The following is a message from APRS Connect:

APRS Connect, the messaging-first APRS client that launched on Android in August, is now on the App Store for iPhone (iOS 16.4 or later). It is free to install and use over APRS-IS. Connecting a radio and several advanced features are part of APRS Connect Pro, a subscription with a 7-day free trial.

APRS OTA, the on-the-air activity that runs entirely over APRS, has its own screens in the app, so you tap buttons instead of typing bot commands. Hosts go on the air in one tap. Each chaser's call arrives with their message, where they are and a Confirm button. A bar across the top shows QSOs, points and time left, with buttons to stay longer or message every chaser at once. A live map shows you and your chasers and adds up how far your contacts have reached. Chasers get the list of hosts on the air, tap one to call, and watch each step through to the host's QSL. Every op is saved with its map and scores and can be shared as a picture. Chasing works over APRS-IS, free. Hosting needs a radio, as APRS OTA's rules require.

The other services on APRS get the same treatment, a guided screen instead of a command to memorize: weather, the repeater finder, WHO-IS, the SMS, email and Winlink gateways, and APSPOT and APRS2SOTA self-spotting. #APRSThursday and other ANSRVR groups open as a single net room.

On iPhone the app connects to KISS TNCs over Bluetooth LE or TCP. It can also work through a radio's speaker and mic, using the built-in AFSK 1200 audio modem with VOX keying. Radios with a Bluetooth LE KISS TNC built in, such as the BTECH UV-Pro, connect directly.

Several things have been added since the app was first covered here:

• The phone can be an IGate. It passes what your radio hears to APRS-IS and, if you choose, sends messages from the internet back out on the air for stations nearby. It can also be a digipeater that stays quiet when another digipeater has already repeated the packet.
• A coverage map shows the places your beacons were picked up by a digipeater.
• Pinned stations, a grid square screen, and the ISS on the map.
• A setting chooses how messages go out: radio first, APRS-IS first, one link only, or every channel at once.
• An optional account keeps messages, pinned stations and settings the same on every device. When two devices share a callsign and SSID, only one of them beacons, acks and digipeats at a time.
• A "Rest of the world" map layer shows stations heard anywhere on APRS-IS, not only the ones your device heard.
• The app is more accessible for operators who use VoiceOver and TalkBack. Every button has a spoken name, and an open conversation reads new messages aloud.

The newest of these are on iPhone now and reach Android with its next Play release.

More at https://aprsconnect.com, and on APRS OTA in the app at https://aprsconnect.com/ota. Download the App: https://aprsconnect.com/get/89x5bv.

Source: APRS Connect

By Rob Rosenberger (K4HST)

The FCC's two-year grace period is a safety net if we forget to put a reminder in our calendar app. One operator relied on it when he applied for a renewal in April, five months before the end of his grace period. But it requires more than just signing in. He needed to confirm the payment actually occurred.

This brings us to the sad tale of KE6MIT.

He attempted to renew it twice. His first application on April 9 placed his call sign in a temporary status that shielded him from losing it. His application was dismissed 19 days later, probably over a failure to pay. He did not petition the dismissal; the period for reconsideration closed; and his call sign returned to its normal grace period on June 9.

Did he not get the FCC emails? Did they go into his junk folder?

A second application on July 23 again placed his call sign in a temporary status, and the FCC again waited 19 days. Detailed records suggest the ULS checked the CORES database each workday to see if he paid $35. August 11 arrived and the FCC again dismissed his application.

KE6MIT reached the end of its grace period on September 14 — yet the window stayed open to petition the second dismissal for reconsideration… had he done so… which he didn’t.

That window shut on September 22 when the FCC closed the period for reconsideration and the ULS set KE6MIT to “expired.”

KE6MIT’s circumstances led me to analyze the ULS data to learn how many call signs expire for lack of payment. Over the last two years, roughly 20% failed to apply for renewal, while another 5% failed to pay their fee after applying:

Roughly 1 out of 16 operators who apply for renewal fail to pay for it. Did they not get the FCC emails? Did they go into a junk folder?

(The chart can only go back 24 months because the FCC apparently flushes payment data to control database bloat.)

All operators should consider doing four things: (1) put a note in your calendar app to update your email address before you pay a renewal fee; (2) update your FRN with a valid email address if needed; (3) submit a payment application; and (4) make sure the payment goes through.

Don’t learn this lesson the hard way. Your grace period offers zero protection if you fail to pay.

Source: Rob Rosenberger (K4HST)

The following is a message from the Radio Club of America (RCA):

Join the Radio Club of America at the 2026 Banquet & Technical Symposium—where the brightest minds in wireless communications come together to share ideas, celebrate achievement, and build lasting connections.

Experience thought-provoking technical presentations, engage with industry leaders, explore emerging technologies, and conclude with RCA’s signature awards banquet honoring distinguished innovators.

The Radio Club of America Awards Program is an industry premier event. Every year, it is preceded by the day-long Technical Symposium. Both events showcase expertise and achievement in every segment of wireless.

The 2026 Technical Symposium & 117th Awards Banquet will take place Saturday, November 21st in New York City.

Registration is now open.

Source: Radio Club of America