas with staff and other directors. I think we have a framework
for such an award. Watch for more…

The board recognized several clubs across the country for 50+, 75+ and
95+ years of ARRL affiliation and service. Congratulations to the San
Francisco Radio Club for over 95 years of ARRL affiliation and the
Turlock Amateur Radio Club for over 75 years of affiliation.

Pacificon 2026 update. Pacificon will be here in about 8 months. I’m
very excited about the work that Antonis AA6PP, the Pacificon Board and
the Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club are investing to make 2026 bigger
and better than 2025. Pacificon 2025 was pretty darn good with nearly
1500 attendees. That was up 20% from 2024. Let’s work together on
raising that number another 20% this year!

W1AW/6 – Year of the Club is underway. I’m very proud to be part of
the W1AW activation team again this year. In the Pacific Section, Tim
KH2XX is heading up activation in Guam as W1AW/KH2 starting the week of
March 11th. Alan AD6E is coordinating Hawaii operations (W1AW/KH6)
starting the week of March 18th. With the help of San Joaquin Valley SM
Steve KK6JTB and Southwest Division Vice Director John NS6X we are
looking for clubs big and small and individuals across California to put
W1AW/6 on the air as much as possible April 1st thru April 7th . Nevada
SM Craig N0CSM is heading up W1AW/7 in Nevada starting the week of May
6th. You can sign up thru the link on the Pacific Division website at
pacific.arrl.org . I’m encouraging clubs across the division to get
together and pick opportunities to put W1AW on the air during their
respective weeks.

Working Club calls are wanted and important part for the Year of the
Club and the America250 WAS award. Get your club call on the air!
Working 50 states of affiliated club stations is an endorsement to the
America250 WAS award. I encourage clubs to get their members on the air
repeatedly throughout the year using the W1AW/xx as a framework for
getting your club call on the air monthly, weekly, maybe even daily.

New 60-Meter Band took effect on February 13th. The new 60-meter
frequencies approved by the FCC in December is available to amateurs as
of February 13, 2026, along with new power restrictions on those
frequencies. It’s a bit confusing, as different rules apply to
different segments of the band. The changes result from the FCC’s
action to approve a worldwide 60-meter amateur allocation. Study the
rules carefully and make sure you are following them correctly.

Town Hall Meeting. Watch for announcements on the next Town Hall meeting
coming up in the next few weeks.

Pass the Bill update. ARRL and our advocates in Washington DC continue
to inch the bill forward in Congress. Clubs, your help is really needed
now too! Club letters supporting the bill, signed by your leadership
are proving very impactful. If you haven’t completed your letters,
look for the instructions at www.arrl.org Jay Ballinger, N6SAC is our
point person on this for the Pacific Division. Please forward your
completed club letters to him and reach out if you have any questions. I
want to see 100% participation from our clubs on this.

If you were looking for a reason to join ARRL or renew today, this is
it!

This legislation has a real shot AT PASSING! If you haven’t submitted
your letter to Congress, follow the instructions at www.arrl.org and do
it today! Then donate, join or renew your membership to help us keep
this going in 2026.

Thanks to all the great section leaders and division leaders we have in
the Pacific Division. I appreciate the hard work each one of you invests
in furthering the hobby and making this a great place to be.

73 to all – STAY RADIO ACTIVE and STAY CLUB ACTIVE!
John Litz, NZ6Q
ARRL Pacific Division Director
nz6q@arrl.org