so i know not everyone keeps up with the propagation reports but its been a pretty exciting few weeks if you watch the clusters. we had some really solid Es openings on 6m last weekend, i was making contacts into the midwest from the mid-atlantic which i honestly wasn't expecting at all for this early in the season. caught a few guys on 2m meteor scatter too which was a nice bonus.

also heard through the grapevine that Icom is supposedly doing something with their handheld lineup sometime this year, nothing confirmed just rumors floating around on a couple other forums and one of the usual youtube channels mentioned it. take that with a huge grain of salt obviously. the IC-705 is still the shiny object everyone seems to want but maybe something new is coming who knows.

on the event side, the ARRL June VHF contest is coming up pretty quick if anyone is planning to operate, worth dusting off the yagi if you got one. and for you new guys, Field Day is obviously right around the corner too, if your local club isnt doing anything check nearby clubs because most of them welcome visitors and its a great way to actually get on the air with people watching your back.

anything else happening that people have heard about? feel free to drop stuff in here, trying to keep a bit of a running thread for news and updates since i always end up finding out about things too late.

yeah the Es has been wild, i had a sked with a guy in Colorado on 6m Saturday and we ended up talking for like 45 minutes because the band just stayed open way longer than either of us thought it would. haven't seen it that good this early in a while honestly. my old FT-817 was doing just fine for it too, sometimes you dont need the fancy stuff.

re the Icom rumors, i think people have been saying something is coming for like two years now so i wouldn't hold your breath. though i did see the TH-D75 from Kenwood is getting some attention lately if anyone wants a capable HT with APRS built in, not exactly new news but i ran into a newer ham at a club meeting last month who had no idea it existed so worth mentioning for the newcomers reading this.

this might be a dumb question but for Field Day do you have to be licensed to participate or can i come and just kind of watch and maybe try? im still studying for my technician and my uncle said i could come with him to his club's event but i wasnt sure if i could actually touch the radio or if id just be standing around. either way id probably go just to see what its like in person